She was completely taken aback. She narrowed her eyes and just stared at me with her mouth wide open

“Me? A pervert?”

“Well aren't you one?”

“No, I'm not!”

“But I saw you reading that manga with so much interest”

“That was-”

“And you even called me a pervert and stalker”

“No! That isn't- ”

“You called me a stalker for just seeing you at the store. Then what about you….”

I went closer to her ear and whispered

“…you perverted girl”

I quickly withdrew to see her reaction. Her face was red in frustration and anger. Since she couldn't say anything else she shouted

“I'M NOT A PERVERT!”

Oof! She looked just like me when I got accused of being a pervert. No, she was worse

She had completely lost her cool and was frantically thinking of a way to explain. Because of the peer pressure she was feeling she frantically said

“That book is-…No it's just that-…The story is nice but…The author likes like those type of scenes-…Even the art work is-….”

She went on mixing up her sentences trying to explain why she read that book

Just a moment ago I was in her same position, doing the same thing. Now our roles were completely reversed. It was really funny sight to watch. I tried to keep a straight face while she went on rambling but it was to much for me and I broke

“Hahaha!”

She stopped rambling and looked at me and said

“Hey! Don't laugh! I told you it's not my book right”

“Hahaha!”

“Stop laughing! I said I'm not a pervert!”

She was so frustrated that she looked like she was going to cry in helplessness. I guess she's sad I wasn't believing what she told. Maybe I took the joke a little too far. It's time to end this prank of mine

I stopped laughing but was still smiling since I couldn't control it

“I told you I'm not a pervert. Why don’t you believe me?”

She looked like she was holding back her tears. I then said

“No, I believe you alright. I knew you weren't one from the beginning”

“Huh?”

She looked puzzled and her teary eyes were gone

“Although that manga contains a lot of raunchy scenes, it's actually a really good manga with a great artwork and a really interesting story line. You must have read it with the intention of seeing those two attributes and not the sex scenes. Even when I read it, I was so super immersed that I forgot how much time had passed. So it's pretty normal to not notice your surrounding while reading it”

She still looked confused

“So you knew about that. Then why did you say all that stuff now?”

“I just wanted to play a prank on you. Don't take it too seriously”

I thought she would also laugh at the joke after telling her but instead, she was looking downwards while tightly clenching the bench. I couldn't see her face because her hair was covering it but I knew she was angry when she said with murderous intent

“Don't take it seriously?”

She was clearly pissed off about what happened and was trying to control it. I think I took the joke far beyond the limit of her appreciation

“Akatsuki-san, are you possibly angry at me now?”

Triggered at what I said she pulled her head up, looked at me with her fierce cat-like eyes and shouted

“OF COURSE I'M ANGRY AT YOU, YOU IDIOT!”

She put her hand in one of my grocery bags and took one of the tomatoes out

She didn't look like she was going to ask where I bought them from. Rather she looked like she wanted to smush it all over my face. She then lifted her hand with the tomato and went into a throwing position

Oh shit!