"Because as annoying as you both are, at least you're a little better-looking."
Asano was first bewildered, then stunned, and finally blushed bright red.
Meanwhile, Miura, who had been standing off to the side with her arms folded and a relaxed expression, gradually turned serious.
I was sticking up for her, and now she's flirting with girls????
Damn you, Yukinoshita. For the next week... no, you are absolutely forbidden from having a crush on me tomorrow!!!
Although Miura had sworn to her friends that she would never meddle in Yukinoshita's affairs again and would never speak to her again, in reality, she broke that vow the very next day.
Because Yukinoshita had bought her a can of Coke.
"Yukinoshita is such a pain..."
Despite being unable to hide her bashful, pleased expression, she hurriedly pretended not to care at all. "Why did you bring me this? I don't even like overly sweet stuff."
That was a lie.
Miura actually loved soda, but it was such an otaku-ish hobby, and it made you gain weight. On top of that, it didn't fit her tough Queen persona, so she had never let anyone see that side of herself, out of embarrassment.
In private, she would sometimes check the calorie count and sneak a little sip, suffering and enjoying it at the same time.
Junko Kamizawa smiled. "If Yumiko doesn't like it, then I'll take care of it for her... I'm really curious what something given to you by Eldest Miss Yukinoshita tastes like."
Onozawa Kaho nodded vigorously. "I'm curious too, I'm curious too."
Miura's expression changed instantly. She snatched the Coke back and put it in her desk, then shooed them away irritably. "Go on, get lost! It's not like you've never had Coke before!"
"Yumiko, you're so stingy!"
I am stingy!
Come to think of it, even when Yukinoshita confessed to all those other people, she had never given anyone a gift, had she?
That was definitely a pretty awful thing to do, but it still made Miura feel like she was bubbling over with happiness.
Miura wanted to carry the Coke around and make a show of taking a few sips in front of people like Hayama and Hikigaya, but she barely managed to resist because she wanted to preserve the bottle.
Yui watched them with a smile, occasionally adding a few polite words to keep things pleasant.
Cradling her flushed cheeks, Miura looked both bashful and confused. "I still don't get why Yukinoshita would like me..."
Onozawa Kaho replied as if it were obvious. "Because you're pretty, Yumiko."
That was true. Miura had been beautiful from birth, and she took such good care of her hair, skin, eyes, and even her hands that she was now dazzling to look at. Even each strand of her hair seemed to shine, giving her a particularly bright, radiant beauty.
That... really was a reason.
Miura opened her little compact mirror and looked at her undeniably persuasive face. To hide her slightly flushed cheeks, she cleared her throat and nodded confidently.
Yui Yuigahama nearly lost her customer-service smile.
Wait, no. Are these two serious?
At Sobu High School, Yukinoshita was known as the Early Romance Crusher. She had stolen countless boys away, and some of the girls she'd left heartbroken had been pretty, too.
There was no way she could have crushes on that many girls at once, could she?
By then, Onozawa Kaho and Yumiko Miura had already conducted a thorough analysis and reached their conclusion.
Yukino Yukinoshita had been paying attention to Yumiko ever since the first time she saw her at the start of the school year.
Yukinoshita's feelings really were so deep they brought tears to your eyes. Sob, sob.
"So, Yumiko, are you going to date Yukinoshita?"
Miura immediately denied it. "Who would date Yukinoshita? At most... at most, being friends is enough, isn't it?!"
However you looked at it, dating Yukinoshita when they had only been in the same class for barely two weeks was way too much!
Junko Kamizawa sighed. "With a personality like Yumiko's, she might be single her whole life. I can't see any chance of her successfully winning Yukinoshita over."
Onozawa Kaho nodded in agreement. "No wonder Yukinoshita's had a crush on you for so long without saying anything. Yumiko, you're way too awkward."
Grinning, she bumped Yui's shoulder with her own. "What do you think, Yui?"
Yui pinched her chin too. "Honestly, I can't picture what Yumiko would be like trying to pursue someone."
