"Alright. Now that we all know each other, can we get back to the main topic?" Said Ren. After a brief introduction, Shigure and Michiru seemed to be in REALLY good terms with each other. Ren could only smile at this fact.
"Oh my, Kanzaki-san is right. We should discuss about Mikagi-san." Michiru agreed with Ren while Shigure smiled apologetically.
"Then, Sakagami-san." Ren suddenly pointed at Shigure, turning the conversation in her direction.
"Y-Yes!" Clearly startled, Shigure jumped on her chair and proceeded to sat straight.
"You get along with a lot of people, right?" Ren asked, he was thinking of something.
"Umm, Is that so? I mean, I do know every student of our grade and some seniors and underclassmen too, but—Ren interrupted Shigure.
" —There you have it, Arisaka-senpai. I don't know someone as social as Sakagami-san herself." Ren pointed again at the cobalt haired girl while looking at Michiru with a stoic face, almost like saying 'That's why I asked to bring her here'.
"Ohh, I see. You truly know your stuff, Kanzaki-san." Michiru smiled at Shigure, making the latter blush a little while laughing nervously.
"H-Hahaha oh you, Ren-chan! S-Stop flattering me!" Shigure started hitting Ren's back in her bashfulness.
"Stop hitting me please." Ren sighed. Michiru just laughed softly at the comic display before her eyes.
After several minutes (again) of doing basically nothing, Ren decided to start the conversation again. He attracted the girls attention.
"*cough cough* We're not getting anywhere, let's start with the basics. So, Arisaka-senpai?" Now it was Michiru's turn to be on the spotlight.
"How may I help you, Kanzaki-san?" Michiru replied with a curious look on her face while Shigure listened.
"Could you tell us a little bit more about Mikagi-san? Like what does she do on her free time, at lunch, etc." Ren questioned Michiru with a serious face. Michiru started thinking and after a few seconds she replied:
"Yes. Mikagi-san often eats her lunch alone at the school rooftop, and when it's time to go home, she always leaves alone." Michiru started recalling what she had seen these past days.
"The school rooftop? I don't think it would be a good idea to go myself." Ren scratched his head with an unpleasant face, obviously Shigure and Michiru noticed this.
"Why's that, Ren-chan?"
"That's right, Kanzaki-san. If it's not a bother to ask, could you tell us what do you mean?" Both females asked curiously. Ren just sighed again.
"I didn't told you, right? I confessed to Mikagi-san yesterday at the school rooftop." With his characteristic poker face, Ren said nonchalantly.
"Oh my, oh my!" Michiru's eyes sparkled with an enchanted expression while joining both of her hands on her chest. Meanwhile, Shigure was–
"Ahaha-haha... R-Ren-chan? I think I'm hearing things, could you repeat what you just said please?" Shigure ran away from reality and asked Ren again for confirmation.
"You didn't. I said I confessed to Mikagi-san yesterday." Ren repeated again, much to Shigure's misfortune.
"Gahhh!" With a funny sound, Shigure fell to the ground on all fours. Ren swore that he saw a depressing aura coming from her body.
"You should have said that from the start. That's great, Kanzaki-san! Are you dating Mikagi-san then?" Michiru asked excitedly, Ren just shook his head.
"No, she utterly rejected me" He admitted with his emotionless face.
"Oh... I'm sorry to hear that, Kanzaki-san." Michiru apologized to Ren. He just waved his hand with a 'don't worry about it' gesture. Shigure instantaneously recovered and looked like she was shining and beaming with happiness.
"I-Is that so! Jeez, that's soo bad~! hihihi" Shigure started laughing happily while Ren looked at her. 'You don't look sorry at all' he thought.
"My, were you worried Sakagami-san?" Michiru asked with a mischievous smile. Shigure started blushing.
"I-I wasn't! I-I was just curious the fact that Mikagi-san rejected Ren-chan, cause you know, he's soo cool and smart!–Shigure started feeling really embarrassed after hearing what she just said–Wh-What am I saying?!" She covered her face with both hands, and opened her fingers a little so she could see the reaction of said 'cool and smart' boy. Ren was already speaking with Michiru.
"Oi, don't just ignore me after I say something like that!" Shigure pouted, but she decided to let it pass and she entered the conversation.
"I think the best course of action is to approach her at lunch time. I don't think she would be overjoyed at the idea of unknown people walking with her on her way home." Michiru and Shigure nodded vehemently at Ren's words.
"In conclusion, Sakagami-san will go and eat with Mikagi-san at tomorrow's lunch break." After Ren finished talking both girls continued nodding when it clicked–
"Huuuhhh!? W-Why me!" Shigure protested at Ren.
