The Night Breeze Is a Bit Chilly

After school, the trio of idiots watched Bai Ye leave the school building, unable to help but stare in stunned silence.

"What's going on, Yamauchi? Why didn't he take the bait?" Ike Kanji glared with wide, blank eyes.

"How should I know? If it were me, I would've gone in a heartbeat."

"Is it possible he already has a girlfriend? Like that Horikita?"

"I bet that's it. With a girlfriend like Horikita, he'd have to be tired of living to go around hitting on other girls." Yamauchi nodded as if it were a certainty, though there was a hint of shame in his tone.

After all, this was his idea; if it failed for no reason, wouldn't he lose too much face?

His plan had been simple.

In addition to the approach toward Bai Ye, he had written a love letter to Sakura Airi in Bai Ye's name, arranging to meet at the same location.

In his view, an ugly duckling like Sakura Airi would never refuse a confession letter from Bai Ye. Once both of them arrived at the rooftop, he would lock the door, making them think it had blown shut in the wind.

In such a secluded environment, a lecher like Bai Ye would surely make a move, and Sakura wouldn't be able to refuse. Once they were getting handsy, he would burst in and take photos. As long as he had leverage over Bai Ye, everything would go smoothly, and he could do whatever he wanted.

After all, Sakura's bust size was second only to Hasebe Haruka in the class. Even he wouldn't be able to hold back in that situation, let alone the lecherous Bai Ye.

Now, it seemed the plan had failed.

But, since he had a girlfriend like Horikita, they no longer had to worry about him snatching Kushida away.

And so, on this breezy evening, Sakura Airi, forgotten by everyone, stood alone on the rooftop, waiting.

It wasn't until the evening inspection time approached that she returned to the dormitory, all by herself.

Time turned back a few hours.

While Sakura was waiting on the rooftop, Bai Ye and Horikita were gathering in a dark corner.

"Are you ready?" Horikita reminded him.

"Don't worry, just watch me."

"Then why are you trembling?"

"It's just... I'm a little scared." Bai Ye lowered his head slightly. "What if I get taken advantage of? So, could you give me a hug first to give me some confidence?"

"And being hugged by me doesn't count as being taken advantage of?" After spending a few days together, Horikita was too tired to even retort to his words anymore.

Instead, she had the leisure to joke back.

"It doesn't count. You're prettier than them, so I don't mind."

"Hmm~" Horikita frowned, scrutinizing his expression.

Unfortunately, he was keeping his head down, and she couldn't see a thing.

"Fine, hurry up. If it weren't for how diligently you've been helping me these past few days, I wouldn't have agreed."

Horikita thought about it; it was just a hug, after all. If he dared to get handsy, she could subdue him at any moment.

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

Bai Ye looked at her, lowered his head slightly, and a cunning look flashed across his face.

He stepped forward, bent down, wrapped one arm around her waist and the other under her knees, and lifted her up in a princess carry.

Feeling her body suspended in mid-air and losing her sense of balance, Horikita instinctively leaned her upper body forward against his chest and wrapped her arms around his neck.

After a brief moment of panic, she realized what had happened.

The girl's clear, beautiful eyes glared at him fiercely, and a blush of shame swept across her face: "What are you doing? You pervert!"

"You said I could hug you, so what's wrong with this?"

Bai Ye pouted slightly, looking at her with a puzzled expression.

Horikita's face flushed even deeper: "Don't think I don't know what you're trying to do."

"But you didn't specify how to hug, so I'm not in the wrong."

Horikita gritted her teeth, not knowing what to say. Thinking that she still needed to rely on Bai Ye later, she said helplessly: "I lose. Aren't you going to walk? If anyone sees us, I won't let you off."

"It's fine, there are no lights here, they can't see who we are. I'll carry you for now and put you down when we reach the intersection."

"Fine."

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

She thought this would avoid the awkwardness, not realizing that this shy appearance made Bai Ye, who was watching her snow-white profile, feel an itch in his heart.

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

At the same time, he felt a sense of satisfaction.

(Aren't you usually so arrogant? Why aren't you saying anything now? If you're so capable, scold me, Horikita-san?)

Thinking this to himself, he didn't stop walking.

Horikita's heart was simply in chaos at that moment, and his behavior was technically flawless in terms of logic.

By the time she calmed down and realized what had happened, it would be time for her to unleash her fury.

Fortunately, the distance wasn't far, and he set Horikita down before long.

Horikita's expression was somewhat unnatural; she tidied her slightly disheveled clothes before walking inside with him.

For anyone, being carried bridal-style was an incredibly shameful posture.

And the two of them were, at best, friends—or perhaps not even that. If not for the fact that there was an extremely important matter ahead, Horikita would have abandoned him right then and run back to the dormitory alone.

Horikita didn't speak a word all the way to the private room, but just as they were about to part ways, she offered a reminder: "I'll be listening the entire time. If there's anything unusual, I'll rush in, so you don't have to worry about losing your 'virginity'."

She paused deliberately when saying the word virginity, a hint of mockery in her tone.

This only made Bai Ye more determined to devour her completely.

As for Horikita saying she would be listening, it was because the two of them had already started a voice chat on a mobile app, ensuring that everything Bai Ye said would be heard by her.

Horikita clearly didn't trust him completely, and doing this was also for the sake of convenience.

Walking into a different private room from Horikita, he saw two upperclassmen with vastly different styles the moment he stepped inside.

He carefully recalled the characters from Classroom of the Elite he remembered, but none of them left an impression.

It seemed they were just background characters.

One of them, a girl with fiery, red-dyed hair, walked up happily and grabbed his arm:

"You're so slow, we've been waiting for half an hour."

The other girl, who had shoulder-length black hair and an elegant, mature aura, also said, "How are you going to compensate us?"

"There are still 5 minutes until the agreed time, so I shouldn't be late." He looked back and forth between the two beautiful girls.

Although their looks were still a notch below Horikita's, they would be considered class beauties at any other high school.

He chose these two not only for their appearance but also because they were students in Nagumo Miyabi's class, which was Class A of the second year.

The red-haired upperclassman complained, "Has Jingu-kouhai never been on a date with a girl? Do you always arrive right on the dot? That's just too perfunctory."

Bai Ye said candidly, "I haven't, actually."

"Eh?" Both girls exclaimed in surprise, looking him up and down with expressions of disbelief.

What he said was indeed the truth; having spent these past few years hiding and running, he never had the time to date girls. Even if he had a target of interest, the old man would nag in his ear, telling him not to ruin the other person's life.

He used to complain to the old man, asking why he was acting so kind when he was involved in the underworld.

The old man would reply that although they were the second-ranked gang, they were a legitimate company, and they rarely engaged in illegal business anymore.

In fact, on the surface, they were even one of the major conglomerates.

Yes, on the surface.

Relying on their underworld background, the other major conglomerates didn't dare to provoke them.

This was normal; after all, the times had changed. If these behemoths wanted to survive, they had to become legitimate. No one in power wanted to see a conspicuous pest jumping around beneath them.

Yet, they were still wiped out, though he had no way of knowing how many complex interests were involved in that.

After he sat down, he was sandwiched between the two girls. Fortunately, they still knew how to be reserved and didn't start touching him.

The black-haired upperclassman said, "Jingu-kouhai, we're actually quite curious. With your level of talent, why weren't you placed in Class A?"