The Devastating Power of a Shy Smile
Whoosh! In an instant, Raon's face turned as red as a cherry. She hurriedly lowered her head, hiding her face completely behind the large menu. Seeing her defensive posture, Shun finally realized just how blatantly he had been staring.
"U-Ueda... you're a real... pervert..."
A tiny, resentful voice leaked out from behind the menu. At Raon's devastating words, Shun flinched violently, his hands flailing in the air.
"N-No! It's a misunderstanding! I didn't mean it like that, I was just, uh, you see—!"
Even as the words left his mouth, Shun wanted to slam his head against the table. Why? Why on earth was he making so many excuses about "misunderstandings" today of all days? Just as he was about to spiral into self-loathing, wondering if he had always been this pathetic and miserable—
Slide.
"Should I kill him, Master?"
Across the table, Suzuki, his eyes half-closed in a sleepy glare, was rummaging through the under-table drawer and pulling out a butter knife. Sitting next to him, Kenji took his mouth off his straw and replied in a very deep, calm voice.
"Patience. Boiling over so easily is your worst habit."
"But Master. Having a gaze-rapist at our table is severely polluting the air."
"True. Let's kill him after all."
"Hey, hold on, stop."
The butter knife gleamed silver under the restaurant lights. Suzuki's antics were his usual idiocy, but Kenji was the real problem. He already had a terrifying face, and with his massive, mountain-like build, his serious growl radiated a murderous aura that made him look like a genuine yakuza. Feeling the dark, murderous intent slowly creeping from his two friends, Shun massaged his throbbing temples and groaned.
"Sigh. What is your guys' problem now?"
"Seeing that shameless face of yours, acting like you genuinely have no idea, makes me sick."
"Ueda. It's only because you couldn't see your own face just now. Seriously, that was a textbook greasy, gaze-raping look."
"...Wait, was it really that bad?"
"Yeah."
"Yep."
An instant reply without a shred of hesitation. As Shun let out a dumbfounded gasp, Kenji clicked his tongue.
"I should've taken a picture and pinned it in the class group chat. What a waste."
"Anyway, that's the enemy of women for you. Shall we order first?"
Suzuki snorted and pressed the call button at the edge of the table. *Ding-dong.* A server soon approached, and Suzuki pulled the order slip toward him.
"Let's see... Miss Raon, you wanted that doria from earlier, right?"
Peeking out with just her eyes from behind the menu, Raon gave a small nod. Her adorable appearance, reminiscent of a penguin cautiously checking its surroundings, made Suzuki's cheekbones twitch uncontrollably. However, he desperately fought to control his facial muscles and started writing with his pen.
"Okay, one doria. Kenji, what about you?"
"Pasta. Tomato sauce."
"Ueda, you?"
"Tomato for me too."
"Okay. Tomato for me as well. So that's one doria and three tomatoes."
Scribble, scribble. Suzuki smoothly wrote down the item numbers and handed the slip to the server. Watching this swift ordering process, Raon, whose blush had faded slightly, slowly lowered the menu and asked,
"Um... did all three of you order the same thing?"
"Huh? Oh. I guess we did."
As Shun answered casually, Kenji took a sip of his melon soda and chimed in.
"It's not like we planned to match our orders. I guess it's just easier when they're the same."
"Or maybe it's because of our part-time job experience?"
"Easier...? Part-time job...?"
Raon tilted her head at Suzuki's brief addition. As it happened, all three high school boys sitting at the table were veterans of part-time kitchen work at Saizeriya. For the puzzled Raon, Shun offered an explanation.
"Well, it's kind of obvious, but from a part-timer's perspective, it's way easier when identical orders come in all at once rather than a chaotic mix of different dishes."
"A silent understanding between former part-timers? It's something like that."
"Exactly. If a bunch of identical orders come in, you feel like bowing in gratitude toward the dining area from the kitchen."
Kenji scratched the back of his head as he spoke, and Suzuki chuckled in agreement. It was a trivial, mundane conversation, laced with the simple and useless camaraderie unique to teenage boys. Listening quietly, Raon's lips curved into a beautiful arc.
"Hehe."
A very soft, gentle chuckle escaped her lips like a soft breeze. At that pleasant sound, the three boys, who had been chatting away, turned their heads toward Raon in unison.
"Huh?"
Their gazes locked onto her simultaneously. Raon gasped, covering her mouth, and quickly looked down in embarrassment.
