Two Simps

After one night, the excitement of starting school gradually died down.

When he arrived in the classroom that morning, Kushida Kikyou, who sat in front, seemed to have been waiting for him. She looked at him with a sweet smile.

"Jingu, you're really late. Did it take you that long to use the bathroom?"

"..."

Bai Ye could tell at a glance that she was upset because he hadn't come back yesterday.

But he couldn't let on that he'd left on purpose.

That would put him at odds with the girls in the class. If he acted too aloof, people would dislike him, just as they did Horikita Suzune.

"Kushida, I forgot. I'm very sorry."

Kushida pouted slightly. "You really don't take what I say to heart, do you? Horikita's words must sound sweeter to you."

"..."

He had no idea how Kushida had found out about him and Horikita. Before he could think about it any further, the two guys beside him, who had already taken issue with him, rushed over impatiently.

"Hey, Jingu, what's with the way you're talking to my little Kushida? Don't think you can do whatever you want just because you're handsome!"

Yamauchi Haruki spoke furiously. "Apologize to my little Kushida, baka!"

"Exactly!" Kanji Ike chimed in. "You have to put little Kushida first, got it?"

Bai Ye looked at the two inexplicable simps trying to suck up to her. "Didn't I already apologize?"

"That wasn't sincere enough. Can you do a dogeza?"

"No."

"Then I'll teach you. Hmph!"

Yamauchi rolled up his sleeves, ready to step forward and beat him up.

Bai Ye was a little puzzled. Normally, someone like Yamauchi shouldn't have been so bold.

But when he saw the jealousy in those bloodshot eyes, he understood at once.

Yamauchi must have been holding a grudge. The girls in the class had been paying him so much attention from the very first day, and Kushida had just expressed her displeasure with him in a coquettish way. How could someone as conceited as Yamauchi stand for that?

And he had the courage to pick a fight because he thought Bai Ye wasn't very well-built and looked easy to bully.

If he put Bai Ye down with force here, Kushida would surely pay him more attention.

Ah, what a pain.

He didn't really want to fight Yamauchi. Even if he knocked him down, no one would think he was impressive. They'd only think he was violent.

Fortunately, Kushida cleared up the misunderstanding in time. "Don't get the wrong idea, Yamauchi. I'm not angry. I was just curious about his relationship with Horikita. I saw the two of them eating together in the cafeteria yesterday."

"Oh, is that all?" Yamauchi scratched his head and grinned foolishly. "Little Kushida, you really do like me, don't you? Why else would you explain yourself to me?"

"Don't be ridiculous. You're clearly explaining yourself to me!" Kanji Ike poked him in the chest.

"Get lost!"

"You're the one who should get lost, idiot!"

Kushida watched the two of them awkwardly, smiling helplessly.

Bai Ye suddenly felt a little sorry for Kushida. She was stuck with guys like these, and to preserve her image, she couldn't blow them off. She had to quietly put up with their verbal harassment day after day.

He could imagine Kushida kicking down the two railings on the rooftop tonight—the ones Yamauchi and Kanji Ike would be leaning on.

But on second thought, this was the path Kushida had chosen for herself.

Thinking about it that way, he stopped feeling sorry for her.

Kushida stopped paying attention to the two of them and looked at him seriously.

"So, what exactly is your relationship with Horikita?"

That was what she really wanted to ask, Bai Ye thought.

"More than strangers, less than friends."

They were basically strangers who knew each other fairly well. He hadn't lied.

"So does that mean you're trying to pursue her?"

Got it right!

He wanted to blurt that out, but he knew that if he admitted it outright, the game would be over.

He'd become one of Horikita Suzune's simps.

"Kushida, if you think that any closeness between a boy and a girl means they're in love, then I have nothing to say if that's how you see it."

He didn't like Horikita, of course. At most, he liked her appearance.

It was all just a system mission.

As for whether he might like her in the future, he'd think about that when the time came.

Kushida Kikyou kept her sweet smile and asked, almost pleadingly, "Actually, I'd like to become friends with Horikita too. Could you help me, Jingu?"

He already knew why she was asking, so there was no point wasting time asking her.

"I can't. I'm having trouble getting along with her myself. How could I possibly help you?"

"I see. Well, it can't be helped." Kushida tapped her vivid red lips. "Then please keep an eye out for me, Jingu. If you find a way...and even if you don't, you can talk it over with me. We'll figure something out together."

"Sure."

Kushida watched him for a while, then gave him a slightly pitiful look. "I do trust you, Jingu, but I still want to ask—were you lying to me just now?"

"No. I promise."

His gaze shifted from the desk to Kushida's scrutinizing eyes. He smiled faintly and blinked.

"..."

He immediately saw Kushida freeze for a second, a blush creeping up her slender neck.

As if trying to let out the heat in her body, Kushida parted her lips slightly. Her eyes held an emotion he couldn't quite read as she shot him an annoyed look, then turned and walked away.

He hadn't really meant to seduce Kushida. He just thought she'd very likely end up on his mission list someday, and for the sake of the future, he couldn't afford to offend her too much.

As for why he'd managed to dispel her doubts, it was because what he'd said just now was true. He hadn't deceived her feelings.

It was precisely because he'd been sincere that he could move people.

Sincerity was his greatest weapon.

Their conversation hadn't aroused anyone else's suspicions, either. Everything they'd said was perfectly normal; they'd merely talked about how to get along with Horikita.

Except for the slightly strange look Kushida gave him at the end.

But it wasn't a big deal. Compared to yesterday's misunderstanding about a confession, this was nothing.

After the morning classes ended, he glanced in Horikita's direction.

When he saw her take out her lunchbox and prepare to eat at her desk, he stood up and walked over to her, one step at a time.

At lunchtime, most of the students had left the classroom. Only a few remained, and Horikita was one of them.

To her left, at the window-side desk, Ayanokouji sat upright and took a sandwich from beneath his desk to eat.

He sat in the empty seat to Horikita Suzune's right.

It belonged to a girl. If he remembered correctly, her name was Matsushita Chiaki.

Seeing him sit down just like that and stare straight at the lunchbox in her hands, Horikita furrowed her delicate brows and pushed it farther away. She watched him warily.

"What do you want?"

"Nothing. I'm just a little hungry..."

"Can't you buy your own food?"

"I'd be embarrassed to go alone."

"Then you can go with the guy on my left." Horikita pointed to Ayanokouji, who was eating a sandwich. "He doesn't have any friends either. You can make do with each other."

Bai Ye followed the direction of Horikita's finger. Ayanokouji was absorbed in his sandwich, his face as expressionless as ever.

He suddenly wondered whether Ayanokouji could keep that cool, expressionless look if someone piled a heap of wasabi into his lunch.

That would be a fun thing to try another time.

Bai Ye shook his head. "Maybe next time."