Scheming in the real world? I can also do a little.

Returning to the dormitory with bags in hand, Hoya Chukai realized... where was Ryuen Shoko?

Aside from a half-empty bottle of beer, the living room was empty; she was nowhere to be found.

Chapter 47: What games? Just watch the drama!

That's strange, where did she go?

He checked the living room—nobody. He checked the bedroom—nobody. He checked the kitchen—nobody. He checked... wait a second? Why was the bathroom door closed?

Could it be...

"Knock, knock, knock."

Hoya Chukai tapped lightly on the bathroom door.

"What?"

Very well, so you actually are in there.

"Um... Boss, I've bought the things back."

"You bought them, so you bought them. I'm taking a bath, just leave them on the table."

"Oh, right... wait, what?"

Could you repeat what you just said you were doing?

Taking a bath?

You're taking a bath in a boys' dormitory?

Do you really think that just because you can beat me in a fight, you can do whatever you want?

Fine, do as you please, be as willful as you like.

"What, is there a problem?"

"No, of course not. If you need anything, just order me around. I'll go off to read and study now."

With a slight bow, Hoya Chukai hurried away to stay in his room.

Great, while she's still in the bath, he should take the opportunity to get some reading done.

Nowadays, his only form of entertainment was reading.

After all, the lousy phone provided by the school couldn't play games, and as for things like the NS or PS4... his points couldn't afford them.

He was still in the midst of a point-shortage crisis; he had no time to think about buying those. He would worry about that once he managed to sabotage Class A.

No, the more he thought about sabotaging Class A, the more anxious he felt to get it done immediately. He seemed to understand Ryuen Shoko's mindset a little better now.

Once you have a plan and the ability to execute it at any time, shouldn't you get it over with to avoid any complications?

But for the sake of caution, he still had to choose to endure, ensuring everything was perfectly prepared before discussing how to deal with Class A.

Yes, he couldn't be impatient, so... reading it is.

The more restless the environment, the more one needs to calm their heart and read.

Hoya Chukai didn't just stick to one book; he would read A Brief History of Time for a while, then switch to Arrow of Time. Sometimes, he would even open both books simultaneously to see how each explained the same principle.

He was so engrossed in his reading that he didn't even notice Ryuen Shoko standing in the doorway watching him.

She had finished her bath, but she wasn't wearing clothes; instead, she had wrapped herself loosely in Hoya Chukai's bath towel.

She had never been the type of girl to blush for ages over an indirect kiss with a male; on the contrary, calling her a female hooligan wouldn't be an exaggeration at all.

So what if this towel was Hoya Chukai's? Was it clean? If it was clean, she'd use it, regardless of anything else.

She didn't want to put her dirty clothes back on, and if it weren't for the hassle of a boy going to the girls' dormitory, she would have asked Hoya Chukai to fetch her a new set of clothes.

Forget it, she'd just call someone else.

Watching Hoya Chukai study so intently, Ryuen Shoko found herself uncharacteristically devoid of any desire to tease him.

Sometimes, a man working hard is at his most handsome. And studying was a form of work, too. Ryuen Shoko used her phone to send a message to Ibuki Mio, telling her to come to the door of Hoya Chukai's dormitory.

"That's weird, why is she asking me to find Hoya Chukai?"

Ibuki Mio scratched her head, completely failing to understand why Ryuen Shoko would send her to Hoya Chukai's place.

Walking to Hoya Chukai's door, she knocked.

"Knock, knock, knock."

"You're here? Take this, and this too."

Ibuki Mio had only knocked, and someone had come to open the door, but seeing who it was, she was stunned.

What had she just seen?

Ryuen Shoko, wrapped only in a bath towel, handed her room key to Ibuki Mio. Her hair was still dripping wet, and it looked like she hadn't even dried it yet. "Go to my room and find a set of underwear and a jacket, and bring the hair dryer over too. Understand?"

"Understood, I'm going right now."

Ibuki Mio took off running as fast as she could; she didn't dare linger here for a second longer.

Holy crap, what on earth have these two been doing!

Ibuki Mio's inner gossip-monger was at an all-time high. She hurried into Ryuen Shoko's room, not even noticing that she had effectively entered forbidden territory. She quickly grabbed a hairdryer and some clean clothes, then just as quickly made her escape.

Compared to the clean room of Hoya Chukai, Ryuen's room was a complete mess. Perhaps this was the reason she preferred staying in Hoya Chukai's dormitory?

No one hates cleanliness; they are just habitually lazy. Some girls love to be neat and tidy, but some girls' dorms can be even sloppier than those of the boys.

Hoya Chukai was always self-disciplined. His room couldn't be called spotless, but it was at a normal standard. There were indeed some cluttered trinkets on his desk, but overall, it was quite clean.

Every day he would sweep and mop the floor; these were habits cultivated since childhood. He didn't have mysophobia; he simply liked staying in a cleaner place.

"Knock, knock, knock."

Ibuki Mio knocked on the door again. Ryuen Shoko opened it and looked at the clothes she had brought.

"These clothes... they'll do. Just leave them. Go back."

"Yes."

Ibuki Mio ran off in a hurry. Seeing the look of uncontainable gossip on her face, Ryuen Shoko snorted.

