Konoe's Room

Konoe initially wanted to refuse, but he felt something was off about Kushida, so he decided to let her in.

A girl entering a boy's room alone late at night made Konoe's mind wander, but he quickly dismissed it with reason. After all, Konoe knew her true nature.

"Sorry to bother you. As expected, Konoe's room is very tidy," Kushida said, taking off her shoes and walking in.

Konoe casually placed his school bag on his desk and said, "Make yourself comfortable, but I don't have any spare cups for guests."

Kushida didn't stand on ceremony. She walked to the bed and sat down, saying, "No need to trouble yourself. I'll be leaving soon. Huh? You bought a computer too, Konoe? It must be for studying, right?"

"...Are you going to keep pretending?" Konoe poured himself a glass of water and sat down at his desk.

As soon as Konoe finished speaking, Kushida's face seemed to shatter like a mask. Her expression shifted from a stiff smile to cold indifference. After a few seconds of silence, she suddenly stood up.

"What's wrong?"

Kushida suddenly kicked the beam under the bed. Her voice, accompanied by the sound of wood, shouted, "This is so annoying!"

Konoe was startled but quickly regained his composure. He didn't speak to Kushida, instead quietly taking a sip of water.

"Acting all high and mighty just because you're cute, trash..." Kushida kicked the beam again, muttering.

Then, she repeatedly kicked the beam, her voice growing louder: "Such trash, trash, trash! I wish Horikita would just die!"

"So annoying, that bitch!" She slammed her hands on the bed and knelt down beside it.

After a short while, Kushida seemed to get tired. She then lifted the blanket, kept her kneeling posture, and buried her head in the blanket.

"...I'm saying, Kushida. What will happen if others see you like this in the future?"

"Annoying! That's why I came to your room!" Kushida yelled from inside the blanket, her muffled voice echoing out.

Konoe sighed and slowly sat down beside her. He reached out and patted Kushida's head, still under the blanket, as if stroking a kitten, smoothing her fur: "You worked hard this time too, Kushida."

Kushida's body trembled. After a few seconds of silence in the blanket, she started muttering Horikita's name again.

After nearly ten minutes of this, the voice in the blanket grew fainter. Konoe couldn't do anything about her for the moment, so he sat down at his desk and opened his computer, preparing to memorize the materials given by the Student Council.

Before a few minutes passed, Kushida threw off the blanket and walked in front of Konoe. She coldly looked down at Konoe, who was sitting at his desk, and said, "Didn't I tell you to stay away from Horikita? You were praising her so much at the celebration party earlier?"

She continued in an accusatory tone: "What do you mean 'thanks to Horikita'? Didn't you ask us to find the test papers? Even though it cost her points, tsk! She even refused to let me pay for part of it!"

Konoe remained silent, his eyes still fixed on the computer screen, while Kushida's breathing quickened with her speech.

Seeing that Konoe was ignoring her, she opened her mouth and took a few quick breaths before continuing, "You even said you were acting under her instructions... Could it be... you've already become friends with her?"

Konoe paused his studying. Being interrupted, he was somewhat displeased. He refused to face Kushida, maintaining his original posture, and said, "That's because Ayanokoji kept trying to shift the blame and attention onto me, so I just pushed it towards Horikita. And most importantly, I paid for the points. If you want to pay now, it's still not too late."

"That doesn't matter, I'm asking if you've fallen for that pig! Not only did you give her all the credit, but you also said she was good-looking!" Kushida slammed the table, and the water glass on it clinked.

"Hey, wasn't my exact wording 'has some redeeming qualities in appearance'? And even if I were like you say, I was just stating the facts."

"...Don't forget, that outfit is still in my room! If you dare betray me next... Right!"

Kushida seemed to remember something. She suddenly placed her hands on Konoe's shoulders, forcefully turned him around, and slowly bent down, pressing her face close to his, forcing him to face her eyes.

"Speaking of which, there are only the two of us here..."

Konoe was already annoyed by Kushida's unreasonable accusations. Now, with Kushida acting like this, his anger slowly began to rise.

So, Konoe picked up the water glass on the desk and slowly poured it over Kushida's head.

"Wh-what!" Kushida stared at Konoe in disbelief.

"How is it? Are you calmer now?"

"You bastard!" Kushida suddenly raised her hand to grab Konoe.

"Let me be clear, Kushida. If you dare lay a hand on me again, we're no longer friends," Konoe said, looking into her eyes coldly.

"...Do you think I care about something like that!" Kushida's movement suddenly stopped. Her raised hand remained in mid-air, frozen.

"Whatever you think. Now, please get out of my dormitory."

After speaking, Konoe turned back to his computer screen, no longer paying attention to what Kushida intended to do.

Kushida lowered her hand and stood beside Konoe with her head bowed, silent. After a few minutes of quiet, she slowly moved towards the entrance.

Then, she suddenly seemed to remember something, turned back, tidied up the messy bed on Konoe's bed, and then prepared to leave.

Just then, Konoe's phone rang. It was Ayanokoji.

"Konoe, Kushida's phone was left in my room. I tried calling her extension, but no one answered. Did you know which way she went after you two went out?"

"One moment." Konoe muted his phone's microphone.

Then, Konoe casually called out to Kushida, who was still at the entrance, "Hey, you left your phone in Ayanokoji's room. Go get it yourself."

"...How am I supposed to get it this late? And if I go over like this, Ayanokoji will misunderstand."

Ayanokoji couldn't reach Kushida. If she went to get her phone after he called Konoe, Ayanokoji would assume they had been together the whole time. Thinking of this, Konoe sighed.

"Sigh, I can't do anything about you." Konoe walked to the entrance, put on his shoes, and said, "Just wait here."

It was only a few walls away. Konoe went from his dorm to Ayanokoji's door. He stood there for two to three minutes before unmuting his phone's microphone and saying:

"Sorry for the wait, Ayanokoji. I'm at your door. Open up."

A few seconds later, seeing Ayanokoji open the door, Konoe said, "Kushida was just in a female classmate's room. I called and found out. Give me the phone, and I'll bring it over later."

"Is this okay? It's against the dormitory rules for a guy to go over there, isn't it?" Ayanokoji said worriedly.

"It's fine, I'll just call her to come out and get it when I get nearby."

"...Is that so? Here then." Ayanokoji handed Kushida's mobile phone over.

Taking the mobile phone from Ayanokoji's hand, Konoe walked towards the elevator.

Then, he took Kushida's mobile phone to a convenience store, bought some candy, put it in his pocket, and then headed towards his own dormitory.

In about ten minutes, Konoe returned to the dormitory. As he entered, Kushida was still waiting by the entrance, head bowed.

Konoe was startled when he opened the door. He took out her mobile phone and said, "...Why aren't you sitting and waiting? I got the mobile phone, here."

After Kushida took back her mobile phone and put it in her bag, she suddenly hugged Konoe and whispered, "...I'm sorry."

Before Konoe could reply, Kushida, who had already put on her shoes, fled his room.