Chapter 14 Was he just tricked by Nekono-kun? ...

The bell rang at the right time, the teacher walked in, and the classroom finally managed to restore order.

However, throughout the entire class, Furuya Rei was unable to concentrate, his gaze uncontrollably falling again and again on the back of the black-haired boy sitting in front of him.

The man before me, Ikuya Nekono, had soft, raven-black hair, and while the skin on his neck was fair and radiant, it still fell within the East Asian category. From Rei Furuya's perspective, one could see half of his profile; the lines were clean and sharp, and his bone structure was remarkably superior.

No matter how you look at it, he is an East Asian boy with a slightly aloof temperament but absolutely standard appearance, which forms a stark and ridiculous contrast with his own conspicuous blond hair and dark skin.

"So..." Furuya Rei murmured to himself, "Why did I admit my mistake?"

He tried to find even the slightest basis for his claim, but of course, it was all in vain, so his confusion only decreased.

Just then, the teacher on the podium called out Nekono Ikuya's name and asked him to answer a question.

"Yes." Nekono Ikumi, who was sitting at the table in front of me, stood up gracefully.

His voice was clear and detached, his tone was steady, and his answers to questions were well-organized, which drew frequent nods of agreement from the teachers on the stage and the students below.

Rei Furuya noticed that when Ikuya Nekono stood up, several classmates around him subconsciously turned to look at him, their faces showing a kind of expectation that Rei Furuya couldn't describe, a mixture of habit and anticipation.

After answering, Nekono Ikuya sat down. Perhaps due to the slightly large movement, an ordinary ballpoint pen placed on the corner of the table was knocked off by his elbow and rolled gently to Furuya Rei's feet.

Rei Furuya almost instinctively bent down and picked up the ballpoint pen for him.

Just as Furuya Rei straightened up to hand the pen back, Nekono Ikuya in the front seat turned around and reached out to take it.

"Thank you," Nekono Ikumi said softly, reaching out to take the pen.

Their eyes met briefly for a moment.

As the distance closed, Furuya Rei could see more clearly. His black pupils showed no abnormality. Individually, his features were quite regular, and together they were even more refined. While he possessed a strong sense of individuality, enough not to be lost in a crowd, his distinctiveness was completely different from his own.

So why did all the students in the school mistake me for Nekono Ikuya without any doubt yesterday, even though they knew that 'Nekono-kun has always had black hair'?

Skin tone can tan at the beach, but turning black hair light blonde requires careful bleaching. They clearly knew that Nekono Ikuya had black hair!

Not only do they look different, but they also don't seem to have similar personalities. Besides, Nekono-kun looks aloof and doesn't seem like the type to suddenly dye her hair.

Rei Furuya was even more puzzled, but just then, he suddenly caught a subtle sense of unease.

Nekono's eyes were very... calm. Not the feigned composure common among boys his age, but a calm that carried a playful, observant quality, almost like a knowing gaze.

It was as if he had known all along that Rei Furuya had been watching him closely, studying him intently, and patiently waiting for Rei to make a move. Rei's actions of picking up and returning the pen were entirely within his expectations.

Rei Furuya's handing over the pen froze for a second.

Uh, his reaction speed when picking up the pen seemed... seemed a bit too fast...

Is this a clue? Did Nekono-kun realize that he's been watching him from behind?

A sense of unease rose in Rei Furuya's heart.

Ignoring Rei Furuya's stiffness, Nekono Yuya took the pen from Rei Furuya's hand quite naturally.

He even blinked his left eye at Furuya Rei so quickly and almost imperceptibly that a faint, sly smile flashed in his eyes, so fast that Furuya Rei wondered if he had seen it wrong, as if it were an illusion.

Rei Furuya was stunned.

Huh?!

Did Nekono just... just wink at him?! Furuya Rei was incredulous, wondering if he was hallucinating.

Meanwhile, Nekono Ikuya had already turned around naturally, as if the subtle exchange of glances had never happened, and he continued to listen to the lecture as usual.

While Nekono Ikuya herself calmed down, it made Furuya Rei unable to remain calm any longer.

He began to suspect that the pen he had just picked up might not have fallen accidentally.

I can't help but feel a little guilty, really guilty, but—

Rei Furuya slowly frowned. Why did he feel... as if he was being deliberately teased by Nekono-kun?

Was it just his imagination?

Is Nekono really that mischievous? If so, it's such a contrast to her appearance!

Rei Furuya stared intently at the back of Ikuya Nekono's head, his gaze burning as if he wanted to burn a hole in the black head in front of him with his invisible eyes to see what secrets were hidden inside.

Meanwhile, Nekono Ikumi, sitting in the seat in front of him, remained ramrod straight, listening attentively to the lesson, seemingly oblivious to the intense, inquisitive gaze directed at him from behind. Only when no one was watching did the corners of his mouth curve upwards slightly and incredibly quickly.

