No One Understands Ayanokoji Kiyotaka Better Than Me

"Um..."

Bai Ye, who had been gazing at Horikita's retreating figure, heard that familiar voice behind him—crisp, yet very fragile.

His body stiffened.

However, he had no choice but to turn around and look at Wang Meiyu's petite, lonely frame.

What was the plan again?

Right, ignore her!

Wang Meiyu said in a sorrowful tone, "Jingu-kun seems to have a very good relationship with Horikita-san."

Ignore.

"You even confessed to Kushida-san in class."

He had the urge to retort, but he held back and chose to ignore her.

"Did I do something wrong to make you hate me? Could you tell me?"

Ignore, ignore.

Bai Ye did not look at her and walked firmly past her side.

Just as he was about to brush past the girl, the corner of his eye caught her body shuddering, her shoulders trembling, and the sound of faint sobbing reached his ears.

Immediately, the girl bent over, covering her small face with her hands, and the sound of her wailing became increasingly clear.

"..."

He couldn't ignore this anymore; even the most cold-hearted person couldn't stand to see such a scene.

Bai Ye sighed, pulled Wang Meiyu around by one shoulder, and looked her straight in the eyes:

"It was my fault. I shouldn't have broken up with you. How do you want me to compensate you? I can grant you one condition."

Finally receiving his response, Wang Meiyu was happy for a moment. She was about to state her request, but then realized it might be impossible to achieve, so she ignored the tears on her face and lifted her petite, delicate face with a beaming smile:

"Can Bai Ye-gege pat my head again?"

"..."

"Is that... not okay?" Wang Meiyu's head drooped lower and lower.

"No, no, you can have as many as you want."

He placed his hand on Wang Meiyu's head and stroked it gently, just as he always had.

"Hehe—"

The girl giggled, her body leaning against him uncontrollably, her small head resting on his chest, and her arms naturally wrapping around his waist.

Looking at the girl's joyful face, his eyes slowly softened as well.

"Bai Ye-gege, you're so kind~"

Wang Meiyu snuggled into his embrace, rubbing her tears all over his clothes.

Bai Ye let out a wry laugh.

He knew Wang Meiyu didn't do it on purpose, and hearing her address him that way, he sighed softly.

Yes, gege.

She had always called him that before they started dating.

He also liked this little sister.

The mission was the catalyst, but it wasn't his everything.

He hadn't intended to follow the mission's arrangements completely; at first, he had only approached Wang Meiyu with the idea of giving it a try, not truly wanting to dump her.

If she hadn't confessed...

And he also knew that if they dated for too long, he feared he would become increasingly reluctant to let her go, reluctant to break up.

So, he had decisively chosen to break up the very next day.

If you were to ask him how he felt about Wang Meiyu now, it was probably eighty percent sisterly affection and twenty percent romantic feelings.

Now that the mission was complete, he actually didn't know what to do.

After his hand stopped stroking Wang Meiyu's hair, she suddenly said:

"Bai Ye-gege, can you be my older brother?"

"Is this your second request?" he asked with a soft laugh.

"Ah... is it not allowed..." Wang Meiyu looked dejected, becoming listless once again.

"It's fine, I was just joking."

"Hehe—"

Wang Meiyu's mood shifted from cloudy to sunny once more.

This display of "face-changing" amused him, and he couldn't help but vigorously ruffle her hair.

"Ah, it hurts! Brother, you're the worst, you just love bullying me!"

As soon as Wang Meiyu looked up, intending to put on a fierce expression, she met his eyes, which shimmered with a pure luster. Feeling the gentle affection within them, her heart skipped a beat, and she immediately lowered her head in a fright, shrinking into his embrace.

The tips of her small ears were dyed a deep shade of red.

"Why are you shy?" he laughed.

"It's all Brother's fault, you just love seducing girls."

"Ah... what did I do?" Bai Ye was a bit bewildered.

"Nothing..."

"..."

The two reconciled, and Bai Ye quickly led her away from the area. Although he wouldn't think anything of their behavior just now, that didn't mean others wouldn't see it that way.

The first-year dormitory building was a single structure, with girls on the upper floors and boys on the lower ones.

Parting ways with Wang Meiyu on the fourth floor, he found his room and prepared to open it with his key card.

He was in 402, and right next door, the door to 401 happened to open from the inside. The boy who stepped out gave him a slight start.

The other party saw him as well, and the motion of closing the door came to a halt.

The two stared at each other like that, neither saying a word.

Bai Ye had once heard a love guru say that if two people could maintain eye contact for ten seconds, they could understand each other's thoughts through their expressions.

Of course, that only applied to the opposite sex.

Yet, facing the expressionless, pitch-black pupils of Ayanokoji Kiyotaka at this moment, he suddenly didn't know what to say.

If enough time passed without any external interference, he felt that no matter how long they stared at each other, he wouldn't be able to see a thing.

Moreover, he gradually felt a sense of fear.

He knew he couldn't beat Ayanokoji right now; even with double the physical stats, he wasn't certain he could take him on.

However, this sense of fear faded after a few seconds.

Fear stems from the unknown, and since he knew Ayanokoji's bottom line, he didn't need to be afraid even if he couldn't win. In fact, knowing how he operated, Ayanokoji's side was actually the safest place to be.

He was confident that in this world, and perhaps even to Ayanokoji himself, no one understood Ayanokoji Kiyotaka better than he did.

Having figured this out, he stopped paying attention to Ayanokoji and stepped into his room.

He understood that Ayanokoji hadn't been trying to pressure him with his gaze just now; it was highly likely he had just been zoning out, lost in thought.

The afternoon was reserved for the club recruitment fair, but he had no interest in clubs, so he didn't go.

As for the student council president who was about to speak on stage, Horikita Suzune's brother, Horikita Manabu, he saw no need to get to know him either.

His goal was to pursue Horikita Suzune and then dump her. If Horikita Manabu found out about this, he would surely be added to his blacklist, and he would definitely make things difficult for him in the future.

Because he knew that this student council president, who appeared indifferent to his sister on the surface, was actually a sister-complex.

He had asked the system once: the conditions for completing the mission required the woman to agree to date him and for the woman to acknowledge the breakup; there were no other hard requirements.

On that basis, there was a lot of room to maneuver. He didn't need the woman to truly like him; even if she were coerced, it would still count.

Theoretically, it was easy to achieve. With his looks, plus a bit of money, getting a woman to agree to date him for a day—even that would be enough to complete the mission.

However, the system had likely anticipated this loophole. As for the people it chose, taking Horikita Suzune as an example, even if he used money to knock her unconscious, she would never agree.