Revenge

"Am I... back?"

Though surprised, Bai Yuze quickly calmed down. He had already experienced death.

Before Kamuro could steal anything, Bai Yuze hurriedly pulled out his phone and started recording.

Kamuro's next move was captured on his phone.

After finishing the recording, Bai Yuze casually took a piece of candy and a thumbtack from a nearby shelf.

"Hey, classmate, is stealing fun?"

Kamuro jumped at the sound of Bai Yuze's voice. She was just about to curse him out when she froze.

Bai Yuze played the video on his phone for Kamuro. When she saw it, she was first stunned, then lowered her head in resignation.

"Not even going to try to deny it? Interesting."

Bai Yuze smiled. Right now, all he wanted was revenge, and he appreciated that Kamuro had given up resisting. It saved him quite a bit of time.

"Since you haven't exposed me, I take it you want something else. So, what is it you want?"

Kamuro folded her arms and stared at Bai Yuze coldly.

"Talking to smart people is so much easier. I just need you to do me a favor. Don't worry, it won't be difficult."

Bai Yuze smiled as he sized up Kamuro Masumi, thinking to himself:

"She's so beautiful. It'd be a real shame if she got herself killed over a bottle of soda."

At Bai Yuze's words, Kamuro relaxed, but when she noticed his appraising gaze, her face first went pale, then slowly flushed red.

"Ugh! Disgusting!"

Kamuro snapped. She put the drink back in her bag and walked deeper into the store without looking up.

A moment later, Kamuro returned. She shoved something into Bai Yuze's hands and said with a look of disdain,

"Hmph, men. Hurry up and pay, then let's go!"

Bai Yuze was completely thrown by her behavior.

"What's wrong? Don't tell me you expect me to pay. Are you even a man?"

Kamuro was infuriated by Bai Yuze just standing there. Her face turned from pale to livid, and she pointed at him with a trembling finger.

"What are you talking about?"

Bai Yuze looked at the item in his hands, then froze all over again.

The large, distinctive words "ULTRA THIN" stood out on the box.

"..."

Bai Yuze was speechless. He looked up at Kamuro.

"You... You're such a scumbag. I've really been had today!"

When Kamuro saw that Bai Yuze still wasn't moving, she sighed and reached for the box so she could pay for it.

"Ugh, I can't believe I got stuck with this guy today. He's a real wolf in sheep's clothing. He's so good-looking, but his personality is just awful."

Kamuro had imagined that Bai Yuze would take responsibility afterward, but when she saw that he wouldn't even pay for protection, she felt as if the sky had fallen.

She suddenly felt decades older, and shuffled forward to take the protection from him so she could pay.

"Ow!"

Kamuro clutched her head, tears welling in her eyes as she looked at Bai Yuze.

"What's wrong with you? Fine, you don't want to pay, but now you're hitting me too! Waaaah, my life is so... Waaaah!"

Bai Yuze clamped a hand over Kamuro's mouth.

"Shut up! Who told you to grab that thing? Don't act like I'm desperate to get you into bed."

Bai Yuze pulled his hand away with a look of disgust. It was now covered in Kamuro's tears.

"Huh? Then what do you want?"

Realizing she had misunderstood him, Kamuro's face turned bright red. She asked shyly,

"In a moment, someone's going to bump into me. The instant he does, slip this candy into his pocket."

Bai Yuze sneered to himself.

"Heh. You had it coming, so don't blame me for returning the favor! I'm done pretending to be some upright gentleman!"

Bai Yuze had always believed in settling scores. That nonsense about a gentleman waiting ten years to take revenge meant nothing to him. Every extra second of waiting made him miserable.

Of course, Bai Yuze would give the other person a chance to apologize. "You have to suffer just as much as I did for it to count as an apology."

At Bai Yuze's words, Kamuro paused, then laughed at him.

"Hehehe, are you about to put on some show about predicting the future?"

"Don't worry about all that. Just do as I say."

Bai Yuze couldn't be bothered to waste his breath. As long as he got his revenge, he didn't care what anyone thought of him.

"Fine, fine. Whatever you say!"

Kamuro relaxed. She'd thought he was going to...

At the thought, Kamuro stole a glance at Bai Yuze's face.

"Hmm, he's got a serious expression, but he's pretty handsome. Still... am I really that unattractive?"

Kamuro Masumi was confident in her looks, but Bai Yuze acted as if he had no interest in her body at all.

That made Kamuro Masumi feel a little less sure of herself.

Soon, the target Bai Yuze wanted to kill with his own hands came into view.

Bang!

"Sorry."

It was the same familiar collision. Bai Yuze pretended to stumble and reached out to steady himself against a nearby shelf.

"It's fine."

Bai Yuze held back his anger, keeping his voice calm.

Bai Yuze patted the boy on the shoulder, wiping the tears from his hand as he did.

"Hey! Watch where you're going!"

Kamuro used all her strength to pull the boy over, taking the opportunity to slip the lollipop into his pocket.

"Uh... I'm really sorry. I apologize!"

The boy bowed.

"Forget it. You can go."

Bai Yuze waved him away.

"Arigato!"

The boy hurried off, but didn't leave the store.

When Kamuro saw Bai Yuze had stopped her, she asked in confusion,

"Why did you let him go?"

"He's an athlete. You can tell from his basketball shoes. If we really made an enemy of him, it'd be bad for us."

"Hmph, I didn't think you'd be scared."

Kamuro chuckled.

"I'm human. Of course I get scared."

Bai Yuze sighed. After coming back to life, he felt as if his face had stiffened.

"So what are we doing now?"

Kamuro was a little nervous, afraid Bai Yuze might make some unpleasant request.

"We're going to ask the two clerks for information."

After saying that, Bai Yuze walked straight over to the two clerks without looking back.

"Oh."

Kamuro replied, but there was a hint of... disappointment in her voice.

Drawing on his experience from his previous life, Bai Yuze quickly struck up a conversation with the two clerks.

"Hey, Bai, why do I feel like we've met before?"

The chubby clerk burst out laughing.

"Maybe we're just kindred spirits. We hit it off right away."

Bai Yuze replied.

"Hahahaha, I think so too!"

Perhaps because Kamuro Masumi was standing nearby, Bai Yuze felt that the chubby clerk had become much more talkative.

"Sakata, you're talking a lot."

Sakata patted Lao Gao on the shoulder and grinned.

"Oh, what's the harm? Unlike you, always looking so gloomy. You'll scare the customers away."

With that, Sakata flashed what he thought was a handsome smile and greeted Kamuro.

"Miss, I'm Sakata Yujū, and the guy next to me is Takada Yū. I like to call him Lao Gao. Don't let his gloomy-guy look fool you—he's actually a great guy!"

Using a friend as the butt of a joke to start a conversation was common enough, like tripping a friend in front of someone of the opposite sex.

But Sakata's attempt failed...

He got no response from Kamuro, and his friend Takada Yū looked annoyed with him.

Seeing that, Bai Yuze quickly stepped in to smooth things over.

"Mr. Sakata, were you a student here before?"

Sakata shook his head, then pointed at Takada Yū.

"I wasn't, but Lao Gao was. I can't believe this guy managed to graduate from here in one piece. It's unbelievable."