Superficial.

This group of people was just that superficial.

A man and a woman in the same room means they're dating? Ridiculous.

Hoya Chukai was her dog, so his room was hers. What was wrong with her staying on her own turf?

After changing into the new clothes in the bathroom, she dried her hair with the hairdryer. Only then did she sit back down in the living room, drinking and eating snacks while checking messages on her phone.

She wasn't just sitting around doing nothing; she had already sent several students to gather intelligence. You must know yourself and your enemy to be invincible in every battle.

Rely on this dog-headed strategist who thinks with his lower half? Forget it. He hadn't even told her about the few girls he'd met yet; what kind of new information could she expect to get out of his mouth?

Ridiculous.

After Ibuki Mio ran back to her own room, she frantically searched through the dozen or so group chats she had either created or joined, posting about the scene she had just witnessed. These dozen groups were all filled with her classmates.

Well, there's nothing wrong with a girl creating a dozen group chats with her classmates, right?

'Shocking, shocking! Guess what I just saw? Ryuen was in Hoya's dorm, and she was even naked.'

'What the hell?'

'???'

'How do you know?'

This single sentence drew out quite a few people. Ibuki Mio continued to gossip to the others: 'It's true. Just now, she even made me go to her dorm to get her a change of clothes. It looks like she just took a shower in Hoya's dorm.'

'Is it that intense? It couldn't be over already, right? How long has it even been?'

'Over an hour; that's not bad. It seems Hoya's stamina is actually decent.'

Suddenly, Ibuki Mio was plunged into an environment of wild gossip.

Who needs to play games when you can eat melons? The Ryuen x Hoya melon was just too delicious.

Chapter 48: If I Couldn't Beat You, You'd Better Watch Out

"Hey, how long do you plan on staring?"

"Huh?"

Hoya Chukai's reading time was interrupted. He lifted his head in a daze, looking at Ryuen Shoko, who was standing at the door looking at him indifferently.

What happened?

Hoya Chukai, still not fully pulled out of his book, looked a bit stunned, but out of subconscious habit, he knew he had to listen to Ryuen Shoko.

But... where did you get those clothes?

Looking at Ryuen Shoko, who was wearing a crop top and super short shorts, Hoya Chukai could only say... it hit the bullseye.

As a professional-level pervert, he liked it whenever a girl dressed sexily. Clearly, he thought this outfit on Ryuen Shoko was quite good.

The only pity was that she was Ryuen Shoko.

"Do you want to check what time it is?"

Seeing Hoya Chukai still looking confused, Ryuen Shoko snorted twice.

Hearing Ryuen Shoko's words, Hoya Chukai finally realized that a 'DANGER!' sign had appeared in his mind. He picked up his phone to check the time.

Good grief, 8:26 PM.

"Use that clever little brain of yours to think about how long you've actually left me hanging out there."

About four hours... no, if you were really bored, you could have gone out for a walk. What kind of logic is it to stay at my place?

Of course, Hoya Chukai didn't dare say this. He could only smile apologetically: "So, what are your instructions?"

"I'm hungry. Make me something to eat."

"Alright, should I make it or go buy it?"

"Make it properly, and also, no spice."

Clearly, the spiciness from yesterday had left her with a bad experience.

"Alright, alright."

Hoya Chukai wore a fawning smile as he held his phone and began sending messages.

Because of what happened yesterday, he realized he hadn't added any of his classmates as friends; how could that possibly do? These were all powerful tools at his disposal.

After sending a message to Albert asking him to help buy three boxes of rice, five fried chicken drumsticks, and a box of braised duck wings from the cafeteria, he took ingredients out of the refrigerator and prepared to start cooking.

It was late at night, so he couldn't be bothered to cook meat; he planned to make some vegetable dishes instead. As for meat, the braised duck wings and fried chicken drumsticks would suffice. Therefore, making two vegetable dishes would be enough.

For home-cooked meals, simple dishes like Di San Xian and tomato scrambled eggs were perfectly fine.

He washed the eggplant and cut it into strips, peeled the potatoes, chopped the onions, and prepped the tomatoes and eggs, starting to stir-fry as soon as the oil in the pan was hot.

"Knock, knock, knock."

Albert's knocking came from outside the door. Hoya Chukai was busy cooking at the moment, so he had to shout to Ryuen Shoko outside: "Boss, Albert brought the food over. Could you help me open the door?"

"Huh? You want me to go get the food?"

"There are fried chicken drumsticks, too."

"..."

Clearly, between the options of satisfying her hunger and maintaining her pride, Ryuen Shoko chose the former.

She pushed the door open directly and saw Albert standing at the entrance, looking somewhat bewildered.

"Ah, Boss, why are you..."

"Ask fewer questions about things that don't concern you. Go back."

"Yes."

Albert, that big guy, might have lacked intelligence, but he had emotional awareness. Once he received the order, he handed everything over to Ryuen Shoko and left immediately, not staying a minute longer than necessary.

It went without saying; if he stayed here for even a moment longer, the Boss would pin him down and beat him up.

He didn't bother wondering why the Boss was in Hoya Chukai's dormitory. Was that important? It wasn't important at all.