The new classmate is not only good-looking, but also has a fun personality. He's so interesting!

Should I tease him a little more? Feeling the burning gaze on the back of his head, Nekono Ikumi felt a tickle in his heart. He thought, maybe I should tease him a little more!

Just tease it a little bit, never be greedy!

Nekono Ikuya turned his head slightly, covering his face with a book, and quickly glanced back, just in time to meet Furuya Rei's purplish-gray eyes, which were fixed on him with a mixture of surprise, uncertainty, and curious inquiry.

Just as he expected, they arrived at the perfect time! At this point, a simple smile would be enough to make this new student even more conflicted. No sooner said than done!

Then Rei Furuya saw Nekono Ikuya suddenly turn his head without any warning, meeting his eyes directly, without any expression of offense or surprise at being stared at.

Instead, as if she found it amusing, the corners of Nekono Yuuya's mouth subtly turned upwards, revealing a faint and aloof smile, but her dark eyes clearly flashed with an elusive light.

Before Furuya Rei could respond, the other person acted as if nothing had happened and naturally turned back to listen attentively to the lesson.

!!

Rei Furuya slightly widened his purplish-gray eyes, his astonishment written all over his face.

Rei Furuya has finally been confirmed!

He was tricked by Nekono-kun, right? He was tricked by Nekono-kun twice in a row!

Oh no, now I really can't concentrate on the lesson anymore! Rei Furuya is so distracted, how can he possibly focus on the lesson?!

Rei Furuya's fingers unconsciously curled up, and he stared intently at the back of Ikuya Nekono's head once again.

At this moment, Rei Furuya developed an extremely strong curiosity about the girl who sat in front of him, whose personality and appearance seemed to be very different, far exceeding his confusion about her appearance.

Nekono is definitely not the cold person he appears to be!

"Ring ring~"

Nekono Ikuya quickly jotted down the last few notes and neatly closed the notebook.

Although he couldn't resist teasing the funny classmate behind him who kept staring at him during class—who could resist such a direct gaze and such an amusing person—this little incident didn't affect his mood.

While others might be surprised, Nekono Ikuya is usually very attentive in class and diligently takes notes.

It is precisely this attitude of not acting strangely when she shouldn't that makes the school teachers not dislike the quirky and ever-changing appearance and personality of Nekono Ikuya, and even show her considerable tolerance and affection.

We should respect each other's professions and hobbies.

Besides, Nekono Ikuya hadn't changed her appearance too much before. As one classmate said, 'Nekono-san always had black hair before.'

As for his striking appearance, that's another matter. One can only say that Ikuya Nekono's unique charm makes him stand out in a crowd no matter what appearance he adopts, as if he has his own spotlight.

People with high charm are like this.

"Nekono, the new script for the school festival is revised. It's based on your cool new character design from yesterday—blonde hair and dark skin. What do you think? Uh—"

The big guy from the other class who barged in yesterday, causing a huge shock to Furuya Rei before leaving gracefully, has barged in again in a similarly frenzied manner.

Visiting Class A is as familiar to him as coming home; no wonder the students in Class A not only didn't take his intrusion seriously yesterday, but also waved to welcome him.

The reason is that this person comes to Class A so frequently that he can be considered an unofficial member of Class A.

The big guy from another class stepped into Class A with an excited smile on his face, but froze when he saw Nekono Ikuya and Furuya Rei.

"You, you all—?!!"

He raised his hand shakily, his fingertips hovering between Nekono Ikuya and Furuya Rei, his pupils dilating in shock, looking utterly stunned.

The burly guy from the other class had his expression change rapidly, switching between several expressions in a second.

It was clear that his thoughts were very complicated, and his brain was working frantically, trying to understand what was going on with the two wild cats he was seeing.

Rei Furuya could almost read his thought process from his expression.

Wait, why are there two Nekono here! → Could Nekono be experiencing mitosis? → No, no, no, such a fantastical idea couldn't be true! → Which one is the real Nekono? → Hmm, it should be the one with black hair! → And who's the blonde one? → Ah, could it really be the transfer student?! → Does that mean he mistook someone for someone else yesterday? → Awkward, he really seems to have mistook someone for someone else yesterday! → Ahhhhhh!!

The big guy from the other class was slowly petrified into a sculpture, a pitiful sculpture with lightning flashing above his head, about to be slashed open by a thunderbolt.

It may have already been split open.

The hand holding the script trembled slightly.

"Pfft~" Although it was immoral, Furuya Rei couldn't help but turn his head and laugh.

"I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry." He waved his hands repeatedly, signaling to the others not to mind him.

There's no way around it; seeing the person who greatly shocked him yesterday looking equally shocked today, it's really hard not to laugh.

That can be considered a way of making up for the shock of yesterday.

A note from the author:

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