The arrogant young lady in the class works as a maid in my house

"As expected of you, Hime-chan! You know everything!"

When Himeno heard Haruru's voice, she turned slightly and replied:

"Nothing, I just happened to know."

Although Himeno smiled at Haruru, she didn't even look at Shinnosuke and just walked away.

(She is really angry?)

Himeno's cold attitude made Shinnosuke break out in a cold sweat.

(No, this is to pretend that we are strangers at school. After all, I didn’t do anything to make Himeno angry.)

Although he was a little scared, Shinnosuke convinced himself that this was not the case.

*

After visiting Kinkakuji Temple, we went on a group tour to Nijo Castle, then had lunch at a place that provided group dining. We traveled by bus the entire time, a typical package tour.

They arrived at a place that looked like a large hall, with large tables lined up inside, and everyone sat in rows to eat together. This was a common dining scene.

After everyone finished their meal, the teacher picked up the microphone and began to explain to the students.

"Those who have finished their meals are free to move around. The area of ​​movement is within a two-kilometer radius centered on this spot. The map in the 'Field Trip Handbook' is clearly marked, so everyone must not stray too far from this area. The meeting time is 3:00 PM, meet at the parking lot here."

Even if the teacher says so, high school students will still act on their own. This is common practice. However, Koseiyuan Academy High School is a prestigious private school, so there are relatively many serious students.

Therefore, during off-campus teaching, students are asked to wear casual clothes, and their autonomy is respected, giving them time to move freely.

This restaurant is close to Gion. Within a two-kilometer radius, you'll find the Shijo Kawaramachi business district, the famous Gion teahouse street, Yasaka Shrine, and shrines and temples like Kiyomizu-dera Temple.

It can be said to be the best location for sightseeing in Kyoto.

The approximately two and a half hours of free time must have passed in the blink of an eye.

Many students filed out of the auditorium and into the corridor, heading outside to leave the dining building. Among them, a young lady could be seen walking with two friends.

As expected of Ji No, even in a crowd, she still stands out. Her beautiful hair, dignified posture, and delicate face give her the aura of a lady.

Today's battle plan was to act together, just as they had decided a few days ago, keeping a distance from each other. So Shinnosuke walked out of the building, keeping a proper distance from her.

"Hey, Princess, where are you going?"

"Well, I want to go shopping. How about going to the shopping street over at Ninenzaka?"

Ninenzaka is a narrow slope on the way to Kiyomizu-dera Temple. It's lined with souvenir shops and sweet shops, all built in Japanese-style architecture, giving it a distinctly Kyoto feel and making it a frequent news item.

"Yeah, alright. Let's go!"

When Jinai and her two friends were jumping for joy, a boy walked over quietly.

"Nishikawa-san, can I come along too?"

That man was a handsome guy who had been rejected by Himeno countless times but still refused to give up. He was very stress-resistant──Kimito Kitaoji.

"The three of us girls need to act together."

"Hey, please. We're in Kyoto, so why don't we go together?"

Touched by his enthusiasm, Jino's two friends whispered to her, "We don't mind."

"Look, your friends all said so."

"Um……"

Shinnosuke secretly observed their conversation from a distance.

At first glance, Nishikawa Himeno appears aloof. However, this isn't due to her inherent coldness; rather, she's unaccustomed to interacting with others, especially the opposite sex, and therefore struggles to be friendly. She actually possesses a gentle heart.

Getting to know her Shinnosuke better, that's now clear.

(Nishikawa may agree to Kitaoji's request.)

Shinnosuke had this premonition, and his heart inexplicably tightened.

"I'll decline. I want to be comfortable with girls. Sorry."

The result was contrary to what Shinnosuke expected. Himeno decisively rejected Kitaoji's request.

Himeno and the others left Kitaoji and set off for their destination, Ninenzaka. Shinnosuke also headed in the same direction as if nothing had happened.

"Wow... Nishikawa-san is really aloof. It's going to be hard to conquer him. But... that's the good thing about it. I'll keep trying."

Shinnosuke heard someone muttering at the intersection of Kitada behind him.

(This guy is really indomitable.)

When I think about it this way, I don’t find it annoying at all.

*

“Huh—huh—huh—”

Shinnosuke walked down the slope, his shoulders rising and falling as he breathed. To put it bluntly, he wasn't exercising enough.

In front of us, we can see Himeno's back as she walks up the slope with ease. Since she exercises regularly, she's not out of breath at all.

But the two girls walking with her seemed quite uncomfortable and gradually fell behind Jino. Jino turned around out of concern for them.

As a result, his eyes met with Shinnosuke who was walking tiredly.

At that moment, Jinai showed an expression of unbearable pain.

"That's why I told you to exercise."

To Shinnosuke, it seemed as if she was saying this to herself.

(Ugh, how embarrassing!)

