Kushida Kikyo

Konoe chased Kushida, intending to greet her, but her pace had shifted from a leisurely stroll after leaving the library to a hurried walk, as if she had something urgent to do.

I guess I was overthinking things. Even if Horikita knows some secret about Kushida, she's still a kind girl. She must be a little hurt by the way Horikita spoke to her.

Konoe tried to keep up with Kushida, wanting to comfort her, but her pace gradually turned into a light jog. Because she was moving quite fast, and Konoe's athletic abilities were poor, he couldn't keep up with her for a while.

Konoe took out his phone and dialed her number, hoping she would stop, but there was no sign of her answering.

Is the blow that significant? I need to find her quickly.

In the distance, someone who looked remarkably like Kushida entered the school building. It was already six in the evening, and besides students involved in club activities, no one else should be here. If it were Kushida, she might be looking for a good friend to confide in.

Konoe hurried after her. If he saw her interacting with a friend, he would choose to leave. As long as she could pour out her emotions to someone, there shouldn't be any major problems.

He finally caught up to the corridor, but Kushida was nowhere to be seen. At that moment, hurried footsteps echoed from the stairs. Such urgency strongly suggested it was Kushida.

Following the sound of the rapid footsteps, Konoe arrived at the rooftop.

What's going on? This place should be locked after school. Did Kushida arrange to meet someone?

Konoe stopped curiously at the bottom of the stairs, intending to wait for Kushida to open the rooftop door before moving a few steps forward to see.

However, Kushida didn't go in at all. She seemed to stop at the entrance.

Then...

"Ugh... so annoying."

A low voice accompanied by an impatient tone came from upstairs. It definitely sounded like Kushida, but...

"It's really so annoying. It pisses me off, why isn't that person dead yet..."

Kushida muttered curses like an incantation.

"Acting all high and mighty just because she thinks she's cute. She's probably just a slut anyway. A woman with that kind of personality teaching people? How ridiculous!"

Kushida was talking about Horikita, but at this moment, Konoe's mind was in a state of intense shock, unable to process anything.

"Ah... this is terrible. It's really terrible, terrible, terrible, terrible. Horikita is so annoying, annoying, annoying... die, die, die..."

Konoe involuntarily recalled Kushida's gentle demeanor from before, her usual lively, cute, smiling face, as if she wouldn't get angry no matter what anyone said.

Finally, Konoe reacted, and his brain frantically sounded an alarm!

I... I need to leave quickly...

"Bang! Clang!" A loud noise erupted from above. Konoe guessed it was the sound of a door being kicked open. He cautiously shifted his weight, but an accident occurred.

Kushida, after kicking the door, was startled by the sound herself and instantly fell silent, looking downstairs as if to confirm if anyone else had heard the noise. But... she made eye contact with Konoe, who was looking up.

"What are you doing here...?"

After a brief silence, Kushida descended quickly, her tone laced with coldness.

"The teacher asked me to check if the rooftop door was unlocked. She forgot and asked me to take a look. What happened up there? Such a loud noise?" Konoe swallowed, his survival instinct prompting him to act as if nothing was amiss.

"...Is that so? Which teacher?" Kushida's tone seemed to soften slightly.

"...Chabashira-sensei."

"You're lying." Kushida replied with absolute certainty, as if she knew exactly who was in charge of that door.

Such confident certainty made Konoe unconsciously take a step back.

"Are you really lying? Did you hear..."

"...No." Konoe cursed himself for his panic, which had allowed Kushida to see through his excuse. At the same time, he gradually calmed down.

"Heh heh..." Kushida suddenly extended her arm towards Konoe, seemingly intending to pull him slightly further up, so they wouldn't be seen by others.

But Konoe, as if he had anticipated this, suddenly slapped her hand away.

"...Wh-what!" Kushida's eyes widened, and she then saw Konoe turning to flee.

Kushida clearly hadn't expected him to run, but she quickly reacted. If he got away... thinking this, her expression turned ferocious. With unbelievable speed, she descended the stairs in a few strides, closing in on Konoe, who was leaning on the railing, thinking he was making a swift escape.

She immediately attacked from behind, wrapping her left arm around his neck. Konoe began to struggle frantically, trying to break free.

Logically, in a one-on-one situation, a girl's strength should never surpass a boy's. But reality was unreasonable. Konoe's stamina was regrettably poor, while her 50-meter swim time was thirty-one seconds.

After struggling for a short while, Konoe's stamina gave out, and his body lost its strength. He suddenly realized that not only could he not break free from Kushida's arm, but he hadn't even managed to make her move an inch since they started struggling.

Huh? Konoe couldn't believe her strength either. He turned his head to look at Kushida, who was now pressed against his back.

Kushida also looked surprised, then a smile gradually spread across her face. She leaned close to Konoe's ear and said in a cute voice, "This won't do, Konoe-kun... How can a boy's body be so weak?"

Konoe's mind, which had just calmed down, plunged back into panic. He opened his mouth and shouted, "Help! Someone..."

Seeing Konoe trying to call for help, Kushida immediately covered his mouth with her other hand.

"Mmmph mmmph..." Konoe could only let out muffled sounds.

Then, Kushida forcefully dragged Konoe's body upwards. The exhausted Konoe was completely helpless against her. He was slowly dragged to the rooftop door.

"No one will bother us here, Konoe-kun... What should I do with you?" Kushida's voice was bone-chillingly cold, making Konoe feel that Kushida was more than ten thousand times scarier than Horikita.

Kushida slowly sat down against the wall, and Konoe's body was also held to the ground by her arm. From the side, it looked as if Konoe was being held in Kushida's embrace from behind.

"You have a good head on your shoulders, you should know the situation, right? I'm going to take my hand away from your mouth. If you scream..." With that, Kushida removed her hand from Konoe's mouth.

(Some content has been omitted due to content policy conflicts)