Mysterious Background

The following afternoon.

A document was placed on the desk in the Chairman's office.

Sakayanagi Narimori broke the seal, pulled out several photographs, and frowned slightly as he looked at the familiar face.

They were, quite clearly, the photos of Bai Ye beating someone up.

"Chairman, how should we handle this matter?"

A man with a weathered face and a hint of murderous intent in his eyes stepped forward.

If Bai Ye were here, he would certainly recognize this man as the 'old man' who had been taking care of him all this time.

"Number 7, are you threatening me?"

"Of course not. Being taken in by the Chairman is the young master's honor... It's just that if this incident affects the young master's future, I cannot sit idly by."

"Furthermore..." The man paused, "That person would not want to see this situation either."

"...I am well aware of that. This is currently the safest place for him, and he is, after all, my son-in-law. Why would I ever kick him out?"

Sakayanagi Narimori shook his head and set the file aside. "As long as no one reports him, the school will not take the initiative to intervene. That is, after all, the school's rule."

"And what if someone does report him?"

"Then we shall treat it as self-defense. It was two against one, after all; no matter how you look at it, he is the one being bullied."

The man said nothing more and stood to the side, motionless.

Sakayanagi Narimori opened a drawer, placed the photos inside, and pulled out other documents to review.

Neither of them mentioned the matter again.

A few more days passed.

"Well? It's time to admit defeat, Yamauchi."

Back at the same location as last time, Bai Ye looked at Yamauchi's constipated expression with a relaxed demeanor.

"Can you wait a few more days? Maybe the teachers haven't found out yet..."

"No. I'm not in the mood to wait anymore. Choose for yourself: expulsion plus a beating from me, or running a lap around the entire school without any clothes on."

"Wuu wuu... I really don't want to run... Please, let me off... Lord Jingu... wuu wuu..."

Yamauchi lay on the ground, trying to grab his calf, but was kicked away.

"Fine. Since you're so pathetic, I'll be lenient. You can wrap your face with your clothes."

"This..."

"Not willing? Then it's back to—"

"I'm willing! I'll run!"

Yamauchi stripped down to nothing in a flash, then wrapped his shirt around his face, leaving only a slit for his eyes.

"Go."

Watching Yamauchi hesitate, Bai Ye gave him a kick in the backside.

Yamauchi bolted, moving at an incredible speed.

Presumably, he was afraid Bai Ye would change his mind, or perhaps he just wanted to get it over with as quickly as possible.

After Yamauchi left, he stared blankly at the path.

"What should I do next... Sigh, how boring..."

Kushida was busy making friends every day, and he didn't want to disturb her. Horikita had been investigating something in the library lately, and Wang Meiyu...

He had told Wang Meiyu not to talk to him during the day because every time she saw him, she would either pounce on him or cling to his arm.

He didn't want to have a little pet hanging off him every time he went out.

And so, he found himself alone.

To be honest, he had no interest in making friends. Because he was always transferring schools, he couldn't be bothered to build relationships with people he would only be around for a few months.

Slowly, he had just gotten used to it.

He decided not to look for anyone to hang out with and wandered aimlessly around the campus by himself.

Coincidentally, while wandering, he happened to see a girl from his class on a secluded patch of grass.

She was lying on the sloped grass with her eyes closed, pretending to nap, with no other students around.

Finding a kindred spirit, Bai Ye felt an inexplicable sense of closeness. He slowly walked over to her side and lay down, keeping a distance of two meters.

He knew the girl's name; she was Hasebe Haruka, who had become a hot topic among the boys as soon as school started.

As for why she was a topic, it was because she had a great figure, with the largest chest in the entire class.

Of course, she was also quite pretty, and the tear mole under her eye gave her an extra touch of mature charm.

The moment he lay down, Hasebe opened her eyes, turned her head, and glanced at him: "You are... Jingu?"

"Hmm."

"Why... did you come here?"

Her full meaning was asking why he had to lie down right next to her.

"Because I was bored, and seeing you lying here alone, I wanted to see what it felt like."

"Oh."

Hasebe didn't ask anything else.

Separated by two meters, the two of them lay quietly on the grass, watching the sky and listening to the sound of the breeze blowing through the leaves.

Occasionally, the scent of flowers drifted by, mixed with the fresh fragrance of soil; just lying there, it felt as if they were enveloped in an ocean of nature.

Only when all the worldly noise faded away could one truly feel the breath of life within this tranquility.

The chirping of birds in the trees, the sound of fish splashing on the water's surface.

He felt it with his heart, painting a beautiful picture of nature in his mind.

Until.

"I'm heading back now."

Without him noticing when, Hasebe had already stood up, brushing the fallen leaves off her clothes.

He looked toward the sound and asked a question.

"Will you come back tomorrow?"

"Eh... tomorrow, maybe... I will." Hasebe was stunned for a moment, then nodded gently.

"Then I'll come by tomorrow too; it feels quite comfortable here."

"Oh, alright."

Hasebe really wanted to ask, can't you just come by yourself, why ask me?

But she suddenly didn't want to ask anymore.

Because she felt that this... was actually not bad.

In the evening, Bai Ye returned to his dormitory to find Wang Meiyu leaning on his bed, playing with her phone.

He had given her a spare key a few days ago, so she could come and go from this room as she pleased.

Seeing him enter, Wang Meiyu immediately put down her phone, pattering over to him in her slippers: "Brother, welcome back~"

He smiled and patted her little head before changing his shoes and walking into the room.

"Meiyu, where did you play today?"

Although he didn't want Wang Meiyu clinging to him every day, he still cared about her affairs; Wang Meiyu looked somewhat delicate, and her personality wasn't tough enough, making her easy to bully.

Wang Meiyu trotted back to the bedside: "Today, I was with Inokashira and the others..."

"Hmm."

He listened while walking over to the desk, picking up a book to start reading.

Reading was one of his few hobbies.

Whether it was light novels or various classic masterpieces, he had dabbled in them all.

Of course, he didn't read books to show off how knowledgeable he was to others, but to experience life.

Every book contained the life experience of a person from birth to death, and every time he finished one, it felt like experiencing a different life.

Even if these were all fabricated by the authors, being able to experience the process from birth to death in a few hours or dozens of hours was a bargain no matter how you looked at it.

Therefore, rather than extracting knowledge from books, he was more passionate about the stories.

And the 'life' behind those stories.