A Book Can't Be Judged By The Cover

Chapter 82: Secret Conversation

"What is this?" Hajime perplexedly asked.

"It’s the list of our group." Shinji, the indifferent one, responded as he continued looking at the magazine he was reading up til now. He didn’t even look up when he spoke to Hajime since he was too engrossed with whatever it was he was reading.

"Just so you know we didn’t pick you out. Akamine-sensei personally assigned group leaders, four of them, and she assigned the teams for us. As much as we hate being with you, we’re going to have to stick together during the school trip." Kichiro voiced out. There was a certain crestfallen tone in his voice that screamed how disappointed he was about the entire situation.

"Don’t lump me in with this guy," Shinji responded calmly even though the attack wasn’t directed at him. "While I also don’t particularly like grouping with any of you, I’m not as undisciplined as this guy right here who childishly voices out his likes and dislikes."

"You~!"

"I’m Hajime, I’ll see you guys tomorrow." Hajime simply spoke since he saw it fit to introduce himself as part of the group. Somehow, he liked Shinji’s reaction. Just on that brief meeting, he could tell that he and Shinji would get along quite well.

Throughout that encounter, Okamoto Shoichi, the brown-haired troublemaker guy that got into a fight with Hajime in the past, continuously glared at Hajime as he exited the classroom.

"Sure, see you all tomorrow." Shinji took it up as his chance to go home as well, and he didn’t speak another word even though Kichiro was starting to rage about their rude behavior towards him. Had he imagined the entire situation again, he would’ve seen that it was his fault he received such criticism. After all, he was the first one to say something negative while the others frankly didn’t care.

"This is going to be hellish... yeah, this is going to be a hellish school trip," Kichiro muttered to himself as he headed home as well.

.....

On her way out, Megumi noticed that Hajime was on his way home as well. At that moment, her face lit up bearing resemblance to the sun which had yet to dip down the horizon as the sunset drew near. Without hesitation, she raised her hands, about to greet Hajime despite the number of students still around her. Once again, it totally flew out of her mind that a misunderstanding was due if she were to spend time with Hajime in school.

Still, before the inevitable happened, she stopped short as she saw Hajime approach Franz in a friendly manner. Before she knew it, she was back in her usual stalker mode (as unusual as that may sound) and she hid behind one of the brushes by the side of the school walls. Curious, she watched the two of them strike up a conversation while Franz presumably waited for her. There was no way she could hear them from quite a distance so she’d have to make do with just watching them.

After a couple of minutes, Franz handed Hajime something after looking around the place. What he handed him was an envelope. As for the contents of it, Megumi could only wonder. With a light bow, Hajime said his farewell to Franz before he proceeded to go home.

"What was that about?" Megumi asked.

...

’What’s taking the young miss so long?’ Franz asked himself as he double-checked his watch. He didn’t see it wrong, a quarter of an hour has passed already and the young miss was nowhere to be found. fгeewёbnoѵel.cσm

"Franz-san," Hajime greeted as he saw him.

"Young sir, here, as per Mr. Kikuchi ordered." Franz nodded as he handed him the envelope which contained his salary for the month.

When Hajime received it, he felt a slight pang of guilt in his mind since his job was so easy. He just had to watch over Megumi, see to it that she wasn’t getting into any trouble, and every once in a while she’d report to Mrs. Kikuchi and that’s about it. He was having the time of his life and not only that, he get to spend more of that time with his younger sister by the hospital.

Back when he was still in construction, Hajime didn’t have the time to visit his sister since he was usually fatigued after the day. But now with his bodyguarding duties, he wasn’t tired at all. Of course, he’d skip a few meals here and there to save more money but he wasn’t doing any heavy lifting.

"Thank you," Hajime muttered, bowing down towards Franz before heading on his way. He knew the drill— as soon as he received the money, he’d best be on his way since Megumi might see them together and she’ll be highly suspicious of them.

Then again, in the off-chance that she did see them, she’d just brush it off as them trying to catch up with each other. They did have dinner together, after all, and that’s enough leverage to say that they were just talking to each other.

However, this time was different. Not only did she catch them talking to each other, she also noticed that Franz handed Hajime an envelope.

"What was that about?" Megumi asked herself before she approached Franz.

"Young miss," Franz greeted, opening the side doors of the limousine before gesturing for her to go inside.

"That was Hajime just now, right? What did you two talk about?" Megumi casually asked so her question wouldn’t sound too prying.

"Ah, that... " Franz muttered, immediately realizing that Megumi caught him handing Hajime his salary. "He needed help with some reference books so I gave him a list of my recommendations." He continued.

Just like Hajime, Franz felt a pang of guilt as she lied to the young miss. He received clear instructions from Mr. Kikuchi that Megumi shouldn’t know about their recruitment of Hajime and that’s why he had to hide it from her no matter what. In the end, it was his sworn sense of duty as Mr. Kikuchi’s employee, and he had to follow that— even if it meant outrightly lying to their daughter. fɾeeweɓnѳveɭ.com

"I see," Megumi responded. As for her, she knew that Franz would have no reason to lie to her and so she decide to believe him. Her suspicion was placed at the back of her mind though, not gone for good.