Chapter 127

Hearing this, Yamamura Miki breathed a sigh of relief, but after regaining her senses, she immediately realized what an absurd question she had asked.

The girl squatted on the ground, blushing. First, she picked up the ribbon, then buried her head in her knees, like an ostrich, too ashamed to be seen.

I should have stayed in the shadows instead of hoping to see the light.

As long as there are no expectations, there will be no disappointment, and one can protect oneself from external harm.

"Ah~" Just as the girl was feeling sorry for herself, she suddenly felt a sense of weightlessness. When she opened her eyes, she found that she had been lifted up from the ground by Aragaki- san, who had one arm around her shoulder and the other under her knees.

"What... what... what!!!"

Yamamura Miki was so excited that she was incoherent, but instinctively wrapped her arms around the boy's neck, afraid that she would fall.

But wouldn't that turn it into a complete princess carry? Why would I have such a dream!

"Look at how disappointed you are, little autistic one. How about I just take you back to my room and eat you up?"

"Ugh~" The girl blushed as she was teased so blatantly, burying her face in the man's chest and refusing to speak.

If I'm just eaten like this, won't I be discarded soon?

But even if it's abandoned, it's just returning to its previous unnoticed daily life; the future can't possibly get any worse.

She had neither wealth nor beauty; the only thing that could deceive Aragaki -kun was her feelings.

Just don't have expectations, just don't ask for more.

Waaah~ I can't fool myself, I just can't do something like this!

If she were deceived emotionally and then abandoned, she would truly cry in despair.

"I told you I wouldn't abandon you. Don't just sit here feeling down. My reputation outside isn't that bad, is it?"

"But someone like me..."

"There aren't that many 'buts'. You may not believe in yourself, but you should at least believe in me."

"I... I understand."

Under Aragaki Shun's serious gaze, Yamamura Miki shrank back somewhat timidly.

But as long as she wasn't abandoned, she was content.

As for anything more, she felt it was unnecessary to consider.

The girl wanted to interact with people, but she was also afraid of being watched by too many people.

With Aragaki -kun being so popular, if I became his official girlfriend, wouldn't I be the center of attention for most of the school?

The thought of that is terrifying.

As long as Aragaki doesn't kick her out and is still willing to exchange emails with her before bed as usual, that's fine.

Reflecting on how easily Miki was coaxed, Aragaki Shun hugged her and tried to leave the area at the stern of the ship.

But after taking only a few steps, seeing Kushida Kikyo still unconscious on the deck, the Leader of Class A hesitated for a moment.

He doesn't dislike dealing with bad women, except for unreasonable ones whose actions lack logic.

After a moment of silence, Aragaki Shun turned his gaze to the invisible panel that only he could see.

Since the Uninhabited Island Exam ended, the displayed Source Power has increased again.

[Achievement Completed: Victory Upon Victory! Another victory in the class competition, Source Power +3.]

[Achievement Completed: Set a record by achieving an unprecedented score in Special Exam, Source Power +4.]

[Completed Achievement: The Beginning of Change - Due to your performance, the school has decided to revise the future competition mode. Source Power +6]

[Source Power: 10→23 (Current efficiency: 5 per month)]

The available Source Power has accumulated to 13, which is not considered scarce under normal circumstances, but it is not enough for the time being to condense the new talent [Sun Kin].

Strength, physique, agility, and several skills all have room for improvement.

But upon closer reflection, this approach doesn't seem to help resolve Kushida Kikyo's problem.

Or we could just expel them from school.

Or perhaps we could develop a hypnotic technique to help her readjust her mind?

197. Escape Game; Kushida got completely messed up.

"Forget it, let her lie here. It wouldn't be good if someone picked her up and took her away."

Putting aside all those messy thoughts, Aragaki Shun put Yamamura Miki down from his arms, squatted down, and flicked Kushida's eyebrows twice with his fingers.

Although she is essentially a strange woman whose behavior and logic are hard to understand, it must be admitted that Kushida looks quite cute when she collapses and falls asleep on the ground.

Seeing this, Yamamura Miki, who had just escaped the boy's princess carry, pursed her lips, feeling a little lost.

Compared to Kushida, a beautiful girl who was quite popular even among the upperclassmen, I was indeed too ordinary.

However, just over ten minutes earlier, she had also witnessed Kushida Kikyo arguing and acting hysterically towards Aragaki.

This seemingly cheerful, optimistic, and kind little angel appears to be hiding another side of herself that no one knows about.

As she pondered this, the girl quietly watched Aragaki Shun's movements.

Although I don't know what he's doing, Aragaki -kun's actions must have some deeper meaning.

Several seconds later, the brown-haired girl, whose forehead was stinging, struggled to sit up.

Aragaki Shun immediately put his index finger to his lips, signaling Yamamura Miki to be quiet.

The Little Transparent nobody understood, but that didn't stop her from obediently taking a step back.

Then, this one step made all the difference. Kushida had just woken up, instinctively looked around, but she was completely unaware of the girl with the side ponytail standing not far from her.

Yamamura Miki blended perfectly into the night, a seemingly impossible situation that was actually an everyday occurrence for the girl.

To her surprise, Aragaki Shun was also casually leaning against the wall, but the classmate from Class D was completely unaware.

Yamamura's eyes widened. At that moment, she felt her heart suddenly race, and her gaze was completely fixed on that person.

The man who would exchange emails with her at night, who would steal her first kiss without warning, and who did so many bad things to her.

So you are one too...

Before Yamamura Miki could sort out her chaotic thoughts, Kushida, who had woken up and was sitting on the deck, looked around at her surroundings. Her dazed mind was finally cleared by the cold wind.

