The True Cult: Welcome to Paradise

"Hey, Ayanokoji-kun, drinking something cold will make you feel a lot better."

"Uh... thanks."

Kiyotaka accepted the soda under the stares of Horikita and Airi, and even Kikyo shot him a couple of subtle glances.

"Ichinose-san, want to go play on the water slide? Airi, you too, right?"

The restless Kikyo made the suggestion, Ichinose agreed instantly, and Airi was dragged along by them.

As for the remaining Kiyotaka, Ike, and Horikita, Ike shot Kiyotaka a meaningful look. Kiyotaka sighed and then said, "Horikita, want to come with me to grab some food? I'm a bit hungry."

Horikita looked at Kiyotaka with suspicion, since that wasn't like him, but she agreed nonetheless.

After Kiyotaka and Horikita left, Ike gave Kiyotaka a thumbs-up and then hurried off.

"Forget the food. Come with me on the raft ride. I have something to say up there."

When they were alone, Horikita said directly.

Kiyotaka glanced at her, then nodded.

They rented a small boat and headed to the starting point of the raft ride.

"Alright, you two are next. Since the boat is small and the current is fast, you'll need to sit one in front of the other. The person in back has to hold the one in front. Shouldn't be a problem for a couple, right?"

The staff member in charge of the raft ride said with a grin.

Horikita was silent. She walked over and sat in front. Kiyotaka watched her move, then sat down behind her.

The moment he wrapped his arms around Horikita, he felt her stiff body instantly go limp, as if she was leaning her entire weight against him.

"Hold on tight. Have fun, you two."

With that, the staff member pushed them off.

"So this was your plan? If you wanted me to hold you, you could've just said so."

Kiyotaka stared at Horikita's pale, smooth thighs in front of him.

Without turning her head, Horikita let out a light snort.

"What plan? Don't forget, I'm still mad at you!"

Just then, they entered a pitch-black tunnel where they couldn't see their own hands.

Seeing this, Kiyotaka's mischievous hand slipped through the thin fabric and reached the plush softness.

"Hnng~!" Caught off guard by Kiyotaka's sneak attack, Horikita shuddered instantly, a soft moan escaping her lips.

"Shh, gotta stay quiet."

Kiyotaka whispered softly, then tilted Horikita's head to the side and kissed her at an angle.

This time, Kiyotaka was very forceful, ravaging Horikita's mouth, draining her saliva. As if that wasn't enough, he began to wet the area behind her ear, slowly kissing every part of her neck.

"Ah~" The intense stimulation made Horikita, already drenched from the water, feel even wetter. Though he couldn't see her expression now, he could feel the scorching heat radiating from her cheeks. Her two long, straight legs rubbed against each other restlessly.

Horikita's soft flesh was being tormented by Kiyotaka, her neck gently nibbled and sucked. With so many sensitive spots, Horikita felt like she was about to reach heaven.

Fortunately, the tunnel was short. Kiyotaka saw light ahead, and to avoid being discovered, he had to let go of Horikita.

When they emerged from the tunnel, Horikita went limp against Kiyotaka, her watery eyes glaring at him with a peach-like haze, her face flushed crimson, and faint bite marks on her neck.

"Not mad anymore, okay?"

Kiyotaka blew gently into Horikita's ear, rare for him to coax her.

Feeling the hot breath at her ear, Horikita trembled again. Hearing Kiyotaka's gentle, coaxing tone, she bit her lower lip.

"Mm... okay..."

Chapter 20: Dear, What Are You Doing Here?

It took a while for Horikita's flushed face to fade. Luckily, everyone there was focused on having fun and didn't notice Horikita's state, or it would've been mortifying for someone with her personality.

Horikita turned her head and shot Kiyotaka a glare. "You're getting more and more wicked. Spit it out, what do you want from me?"

Kiyotaka sighed. "The Sudo trio are up to their tricks again. They installed cameras in the girls' changing room to take secret shots. I can't expose myself, so I'll have to rely on you to retrieve the cameras later."

Horikita was stunned at this, then rubbed her head in frustration.

"Those guys just can't settle down. Do you know where they're installed?"

"Roughly. I'll tell you later. Handle it cleanly. If they get caught, Class D is finished. Don't even think about any chance of promotion."

"Mm, I understand."

After getting ashore, Horikita followed Kiyotaka's instructions and headed to the changing room to remove the cameras, leaving Kiyotaka alone to wander aimlessly.

"Huh? Ayanokoji-kun, why are you all by yourself?"

As Kiyotaka walked, someone called out to him. He turned around and saw that it was Ichinose who had stopped him.

"Ah... I got bored just sitting around, so I went for a stroll. Weren't you off playing with them?" Kiyotaka replied flatly.

Ichinose smiled at that.

"I got tired of playing and wanted a break. They're still at it. If you don't mind, want to walk together?"

"Uh, I'll pass, I think? It wouldn't look good if someone saw us." Toward Ichinose, Kiyotaka instinctively wanted to refuse, because deep down he felt this woman wasn't simple—better to keep his distance.

"Oh, I don't mind. What are you afraid of?"

But to his surprise, Ichinose directly hooked her arm around Kiyotaka's, pressing her soft flesh against his hand, and pulled him away.

"Ah... what's going on here? What a hassle." Kiyotaka sighed helplessly in his thoughts.

He had no idea what Ichinose's real aim was. She just aimlessly wandered through the Water World, though her eyes never left Kiyotaka the whole time.

"Ichinose, do I have something on my face? Why are you staring at me?"

Seeing Kiyotaka finally speak, Ichinose perked up enthusiastically.

"Oh, Ayanokoji-kun, you finally talked! I just think you're really mysterious. I wanted to see what makes you so different."

