123: How Cute~
Takashi put away the deck of cards and looked at the black-haired beauty in front of him. "I think I'm pretty funny."
The beautiful girl in front of him wore a light yellow cardigan-style vest that hung loosely down to her thighs.
Underneath was a simple and elegant one-piece dress, tied with a ribbon below the chest, cinching her slender waist that was almost too delicate to grasp.
She wore high-heeled sandals without straps. Her exposed toes were round and white, glowing with a jade-like luster.
Yukinoshita Yukino—her beauty lived up to her name.
With a delicate and dignified little face, crystal-clear pale skin, long hair cascading past her shoulders, long and well-proportioned limbs, a perfectly shaped waist, and flawless curves...
Though her chest was as flat as the Kanto Plain, aside from that imperfect flaw, there wasn't a single fault one could find with Yukinoshita Yukino.
Even Takashi, whose eyes were used to seeing beautiful girls, had to admit that in terms of sheer beauty alone, Yukinoshita Yukino was truly one of a kind.
Even when compared to Kaguya, Utaha, Eriri, or Marin—any one of them—he still thought Yukino was more beautiful.
If this were a domestic web novel, she would definitely be the dazzling white moonlight who stunned the world the moment she appeared, the girl the male lead could never forget.
"Seems like you really don't have a sense of humor," Yukinoshita Yukino's eyes paused on Takashi's hair.
Resting her chin on one hand, she tilted her head and smiled thoughtfully. "Did you get your hair shaved off by the police for harassing girls?"
"If you don't find your eyes useful, consider donating them to someone who needs them," he replied.
He looked this handsome—clearly he was the one being harassed by girls.
"Besides, being ugly is harassment. What I'm doing is called flirting. Get it?" Takashi took out his recently purchased Sony a9M3 camera, certified by Trump, and aimed it at the bald eagle.
Still the same line: When it comes to pro cameras, I choose Sony.
No autofocus can lock onto a head like Sony can.
If it were Nikon, the focus would probably be like a stray bullet.
"You're only good-looking in the face," Yukinoshita Yukino mocked, glancing at the brand-new camera in Takashi's hand.
She remembered clearly—this guy used to argue endlessly with the principal over financial aid issues at Soubu High.
In the end, he switched schools because Aoba offered more money.
It had only been half a year, and now he had money to splurge on cameras?
"You say that like good looks are all I have. What, I'm not smart too?"
"Smart? In front of me?"
Yukinoshita Yukino covered her mouth to hide her laughter.
"I ranked third in the national mock exams. What about you?"
Takashi snapped a photo, checked it, and felt something was missing. He adjusted his angle and tried again.
"Judging someone's intelligence purely by test scores just proves your brain isn't all that smart—and your perspective is narrow, Kitahara-kun."
"People who aren't smart always love to say: 'Grades don't determine a student's future' to comfort themselves."
Takashi didn't get it—if students don't compete on grades, what else do they compete on?
"Well, since you put it that way, I don't mind showing you the gap between a genius and a regular person."
Damn, the photo came out beautifully.
The lighting, the composition—one word: perfection.
Feeling proud of the photo he took, Takashi was in a great mood. "Music, sports, academics—you name it, pick whatever you want. Don't say I'm bullying you."
Yukinoshita Yukino fell silent at his words, lost in thought.
She had just been instinctively mocking Takashi.
Although this boy in front of her had awful views on life, values, and aesthetics, had a narrow perspective, lacked knowledge, and had limited life experience, she had to admit—this annoying guy was a very exceptional human being.
No need to mention his musical talent—last time, a video of him singing went viral online and was widely praised.
His grades were better than hers, too.
The only thing he hadn't shown yet was his ability in sports.
But...
Yukinoshita Yukino thought of her own stamina bar and got a bit of a headache.
She was well aware of her limits.
When it came to technique, she was confident she wouldn't lose to anyone. But sports inevitably came down to stamina.
"No rush. Tell me when you've decided,"
Takashi said casually, then walked off toward another exhibition area.
Yukinoshita Yukino silently followed behind.
After walking a while, Takashi seemed to sense something and stopped, turning around to look.
Yukinoshita Yukino immediately lowered her head, staring intently at the guidebook in her hands and nodding now and then—like a student who didn't understand the lesson but was pretending to.
Takashi eyed her suspiciously for a moment, turned back around, walked a few steps, then suddenly spun around again.
This time, he moved so fast that Yukinoshita Yukino couldn't hide it in time—he caught her red-handed.
Yukinoshita Yukino turned her face away as if nothing happened.
"Are you lost?"
Caught acting like this in front of the person she hated most, Yukinoshita Yukino wore an expression so painful it looked like she was ready to commit seppuku.
Her gaze then shifted with hatred toward the guidebook in her hands.
"Don't you have a map?"
"This is false advertising."
She had arrived even earlier than Takashi.
She had been at the exhibition the moment it opened.
But after following the map's instructions, she just kept looping back to the same place.
"Let me see that."
Yukinoshita Yukino instinctively reached out to hand him the guidebook—but suddenly thought of something, and pulled it back halfway.
She moved quickly, but Takashi still caught sight of the huge red circle she had drawn around the cat exhibition area in her pamphlet.
"You really like cats that much? What's so good about them?"
Takashi genuinely didn't understand why anyone would like such ungrateful creatures.
He had raised a cat before.
It wasn't affectionate, was timid, cold, ignored people, and it's poop smells horrible.
Damn it, Takashi really couldn't wrap his head around how something so tiny could produce something that stinky.
Unlike a puppy, who would wag its tail at you after just a few days of feeding.
Silently folding her guidebook, Yukinoshita Yukino looked at him in disbelief after hearing his words. "You don't like cats?"
The look on her face was as if not liking cats was punishable by death.
Takashi blinked, confused. "Is it weird to not like cats?"
"I have nothing to say to people who like dogs."
Yukinoshita Yukino's expression immediately turned cold, and she whipped her head around, leaving only the back of her head for Takashi to see.
"What a coincidence. I can't stand people who like cats either," Takashi said, not bothering her as he walked straight ahead, thinking, Looks like this is why we don't get along.
One liked cats, the other liked dogs.
Those who liked cats were afraid of dogs.
Those who liked dogs found cats annoying.
No wonder they argued every time they met.
Turns out they just weren't compatible.
After the bird area, they entered the small animal zone.
A bunch of little animals were gathered here, like hamsters, rabbits, ferrets, and other pets.
Takashi wandered around, taking pictures of the ones he liked.
When he turned around, he saw Yukinoshita Yukino also petting and scratching the little animals.
But each time she touched one, she tilted her head slightly, as if comparing the feeling to petting a cat.
"Some people say they have nothing to say to people like me, yet their body honestly followed me here," Takashi teased with a grin as he walked up to Yukinoshita Yukino.
Maybe because she realized she'd been caught following him, Yukinoshita Yukino stiffened for a moment.
Squatting on the ground, she looked up at Takashi and saw the contempt in his eyes, along with a faint mocking smile on his lips.
"How cute~," he said.
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