Tokyo: Love Begins with Controlling the Rich Girl

"Is there something you need?" Seeing that the young lady didn't speak, he had no choice but to ask.

Yukine Kamishiro instinctively shook her head, then stopped abruptly, as if remembering something, and asked, "Did Shimada-kun read his geography book yesterday?"

"...I saw it."

"Did you understand the content of Chapter Three?" she asked again.

Shimada Sho was surprised; he hadn't expected the young lady to ask such a question.

Since the quiz last week, he hasn't really looked at his geography book.

But since his geography wasn't bad, he gave a vague answer, "It's alright."

"Could you explain this to me, Shimada-kun?" Yukine Kamishiro opened the geography book on the table and pointed to a page. "I don't quite understand this part."

Shimada Sho glanced down.

It's about climate zones, not too difficult.

What is the difference between the equatorial low-pressure belt and the trade wind belt?

"Ah."

Shimada Sho thought for a moment, organized his thoughts, and began to explain.

His geography scores were much better than his Chinese and history scores; he could still explain these basic subjects clearly.

Yukine Kamishiro listened quietly, nodding occasionally.

Her gaze fell on the pages of the book, her long silver hair cascading down her shoulders, a few strands landing on the back of Shimada Sho's hand, tickling him.

After Shimada Sho finished speaking, he looked up at her and asked, "Do you understand?"

"I understand." She nodded. "Thank you, Shimada-kun."

"You're welcome."

Shimada Sho turned around and continued reading.

A short while later, I was poked in the back again.

"Shimada-kun."

"..."

He turned around, and the young lady remained in the same position as before.

"There are a few words in Unit 5 of the English textbook that I'm not quite sure how to pronounce," said Yukine Kamishiro, opening her English book and pointing to the words.

Shimada Sho glanced at it and read the pronunciation aloud.

"Shimada's pronunciation is very standard."

After reading the words aloud, Yukine Kamishiro gave her evaluation.

"good."

Where did you learn it?

"That's what they taught at school."

"Is the English teaching level at Dongli High School really that high?" she asked, her tone tinged with surprise.

Shimada Sho couldn't continue the conversation.

She didn't seem to need the answers very much, and soon turned the page again, asking about the pronunciation of a few words.

Shimada Sho read it again.

"Thank you, Shimada-kun."

"Any other questions?" Shimada Sho asked before turning around.

The young lady poked him several times.

If we don't solve the problem, we'll probably get poked at again soon.

"No more." Yukine Kamishiro shook her head, a faint smile on her lips.

Shimada Sho nodded. "That's good."

He turned back, ready to greet the school bell.

But only one minute had passed—

"Shimada-kun."

The ethereal and calm voice of Yukine Kamishiro came again.

Shimada Sho felt a light poke on his back again.

He turned around with utter helplessness, "What is it now, Miss?"

A faint smile played on Yukine's lips as she met his gaze. "Shimada-kun doesn't seem too keen on talking to me?"

"No," Shimada Sho denied.

She tilted her head in confusion, "Then why do you turn back so quickly every time you turn around?"

"Because you asked a question, I'll go back after I finish asking it."

"What if I don't ask any questions?"

"...What are you trying to say?"

Yukine Kamishiro thought for a moment and said calmly, "The weather is nice today."

Shimada Sho glanced out the window.

The sky was overcast, with low-hanging clouds, making it impossible to see anything "good" about it.

"...Yes, it's not bad."

What do you think, Shimada-kun?

"I think... it's alright."

"Shimada likes to say 'It's alright' a lot."

"Is there?"

"Yes," she nodded firmly. "I've said it several times already."

Shimada Sho opened his mouth to refute, but realized that he did seem to have said quite a bit.

"Because it's actually not bad," he finally replied.

Yukine stared at his perfunctory expression for two seconds, then gently curved the corners of her mouth into a smile.

The smile that had been faintly visible was now fully revealed.

Although it was a faint smile, Shimada Sho's heart still inexplicably quickened when he saw it.

He couldn't quite understand this young lady anymore.

She had previously feigned disappointment, appearing sad and dejected.

This can be seen as a roundabout strategy to get him to admit his identity.

But she hasn't even admitted it yet, so why did she suddenly change her attitude?

She's completely different today compared to last week.

Last week, she was aloof, polite, and courteous to the point of being impeccable.

It felt like I was facing a complete stranger.

But today she took the initiative to talk to him, asked him questions, and even made jokes.

Although we were only talking about trivial things, the feeling of deliberately keeping our distance disappeared.

It wasn't the kind of relationship between a thug and a rich girl, nor was it a relationship between ordinary classmates.

More like...friends?

No, we're closer than friends, but not quite there.

Weird.

"Shimada-kun."

He was unsure how to respond when Yukine Kamishiro spoke up again.

"Ok?"

"Your orange," she pointed to the half-eaten orange on Shimada Sho's table, "is about to fall."

Shimada Sho looked down and saw orange segments sliding down the edge of the table.

He reached out and caught it, then put it in his mouth.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

As the two were talking, the school bell rang.

Shimada Sho met her gaze, nodded, and sat back down.

Although he appeared calm, he was in a real mess inside.

He really didn't know how to deal with this spoiled young lady.

It seems like she's completely stopped pretending?

The classroom quieted down, and Ms. Yonekura entered the classroom to begin her lesson.

Shimada Sho opened his textbook and tried to focus his attention on the blackboard.

But the presence behind them was too strong.

She could hear the sound of her turning pages, the sound of her pen gliding across the paper, and the occasional soft breathing.

And there was that faint scent of gardenias, drifting over almost imperceptibly.

He took a deep breath and forced himself to look at the blackboard.

……

Halfway through the class, Natsumi Yonekura announced the start of group learning.

The sounds of tables and chairs being moved rose and fell as students began to put tables together.

Yukine Kamishiro moved a chair and sat down next to Sho Shimada, spreading her textbooks and notebooks on the table.

Her movements were natural and fluid, a stark contrast to the haughty young lady who deliberately kept her distance last week.

Haruko moved a chair over from the front, and Kobayashi sat down opposite her with his notebook.

The group of four sat together.

"Kamishiro-kun, you seem to be in a good mood today?" Haruko looked at Yukine Kamishiro curiously.

"It's alright." Yukine Kamishiro responded calmly, her aloofness gone, replaced by a smile.

"You smiled!" Haruko exclaimed as if she had discovered something amazing. "Kamishiro-kun, you can actually smile!"

Why can't I laugh?

“Because…because you didn’t talk much last week.” Haruko scratched her head. “We thought you didn’t like talking to us.”

"It's not that I don't like it," said Yukine Kamishiro. "It's just that I just transferred schools and I'm not used to it yet."

"Have you adapted yet?"

"Yeah, I've gotten used to it."

Haruko's eyes lit up. "Great! Can we eat together from now on?"

"can."

"Really?!"

"of course."

Haruko was so excited she almost rushed over and hugged her arm.

Kobayashi pushed up his glasses and whispered to Shimada Sho, "Shimada-kun, what's wrong with Kamishiro-kun today?"