"Well first of all, I confessed to her just yesterday. I SERIOUSLY doubt that she would enjoy talking with me, most likely, she would feel uncomfortable–Shigure had a nervous look on her face–and second, Arisaka-senpai is a senior. I think that for a person who doesn't have friends at all, someone her age would be a better fit for her. So, you are the most appropriate person for the task, Sakagami-san." Ren finished explaining to Shigure. She just gave up and nodded.
"Haaa~, I understand. I will talk to Mikagi-san tomorrow at lunch, leave it to me!" Displaying her usual energy, Shigure decided to do it while proudly putting a hand on her small chest.
"...I feel irritated all of a sudden." Shigure mumbled. 'Must be my imagination...'
"Great. I own you one, Sakagami-san." Ren smiled at Shigure, making her blush on the act.
"Y-You're welcome, Ren-chan!" She nervously raised her voice due to her embarrassment. Ren just stared at her with a wry smile.
"Thank you very much, Sakagami-san." Michiru bowed to Shigure, while the latter hurried her to stand up.
"You don't have to act so formal around me senpai. I would prefer if you were more informal with me." Michiru raised an eyebrow at Shigure's suggestion.
"Oh yes, I'll do that... How do I do that?" Ren and Shigure smiled at Michiru's airheadness.
"Just call me by my name. In exchange, I'll call you 'Michiru-senpai', is that okay?" Michiru looked at Shigure like a kid looking at her parent, and briefly after, she smiled again.
"Yes, by all means, Shigure-san." Shigure smiled when she heard Michiru using her given name.
Ren listened to the whole exchange and at the end she looked at Shigure amazed. 'To befriend a senior and be in a first-name basis on the same day, you are truly a person of respect, Sakagami-san'.
"Okay then, I'll see you two tomorrow, senpai, Sakagami-san." With a short goodbye, Ren went out of the music room and started his walk home. At the school entrance, he spotted his teacher Kanasuke-sensei apparently waiting for someone.
'Wait, it couldn't be...' He made his way towards Nagi while keeping an eye on her.
"Ah! Ren-kun!" With a big and joyous smile, Nagi started running towards Ren.
'I knew it.' Ren sighed and raised his hand to greet his teacher.
"Kanasuke-sensei, is it alright to call me that while we're still at school?" Ren asked Nagi something that should be obvious, but not for said person.
"Don't worry, Ren-kun. It's already this late, nobody's at school right now." Nagi replied and started walking alongside Ren. The reason is that both live on the same apartment block, so Nagi though that they could walk home together, as a student and teacher, or so Nagi said.
"Yes, yes, whatever." Ren smiled and started talking with Nagi to make the way home a little more nicer.
"So, Ren-kun?" Ren titled his head quizzically with a confused expression.
"So what?" Nagi noticed that she didn't explained herself. It made sense that the boy was confused, what a clumsy teacher.
"How did it go, you know, with the club?" She asked with a nervous expression, like she was waiting for an acceptance letter from the most prestigious university of the world.
"You mean the circle?" Ren asked plainly while raising an eyebrow.
"Circle, club, it's the same thing!" Nagi pouted because the boy didn't replied to her question.
"Is that something a teacher should be saying...?" Ren said in a low voice.
"So, what do you think about Arisaka-san?" After finishing huffing, she turned once again to face the young boy. Ren started thinking with a hand scratching his hair. This was a tic of his, when he thought really hard about something, he starts scratching his head with his left hand.
"She's a very interesting person, not to say extravagant." He gave his honest thoughts about Michiru. Nagi nodded with a complex smile on her face.
"And what about the cl-, circle itself?" Ren didn't have to think twice about his answer this time.
"Unique if I have to say. It's objective is... Rather complex to achieve, but it sounds interesting at the least." Ren replied looking at his teacher's face with a smile. Nagi remembered what Kazuho said a while ago, and unconsciously blushed a little. She averted her eyes to the other side.
"Y-Yeah, that's true." Nagi said nervously. Ren only raised an eyebrow in confusion.
After several seconds walking, they arrived to the complex and before parting ways, Nagi called Ren.
"Ren-kun, what are you going to do?" Obviously what Nagi meant was about the club and Michiru. Ren only smiled reassuringly.
"Yeah I'll help a little. After all, it's a petition from Kanasuke-sensei." With those last words, Ren went to his apartment while Nagi stayed still on the entrance of hers. After hearing Ren saying that, her heart skipped a beat and she was blushing furiously.
'W-What, because I asked him to? What does that mean?' Being inexperienced in the matters of the heart, Nagi was hyperventilating. Seconds latter, after calming down, she smiled while looking at the direction Ren went to. Shortly after, she entered her apartment.
'I think I'll make a little too much dinner~'
"I'm home." Ren announced his arrival after taking off his shoes and putting them on their respective place.
"Rin?" Ren didn't received the typical 'welcome home' from his little sister, so he thought that she was already asleep. He turned to look at the clock.
