After deciding to give up, I became popular

"Yeah."

Getting off the bus, the air felt incredibly fresh; the aroma of green grass from the woods completely captivated his senses, only to be immediately overwhelmed by waves of curry scent.

"It's curry every year, can't they come up with something new..." Kanzaki sighed, recalling that they had curry rice last year as well.

Of course, it wasn't that he hated it, but he felt that after a year, there should be some changes. He didn't expect everyone to decide on curry again this year.

"It's convenient, after all, and it's a key lesson in the school's cooking class," Shiina Mahiru said with a smile. Kanzaki was always like this, fixating on strange things like a child.

"Besides, it's not just others; Kanzaki himself loves making curry rice, doesn't he? I know that. It's not so much that he wants to eat it, but that curry rice is the easiest to make."

"Well... that's... a little different. The important thing is novelty, novelty..."

"Hmm... then, how about I try making something different? I haven't tried such a big pot before, but it shouldn't be too different..."

Miss Shiina seemed genuinely tempted, so now it was Kanzaki's turn to dissuade her.

"Uh... maybe not. That would attract too much attention..." Kanzaki pondered for a moment and shook his head. "Since it's already decided, let's go help gather firewood. Some groups might not have enough."

There was no question about the angel-like Miss Shiina's cooking skills. Even he, who was taught by her, had his cooking recognized by the Fujiwara and Shinomiya young ladies. Convincing the other students in the class wouldn't be difficult, but he felt strangely awkward about it.

It was as if he didn't want Shiina to show off her strengths too much and attract attention, hoping she would only cook for him.

108. Clearly Don't Want to be Cannon Fodder

Chatting and working with Shiina made the time pass quickly, and the work felt much easier.

"Have you done this kind of thing before, Kanzaki? You seem very skilled."

Shiina Mahiru sat on a tree stump, resting her chin on her hands, watching him intently as he skillfully picked up the wood, placed it, and split it in half with precision.

"Yeah, I did it in middle school too," Kanzaki replied, wiping the sweat from his forehead. "It was during a forest school trip. Back then... no one assigned me any tasks, so I came over to chop wood myself. I couldn't do it, so I found a nearby administrator who taught me for a few days..."

"You learned it completely in just a few days?" Shiina Mahiru exclaimed, her surprise no less than when she suddenly heard that he had learned to cook.

His learning ability was too strong, wasn't it?

"Or is it actually very simple?"

"..." Kanzaki didn't reply, but turned to look at her and invited, "Do you want to try it, Shiina?"

"Eh, me?"

"Of course... I'll teach you."

Hearing Kanzaki say that, Shiina Mahiru didn't hesitate. She brushed the dust off her skirt and walked to where he had been standing.

After handing the axe to Shiina, he taught her the grip and techniques.

"Keep your eyes on the center of the wood, aim the axe, raise both hands above your head, and then swing down with force."

The steps themselves weren't complicated; they were simple, but in reality, it wasn't that easy.

For example, you often missed the mark, didn't use enough force, causing the axe to get stuck in the wood, or used too much force, splitting it but sending pieces flying everywhere. Also, if your posture was wrong, you could easily injure your back.

"Don't be so nervous, relax your muscles a little, and then use force when you swing... don't raise your hands so high, and don't close your eyes. It will affect your accuracy..."

From the perspective of someone who had been there, the angel-like Miss Shiina was endearingly clumsy.

She was supposed to be chopping wood, but she closed her eyes as if afraid to see life pass away. Kanzaki had no choice but to lean in, stand behind her, wrap her in his arms, and teach her the correct posture hand-in-hand.

"Like this, smoothly raise your hands, and then..."

With a whoosh, both hands swung down with force, and the sturdy wood was split in half. Although it sent pieces flying further than expected, it was a good start.

"Like that, isn't it simple? Okay, try it yourself now."

"No... that... I still don't quite get it. Teach me again..."

Shiina's face was flushed, seemingly excited by trying something new.

"..." Kanzaki didn't know what to say.

Originally, he wanted Shiina to realize that this wasn't easy, and even hoped to get some praise from her, but it seemed to have had a strange effect?

However, he could never refuse the angel-like Miss Shiina's request. Although their current posture was a bit intimate, as long as no one saw them, it wouldn't be a problem...

"Kanzaki?"

Just as he thought that, a third voice sounded from the side.

The voice even sounded familiar...

So Kanzaki froze. When he turned around, he saw another very cute blonde girl—Eriri Spencer Sawamura.

"Eh... that... I... you... what are you doing...?"

Given Eriri's personality, she should have run away after encountering such an intimate scene between a man and a woman, but instead of running away, she came closer.

Although she looked aggrieved.

"Uh... roughly... teaching her... how to chop wood?" Kanzaki replied intermittently.

It was supposed to be a serious matter, but being caught made him feel inexplicably ashamed, especially since it was Eriri, making him feel even more guilty.

"G, good afternoon, Eriri... H, have you eaten yet?"

"N, not yet... everyone is about to make dinner..."

"..."

"..."

It was terribly awkward.

Fortunately, the other party, Miss Shiina, was still in a rational state.

"Please don't misunderstand, we're not doing anything strange. I'm just having Kanzaki... Mr. Kanzaki teach me how to chop wood."