"Ah, no. I wasn't laughing at you..."
Rustle. As she bowed her head, her jet-black hair cascaded forward, releasing a refreshing scent of shampoo. Raon hesitated, tapping her slender, white index fingers together, before looking up at the three of them, her long eyelashes fluttering shyly.
"I just thought... Shun and his friends are normal boys after all. Somehow, it's reassuring."
Shyly flushed cheeks. Large, moist eyes. A small, gentle smile playing on her lips, as fresh as a spring breeze.
"...I guess. Hehe."
At that exact moment, as Raon gave another soft, bashful laugh—
...Whoa.
...Holy crap.
...Uh, wow.
The three boys' mouths shut tight. To be precise, they had no choice but to shut them. If they opened their mouths right now, they would undoubtedly lose control of their jaw muscles and break into creepy, squid-like grins.
Their brains knew, of course. There was no romantic interest or special meaning behind Raon's words. She was simply sharing a pure, positive observation: Oh, the reason they match their orders is so simple and boyish, it's cute.
Therefore, the problem lay not in the text, but in the sheer, unadulterated caliber of the speaker. Her ladylike choice of words. Her modest, princess-like posture. Even the uniquely feminine scent that sweetened the very air around them. Raon, who was already breathtakingly beautiful, smiling shyly and saying, "You're boys after all," carried a devastating level of destructive power.
This was...! This was truly...! A pure, elegant anime girl brought to life!
What is this adorable creature...! This is seriously dangerous...! I want to confess to her right now...!! Her heroine power is off the charts...! I'll obviously get rejected! But I still want to confess anyway...!!
This was Suzuki.
Holy shit. That destructive power is insane... Ueda gets to see this at home every single day now...? No way. I really have to kill him. Right now.
This was Kenji.
...I'm glad I've stayed alive all this time.
And finally, Shun.
The brains of the three boys had long since melted like butter, flooded by an overdose of happiness hormones like oxytocin and serotonin. Fortunately, Shun—who had built up a slight immunity from an even more intense physical encounter at home just an hour ago—was the first to snap back to reality.
"...C-Cough!"
Forcing a cough, Shun desperately tried to steady his voice.
Hey, you bastards! You're no different from me in the end!
Was this how Suzuki and Kenji felt when they were looking at him earlier? Seeing two dark-haired, hulking teenage boys with half-glazed eyes, blushing cheeks, and goofy grins was nothing short of a visual assault. It was a hideous sight, enough to rot one's retinas on the spot. Shun mercilessly extended his leg under the table and kicked his dazed friends in the shins.
Thud!
"Ow!"
Kicked in the shin, Suzuki shrieked and snapped out of it, while Kenji, startled, hurriedly cleared his throat.
"C-Cough!"
"Ah, u-uh, what were we talking about again?"
They couldn't... remember! Their faces said it all. They looked like complete idiots whose brains had been taken out, soaked in fabric softener, and spun in a washing machine. They knew they had definitely witnessed something incredible just a moment ago. The sensation of brain-melting bliss was still vivid in their bodies!
But only the Result remained! The process was gone, leaving only the Result that their memories had been erased!
"T-Time just skipped! Like, five seconds!"
"Urgh! Is this the work of the Boss?!"
Shun let out a deep, exasperated sigh. Unzipping his bag with a sharp *zzzip*, he nodded at his two friends, who were still spouting nonsense.
"Stop talking nonsense and pull 'that' out already."
"Ah, right."
"Will do."
Rustle.
The three boys simultaneously pulled heavy objects from their respective bags and slammed them onto the table with a *thud!*
"...?"
Raon's eyes widened in curiosity at what appeared before her. After school at a family restaurant, the object that three hot-blooded high school boys had secretly produced was none other than:
The Standard of High School Mathematics: Calculus
That was it. The reason Shun, Suzuki, and Kenji had gathered at Saizeriya after school. It wasn't to prepare for picking up girls downtown or engaging in unwholesome entertainment—
"Sigh, math really is tough..."
"Where are we even supposed to use calculus in real life? It's not like the grocer is going to differentiate to give us our change."
"Fact check part one: as long as humans know basic arithmetic, they have zero problems surviving in this world."
"Fact check part two: you guys are so bad at math, you don't even know your limits."
"What did you say, you bastard...?"
It was a highly wholesome and productive math study group.
And.
"...Math?"
Raon's eyes sparkled.