Chapter 37 Appears! Marshmallow Monster! ...
Chapter 37
Although it was her first time participating in the IH, Miya Yuu left a deep impression on the audience with her exceptional setter skills. Sitting in the audience, watching Inarizaki's match, Kurokawa Kaoru's expression relaxed as if she had finally realized what had happened.
"Um...are you a fan of Inarizaki?"
The sudden voice made Kurokawa Kaoru turn around. His gaze caught the man's eye, and the man who had spoken blushed. He said sheepishly, "I saw you yesterday. You seemed to only watch Inarizaki's matches, so I thought you might be a fan."
Is he a fan of Inarizaki? Kurokawa Kaoru tilted his head and thought about it, then looked at the other party and nodded hesitantly.
"I think... right."
“I also became a fan after watching this year’s Inarizaki!”
As if they had found a common topic, the boy's expression was excited, his short, curly brown hair swaying. Seeing the silent gaze, he lowered his head again, the tips of his ears flushing red beneath his hair. "Sorry, am I talking too much?"
Judging from the other person's body language and expression, it can be concluded that the boy is not the type to socialize with others. If he is embarrassed here, he will probably shrink himself and it is unknown when he will take the initiative to talk to others next time.
He stared at the other person intently until the boy lowered his head in embarrassment and was about to apologize. Then, Kurokawa Kaoru let out a long sigh and said, "I'm here with a friend. He's a player from Inarizaki."
Irie Shoichi, the future technical advisor of the Vongola, turns out he was like this when he was a student.
As a genius in information technology, Kurokawa Kaoru had always maintained a good relationship with the Vongola technical department during his time as head of the Kurokawa Clan. However, compared to Irie Shoichi, he had more contact with Spana—his wild and imaginative ideas always inspired him.
I didn't expect to run into Irie Shoichi here. Seeing him awkwardly clutching at his clothes, Kurokawa Kaoru's expression shifted slightly, and his face softened. "My name is Kurokawa Kaoru."
"My...my name is Irie Shoichi!"
Taking the initiative to talk to someone older than him had already exhausted Irie Shoichi's courage. Hearing what Kurokawa Kaoru said, his eyes widened, and he looked at him in disbelief. "I came here because a friend said everyone wanted to buy the limited-edition marshmallows here, and I took this opportunity to visit IH. This is my first time at IH."
"Me too."
Kurokawa Kaoru lowered his eyes: "Although the game is very exciting, there are too many people here."
"That's what I thought!"
It was rare to meet someone he could chat with, so Irie Shoichi couldn't help but feel a little excited. Seeing the gentleness on the other person's face, he clenched his fists and, mustering up the courage, pulled out his phone. "If possible, I'd like to exchange contact information with you."
Kurokawa Kaoru blinked: "Of course..."
"Who are you chatting with? Xiaozheng."
The silver-haired boy appeared out of nowhere and hooked his arms around Irie Shoichi's neck from behind. At the same time, his eyes fell on Kurokawa Kaoru: "This is the first time I've seen you smile so happily."
"Bai, Bai Lan?"
Hearing the other party's voice, Irie was stunned for a moment, then he reacted and looked at the other party quickly: "When did you come here?"
"I was sitting behind Xiaozheng the whole time, but Xiaozheng didn't even glance at me."
The boy called "Shiran" by Irie Shoichi sighed, his voice filled with resentment: "After all, Xiaozheng's mind is full of new friends."
Irie Masakazu blushed a little after being told that. He lowered his head and sniffed embarrassedly: "Sorry..."
Satisfied with having earned enough guilt from Irie Shoichi, the boy raised the corners of his lips and took two steps forward to stand in front of Kurokawa Kaoru: "Hello, I'm Xiaozheng's friend, Bailan Jiesuo."
"Hello."
Unlike the man who was in front of Irie Shoichi just now, Kurokawa Kaoru's expression was dull, and he didn't even introduce himself to anyone: "Nice to meet you, Shiran."
"Kurokawa! It's time to go back!"
“…”
Just at this moment, Gong You and the others, who had finished packing their things, walked towards Kurokawa Kaoru. Looking at the young man in the audience, Gong You's expression was helpless. He raised his voice and said, "Didn't you say when you came here that you were going to eat ramen after this?"
"I'll be right there."
He smiled and waved at the person, and as expected, saw that the other person's expression became even more helpless. After doing all this, Kurokawa Kaoru turned around and changed back to that perfunctory smile that was so fake at first glance: "That's about it. I have some things to do here, so I won't chat with you anymore."
As he said this, Kurokawa Kaoru's gaze vaguely swept over Bailan Jesuo. Seeing that he was still smiling, Kurokawa Kaoru frowned, turned around and walked towards Gong You.
He was watching the figure behind him until the other person walked in front of the boy wearing the Inarizaki team uniform who had spoken before, and then Irie Shoichi reacted.
"I forgot to exchange contact information with him!"
