Chapter 242: Danger! The Harem Is on Fire!

Meanwhile.

The huge glass curtain wall of Keyaki Mall reflected the last fading sliver of orange-red on the horizon. Twilight, like faint ink, slowly seeped across the western sky.

The evening wind carried a chill as it swept across the plaza.

Below, the row of signs in front of the mall lit up one after another, orange-red, glowing white, glowing white... a riot of colors, each lending brilliance to the other, illuminating the students' faces.

Boys and girls in wine-red uniforms walked in twos and threes from every direction into this river of light.

The girls walked shoulder to shoulder, their figures appearing slender and hazy under the lights. Their fragmented chatter was like the soft ringing of wind chimes, punctuated now and then by short, bright laughter.

The boys were far more casual, either with their hands in their pockets or putting on an air of maturity as they talked about something, their eyes inevitably drifting toward the electronic products with their mechanical beauty displayed outside the shop signs.

[Horikita Suzune: Kushida-san, Sakayanagi-san is feeling unwell and is hospitalized. Would you like to come with me to visit her?]

Under an outdoor parasol outside Keyaki Mall, Kushida Kikyo rolled her eyes prettily and imperceptibly, her fingers tapping the screen at an astonishing speed. The next second, a message dripping with disdain was sent out.

[Kushida Kikyo: Not going! Sakayanagi clearly has problems. I don't want to deal with that woman for the time being.]

In the eyes of Kushida, who was well versed in the ways of socializing, Sakayanagi was undoubtedly an extremely troublesome shit-stirrer.

Once you got close to her, she might detect your secret. And if you tried to use your usual methods to threaten her, her heart was conveniently weak, so one wrong move could easily lead to an accident.

Kushida did need to make friends, but that depended on the person. This type, who was typically more trouble than she was worth and also a bit clever, was not within the scope of people she needed to cultivate.

A while later.

[Horikita Suzune: Alright.]

[Horikita Suzune: By the way, Kushida-san, how are your exam preparations coming along?]

Having just taken a slurp of her juice and finished exchanging pleasantries with her companion, Kushida's face darkened the instant she saw the message.

[Kushida Kikyo: Huh? You think I'd naively tell you? Our bet is still in effect, you know?!]

[Horikita Suzune: No, I just wanted to tell you that my studying has been going well lately. Please do your best.]

Click!

Kushida clenched the phone beneath the table, her teeth grinding audibly, her chest rising and falling slightly.

Even through the screen, she could picture Horikita's deadpan face looking utterly serious.

Anyone unfamiliar with Horikita's personality who saw this message would probably think the person was picking a fight to get cursed at.

But for Kushida, who understood Horikita's personality even better than Horikita herself did, this was probably that woman's genuine, heartfelt sincerity.

"Heh..."

As she stared, Kushida suddenly raised a hand to cover her forehead and let out a scoffing laugh.

Out of sheer exasperation!

A woman with this kind of emotional intelligence, and she had once tangled with her for so long.

If she just left her alone, maybe one day Horikita would court death on her own and drop out. Then there'd be no need for all this trouble.

[Kushida Kikyo: I'm perfectly fine. No need for your concern. You should worry about how you're going to prostrate yourself and beg me not to make you drop out after you lose.]

[Horikita Suzune: Kushida-san, I will definitely be the one to win.]

[Kushida Kikyo: Yeah, yeah. No time to argue with a stubborn woman like you. I have other things to do. Bye.]

Kushida moved her fingers listlessly, issuing her dismissal with immense disdain.

One could only say, women were all like this. What they couldn't get, they desperately wanted. Now that she had it, she didn't want it anymore.

[Horikita Suzune: Alright. I bought extra groceries today, but that guy had something come up and can't make it. If you haven't eaten, Kushida-san, you can come over to my place.]

[Kushida Kikyo: Save it and stuff that bastard until he bursts. I'm not eating anything you make.]

[Horikita Suzune: I'll save you a seat in an hour.]

[Kushida Kikyo: Stone Face? Did you not hear what I said?]

The other side didn't reply. It seemed she was cooking.

"Tch..."

After habitually cursing Horikita a couple more times, Kushida took a deep breath to suppress that stifled feeling. She put her phone back into her ladies' bag and stretched luxuriously. Her fitted blazer uniform creased accordingly, setting off the girl's slender waist and full chest to perfection.

After resting for a short while, Kushida straightened her back. The flawless, sweet smile reappeared on her face. She turned to the few Class D girls accompanying her, pressed her hands together, and spoke with just the right amount of apology in her tone:

"Um... sorry, everyone. I have something else tonight, so I'll be heading off first."

"Huh?" One of her close friends, Wang Mei-Yu, tilted her head. "Kushida-chan isn't coming to dinner with us? That western restaurant is really popular, you know."

"And shopping afterward too..." Inogashira Kokoro added.

