[Book of Eros] Chapter 70 - Looking after the new schoolmates. (Patreon)

The walk to school was silent and awkward, but it seemed that was just for him. Leonardo struggled to find something to say and how to say it in a way that would include all people present. Valerie didn’t speak English or Japanese, so no matter in what language he spoke he’d be leaving someone out. Nevertheless, Angela and Valerie walked like there was nothing wrong while Kaede kept her eyes on the ground.

He led the new girls to the teachers’ office before going to his own classroom. He found Reiko already sitting on her spot, and he had to hold back the sudden urge to go for a hug. Sure, he’d seen her yesterday but so much had happened that he wanted to be alone with her for a while. But no, he resisted and instead he sat next to her and set his forehead on the table with a decently loud thud.

“A-Are you okay?” she asked.

“Why are people so complicated?” he asked.

“That bad, huh?” Reiko said with a hint of amusement.

“One is pushy, another arrived covering her face, another called my cooking bad and last one barely speaks to us,” he told her.

“But are they cute?”

“Not the point, Reiko.”

“But are they?”

“…Very.”

“Glass half-full, Leo,” Reiko giggled. “Will you tell me more during lunch?”

“Maybe,” he sighed. “I might have to look after the new girls. Two of them will be our schoolmates.”

“Oh.”

Leo saw Reiko’s eyebrows rise a bit, along with a faint smile. “You seem excited.”

“Well… If they belong to your clan, then my parents won’t be against me being friends with them. I hope we can get along.”

“I hoping for the same, but my gut feeling says it won’t be so easy.”

“Has your gut feeling been right often?”

“50-50? This time I can sort of back it up, though.”

“Why’s that?”

“Hey,” the guy on the seat in front of Leo turned to them and addressed them in Japanese. “How long are you two going to speak English? Contreras-san can speak Japanese already, right? You’re not saying mean stuff behind our backs, are you?”

The guy’s tone was lighthearted and he had a goofy smile on his face. He wasn’t trying to be mean, but rather wanted tease them a bit.

“Hahaha. Sorry, sorry,” Leo answered in Japanese as well. “It’s a habit by now, but you’re right.”

“You two are rather close, huh? You guys going out?”

Leo caught Reiko’s face growing hot and red in the corner of his eye. He wanted really bad to be honest, but things weren’t so simple for them. “Maybe,” he said with a smirk.

“Oh, come on! Don’t get vague with me!”

Leo caught a mix of annoyance and enthusiasm in him as he sat backwards on his chair and started making conversation with him and Reiko. A few of the other students already in the classroom caught this and started coming closer, gathering around them.

“Where do you live, Contreras-san?” a girl asked.

“In the residential district in the outskirts,” he answered.

“I heard my dad say you’re a descendant of the clan that founded this town. Is that true?”

“So they tell me,” Leo laughed.

“Do you have any hobbies?”

“Cooking, I guess,” he admitted with some hesitance.

“Oh yeah! His lunch boxes always smell great! Can I try it sometime?”

“H-Hey now, it’s that a little too forward?” Reiko asked the girl who had said that.

“Oooh? But you two eat lunch together, don’t you? Does that mean…”

“A-Angela-san is there too, you know? Hahaha…” Reiko answer, brushing off the comment.

“Man, we can finally talk to you! Was learning Japanese hard?”

“Yeah, way too hard,” Leo said, sighing tiredly. “I’m still learning, so forgive me if I say something weird.”

It felt nice for him to finally be able to talk to his classmates. For a long time his acquaintances at school were Reiko and Angela. Now he can actually interact with other people. However, thinking that took his mind to Valerie. He hoped they put her in his class so that he could help her settle in like Reiko did for him.

Yet when the bell rang, it wasn’t Valerie who came with the teacher, but Kaede. The brunette made the class burst into whispers the moment she entered. People commented mainly on her appearance. Not only was she stunningly beautiful with fair skin and silky hair, but on top of adding accessories to her outfit like colorful wristbands and hair pins, her skirt was a bit shorter than the standard, showing more of her smooth legs.

Leo looked at the girl carefully, trying to read her reactions with his new perceptions. He didn’t know if he was doing it right. Somehow she seemed both happy and bothered at the attention she was getting. She was forcing a big, bright smile like the one she used when she greeted them for the first time back home.

“H-Heyoo! I’m Chiteki Kaede! Nice to meet y’all! I’m new in town, so I hope we’ll be super friends!” she said as she introduced herself with a peace sign.

It made Leo blink. Where was that attitude coming from? She certainly didn’t look that energetic when walking to school. What Mrs. Wisler had told him that morning started to make more sense to him. Just because he could see a little deeper into a person’s mindset didn’t mean he could understand them. In fact, it made him realize all over again just how complex people were.

Kaede ended up sitting right in front of Reiko, one seat diagonally in front of him. As she was taking her seat, their eyes met and she flinched. Her immediate reaction was to try to wink at him while giving him a shaky smirk. Another thing of interest was that, throughout the entire class, Kaede didn’t write down a single thing on her notebook. A lazy one, maybe?

When the ball rang to signal the first recess, many students gathered around the new girl, coming with a plethora of questions. They were practically the same questions they’d asked him just before class started. Once more, Leo watched Kaede intently.

“Chiteki-san, where do you live?”

“O-Oh, you know… the residential district,” she answered with an attempt at a casual hand gesture.

“Do you have any hobbies?”

“S-Sure do, hahaha! I love shopping… and listening to music! I also l-love ice cream!”

“We should go shopping together, then! I know a place that has some really cute outfits!”

“Y-Yeah…!”

“Do you have a boyfriend, Chiteki-san?”

“A-Ahaha, no, I don’t.” There were a few male cheers at that.

Leo narrowed his eyes. There was a chance he could be wrong, but Kaede didn’t seem comfortable. Her body was tense, she was stammering and answering questions with yes or no whenever she could. Slowly, people started to run out of questions and things to talk about as Kaede’s answers became shorter. They returned to their own little groups, leaving Kaede alone on her seat. Leo saw her bite her lip before she rose from her chair and left the classroom.

“Can you follow her?” he asked Reiko. “If she goes into the restroom I won’t be able to go in.”

“Huh? Why?”

“I’m worried about her.”

“She looked fine, though,” Reiko blinked at him. “But if you say so.”

He disliked leaving it to Reiko, but he had a hunch and didn’t want to press his luck. He was hoping really badly he was wrong.