143 - Oblivious, Insensitive, and Unperceptive

RAW

The midday sunlight poured down brilliantly, gently filtered by the trees in the school courtyard.

Under the soft shade, Haruto and his friends sat on a bench, enjoying a relaxed moment after lunch.

"Ugh, it's going to rain this weekend…"

Saki, having finished her bento, groaned as she stared at her phone. She slumped over the table, looking utterly dejected.

Ayaka, after taking a sip from her thermos, asked her, "Is it going to rain both Saturday and Sunday?"

"Hmm… Sunday might still be cloudy, but Saturday is completely out. Total downer."

Seeing Saki's enthusiasm drain away, Tomoya, who was munching on a yakisoba bun, let out a chuckle.

"Did you have plans for Saturday, Aizawa?"

"Nope, nothing in particular."

Saki shook her head, prompting Tomoya to reflexively blurt out, "Then why do you even care?!"

"Well, you know? When it rains, I can't just casually step outside. Right, Shizuku?"

Seeking agreement, Saki turned to Shizuku, who silently nodded in response.

"I feel the same. Also, when it's humid, my charming hair curls up, which is really annoying."

"Huh? Shizuku, do you have naturally wavy hair?"

Ayaka looked surprised, but Shizuku, still expressionless, casually replied, "Not at all."

"Wait, then what was that comment about?"

"If a girl lightly pinches the curled tip of her hair and says, 'Oh no, my hair curled up,' she can shoot straight through a man's heart like an arrow. Right, Haru-senpai?"

"Uh… I'm not really sure how to respond to that."

As always, Shizuku was saying incomprehensible things. Haruto, unsure of how to reply, was at a loss.

Seeing his reaction, Shizuku shook her head with an exaggerated sigh.

"Haru-senpai, you are an oblivious, insensitive, and unperceptive fool. Ayaka-senpai must have a hard time with you."

"Haruto's not that bad."

Ayaka let out a wry smile at Shizuku's remark, then turned to Haruto sitting beside her.

"But, well… You do catch me off guard pretty often. It’s not good for my heart, so I wish you'd stop."

"Huh? Catch you off guard? Do I really do that?"

Haruto tilted his head in confusion, and Shizuku once again declared, "Indeed, Haru-senpai is an oblivious, insensitive, and unperceptive fool."

Hearing this, Tomoya, who was opening a croquette bun package, chuckled.

"That phrase has a nice rhythm to it—oblivious, insensitive, and unperceptive fool. Yeah, it’s got a good flow."

As he nodded to himself, Saki seemed intrigued.

"Really? Otsuki is an oblivious, insensitive, and unperceptive fool… Haha, it does have a catchy ring to it! Ayaka, you should try saying it too!"

"That much? Haruto is an oblivious, insensitive, and unperceptive fool… Hmm, yeah, it does feel kind of amusing. I might want to say it again."

As Saki encouraged her, Ayaka repeated it a few times, seemingly growing fond of the way it sounded.

At that moment, Shizuku, now fully in the mood, picked up her thermos like a microphone and started rapping.

"Yo! Yo! Haru-senpai, oblivious, insensitive, unperceptive fool! Aya-senpai, endless worries, no peace of mind, say goodbye! Foolish senpai, zero understanding of women, nothing to say, nothing to reply, time goes by! Yeahhh!"

"Yeahhh my ass! What even is 'time goes by' supposed to mean?!"

Haruto immediately snapped back.

Shizuku held her thermos near her mouth and made a hand gesture with her thumb, index, and middle fingers extended.

Saki, thoroughly amused by her rap, clapped enthusiastically.

"Whoa! That was amazing! How do you come up with that on the spot?!"

As she kept repeating, "So cool, so cool," Shizuku, still expressionless, blandly responded, "Check it out."

Haruto turned to his side and saw Ayaka clapping along too.

"Good grief…"

Haruto sighed, scratching his head.

He couldn't argue much, considering how clueless he had been about his own feelings before confessing to Ayaka.

Reflecting on his past obliviousness, Haruto resolved that if he were ever called "oblivious, insensitive, and unperceptive" again, he would be able to confidently prove otherwise by facing Ayaka properly.

Just then, Tomoya, having finished his croquette bun, casually directed a question at him.

"By the way, Haru, what are you doing on Saturday?"

"Well… If I can’t go outside because of the rain, I guess I'll either spend time with Ryota or study. Though, it would've been nice to go out with Ayaka."

"Oh yeah, I forgot. You and Tojo are basically living together now, huh?"

