Heh

Lunch break.

Since he had last asked the girls in class to get along with Horikita, and even brought Wang Meiyu in as a mediator, Horikita had finally been able to exchange a few ordinary words with the girls in class.

Most of the time, she only gave simple replies, but that was enough.

Sometimes she didn't need to lower herself to chat with her classmates. Even if she didn't say much, a simple response to those around her was enough to delight the girls who admired her.

And that attitude only made her seem more dignified.

Now that Horikita was his girlfriend, and he was a Student Council officer, nobody in class dared disrespect him—except those three idiots.

And Koenji, too.

He actually knew Koenji. After all, they both came from wealthy families, and they'd met a few times as children. Koenji had clearly recognized him, too, but hadn't shown any sign of it.

Koenji probably wasn't interested in him, either.

Watching Horikita head toward the cafeteria surrounded by several girls, he looked at her for a moment, then turned away.

"Jingu-kun, would you like to have lunch together?"

Kushida turned around in front of him and gave him a warm smile.

"No, thanks. I have a girlfriend, and I don't want her to get the wrong idea."

"But she's gone off with someone else. Is it still not okay?" Kushida looked at him pitifully, pouting.

Anyone who didn't know better would think he'd bullied her.

"Fine, but not here. Let's go somewhere else." He said it quietly, then got up and left his seat.

Kushida waited a little while, turned down several girls who invited her to join them, and followed him out.

On the rooftop, Bai Ye gazed at the distant scenery, his eyes flickering slightly. He sighed, then looked at Kushida beside him.

"You can drop the act, too. Just say what you want."

"Fine." Kushida let out a breath and looked at him coldly, sounding a little annoyed. "Are you done pretending with that woman yet? When are you going to win her over for good?"

"Don't make it sound like we planned this together. Did I ever say I was pretending?"

"Then what are you doing? Have you really fallen for her?"

Kushida looked unconvinced, then angrily stepped on his foot.

"Why'd you step on me?"

"You tell me. You've been ignoring me all the time. Did you really think I'd be this nice about it?"

As if that hadn't been satisfying enough, Kushida stepped on his foot again.

"..."

"Heh. Now you know what happens when you make me mad. Hurry up and apologize."

"..."

He was silent for a long time, then opened his phone.

"Go on, how much do you want?"

"What?" Kushida widened her eyes and stared at him in confusion.

"Is 300,000 enough?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Kushida saw a transfer notification appear on her phone. It clearly showed 300,000 points.

"You... What do you mean by this?" Kushida pointed at him, flustered and indignant.

"Nothing. Spend it however you like. If that's all, I'll be going."

Bai Ye patted her shoulder and strode away while she stared at him in disbelief.

A flock of crows flew across the sky. Kushida stood there for a moment, then looked at the points remaining on her phone.

Then she exclaimed:

"I—I think I'm rich!"

As he left, Bai Ye also transferred 300,000 points to Horikita and Wang Meiyu.

Things should be fair. He liked the word "fair" more than anything.

After leaving the rooftop, he went to the convenience store, bought a boxed ready-made meal, and ate it leaning against a lamppost.

It was nowhere near as tasty as Horikita's cooking, but it would do.

When he finished, he casually tossed the box toward the sorting bins in the distance.

He checked that it had gone in before turning to leave.

Just then, a pretty girl with pink hair came running toward him.

"Could you wait a moment...?"

When she reached him, the girl was flushed and breathing hard. She bent over with one hand on her knee, while raising the other as if to point at him.

Bai Ye looked at her strange pose, baffled.

Then, without thinking, he reached out and placed his palm beneath her slightly clenched hand.

Woof?

If the girl had made a sound like that, he would've immediately put a leash on her and taken her home.

But she didn't seem to understand what he meant. She shyly pulled her hand back and clasped both hands together.

"I have a favor I'd like Jingu-kun to help me with. Could I ask you to—"

"The favor you mean isn't that someone wants to confess to you, and you want me to pretend to be your boyfriend, is it?"

By then, he'd recognized the girl. She was probably the one he'd seen on the bench last time—in other words, Ichinose Honami.

Ichinose was surprised by what he'd said. "How did you... Could you read my mind?"

"That's right." He nodded calmly.

He figured it was still early, so he might as well tease her a little before turning down her request.

After all, he had a girlfriend. How could he be a womanizer?

Seeing him actually admit it, Ichinose covered her mouth in surprise. "You actually... Mm-mm... Don't... Turn around, quick..."

"What's wrong?" he asked.

He stood perfectly still.

How could he turn around? He wasn't going to.

"Wah... Don't look..."

To his surprise, Ichinose covered her face and crouched down, sobbing.

Bai Ye: "..."

What was going on?

A little while later, Ichinose finally stood up. Her eyes were still red, and she nervously tugged at her hands, fidgeting.

"So... what do you think?"

"What?"

"I mean... what do you think of me...?"

"..."

Bai Ye ran through his entire family tree in his head and still couldn't figure out what she was talking about.

After a long, tense silence, Bai Ye finally said:

"You should go see the nurse."

Yes, to check whether her head was still working properly.

Ichinose only grew more embarrassed. "So soon... I... I'm not ready yet..."

"..."

"..."

"Goodbye."

Bai Ye turned and left, rubbing his forehead.

Maybe he'd mistaken her for someone else. This girl wasn't Ichinose; she was some mental patient who'd wandered in from who knew where.

It was a shame, though. She was so cute.

Back where she stood, Ichinose stared blankly at him as he walked away, her cheeks puffing up little by little.

"I think I got... No, wait!"

It seemed like he hadn't rejected her. He'd said "goodbye" to her.

Goodbye meant "goodbye"—that they would meet again.

So she still had a chance. She even dared to imagine that maybe he'd already agreed.

Still, she knew Bai Ye seemed to have a girlfriend.

How could he...

Mm... He was such a pervert...

With a nervous, hesitant heart and a flushed face, Ichinose headed back.