New Novel
Chapter 28: Inferiority Complex (EC)

Chapter 28: Chapter 28: Inferiority Complex (EC)

Just as Kobeni Higashiyama had thought, Kotone Asaba had avoided commenting on the lunch entirely because he was considering her feelings.

But people were just like that. Even if Kotone Asaba said nothing at all, Kobeni would still overthink everything.

If he had to judge it, then it was not tasty, but it was not awful either. The problem was not whether it looked shabby. Even judging the vegetables on their own, they really were not very good. It felt like Kobeni’s parents had not put much care into making that lunch.

In Kotone Asaba’s impression of the original story, Kobeni Higashiyama’s parents, or maybe one of them, either her father or her mother, were extremely biased and selfish.

They were extremely biased toward Kobeni’s older brother. As for how they treated Kobeni’s other sisters, he was not sure. He only remembered that including Kobeni, there were nine sisters in total.

As for selfishness, there was no need to say much. Anyone capable of forcing Kobeni to either go into sex work or become a Devil Hunter right after graduating high school already spoke for themselves.

"I’m really sorry... I gave you such an awful lunch..."

Kobeni lowered her head slightly and spoke in a self-reproaching tone.

"What are you thinking?"

Kotone Asaba lightly flicked Kobeni on the forehead with his finger. "It’s true that I wouldn’t exactly call it delicious, but it’s not so bad that I’d call it awful either. The thought you put into it is enough."

Kobeni froze for a moment with a somewhat dazed expression. After hearing Kotone Asaba say that, she immediately felt much less upset.

It was precisely because Kotone Asaba was telling the truth that he was able to ease Kobeni’s emotions.

"There are only a little more than twenty minutes left before class. Just show me around a little, then we can continue with the rest after school this afternoon."

At that moment, Kotone Asaba glanced at the time. It was already exactly one o’clock.

"Okay."

Kobeni nodded.

Just then, someone suddenly spoke from behind them.

"Wow! Since when did Kobeni get this bold? Eating lunch while sitting with a boy!"

"And it’s Asaba, too. So Kobeni and Asaba really do have a special relationship. The mood between them is so nice."

"Kobeni really made us see her in a new light today!"

Three girls appeared behind Kotone Asaba and Kobeni Higashiyama. All three of them were their classmates.

Kobeni Higashiyama had already imagined that something like this might happen, but having her classmates suddenly discover her getting along with Asaba still threw her into a panic.

More than embarrassment, what she felt was fear. She was afraid that what happened between her and Asaba would spread around.

If that happened, it would definitely turn into rumors that they were boyfriend and girlfriend. But she and Asaba were not in that kind of relationship. Right now, they were absolutely not, and there was not much hope of that happening in the future either.

If it only affected her, that would still be fine. What she was more worried about was Asaba being affected by the rumors too.

If people said he was dating a timid, weak girl like her, the other students would definitely laugh at him for having terrible taste...

In fact, one major reason why Kobeni Higashiyama had been so embarrassed and nervous earlier was her lack of confidence.

Those things were clearly supposed to make her happy, but because of her insecurity, her first reaction was to feel nervous and afraid.

Unfortunately, Kotone Asaba had not noticed Kobeni Higashiyama’s insecurity yet. He thought it was only because of her personality.

"No! It’s not like that...! It’s because I delayed Asaba’s lunch, and then... then..."

Kobeni was so flustered that she could barely speak clearly.

When the three girls saw Kobeni react like that, they realized she did not seem shy at all. Instead, she really seemed anxious and desperate to clear up the misunderstanding.

"Oh, so that’s what happened... I thought Kobeni was going to get a boyfriend before any of us."

"Sorry, we misunderstood. We won’t spread it around, don’t worry!"

They still understood Kobeni Higashiyama’s personality fairly well.

If this matter spread, with Kobeni’s timid and introverted personality, it really would be social death for her. After all, rumors could be terrifying.

Only then did Kobeni Higashiyama breathe a sigh of relief.

After that, Kobeni Higashiyama continued showing Kotone Asaba around the other parts of the school.

The entire Chiba Rissei High School campus was actually quite large, because it had not only a high school division but also a middle school division. The middle school and high school divisions were connected.

It was not until there were only ten minutes left that Kotone Asaba and Kobeni Higashiyama returned to the classroom to prepare for class.

...

There were three classes in the afternoon, making seven classes in a full day. However, this schedule only applied to the advanced class.

If it were an ordinary class, they would only need to attend six classes a day, and school would let out a little after three in the afternoon.

The college-prep classes sometimes had six classes and sometimes seven, so their difficulty fell somewhere between the ordinary classes and the advanced class.

For an advanced class like this, with seven classes a day, school would only end a little after four in the afternoon. Even then, the students would not go home right away. First, they had to clean the classroom together. Once they finished cleaning, they could go participate in club activities or head straight home.

The afternoon classes were still very easy for Kotone Asaba. Even he felt that this kind of learning ability was unreal, almost like a cheat.

Today’s seventh class ended on time, and the students began preparing to clean together. It was not exactly a deep cleaning, since this was something they had to do every day, so it would not take too much time.

After they finished cleaning, it was already four thirty.

Normally, most students would go participate in club activities at this time, but Kobeni Higashiyama was clearly not among them. Kotone Asaba had not joined any club for the time being either.

However, at that moment, a classmate already came over to invite him.

"Asaba, you probably don’t have a club yet, right? Would you be willing to join our literature club?"

"...I’ll think about it."

Kotone Asaba had no intention of joining any club for the time being.

But the next moment, he suddenly thought of something, then asked Kobeni Higashiyama, "Higashiyama, have you joined any clubs?"

There were other classmates around, so he felt it was better to call her Higashiyama.

"Huh? N, no. I’ve never joined a club..."

Kobeni Higashiyama was a little confused about why Kotone Asaba was asking her this.

"Don’t you like reading? Then why don’t we create our own reading club?"

Although there was already a culture club, Kotone Asaba guessed Kobeni Higashiyama would not want to join a culture club with too many people. If she had wanted to, she probably would have joined already.

That was why he planned to start a reading club himself. When the time came, he could buy some books and put them in the club room, and Kobeni would be able to read the books she liked under the excuse of participating in club activities.

That way, Kobeni would not have to worry about restrictions from her family, nor would she need to make a special trip to the library every day to read.

Kobeni Higashiyama immediately said in surprise, "Create a reading club? But doesn’t our school have a club related to Devil Hunters? Asaba, aren’t you going to join that club?"