Involuntary Feelings

Feeling the steady breathing of the handsome boy beside her, Hasebe let out a deep sigh.

This guy really did just come here to sleep...

With nothing better to do, she lay on her side next to him, looking up at his exceptionally handsome profile. After just a few glances at those elegant features, her heart rate suddenly quickened.

Her gaze grew hazy, and she couldn't help but reach out to touch him. But the moment her skin brushed against his, she saw his eyelids twitch and recoiled in a panic.

What am I doing... No, what am I afraid of? There's nothing to be afraid of, it's just little Bai Ye...

Hasebe bit her lip. Seeing that Bai Ye was still fast asleep, she steeled herself, reached out, and pinched his cheek, pulling it slightly.

"..."

Bai Ye opened his eyes, looked at the face so close to his own, and felt the slight pain on his cheek. He said, sounding somewhat speechless:

"Attempted murder?"

Hasebe said, acting a bit petulant: "Didn't we agree to chat? You fell asleep after only a few words. I knew you thought talking to me was boring."

"Even if it were interesting, I'd still need to sleep. I'm exhausted from walking around with you all this time... So, what do you want to talk about? I'm awake now."

He lowered his head slightly, saw that Ichinose and the other girls had already left, and then spoke.

"You recommended Sakura from our class to me last time, right? I think I saw her while we were shopping just now."

Hearing this, Bai Ye suddenly remembered something.

"Did you notice which shop she went into?"

"I think it was a digital store..."

"Then... let's go take a look."

"Now? She must have left a long time ago," Hasebe said, confused.

"I'm not going to see her; I'm going to check on that clerk."

"Hm?"

"Anyway, let's go. I'll explain it to you later."

Bai Ye took her back to the shopping mall.

After finding the digital store, the two of them walked in side by side.

The clerk quickly approached them. He was wearing a hat and a pair of black-rimmed glasses, which made it impossible to see the look in his eyes.

This sent his level of suspiciousness skyrocketing.

Looking at those glasses, Bai Ye guessed that if this person really was the one secretly harassing Sakura, then the purpose of the glasses was to peek at girls without anyone knowing.

Sure enough, after they entered, even though the clerk was talking to him, Bai Ye could feel the man's attention was entirely focused on Hasebe.

The occasional lecherous, vile glint in his eyes made Bai Ye frown slightly.

He signaled for Hasebe to wait outside, and then, to the clerk's visible disappointment, he pointed at a camera in the corner and said:

"I want to take a look at that one."

"Sorry, customer, that one is not for sale." The clerk lowered his head slightly, but Bai Ye could sense a hint of panic in his voice.

"If it's not for sale, why is it on display?"

"...There's a problem with the merchandise over there, so you should look at these instead, sir."

"No, I like that one. Move aside."

He walked around the clerk toward the corner, but the man turned and blocked his path again, his tone turning vaguely aggressive:

"If you keep this up, I'll have to kick you out."

He chuckled lightly: "I wonder who's actually going to get kicked out, oh great voyeur?"

Realizing he had been exposed, the clerk lunged directly toward the camera, seemingly intent on destroying the evidence.

But in the next second, Bai Ye, who had been prepared, grabbed him by the clothes and delivered a knee strike to his stomach.

The knee is one of the most lethal parts of the human body—some professional leagues even ban the move—and the stomach is one of the most vulnerable areas.

With his current strength, the clerk's frail body couldn't withstand the blow at all. He collapsed to the floor, clutching his stomach and writhing in pain, foam bubbling from his mouth.

The commotion attracted Hasebe from outside. When she walked in, she saw the terrified clerk and Bai Ye standing in the distance fiddling with a camera, his expression so natural it was as if the whole incident had nothing to do with him.

But Hasebe knew there were only two people in the shop, and no one else had entered while she was guarding the door. Since Bai Ye was the only one who could have acted, she instinctively took a step back, covering her mouth and looking at him in disbelief:

"Little Bai Ye... what, what did you do?"

"Why are you looking at me like that? I just did a good deed. This guy is a pervert."

As he spoke, Bai Ye showed her the footage recorded on the camera.

It clearly contained images of customers, with the shots focused almost entirely below the neck. Anyone could guess the voyeur's intentions.

Hasebe finally let out a sigh of relief: "I thought you were going to rob the place. You scared me to death."

He said, half-jokingly: "If I were going to rob the place, what would you do?"

Hasebe glanced at him and lowered her head: "Of course... I'd be right there with you."

"Aren't you going to report me? There might even be a reward."

"Why would I report you? I don't care about some measly reward, and besides, I don't want to lose you... as a friend."

"Jiajia, you're so kind." Bai Ye couldn't help but reach out and tuck the hair falling by her ear behind it.

This ambiguous gesture startled Hasebe, who swatted his hand away, her beautiful face slightly flushed as she said, "Since you know I'm so good to you, you should show some respect. Come on, call me big sister."

"..."

He gave a light cough and, ignoring Hasebe's somewhat dissatisfied expression, changed the subject: "Let's contact Chabashira-sensei first, then the Student Council President. I want to make a deal with him."

"A deal?"

"Yeah, we're rich." Bai Ye held up the camera in his hand.

The negotiation went smoothly. To suppress the incident, the Student Council gave him one million as a reward to ensure they kept their mouths shut.

If this matter were to be exposed, it would be disastrous for the shops managed by the school.

The school gives every student 100,000 points at the start of the term. This amount is a huge expenditure for the school, and since students cannot leave campus, their consumption is basically restricted to the school grounds.

The school is able to recoup a portion of its losses through the profits from these shops.

If the students were to find out about this, they would be afraid to buy things at school, which would lead to an increase in online shopping.

This would make it even harder for the already struggling stores to survive.

Therefore, this one-million-point hush money was a bargain.

The night was deep. Bai Ye opened his mobile account and gestured to Hasebe:

"Jiajia, I'm transferring 500,000 to you."

"Eh... I can't take this money. I didn't do anything to earn it, how could I accept your money?"

Hasebe hurriedly waved her hands.

"You acted as a lookout for me, didn't you? Besides, you played a part in this success. If it weren't for you, it wouldn't have been so easy for me to confirm he was a pervert."

"What do you mean by that, Xiao Yeye!" Hasebe became unhappy the moment she heard that, twisting her voluptuous body against him. "Are you trying to say my body is lewd?"

"This..."

He could have felt that softness to his heart's content just by stepping forward, yet he subconsciously took a step back.

To be honest, interacting with Hasebe normally was truly no simple task.

He had to endure the mental torment caused by that alluring body at every moment. If it weren't for his strong willpower and the fact that he valued emotions far more than desire, he really didn't know if he could hold himself back from making a move.

Perhaps only someone with a desireless personality like Ayanokouji could ignore such charm.

Of course, this also stemmed from the fact that he had a certain fondness for Hasebe, which was why he felt any ripples at all. If the other person were a stranger, or even a prostitute on the street, he wouldn't feel a thing, no matter how good their figure was.

He would only find it disgusting.