Art Club.

After opening all the windows, Hibiki Naegi suddenly felt a sore ache in her lower back. She quickly supported herself with one hand and carefully sat down.

“Ah… my old waist… This back pain is killing me. Is it because I’ve been overexerting myself lately, or should I start exercising? Last night went on quite late, but honestly, it was just about three hours with Seiko. That shouldn’t have been too exhausting. I used to last the whole night without feeling this sore.”

Sitting on the chair, Hibiki Naegi rubbed her waist and let out a deep sigh, as if lamenting the decline of her stamina.

If she were to sigh like an old lady and say, “Ah, I envy young people~” in just the right tone, disregarding her youthful appearance and voice, it probably wouldn’t feel out of place.

Hibiki Naegi took out her phone, opened the selfie camera, and glanced at the small hickey Seiko Kirigiri had left on her neck the night before. A faint blush crept onto her cheeks.

“Ugh… I specifically reminded her not to leave marks on my neck when we bathed last night, but she still did it. She’s getting more and more disobedient!”

Blushing, Hibiki Naegi spoke in a tone like an older sister scolding a mischievous younger sibling. Then, she rummaged through her bag, took out a band-aid, and carefully stuck it on her neck. To avoid suspicion, she also placed another one on a conspicuous spot on her cheek. If no one noticed, that would be ideal. If someone asked, she could easily say she accidentally hurt herself while cooking dinner last night.

Though… it was actually Seiko who cooked dinner yesterday.

Hibiki Naegi planned to stay in the Art Club and browse some art books for a while before leaving. This was also why she enjoyed coming in every morning to clean the art room. To others, it might seem like she was a dedicated president who had a special love for the club and its cleanliness, coming in every morning to clean despite already tidying up after school the previous day.

In reality, her reason for coming in every morning was quite simple and straightforward—she just didn’t want to attend morning reading sessions.

Spending the morning in the art room, flipping through her favorite art books, and leisurely passing the time felt much more enjoyable. If she hadn’t finished her homework, she could use this opportunity to complete it without worrying about the teacher catching her.

This was far better than sitting through morning reading in the classroom!

“My own little morning relaxation time~ This is the best. Now, which art book should I read today? Hmm… But just reading an art book feels like something’s missing.”

She suddenly had an idea.

“Oh! Tomorrow morning, I should bring a cup of hot coffee and a soft, delicious croissant. I’ve always wanted to experience sitting in the art room, basking in the morning sunlight and peacefulness, sipping coffee, eating a croissant, and admiring my favorite art books.”

Just as Hibiki Naegi was lost in her wonderful imagination about the next morning, a sudden voice interrupted her thoughts:

“Huh? Croissants? Where? I want some too!”

“Wah!”

Hibiki Naegi was startled by Kotomi’s voice. No one was supposed to be in the Art Club this early, so hearing another person suddenly speak felt as terrifying as encountering a ghost on a deserted street at midnight.

She whipped her head around and saw that it was Kotomi Izumi and Mashiro Shiina standing at the doorway. Realizing it wasn’t a ghost, her heart, which had been racing in panic, finally calmed down. The back of her clothes was damp with cold sweat as she let out a heavy sigh and clutched her chest, mumbling,

“Oh my god! Kotomi, you almost scared me to death. I thought I ran into a ghost this early in the morning.”

“That’s so mean! Since when has there ever been a ghost as cute as me?!”

What was supposed to be a simple greeting had somehow ended up with her being mistaken for a ghost. Kotomi pouted in protest. After all, who had ever heard of ghosts wandering around early in the morning?

“Haha, sorry, sorry.” Hibiki Naegi calmed down after being startled and greeted them again, “Good morning, Kotomi, Mashiro. You two are here so early today! Instead of going to the classroom, you came straight to the Art Club. Is there something you need to talk to me about?”

“It’s something big.” Kotomi walked into the Art Club with a serious expression, took out her phone, and opened the selection email from the Art Exhibition.

“Naegi-senpai, while I’m happy to receive the acceptance letter, I remember that the acceptance letters for the Tokyo University National Youth Art Exhibition are supposed to be sent out on October 20th. Did something change for them to send it earlier?”

“Eh?” A question mark appeared over Hibiki Naegi’s head.

“But I clearly remember that the acceptance letters were supposed to arrive on October 30th, so it seems they sent them a full 20 days early.” Mashiro Shiina added as she stood next to Kotomi.

“Huh?” Another question mark appeared over Hibiki Naegi’s head.

After listening to the two, Hibiki Naegi finally understood the situation. But once she did, she couldn’t help but burst into laughter when recalling their question. Without professional restraint, she laughed uncontrollably.