Miura's eyebrows shot up in anger. "What do you mean, me pursuing Yukinoshita? She has a crush on me! If anyone's pursuing anyone, it should be her pursuing me!"
Though she refused to back down, Miura was genuinely starting to worry.
Yukinoshita clearly liked her so much, yet had never even thought of saying it out loud. Could it be that Miura was actually such a terrible partner that Yukinoshita only dared admire her from afar?
This was bad, this was bad. What if Yukinoshita stopped having a crush on her?
At that very moment, Yukinoshita was eagerly exploring the system's new functions.
Her system was incredibly heartless. To make her complete its missions, it had even made her walk through a downpour until she was soaked to the skin before she could reach her private car.
Sobu High School strictly forbade students and even their parents from driving private cars onto campus. Fortunately, Yukinoshita had worn a coat and carried her schoolbag over her head that day, but by the time she reached the car, she still looked like a drowned rat.
The Unscrupulous System was unscrupulous, but it was undeniably useful, too.
When Yukinoshita had arrived in this godforsaken Timeline a little over two weeks ago, everything had been miserable in every sense of the word. But after pouring her heart and soul into completing missions, she had at least managed to bring the attitude of her Class 2-F classmates down from hostility to indifference.
For one thing, even when someone came looking for her and got right in her face like they had today, Yukinoshita was no longer surrounded on all sides with nowhere to turn.
Still, Miura's actions today had surprised her.
This was the first time Yukinoshita had truly felt protected by someone outside her family.
[Give Miura a Sprite?]
The system did not respond.
[Give Miura a pair of fashionable sneakers?]
The system still did not respond.
This unscrupulous system was not the least bit intelligent. It only offered missions when she triggered certain keywords. Then Yukinoshita realized she could use a combination of trial and error and process of elimination to find those keywords.
For instance, earlier, after repeatedly testing the system with every item she could think of, she had finally discovered that the system reacted to Miura + Coke, and successfully unlocked a mission option.
The related words Yukinoshita could think of for Coke were things like young, casual, and tasty.
But after trying out every related word she could think of, she still hadn't gotten another mission.
At that moment, Yukinoshita wasn't constantly trying different words to get a mission. She was trying to discover what Miura actually liked.
Yukinoshita wasn't used to owing people anything.
She was used to walking alone through the darkness, so even when someone really did come toward her with a light, she couldn't help worrying that it might burn her.
[Give Miura dessert?]
This time, she had finally triggered the right keyword, and the Unscrupulous System, which had seemed dead, finally responded.
[The system has selected the best current option for you: Give Yumiko Miura a cream puff.]
It was the weekend again, and the raven-haired tutor, Eriri Sawamura, arrived as promised.
"Yui Yuigahama, I look forward to working with you again~"
Yukinoshita had been focused on her textbook, but now she looked up and glanced at Eriri Sawamura.
"Say, do we really have to keep calling each other by these weird names?"
The two of them had old scores to settle, but when they met again this time, for various reasons, they had both given fake names.
One had introduced herself as Eriri Sawamura, while the other had given the name Yui Yuigahama.
Honestly, they were both incredibly mean-spirited.
Kasumigaoka smiled. "Isn't that obvious?"
She actually had a pretty nice smile, but there was something so sarcastic about it that it made you want to pick a fight with her at a glance.
"After all, there's no way Kasumigaoka Utaha would do something as stupid as tutor her former romantic rival."
You're smiling, but you're about to snap the pen in your hand, Ms. Sawamura.
"More than that, I'm surprised you showed up today as promised."
Your hostility toward me is practically overflowing, and you still managed to put up with it and come here.
Were you unprepared last time, and now you'd come here specifically to murder me?
Kasumigaoka replied, "More importantly, I'm surprised you left the door ajar today... Are you really that off guard around me?"
She smiled. "I heard yesterday that you announced at Sobu High School that you liked girls."
