Soup Robber

Kazuya Matsuoka thought about the cheat while walking to the cafeteria. As he arrived, he saw two troubles waiting at the entrance—this time it was two boys. They were the two guys who inexplicably considered themselves his friends on the day of the opening ceremony of Hope's Peak Academy's seventh cohort.

"Matsuoka, why are you so late!" One of them, a thin boy with a crew cut, greeted him first. Kazuya glanced at him. This guy's name was Yuma Uchida. Although he looked a bit sketchy, he was indeed quite sketchy. To put it nicely, he had a cunning appearance, and to put it bluntly, he was sly and despicable, like a sly villain or a sly advisor who gave bad advice to the antagonist in a TV series.

His hobby is observing girls with a lusty gaze. In less than ten days since the start of school, the reputation he had among the girls was extremely poor. Kazuya even accidentally heard some girls saying that being stared at by Yuma was nauseating and uncomfortable, as if trapped in a nightmare.

As for the one next to Yuma, it was his best friend, Shin Shimazaki. They miraculously shared the same class from kindergarten to elementary school, and now even in high school, they were still in the same class. If one of them were a girl, it would be a childhood engagement. Unfortunately, they were both boys, destined to be just standard good friends.

Unlike Yuma, Shin gave Kazuya a more positive impression. This boy was more gentle, usually not too talkative. Except for being a little irritable when dealing with his childhood friend Yuma, he was very polite to others and showed good manners. Everyone could see that he had good upbringing, and he was quite thoughtful and understanding. He was relatively easy to get along with.

Kazuya nodded vaguely at Yuma, but Yuma didn't realize what he thought and approached with an evil smile. He asked in a low voice, "Matsuoka, what did Takasaki do just now? Hey, did she confess to you?" When the three of them were walking to the cafeteria, Makoto Takasaki caught up with them. Now, waiting at the cafeteria entrance, he was itching to know what she said, but he was dragged away by Shin. At this moment, he was eagerly waiting—his curiosity was extremely heavy, especially when it came to things between men and women.

Kazuya ignored him and went straight into the cafeteria, "Sorry to keep you waiting. Let's hurry and eat!" Saying that, he walked in first, and Yuma, who originally wanted to tease Kazuya, became suspicious when he saw Kazuya not answering. He was shocked, followed Kazuya closely, and kept asking, "Did she really confess to you? Ah, you must have agreed!" He pounded his chest and stamped his feet, "Takasaki is not bad, she looks pretty, and her body is good. I've been eyeing her for a long time, planning to make a move. I didn't expect you to beat me to it!"

Kazuya looked at him helplessly, "I didn't agree!"

Yuma was even more surprised, closely following Kazuya, wanting to reach out and put his arm around his neck. He kept talking, "Didn't agree? Matsuoka, are you stupid? High school is a battleground. It's always the early bird that catches the worm. You don't want this opportunity to be the first to have a girlfriend in the first year? What else do you want? It's a waste... you'll regret it in the future..."

Kazuya ignored him, walking to the food counter to buy some food. Yuma was hard to understand one thing: studying, getting into a prestigious university, starting a business, achieving success in his career, having material foundations, getting married, and having children—this was the correct trajectory of life.

Yuma followed behind Kazuya, incessantly talking about Makoto Takasaki's figure, appearance, and temperament. He repeatedly asserted with certainty that Kazuya would regret it deeply in the future. His face twisted with a fierce expression, showing that he couldn't turn back time to agree on Kazuya's behalf. He even planned how to trick Makoto Takasaki into going to a love hotel.

Kazuya ignored him, remaining silent as if he hadn't heard anything. Yuma was at an age full of interest in women. Upon entering this body, Kazuya was facing the high school entrance ceremony and had to seize the opportunity to get information when Yuma was outgoing and actively approached. Despite being lecherous and talkative, he could provide a lot of information. However, he got entangled, and it seemed Yuma considered him as his friend. Even though he didn't want to quarrel with Yuma now, there were many things he needed to find out from him.

Fortunately, despite his unattractive appearance, Yuma was still in adolescence and essentially not a bad person. Kazuya ordered the cheapest soy sauce ramen at the sales counter, while Yuma casually ordered a tonkotsu ramen. Shin went to another counter to buy stir-fried noodles with a sweet flavor – it seemed he preferred sweet tastes.

When the noodles were ready and the aroma filled the air, Yuma's stomach growled a few times. Afterward, he calmed down a bit. Together with Kazuya, they carried their bowls to the dining area. Yuma was still regretful, "Ah, according to the information I collected, Takasaki is, at the very least, a high-quality girl. Hey, Matsuda, what are you thinking?"

The people in the dining area sat scattered. Kazuya continued searching for an empty seat while casually responding, "I don't have time. I need to study."

Yuma wasn't giving up, "These two things don't conflict, right? I heard Makoto Takasaki has a small group, with two girls who are often together. They seem decent. If you succeed, you might have a chance to interact with those two girls. The probability of getting out of singlehood or getting rid of your virginity will increase. Studying can wait until the third year of high school. Now we need to seize the time to enjoy our youth. Ah, be careful!"

Yuma exclaimed, but before Kazuya could react, he felt a bump on his side. He quickly stabilized the tray in his hands to prevent the brimming noodle soup from spilling.

"Sorry!" A dazed apology sounded. Kazuya turned to look but was startled – he couldn't see anyone! Upon closer inspection, he found a very short girl bending down to apologize, almost disappearing under the tray. No wonder he didn't see her at first.

The girl was wearing the spring uniform of Hope's Peak Academy: a white shirt with a light yellow V-neck sweater, a red tie, a dark red and black plaid sailor skirt, and black cotton knee-high socks. Her small round-toed leather shoes were polished and shiny. However, the girl was really short. If it weren't for the uniform, Kazuya would have thought it was an elementary school student playing around in the high school.

"No problem, are you okay?" Kazuya smiled slightly, not minding the unintentional collision. The girl straightened up, rubbing her eyes, still drowsy, and apologized, "I'm so tired. I got a bit distracted and didn't see the people clearly. I'm really sorry."

As she spoke and saw Kazuya's face clearly, she was stunned, "Is it you? Gigo... Kazuya?!"

Kazuya was surprised. Could it be someone he knew? Wasn't the original owner of this body supposed to have no acquaintances in Nagoya? Was she someone he met these days or a classmate? Despite the doubts in his mind, he remained composed on the surface. He carefully examined the girl's face and realized she was quite attractive – a small, moon-shaped face with crescent eyes, delicate eyebrows, cherry-like lips, and two faint dimples on her cheeks. However, her expression was gradually changing from the tired look of not being fully awake to annoyance. A pair of small fangs glinted with a cold light at the corner of her lips.

Although Kazuya had difficulity in recognizing people, he confirmed that he doesn't recognize her, and they are not classmates! If they were, he should have remembered someone so short. Unable to determine, Kazuya cautiously asked, "I'm Matsuoka. And you are..." 

The short girl squinted her crescent eyes, her expression turning more indignant. She angrily asked, "You don't recognize me?"

"Umm... have we met somewhere?" Kazuya asked tentatively.

The girl seemed like she wanted to explode but couldn't find the right words. After holding back for a while, she suddenly tiptoed, stretched her small mouth, slurped a large sip of the noodle soup from Kazuya's tray, glared at him angrily, and then left in a huff. Her small figure disappeared in the blink of an eye, leaving Kazuya standing in place.