"Then I'll play along with him."
Kushida quickly adjusted her emotions with that thought in mind. When she raised her head again, she had already returned to her angelic self.
There was even more seriousness and determination in her eyes, making her look like she was working incredibly hard to study and make friends.
The angel's amiability rose sharply, making people want to draw even closer to her.
That made Bai Lan's guilty conscience over "bullying an idiot" a little heavier.
In that case, it was better to end the pain quickly. He would settle this in one swift move!
"I can already feel your passion for learning how to talk back. Strike while the iron's hot and come with me!"
Kushida: What do you mean, strike while the iron's hot?
After saying that, Bai Lan waved his hand and turned toward the staircase he had just come down.
Kushida watched Bai Lan's back, clenched her fists, encouraged herself, and followed him.
"Good. We'll begin the first stage of training. When in Rome, do as the Romans do, so we'll start by learning Japan's traditional insults."
Bai Lan looked solemn. "Repeat after me: Ba~ka~ (idiot)."
27. Baka, Hentai, Urusai (Please follow for more updates~ Please vote!)
To help Kushida let down her guard and practice without worry—and to keep anyone else from seeing the angel practicing how to talk back and ruining her image—Bai Lan planned to take Kushida behind the teaching building.
This place was far from the cafeteria, convenience store, stairwell, and the classrooms on the second floor.
At this time of day, people rarely passed through here.
Besides, the classroom walls at this school had excellent soundproofing. As long as they spoke only a little louder than usual and said nothing too strange, they would not attract anyone's attention.
But the limit was only "a little louder."
If something happened and Kushida shouted too loudly, she would still draw people over.
It was quite safe.
The training began soon after!
"Good. We'll begin the first stage of training. When in Rome, do as the Romans do, so we'll start by learning Japan's traditional insults."
Bai Lan looked solemn. "Repeat after me: ba (idiot) ka (fool)."
"Ba... baka." Kushida was extremely awkward.
"Louder! You want to learn how to talk back in that tiny voice?! Again! Ba—! Ka—!" Bai Lan raised his voice by one pitch.
Kushida felt that Bai Lan was insulting her and grew a little angry.
"Ba! Ka!" Kushida stared at Bai Lan. Her voice was slightly louder, and it carried a trace of barely contained irritation.
"Louder!"
"Baka!"
"Good! That was spirited! Keep that feeling and repeat it fifty times!"
"Baka, baka, baka..."
As she said "baka," Kushida watched Bai Lan's reaction, trying to discern something from his face.
Without realizing it, Kushida's attention had completely left her mouth, and she finished droning out "baka" fifty times.
Bai Lan said, "How can it still be so dry after fifty repetitions? Do another fifty to moisten your mouth!"
Kushida: "..."
If she continued sounding awkward, she might have to do another fifty repetitions. Perhaps in order to finish sooner, Kushida forced out her hidden potential.
During the second round of fifty "baka"s, Bai Lan felt as if she had suddenly grasped the trick. She quickly became very skilled.
After the twentieth repetition or so, Kushida's "baka" had become extremely smooth. She had even begun unconsciously infusing the word with her complicated girlish feelings, transmitting her emotions to anyone who heard it.
Bai Lan listened to the "baka"s beside him.
He seemed to hear Kushida's thoughts within them:
This "baka" contained her frustration!
This "baka" expressed anger!
This "baka" seemed to be blaming someone!
This "baka" was... pain?
Bai Lan could not help feeling surprised. She learned this quickly! Could she be a genius at talking back? All these years, civilized behavior and good manners have been suppressing her talent!
"Very good! You can say 'baka' quite well now. Let's start the second exercise. Repeat after me: hentai (pervert)!"
"Uh..." Kushida hesitated. "Is this word also for talking back to Horikita?"
Bai Lan said, "This is basic! Everyone has to learn it. Besides, when this word comes from a beautiful girl, its destructive power doubles!"
Kushida said nothing more and soon began staring at Bai Lan while saying "hentai."
Soon, "hentai" came to an end.
"Let's begin the third exercise—combination techniques!"
"Baka, hentai! Say them together, fifty times!"
This time, Kushida did not raise any objections. She immediately began saying, "Baka hentai."
In fact, she seemed a little eager...
To be honest, Kushida felt that her behavior was a little foolish. Yet at the same time, she vaguely felt... that it was rather satisfying.
She had never directly vented her pent-up emotions face-to-face at a living person like this.
In the past, Kushida had received plenty of other people's emotional garbage. She could not avoid being affected by those negative emotions, and she also wanted to confide in someone and find an outlet.
But she had to maintain her image in front of others. She could not show a negative or gloomy side.
Besides, many of the things she wanted to talk about could not be told to anyone else.
At first, she found somewhere deserted and punched and kicked things like trees or railings while cursing.
But that method was not very effective. Without any feedback, everything felt pointless, as if she were a useless person. Often, the more she vented, the worse she felt.
Then she noticed the internet.
Her best way of venting used to be treating the internet like a confessional, confiding in and complaining about everything around her to strangers who knew nothing about her.
This method worked well.
Many netizens agreed with her views, encouraged and comforted her, and even complained alongside her about her bizarre friends.
Of course, there were inevitably people who argued against her and took the opposing side.
On the internet, nobody knew anybody, and nobody indulged anybody.
At first, Kushida still spoke to them politely as she did in daily life. However, people on the internet could be even more infuriating than people in reality.
But as time went on, Kushida could not endure it anymore.
She felt that she did not need to maintain relationships with strangers she would never meet, so she simply grabbed those people and cursed them furiously, venting her emotions as hard as she could.
At first, there was nothing wrong with doing that.
But reality taught her that even the internet was not safe...
Someone recognized her.
Then her world was destroyed.
After that incident, she never dared to use the internet as a confessional again.
Venting face-to-face like this, even being able to see the real-time reaction on the target's face after hearing her insults—
This was something she had never experienced before.
It gave her an unprecedented sense of release!
It felt incredible!
Although she could not complain about those shameful secrets,
she could think about those awful things while pouring all the frustration, anger, and other dark, negative emotions inside her into these simple cries of "baka" and "hentai."
Because Kushida was "practicing" and Bai Lan was her instructor, she could vent at him without any psychological burden.
Besides, she felt that Bai Lan was clearly trying to tease her on purpose, which was extremely irritating.
That made her curse him with even greater enthusiasm.
However, Kushida suddenly had another thought: Bai Lan had said that Horikita liked venting stress by talking back to people. Could that actually be true?!
If so, wasn't Bai Lan really helping her?
Then, wasn't she insulting him like this...
Forget it. She would enjoy herself first and worry about the rest later!
"Baka hentai, baka hentai, baka hentai, baka hentai, baka hentai..."
As Kushida cursed, she recalled her past.
Soon, the fifty repetitions ended, but Kushida could not stop at all.
"All right, all right! That's enough. You can stop now!" Bai Lan tried to call a halt so he could move on to the next exercise.
But it was useless.
"Stop!"
By then, Kushida was already intoxicated by the pleasure of venting. Bai Lan, who was trying to stop her, seemed rather annoying.
For a moment, Kushida completely forgot about her angelic image and shouted at Bai Lan to "shut up," telling him not to disturb her.
"Urusai, urusai!"
After shouting "urusai," she continued saying "baka hentai."
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