Ichika’s Clue

Honestly, in his protective work, he did quite well, leaving no evidence to prove that he was Naoki.

But even in such a situation, Ichika still recognized him. How did she do it?

This puzzled Ren.

But even if he knew his identity had been revealed, he remained calm. At worst, he could go to the lake in the afternoon to see if Ichika had something to tell him.

The worst result would be Ichika telling Nino about it, and then his identity being exposed.

Although it might be a bit troublesome, Ren could accept the outcome.

Shortly afterward, the time came in the middle of the day.

"Sorry, I'll be out for a bit."

After lunch, Ren stood up, left the classroom, and walked towards the lake mentioned in the envelope.

The distance between the lake and the teaching building was quite far, and it still took a lot of time to get there. Therefore, during lunch break and between classes, basically not many people went there.

Moreover, it was more convenient to go to the park than to the distant lake.

The advantage of it not being too crowded was that there was no need to worry about meeting other people, making it suitable for chatting.

After walking for a while, Ren finally arrived at the lake and started looking for Ichika.

There were only a few people by the lake, so Ichika could be easily found even without superpowers.

However, in the process of looking for someone, Ren also found Kaguya sitting on a bench talking to a girl, and the girl was holding something that looked like a voice recorder in her hands and was interviewing Kaguya.

Here not only was it quiet, but the view was also nice, suitable for an interview.

However, this issue had nothing to do with him. He glanced at her briefly and walked towards Ichika.

"Good afternoon, Ichika-san."

Approaching her side, Ren took the initiative to greet her.

"Good afternoon, Kamikawa-san."

Ichika turned and greeted him with a smile as she saw Ren.

While patting her side, she continued, "Sit down. I plan to have a good chat with you this afternoon. You can't stand the whole time."

"Okay."

Ren didn't refuse and sat down beside her naturally.

"Have you had lunch?" Ichika looked at Ren sitting next to her, her eyes briefly focused on his glasses.

"I've had lunch." Ren answered honestly.

"That's good, so I won't leave you with no time for lunch again." Ichika checked the time and said, "There's still enough time before the afternoon class, which should be enough for us to chat."

"Yes." Ren replied softly.

He usually had no work in the afternoon, so it didn't matter if he chatted with Ichika here for a long time.

"Yesterday, it rained, so the lake is very clear and beautiful now." Putting down her phone and gazing at the lake in front of them, Ichika didn't immediately get into the topic. Instead, she spoke about irrelevant content.

"That's true."

Ren didn't quite understand why Ichika said this, but he still followed her words and agreed.

"But this lake that looks so clear and beautiful is actually very deep, so people can't see what's hidden beneath it. If you mistakenly assume that the water here is very shallow, you could endanger yourself if you're not careful." Ichika said while looking at him, "Kamikawa-san, do you have any thoughts on this?"

"No." Ren shook his head; he didn't understand what Ichika meant.

"Um, I thought Kamikawa-san might say something profound." Ichika said with a smile, "Besides, I think you are very similar to this lake."

"I look like a lake?"

"Both are beautiful, aren't they? They are also hard to see." Ichika said without beating around the bush, "Kamikawa Ren? Should I call you Kamikawa Naoki? Which of the two names do you prefer to be called?"

"Ren." He preferred to be called by his original name.

Ichika nodded while thinking, "But this way, you will admit that you are Naoki. Aren't you afraid that I might intentionally deceive you?"

Ichika initially prepared for Ren to refuse to admit it and then took his signature to settle this. But what she didn't expect was that he admitted it so easily without any intention of denial.

"Aren't I afraid?" Ren asked in confusion.

Ichika had written the name Naoki directly in the letter, so did she still need to deceive him?

"Because you admitted it directly, it saved me from wasting time proving it." Ichika quickly adjusted her mindset and continued to speak slowly.

Ren didn't say anything, waiting for her to continue talking.

"By the way, you've been very calm from now until now. You don't look panicked at all. Does that mean you're not worried at all?" Looking at his expressionless face, Ichika suddenly felt quite boring.

It was reasonable that in a situation like this where Ren's secret was in her hands, as one of the parties involved, he would worry.

But he seemed calm and composed, as if he didn't care at all, greatly diminishing her sense of accomplishment.

"Worried." Ren was still a little worried about this matter.

"So, what are you worried about?"

"Um..."

After thinking for a moment, Ren said seriously, "Keep this secret for me and don't tell Nino-san about it."

"Fair enough." Ichika was very satisfied with his attitude, finally feeling the pleasure of mastering someone else's secret, and then waited for him to continue speaking.

"Is that all?" Ren was puzzled.

He just asked her nicely; what else should he say besides this?

"The benefits! For example, if I promise to keep it a secret for you, you can treat me to dinner, etc." Ichika reminded him.

But when she said this, she suddenly felt like she was squeezing him.

"In that case, keep this secret for me, and I will treat you to dinner." Ren continued what Ichika had said.

If Ichika was willing to help him keep this secret, he wouldn't mind treating her to dinner as a thank-you gesture.

"No, this level is not satisfying for me." Ichika signaled.

"Oh, goodbye."

Seeing her refusal, Ren stood up and bid farewell.