Fingerprint Girl, You're Playing with Fire / You Suddenly Make a Move, Then Suddenly Stop-What Exactly Are You Trying to Do?

Heh, this was interesting.

After leaving the pair of slippers, two sizes too small for him, by the door, he put his own comfortable slippers back on.

So what if Ryuen Shoko had stepped on them just now?

He wasn't some lovesick simp. He'd licked her feet because the situation had forced him to, and he hadn't wanted to do it at all.

Um... well, maybe, possibly, probably, more or less, he'd been just a tiny bit willing. Yeah, really just a tiny bit—about the size of the gap between two fingers.

Anyway, after successfully ripping Ryuen Shoko off, he was in an exceptionally good mood. Add a hearty meal to the mix, and it felt twice as good. Even sweeping up the sunflower-seed shells off the floor had him grinning from ear to ear.

Once he'd taken care of everything, he checked his phone for new messages. Finding none, he took Arrow of Time to bed and settled down to read.

It was great that nothing else was happening on the third day. Hooray, hooray.

"Ugh! Mm..."

What Hoya didn't know was that as soon as Ryuen Shoko returned to her room, she started throwing up.

It wasn't because she'd drunk too much. She'd simply drunk too fast.

The food had been far too spicy. She couldn't handle it at all.

"Damn. You really are something, Hoya."

At the sink, Ryuen Shoko splashed water on her face, forcing herself to calm down.

She looked up at her disheveled reflection. How long had it been since she'd ended up looking like this?

"You've got some patience, kid..."

She took off her clothes and tossed them carelessly into the washing machine, then found a bottle of mineral water in the room and gulped it down in one go.

Even now, the lingering spice still hadn't faded from her mouth. Her cheeks were flushed like a fiery sunset, but it wasn't from embarrassment. She'd simply eaten something too spicy.

Her whole face was red. She twisted her body, and it cracked and popped.

"No good. I need to calm down."

Ryuen Shoko took some clean clothes from the wardrobe and went straight into the bathroom for a cold shower.

Standing quietly under the showerhead, feeling the cold water run over her body, Ryuen Shoko couldn't help laughing.

"Hoya, you're quite something. Just you wait. Sooner or later, I'll show you who the real boss of Class C is."

Her expression gradually turned feverishly obsessed. Just imagining herself pinning Hoya beneath her feet and making him admit he was her dog—her completely obedient lackey—filled her with an incredible thrill.

Nothing was more interesting than destruction.

"When the time comes, I'll make you into a proper dog. One who knows nothing but licking."

As she spoke, her hand drifted down below her waist. Before long, soft, lewd sounds began to come from the bathroom.

Sometimes, perhaps, madness was only a step away.

Hoya had no idea Ryuen Shoko had set her sights on him. As far as he was concerned, maybe she'd been after him for a while already.

But what did it matter? Right now, he just wanted to relax.

"You really worked hard today, Kushida. I know Ayanokoji can be a difficult little princess to deal with, but with you and Ichinose there, I'm at ease."

He looked at Arrow of Time in his hands while talking with Kushida Kikyo over a voice call.

The phone had plenty of features. It could make voice calls as well as handle QR-code payments. Right now, he was listening to Kushida talk about how she and Ichinose had helped Ayanokoji that day.

Ayanokoji's problems were serious, so she really needed people to help her. Kushida and Ichinose had been very kind in supporting her. Hopefully, that would help her experience the beauty of friendship sooner.

People were easiest to shape when they were children, because they were like blank sheets of paper that could be painted however you liked. Once they grew up and became colored paper, changing them to another color wasn't so easy.

Ayanokoji was the same. Having escaped from the White Room, she was now a blank sheet of paper. If everyone treated her warmly, perhaps she'd become a little gentler.

Unfortunately, according to the original story, her first days hadn't gone very well. She'd been a fringe member of Class D.

She'd wanted to become a student who attracted attention, but her disastrous self-introduction had made her fail completely. She was different from Hachiman Hikigaya. Hachiman didn't want to communicate, and had shut himself away in his own little world like a cocoon. She simply didn't know how to make friends.

