Kushida's Probing

Bai Ye retracted his previous words.

He had actually thought Kushida was genuinely helping him get closer to Horikita, and for that, he had felt a bit touched.

However, after the three of them sat in the cafe for a long time, Kushida only spoke to him, fussing over him with a sweet smile on her face that was almost enough to melt his heart.

Yet, faced with Kushida's enthusiasm, he only felt the surrounding temperature dropping lower and lower; the way Horikita stared at him was enough to freeze his heart solid.

Finally, at one point.

"I won't disturb you two anymore, you... chat slowly." Horikita said expressionlessly.

"Wait!"

Bai Ye raised his hand to say, but Horikita acted as if she hadn't heard him and left without looking back.

The next second, Horikita's expression transferred onto his own face.

Bai Ye looked at Kushida, who had stopped talking and was now looking at him with a playful glint in her eyes: "Satisfied now?"

Kushida shook her head and looked in the direction Horikita had left: "Aren't you going to chase her? You worked so hard to build a relationship, what will you do if you let it slip away?"

"I'll apologize next time; today... let's just leave it."

"Oh~ why?" Kushida blinked curiously.

"Although I feel sorry for her, I can't just leave a girl here all by herself."

"I see." Kushida stroked her small face and said softly, "I couldn't tell, you're actually quite gentle. I almost felt my heart skip a beat just now."

"I'm only gentle to specific people. If it were Yamauchi, I would have already beaten him away."

"Speaking of Yamauchi, thank you, Jingu-kun, for standing up for me. Though, wasn't it a bit too harsh? Hehe~"

Kushida covered her mouth and giggled, showing not a hint of sympathy.

"I already found him annoying; it wasn't entirely for your sake."

After all, there was the matter of the fake love letter, and he was slandering him every day; it would have been impossible for him not to be angry, he just hadn't found the right opportunity yet.

"Jingu-kun, let me ask you something." Kushida said suddenly and solemnly, "If everyone isolates me and bullies me in the future, what will you do?"

"I..."

"I want the truth. Since you already know what kind of person I am, I have nothing left to hide. Your answer now will determine how I treat you in the future, so you better think carefully."

"Alright."

After pondering for a while, he gently grabbed her hand.

Kushida's body trembled visibly; she lowered her head slightly and rested her forehead on her hand against the table.

"It's simple: I will teach everyone who bullies you a lesson." He said in a flat tone, "The premise is that you must be mine."

Although his words were devoid of ripples, Kushida could clearly feel his sincerity, just like the smile he had shown her when he made a promise in the classroom last time.

Facts proved that it was indeed as he had said; through her recent observations, his relationship with Horikita was indeed average, not even friends.

At this moment, Kushida suddenly felt he had a unique charm, even though he was usually quite meticulous and seemed like a person with deep schemes.

But he would occasionally reveal a sincere side. She didn't know if he was like this with everyone, but as far as she was concerned, being able to see that glimmer of light directed at her made her heart feel warm, even if... he might also be lying.

However, that shouldn't be very likely.

If others knew the real her, they would only keep their distance; how could they possibly help her or get close to her?

Thinking this, Kushida prepared to probe further.

"Then what if that person includes Horikita? Would you help me teach her a lesson too?"

"This... would an apology suffice?"

"Hehe, no." Kushida smiled, her small hand pinching his thigh from underneath the table, "You really are greedy, wanting me isn't enough..."

Although she said that, she had already come to believe him.

Because if he had opened his mouth to defend her and boycott Horikita, Kushida would only have thought he was acting. She wasn't some naive girl who would be swept away by such sweet talk.

This psychological game was a victory for Bai Ye.

However, he didn't feel particularly happy about it.

Those were indeed his true feelings. In his eyes, Kushida was already his, and so was Horikita.

The system stated on the surface that as long as they broke up it would be fine, but he had a bit of a cleanliness complex; he didn't like the people he was involved with having entanglements with other men. Even if they broke up, he wouldn't let go.

Call him selfish or heartless, it didn't matter.

Therefore, he didn't want to lie either; that was too exhausting.

Since he had already started, he had no intention of turning back. Before, when he was alone, he didn't care.

But now it was different. From the moment he accepted Wang Meiyu, he had no way out, and things were no longer up to him to decide as he pleased.

He had to keep getting stronger to protect the people around him; otherwise, that Sword of Damocles would always hang over his head, leaving him unable to ever feel at ease.

Although the process would not go as he wished and there would certainly be sad things along the way, he believed he would achieve that ending where everyone could be happy.

On the way back, Kushida walked daintily by his side and laughed, "Sorry about just now. I just wanted to test you to see where I stand in your heart. I'll go apologize to Horikita later."

"Kushida, I know you can't trust me right away. Take your time; time will prove everything."

"You seem very confident?" Kushida tilted her head to look at him.

"Whether I'm confident or not doesn't matter. I have no other choice," he looked at Kushida indifferently, "I hope it's the path where we walk together, and not..."

He didn't finish his sentence, and Kushida, having clearly seen the trace of heaviness in his eyes, didn't press him either.

"Fine, since you've been so honest, let's officially cooperate from now on."

"Only a cooperative relationship?" he said meaningfully.

"What else? What other... relationship could there be..." Kushida subconsciously brushed back a strand of hair and turned her head away.

"Forget it, let's talk about it later."

"Hmm... but I have one more thing. How are you going to handle Horikita? She should be like you, knowing about my dark history. I can trust you for now, but I can't trust her."

Bai Ye rubbed his temples, feeling a bit of a headache: "What do you want to do?"

"I think... you could lure her out next time, and I'll record a video of you two. Once she has a weakness in my hands, I can rest easy."

He could imagine that the video Kushida was talking about certainly wasn't anything decent.

As expected of Kushida, she thought of such a method in an instant.

But while this method was feasible, he would never do it because it was too low-class, and if he did, Horikita would probably never speak to him again for the rest of her life.

"Forget it. If I did that to you, you wouldn't be happy either, would you?"

"Alright then, I'll think of something else." Although Kushida felt a bit disappointed that her proposal was rejected, she felt a hint of happiness somewhere deep in her heart.

Because this meant that Bai Ye would never do such a thing to her either.

A woman's heart is truly complex.

By the time the two parted ways, they still hadn't come up with a good solution, so the issue of Horikita was temporarily shelved.