Chapter 10: Sushi Roll Is A Guy?

Hayashi Sakura still can't get over the fact that she clearly saw Mori Ken's face at the establishment where she is currently working at. For the girl, his appearance is like a threat to her, like a time bomb that could explode anytime soon. If the school finds out what she's been doing to survive in Tokyo, she could lose her scholarship, and worse, she could be expelled from this prestigious institution for tainting their name with such 'scandalous' activities such as this.

Sakura doesn't know his intentions yet why did that guy suddenly decide to show up in her life after all the years that he has been avoiding her. But one thing is for sure, that she cannot allow him to know what her current work is… or else, her life here in Tokyo is truly finished before she could even have a jump start.

The next day in Hirosaki University, Hayashi Sakura tries her best to play it cool as she walks in the hallways on the second floor of the main school building leading to her first-period class for the first semester, which they will deal with the fundamentals of accounting. Sakura also learned from the brief orientation they had with Mr. Sato that the school only has two semesters each academic year, which is a relief to her to be honest.

The very first face that she saw upon entering their classroom is, unfortunately, Mori Ken's. He was already in his seat, scribbling something in his notebook, as Sakura is on her way to her chosen seat. Other students are happily having conversations with their groups or with their buddies, but no one has still paid attention to the girl nor show any signs that they are willing to include her in any of their groups.

Sighing, Sakura finally settled down in her seat, sling her bag behind her chair after pushing her glasses slightly up, and took out a notebook and a pen from it for jotting down notes later in their discussion. With her thoughts still lingering on the subject of her being a maid in secret, Sakura sneaks a glance over her shoulder to look at Ken and thoroughly observes him.

From what she is now seeing, Ken still looks oblivious of her connection with the cafe he visited yesterday. If, in the future, things start to get out of hand and this guy finally knows her secret, Sakura may have to leave the maid cafe someday even if she doesn't want to.

"I'm fully aware that you are now staring at me," Mori Ken says out of the blue, making Sakura flinch and hurriedly peels her gaze away from her.

"I am not!"

Ken now faces Sakura with an amused expression plastered on his face.

"Yes, you are."

"I am not! I was just…" Sakura tries to look for a solid alibi that could get her out of this humiliating situation when she sees the sketch on Ken's notebook. "I was just admiring your artwork. That's all!"

Ken chuckles and opens the notebook for Sakura to see what he has been drawing these past few minutes.

"Geez, you don't have to sound so defensive there, Chichi." Ken croons, making Sakura stunned for a moment.

Chichi is Ken's nickname for her when they were kids, named after Chichi, Goku's wife from Dragon Ball Z, whom she admires the most because of her honest, prank, and brave character. They were both fans of the said anime series. On the other hand, Kenny is what Sakura used to call him during those days when they were still so close.

It's been so long since she heard that nickname from him that it got her stunned for a moment. But then, Sakura pretended like she didn't hear it and kept a straight face afterward.

"You know how I used to love drawing since we were kids, right? It's been so long since I've sketched." Sakura hears Ken sigh as he stares into his simple yet beautiful masterpiece: a quick sketch of a random anime girl.

Not only are they introverts before, but also a slight Otaku as well-- which may not sound normal here. And Ken used to tell Sakura how much he wanted to be a manga artist someday when he grows up, and the girl has always cheered him up with his passion for drawing.

But Ken left Sakura hanging all of a sudden and started hanging out with his set of cool and extrovert friends, and before she knew it… Sakura was left alone enjoying the things that they used to love together all this time.

Sakura sets aside those thoughts for a while and replies, "Yeah, I remember that. But then you suddenly forget all about it and left me hanging before, right? So much for being a good friend back then, Ken."

She doesn't mean to snap at the boy like that, for he doesn't really have the slightest idea how much damage he caused into her life, but the least she could do is to make things clear to Ken that things would never be the same way for them again.

"So please, Mori-kun… leave me alone."

---

At the cafeteria, Sakura was eating alone in an empty table isolated from the rest while pretending to be busy by mindlessly scrolling her phone up and down. She was busy munching her tuna sandwich she made early this morning to avoid spending her money when something caught her attention all of a sudden.

It was a new thread in the Introvert Nation site that came from her online friend, Sushi Roll. Sakura hurriedly chugged on her water container before reading Sushi Roll's recent post an hour ago.

"Love is hard for introverts, indeed. The feelings are there, but the means of expressing ourselves to the person we like is lacking."

After reading such a heartfelt post from her online friend, Sakura quickly tapped his name to send a quick direct message.

----

NekoNii

-> I saw your post just now. Are you okay?

---

Sakura was on her way to take another bite of her homemade sandwich when Sushi Roll replied to her.

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SushiRoll

-> Yes, I'm fine. Thanks for asking.

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But Sakura could tell that this person is really not okay even though they aren't facing each other at the moment. Trying to be a good friend to Sushi Roll, she sent another concerned message.

---

NekoNii

-> If you want and if it makes you feel better, you can talk to me about it. I still have twenty minutes before our third period.

---

Sushi Roll surprisingly took long before replying, probably assessing within himself if he could share what's troubling him to the girl. But a minute later, Sakura hears her phone beep and that's when she got the message from him.

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SushiRoll

- > First of all, I'm a guy. And I have this girl whom I really like since God knows when, and I don't really know how to say it to her actually. Any tips, oh wise friend?

---

Forgetting his worries for a while, Hayashi Sakura's lips parted the moment she saw the first part of his reply. There were times that she assumed Sushi Roll is a girl because of how friendly he is on the site, and not just to her...but to every roleplayer/online person on the site as well.

But now, Sakura is definitely sure that Sushi Roll is, in fact, a guy.