In the past, even if his classmates noticed that he didn't exercise enough, he would not take it seriously. But being looked down upon by Jino was really embarrassing.

"Then let's go into this store and have a look."

Jino pointed to a small souvenir shop.

Harumi and Yukari both nodded vigorously as if relieved.

Shinnosuke watched the three of them walk into the store, wondering whether he should also enter the same store.

Jino said that they wanted to act together as much as possible during this off-campus teaching.

That being said, the first prerequisite is to avoid being noticed by those around you and to act as if nothing has happened.

"Hey, Azuma-san? Are you going to visit this store?"

Just when Shinnosuke was hesitating, Haruru's voice suddenly came from behind him.

"Eh? Ah, um. Yeah..."

"Then I'll go in and take a look."

"what?"

"Let's go!"

Haruru urged the dawdling Shinnosuke, putting her hand around his arm and pulling him along.

"I, I understand. Please don't pull me. Please."

"I didn't pull very hard. It shouldn't hurt, right?"

"It doesn't hurt. Although it doesn't hurt..."

Holding hands with the most beautiful girl in the school, I walked into a souvenir shop where my classmates were.

Shinnosuke had absolutely no desire to do something so conspicuous, but it would have been too rude to shake her hand off, so he couldn't do it.

(Ahhh, what should I do?)

While he was still hesitating, Haruru dragged him into the store. There were several classmates inside, and they were all surprised to see Haruru holding Shinnosuke's hand.

Right in front of them, Jino and two friends were looking at the merchandise.

She noticed the footsteps of Shinnosuke and the others entering the store and immediately raised her head.

Then Shinnosuke and Haruru were spotted holding hands.

In an instant, Jino's expression froze.

(Woooa ...

Shinnosuke had seen Himeno's cold expression many times before. But the expression before him now was even colder than before.

(He actually held hands with a girl he wasn't dating yet. This kind of frivolous behavior might be considered a crime by the serious Jinshichuan...)

"Nanfeng-san! Could you please let go? Everyone is watching, and this is really embarrassing."

Shinnosuke deliberately shouted at a volume loud enough for everyone to hear, showing an attitude of "It's not my fault."

"Ah, that's right. Sorry."

However, when she came to her senses, Jino had already said to her friend, "Let's go to the next store," and walked out of the store.

If Jino had intended to buy something but deliberately left without buying anything...

(So ​​she was super angry?)

Shinnosuke was really concerned about Himeno's thoughts and wanted to catch up with her as soon as possible.

"Hmm... there aren't any good products. It's a little different than what I expected."

Shinnosuke looked around the store and muttered to himself in a voice loud enough for people nearby to hear.

This time he was hinting to Haruru, "I'm leaving this store."

"Shall we go out then?"

"Ah, if Nanfeng-san wants to buy something, you can continue shopping."

"No, I don't want to buy anything, so I'm going out too."

"That's it."

When Shinnosuke left the souvenir shop, Himeno had already reached the road just before Ninenzaka. Further ahead was Kiyomizu-dera Temple, the destination for almost all tourists.

"Are we going to Kiyomizu-dera Temple?" Haruru asked.

"Ah, yes. Yeah," Shinnosuke replied.

Haruru followed naturally.

"Eh? Didn't Nanfeng-san come with his friends?"

"Yeah. At times like this, I really like to act on my own. I go wherever I want and chat or hang out with people I meet along the way."

Haruru gets along well with everyone and has many friends, so Shinnosuke can understand her behavior.

"So now I'm just a 'friend I met on the road', right?"

"That's true, but as I said before, I'm interested in Azuma-san, so I'm asking if you want to join me."

"I've said it before, I'm not an interesting person and not worthy of your interest in me."

"That's not the case, hehe."

Haruru narrowed her large, double-lidded eyes and smiled mischievously. Shinnosuke found it difficult to tell what she was really thinking.

After walking for a few minutes, they arrived at the main hall of Kiyomizu-dera Temple, the building with the "Kiyomizu Stage".

Shinnosuke, who was traveling with Haruru, was almost catching up with Himeno and the others, who were walking a little ahead. However, he pretended to have just happened to walk by, and the two of them didn't talk.

──And Himeno had a blank expression on her face, looking completely angry.

Perhaps because he and Haruru seemed to be on good terms and were acting together, she thought he was frivolous and careless. Shinnosuke was a little nervous.

Himeno went straight to the Shimizu Stage. Shinnosuke and Haruru also went to the Shimizu Stage.

On the other side of the handrails that enclose the stage is a green landscape, and looking ahead, the scenery of Kyoto city is in full view.

"Wow, it's so beautiful!"

Haruru yelled and ran towards the stage.

Shinnosuke was also attracted by her voice and the scenery in front of him, and walked quickly towards the handrail.

"Really? It's so beautiful."

Jino's attention was distracted by the two people who were so close that they acted together, so she quickened her pace and walked towards the edge of the stage.