"Because something important just came up."

Kushida extended her index finger and lightly scratched her cheek, smiling apologetically with a rather embarrassed look.

"Well, if that's the case, there's nothing to be done about it."

The Class D students with her felt it was a bit odd, but they didn't say much. After all, people having urgent matters was normal.

"See you later, everyone. Next time I'll join you all again."

Kushida slung her glowing white ladies' bag over her shoulder. She turned back, waving goodbye enthusiastically, while her steps carried her briskly toward the Keyaki Mall exit. Her slender figure wove through the crowd, and in no time she was just a small dot.

The Class D group watched Kushida's brisk figure in tacit silence. The air was quiet for a few seconds. Someone, no one knew who, softly let out: "I kind of feel like Kushida-chan has been a bit strange lately? Has she changed a little?"

"Really? She seems the same as usual to me."

"A little, yeah. Because Kushida-chan rarely refuses everyone. Could she... have secretly gotten a boyfriend?"

"But honestly, she feels a bit easier to get along with now."

"True. After all, Kushida-chan is a super popular beauty in the grade..."

...

On the other side, Kushida stepped out of Keyaki Mall's bright river of light and was immediately enveloped by the relatively dim, quiet campus path outside.

She walked briskly along the streetlights, her heels clicking crisply against the ground. After turning a few corners, she stopped in front of an elegantly decorated cafe. Warm yellow light flowed out through the glass windows.

Jingle!

The door she pushed open set the wind chime swinging. The crisp sound spread through the cafe, and the aroma of roasting coffee beans rushed to greet her.

Kushida held the chain of her ladies' bag with one hand and the door handle with the other, wearing that sweet smile, slowly bringing her target into focus: the girl seated quietly in a corner of the cafe.

Long golden hair, reaching to her waist, hung smoothly down. A few strands idly brushed her shoulder. Her soft oval face carried an Eastern, uniquely delicate fairness. Looking upward, one found lake-clear purple eyes. Just below her right eye, a small tear mole was perfectly placed.

The girl's snowy white legs were placed together at an angle. Her neck was habitually slightly bowed. Her hands were folded in front of her. She sat there just like that, like a gentle beauty stepped out of a painting.

Noticing the movement at the door and the wind chime, the girl slowly raised her eyes. Her gaze met Kushida's, and the corners of her lips immediately spread into an elegant, fitting smile. Her warm, gentle voice flowed like a stream:

"Long time no see, Kushida-san. Do you remember me?"

"Of course, Shiraishi-san!" Kushida smiled sweetly and sat down, placing her bag beside her. "I never forget any classmate who's added me as a friend."

"How impressive. As expected of the grade's famous popular girl." Shiraishi Asuka raised a hand, her slender, fair fingers slowly pushing the menu toward Kushida. "Please, feel free."

"Thank you." Kushida took the menu, her bright eyes widening, her long eyelashes fluttering as she asked curiously, "So... may I ask, Shiraishi-san, what did you want to see me about today?"

In truth, the two of them had only met and added each other as friends at the beginning of the school year. Normally when they ran into each other, it was just a nodding acquaintance. Kushida hadn't expected Shiraishi to suddenly invite her out today, saying she had something very important she wanted to chat about.

"Actually, it is important, but you could also call it a trivial little matter." Shiraishi tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear, revealing her flawless profile. "In fact, I invited you out tonight simply because I wanted to get to know you, Kushida-san."

"Huh?" Kushida tilted her head in confusion. "But haven't Shiraishi-san and I already met?"

"Not that kind," Shiraishi shook her head with a light laugh. She picked up her coffee cup and took an elegant sip. "A deeper, more candid exchange. So we can understand each other better."

The moment those words landed, Kushida's pupils contracted. The smile on her face froze instantly. Her tone was no longer friendly or gentle.

"What do you know?"

"Nothing."

Shiraishi lifted the coffee cup by its handle and blew away the rising steam.

"And you don't need to worry, Kushida-san. I won't pry into anything you don't want to tell me. The reason I know that Kushida-san is different from usual is also because of him."

"Him..." Kushida's expression shifted slightly.

"Yes. Fuyuji Mikage. Let me introduce myself again." A fair white hand extended toward Kushida. Shiraishi spoke with a smile. "Hello. I'm Fuyuji's fiancee, Shiraishi Asuka. Please take care of me from now on. Did he tell you about me?"

At this moment, Kushida's expression had turned completely dark. She lightly gripped Shiraishi's hand and released it immediately. Her other hand, resting on her thigh, quietly clenched tight.

Heh...

That damn perverted scumbag. So he wasn't just trying to have it both ways. When she got back, she was going to kill him!

"Rest assured, Kushida-san. There's no need for hostility toward me. Please believe that I won't actively pry into your secrets." With that, Shiraishi placed her phone on the table. "Besides, your matter wasn't told to me by Fuyuji either. I merely noticed some hints from your daily words and actions. After all, Fuyuji is..."

