Chapter 345: Tea Tester (1)

As I separated with Himeko who went back to their table, I took my time to visit Aya and check on her.

Even though she was immersed in reading the light novel she bought yesterday, as soon as I approached her, the girl turned towards me with a smile.

Hugging her from the back, the girl started summarizing what she read to me.

Seeing her enthusiastically doing that, like always, I listened intently while engaging her with some questions even though I already knew the answer. Because of that, it made her even more engaged with our conversation.

The girl clearly enjoyed what she was reading despite the long and absurd title it possessed. Apparently, there was a deep plot about it that went about redemption of the introverted girl and her beloved Demon King, restoring the world to how it was once.

Since she's already used to retelling the story in a clear manner, I easily followed it and even without reading that book, it felt like I was there with her.

And that made it even better for the few minutes we had today.

After that, I kissed her and told her that I would go back later to walk her to the train station.

I would be meeting Chii there anyway so I was quite free when walking towards it. We were with Nami yesterday so my attention was somewhat divided.

Let's see, I'll just make it a little special for her today before I meet up with Chii.

When I left the Book Club, my feet then led me to the next room, the Poem Appreciation Club.

It's to fulfill my promises to that tea girl of seeing her everyday as well as tasting the experimental tea she would be brewing.

There's still no clear date for that competition with her own mother so for now, I would become her lab rat to try every new tea recipe she could think of.

Unlike before, I only needed to knock once when Mina's small round face peeked out of the door.

Perhaps it's because she was already expecting me. Compared to before wherein my visit was somewhat unplanned.

"I'm here for the tea… and the girl brewing it." I smiled at the girl which instantly made her pout her lips and roll her eyes at my shamelessness.

However, instead of flaring up, she opened the door wide for me to enter.

"Shameless guy, behave yourself today. You're not the only one here."

Confirming what she just said, I noticed that there were two more girls sitting at that low table.

Obviously, they were the other two girls of Haruko.

They only sent me a single glance before instantly averting their eyes. Like Serizawa-senpai, more than hating my existence in Haruko's life, they're afraid to interact with me.

However, for them to stay here... Something was at play. Haruko or Mina? They probably decided that it's time for me to at least introduce ourselves to each other.

"Am I not the most behaved guy you know?" I answered Mina jokingly.

As expected, it earned a sneer from her and a look of disgust from the two girls sitting by the low table.

"Your shamelessness really knows no bounds." Mina released a sigh before going over to the tea that she was currently brewing at the side.

I followed after her, partly ignoring the two who wouldn't dare to meet my gaze.

Hugging the girl from the back, the expected slap on my hand didn't come but instead I was put under her judging glare.

"I told you to behave. What are you doing?"

"Greeting my girlfriend?"

"I'm not your girlfriend! If you continue doing this I'll look for another guy to replace you."

Although she's raising her voice, the girl was secretly enjoying my embrace.

Perhaps it was just an act for the other two girls but like her, I'm quite enjoying this act of hers.

Tightening my arms, I rested my chin on her shoulder before whispering in her ears. "Just a little. I'll be behaving soon once you're done brewing."

"Shameless guy. You keep on taking advantage of our situation."

"I know. Reprimand me later but I just really like being this close to you. I promised to always see you, to make you understand that I'm serious about liking you."

"That tongue of yours, if I get the chance, I'll cut that off."

"Be my guest. But I'll take all the chances with you."

After saying that, I kissed her exposed side of her neck up to her earlobe.

Although she was slightly squirming, it's just because she's a bit ticklish with what I did.

When I started nibbling on it, Mina held onto my arm and tried to stop me.

"Haa… This guy. Stop for now. You also promised me to test my tea recipes. Behave yourself and wait for me to finish here."

At this point, I could honestly say that I was close to conquering this girl. Her words and her actions were somewhat contradictory because of how she couldn't fully accept me yet.

I might get away from being somewhat stubborn now but if I continue ignoring her pleas, this girl would really start hating what I was doing.

That's why to tread on this carefully. I released her from my embrace and released her ear from my locked lips.

"You're right. I'll wait patiently there then."

"At least you know when to stop. Don't make them too uncomfortable, alright?"

"Leave it to me."

Although I said that confidently, I still had no idea how to deal with the two senpais who would probably not want to be associated with me.

The low table was circular, the two senpais who I hadn't had the chance to know their names yet were huddled together on one side. Since they're afraid to meet my gaze, when I sat down on the empty side right in front of them, they instantly edged towards the side with considerable distance from me just to escape my gaze when I sat down.

Upon seeing that, I could only shake my head and turn my gaze to Mina's back who's concentrating on what she's doing.

Haruko wasn't here who would make them try to interact with me so I had no idea how to approach this.

Perhaps if I opened my mouth to talk to them here, I would be ignored or worse, they would stand up and run away.

Around two minutes later, amidst the silence surrounding us, my arm that was resting on the table started tapping on it to lessen my growing boredom.

Well, no, I did that intentionally to see if the two would react.

I hadn't had the time to observe them since that would make the two uncomfortable. It's better to bide my time to get a better result.

A few seconds after I started tapping my fingers on the table, a silent voice entered my ears.

"Uhm… C-can you please stop doing that?"

Taking that as a chance to converse with them, I turned my head to look at the source of the voice, the other 2nd year like Mina and Himeko. She's sporting a low twintails hairstyle with her orange hair. Although her voice was that silent, her eyes were sharp, cold and somewhat dead-looking.

Perhaps just being stared at by her, one would feel a biting cold.

I thought of responding to her but upon meeting her gaze, I was stumped.