Although he had no idea how Ibuki had managed to piss Ryuen off in just an hour, Hoya silently mourned for her for a few seconds before wondering who he should ask for help next.
Hmm... Ichinose?
She seemed like the most reliable option.
"Then I'll ask someone else, okay?"
'Beep, beep, beep~' "Hello, Chukai-kun. What's up?"
"Ichinose, where are you right now?"
"Me? I'm out on the shopping street with some friends. Is something wrong?"
"Ah, no, it's fine. Go ahead and enjoy yourself. I'll ask someone else. It's nothing serious, don't worry."
Well, it looked like Ichinose really was busy.
Even kind girls had busy lives. Being everyone's mom wasn't easy~
So who should he ask?
Come to My Room, It's Urgent!
In the end, Hoya thought of someone who was sure to have time, might not be at the dorm, and whom Ryuen Shoko wouldn't be so reluctant to see.
Shiina Hiyori.
Once he'd decided what to do, Hoya called Shiina Hiyori.
Beep, beep... Click.
The other party had declined the call.
He wasn't surprised she'd hung up. She was probably at the library right now.
'Is something the matter, Hoya?'
Shiina Hiyori chose to reply to Hoya by text.
Hoya typed back, 'Shiina, I need your help. Come to my room right away. It's urgent.'
There was no way to explain everything over the phone, so he figured he'd ask her to come first and explain in person.
He didn't know that when Shiina Hiyori saw his message about an emergency at the library, she hurriedly packed away her book, grabbed her bag, and ran toward the dorm, her short legs moving as fast as they could.
She even forgot that she wasn't allowed to run around in the library.
"Hmm? Why is it so noisy?"
The old Librarian watched Shiina Hiyori hurry away, his brows furrowing slightly.
"Isn't that girl usually well-behaved? She must have something urgent to take care of... Oh well, I'll talk to her next time."
Normally, he would have stopped anyone making a commotion and given them a scolding. But Shiina Hiyori looked like she had something urgent to deal with, so he let it go.
"Hey, you over there. Keep your voice down."
Another busy day for the Librarian~
"Phew, phew... Hoya, what's the emergency?"
Five minutes later, Shiina Hiyori arrived at Hoya's dorm room, panting. She looked like she'd run there as fast as she possibly could.
Seeing how quickly she'd arrived, Hoya let out a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness you're here, Shiina. Come in. The Boss needs your help."
"The Boss? What happened to Ryuen?"
Shiina Hiyori was the only person in the class who called Ryuen Shoko "Ryuen" instead of "the Boss." Ryuen Shoko's attitude toward her was also rather unusual.
Almost as if she were... looking out for Shiina?
That was why Hoya had naturally asked her to handle the problem. Perhaps it would even help bring the girls closer.
Shiina Hiyori, a kind-hearted girl with a pretty face, wouldn't pry. She would simply tuck the sight of Ryuen Shoko in such a sorry state away in her heart.
"Eh~ How did Ryuen end up like this?"
After Hoya briefly explained what had happened, Shiina knocked on the bathroom door. "Ryuen, may I come in?"
"Fuck, Hoya, why did you bring her here?"
Ryuen Shoko's irritated voice came from behind the door.
"Boss, if you won't let me in, I have to find someone reliable to take care of you, don't I? I can't just leave you sitting in the bathroom. That'd be a problem, wouldn't it?"
As Hoya spoke, he turned to Shiina Hiyori and said helplessly, "Please, Shiina... Oh shit, I forgot about the porridge I was making!"
The pressure cooker in the kitchen was making a steady beeping sound. He knew the porridge was ready, and if he didn't deal with it soon, it might boil over.
Watching Hoya hurry away, Shiina Hiyori's expression turned a little curious.
How should she put it? So this was what Hoya was usually like. He seemed pretty considerate.
All right, no more thinking about random things. After saying, "Excuse me," Shiina pushed open the door and went into the bathroom to see what was going on.
"Ah! Ryuen, how did you..."
"Shh."
Seeing Ryuen Shoko lying facedown on the floor, nearly naked and in a terribly undignified position, Shiina hurried to help her up.
"The floor's so cold. You're not in good shape, Ryuen, so don't do this. Come on, I'll take care of you."
Once she was back on the toilet, Ryuen Shoko leaned against the wall and closed her eyes.
It was over. All over.
Ibuki Mio, just you wait. Once I've recovered, I'll make you pay.
She was so angry she could barely breathe.
Not only had she embarrassed herself in front of Hoya, but now she'd made a fool of herself in front of Shiina Hiyori too.
How could she have known she'd step on the underwear she'd dropped on the floor, take a fall, and be unable to get back up?
That was why she'd refused to let Hoya in. That wouldn't just have been embarrassing—he would have seen her completely naked.
She didn't really mind someone seeing her skin, but she cared about her private parts.
What if that lecher suddenly got carried away and took advantage of her? Sure, she could get even with him afterward, but she'd still have lost out.
