Sᴘʟᴀsʜᴇs & Sᴛʀɪᴋᴇs | Nagi Seishiro √

13. 𝐀𝐧 𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧

"C'mon, mate." Kaiser attempted to uplift Chigiri's spirits after listening to his story about Rea—how she confessed to Nagi at the ambulance and even saw them together yesterday at the amusement park. "There are plenty of pretty girls out there. You're stuck on someone who seems murderous."

"She doesn't seem murderous," Chigiri defended. "She's just indifferent to everyone. When I invited her, she acted like she couldn't care less, but then, after the incident with Shidou, she thanked me."

"So, that made you think you had a chance with her?" Kaiser raised an eyebrow, to which his friend nodded. "Girls are seriously complicated. Forget about it, man. Even her friend is cute. That short red-haired girl—adorable."

"Let's order something." Chigiri suggested, realizing they had been sitting around for ten minutes without placing an order, caught up in discussing Rea Mikage. As he looked around for a waitress, his gaze halted at the pair who just entered the café. His pink eyes widened, prompting Kaiser's curiosity. Following Chigiri's gaze, he saw Nagi and Rea entering the café, still clad in their school uniforms. It was three in the afternoon; what were they still doing in uniforms?

Rea spotted Chigiri's widened eyes while trying to find an empty table. Her smile widened, surprising Chigiri even more as it was the first time he had seen her smile. She poked Nagi's upper arm and led him towards Chigiri's table.

"Hello, Chigiri-senpai!" Rea greeted, stunning Chigiri when she referred to him as 'senpai.' "How are you doing?" Then, she noticed Kaiser. "Oh, Casper, you're here too. Hi!"

"Kaiser." Three boys corrected her simultaneously.

Rea scanned the tables, realizing they were all occupied, and turned back to them. "Would you mind if we join you?"

"Yeah, sure." Chigiri moved to the window side, making space for Rea. However, Nagi unexpectedly took that seat, leaving Rea to sit with Kaiser.

"How's your injury, Mikage-san?" Chigiri asked, a faint blush coloring his cheeks. "I saw you two at the amusement park. It seemed like you were doing well."

"Yesterday morning, the bandages were changed again. It's not as painful now," Rea responded. "But wait, why didn't you talk to us if you saw us?"

"He thought you guys were on a date." Kaiser quipped, causing Rea to blush.

"Nope, we—"

"Yes, we were on a date," Nagi interjected, interrupting Rea and causing her to scowl.

"Hey, you can't call it a date, idiot," Rea scolded, recalling the haunted house incident. "Nobody takes a girl to the Haunted House for a date, sloth."

"You were the one who wanted to go first, dark witch, if I remember correctly," Nagi retorted, engrossed in the menu. "Order something for me too; it's a hassle to think about what to eat."

Rea groaned, snatching the menu from him. The other two boys were utterly perplexed by this couple. Were they dating or not? One denied it, while the other seemed to be openly admitting to it.

"So you two aren't dating?" Kaiser pointed between Nagi and Rea.

"No, Casper," Rea said sternly, ordering Donburi and lemon tea for both Nagi and herself. "He's in denial, don't worry. Don't you want to order? Today, it's on me because you guys helped me a lot that day and had to risk your lives for me and my brother."

"Seriously?" Kaiser raised his eyebrow as Rea nodded.

Kaiser made his selection and signaled the waitress over. Nagi distinctly heard a sigh of relief from the person next to him after Rea's clarification, which annoyed him. Why did Chigiri feel relief hearing that? Was he serious when he asked Reo the other day to talk to Rea?