Chapter 30 I was here first!

Why is it that Nekono Ikuya is familiar not only with him, the transfer student, but also with the new transfer student? Furuya Rei looked at Nekono Ikuya, unable to contain his confusion.

Unfortunately, Nekono Ikuya's mind always jumps around very quickly. Before Furuya Rei could even ask, he suddenly had a flash of inspiration, as if an invisible light bulb had lit up above his head. He abruptly turned around, buried his head in the desk drawer, and began rummaging through it.

Rei Furuya couldn't grasp Ikuya Nekono's erratic thoughts either, and couldn't guess what he was looking for. However, since Ikuya Nekono had already turned around, and seeing the other's busy back, he could only awkwardly shut up for the time being.

Nekono Ikuya was looking for the potion she had brought to school yesterday. It was made by the witch and was very effective at treating all kinds of minor injuries. Black had used it and said it was great.

He had originally planned to deliver it to Furuya in person, but since Furuya came to the school himself, it was perfect timing.

Where did you put it?

Nekono Yuuya reached into the desk drawer, her fingers following her familiar memories, and her fingertips quickly touched a round, cool bottle.

His slightly rounded cat eyes curved into two cute crescent moons. Found it!

"Furuya-kun, here you go."

Nekono Ikuya gripped the bottle tightly, gently picked up the medicine, turned around, and handed it to Furuya Rei.

The morning sun was shining brightly. Nekono Ikuya and Furuya Rei were seated by the window, so when Nekono Ikuya handed over the crystal bottle, a ray of sunlight unfortunately refracted from the corner of the bottle, creating a thin, sharp golden line. The golden line instantly streaked through the air, and countless dust particles tumbled in the path of light.

Rei Furuya was momentarily blinded by the sudden burst of light, and he instinctively raised his hand to shield his eyes.

What is that shiny thing that Nekono-kun is holding? It can't be a gemstone, can it?

Nekono Ikuya was not holding a gemstone, but the high purity crystal in the bottle was not far from the standard of a gemstone.

However, the focus is not on the crystal bottle itself, but on the potion inside. The potion made by the witch is much more valuable than a crystal bottle.

Nekono Yuuya pinched the crystal bottle and slightly rotated her wrist. The beautiful pale purple liquid inside rippled with a hazy glow, as if life flowed within it, exuding a profound mystery.

"...Nekono-kun, what is this?"

Slowly lowering his hand from his eyes, Rei Furuya focused intently on the mysterious crystal bottle in Ikuya Nekono's hand, his tone gradually becoming hesitant.

He didn't reach out and rashly take the mysterious crystal bottle, because it looked crystal clear and seemed very precious just by looking at its appearance.

Nekono Yuuya casually put down the crystal bottle and said, "This is a potion my mother personally prepared. It's very effective for relieving pain and healing wounds. If Furuya-kun's foot really hurts a lot later, you can try drinking some. Maybe it won't hurt so much."

"Of course it won't hurt anymore once it's healed," Nekono Ikuya said, very confident in the witch's potion's effectiveness.

Medicine? Without hesitation, Jiang Gu...

He slowly blinked as he looked at the thick yet light, contradictory yet harmonious purple potion in the bottle.

Are wealthy people now using beautiful crystal bottles, practically works of art, to package medicine? Does this make the medicine taste better? Have the wealthy added a new, unique way of persuading people to drink medicine?

To be honest, looking at the mysterious-looking purple potion in front of him, Furuya Rei was actually a little hesitant to drink it.

He'd try anything that Nekono says is a drink, but potion? Purple potion really does make people think of poison.

Although its color is light purple rather than dark purple, it still gives people a profound feeling.

Furthermore, Rei Furuya reached out and slowly turned the crystal bottle on the table. After a moment, he stared into thought as he looked at the cat face pattern on the bottle that lit up in the sunlight.

Why is it a cat again?

How much does Nekono love cats? Cat paws, cat ears, cat heads—cat-themed items are present on most of his belongings.

Nekono-kun truly loves cats deeply.

Nekono Ikuya had no idea what Furuya Rei was thinking at that moment, but even if he did, his attitude would probably be quite self-righteous.

After all, with a witch in the house, isn't it normal to have a lot of cat-related elements?

Witches and cats are a perfect match!

He didn't care whether Furuya Rei would drink the potion or not; the potion had already been delivered, and whether Furuya Rei drank it or not was his own business.

However, just because Nekono Ikuya doesn't care doesn't mean that others don't care.

"Nekono Ikuya, honestly, don't try to persuade your classmate to take medicine indiscriminately!"

A familiar voice suddenly rang out from behind Nekono Ikuya, startling everyone.

At the same time, with a "thud," Nekono Ikuya received a sharp rap on the head.

It's Ms. Matsusaka Ume.

"Ouch~"

Nekono Ikuya raised her hand to cover her head, instantly switching to a teary-eyed expression, as if she had been hit by a huge blow.

Actually, Nekono Ikuya wasn't in any pain, but he and Matsusaka Ume-sensei had done this interaction too many times over the years. Every time Nekono Ikuya was naughty and Matsusaka Ume-sensei caught him, Matsusaka Ume-sensei would punish Nekono Ikuya with a sharp rap on the head like this. It was such a routine that Nekono Ikuya had developed a conditioned reflex.

Whether Nekono Ikuya will behave next time after the sanctions are another matter.

This time was no different. Because a somewhat special student had transferred to the class, Matsusaka Ume was worried and decided to come and take a look.

Unexpectedly, as soon as I entered, I heard Nekono Ikuya promoting "three-no medicine" to Furuya Rei.

Can you just drink medicine without a doctor's prescription? What if you have an allergic reaction or a drug reaction?