Her proper manners and generous expression, if not for the flush on her face that was hard to conceal, would have been very convincing.

But it was enough for Eriri.

"Oh... oh! So that's how it is. I thought you were... no, n, never mind..."

Kanzaki: "..."

This doujin artist definitely misunderstood, right?! But we really were doing something serious!

But explaining it again would make him seem particularly guilty, as if he was trying to hide something, so he had to find a way to change the subject.

"Speaking of which, why did you come here, Eriri? Did you get lost?"

"Of course not! I, I was just sent to get some firewood..." Eriri replied obediently, looking at Shiina Mahiru standing prettily beside Kanzaki, her expression a little envious.

How nice, to be able to have such intimate contact with Kanzaki. She wanted that too, to have Kanzaki teach her like that...

"Um, actually, I'm not very good at chopping wood either, Kanzaki... could Mr. Kanzaki also... help me a little?"

She originally wanted to say "teach me like that too," but she couldn't bring herself to say it. It would make her seem like an unsatisfied woman.

And...

She glanced unobtrusively at Shiina Mahiru to the side, and Eriri immediately felt very frustrated.

The girl next to her looked really cute, and with such an obedient and gentle appearance, she was clearly the type that boys liked the most.

Her title was still the kind of "angel" that everyone loved... that sounded much better than her so-called "ace of the art club"!

Damn it, she couldn't compare at all. What was going on? In the world of doujin, this kind of character was actually the most...

The key was that she was also blonde... the attributes overlapped!

She felt like her presence was going to be reduced to less than even Megumi's, and maybe she had already been forgotten by others?

"Ugh..." Eriri fell into her little emotions.

"Of course, no problem." Kanzaki nodded, but in his heart, he wondered if Eriri was being bullied in class. To actually have a girl fetch firewood...

Even if she didn't know anything about cooking, she could cheer from the side, right? But for something like fetching firewood, if there wasn't any stock in the warehouse, they would have to do it themselves.

And with Eriri's uselessness, she would be lucky if she didn't hurt herself, let alone chop wood.

"We happen to have a bit too much, so I'll give you half." After thinking about it, Kanzaki decided to give her some.

"But it's too much for you to carry alone, I'll help you carry some later."

He would also visit their class to see if Eriri was really being bullied and isolated. If that was the case, he would definitely not sit idly by.

"..." However, Eriri didn't appreciate his kindness at all, because what she wanted wasn't this kind of help.

But hand-in-hand, gentle movements, and a gentle tone!

"O, okay, thank you..."

But she couldn't say it in front of outsiders, sob...

109. Absolutely Don't Want to be Called Auntie or Anything

On the way back with the firewood with Shiina, she brought up the matter just now as expected.

"Is that Sawamura classmate... very close to Kanzaki?" Shiina Mahiru pursed her lips, trying to appear indifferent, but she couldn't do it after all.

The way that girl looked at Kanzaki was definitely not how ordinary classmates should look at him. She was absolutely sure of that.

"Should... be pretty good?" After thinking carefully, Kanzaki replied, although nominally it was for helping with drafts, they could go to each other's houses after all.

"We used to be in the same club and made games together. Eriri's drawing skills are great, and she's a well-known name in the industry, and she's also the ace of our school's art club."

Although it was in the world of doujin.

"..." Shiina Mahiru became a little sulky.

That was what she cared about the most. She didn't seem to be very close, but she could call the other person by their first name, and even she didn't have that treatment...

Or was that girl actually closer to Kanzaki than she was?

But she had already "slept" at Kanzaki's house without any reservations. What had that girl done...

"What's wrong?" Seeing that the angel-like Miss Shiina was in a bad mood, Kanzaki asked softly.

Was she minding being disturbed? He didn't expect that Shiina would actually be interested in chopping wood. Normally, this should be a unique pleasure for boys.

Similarly, there were also tree branches on the ground that looked very much like swords. If the shape was more perfect, they would definitely cherish them as treasures, saying that they were enshrined as holy swords was not an exaggeration.

After all, boys were such creatures that they could be happy for half a day just by finding a perfect skipping stone.

"It's nothing, I just feel like... I'm getting a little carried away..."

"Uh, why are you suddenly saying that?" Kanzaki couldn't keep up with her conversation rhythm.

"Because, think about it, I've always been calling you 'Kanzaki', but you don't seem willing to call me 'Mahiru'..." The angel-like Miss Shiina's face was flushed, feeling that her little thoughts had been exposed.

And because she envied Kanzaki calling another girl's name, she brought this up, as if she had given up in terms of how close they were.

Although she initially only had the attitude of "it's okay to just be friends" when she approached him again, she couldn't help but want more after always being together like this.

She wanted to be closer to him than anyone else.

"Uh..." Kanzaki felt like he had grasped something, but he couldn't say exactly what it was, but he couldn't refuse such a childish angel-like Miss Shiina.

"Just calling names... Mahiru?"

It was clearly just a tentative tone, but it sounded like heavenly music to the angel.

"Ugh! ..." Her delicate body trembled slightly, and her hand shook, almost dropping the firewood.

Her heartbeat accelerated suddenly, and it was as if a deer was running wild, and even the sunlight shining on her face became hotter.

Too cunning, this sudden attack...