[13] The Kuudere girl

After the last class of the day, Shiki and Lala walked back home, holding hands as they used to. The sun was setting, painting the sky with golden and pink tones, while they enjoyed the walk.

"So, did you have fun?" Shiki asked, looking at Lala.

Lala, who was humming happily, gave him a radiant smile.

"Um! Although the lessons were quite easy, it's a lot of fun. I can also make many friends here," she replied, her enthusiasm evident in her expression.

Shiki was not surprised that Lala had no problems with her studies; she was one of the most intelligent people in the universe. It was only necessary to look at the impressive list of inventions she had created to confirm her genius.

"Well, I'm glad to know you're happy," Shiki said with a genuine smile. "That's the most important thing."

They kept walking until they arrived at a convenience store on their way home.

They decided to make a stop to buy some things. While Lala explored the aisles with her usual curiosity, Shiki went to the ice cream and groceries section.

While he was at the checkout, he noticed a blonde girl in the candy aisle. She was eating a candy with a somewhat distracted expression, almost as if she were in her own world.

The girl, despite being pretty, had an expression that Shiki immediately identified as the typical "kuudere" of anime.

His cold attitude and his air of indifference contrasted with Lala's vibrant energy.

What caught Shiki's attention the most was when the girl, without changing her expression, took another candy from the shelf and began to eat it.

She didn't seem to worry about whether she was stealing or not; her behavior was calm and almost mechanical.

Shiki's lips twisted slightly as he wondered if he should intervene.

It was evident that the girl didn't realize that what she was doing was wrong. With a slight expression of concern, he approached her and watched her while enjoying her candy.

The girl, with her cream blonde hair straight and long to the waist, looked like a living doll.

Her face was delicate and perfectly symmetrical, with large light red eyes that shone with a mixture of curiosity and helplessness.

Shiki, with an expression between surprise and discomfort, called her with a voice that showed his confusion. "Hey."

The girl slowly turned towards him, with a half-eaten candy in her mouth, bowing her head as if asking him to continue with what he was going to say.

"You can't eat that if you haven't paid for it yet; they'll scold you," Shiki pointed out the candy.

"Pay?" The girl frowned, her expression remaining empty of understanding.

"Yes, you need to pay money," Shiki explained, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"But I don't have money," replied the blonde girl with her usual blank expression.

Shiki's lips trembled, confused by the absurd situation. "Then why did you eat that if you don't have a way to pay for it?"

"I was hungry... They were supposed to pick me up to take me to the house where I will stay, but I got tired of waiting and I was hungry..." The girl replied, with a note of concern in her voice as she wondered if she had forgotten.

"How long have you been waiting for your family?" Shiki asked, while carefully taking the wrappers of the sweets that the girl had devoured.

The girl, bewildered by Shiki's gesture of picking up the empty wrappers, watched him without fully understanding. However, she decided to answer his question.

"Four hours," she said with a blank expression.

Shiki frowned, thinking that this girl's family should be incredibly irresponsible.

It's not surprising that she was hungry after waiting so long.

At that time, Lala, who had been exploring the store in search of something interesting, approached Shiki.

"Shiki, are you done?" Lala asked, clearly bored and looking forward to returning home. Her gaze turned to the girl next to Shiki, and her face lit up with surprise and curiosity.

"Who is she? She has such beautiful hair; she looks like a doll!"

Lala surrounded the girl with a mixture of curiosity and astonishment, examining every detail as if it were a unique attraction.

"Wait for me here for a moment, Lala," Shiki said with a calm smile. "You can talk to her while I pay for this."

He pointed out the ice cream and groceries that were in a bag, along with the wrappers of the sweets that the 'kuudere' girl had consumed.

As Shiki was on his way to the counter, Lala began to chat animatedly with the girl, asking questions, and the girl answered as best she could.

After paying, Shiki approached Lala and the girl, then they left the convenience store and went outside.

"You don't have to worry about money anymore; I also paid for your sweets," Shiki said with a tired but kind smile.

"Thank you," the girl answered sincerely, although she lacked common sense, she knew that this boy was helping her.

"Shiki, let's accompany her to her house," Lala said suddenly. "She's lost here and doesn't know how to get there."