There were indeed two silly ones in the Art Club: Kotomi the first silly one and Mashiro the second.

Kotomi Izumi and Mashiro Shiina looked at Hibiki Naegi, who was laughing so hard she could barely stay upright. They were utterly confused—what had just been a serious conversation suddenly turned into this?

“Naegi-senpai, you’re laughing too much.”

Every time Kotomi saw someone laughing this hard, she couldn’t help but wonder if they were secretly laughing at her being silly.

“Sorry, sorry! It’s just that your question was so ridiculous… no, I mean, it was just too funny—it really made my day. I couldn’t hold it in.”

Hibiki Naegi wiped the tears of laughter from her eyes, finally reigning in her amusement. She then took out her own phone to explain,

“I also received the first-round acceptance email yesterday. While I was happy, I certainly didn’t make the mistake of forgetting the dates like you two did. Actually, to be precise, you both got the dates wrong from the beginning.”

“Eh?”

“Hmm?”

Seeing their confused faces, Hibiki Naegi found it funny but also a bit exhausting. Despite being the two best artists in the club, these two were often unreliable—just like now.

“When I explained the National Art Exhibition details before, were you two even listening?”

She sighed, the burden of being the responsible club president weighing on her, and pulled out a schedule from a drawer that she had prepared a month ago. Pointing to the upper-left corner, she said,

“Open your eyes wide and read what this line says.”

Kotomi Izumi and Mashiro Shiina leaned in to check. Their heads unknowingly drew closer together as they read,

“The Tokyo University National Youth Art Exhibition will send acceptance letters and travel tickets to all selected students… on October 10th?”

Kotomi paused after reading, then, almost in sync with Mashiro, wore an expression of complete shock.

Seeing their astonished faces, Hibiki Naegi shook her head and put the schedule away.

“One of you thought it was the 20th, and the other thought it was the 30th. You two really are in sync—not only did you both get the date wrong, but the difference between your mistakes is exactly 10 days. I’m starting to suspect you two came here early just to show off your chemistry.”

“In short, you both got the date wrong. Do you understand now?”

Hibiki Naegi crossed her arms as she spoke.

“Got it.”

Kotomi nodded.

Mashiro Shiina was sipping her sweet soy milk.

Kotomi casually took a meat bun from Mashiro’s stash.

“Since you understand now…”

Hibiki Naegi raised an eyebrow and issued a “dismissal order”:

“Hurry back to the classroom for morning reading. I’ll clean up here and head to class soon too. Even though we’ve made it into the first phase of the art exhibition, we can’t slack off. This is just the beginning! If you don’t stay focused and get eliminated in the second phase, don’t come crying to me.”

Although all three of them had made it into the first phase, Hibiki knew that if she, as the president, started slacking, the entire Art Club’s motivation would plummet.

Realizing this, she decided to fire up Kotomi and Mashiro, hoping to instill a bit of tension in them. At least when it came to competitions, they should take their art more seriously.

“Doot doot doot~ A free trip to Kyoto is already good enough for me, especially in a green car on the Shinkansen.” Kotomi swayed from side to side in her chair, looking as if the competition result didn’t matter to her—as long as she could travel for free, she considered it a win.

Her attitude didn’t resemble that of a serious art competition participant at all.

Seeing that her “provocation tactic” had failed, Hibiki Naegi had no choice but to accept it.

After all, Kotomi was the Art Club’s resident clown.

Kotomi continued munching on the meat bun. The ones Chihiro Sengoku had bought were quite filling—even Kotomi had to eat it in small bites. After all, each bite was packed with pork and mushrooms, with a thin wrapper and a hearty filling. Eating too fast would be a choking hazard.

Mashiro took a sip of soy milk after every few bites of her bun.

The two sat side by side, enjoying a peaceful morning.

“Did you two come to the Art Club just to have breakfast? This is supposed to be a sacred space for students passionate about art!”

Hibiki Naegi spoke with passion, trying to inspire them, but Mashiro calmly countered:

“Weren’t you just slacking off here yourself, President? Didn’t you want to sip coffee and eat croissants while looking at art books?”

Pfft—

Hibiki Naegi’s mouth twitched. They had heard that?

“How much did you two hear?”

She wasn’t too concerned about being caught slacking off, but she was worried about them overhearing her earlier self-talk.

That little rant about her sore waist…

She didn’t want anyone knowing about her relationship with Seiko Kirigiri.

“We arrived at the door right when you mentioned coffee and croissants, and then we heard you talking to yourself.” Mashiro Shiina replied matter-of-factly.

