Taking, Pinching

At this point, Hoshino paused, and Kushida could not help asking, "What happened next?"

"What do you mean, what happened next? That's the end of the story." Hoshino smiled.

"Wh... what kind of story was that? It was completely unclear, without even a proper ending."

"Yeah..." Hoshino sighed along with her.

Something stirred in Kushida's heart. "That little boy... was you?"

"Mm." Hoshino nodded.

"Then... were you trying to say that your father neglected your talents, leaving you in a long-term state of emotional deprivation..."

"Stop, stop. Who's emotionally deprived? Where did that even come from?" Hoshino did not know whether to laugh or cry. "Your imagination is way too wild. I was only trying to tell you that I come from a wealthy family, live a happy and fulfilling life, and am handsome and talented. Faced with such an outstanding guy as me, Kushida, shouldn't you hurry up, wash yourself clean, strip naked, and climb into my bed..."

"Ew, how sleazy. And here I was, just starting to think a little better of you." Kushida curled her lips in disgust.

"I said it before, too. Once I get something, I never let go." Hoshino's voice was very gentle. "Kushida, I've decided you're my woman, and I'll accept all those emotions of yours as well. This promise is valid for the long term. I mean, for life."

"Hoshino... I don't understand."

"Hmm?"

"You're the young master of a wealthy family, and so many girls already like you. Why do you still keep pursuing me? I'm not worthy of you at all."

"Is that what you think?" Hoshino smiled. "Then work hard to become a good woman worthy of me."

Kushida's eyes widened, her violet-red pupils fixed tightly on Hoshino's face. After a long while, her rosy lips parted, and she softly said, "...Kikyo."

"What?" Hoshino had not heard her clearly.

"I said, from now on, you have to call me by my name, Kikyo!" Kushida suddenly shouted into Hoshino's ear as if playing a prank. "And I'll call you by your name too, Akira!"

Hoshino smiled faintly. "Kikyo."

"Hey, Akira... let's kiss."

Naturally, Hoshino had no reason to refuse Kushida's suggestion of a kiss.

While they kissed, Hoshino also updated Kushida's fingerprint access.

The two stayed in the park until nightfall before returning to the dorms together.

As soon as they returned to the main road, Kushida let go of Hoshino's arm without needing to be reminded and put two steps of distance between them.

Hoshino was left speechless at the sight. However, once they entered the elevator and were alone, Kushida took the initiative to come close, hugging his arm and rubbing against it as compensation.

It seemed that, just like with Airi, his relationship with Kushida could only continue in secret. As long as Kushida could not give up her little angel image of being surrounded by everyone, she had no way of dating openly.

The elevator stopped on the floor where Hoshino's room was located. Hoshino stepped out, then turned back to look at Kushida. "Aren't you going to invite me to sit in your room?"

"Huh? No way." Kushida wrinkled her nose and pushed against his back, shoving him outside.

"Sigh, fine. Then I'll go see Airi—"

"Huh? N-no, you can't!"

Kushida immediately changed her mind, turning her push into a pull as she grabbed Hoshino's sleeve and dragged him back into the elevator.

Under Hoshino's teasing gaze, Kushida's face quickly turned red.

The elevator silently arrived at the girls' floor. When the doors opened, Kushida took half a step back. "...I changed my mind. Is it too late?"

"Too late." Hoshino chuckled, wrapping an arm around her waist and firmly leading her out.

Afraid of running into girls she knew, Kushida kept her head lowered, chanting silently in her heart, This has nothing to do with me. Akira forced me. I had no way to resist him...

After giving herself a little mental preparation, Kushida relaxed somewhat. When she looked up again, she realized they had already reached her room. Hoshino glanced at her, and seeing that she did nothing, had no choice but to reach for her skirt pocket.

Kushida hurriedly pressed down on his hand and cried in a low voice, "What are you doing?! This is the hallway..."

"I'm getting the key card." Ignoring her, Hoshino pulled out the key card, swiped it, and opened the door.

"Make me a copy of this card later." Hoshino returned the card to Kushida as he spoke.

"I really must have been possessed by something to let you have such an easy hold over me." Kushida muttered softly as she entered the room and hurriedly shut the door. Then she took out a pair of men's slippers from the shoe cabinet.

Looking at Kushida crouching before him, Hoshino could not help saying, "Kikyo really is a virtuous, good woman. It would be such a waste for you to be a mistress."

Kushida gave an arrogant little snort. "Then why don't you cherish me and hurry up and break up with all those other cheap sluts?"

"Hmm?" Hoshino narrowed his eyes. "Why don't you tell me which of my mistresses you know about?"

"Don't... look at me like that. It's scary." Kushida could not possibly miss the change in Hoshino's tone, and she immediately gave in. "I'm not talking about your cute little Airi... Didn't I go to your room once before? I noticed a pair of women's slippers in your shoe cabinet. Their style was different from all the others. That means at least one girl frequently comes and goes from your room, and she has a very intimate relationship with you..."

"You observed quite carefully. But," Hoshino smiled, "you're the most seductive little slut of them all."

"You're awful!" Seeing that Hoshino was not angry, Kushida relaxed as well.

Hoshino sat on Kushida's bed and looked at her. "Let me ask you something. How many points do you have left now?"

"...Less than ten thousand..." Kushida hesitated for a moment, but answered honestly.

Because Class D had all its class points deducted in the first month, after the school's initial distribution of one hundred thousand points at the start of term, they had received no further points at all. More than two months had passed, and it was already quite good that Kushida still had ten thousand points left. As far as Hoshino knew, Karuizawa, Sato, and the others had long since fallen into debt.

"According to Teacher Chabashira, there'll be a small point reward after passing the midterms." Hoshino pondered. "But the points will not be distributed until July at the earliest. The people in class will probably have a hard time during this period."

Kushida nodded in agreement. "That's true. A lot of people in class have already been in the red for a while."

"From the current situation, the way points are gained and lost is completely disproportionate. You can't really see the meaning behind this so-called meritocracy either." Hoshino mused. "I suspect that there won't just be midterms and finals. There may very well be other forms of evaluation too. Those will be the real main event of competition between the classes."

"Unfortunately, the school controls information about that very strictly. I tried asking upperclassmen before, but they all turned me down very seriously."

"Don't worry too much. Whatever comes, we'll deal with it." Hoshino casually pulled Kushida over and had her sit on his lap. "Anyway, you don't really care that much about what happens to Class D, do you?"

Kushida curled her lips. "Aren't you the same?"

"There are too many defective products in Class D." Hoshino said bluntly. "From how things stand now, expecting these people in Class D to rise to Class A is nothing but a fool's dream."

Kushida nodded along.

"Still, points are important. I'm getting tired of eating those mountain vegetable set meals too." As Hoshino spoke, he very naturally slipped his hand in through Kushida's collar. "Just complete the tasks I give you. You don't need to think too much about the rest."

Kushida's pretty face reddened. Forcing down the unbearable moans in her throat, she pleaded softly, "Akira... let's, let's bathe first..."

Hoshino raised a brow and smiled. "Didn't you say I was only coming in to sit for a while?"

Kushida was so angry she wanted to bite him. "Y-you're still bullying me!"

"I'm just joking. Little Kikyo when she's eager is cute too." Hoshino gave her cherry a slight pinch, cutting off the curse that had been about to leave Kushida's lips.

A spring night was short, and Hoshino no longer wasted any time.