She'd longed for friendship, but gradually, when she realized she could live without it, she'd grown cold instead.

Friendship? Was it any use? She was still alive without it, wasn't she?

Only after gradually seeming to understand the truth did she become so indifferent later on. After all, her blank sheet of paper had already been dyed gray. How could it possibly turn into a warm-colored one?

"Let's leave it here for today, then. Bye~"

"Okay. See you."

After ending the call with Kushida, Hoya let out a sigh of relief.

Great. At this rate, he'd be able to keep Ayanokoji under control more and more.

Once she'd experienced friendship, she'd gradually become willing to hold on to her feelings. Besides, she was a girl in this life, and girls were more emotional and easier to influence.

"Brring, brring!"

Just as he was thinking that, his phone suddenly rang. Someone had sent him a text.

He opened it and saw that it was from a girl in his class.

'Kushida Kikyo snuck out.'

Huh? That fast? Looks like the pressure he'd put her under these past two days had really gotten to her.

Hoya hurriedly put on his shoes and rushed out of the room.

'Do you know which way she went?'

'Seems like she went toward the sports field.'

Great. With that information, Hoya hurried toward the sports field. Before long, he spotted Kushida Kikyo walking there.

The boys' and girls' dorms were in the same building, just divided into separate halves. Hoya had leapt out of bed, put on his shoes, and rushed out, so it wasn't hard to catch up with Kushida.

After all, she couldn't act as though she were in a hurry. She didn't want to draw attention.

But she hadn't expected to be spotted so quickly. Someone had promptly tipped Hoya off, so he'd noticed her and followed at a steady distance.

His method of tailing her was simple: he pulled his hat low over his head, wore a coat, and kept about twenty meters behind Kushida Kikyo. He looked down as though he were playing with his phone, but his eyes stayed fixed on her.

Chapter 36: Fingerprint Girl, You're Playing with Fire

Kushida Kikyo's route was clearly deliberate. She seemed to know exactly where she was going.

Gradually, Hoya slowed down. They were getting farther and farther from the busy areas.

Where was this? The back hill.

Of course, it wasn't really a mountain. The school was surrounded by the sea on all sides; it was just a little slope that people called a hill.

Hoya had no idea why the slope was there, but it was certainly deserted. People hardly ever came here.

Unless someone planned to run all the way around the island, they'd never find this place.

Kushida Kikyo's destination was clearly the back hill.

Hoya stayed not far away, secretly watching her.

It was quiet here. With no busy streets nearby, the place felt deserted. The only sound was Kushida Kikyo cursing.

That's right, cursing.

Kushida Kikyo was nothing like Ichinose. Ichinose really was a little angel, while Kushida was only pretending. Everything about her was a facade she'd put on to make people like her.

Compared with Ayanokoji's disguise, hers was far more successful. If no one noticed this side of her, they might never realize what a nasty woman she really was.

She cursed a lot of people: the school, the Three Idiots, Koenji and Horikita, Hirata, all kinds of girls, and Ayanokoji too.

"What's that damn princess doing sneaking out? Does she have any idea how much extra work she's giving me? Just dealing with those damn girls every day is exhausting enough. Now I've got to look after you, a clueless little brat, too. Can't you just stay in your ivory tower?"

After cursing Ayanokoji, she moved on to cursing Hoya. After all, he was the one who'd dumped this problem on her.

"And you, Hoya, you bastard. You've got a problem, so you just dump it on me? You said there were things you couldn't talk about because you're a guy. What the hell can't you talk about? She just doesn't understand how to deal with people. It's not like she doesn't understand the biological differences. What else were you trying to say? All you do is seduce women. You've seduced girls from all four classes. Why didn't that bitch Ryuen just beat you to death?"

He hadn't expected to get a mention, too. Hoya listened even more intently.