Whew… At least they didn’t hear anything earlier. Hibiki Naegi breathed a sigh of relief and boldly admitted:

“Yes! I want to slack off in the Art Club while sipping coffee, eating croissants, and flipping through art books! Morning reading is such a pain. If it weren’t for getting into university, I’d slack off every day!”

“Kindred spirit!” Kotomi felt like she and Hibiki Naegi were the same when it came to studying.

“Naegi-senpai, why do you have a band-aid on your neck? Did you get hurt?”

Even though Hibiki had pulled up her collar to hide it, Mashiro’s keen observation skills still picked up on the irregularity.

Creativity and attention to detail—both qualities crucial for artists.

As a world-class genius painter, Mashiro Shiina naturally excelled in both observation and creativity, making it easy for her to notice the smallest details.

Hibiki Naegi was startled—she had clearly underestimated Mashiro’s keen eyes. At the same time, she felt relieved that she had the foresight to cover up by placing a band-aid on her neck, along with another on her cheek to divert suspicion.

If she hadn’t prepared in advance, she would be stuck in an embarrassing situation right now.

I’m so clever… Hibiki thought to herself before smiling confidently and explaining,

“Oh, you mean the band-aid on my neck? I accidentally splashed hot oil while frying chicken nuggets yesterday. My cheek got hit too.”

As she spoke, Hibiki turned her head slightly to show the band-aid on her cheek.

Mashiro, despite her sharp observational skills, wasn’t particularly knowledgeable about such matters, so she naturally believed Hibiki’s explanation and didn’t ask further. She had only been curious about the band-aid in the first place, and once she got an answer, she lost interest.

Of course, if it had been Kotomi with a band-aid on her neck, the situation would have played out very differently.

Kotomi said nothing, simply glancing at Hibiki’s neck. Thanks to her experiences with Aimi and Megumi, she immediately guessed the real reason for the band-aid. Her eyes gleamed with understanding as she continued eating her bun, nodding slightly, as if thinking to herself:

I get it, I get it~ Been there, done that. If anything, Naegi-senpai, you should be calling me your master in this trick. If you hadn’t also put one on your face, I might not have caught on. But the moment you did, everything became clear.

Kotomi had nearly figured out the whole story, but she simply smirked to herself, amused that Hibiki was quite bold in her private life. She neither exposed Hibiki nor asked if she was dating someone.

Sometimes, even if you’ve figured something out, it’s best to keep quiet. Pretending not to know is often the best choice.

For your sake, and for mine.

“I was wondering where that delicious smell was coming from. Turns out, you three were slacking off in here.”

As the trio continued their little break in the art room, Chihiro Sengoku suddenly walked in, chuckling.

“Sengoku-sensei!” Kotomi waved energetically, unfazed at being caught slacking by a teacher—she was practically on friendly terms with Chihiro at this point.

“Cousin, want a bun?”

Mashiro, being family, showed no nervousness either.

“S-Sengoku-sensei?!”

Only Hibiki Naegi was flustered. In the eyes of the teachers, she had always been the model student—serious and diligent.

Chihiro Sengoku waved a hand dismissively. “Relax, I came here to slack off too. Luckily, my meeting ended early. If I had arrived any later, Kotomi probably would’ve eaten all the buns.”

She glanced at the bag of meat buns and shrugged. She had long heard about Kotomi’s appetite, which was slightly larger than that of an average girl.

“Sengoku-sensei!, why was the meeting held so early? Isn’t it usually after school?”

“Are you hoping to gloat because I, a teacher with barely any classes, had to wake up early for once? Hahaha! Go ahead, Kotomi, enjoy your moment! But once I tell you the reason for the meeting, you won’t be laughing anymore.”

Chihiro Sengoku placed her hands on her hips like a villain.

That laugh… it sounds just like Lady Stone from mythology.

Her so-called “threat” had no effect. Instead, Kotomi was now picturing her as Lady Stone from folklore. If Chihiro knew about this comparison, she’d probably be furious.

“Was the meeting about the midterm exams?” Mashiro suddenly interjected, spoiling the suspense.

Chihiro blinked in surprise. Her cousin had completely ruined her dramatic reveal! At least let her enjoy Kotomi’s reaction first!

Mashiro, are you on my side or Kotomi’s? …Wait, no, I have to admit, Mashiro is probably on Kotomi’s side.

Having been “betrayed” by her own cousin, Chihiro felt conflicted. She couldn’t bring herself to interfere in their relationship.

For now, though, all of this was premature—Mashiro hadn’t even conveyed her feelings to Kotomi yet. As her cousin, there wasn’t much Chihiro could do except watch things unfold.

Besides…

Mashiro would be returning to England after spring break in her second year.

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Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep