Chapter 36. To prevent the ice cream from melting. ...

"Yu Mi, will you come with me today?"

"Okay, Jingguang."

During the break, amidst the noise of students, a mundane and brief conversation drifted over and was keenly picked up by Rei Furuya.

Rei Furuya slowed his movements and subtly pricked up his ears.

"I have chores to do after school, Yumi, so we'll have to stay a little later today."

"It's okay, I can wait for you in the classroom. I don't have anything else to do today anyway."

"Okay, thank you then."

“(Smiling) Don’t be so polite, Jingguang, we’re good friends.”

(Chuckles) Yes, good friend.

"..." Good friend, Furuya Rei's purplish-gray eyes narrowed dangerously.

These two guys, I'm good friends with you, right? Is there anything you know that I can't? Damn it, you're forming a clique behind my back!

With exceptional initiative, Rei Furuya made a decision almost without hesitation: he had to follow them and see what those two wretched guys who had been sneaking out alone behind his back lately were up to.

So after school that day, when Morofushi Kagemitsu finished his duty and walked out of the school gate chatting and laughing with Nekono Ikuya, who had been patiently waiting for him, Furuya Rei, who had been patiently hiding behind the security booth, quietly peeked out. He first frowned and stared at the backs of the two people walking side by side in front of him, and then followed them at a cautious distance.

The Silent Stealth of Falling Valley Rei.jpg

The security guard at the gate stared at Furuya Rei's clear figure on the surveillance camera: "..."

Here we go again, the baffling sexual behavior of elementary school students is back. The last time he saw a similar scene was before, with three people involved.

They are a boisterous potato-headed boy, a calm and composed dark blue-haired boy, and a young lady from the famous Suotome family.

Why are there different actors this time? People sit in the pavilion, divination comes from the heavens; history is a cycle, I never imagined that elementary school students' stories could be so colorful.

The security guard at the guard booth watched the three heads—two black and one gold—walk away, shook his head helplessly, and snapped a button on the button beside him. The gate slowly closed.

"Fine, it's none of his business how curious he is," the security guard at the booth struggled to resist the temptation of gossip, pulling his gaze away and returning to the surveillance camera. He decided to just stand guard diligently for the last few minutes of the day until he went home.

Security guard at the booth: That's how dedicated I am! (Gives a thumbs up)

"Where exactly are Jingguang and the others going? It seems like they're just wandering around without a clear destination. Why are they avoiding me...?"

Furuya Rei hid behind a big tree, staring at two furry black heads in front of him, muttering to himself. The more he followed the two, the more puzzled he became.

Along the way, he used every obstacle along the roadside, such as telephone poles, vending machines, newsstands, and even trash cans, as cover, making full use of his innate talent for stealth, and carefully following Nekono Ikuya and Morofushi Kagemitsu.

Even his stealth skills have improved significantly without him realizing it, but unfortunately, Furuya Rei still couldn't figure out what Nekono Ikuya and Morofushi Kagemitsu were up to.

What exactly are they trying to do?

Watching Morofushi Kagemitsu and Nekono Ikuya leaning close together, chatting and laughing intimately, Furuya Rei pursed his lips and tightened his grip on the tree trunk.

That radiant smile is infuriating!

Rei Furuya felt a string of sour bubbles rising in her heart, a rather unpleasant feeling. What were they whispering amongst themselves? Rei wanted to hear too.

He watched as Nekono Ikuya naturally placed her hand on Morofushi Kagemitsu's shoulder, glanced in his direction seemingly unintentionally, and whispered something in Morofushi Kagemitsu's ear. Morofushi Kagemitsu immediately nodded and smiled at Nekono Ikuya as well.

"!!!" Bang bang bang.

Rei Furuya suddenly shrank back, his heart skipped a beat, then suddenly sped up as if it were about to jump out of his chest, and his breathing became tense.

Had he been discovered? Impossible...right? He should have been hiding very well.

Rei Furuya was flustered and very uneasy. After calming down a bit, he waited several seconds before cautiously peeking out again.

"..." Unable to tell whether he was relieved or disappointed, Furuya Rei noticed that Nekono Ikuya and Morofushi Kagemitsu turned around and walked towards the ice cream shop next door.

Sigh, so they were planning to go buy ice cream together? Furuya Rei thought of the ice cream he had treated Nekono Ikuya and Morofushi Kagemitsu to not long ago when his wallet had shrunk considerably, and a dark cloud drifted over his head.

Hmph! To eat alone is even more despicable!

Furuya Rei, both angry and dejected, changed to another cover and continued... stealthy in the shadows.

The two lingered at the ice cream shop for a while. While taking out his money, Nekono Ikuya pointed to several flavors with his finger before looking at Morofushi Kagemitsu with satisfaction, indicating that Morofushi Kagemitsu should choose.

It seems that Nekono Ikuya wants a multi-scoop ice cream with various flavors. Furuya Rei pursed his lips, not particularly surprised by this.

He was still cautiously peeking out.

Morofushi Kagemitsu's preferences were much simpler. Unlike Nekono Ikuya, he wasn't curious about trying every flavor. He felt that eating too many flavors would be too complicated, so this time he only ordered pure cream ice cream.

Nekono Ikuya handed Morofushi Kagemitsu's pure white ice cream to him, and then took his own two colorful ice creams from the clerk.

Of course, it's two. Furuya Rei looked at the ice cream balls on the two ice cream bars stacked high in Nekono Ikuya's hands. After all, this ice cream shop has so many flavors of ice cream, how could one bar possibly hold them all?

