From the Bottom to the Top

Volume 5: Chapter 3

"I never thought you'd actually accept my request, Kuzecchi. I'm honestly surprised."

"You approached me out of the blue and asked if I could help you trek through this place. You, of all people, asked me for help. No way was I going to ignore this."

Masachika sent a knowing look at his companion for this time, who happened to be one of the most polarizing figures in their school, Nonoa Miyamae.

Originally, he was planning to spend his morning helping out Alya, Masha, or Chisaki as he had always done, but Nonoa approached him after breakfast and asked if he could accompany her to the forest.

As much as wanted to, he couldn't refuse her while Chisaki was there, because the latter would definitely question him for his reasons why.

And that could only mean that she chose the perfect time to approach him.

Nonoa raised an eyebrow, "Did you expect me to do this on my own, Kuzecchi? I thought we were all about helping each other so we could get home?"

"That's true, but you also could've gotten someone else to help you that's not me."

"Aren't you supposed to be the one who handles most of the physical labor? As if I would choose someone else to help."

"I sincerely doubt that exploring the forest even requires physical labor on my part, Miyamae-san. Why don't we skip the pleasantries and go straight ahead to why you asked me to help you out?"

After a few moments, Nonoa sighed as her shoulders slumped in defeat.

"Fine... it was fun while it lasted."

"I don't think anything about this can even be considered as 'fun'..." he sweat-dropped.

Throughout their time being stranded on this island, the young man actively kept his distance from Nonoa... not because he disliked her or anything, but because of how alluring she is.

Despite their alarming situation, the girl didn't let it bother her and continued to act like how she normally does.

In most circumstances, this attitude would affect the entire group in a negative manner but fortunately for everyone, Nonoa had enough sense of responsibility to treat this dilemma seriously. She complied with orders that were given to her and toned down on the playfulness whenever she had to, and that was enough for everyone.

But he knew deep down, he can't keep his guard down around her. Especially now when they were alone.

Masachika was well-aware of this girl's nigh-irresistible charm, because there were several instances in the past where Nonoa tried to lure him into her game using her own body.

This girl knew that she was attractive and took advantage of it by playing with other males' perception of her. She makes them think that she's a cute gyaru who can make for a hot girlfriend but in actuality, they were only experiments for her.

Nonoa was a girl who had no problem being uncomfortably close to boys because in the end, those people were nothing more than playthings in her eyes.

Masachika was aware of this, and so he avoided her as much as he could while they were here. But he could only do it for so long, especially when he's the only guy around here.

Even if he tries to steer clear of her, it would only cause Nonoa to shift her complete attention towards him once she notices what he's doing.

The last time he was with Miyamae was when he went foraging with her and Taniyama, which was over a month ago. But even that wasn't perpetrated by the blonde, as it was Sayaka who asked for his help that time.