Chapter 77: Delicious Brown Sugar Water

When he opened the door, Kanda Shuichi saw Ichinose Honami standing there with a somewhat troubled look on her face.

"Want to come in, Ichinose?"

After a brief hesitation, Ichinose nodded. This was her first time entering a guy's room.

"Sorry for intruding."

After entering the room, Ichinose stayed silent, and seeing her like this, Kanda Shuichi couldn't be bothered. Maybe she was just emotionally shaken from earlier, so it was better to let her calm down first.

Kanda Shuichi put on an apron and started preparing the ingredients.

After about ten minutes, Kanda Shuichi brought over a cup of ginger and brown sugar tea. While making it, he had added not just ginger but also red dates and goji berries, hoping it would enhance the flavor.

"Here you go."

"Huh? Is this... for me?"

Ichinose Honami clearly didn't quite understand at first. She had noticed the brown sugar seemed to be freshly opened. Could this be specially prepared for me?

Was Kanda's confession just now not to give me experience rejecting someone, but was he serious?

But I rejected him so casually. Will he be really sad about that?

Ichinose's mind was full of confusion.

"It's freshly made, be careful, it might be hot."

Obviously, Kanda Shuichi had no idea what she was thinking. If he did, he might find it a bit of a show.

After pouring another cup of the brown sugar tea, Kanda Shuichi took the rest of it from the rice cooker and began preparing the chicken to stew.

After another ten minutes of busy work, the chicken finally cooked..

Kanda Shuichi then took the ginger tea and sat down in the chair by his computer desk. He took a sip of the still-warm drink.

Hmm, it tastes alright. It could work as a drink.

"So, what happened? You look pretty spaced out."

"Chihiro... She said she would still act the same starting tomorrow... But can we really go back to how we were before?" Ichinose held her cup of tea, speaking in a low tone.

"Probably not."

Kanda Shuichi didn't offer any comforting words. Though lies don't harm, it's the truth that stings, and sometimes it's better to be clear early on, or you'll end up with a headache when things get complicated later.

"And Ichinose, I don't think you want to spend your life with a girl, right?"

As he said this, Kanda Shuichi's face grew awkward.

"Well, I guess not."

Seeing the hesitation on Ichinose's face, Kanda Shuichi felt his hand holding the cup stiffen.

Do you really need to hesitate about this?

Could you be a hidden yuri fan?

This is bad, guys who like Ichinose, you're really out of luck!

"What do you mean 'I guess not'?" Kanda Shuichi said in exasperation. "You should answer more decisively so that Shiranami can give up already!"

"You need to know, her feelings for you are going nowhere. You should reject her more firmly, and if necessary, you can make up for it later."

"Rejecting her now is just a little painful. If you mess up her feelings, that's a lifetime of regret!"

"Hey! Are you even listening?"

Seeing Ichinose in a bit of a daze, Kanda Shuichi waved his hand in front of her.

Suddenly, Ichinose sat up in bed and drank down the remaining brown sugar tea in her cup.

"I understand! Thank you so much, Kanda!"

She handed the empty cup to Kanda Shuichi, then quickly ran to the entrance, put on her shoes, and left his room in a hurry.

Kanda Shuichi stared, dumbfounded, at the empty cup in his hand.

So, what exactly did you figure out? 

He stood there, lost in thought, holding the now-empty cup.

Four hours later, around 8 PM, Kushida Kikyo appeared at Kanda Shuichi's door once again.

Seeing Kushida's sweet smile, Kanda Shuichi couldn't help but feel speechless. Was she really treating him like a trash can?

However, since she had just helped him with something today, he decided not to be too harsh.

"I'm hungry."

...

Did she think of this place as a restaurant?

Even if she did, at least pay for the meal, idiot!

"Come in."

After Kushida Kikyo entered, she sat down on the floor of Kanda Shuichi's room. It was almost summer, so the floor wasn't cold. In fact, if it weren't already 8 PM, it might even be a bit warm.

Kanda Shuichi served her a bowl of chicken soup, followed by a cup of brown sugar water.

"I'm telling you, Kushida, if you keep eating this late, you're going to gain weight."

As soon as Kanda Shuichi said this, Kushida, who was sipping her soup, shot him a glare full of murderous intent.

Kanda Shuichi quietly picked up a cup of water and started drinking, pretending he hadn't said anything.

So she does care about that, huh?

"What's this?"

Kushida picked up the brown sugar water Kanda Shuichi had placed on the table, looking confused.

"Brown sugar water. If you don't want it, you can put it down."

Brown sugar water?

She knew this drink because her best friend, Wang Meiyu, would always make it for herself when she was feeling unwell.

But isn't this something from her hometown? Isn't it a tradition for people from China, not Japanese people? Japanese people usually drink cold water, right?

"Did you see Mii-chan today?"

Kushida's eyes were full of suspicion.

"What Mii-chan? Are you sick?"

"Wang Meiyu, you idiot. We all call her Mii-chan. Drinking brown sugar water during your period isn't a Japanese tradition, is it? Why are you giving me this?"

"Then you can pour it out."

Kanda Shuichi wasn't going to pamper her. If she didn't want it, fine—no hard feelings.

"That's not happening."

As Kanda Shuichi watched Kushida continue eating, he suddenly thought of something.

"Kushida, you don't have any points left, do you?"

Upon hearing Kanda Shuichi's words, Kushida, who had been drinking soup, jerked her hand, spilling a little bit of the soup. Fortunately, it didn't splatter onto her clothes.

Got it!

"I'm not like you. I have lots of friends."

Right, right, you have lots of friends, you're amazing.

Kanda Shuichi then picked up his phone and transferred 30,000 private points to Kushida.

"I just transferred 30,000 private points to you. After deducting the points I used to fix Sakura's camera, the rest is your reward."

30,000?

"With all this good food you're eating, you still have over 30,000 points left?"

Kushida couldn't believe it. Class D only received 100,000 points at the start of the semester, so how could Kanda Shuichi have 30,000 points left if he ate this well every day?

"You don't need to worry about that. My points come from legitimate sources."

"And unlike you, I don't have many friends."

Can they even be considered legitimate?

Aside from the nearly 20 million points from his growth in the value bank, he also got 2 million from Sakayanagi and 100,000 from Chabashira-sensei as his first month's living expenses.

A mere 30,000 points? That's nothing.

After spending some time with him, Kushida Kikyo knew that Kanda Shuichi wasn't the type to sacrifice his own well-being for others, so she had no qualms about accepting the points.

After all, having too many friends was also a burden. Every time someone asked to hang out, even if she didn't feel like going, she had to go anyway.

Thinking of this, Kushida's stress levels started rising again.

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