If it weren't for the fact that Ikuya Nekono only has two hands, Rei Furuya believes that Ikuya Nekono would have taken three, four, or even more ice creams.

"I hope Nekono Ikuya doesn't get a stomachache after eating so much ice cream," Furuya Rei thought gloomily.

After taking the ice cream, Nekono Ikuya and Morofushi Kagemitsu started walking and laughing again, their heads close together, whispering something funny.

They would occasionally glance around aimlessly, as if they had discovered something.

At this point, Furuya Rei would cautiously retract his head and wait a few seconds before peeking out again to observe, as it was best to be on the safe side.

This time was no different. As Nekono Iku casually looked around, Furuya Rei also pulled his head back into the billboard. After waiting a few seconds and estimating that the time was about right, he cautiously poked his head out.

Then he discovered that only Morofushi Kagemitsu remained in the same spot, and Nekono Ikuya had disappeared without a trace!

"!!!" Jiang Guling was shocked.

Strange, where did Nekono Ikuya go? Furuya Rei stared at Morofushi Kagemitsu, who was calmly biting into his ice cream and looking completely unconcerned, and fell into deep thought.

Nekono Ikuya took a bite of the ice cream in her left hand, looking at the blurry reflection in the shop window beside her with a hint of amusement, and whispered to Morofushi Kagemitsu:

"Kagemitsu, when do you think Furuya will finally realize that we've known he's been following us for a while now?"

To this day, Ikuya Nekono still refers to Rei Furuya as "Furuya-kun," not because their relationship is distant, but because "Furuya-kun" has become a special title in Nekono's eyes.

Nekono Ikuya no longer addresses others as "so-and-so-kun," and coincidentally, Furuya Rei is gradually doing the same.

Morofushi Kagemitsu followed Nekono Ikuya's gaze to the shop window. What he was looking at was not his own and Nekono Ikuya's reflections in the window, but rather a small half of a golden head peeking out from behind their reflections on a distant billboard.

A mischievous smile appeared in his eyes as he also quietly moved closer to Nekono Ikuya.

"Zero's tracking skills are pretty good, but his blond hair is just too conspicuous. He should cover his hair up a bit. Hmm, at least wear a hat?"

Nekono Ikuya has a preference for blue eyes; today he simply changed the color of his eyes, replacing his emerald green eyes with a sapphire blue.

So the two similar blue cat eyes looked at the golden head hidden behind the billboard, which was reflected in the shop window.

"Haha, Zero/Furuya-kun is really quite cute." Two pairs of bright sapphire blue cat eyes curved into similar crescent moons and laughed in unison.

Nekono Ikuya and Morofushi Kagemitsu had, of course, already discovered Furuya Rei. It wasn't because Nekono Ikuya's bodyguard, who was also hiding in the shadows, betrayed them, but because, as Morofushi Kagemitsu said, Furuya Rei's blond hair was so conspicuous that it even reflected light in the sunlight.

Nekono Ikuya and Morofushi Kagemitsu were caught by a glimpse of Furuya Rei's blond hair through a glass window beside them on the road, and naturally they noticed Furuya Rei.

They've been circling around for so long because they're curious when Rei Furuya will show up.

However, it seems that if Nekono Ikuya and Morofushi Kagemitsu don't expose him, Furuya Rei will likely stubbornly keep it hidden all day.

There's nothing we can do about that.

Morofushi Kagemitsu looked at Nekono Ikuya with a smile: "The ice cream is melting."

Nekono Ikuya smiled as well: "Yes, the ice cream is melting."

He glanced at the incredibly tempting colorful ice cream he was holding in his right hand; it was something they had specially bought for Rei Furuya. Nekono Ikuya and Morofushi Kagemitsu hadn't forgotten Rei Furuya!

But if Rei Furuya doesn't come out now, his ice cream is really going to melt. Ikuya Nekono and Kagemitsu Morofushi exchanged a glance, a similar sly glint in their eyes.

There was no other way, so they had to go and catch Furuya Rei, who was happily playing hide-and-seek with them, so that the ice cream wouldn't melt.

Yes, even if it's just so this ice cream doesn't melt in vain. Nekono Ikuya and Morofushi Kagemitsu quickly and tacitly reached a consensus while exchanging glances.

The next second, Nekono Ikuya disappeared.

Where did Nekono Ikuya go? Furuya Rei was still intently guessing when suddenly—

"Furuya-kun, have you seen enough? How about taking a break and having some ice cream?"

A familiar, smiling voice rang out from very close behind him.

Rei Furuya froze and turned around abruptly.

Suddenly, Nekono Ikumi appeared behind him, smiling at him and holding a perfectly intact ice cream cone.

"Here you go." Nekono Ikumi still had a smile on her face as she handed him the ice cream.

Rei Furuya stared at the ice cream for a few seconds, then suddenly realized, "You guys noticed a long time ago!"

He suddenly turned around and looked at Morofushi Kagemitsu, who had been nonchalantly eating ice cream in the distance.

Morofushi Kagemitsu waved to him gently, revealing his familiar, slightly helpless yet amused gentle smile, but Furuya Rei could see the gleam of a successful prank in Morofushi Kagemitsu's eyes.

He then looked at Nekono Ikuya, whose innocent yet somewhat irritating gaze was. Nekono Ikuya tilted his head: "Ice cream, Furuya-kun, do you want some?" He waved his hand.

Rei Furuya glared at Ikuya Nekono's hand, snatched the ice cream from it, and took a big, angry bite. "Of course I'll eat it!"