Cyberpunk: 2075.

Chapter 95 73. Be Good

"thief"

Gaius looked at the girl with azure hair, looking as if he didn't quite understand.

"I seem"

He just opened his mouth to say something, but the girl interrupted him:
"I felt something was wrong, so I went back to check the surveillance footage of the corner where we collided. When you were moving forward, your body paused slightly, and then, as if you knew I was coming from the other side, you bumped into me at a speed that was just right for you to hit me. And at the moment when your hand was covered by my body, the traces of fluctuations in my pocket due to the vehicle chip also disappeared."

The girl with azure hair stared at Gaius with her purple eyes. "After that, you made a flipping motion that just covered your palm, as if you were hiding something in your sleeve. Therefore, I am sure that you are a thief. You stole my chip and then returned it to me later."

"That's it."

Gaius didn't say anything like "evidence" because in the year 2075, things never really required evidence. Since the other party was convinced, there was really no need for him to argue verbally. He was just a little curious why the girl blocked him after she was convinced that he was a thief.

"so what?"

Gaius folded his arms, which psychologically was a defensive posture during a conversation, but when displayed on Gaius' body, it seemed a bit like he was intimidating the girl in front of him.

The girl did not seem to be intimidated by Gaius's deliberate underweight posture. A light flashed in her purple pupils, and then she said, "I have blocked the surveillance cameras here and created a fake picture."

Does this conflict with what I’m going to say next?

Ordinary student chat, what's wrong with that?
"Apologize."

The girl looked at Gaius, pointed at his head, and then pointed at his waist: "Bow down ninety degrees and apologize to me. Apologize for tricking me into thanking you."

"what?"

Apologize?

You checked the surveillance cameras, blocked me, and prevented others from watching, all for the purpose of making me apologize for the bad things I did?
According to common practice, shouldn't he be planning to sue me by now?

This request was so normal and considerate that Gaius couldn't believe it. After blinking a few times, he asked:
"You, just ask me to bow and apologize?"

"I care about the thanks I say. Yesterday, I was tricked by you into thanking you."

The girl stared at Gaius, "So, I have to ask you to apologize and come back."

"If it's just like this, I don't mind. I was wrong in the first place. It's reasonable for you to seek an apology after finding out that I cheated you, but..."

Gaius was a little fussy about a point raised by the girl: "Ninety degrees is too modest, can it be thirty degrees?"

Ninety degrees has almost become the standard for confession and apology.

"Don't you understand the rules of Arasaka Academy?"

"I understand it very well and I have memorized it all. But the rule of bowing 90 degrees to apologize for every occasion seems to me like a superficial procedure. It seems too easy to get rid of guilt by apologizing 90 degrees."

Gaius said to the girl seriously: "At least I am serious."

"That"

The girl didn't know what she was thinking. She stared at Gaius, hesitated for a moment and said, "Sixty degrees."

"Forty-five degrees, cut it in half."

"This"

The azure-haired girl's insistence in this regard was not as resolute as her determination to seek an apology. In other words, for her, this apology required a discussion of angles, and perhaps it was only the first time.

Seeing her hesitation, Gaius felt relieved. It seemed that she was just a "clean" student who came from a privileged family and was well protected, so she had not been contaminated by anything.

She showed immaturity from the beginning.

Even though she was sure that she had been robbed and the other party was approaching her, she dared to meet the other party alone and took the initiative to block the surveillance. This shows the girl's innocence. In her subsequent actions, she was only concerned about thanking someone who did not need to be thanked.
A student of Arasaka Academy is, in form, equivalent to half an Arasaka employee in reserve. When he finds someone who can be threatened and used, he does not have the slightest idea of ​​using this to threaten and use the other person. He just wants the other person to apologize.

Are you still a student who received Japanese-style education?

Seeing the girl hesitating, as if she was struggling over whether to give in by 45 degrees, with an expression that showed she had never bargained before, Gaius smiled, then bowed deeply.

"I'm so sorry I played a trick on you yesterday."

Ninety degrees.

The standard of repentance and apology.

Why reach this angle?

Because it was indeed my fault. I played a trick on a relatively "clear-minded" student and did something wrong.

The girl looked at Gaius who bowed deeply to apologize. She had clearly asked him to apologize to this extent before, but now, she was surprised.

She gently covered her mouth, took a step back, and then as if realizing something, she put down her hand and wanted to go forward to help Gaius up.

When the other party sincerely apologized as she requested, she seemed to feel embarrassed again.

"What's your name?"

Before the girl's hand touched Gaius, Gaius straightened up on his own initiative and looked at the girl.

"Now, I really feel that it's good to know people in Arasaka Academy."

"you"

Seeing Gaius' smile, the girl's face was a little strange: "Are you apologizing for deliberately approaching me?"

"No, my apology is sincere, but my approach now is genuine. Don't worry, I have no intention of seducing you, and my apology is not fake. I just suddenly think that it is interesting to see a rare lotus flower blooming in the mud in Night City."

Gaius held out his hand.

"Gaius, an intern at Arasaka Academy, Gaius Brutus."

The girl looked at Gaius's outstretched hand, then looked at Gaius' face:
"I heard that some boys would bully girls to attract attention."

"Childish behavior is sometimes the most effective. Although I didn't have this idea at first, you are really interested in me now, aren't you, good boy? You don't mind the bad boy's request for a handshake, right?"

“I mind.”

The girl, however, reached out and gently squeezed Gaius's hand.

"But you are indeed the first 'bad guy' I know in the academy."

Why do children always use tricks to attract other people's attention?
Because quiet children don't really get more attention, they have to be more "behaved".

　ps. I haven't forgotten that I owe you eight chapters, I'm just busy on weekdays and only have time on Saturdays. Speaking of which, I used to be often bothered by a girl in school. Later, after graduation, she told me that I knew she liked me. It turns out that both men and women do this kind of thing. At that time, I thought she was annoying, but now I think about it and I really can't forget it.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)