In the short period that Shiki was paying, Lala and the girl had already become friends. Lala, with her unmistakable aura of a shonen protagonist, had managed to make the girl feel comfortable in a short time.

"Well, I don't mind," Shiki accepted, looking at the girl with curiosity. "So, what's your name?"

"Shiina Mashiro," the girl replied, while the wind moved her long cream blonde hair.

Shiki's name sounded familiar; he thought he remembered a famous painter with that last name, but he decided not to delve into the subject for now.

"I'm Suzuki Shiki, a pleasure," Shiki introduced himself with a courteous inclination.

"She is Lala," Shiki said, pointing to Lala, who was making a peace sign with her fingers, smiling and enthusiastic.

"So, Shiina-san, do you know the name of the place where you live?" Shiki asked.

"Mashiro," the girl replied, looking him straight in the eyes.

Shiki realized that, in addition to being pretty, Mashiro had a captivating presence.

"?" Shiki frowned, confused.

"Call me Mashiro," the girl said suddenly, as if that was the way she preferred to be called.

Shiki was a little surprised. Wasn't it supposed to be something special in Japan calling someone by name without an honorific?

"Mashiro-san?" Shiki tried.

"Only Mashiro," she insisted, repeating the phrase with an undisturbed calm.

Shiki sighed but accepted the request.

"Then, you can call me Shiki."

Lala, who was walking next to Shiki, joined the conversation with enthusiasm. "You can also call me Lala, Mashiro!" she said with a big smile.

"Um, Shiki, Lala," Mashiro nodded with a slight smile, her expression remaining serene but now with a touch of warmth.

"So, Mashiro, do you know the name of the place where you will stay?" Shiki asked as they walked.

"Sakurasou," Mashiro replied.

Shiki, when looking for the location on his phone, discovered that it was a dormitory not far from his high school. As they walked towards the destination, they chatted in a relaxed way.

Lala led the conversation with her characteristic energy, while Shiki responded and Mashiro occasionally joined with brief but relevant comments.

As they walked, Lala, with her usual enthusiasm, asked Mashiro:

"And what do you do in your free time?"

"Paint..." Mashiro replied briefly.

'So, if it is she, the famous painter, who took a picture with the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom,' Shiki thought to himself.

"And you?" Mashiro asked Lala, since Lala was already her friend, it was normal for her to be curious.

Lala, with a radiant expression, began to list her hobbies:

"Invent things, kiss Shiki, hug Shiki, smell Shiki, let Shiki caress my head, sit on Shiki's lap while he kisses me, let Shiki touch me-"

Lala couldn't continue because Shiki, visibly uncomfortable, covered her mouth with one hand.

Mashiro looked at the scene with a mixture of confusion and interest.

Shiki looked at Mashiro, who was confused, and realized that this girl lacked a lot of common sense, which made everything less uncomfortable.

"Kiss?" Mashiro asked curiously.

Lala, who had already removed Shiki's hand, answered her.

"Um! It's when Shiki and I put our lips together; it feels very good," Lala blushed slightly but responded with innocence.

"Can you stop talking about it?" Shiki asked, imposing.

"Can you show me?" Mashiro suddenly asked, as she was interested and curious.

'?' Shiki had a question mark on his head and thought he didn't hear well.

"Yes!" Lala had no problem; the one who made the request was her friend, and she also wanted to kiss Shiki since they only kissed once a day before Shiki went to school.

Shiki was speechless before the conversation of these two girls.

"But first, let's go to a place where there are no people. Shiki doesn't like the boys to see that appearance of me, and neither do I," Lala replied as she took Shiki and Mashiro's hands and carried them behind a building.

In a secluded area where there was no one around, Shiki, with a mixture of frustration and resignation, pushed Lala against the wall.

The impact was soft, but enough for Lala's heart to beat hard. The girl smiled excitedly, her eyes shining with anticipation.

Mashiro, who was watching from a few steps back, blushed intensely without fully understanding why. However, she could not take her eyes off the scene unfolding in front of her.

"Do we really have to do this here?" Shiki asked, half sighing, as he looked at Lala, who seemed to be enjoying the situation too much.

Lala, with a radiant expression, almost as if the idea of being pushed against the wall by Shiki was the best thing in the world, responded with eyes full of expectation.

