Jingu-kun, You're About to Get Chopped Up

When Bai Ye walked into class that morning, he immediately heard the people around him discussing something that had to do with him.

It was nothing more than the aftermath of Horikita and Hasebe "fighting over" him in the classroom yesterday.

Since Horikita had lost, rumors had spread that he'd dumped her and accepted Hasebe Haruka instead, who had a better figure.

He wanted to see how Horikita was taking it, and found her sitting in her chair without much expression. Whenever she glanced at the people gossiping about her, she looked cold and aloof.

As if to say, What a bunch of foolish humans.

Only now did Bai Ye feel that he and Horikita were in the same boat.

Meanwhile, Hasebe was surrounded by a few girls asking her questions. She sneaked him an apologetic look, and he nonchalantly shook his head.

Just then—

"Jingu, you're incredible! You've already changed girlfriends, and we've only been in school for two weeks!"

Kanji Ike came over excitedly and patted him on the shoulder with an envious look. "And they're Horikita and Hasebe, too! How'd you manage that? Why don't you teach me?"

"I'm afraid you wouldn't be able to learn," he said coolly, looking at the guy he'd put on his expulsion list.

He knew that Kanji Ike would turn over a new leaf later and even become Shinohara's boyfriend.

But that had nothing to do with him. Anyone who schemed against him never met a good end, let alone a fool like this who was almost completely useless to the class.

Those three idiots had already landed on his expulsion list. It was only a matter of when he got the chance to expel them. He couldn't be bothered to build a good relationship with them.

"How could I not learn? Come on, teach me."

Kanji Ike tugged at his clothes and pleaded, even putting on a pitiful expression.

"Look, I still don't have a girlfriend, even after being here this long. Don't you think that's weird?"

"Other people don't have one either. What's weird about that?"

"Anyway, just teach me. I'll show you something good~"

"Something good?" He frowned slightly.

"Yeah, that kind of thing. Heh heh~" Kanji Ike let out a lecherous laugh.

"..."

Being able to talk about that kind of thing openly in the classroom made Ike quite a character.

"Hey, could you stop bothering Jingu-kun?"

Sato, who was sitting behind them, couldn't take it anymore and shoved Kanji Ike away.

Caught off guard, Kanji Ike fell flat on his face.

He brushed himself off and stood up, ready to see who had the nerve to act so arrogantly. When he saw who it was, a third of the anger on his face faded, though he still spoke forcefully.

"What's it to you? What's wrong with guys talking about stuff like that?"

"Jingu-kun isn't like you. Don't assume everyone has nothing but filthy thoughts in their heads."

"Heh heh, you're not him. How do you know what he's thinking? Maybe he's secretly using your photos to xxx!"

"What did you say? Say that again!" Sato raised her pen in a fit of embarrassment and anger, ready to give Kanji Ike a few pricks.

"A wicked woman's trying to kill me! Help!" Kanji Ike shrieked as he fled the classroom.

"Stop right there!"

Sato was about to chase after him when Bai Ye grabbed her arm.

The girl's bold, aggressive demeanor instantly wilted.

"Jingu-kun, you..."

"Forget it. It's not worth it."

"But that guy's so disgusting. It's bad enough that he talks behind your back all the time, but now he has the nerve to ask you to teach him."

"I'll handle it myself. Just leave it to me."

"Okay."

As Bai Ye let go of her hand, Sato felt a trace of disappointment. Then, an idea suddenly came to her.

"Jingu-kun, do you believe in fortune-telling? I've actually been learning a little about it lately. Want me to take a look...?"

"Uh... sure."

He didn't want to agree, given his personality, but she'd just stood up for him, so he couldn't bring himself to turn her down.

"Then come with me."

Sato took him by the wrist and led him out of the classroom.

Meanwhile, over by Hasebe—

The girls gathered around her had also been watching what was happening with Bai Ye. When they saw Sato lead him away, they gave Hasebe a teasing look.

"Your boyfriend's been carried off. Aren't you going after him?"

"I've told you so many times, he's not my boyfriend."

Hasebe frowned slightly.

"Stop denying it. If he isn't, why are you so unhappy?"

"Who's unhappy? I'm just his older sister. What's wrong with caring about my little brother's social life?"

Another girl teased, "His older sister, huh? You two sure have an interesting relationship."

Hasebe's expression turned a little awkward at that.

She knew she had nothing to feel guilty about, but to other people, it probably looked... pretty improper.

"Anyway, we're not dating. And you can stop trying to get information out of me."

Hasebe made it clear she wasn't going after Bai Ye, leaving the girls watching her more and more confused.

"Fine, maybe we got the wrong idea. Tell us when you actually start dating, okay?"

As soon as the girl left, Hasebe couldn't help glancing in the direction Bai Ye had gone.

That was what she'd just said, and it was what she thought, too. But why...

Why did it feel so annoying?

She was also curious about what the two of them were going off to do.

The more she thought about it, the more displeased she felt.

Tsk.

Meanwhile, over by Bai Ye—

Watching Sato fumble about as she held his hand and studied it intently, he couldn't help wanting to laugh.

He managed to hold it in.

He asked calmly, "Can you tell anything?"

"Wait, Jingu-kun. It's a little confusing."

Sato tugged at her hair as she tried to think.

Bai Ye was a little surprised. At first, he'd thought Sato would take out some fortune-telling cards. He hadn't expected her to read his palm.

That worked, too, but...

He wondered if Sato had read the wrong book. This country probably didn't have this kind of fortune-telling, did it?

After a while, Sato finally let go of his hand, her expression grave.

"What's wrong?"

"Jingu-kun... it looks like you're in danger!"

"What kind of danger?"

"You might die... at the hands of a girl, with a cleaver?"

"..."

He actually believed her.

If she'd mentioned some other kind of danger, he could've taken it as a joke. But...

"How long do I have left?"

"I... don't know. Should I take another look?"

"No, thanks."

"Um... could I get your contact information?" Sato fidgeted bashfully, tugging at her short skirt.

"Sure."

After exchanging contact information with Sato, the two returned to the classroom together.

On the way, Sato promised him she'd work hard to study fortune-telling and figure out when he was going to die.

If she really figured it out, would he even be able to live normally after that?

He thought to himself, but outwardly he still agreed with her.

Of course, he didn't completely believe the fortune-telling was accurate. He trusted it about forty percent.