You Cannot End This

At the same time, Leo was walking toward the Service Club room. Judging by the direction he was coming from, he wasn't chatting with Utaha Kasumigaoka in the classroom as Yukino Yukinoshita had guessed; he had come from the rooftop.

He was indeed a bit late today, but that was because he had received a message from Sona Shitori right after school. To avoid prying eyes, he had gone to the rooftop to talk with her for a while.

Thinking about what Sona Shitori had just told him, Leo mused to himself.

Although it's a bit troublesome, I can use this opportunity to give Yukino a proper lesson in actual combat.

It had been a month since she became his peerage, and although Yukino Yukinoshita had been diligently reading books, learning about devils, and training her abilities, she had yet to experience any real combat.

Without the experience of actual combat, no matter how strong one's power was, there would always be numerous issues.

Therefore, Leo had already decided that he would leave this matter for Yukino Yukinoshita to resolve. He would stand by to oversee things and would absolutely not intervene unless it was a last resort.

"No time like the present. Let's start tonight."

With this thought in mind, Leo arrived at the Service Club room.

However, when Leo pushed open the door and stepped inside, the heavy atmosphere in the room made him pause for a moment.

"Y-you're here?"

The moment Yukino Yukinoshita saw Leo walk through the door, she stood up abruptly, her reaction quite significant.

On the other hand, the person sitting next to Yukino Yukinoshita was staring at him with a smile. Not only did she show no real reaction, but she also cast a sharp gaze toward Leo.

Seeing this, Leo raised an eyebrow. He then ignored both Yukino Yukinoshita's reaction and that sharp gaze, walking inside with his usual expression.

"So, we have an honorable guest. That's quite rare."

Leo sat down in the seat where Yukino Yukinoshita had originally been sitting, causing her to subconsciously step aside and stand behind him.

That scene caused the "honorable guest" Leo mentioned to frown imperceptibly, a flash of surprise crossing her eyes.

However, she didn't show it directly. Instead, she greeted Leo with a sunny smile.

"Hello, Eligos-kun. I'm Yukino's sister, Haruno Yukinoshita. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Her enthusiastic demeanor was nothing like her cold sister, nor did it resemble the owner of that overly sharp gaze from a moment ago. Combined with her exquisite appearance and pleasant voice, it made one want to let their guard down involuntarily.

Unfortunately, while Haruno Yukinoshita was enthusiastic, Leo appeared even more radiant than she did.

"I know who you are. The eldest daughter of the Yukinoshita family, right? You're quite a celebrity at our school."

Leo laughed heartily, like a cheerful, guileless boy. His smiling face made even Haruno Yukinoshita daze for a split second, and she couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

If nothing else, his physical appearance is absolutely top-tier. He's more handsome and has more charisma than any of those so-called wealthy heirs I've met before.

As for Leo saying she was a celebrity, Haruno Yukinoshita was not surprised in the slightest.

She was twenty years old this year and currently studying at the local national university faculty of science and engineering, but she had once been a student at Sobu High School and was an alumna of the institution.

During the three years before her graduation, there were not as many as four high mountain flowers at Sobu High School.

Back in high school, Haruno Yukinoshita was the only high mountain flower in the entire school, a genuine, popular figure who dominated the campus.

She possessed not only beauty, family background, temperament, and excellent grades, but also a social ability that could be described as cheating—a world of difference from the beautiful Yukino Yukinoshita, whose interpersonal skills were deeply concerning.

During her time there, whether it was students, teachers, or even the school principal and board members, she had established good relationships with everyone. She left such a deep impact and impression on Sobu High School that even a year or two after her graduation, rumors about her still lingered.

This was especially true for the third-year students, as the name Haruno Yukinoshita was still brought up from time to time.

After all, when Haruno Yukinoshita was in her third year at Sobu High, they had just enrolled as first-years.

Therefore, many third-year students still had a deep impression of Haruno Yukinoshita, including Leo.

Although he had no direct interaction with Haruno Yukinoshita when he was a first-year, he had seen Yukino Yukinoshita walking down the hallway more than once, followed by a massive crowd of people.

Everyone surrounded her, centering their attention on her, yet she managed to avoid neglecting a single person, handling interpersonal relationships with ease—a true social terrorist.

Many called her a perfect superman, and many others viewed her as a thoughtful big sister, unable to forget her.

This was the situation when Haruno Yukinoshita attended Sobu High School.

And even outside of Sobu High, Haruno Yukinoshita was a celebrity in every sense of the word.