Being cursed out didn't bother him much. He had, in fact, handed Kushida the problem because he wanted to foist it onto someone else. But he hadn't expected her to be so good at cursing. She'd been at it for five minutes, and hadn't repeated herself once.

Oh, she'd already been cursing for an hour. In that case, his small share—just one twelfth of the total—was nothing.

Wait, she'd been under this much pressure after only three days?

And wasn't she cold out here?

Even though spring had begun a while ago, it was still chilly at night. Hoya regretted wearing such thin clothes.

His nose itched. He lost focus for a moment and let out a huge sneeze.

"Achoo!"

"Who's there?"

The sneeze rang out sharply in the quiet surroundings. Kushida, who'd been cursing, heard it and shouted angrily.

Well, so much for staying hidden.

Hoya had been wondering when to reveal himself, but he hadn't expected to be found out now. He'd wanted to hear what else Kushida could say about him. That woman had a real gift for talking—she'd been cursing people for ages without repeating herself.

It was a valuable learning opportunity. He'd have to teach Albert how to curse out Totsuka later.

What a shame. He should've held it in.

Hoya emerged from behind a fake rock. "Hey, you've been cursing here for an hour. Aren't you cold? Achoo! This weather sucks. It's hot during the day and cold at night."

"You... How long have you been listening?"

When she saw Hoya, Kushida Kikyo's expression changed dramatically. She knew she'd been cursing him for ages. She hadn't moved on to a new target yet, and now the target himself had shown up.

His words meant he might have been listening from the very beginning. If he hadn't sneezed, she might not have known how long he'd planned to listen.

"How long? Since you started cursing the school, I guess. You know, you're not wrong. This school really is full of idiots."

Hoya took a tissue from his pocket and blew his nose before continuing. "But you surprised me. I could tell your kindness was an act, but I didn't expect your true colors to be like this. Tsk, tsk. I wonder what would happen if all those clueless students found out what you're really like."

"You... You stalker! You pervert! You shameless creep!"

"Yeah, yeah. Honestly, I thought you were pretty right when you were cursing me just now. Have you ever considered becoming a stand-up comedian? Or a film critic? Your reviews are pretty spot-on, and you're good at explaining them. An hour without repeating yourself—where'd you learn that? You've got real talent."

Hoya genuinely thought the woman had a gift for talking. But to Kushida Kikyo, it sounded more like he was mocking her.

"You... You bastard! I'm warning you, don't tell anyone else."

"Uh... Don't tell anyone else?"

Hoya tilted his head slightly. "Are you serious? My mouth's on my face, not yours. You think telling me not to tell anyone will stop me?"

"If you tell anyone, I'll say you harassed me."

"Come on, give me a break. I harassed you? Who'd believe that? You don't have a shred of evidence."

Watching Kushida Kikyo step closer, Hoya gave a scoffing laugh.

Harassment? Who'd believe it? Did she have proof? Without proof, it was all nonsense. He'd sue her for defamation.

"You said there's no proof, right? What about now?"

Suddenly, Kushida Kikyo threw herself onto Hoya. With a beautiful girl in his arms, Hoya couldn't help freezing for a moment.

Honestly, what was it like for a man who'd been single his whole life and never dated to suddenly find a beautiful girl in his arms?

She smelled good—really good. The scent of her body wash and shampoo quietly slipped into his nostrils.

She was soft—really soft. Her smooth skin pressed against him, and the few layers of fabric between them couldn't hide the sensation at all.

"Now I've got proof, right? Your fingerprints are on my clothes."

She grabbed Hoya's hands and pressed them against her chest. The fiercely adorable look in Kushida Kikyo's eyes showed she was serious.

Watching this, Hoya couldn't help sighing. "You think anyone would believe that when the whole school's covered in cameras?"

"Heh. I already checked. There aren't any cameras here."

"Is that so? Then, young lady... do you know you're playing with fire?"

Chapter 37: You Suddenly Make a Move, Then Suddenly Stop—What Exactly Are You Trying to Do?

Thud!

Kushida Kikyo felt a burning pain in her back.

What had just happened? Had she... been shoved down?