23. Getting Close To Her

Izumi took out his phone and opened a certain app. The app was a controller for the drone. And of course, Izumi himself made the application because the coding was not so complicated.

After he opened the app, there were a lot of tapping buttons. Option, camera, analog, R1, L1, X, O, ∆, and ☐. Each button is used for setting, recording or photographing, aiming, turning right, turning left, accelerating, firing, on/off, and brake. In addition, the phone screen can show the view from the camera.

When Izumi looked at it, it reminded him of the PSP button.

Unfortunately, when he tried to fly his drone, the drone's movements seemed to be staggering. What's more, the drone couldn't be controlled properly.

"Woah, it flies!"

As Souta said those words, Kyouko came with drinks. Judging from her expression, she was surprised by what Izumi brought.

Izumi sighed and turned off the drone.

"Sorry, Souta. This thing isn't working properly. Looks like I'll disassemble it again and add something. I'll give it to you when it's done. Do you want it?"

"Eh, big brother wanna give it to me? Of course, I want it! But can it be played now?"

"Unfortunately, no."

"Eh. Boring."

Souta dejected. However, Izumi promised to give the drone to him. Of course, it was not the drone he was showing, but Izumi planned to make another drone with an energy core that used ordinary batteries.

Since nothing else interested him, Souta went to his room. And at that moment, Kyouko asked.

"What was that?"

"It's a drone. Don't you know?"

Kyouko shook her head, then asked.

"Did you make it?"

"Kind of." Izumi nodded in affirmative.

"Since when are you such an expert? Making things like that means you're a genius, right? If you're this smart, why weren't you the representative of the freshmen back then?"

Izumi didn't know what to say. He could be this smart because he relied on the nano brain chip. If he didn't have it, he was only mediocre, at least.

Izumi scratched his hair using his left hand.

"Well, do you think I need to get good grades in school?"

"Certainly, it will make it easier for you to get accepted into college. Eh, wait!" Suddenly Kyouko yelled. Kyouko grabbed Izumi's left arm.

"What is this? A tattoo? Not only piercings, but you even have a tattoo. However, you have an Otaku-like appearance in school. This is so bizarre."

"Well, it could be considered my dark side in mid-school." Izumi smiled wryly.

"Dark side? So, something bad happened to you in middle school, huh?"

Izumi thought for a moment, then said.

"Well, you can say it was very bad. At that time, everyone in class became my enemies."

Kyouko was surprised. But, his current appearance was due to what happened to him in mid-school. That meant he used to be a model student or something.

"Were they jealous of your intelligence that they were all against you?"

"Hahaha. No. In the first place, I never interacted with anyone in the class. I'm just an ordinary student with average grades."

"Then, why?"

"Somebody slandered me, then everyone turned against me. That's how it is."

Kyouko knitted her brows. Izumi looked like he didn't care about that, but Kyouko actually felt sorry for him.

"Is that the reason you look like a nerd at school? And never try to interact with your classmates?"

"Perhaps. Are you worried about me?"

"Yeah, worried because you don't have a friend."

"..."

Izumi was so speechless.

Meanwhile, Kyouko stared intently at Izumi.

"I didn't notice it before. It turns out that Miyamura's eyelashes are so long like a girl's. If she looks like that without her piercing. He's going to look like a pretty boy." Kyouko said in her mind.

Unknowingly, Kyouko didn't take her eyes off Izumi at all, so Izumi smirked and waved his hand at Kyouko.

Kyouko snapped out of her daze. As soon as she saw Izumi who was looking at her with a grin, she was flustered.

"Hori-san, why were you looking at me intensely?" Izumi teased her.

But Kyouko denied it.

"No, I'm not."

"Do you prefer my current look?"

"..."

Kyouko blushed and she wasn't sure how to reply. Her heart beat even faster than before.

"How can he say something like that openly? Doesn't he feel embarrassed about what he said?"

However, Kyouko did think that Izumi was indeed more handsome with his current appearance. And it would be even better if he didn't have his piercings on.

"If everyone at school saw how he looked now, he would definitely be popular. Especially the girls who would try to get close to her." Kyouko said inwardly.

"What's on your mind, Hori-san?"

Because Kyouko was lost in thought, Izumi became curious as to what she was thinking. That's why he approached her.

Kyouko raised her head and saw how close Izumi's face was. She jumped backward in surprise and her head hit the wall behind her.

"Ouch."

"Pffttt. What are you doing, Hori-san? Is my face that scary?"

While rubbing her head, Kyouko answered.

"N-no. It's your fault for surprising me."

"You've been daydreaming when you see me, so I wonder what you think. Is there something wrong with my face?" Izumi asked in wonder. Izumi wasn't sure if Kyouko was interested in his appearance, or otherwise. That's why he wanted to know. After all, understanding a woman is a complicated thing.

*Ba-dump*

Kyouko felt a stir in her heart that made her think.

"What happened to me? Why do I always think about him? But he…"

Suddenly…

"Hmmm, perhaps, do you want to see this appearance at school?" Izumi said jokingly. Although it would be troublesome if many knew that he had a lot of piercing marks, he didn't really mind it. As long as the tattoo was not visible.

"No! Don't! Only I can see it!"

"Eh!"

Izumi was surprised. He didn't expect Kyouko to say that. As if understood what she meant, he laughed inwardly.

Never once had he thought that Kyouko would forbid him from showing off his delinquent appearance. But then, he remembered she said the same thing in the manga.

When she realized what she said, Kyouko covered her face with her palms while muttering.

"I want to die!"