"Ayano?! Y-you... why are you... here...?"
Shimaura Hitomi's body abruptly stiffened. She mechanically turned her head and forced a smile at Ayano.
Instinctively, she hid her backpack behind her, trying to play ostrich. However, Ayano had no intention of letting her off and walked closer.
"If I saw correctly, Hitomi seemed to take something out from there and put it into her bag... What was it? Could you let me see?"
Her voice remained gentle, yet she was like a cunning fox that had set her sights on Shimaura Hitomi, a small, pitiful, helpless little rabbit!
"It was nothing! Oh, right, when I was throwing out the trash earlier, I accidentally threw away a memo slip. Yes, yes, a memo slip. Then I just remembered that it was still useful..."
In her panic, Shimaura Hitomi actually managed to piece together a coherent explanation. Though her trembling appearance made it hard to believe, it was already tremendous progress.
"How moving, Miss Shimaura."
Kitahara Ayano sighed to herself, then suddenly snatched Shimaura Hitomi's shoulder bag. Before Hitomi could react, she precisely fished out Kiyoharu's old phone case.
The air felt like hot asphalt stuck to the road, scorching and viscous.
Shimaura Hitomi's entire face turned crimson. She swayed unsteadily, on the verge of breaking down.
Yet under Kitahara Ayano's gloating gaze, she instead calmed down in the end and weakly let out a breath.
"Ayano, you won't tell Airi, will you?" Shimaura Hitomi's tone carried a hint of pleading, but even more speculation.
Kitahara Ayano raised an eyebrow slightly. "Why would you say that?"
"Mm, I just feel like Ayano wants to negotiate with me. And you don't seem to be angry on Airi's behalf, even though I did something so... so..."
Something disgusting.
Shimaura Hitomi was too embarrassed to say it aloud, but Ayano understood perfectly.
Ayano was a smart person, and she knew that Shimaura Hitomi was fundamentally smart as well. Smart people had the possibility of negotiating, exchanging interests, and settling disputes peacefully.
"Disgusting, is it? It's perfectly normal for an underclassman to admire a handsome, reliable upperclassman like Kiyoharu... Watching Kiyoharu suffer every day because of the misfortune Young Lady Airi has brought him, Hitomi must have had such a hard time."
"That's not true..."
"As long as Hitomi agrees to one thing, I'll pretend I never saw anything today."
Gulp!
Shimaura Hitomi's cute, slightly baby-fat cheeks twitched as she nervously swallowed, as if facing a contract with the devil.
"Ayano-chan, please make any request you want! As long as Airi and my upperclassman won't hate me, I'll do anything!"
"Hmm... Then, how about trying to pursue Kiyoharu?"
"Huh?"
"You know, Hitomi, I've been looking for creative inspiration lately. So please provide me with some rare inspiration. After all, we've always been such good friends."
"But what does that have to do with inspiration?"
"Maybe it does, maybe it doesn't. Who knows? We have to try... Besides, from your perspective, wouldn't you be tempted by the chance to get closer to Kiyoharu, with me helping cover for you so you wouldn't have to worry about Airi finding out?"
Kitahara Ayano's words were full of temptation.
Yet her traditional sense of morality still made Shimaura Hitomi instinctively refuse. "We can't, Ayano-chan. We can't do something like this... We can't betray Airi... They're already engaged..."
"They're only engaged. They're not even truly husband and wife yet. Hitomi, you've never owed Airi anything. Put another way—you've already yielded enough. Now, you're merely offering a little warmth to Kiyoharu-kun, whose life is so miserable. There's no need to hesitate at all."
As she spoke, she slipped Kiyoharu's old phone case back into Shimaura Hitomi's bag.
Every word from Kitahara Ayano struck the softest, most hesitant part of Shimaura Hitomi's heart. She was frightened by how quickly she had begun to waver. Unable to bear the pressure in the air any longer, she turned and fled.
Oh dear.
That was how timid little mice were. Kitahara Ayano gently shook her head, feeling somewhat helpless, but the overall development had not exceeded her expectations.
Ayano did not expect to establish a cooperative relationship with Shimaura Hitomi in one go. Now that she had seized Hitomi's weakness and planted the seed of rebellion, reaching the state Ayano wanted was merely a matter of time.
Kiyoharu accompanied Airi as she looked at the new spring bags. By the time the two of them saw Ayano again, Shimaura Hitomi was nowhere to be found.
"Hitomi wasn't feeling well, so she went home first. She asked me to apologize to you both."
"That's so formal..." Airi pouted and complained. "Whatever. Hitomi has always been super polite, unlike someone."
"What did I do?"
"Hmph, I didn't name anyone."
"But whenever Young Lady gets sarcastic, she's usually talking about me. If it's someone else, she generally just starts cursing at them."
"Shut up!"
Airi glared at him. Kiyoharu was such a nobody—he should stop acting like he understood her so well.
Today's shopping trip had originally been about Shimaura Hitomi's makeover plan. With the main person gone, they could not help losing interest.
And so, this weekend gathering of close friends ended without a ripple.
...The so-called lack of ripples was only on the surface. In reality, if Kiyoharu had slipped up at any point—if he had gone soft during the cocktail-making lesson, for instance, or failed to coax Young Lady properly in the fitting room—the outcome would have been disastrous.
Maybe next week, he should hint to the principal at school to give him more work and simply spend the weekend working overtime.
Going through this kind of trial every week was truly more than Kiyoharu could endure.
Home.
Airi went to take a call. It seemed to be from her father. Chihaya Genichiro, that old bastard, often assigned work to his daughter at all sorts of times. Kiyoharu did not care. Instead, he opened the system interface and checked Shimaura Hitomi's task progress.
Shimaura Hitomi's Charm temporarily stood at 77. She was still 3 points short of the required 80, which meant that besides changing her hairstyle, the clothes she had bought afterward had also been useful.
"As long as it temporarily reaches 80, that's enough. I'll find an opportunity at school and give her something like a hairpin... No, giving it to her directly could easily cause a misunderstanding. I should just find an excuse to have her try it on."
Just as Kiyoharu settled on his strategy, the system could not help popping up to complain. "Host, aren't you being way too timid? Giving a friend a small gift is perfectly normal."
"Is that being timid? I'm cherishing my life, okay? No one understands kitchen knives better than I do."
A kitchen knife could come from any angle, in any way.
In this life, Kiyoharu was determined to sever every emotional tie and eliminate all ambiguity.
"System, if you're free, you might as well do some more scans and help me find tasks to gather enough Energy Points."
"Host, that's exactly what I wanted to report! The scan analysis of Chihaya Airi is nearly complete. In other words, the host will soon be able to unlock her task line!"
That news made Kiyoharu a little happy.
Originally, he did not care that Chihaya Airi lacked a task line. After all, Airi had already served as both a shield and a source of gold. There was truly no need to provoke her further just for task rewards.
Now that Kiyoharu needed Energy Points to strike back at that Cao-thief Ayano, if Airi could shower him with some Energy Points, it would be enough to relieve his urgent need.
Young Lady was not easy to deal with, but fighting her carried no risk of getting stabbed. Even if every woman in the world fell in love with Kiyoharu, Airi would absolutely be the exception. Kiyoharu was certain of it.
Kiyoharu had been pressing the system about Chihaya Airi's tasks for several days. He had not held much hope, since she had originally been an unromanceable character, while the system was the "Prodigal System." At a glance, those three words had nothing to do with each other.
He had not expected such a pleasant surprise. At least Kiyoharu had not spent the past few days relentlessly pressuring that useless system for nothing.
Before you continue