"And did you find anything?"

Kiyotaka's golden eyes swept over Ichinose as he asked calmly.

Ichinose put on a thoughtful expression, paused for a moment, then said, "I can't tell. That's exactly why I'm curious about you."

"Then, let me ask—do you act like this with everyone you're curious about?"

Kiyotaka glanced at the soft flesh pressed against him.

"Ah!" Ichinose noticed where his gaze was and realized just how intimate her posture was.

"I see now, Ayanokoji-kun, you've got plenty of mischief in you."

Ichinose wrinkled her nose cutely.

Before they knew it, they had walked back to the meeting point. Almost everyone was there except Horikita. Seeing so many people, Ichinose couldn't say much more. She just leaned close to Kiyotaka's ear and whispered, "I'll let you off this time. Next time, I'll definitely uncover your secret. You'd better watch out."

Kiyotaka only gave her a faint glance and said nothing.

"Ayanokoji-kun, this is your shaved ice. It'll melt if you don't eat it soon."

Sakura, seeing Kiyotaka appear, shyly walked over and handed him a cup of shaved ice she had been holding steady.

Kiyotaka glanced at her reddened little hand, subtly brushed it, then took the cup.

"Thanks."

Sakura naturally noticed his small gesture and smiled sweetly.

"You're welcome."

After a while, Horikita finally showed up. She gave a slight nod in Kiyotaka's direction, then said, "Sorry, something came up and delayed me. What are we doing now?"

Sudo checked the time and rubbed his stomach.

"It's almost noon. We've been playing all morning. How about we grab something to eat, then keep going in the afternoon?"

"Agreed!"

The proposal got everyone's approval. Having gathered early and played until now, they were all a bit hungry.

Not long after they finished eating, several girls were startled to see Kiyotaka being dragged off by Sudo and his two buddies.

The girls, seeing this, set aside their own little plans and paired off to leave in twos and threes.

Once they were far enough away, the trio enthusiastically locked Kiyotaka in a headlock.

"Heh heh, nice one, Kiyotaka. We heard from Ike—that was a solid cover! Now everything's set. All we have to do is wait until closing time to retrieve the items."

At that, Sudo and the other two snickered lecherously, while Kiyotaka wore a look of utter resignation, staring off into the distance.

"Alright, let's finish one round this afternoon! Charge!"

With that, they dragged Kiyotaka toward the rides.

Seeing how excited the three were, Kiyotaka didn't want to spoil their fun. He played with them for a long time before finally finding an excuse to slip away.

Reaching the rest area, Kiyotaka finally sat down and let out a sigh.

"Sigh. Day after day, what a pain. Back in my old school life, I never had this much trouble..."

"Excuse me, could you move aside? My boyfriend is waiting for me not far away."

"Oh, you look like a first-year, right? I've never seen you around."

"Yeah, why are you all alone and bored? Want us to keep you company?"

A girl's voice finished speaking, followed by the teasing tones of several boys.

A clamor of noise reached Kiyotaka's ears, but being someone who didn't care for trouble, he had no desire to pay it any mind. His head remained lowered, not even lifting it once.

But just because he wasn't looking at others didn't mean others weren't looking at him.

The girl trapped in the middle of the crowd had been anxiously scanning her surroundings when she suddenly spotted Kiyotaka's slightly lean figure. Overjoyed, she used all her strength to break out of the encirclement, ran over to him, and hugged him tightly.

"Darling, what are you doing here? I've been looking all over for you."

Kiyotaka stared in shock at Ichinose, who was pressed flush against him. Her full curves wrapped tightly around his arm, and even a slight movement of his hand could brush against her flat stomach. Then he looked up and saw several guys approaching him with unfriendly eyes.

So the one being harassed was Ichinose. Kiyotaka immediately felt a headache coming on.

"Hey, beauty, picking some random guy as your boyfriend isn't a great move, is it? Why not pick me instead? Why go for such an unremarkable little sprout? Looks like a stiff breeze would knock him over. He's not good enough for you."

"Yeah, no kidding, hahaha."

Kiyotaka sighed inwardly. Trash like this existed everywhere in society. But he didn't want to meddle, especially since he and Ichinose weren't really that close.

Chapter 21: Collecting Some Interest

After some thought, Kiyotaka began to shift his body outward, trying to distance himself from Ichinose. Ichinose naturally felt his movement. Her beautiful eyes went wide, filled with disbelief and a pleading look.

But Kiyotaka didn't look at her. He was solely focused on escaping.

In desperation, Ichinose not only hugged him tighter but also pressed her long, slender legs firmly over his arm and the edge of his coat.

If she hadn't done that, it might have been fine. But the moment she did, Kiyotaka felt through the thin fabric something indescribable.

Because Kiyotaka was struggling to pull his hand free, the motion sent a violent shiver through Ichinose's entire body. She barely suppressed a startled cry, quickly covering her mouth with one hand.

Her almond-shaped eyes glared fiercely at Kiyotaka, filled with shyness and entreaty, as if to say, You've already taken advantage, so you have to take responsibility.

Seeing this, Kiyotaka thought, Why refuse a gift that's delivered to your door? On the surface, he lifted his head and stared straight at the guys harassing Ichinose, but behind the scenes, his fingers moved—pinching, squeezing, kneading.

Ichinose was in agony. In such a public place, she couldn't show any reaction. The tighter she clamped down, the hotter her body felt. Her delicate strength was no match for Kiyotaka's large hand. Finally, forced into a corner, she could only lower her head in silent resignation. No one could see that her face was gradually tinged with peach blossom pink, her small, delicate lips parting slightly as she breathed out fragrant air, and her eyes growing more sparkling and alluring by the moment.