However, Matsuzaka Ume doesn't think Nekono Ikuya would actually give her classmates random medication. Although Nekono Ikuya has a bit of a personality flaw, she's not the kind of person who doesn't know her limits.

Matsuzaka Ume suspects that Nekono Ikuya might be tricking his classmates into drinking weird-tasting beverages, a new prank?

Pranks on classmates won't do either, Matsuzaka Ume thought. Punishment, it must be severe!

So—with a "thump."

That's how that sharp flick on the forehead came about.

"Waaaaah~"

Nekono Ikuya faked crying, her teary eyes making her look both cute and pitiful.

He felt wronged!

No, he really didn't cause any trouble or play any pranks on his classmates this time. The witch's magic potion will not cause allergies or drug interactions with other medications.

Unfortunately, these things cannot be said directly.

Nekono Ikuya felt extremely wronged!

He looked resentfully at Matsusaka Ume, who had dealt him the blow, his large cat-like eyes filled with accusation.

Matsuzaka Ume naturally ignored Nekono Ikuya, who was always dramatic, and acted as if she had a heart of stone.

There's no way around it; everyone who spends a lot of time with Nekono Ikuya develops a very fast level of "Iron Heart." If you don't add some points to "Iron Heart," you'll just become Nekono's scratching post, a tool for the evil Nekono who always pretends to be innocent.

When Matsuzaka Ume turned to face Furuya Rei again, her tone softened: "I've already spoken to the subject teacher. If your foot hurts so much you can't bear it, don't hold it in. Just raise your hand to signal the teacher, and Ikuya will take you directly to the school clinic."

As she said this, she glanced at Nekono Ikuya, who was covering her head. Nekono Ikuya immediately became serious and quickly gave Matsuzaka Ume an OK sign.

I understand, I understand. Of course I will take responsibility for Yumi's actions, so don't worry, Mei.

"The school doctor, Delang, has recently returned to the school. He won't be leaving the school clinic for the next few days, so you can just go directly to him for your injury. Don't worry, his medical skills are excellent."

Nekono Ikuya rested her chin on her hand, convinced she understood. It must be that Matsuzaka Ume-sensei had privately instructed Dr. Tokuro.

For the past few years, Dr. De Lang would spend a few months each year traveling to various places to dig for fossils, saying that one must pursue one's ideals for several years to avoid wasting one's life.

However, after chasing time for the past few years, Dr. Delong seems to be quite satisfied. Are he and Ms. Matsuzaka Ume planning to get married at the end of the year?

"I can be their flower girl," Nekono Ikuya thought. Although he was a bit over the age limit, he guaranteed to be cuter than younger flower girls.

"I understand, thank you Matsusaka-sensei." Furuya Rei smiled with a mixture of gratitude and embarrassment.

"Alright, class is about to start, so I'll be going now. Remember to contact me anytime if you have any questions."

This time, Matsuzaka Ume wasn't just looking at Furuya Rei, but also at Morofushi Kagemitsu, who smiled and nodded in response.

Before leaving, Matsuzaka Ume gave Nekono Ikuya a look, essentially telling him to keep an eye on the two transfer students and see if they were having any trouble adjusting.

Seeing that Nekono Ikuya nodded slightly in understanding, Matsuzaka Ume left with a worried expression.

As she left, she pressed her forehead wearily, deciding to return to kindergarten after teaching Nekono Ikuya's class, as elementary school students were much harder to teach than kindergarten students.

...It's also possible that she avoided Shin-chan and Ikuya in kindergarten, but happened to run into Ikuya Nekono in elementary school.

The school bell rang quickly, and before they knew it, the morning had passed. Nekono Ikuya finally realized that Furuya Rei's attitude towards him seemed a little off.

Nekono Ikuya searched his memory and found that it started during a break between classes when Morofushi Kagemitsu went to the restroom, leaving only him and Furuya Rei at the scene.

Rei Furuya, who sat at the table behind him, suddenly nudged his shoulder, and Ikuya Nekono turned around in confusion.

"???"What's the matter?

Rei Furuya held back for a moment, but couldn't resist asking Ikuya Nekono while his new deskmate wasn't around: "Nekono-kun, did you know Morofushi-kun before?"

How come the other person only transferred here yesterday, but today Nekono-kun is already so familiar with him?

They've started calling the new student by his first name, but Nekono still addresses him by his surname plus "classmate".

I was here first, wasn't I?

Nekono Ikuya confessed: "Yes, we knew each other before, but we mostly chatted online."

You knew each other before? Then it's alright.

Just as Furuya Rei felt a sense of relief, he suddenly heard Nekono Ikuya add:

"Let me think, I've known Jingguang for about half a month now. Wow, time really flies."

Nekono Ikuya and Morofushi Kagemitsu did know each other before, about a week later than Nekono Ikuya knew Furuya Rei.

The way they met was also quite peculiar. To put it simply, Morofushi Kagemitsu's way of contacting her was a special souvenir that Ai brought back to Nekono Ikuya after her trip to Nagano.

Although he didn't know why Ai gave him this souvenir, Nekono Yuuya privately suspected that when Ai was packing the souvenirs, the wind blew off a piece of paper and slipped in a note with her contact information written on it.

In short, for various reasons, mainly due to Nekono Ikuya's curiosity, they quickly became familiar with each other and even started calling each other more intimately.

It was Nekono Ikuya who recommended Morofushi Kagemitsu for transferring to this school!

Rei Furuya didn't laugh for a moment.

Based on the timeline, I knew Nekono earlier than she did, and one of them met in person while the other communicated online.

Why does Nekono-kun address him by his surname plus "classmate," but only by his first name when addressing a new classmate?

I was here first!