Because she was the eldest daughter and heir whom the Yukinoshita family had poured all their efforts into cultivating. Even before stepping into society, she had already begun to take on various social engagements and certain political and business responsibilities for the Yukinoshita family. Her capabilities were far superior to those of Yukino Yukinoshita, and she had already gained considerable fame in the political and business circles of Chiba prefecture.

It was precisely because she was so perfect and so outstanding that Yukino Yukinoshita had always lived in the shadow of her sister and was deeply influenced by her.

One look at Yukino Yukinoshita's behavior now made it clear: she remained silent, completely devoid of her usual sharpness and sharp tongue, appearing somewhat nervous and unconsciously displaying a sense of fragility.

Yet, she did not leave, nor did she do anything; she simply stood behind Leo, looking as if she were taking her lead from him.

This made Haruno Yukinoshita feel that her understanding of the relationship between these two might be significantly flawed.

"Isn't Eligos-kun a celebrity himself?" Haruno Yukinoshita withdrew her gaze from Yukino Yukinoshita, turned to look directly at Leo, and smiled. "I remember that even before I graduated, Eligos-kun was already quite popular. Didn't even the senior girls sneak over to take a look at you?"

"I can't compare to you, senior." Leo smiled noncommittally. "At the very least, there are people who don't like me, but there shouldn't be anyone who doesn't like you, right?"

"You think too highly of me." Haruno Yukinoshita's eyes narrowed slightly, and she said pointedly, "Many things cannot be judged by appearances alone. Some people seem to have a great relationship, but in reality, they harbor deep dissatisfaction with each other; others seem to have a terrible relationship, but in reality, they care for one another."

As she spoke, Haruno Yukinoshita's gaze wandered back and forth between Leo and Yukino Yukinoshita, her expression becoming increasingly meaningful.

"Just like before I came over, I had always assumed that the two of you had some sort of unknown, improper relationship. But looking at it now, your relationship is even more complicated than I imagined."

There was no doubt that Haruno Yukinoshita had come to Sobu High to confront them because she had learned that Yukino Yukinoshita had not been staying at her apartment recently and had been getting very close to a boy, with rumors suggesting they were already together.

Yukino Yukinoshita knew that her sister would misunderstand her relationship with Leo, but she chose silence over rebuttal, fearing that her sister might discern something.

Even though she had lived in the shadow of Haruno Yukinoshita for so long, Yukino had to admit that her sister was excessively talented. Unlike a "defective product" like herself, her sister was a true perfect superman.

If she were to rush to argue or explain, she would inevitably fall into the other party's verbal trap and have the truth extracted from her before she even realized it.

To prevent this from happening, Yukino could only maintain an uncharacteristic silence. Even when Haruno provoked her with words, she did not refute or justify herself, simply waiting for Leo to arrive.

Leo, on the other hand, seemed to have no intention of hiding anything, acting with great nonchalance.

"To some extent, what senior Yukinoshita said is correct."

Leo looked at the prying gaze of Haruno and said this with a smile.

"Yukino and I do indeed have a relationship that is unknown to others, and this relationship is not exactly proper."

As soon as these words were spoken, Haruno's eyes sharpened once again.

She stared directly at Leo, both of them wearing smiles on their faces, yet there was not a hint of warmth in their eyes.

No, that wasn't quite right; Leo's eyes were still filled with playful amusement, while Haruno's eyes had completely lost all traces of a smile.

This caused the air in the Service Club activity room to grow heavy once more, becoming so tense that it felt as if a fight could break out at any moment, causing a thin layer of sweat to break out on Yukino's back.

"You are quite bold, Eligos-kun."

After a long silence, Haruno spoke again.

"Knowing that we are daughters of the Yukinoshita family, you still dare to admit in front of me that you have an improper, unknown relationship with my good-for-nothing sister. If my mother were to find out about this, you might not even be able to stay at Sobu High School, you know?"

This was less of a threat and more of a probe.

Haruno was attempting to decipher Leo's true nature; it was a skill she excelled at.

Do not be fooled by her sunny, cheerful demeanor, which made her appear like a caring older sister; in reality, this was merely a facade.

Haruno was a persona who adjusted her behavior and personality according to the preferences of others, molding herself into their ideal type to achieve various goals. She was by no means a perfect superman.

Right now, Haruno was trying to read Leo's preferences to achieve her goal of probing him.

But this was, in fact, a futile effort.

"Since the fact that Yukino and I are in close contact will reach that person's ears sooner or later, what does it matter?"

Leo remained composed throughout, making any probing unnecessary.

"...You mean to say that even though I've come here today, you two have no intention of ending this relationship."

The smile on Haruno's face faded slightly.

Leo, conversely, found his smile growing even more pronounced.

"I should say, this is a relationship that you have no way of ending."