"What a shame."
"We can only wait until next time..."
"next time?"
"Kurokawa just said that he's also a fan of Inarizaki. Let's wait until next year for IH... No, for volleyball, there should be Harukaka. I'm sure we can see them then!"
"It seems Xiaozheng likes this new friend very much."
Seeing the shyness on the person's face, Bai Lan Jie Suo chuckled, his mind full of the look that Kurokawa Kaoru gave him before he left.
It was a look that seemed to penetrate him. Once touched by the other person's gaze, no matter what he was thinking in his heart, it would be exposed in front of the other person.
He'd only come to buy the limited-edition marshmallows, but he hadn't expected to run into someone he'd be interested in. Thinking of what Irie Shoichi had just said about Harukao, Byakuran Jesso's breathing quickened, a cascade of emotions swirling in his chest, gathering into a storm.
"You're right, Xiaozheng."
Facing Irie Shoichi's puzzled gaze, Byakuran Jesso laughed.
"I'm sure we'll see you again."
“…”
It took two and a half hours to get back to Hyogo Prefecture from Tokyo by Shinkansen. Because he had promised to eat ramen with Kurokawa Kaoru, Miya Yuu didn't go back with the others from Inarizaki. Sitting in the corner of a car, looking out the window at the scenery, Miya Yuu stretched and finally couldn't help but sigh.
"Are you sad, Mr. Runner-up?"
Gong You's expression froze. The next second, a hint of helplessness flashed through his eyes: "I really can't hide anything from you."
"That expression is too obvious, idiot."
Seeing the frustration on his face, Kurokawa Kaoru's expression changed slightly, and he reached out and poked Gong You's cheek: "Do you need me to find some excitement for you to make you feel better?"
"Are you sure you want to improve my mood and not give me a scare?"
Hearing that Kurokawa Kaoru was trying to comfort him, Gong You sighed and pushed him away unhappily: "Thank you, but for the sake of my heart, I'd rather not."
Kurokawa Kaoru was a little unwilling to give up: "Really not necessary?"
“…”
Why do you still regret it?
After being frightened like that, Gong You couldn't feel depressed even if he wanted to. He took a deep breath to calm himself down, closed his eyes, turned to the right... and rested his head on Kurokawa Kaoru's shoulder.
"...You're too short, Kurokawa. I'm a little uncomfortable with this position."
"Then don't come any closer, asshole."
"Aren't you trying to comfort me? Don't be so fierce at a time like this."
Even though he was half a head shorter than me, he was still able to catch me steadily. I don't know if it was perfume or shampoo, but there was a faint fragrance coming from Kurokawa Kaoru's body. It was not pungent, and it was even unusually pleasant.
Enveloped by the fragrance, Gong You's lips curled up and he said, "I didn't catch the last ball."
“Everyone has things they can’t do.”
As if predicting what Miya Yu would say, Kurokawa Kaoru chuckled and almost immediately interrupted him: "I don't know much about volleyball, but you're not the only one on the team, right? It's a shame that we didn't win the championship, but compared to other teams that couldn't even get runner-up, Inarizaki's results are already very good."
Gong You sniffed and said, "At that time... the opponent obviously knew that my defense was not as good as others, so he dunked the ball in my direction."
"That's great."
"Why is it so good? Be careful or I'll get angry."
"You won the runner-up with your team in your first IH. When I was in the audience, I heard many girls praising your handsomeness. Next time there is a big competition like this, maybe you will even have a cheerleading squad."
"What is that?"
Gong You opened his eyes, his expression full of disgust. "That annoying guy who only makes a fuss and chatters the entire game, it's best if he never comes to watch my games again."
Kurokawa Kaoru felt a little amused: "Isn't it good to have fans?"
"Not at all."
When Gong You mentioned this incident, she became angry: "When it was my turn to serve, they kept yelling in the stands and I almost sent the ball out of bounds."
“Puff.”
"Kurokawa... I'm really getting angry..."
"Sorry, sorry."
He suppressed his inner urge to laugh, wiped away the tears that came from holding back his laughter, and Kurokawa Kaoru's shoulders shook. He spoke with a smile: "I was just thinking, if you really serve out of bounds, Miyaji will definitely laugh at you for it."
"Right?!"
"Well, you're right."
"So I said, fans and stuff are not good at all."
After mumbling a bunch of complaints, Gong You was stunned when he saw the smile in the man's eyes. He felt a little embarrassed, which was rare. "Why are you looking at me?"
"Just thinking about one thing."
There was still half an hour until the Shinkansen arrived. Hearing the announcement of the next stop, and seeing the confusion on Miya Yuu's face, Kurokawa Kaoru's eyebrows curved, his eyes clearly reflecting the other person's figure. "Compared to being with other people, it really makes me happier to see you acting funny."
“…”
The boy in front of him smiled gently. Hearing his laughter, Gong You opened his mouth and his face turned red successfully.
TBC.
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