Shizunomiya Natsuki chuckled lightly, a mix of indulgence and helplessness in her expression.
"And Natsuka nee-san, you don't need to worry about Little Hayato Ge either. He's from Tokyo. Why would he be afraid of a few local thugs in a small place like ours? Right, Little Hayato Ge?" Yamano Yuta continued.
"Ah, yes," Hayato replied carelessly.
Who understands the frustration?
The misery of thinking the road ahead would be smooth after filling a dozen pits, only to switch maps and find that he still had more pits to fill.
"This has nothing to do with where he comes from," Shizunomiya Natsuki said with a serious expression.
She glanced at Hayato again. His expression, like that of a naughty student in math class, made her feel that he hadn't listened to her at all.
She inwardly wondered if it was just as Yamano Yuta had said—that people from the big city looked down on local thugs.
She couldn't help but click her tongue.
"Natsuka nee-san, you underestimate Tokyo too much," Yamano Yuta said confidently.
Shizunomiya Natsuki sighed.
Even Yuta... she couldn't understand why he always held such blind admiration for things like 'Tokyo' and 'the big city'.
For example, the short, layered hairstyle he recently got was supposedly because "this is the most popular style in Tokyo."
And now Yamano Yuta was asking Little Hayato Ge, who hailed from Tokyo:
"Little Hayato Ge, Little Hayato Ge, has the trend changed in Tokyo recently? Is long hair more fashionable?"
Shizunomiya Natsuki knew.
Yamano Yuta was only asking this because Hayato wore his hair in a half-long ponytail. Shizunomiya Natsuki actually didn't like such flashy hairstyles... including Yuta's layered cut that required special care.
She thought a boy's hairstyle just needed to be simple and clean.
"Huh? No," Hayato said.
"Eh? But wasn't your hairstyle designed by a trendy stylist?" Yamano Yuta looked at Hayato's ponytail with stars in his eyes.
Then Shizunomiya Natsuki heard an utterly simple reason.
"Nah, I'm too lazy to cut it," Hayato said.
This surprised Shizunomiya Natsuki somewhat. She had thought this boy from the big city would be the type... well, maybe not a thug like Oshika Masaru, but judging by his previous behavior, he certainly wasn't a good boy either. A 'playboy' type?
"...It can be like that?" Yamano Yuta didn't quite believe it.
"I tied it for him," Nanao Akane raised her hand and asked coquettishly, "Doesn't it look good?"
"Hmm..."
Shizunomiya Natsuki saw the light vanish from Yamano Yuta's eyes. He continued to ask, "So what kind of hairstyle is popular in Tokyo right now?"
"I don't know," Hayato said.
"How is that possible? A handsome guy like Little Hayato Ge must pay attention to these things! Don't keep secrets, share it with me~" Yamano Yuta said in a pleading tone.
Yamano Yuta was slightly shorter than Hayato.
But he was still over 1.7 meters tall. Being whined at by a boy like this, Hayato nearly headbutted his front teeth off...
Hayato casually found a topic to end Yamano Yuta's rambling.
"Nanao of the Town East and 'Natsuha' of the Town West..."
Shizunomiya Natsuki stared at Hayato with a "What?!" expression.
"Natsuha of the Town West" was indeed her nickname, and she occasionally heard people use it, but for some reason, hearing it from the mouth of the young man in front of her carried a uniquely strange feeling.
Perhaps it was because he was from out of town, and a boy from a large city at that.
Appearance... Shizunomiya Natsuki didn't consider herself someone who judged by looks, but she had to admit that Hayato was strikingly dignified.
Compared to him, many of the boys at Hachijojima High School could only be considered barely human-shaped.
A boy who was the same age, good-looking, and from a big city was easily labeled a 'playboy.' Moreover, the fact that he dared to fight Oshika Masaru immediately upon arriving in Yaso Inaba proved he was certainly no good boy.
Therefore, Shizunomiya Natsuki's reaction was naturally a bit sensitive when she heard her 'name' from his mouth.
"But since you are both sitting on the same bus, I assume this bus won't go to Town East and then drive all the way back to Town West, right?" Hayato asked. "Aren't you going home?"
Logically speaking, their homes should be in opposite directions.
Nanao Akane laughed. "We only say that because it sounds catchy."
Shizunomiya Natsuki also smiled, pursing her lips. "Actually, our homes are very close... We live in the same area."
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