"Hmm?" When he entered the living room, he saw a girl sleeping on the coach (the one he usually sleeps on). He approached the girl and looked at her sleeping face.
"I already told you that you don't have to wait for me..." Ren picked up Rin in his arms in a bridal carry, and proceeded to take her to her room. He dropped her gently at her bed, and brushed the hair on her forehead with a small smile on his face.
"I'm a little hungry, guess I'll see whats on the fridge..." Following his own necessities, he rummaged through the fridge.
"Hmm... Not too much. Looks like we also need to buy some instant noodles." After searching inside the fridge, he also noticed the empty instant noodles cup on the trash. Rin tends to eat instant or microwaveable food when Ren is late because she doesn't know how to cook, not that he doesn't eat it too.
"Hmm looks like I'll have to do some shopping soon—*Bzzzzzt*—Huh? Who could it be...?" While he was searching for food, someone pressed the doorbell. Ren made his way towards the door.
"Yes, I'm coming!" He made sure to announce his presence so the person on the other side wouldn't be ringing the bell over and over.
When he opened the door, he saw Nagi standing on his entrance smiling with a cooking pot on her hands which were covered by cooking gloves.
"Sensei?" Ren asked with a confused smile.
"Good night, Ren-kun. Is Rin-chan already sleeping?" Nagi turned her face towards the inside of the house, looking for Rin.
"Yeah, she went to sleep a little while ago I guess." Nagi nodded and muttered 'I see'.
"Ah yes! I made too much dinner, so I wanted to give it to both of you, Ren-kun." Nagi offered the pot to Ren, obtaining a smile from the stoic boy.
"Thanks sensei, you're a real lifesaver." Ren said while taking the pot from Nagi.
"Why's that?" Ren scratched his head and replied.
"We're out of food, so I was thinking of going to the supermarket to do some shopping." Nagi frowned at the boy's words.
"That's absolutely no good, Ren-kun! It's really dangerous for a boy to be wandering the streets at night!" Ren raised both of his hands as if saying 'I understand, chill out'.
"I know but, I'm hungry you know? I am a growing boy." Ren pointed at himself with an inexpressive face. Nagi started fidgeting.
"W-Well, you know... I-I could prepare something for you, I-I don't mind at all!" Nagi was blushing a deep crimson because of the embarrassment, Ren chuckled a little.
"W-Why are you laughing? I'm being serious here!" Nagi pouted while hitting Ren's chest with both fists.
"I'm sorry, it's just that you worry about your students even outside of the school." Ren smiled gently at Nagi, making the already blushing woman, more embarrassed.
"I-Is that so?" Ren nodded as a reply.
"Well anyway, thank you very much, sensei. I'll return the pot tomorrow after washing it." Nagi tried to decline, saying that she would wash it herself, but Ren wouldn't take a no for an answer. At the end she let him do as he pleased.
"Well good night, Ren-kun" Nagi said good bye and returned to her apartment, while Ren entered his, ate what Nagi prepared and after taking a bath, he went to sleep.
Meanwhile, Nagi returned to her own apartment. After sitting on the couch for a couple of minutes. After a little bit, she made a big smile with a pleased look on her face.
'Who would have thought that having someone eat your cooking feels really nice! Ah, obviously I mean it as a teacher and student...' Nagi corrected herself at the end, just like always. After basking on her happiness, she went straight to bed, mentally preparing herself for tomorrow, where she would have to give her everything as a teacher.
I' m sorry for not updating, the thing is that my laptop's battery died, so for the meanwhile, until I decide to buy a new one, I'm going to be writing on mi phone, so my rhythm would certainly decrease.
I want to make sure we are all clear on something, with how the story is going, it looks like it would be a teacher/student relationship story, and I want to make a point here: Yes it could be, and no, it may not be that kind of story.
What the heck? What the hell do you mean? Simple, this is story is going to be like a visual novel, already know about those? Great, that makes my work easier, and if not, here's a quick explanation ;
"A visual novel is an interactive game genre, which originated in Japan, featuring text-based story with narrative style of literature and interactivity aided by static or sprite-based visuals, most often using anime-style art or occasionally live-action stills (and sometimes video footage). Most visual novels have multiple storylines and more than one ending; the mechanic in these cases typically consists of intermittent multiple-choice decision points, where the player selects a direction in which to take the game." Thanks, Wikipedia-sama.
In this case, said storylines are basically routes for multiple characters (girls in this case) known as heroines, so what does that have to do with my novel?
Most of the girls in this novel are heroines, that means that every single one of them will have their own "route" or happy end if you want to see it that way. There is going to be a "True route" which is what it is considered as the "real ending" of the novel and I, am going to decide who will be the true heroine. Basically that's all.
See you in the next update~
Edit: Same stuff.
~Neru-san