"I wouldn’t exactly call it 'living together'…"

Haruto responded vaguely, but Tomoya shrugged.

"Eh, it's pretty much the same thing, isn’t it?" He then turned to Ayaka. "You wanted to go on a date with him, right?"

"Yeah, I did, but… Going out in the rain would be a hassle."

Ayaka looked slightly disappointed but suddenly brightened up as she remembered something.

"Oh! We talked about baking together before, didn’t we?"

"Oh yeah, that was when we had Ikue-san’s apple pie."

Back then, Haruto had mentioned that he wasn’t very good at making Western-style sweets, and Ayaka had suggested they try baking together sometime.

"Yeah! How about we spend this Saturday baking?"

"Sounds good, let’s do it."

As Haruto agreed, Shizuku’s ears perked up.

"I want sweets too! Oh! And Saturday is also the day Kazu-senpai is supposed to offer me brownies!"

Recalling what had happened at the dojo the day before, Shizuku's eyes lit up. Saki tilted her head.

"Kazu-senpai?"

"Oh, he's a senior from our dojo. Haru-senpai, Kazu-senpai, and I have been training together since we were little."

Hearing this, Ayaka looked at Haruto.

"Really?"

"Yeah, I’ve known Kazu-senpai since kindergarten."

"So he’s like your childhood friend, then. Akagi, do you know him?"

"Yeah, I do. But I haven’t seen Kazuaki-senpai in about a year."

Tomoya had occasionally hung out with Haruto and Ishikura when they were younger.

"If Aizawa and Tojo met Kazuaki-senpai, they’d definitely be shocked."

"Huh? Why?"

Saki looked puzzled at Tomoya’s smirk.

Ishikura had quite an intimidating appearance, which could be overwhelming for those who didn’t know him. Haruto could already imagine Ayaka and Saki's reactions upon meeting him and couldn't help but smirk himself.

Then, Shizuku suddenly raised her hand.

"I have a great idea. Let’s invite Kazu-senpai and all bake together on Saturday!"

"Oh, that sounds fun!"

Saki immediately jumped on board.

"You mean the five of us here, plus Kazu-senpai?"

Haruto asked, and Shizuku nodded firmly.

"Exactly."

"Six people, huh… We’d need a big enough kitchen for that…"

Haruto turned to Ayaka.

Seeing everyone’s eyes on her, Ayaka smiled.

"I’ll ask my mom. She’ll probably say yes."

"Please do. Since we’ll be barging in with a big group again, I’ll bring a gift or something."

"Oh, no need for that! My parents love having guests over."

As Ayaka reassured them, Saki’s curiosity sparked again.

"By the way, is this Kazu-senpai good at baking?"

"He’s amazing. Honestly, I don’t think I could ever beat him at it."

Hearing that from Haruto, Saki was impressed.

"Wow, if even Otsuki says that, he must be really skilled."

Saki sounded impressed.

Ishikura had always enjoyed baking as a hobby, but lately, he had been studying it on his own through videos. The quality of his creations had reached a level where they wouldn’t look out of place in a store.

Following Haruto, Shizuku also spoke about Ishikura’s baking.

"The fruit tart he made during summer break was absolutely divine. It was a taste worthy of the name ‘Gap of Lightning.’"

"Gap of Lightning? What’s that?"

Saki, who didn’t know anything about Ishikura, asked curiously.

Ayaka also tilted her head in confusion.

Meanwhile, Tomoya, who was familiar with Ishikura, burst into laughter.

"Oh man, if Kazu-senpai hears that, he’s definitely going to be mad."

"Yeah, he already got mad at me."

Shizuku replied nonchalantly, making Tomoya laugh even harder.

Haruto, amused by Tomoya’s reaction, glanced at Saki.

"But it’s going to rain on Saturday. Will you be okay? Won’t it be hard to get to Ayaka’s place?"

Saki used to live near Ayaka’s house, but she had moved recently and now lived farther away.

Haruto was concerned about her having to come all the way in the rain.

In response, Saki waved her index finger slightly from side to side.

"Otsuki-kun, never underestimate a girl’s passion for sweets."

"That’s right, Haru-senpai. You have zero understanding of a girl’s heart."

Shizuku chimed in, bringing back the earlier conversation.

"Alright, alright. My bad."

Haruto quickly apologized before Shizuku could start rapping again.

Ayaka, watching their exchange with a smile, turned to everyone.

"Okay then, I’ll check with my mom about Saturday."

"Thanks!" Saki and the others responded cheerfully, clearly looking forward to it.