She set her bag down and sat across the coffee table, propping her chin on her hand as she leaned toward Yukinoshita, her eyes glimmering. "You don't happen to like me, do you?"
Yukinoshita kept her eyes on her textbook. Her eyelids didn't even twitch, and her voice was cool.
"Those idiotic words sound just right coming from you, whether you're sleep-talking or drunk."
Kasumigaoka sat up straight. "If that were true, I'd be delighted. If something as disgusting as Yukinoshita liking me actually happened, I'd have to worry about it."
"Give me a moment. I'll go fry you up a plate of hangover cures."
Yukinoshita might not have been herself back when she had blonde hair, but that person really had been "Yukinoshita," and Kasumigaoka had been one of her victims. Besides, putting up with a little of her hostility was fine if it helped Yukinoshita complete some missions.
Yukinoshita had faced plenty of hostility throughout her life. These few cutting remarks were nowhere near enough to break through her defenses.
She could even deflect every one of them!
Although neither of them ever held back with their words, once they got down to business, they could still put their rivalry aside without a hitch.
Kasumigaoka casually quizzed her on the Knowledge Points they had covered in their last tutoring session. As expected, Yukinoshita answered every question correctly.
Then they moved on to new material. Yukinoshita had already skimmed through it once, and she was naturally clever. Now, as soon as Kasumigaoka finished explaining something, Yukinoshita could apply it to everything else.
This person seemed to be getting smarter and smarter.
Yukinoshita was bright and quick-witted, and she really should have been talented at studying. It was said that she had entered high school with the top score on the entrance exam.
But for some reason, after starting her first year of high school, this well-brought-up young lady from a wealthy family had gone downhill at lightning speed. She dyed her hair blonde, put on heavy eyeshadow and makeup, painted her nails in bright colors, and wore her uniform loose and sloppy, looking every bit like a delinquent gyaru.
Kasumigaoka had seen pictures of Yukinoshita's former gyaru self on the School Forum. She had to admit, even with that Shibuya-style visual-kei gyaru look, Yukinoshita's looks had been good enough to pull it off.
She really was beautiful. With blonde hair, she had been dazzling and vivid; with black hair, she was as clear and pure as a lotus.
Kasumigaoka thought that it was no wonder Aki had chosen her back then.
"Yukinoshita."
Halfway through working through the material, Kasumigaoka suddenly fell silent for a moment. Holding her pen, she called Yukinoshita's name.
Yukinoshita turned back in surprise, unconsciously straightening up and taking on a listening posture.
Even at home, where she should have been able to relax, she kept her back straight, the graceful curve of her neck making her look like a dancer ready to step onstage at any moment.
Even when faced with an old enemy who wasn't exactly friendly, she instinctively listened with complete seriousness.
It was hard to imagine someone who had manners and respect for others ingrained so deeply in her being the sort of awful person who had repeatedly gotten between other people and their partners.
Kasumigaoka was silent for a moment, then suddenly laughed. "Do you have strawberry milk? I'm a little thirsty."
Yukinoshita raised an eyebrow. "Aren't you afraid I'll poison it?"
"If it gets you sent to prison, I don't mind getting a little food poisoning."
Yukinoshita looked a little surprised, but she still stood up and sighed. "There aren't any drinks in the house. I'll go check the supermarket downstairs. Wait here for a bit."
She put on her coat and slipped on her shoes in the entryway. "Do you prefer Morinaga, Meiji, or Kyodo for milk?"
"Any of them is fine," Kasumigaoka said.
Then she added, "Isn't your family's driver usually waiting downstairs at the apartment building unless it's nighttime?"
Yukinoshita rolled her eyes at her. "Mr. Ito is a driver, not a butler."
She walked to the entryway, lowered her head to put on her shoes, and said quietly, "And even if he were a butler, he'd only be a butler for the Yukinoshita Family."
The door shut gently behind her. The faint warmth that belonged to her seemed to leave with her, leaving Kasumigaoka alone in the spacious room.
Before you continue