Shiki, seeing her reaction, thought to himself, 'This girl is quite perverted.'

Suddenly, Lala changed her expression to one of dramatic sadness. Her eyes were slightly moistened, and her voice sounded melancholy as she asked, "Shiki... Don't you want to kiss me anymore? Don't you like me anymore?"

Shiki, seeing Lala's sudden performance, was speechless.

'This girl... should definitely have her internet access taken away... She's learning too many strange things,' he thought while trying to keep his composure.

He turned to see Mashiro, who watched him with her typical 'kuudere' expression, but there was something in her gaze that he could not overlook. Mashiro was intrigued and, although her face remained serene, there was a palpable emotion in her eyes.

'Maybe she's also a little perverted, even though she doesn't even know it herself...' Shiki thought.

Without wanting to prolong the situation any longer, Shiki decided to end the tension in the only way he knew.

He leaned towards Lala and kissed her gently on the lips. Lala closed her eyes instantly, surrounding Shiki's neck with her arms while a slight tingling ran through her body.

Initially, Shiki intended it to be a short kiss, enough to satisfy Lala without showing Mashiro something too intense.

But Lala had other plans. With a quick movement, she sucked on his lips and, without warning, slid her tongue into his mouth, deepening the kiss with an unexpected ardor.

Shiki tried to resist but finally got carried away. What began as a brief kiss became a passionate exchange that lasted about three minutes. During that time, both seemed to completely forget that Mashiro was watching them.

When they finally separated, Lala was out of breath, breathing deeply with an expression of satisfaction on her face. Shiki, on the other hand, noticed something unusual when he looked at Mashiro.

The girl's nose was bleeding, and without thinking twice, he approached her with concern.

"Here," he said, offering her a handkerchief.

"Eh?" Mashiro took the handkerchief with a confused expression, looking away while a slight blush took hold of her cheeks. She was visibly embarrassed.

"Your nose is bleeding, Mashiro," Shiki said.

"Ah..." Mashiro finally realized the small disaster on her face and tried to clean herself, but her attempts only made the situation worse.

Seeing the mess she was making, Shiki decided to intervene.

He took the handkerchief from Mashiro's hands and, with a soft touch, wiped the blood from her nose, making sure not to hurt her. Mashiro, still blushing, allowed Shiki to help her, not daring to look him in the eye.

After finishing, Mashiro murmured, "Thank you..."

Shiki nodded, putting away the handkerchief, and then took Lala's hand, who was still recovering from the intensity of the kiss, and Mashiro's, who was still a little bewildered.

With both girls by his side, they began to walk again towards Sakurasou.

As they walked, Shiki watched as Lala and Mashiro conversed animatedly, as if the scene from a few minutes ago had not happened at all. There was no trace of discomfort between them, which left Shiki slightly perplexed and speechless.

After arriving at the bedroom, Shiki and Lala said goodbye to Mashiro. The girl seemed a little depressed, with her head down and a melancholic expression on her face.

Shiki, noticing her mood, decided to cheer her up.

"Don't worry, Mashiro. We also study at the same school that you will start tomorrow," he said with a comforting smile.

Shiki's words had an immediate effect. Mashiro raised her head, and her mood visibly improved. Her eyes, which once seemed dull, now shone with renewed enthusiasm.

"Ah... that's good," Mashiro murmured, sketching a small smile. She seemed relieved and a little calmer.

"See you tomorrow, then," Lala said, saying goodbye with a cheerful greeting, shaking her hand vigorously.

"See you tomorrow," Mashiro replied.

After seeing Mashiro enter the bedroom, Lala and Shiki began to walk to their own house. The night had settled, and the fresh air enveloped them as they advanced through the quiet streets.

As they walked in silence, Shiki couldn't help but reflect on what had been a day full of strange moments and unexpected situations.

From the strange conversation about kisses with Lala and Mashiro to the cleaning of Mashiro's bleeding nose, everything had been a little random.

'Definitely, it was a strange day...' Shiki thought, letting out a slight sigh as he looked at the stars.

— — —

(A/N: I tried to correct the spelling errors with a page. How about now? Are there still many errors? Remember that I don't speak English, so I can't know).