She recalled her conflict with Aragaki Shun before she lost consciousness, and now there wasn't a soul in sight.

In other words, that bastard knocked me unconscious, then just left me here without doing anything and ran off by himself?

"I ￥#￥&*@#￥"

Countless negative emotions surged into her heart, and the girl's face gradually became ferocious, about to utter a barrage of foul language.

Then, the next moment, a heavy pressure came from her shoulder. Kushida Kikyo was about to scream, the world in front of her began to spin again, and then everything returned to darkness.

Yamamura Miki: "..."

Watching Kushida Shun knock Aragaki Shun for the second time, the Little Transparent, wanting to say something but holding back.

Although it's obvious the other person was going to swear, is it really appropriate to bully a girl like this?

"Do I feel like I was too lenient with Kushida in the past?"

After knocking the brown-haired girl unconscious again, Aragaki Shun remained calm and composed, even having the leisure to quietly explain to Yamamura Miki.

"Otherwise, why would she dare to give me such a hard time and call me a traitor as if it were her right!"

Perhaps for Kushida Kikyo, who knew her true colors and still invited her to Aragaki Shun on that day, was special.

Conversely, Kushida probably also thought that he had a special relationship with Aragaki Shun.

But the key point is, didn't you decisively refuse that time?

At the time, Aragaki Shun wasn't dating Shiranami Chihiro yet, and he happened to be looking for someone to satisfy his physical needs. Seeing that the atmosphere was right, he casually made a suggestion to Kushida.

If you had agreed back then, that would have been fine, but the reality is that there was no private connection between the two of us, and in some ways we couldn't even be considered friends.

When he and Shiro-nami confirmed their relationship, and Kushida angrily came to his door, he bluntly told her, "You're useless now, don't bother me all the time."

But now it seems the other party is still as self-righteous as ever.

Is this insane? Aside from that chance encounter, is there anything more intimate between us?

You really think you're the only option? So what if I'm close to Wang Meiyu and Horikita Suzune? What right do you have to question me like this?!

"Some fools won't listen to you no matter how nicely you talk to them; they only behave after you've been taught a lesson."

Aragaki Shun's tone was indifferent.

Faced with this kind of person who can't see the situation clearly and keeps pushing her luck, he doesn't mind making a deep impression on her.

"Alright, let her calm down first, let's keep waiting."

Yamamura Miki blinked; she didn't seem to care about Aragaki Shun's behavior.

After all, she was just Little Transparent could be ordered to stalk Sakayanagi.

Because of their unique upbringing, the girls' moral bottom line is relatively flexible.

Why did Aragaki -san pull me over and hug me again?

"It seems that Aragaki- san didn't notice Kushida just now, oh~"

Despite the shame of being groped by bad guys, Yamamura Miki asked this very important question, and then, without realizing it, she was bullied and made cute noises.

Leaning weakly against the wall, the girl covered her flushed face with her palms. Her face was so small, why did Aragaki -san still...?

"I do have similar skills; I can proactively adjust my presence to avoid being noticed by others."

Aragaki Shun made no attempt to hide anything, frankly admitting, "But I only learned it recently. I found Miki's trait very useful, so I tried to create a similar ability for myself."

To be fair, in Aragaki Shun's eyes, this world can only be described as an ordinary world without any extraordinary features, with various physical parameters not much different from his previous life.

However, in subtle ways, the rules of the two worlds should still be somewhat different.

The reason for this judgment is that some people in this world do possess traits that sound normal but are actually anything but normal.

The most obvious example is Yamamura Miki in his arms. How can someone be so naturally lacking in presence, so easily overlooked and forgotten even when standing in front of others?

Another one is Ayanokoji Kiyotaka. If the information is correct, this guy was able to beat up a room full of adults before he was even ten years old.

Furthermore, Ichinose Honami's unruly charm was so overwhelming that if Aragaki Shun hadn't intervened repeatedly, she might have led the entire class to become angels at the beginning of the school year.

Of course, these abilities are not quite extraordinary, but upon closer examination, they are certainly enough to be considered cheating.

Yamamura Miki, of course, was unaware of Aragaki Shun's inner monologue, because she had been stunned into a daze upon hearing the matter-of-fact response from behind her.

What does it mean to say you just recently learned something, saw that this trait was useful, and then tried to acquire a similar ability for yourself?

Putting aside whether something that makes one feel insignificant is actually useful.

The question is, is this kind of ability something you can learn just by wanting to?

She had never seen anything like it in anyone else growing up.

"Compared to other skills, it is indeed very difficult. Even though one can apply the knowledge to other skills, it took me a lot of effort to master it completely."

Oh, it's Aragaki- kun. Then there's no problem.

After all, he was the undisputed champion who swept through all the competitive clubs in his first month of school, so it seems no problem for him to achieve this level.

And that's not important; what she really wants to ask is—

"Can I, like Aragaki -kun, proactively adjust my own presence?"

Despite sharing similar traits with me, Aragaki is clearly different and doesn't suffer from being ignored by everyone.

If I could do that, then... I can't really think of what I should do after the change?

"I can teach Miki how to use this ability, but we'll see if it works."

After all, the two are clearly in different situations. Yamamura Miki only has one talent that makes her presence inconspicuous, while Aragaki Shun has too many abilities, making him easy to attract attention no matter when or where he is.

"Besides, Miki isn't the type of person who likes crowds. You're just afraid of being alone and want to interact with people."

"But I won't be influenced by your qualities, nor will I ignore you. If you feel lonely, just stay by my side."

"Ugh~" Hearing such a sweet promise, Yamamura Miki trembled slightly. Even though she felt she didn't deserve it, the girl couldn't help but fantasize in her heart.