At the mention of Fuyuji, Shiraishi's smile grew even brighter, and her eyes unconsciously softened. "A very cunning boy. He keeps things hidden and never tells me what he's thinking."

"Just making friends?" Kushida's expression eased a little.

She picked up the glass of water that had just been served and took a sip, trying to relieve the dryness in her throat.

"Yes. I want to get to know," Shiraishi leaned forward slightly, gazing at Kushida with focused eyes, "what another girl he likes is like. After all, if it were the sweet, friendly facade Kushida-san usually shows, Fuyuji probably wouldn't like her. Kushida-san should have a more real, more interesting side."

"Huh?" Kushida looked up in astonishment.

That bastard... what he liked was actually her other side?

"Very unique, isn't it? Not liking the grade-famous beauty's helpful side, but instead liking her irritable side." Shiraishi covered the corner of her mouth, her eyes curving. "But that's just who he is..."

"So you really do know."

Kushida pouted, though her tone was no longer as tense as before. Her shoulders slumped accordingly. She propped her chin on one hand, gazing off to the side, idly stirring the spoon in her coffee.

"Then why did you come to see me? To make me back off?"

"No, it's to make you join." Shiraishi's words were startling.

"Huh?"

"Yes." Shiraishi nodded lightly, her tone calm and unrippled. "Though I'm very unwilling in my heart, if he insists on doing this, I won't oppose it. So while your relationship with Fuyuji isn't that deep yet, I want to tell you in advance part of what he's been hiding."

With that, five slender fingers extended. Her neatly trimmed nails glowed with a healthy pale pink under the soft light.

"Five. Including your class's Horikita-san. This is the number of people Fuyuji likes, as far as I know. If Kushida-san is thinking of hogging Fuyuji all to yourself, please give up. That's impossible."

"What you mean is..." Kushida's full chest began to rise and fall violently. Her breathing grew somewhat rapid. The expression she had been struggling to maintain completely crumbled. The corner of her mouth twitched uncontrollably, finally turning into a laugh of pure fury. "That bastard is still thinking... five people at once?!"

"That's probably how he thinks. Just our Class A alone has several." Shiraishi placed her hand back on her thigh, elegantly folding them together.

The four girls in Class A, generally speaking, were not something students from other classes would know about.

All information concerning Fuyuji was tacitly kept tightly concealed by the Class A group. Add to that the fact that the four of them were not the type to make friends, and basically only Class A classmates knew about their relationship with Fuyuji.

So in effect, this was telling Kushida: you alone cannot beat our combined front. Either choose to join, or... admit defeat and leave.

"None of you have any objections?" Kushida lowered her head and asked expressionlessly.

"Probably not." Shiraishi wore a faint smile. "So, Kushida-san, how about giving it some thought?"

"..."

Time fell silent for a few seconds. The soothing background music in the cafe flowed on. The low murmur of surrounding customers seemed especially distant.

Kushida kept her head down, motionless.

Silence spread between the two, the atmosphere heavy enough to suffocate.

A few seconds later, Kushida, who had been silent all this while, suddenly grabbed the bag beside her. She shot up from her seat. The chair legs scraped the floor with an ear-piercing sound as she strode quickly toward the cafe exit.

"Excuse me, Shiraishi-san."

"It's alright."

"Next time, I'll win."

"Then I'll look forward to it."

Kushida, her face dark, pushed the cafe door open with a bang. The wind chime on the door frame was shaken violently by the motion, letting out a series of rapid, chaotic jingles. She turned and vanished into the night.

Shiraishi, meanwhile, sat quietly in her seat, gazing at Kushida's departing figure until it completely merged into the darkness of the campus path, swallowed by the edge of the streetlight's halo, no longer visible...

A few more seconds passed. A doting yet helpless sigh suddenly rose in the cafe.

"Honestly. Such a cunning bad boy, coming up with a method like this to deal with girls. But remember our promise, okay? Christmas..."

...

Ding!

The dormitory elevator doors opened in response. What followed was the sound of Kushida's small leather shoes striking the ground almost savagely.

Kill him!

Kill him!

Kill him!

After a dozen or so steps, Kushida, who had been chanting inwardly, arrived outside a room. Not the slightest trace of her usual gentleness remained. She pressed the doorbell with all her strength, violently.

Ding-dong, ding-dong, ding-dong!

The consecutive doorbell rings sounded. Not long after, the door creaked open.

"Good evening, Kushida-san..."

"Forget good evening, Stone Face. How about we go kill that bastard together?"

Before Horikita could finish, Kushida's words had already come crashing down on her.

"Huh?"

"What do you mean, huh? Let's team up. First, we snatch that bastard away. After that, we'll figure out how to split him!"

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