[MHCISQD] Chapter 96: Nighttime

After dinner, Mikoto went directly to her room upstairs and changed her clothes. She quickly came downstairs with a few textbooks and said to her mother, who was in the kitchen, "I'm going to Senpai's house!"

Misuzu leaned out and looked at Mikoto changing her shoes at the entrance, and asked with a smile, "Are you coming back tonight?"

"Mom!" Mikoto's face turned red instantly. She turned her head and glared at her mother, saying loudly, "I'm just going there to study!"

After speaking, she opened the door and ran out.

*BANG!*

Watching the closed door, Misuzu rolled her eyes and said, "Do I not know my own daughter's grades? Does she still need to study?"

Mikoto went to Renault's house and asked him to help her study. Although her grades were completely fine, she wanted to spend time with him outside of training, so she pretended to have difficulty in her studies.

Although Renault didn't notice at first, after more than ten minutes, he had some suspicions. He remembered that when he went to school to pick up Mikoto, the teacher said that she was an outstanding student who received special attention in the class, so her grades must be fine.

So, the reason Mikoto did this...

Mikoto, who was originally listening to Renault's lecture, suddenly noticed that his expression was a bit distracted, so she asked, "Senpai, what's wrong?"

"Huh? Ah, just thinking about something. Sorry, I lost my focus," Renault shook his head, smiled, and flipped through the textbook, "Let me see what we should discuss next..."

Although he said that, Renault didn't have much enthusiasm for teaching anymore. Fortunately, Mikoto didn't really come to study, so she didn't notice anything wrong.

The study started at 7 PM and lasted for two hours.

Looking at the clock in the living room, Renault said, "It's already 9 o'clock. Let's stop here for today. It's getting late."

After thinking for a moment, Renault looked at the girl who was packing up her things and asked, "Mikoto, are you hungry? Let me cook something for us to eat."

"Oh? That would be great. Do you need any help, Senpai?"

"Nope, I'll see what ingredients we have in the kitchen."

Rising from his seat, Renault walked into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator.

"Hmm~"

Renault looked at the empty fridge and realized that he hadn't stocked up on ingredients for a long time. He usually bought only enough for a day or two and would go to the supermarket when he needed more.

"Sorry, Mikoto. We don't have any ingredients at home," Renault said.

"It's okay," Mikoto shook her head. But she was feeling a bit hungry too. After thinking for a moment, she had an idea.

"Senpai, let's go to the convenience store outside and buy something to eat."

"The convenience store?" Renault was not quite in favor of the idea. "It's already 9 o'clock, and the shops on the shopping street are closed. The convenience store is on the other side, and it's a bit far. It's better not to go out at night."

"It's okay! It's not that far!" Mikoto seemed very excited and strongly suggested, "Let's go!"

Mikoto rarely went out at this hour, so she was eager to go.

"Well... you should ask your mother first. If she agrees, we'll go."

Renault didn't mind, but with Mikoto's insistence, they needed Misuzu's permission. Even with him there, safety was still a concern.

"Mmm..." Mikoto pouted and had to take out her phone and call her mother. She could already predict that her mother would tell her to go home.

However, after explaining the plan, Misuzu surprisingly agreed?

"Huh?"

"Is it necessary to be so surprised?" Misuzu laughed on the other end of the phone. "But don't stay out too late. It's already late. Also, are you really just going to buy food and not something else?"

"What else?" Mikoto asked.

"Well~ It's nothing. Go ahead, but be safe."

"Hmph, with Senpai here, who would dare to cause trouble?" Mikoto hung up the phone with a hint of doubt and looked at Renault. "My mother agreed. Let's go, Senpai."

"Okay, let's go." They walked in the opposite direction of the shopping street, and the convenience store was near the station.

This is not a busy area, so even though it's only 9 PM, the street is already very quiet, with only the street lamps on both sides illuminating the street.

Walking next to Renault, Mikoto was full of curiosity.

"So this is what the streets look like at night."

"Do you rarely come out at night?" Renault asked.

"Not really," Mikoto replied. "It's just that before I moved here, I used to live in the city center where the lights were everywhere and always on, so the feeling here is completely different. Plus, I think the feeling at night here is even better."

Mikoto walked and reminisced.

"Is that so? Maybe it's because I've lived here for a long time, so I don't feel it," Renault said. He often went out at midnight, so he didn't feel much anymore.

Ten minutes later, the two of them finally arrived at the convenience store. They bought some rice balls, chicken nuggets, and two bottles of juice.

After leaving the convenience store, Mikoto said to Renault, who was carrying a bag of things, "Senpai, let's go to the park over there and eat. I've never done it before!"

"You always come up with new ideas," Renault said, following Mikoto's direction and looking at the nearby outdoor park with a smile. It was starting to get hot, so it wouldn't be cold in the park at this time.

In the outdoor park, besides the faint bird calls and insect sounds, there were no other sounds, and there were no "park rendezvous" as some messy netizens said on the internet. The park illuminated by street lamps was still very beautiful.

They found a long bench under a street lamp and started eating their food.

"Achievement unlocked, eating rice balls from the convenience store at night!" Mikoto took a bite of the rice ball and said with a smile. "Ahh~ it would be even better if I could also read manga now!"

"You have high standards," Renault said, opening a bottle of juice and taking a sip. "And with exams coming up, do you still have the heart to read manga?"

"Hehehe, isn't it because you're helping me study, Senpai?" Mikoto said.

"Oh? Didn't you have good grades and didn't need to worry about exams?" Renault said with a smirk, exposing her little trick.

"Um..." Mikoto realized that her behavior had been exposed and immediately lowered her head, blushing, and looking at the rice ball in her hand.

For a full half minute, Mikoto gradually realized that Renault had not said a word and slowly raised her head.

"Senpai?"

Then she saw Renault put down what was in his hand, stand up with a serious expression, and look ahead.