The Night Breeze Was a Little Chilly

After school, the trio of idiots watched Bai Ye leave the school building and couldn't help staring in stunned silence.

"What's going on, Yamauchi? Why didn't he take the bait?" Kanji Ike asked, rolling his eyes.

"How should I know? If someone offered me a chance like that, I'd have gone for it ages ago."

"Could he already have a girlfriend? Someone like Horikita, maybe?"

"I'd guess so too. With a girlfriend like Horikita, he'd have to be out of his mind to go after other girls." Yamauchi nodded as if he wholeheartedly agreed, though he was also trying to save face.

After all, this had been his idea. If it failed for no reason at all, wouldn't that make him look like a complete fool?

His plan had been simple.

He'd written a love letter to Sakura Airi in Bai Ye's name, asking her to meet at the same place where Bai Ye was supposed to go.

As he saw it, a plain girl like Sakura wouldn't turn down a confession from Bai Ye. Once they were both on the rooftop, he'd shut the door and let them think the wind had blown it closed.

With no one else around, a lecher like Bai Ye would surely make a move, and Sakura wouldn't turn him down. When they started getting handsy, Yamauchi would rush in and take a bunch of pictures. Once he had something on Bai Ye, everything would go smoothly, and he could do whatever he wanted.

After all, Sakura's bust was second only to Hasebe Haruka's in their class. Even he wouldn't be able to control himself in that kind of situation, let alone Bai Ye, who he considered a lecher.

Now it seemed the plan had failed.

Still, now that Bai Ye had Horikita as his girlfriend, they didn't have to worry about him stealing Kushida away.

So, on this breezy evening, Sakura Airi—forgotten by everyone—stood all alone on the rooftop, waiting.

She didn't return to the dorm alone until it was almost time for the evening curfew check.

A few hours earlier.

While Sakura stood waiting on the rooftop, Bai Ye had already met up with Horikita in a shadowy corner.

"Are you ready?" Horikita reminded him.

"Don't worry. Just watch me."

"Then why are you shaking?"

"I'm just... a little scared." Bai Ye lowered his head slightly. "What if she takes advantage of me...? Could you give me a hug first, just to boost my confidence?"

"If I hug you, that doesn't count as taking advantage of you?" After a few days together, Horikita had stopped bothering to criticize everything he said. It was exhausting.

Instead, she felt relaxed enough to joke around.

"No. You're prettier than them, so I don't mind."

"Hmm." Horikita furrowed her brow and studied his expression.

Unfortunately, his head was lowered, so she couldn't see a thing.

"All right, hurry up. I wouldn't agree to this if you hadn't been working so hard to help me these past few days."

Horikita thought it over. It was only a hug, after all, and if he tried anything, she could subdue him at any time.

As she spoke, she raised her arms, looking like she wanted to get it over with.

Bai Ye looked at her, lowered his head slightly, and let a sly expression cross his face.

He stepped toward her, bent down, wrapped one arm around her waist, and slipped the other beneath her knees. Then he lifted her into his arms, carrying her like a princess.

Feeling herself leave the ground and lose her balance, Horikita instinctively leaned her upper body against his chest and wrapped her arms around his neck.

After a brief moment of panic, she realized what was happening.

The girl's clear eyes glared at him as a blush spread across her face. "What are you doing, you pervert?"

"You said I could hug you. What did I do wrong?"

Bai Ye pursed his lips slightly and looked at her in confusion.

Horikita's face reddened again. "Don't think I don't know what you're up to."

"But you didn't say how I should hug you. Anyway, I haven't done anything wrong."

Horikita gritted her teeth, unsure what to say. Since she still had to rely on Bai Ye later, she said helplessly, "Fine, you win. Aren't you going to get going? If anyone sees me, I won't let you get away with it."

"It's fine. There aren't any lights over here, so they won't be able to tell who we are. I'll carry you until we reach the intersection, then put you down."

"Fine."

Horikita turned her face away, not wanting to meet his eyes.

She thought that would save her from the awkwardness. Little did she know that her shy expression made Bai Ye's heart itch as he looked at her snow-white profile.

Who would have thought that the woman who was usually so cold would be this obedient right now?

At the same time, he felt pretty good about it.

Weren't you so proud usually? Why have you gone quiet now? Go on, scold me, Horikita.

Thinking that, he kept walking.

Horikita's heart had suddenly started racing, and besides, there were no real loopholes in what he'd said.

Once she had calmed down and thought it through, it would be time for her to get angry.

Fortunately, the distance wasn't far. He put Horikita down after a short walk.

Horikita looked a little uncomfortable. She straightened her slightly rumpled clothes, then went inside with him.

Being carried like a princess was an incredibly embarrassing experience for anyone.

And the two of them were, at most, friends—not even that, really. If she hadn't been thinking about the extremely important matter they had to handle later, Horikita would have left him behind and run back to the dorm by herself.

Horikita stayed silent all the way to the private room. Just before they parted, she reminded him, "I'll be listening the whole time. If anything seems off, I'll rush in. You don't have to worry about losing your 'virginity.'"

She paused deliberately on the word "virginity," a hint of mockery in her voice.

That only strengthened Bai Ye's resolve to have his way with her.

When Horikita said she'd be listening the whole time, she meant that they had started a voice call on their phones. She'd be able to hear anything Bai Ye said.

Horikita clearly didn't trust him completely, so she'd set things up that way for convenience.

He went into a different private room from Horikita. As soon as he stepped inside, he saw two older girls with completely different styles.

He searched his memories for the characters from Classroom of the Elite, but neither of them rang a bell.

They were probably just background characters.

One of them, a red-haired girl with a fiery personality, eagerly came over and grabbed his arm.

"You're so late! We've been waiting for half an hour."

The other girl, who had shoulder-length black hair and an older-sister vibe, added, "How are you going to make it up to us?"

"There are still five minutes until the agreed time. I'm not late." He glanced from one pretty girl to the other.

They weren't quite as beautiful as Horikita, but at another high school, they'd easily rank among the prettiest girls in their class.

He'd chosen them not only because of their looks, but also because they were in Miyabi Nagumo's class—second-year Class A.

The red-haired senpai complained, "Doesn't Jingu-kun know how to go on a date with a girl? Do you always show up at the exact time? That's so half-hearted."

Bai Ye answered frankly, "I've never been on a date."

"Huh?" Both girls exclaimed in surprise, looking him up and down as if they couldn't believe it.

What he'd said was true. He'd spent the past few years running from place to place. When would he have had time to date? Even if he'd had someone he liked, the old man would have nagged him not to drag her into his troubles.

He'd even teased the old man before: Weren't you part of the underworld? Why are you acting so saintly?

The old man had replied that although they were the second-largest gang, they operated as a legitimate company and rarely did anything illegal anymore.

In fact, they were even one of the major conglomerates in the public eye.

Yes, in the public eye.

With their underworld connections, even the other major conglomerates didn't dare mess with them.

It made sense. Times had changed. For these colossal organizations to survive, they had to go legitimate. No one in power wanted an obvious pest running around underfoot.

And yet they'd still been wiped out. He had no idea how many interests had been involved.

After he sat down, the two girls settled on either side of him. Fortunately, they knew enough to restrain themselves and didn't get handsy.

The black-haired senpai said, "Jingu-kun, actually, we're curious. Someone as talented as you—why weren't you placed in Class A?"