"By the way, Ryuen, do you want to take a bath? I don't think you should stay like this."
Well, after lying on the floor for so long, she was bound to be pretty dirty. A bath would be best.
"No."
But Ryuen Shoko stubbornly said no.
"Are you sure? If you put your clothes on like that, they'll get dirty."
"I said no."
"Knock, knock, knock."
Someone knocked on the bathroom door again. Hoya called from outside, "Shiina, don't worry about what the Boss says. Just do what you think is best. I'll take responsibility if anything happens."
You'll take responsibility? What the hell can you take responsibility for?
Ryuen Shoko was cursing that bastard in her head.
"I left the porridge on the table, by the way. You haven't eaten either, right? I'm going downstairs to buy some food, and I'll bring you something too. What would you like?"
"Anything's fine."
"Then I'll just buy whatever. Also, I left a spare key on the table by the door. Take it if you need it."
With that, Hoya left the room and left Shiina to handle Ryuen Shoko.
"Well then, Ryuen, let's give you a nice bath~"
"I said I'm not taking a bath."
Without any strength left, Ryuen's fighting ability was about on par with Shiina's. But for some reason, despite saying she wouldn't take a bath, she didn't seem to resist at all.
Hmm... Maybe she really had no strength left? Or perhaps she was simply embarrassed to have someone help her bathe?
Since she was going to help Ryuen bathe, Shiina figured she might as well take a bath too. Otherwise, she'd end up soaked from washing Ryuen Shoko, so taking a bath together seemed like the best option.
"Ryuen, wait here, okay~"
Shiina took the key and went back to her room to get a change of clothes, leaving Ryuen Shoko sitting on the toilet.
"Fuck, this sucks."
Staring at the ceiling, Ryuen Shoko couldn't help cursing.
"Ah! I'm exhausted. I can barely walk."
Hoya might have overestimated himself a little.
After buying the food, he realized he didn't have a free hand to carry the bedding, so he could only sling the quilt over his shoulder and tuck it under one arm.
But he still had the sheets and the duvet cover, which left him in a complete muddle.
"Hoya? Do you need a hand?"
It was great that someone was willing to lend him a hand just then.
Why are you in this state, Lumei?
"But why are you here?"
"Me? I just happened to be passing by. I came to buy something to eat. There are lots of things here I haven't tried before."
The person Hoya had run into was none other than Ayanokoji Kiyohime.
Maybe it was because she'd changed genders? She'd taken to eating all sorts of little snacks, like plenty of other girls.
She always bought a little at a time to try them.
"You look even more like some family's young lady now. You've never even tried snacks ordinary people eat?"
Looking at the candy in her hand, Hoya knew it was the kind of snack elementary school students loved. The little stores sold it cheap, sweet, and tasty. Kids were especially fond of it.
"Is that so? Maybe."
In just five days, Ayanokoji Kiyohime's reputation in Class D had changed dramatically. At first, she'd seemed cold and unwilling to talk to anyone. Before long, somehow, she'd become an innocent, clueless little princess.
After all, she did have the bearing of a young lady, while her naivety and ignorance of all sorts of everyday things showed how little she knew about ordinary people.
She hadn't even known whether her sit-and-reach score in P.E. was good or bad.
Well, she'd reached twenty centimeters. Everyone thought that kind of flexibility was pretty... impressive.
The scoring standards varied by location, but Ayanokoji Kiyohime had gotten a perfect score. Hoya had taught her what to do: instead of asking about the average, find someone you thought was average, ask for their score, and adjust yours up or down from there. That was the best approach.
Unfortunately, the person she'd asked was Sakura Airi, a girl who seemed quite ordinary—except for her chest. She'd completely changed Ayanokoji Kiyohime's impression of her.
Her sit-and-reach score was also perfect, and it was even one point higher than Ayanokoji's. She'd studied dance before, so her body was very flexible.
As for Ayanokoji... Her score was perfect, but nobody thought that was strange. It made sense that a petite, frail young lady would be flexible, right?
"Come on, I told you to ask more than one person. You know what experimental error is, don't you?"
"I just didn't expect the first girl I asked to be you. Otherwise, I would've asked a few more."
Ayanokoji had just had bad luck. She happened to be the first person called on, so she'd tried it out that way.
It turned out that most of the girls were around ten centimeters, while some with poor physical fitness could only reach one or two.
The boys were worse off. Some of them even got negative scores.
"All right, all right. Just pay more attention next time... By the way, since you're here, would you like some of the pear drink I made?"
Hoya opened the door to his dorm room and invited Ayanokoji inside.
Since she'd helped him carry the bedding back, he might as well offer her something to drink.
"I'll take you up on that."
It seemed she'd never tried pear drink with rock sugar before. Her physical condition must have been excellent.
Hoya took the drink from the fridge, poured some into a cup, and handed it to her. "It might be a little cold, so take your time if you're not used to it."
"Okay, thanks."
Ayanokoji Kiyohime held the cup in both hands and slowly drank the pear drink with rock sugar.
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