Airi Sakura shuddered violently, like a startled animal. She instinctively clutched her backpack tighter, lowering her head until it was nearly buried in it. Her body still trembled faintly.
Through her thick lenses, she stole a quick glance at Yuefeng, then immediately looked away. Her voice was as faint as a mosquito's, choked with tears. "Th-thank you... I-I'm fine..."
"I'm glad you're okay." Yuefeng didn't move closer, keeping a respectful distance. "Try not to take such isolated paths in the future, especially when you're alone.
"If something like that happens again, shout for help or run somewhere crowded and find a teacher or security guard."
"Mm... I-I understand..." Airi Sakura replied softly, still too afraid to lift her head.
Yuefeng knew she needed time to calm down, and that his presence would only add to her stress. "I'll be going, then. Be careful."
He nodded and turned to leave.
Just then—
"Yuefeng."
That calm, emotionless voice came from the direction Yuefeng had come from.
Yuefeng froze. It felt as though an invisible hand had clenched around his heart. He slowly turned around.
Kiyotaka Ayanokoji was standing there, though Yuefeng hadn't noticed him arrive. He leaned against the wall on the other side of the corner, hands in his pockets, quietly watching them.
His face was as expressionless as ever, but Yuefeng thought there was something in those dark-brown eyes that wasn't usually there... something incredibly subtle and difficult to read.
He was here. He really had been nearby. How much had he seen?
"Kiyotaka." Yuefeng tried to make his voice sound natural. "You're here too."
"Mm." Kiyotaka's gaze shifted from Yuefeng's face to Airi Sakura, who still had her head lowered behind him. It lingered for a second, then returned to Yuefeng.
"You handled that well," Kiyotaka said matter-of-factly. "You quoted the law accurately, and your timing and tone were just right. More efficient than using violence, and with no loose ends."
Was he... evaluating him? Yuefeng's feelings were a jumble. Kiyotaka had seen the whole thing but hadn't stepped in, only showing up after Yuefeng had "dealt with" it.
"I just... happened to remember those rules," Yuefeng said vaguely.
"Happened to remember." Kiyotaka repeated the words, then tilted his head slightly. The small, abrupt gesture appeared again, as if he were adjusting some sort of observational parameter.
"You seem to be particularly prepared for 'handling unexpected situations' and 'using the rules to your advantage.'"
Yuefeng's heart skipped a beat. Kiyotaka's powers of observation were frighteningly sharp.
"At Advanced Nurturing High School, there's no harm in knowing a few extra rules." Yuefeng tried to steer the conversation toward a more general point.
Kiyotaka nodded and didn't press him further. He glanced at Airi Sakura, who was still at a loss, then said to Yuefeng, "She needs time to calm down. Let's go."
With that, he set off toward the path's exit. As he passed Yuefeng, his pace didn't falter at all.
Yuefeng gave Airi Sakura one last look and nodded to her, then followed Kiyotaka.
The two of them walked in silence, one behind the other. The setting sun stretched their shadows long.
"You care a lot about Class D," Kiyotaka said suddenly, breaking the silence. His tone was flat, making it hard to tell whether he was asking or stating a fact.
Yuefeng's heart sank. Here it came. Kiyotaka was bound to ask.
"I just happened to be there," Yuefeng said. "Whether they're from Class C or Class D, I couldn't just ignore something like that."
"I see." Kiyotaka gave no indication of what he thought. After a pause, he added, "Airi Sakura, a student in Class D. Introverted and poor at socializing, but with a special talent."
A special talent? Did he mean her hidden photography skills and her ability to gather information? Kiyotaka had clearly noticed her long ago.
"You know a lot about her," Yuefeng said, probing.
"Necessary observation." Kiyotaka replied. Then he turned his head to look at Yuefeng, his gaze seeming unfathomable in the evening light.
"Yuefeng, you seem to be... imitating my methods."
The words pierced the calm façade Yuefeng had struggled to maintain, like an icicle. For an instant, he felt his breath catch.
Kiyotaka had figured it out! He'd realized that Yuefeng's calm pressure and use of the rules had been an imitation of how Kiyotaka had dealt with Ishizaki before!
"I..." Yuefeng opened his mouth, but for a moment he didn't know what to say. Deny it? That would obviously be futile in front of Kiyotaka. Admit it? And what reason could he give?
Kiyotaka didn't seem to be waiting for an answer. He turned back, looking ahead at the increasingly noisy main avenue through the school.
"Imitation is the beginning of learning," Kiyotaka said slowly. His voice remained steady, but Yuefeng heard something exceedingly rare in it, something almost inquisitive. "But mere imitation can't account for every variable. Especially when the 'script' changes."
When the script changed!
Yuefeng's pupils contracted slightly. Did Kiyotaka know about the "script"? Or was he just using the word to describe what was "supposed to happen"?
Was he talking about how Kiyotaka should have dealt with the incident involving Airi Sakura, but Yuefeng had "stolen" it from him?
"I don't understand what you mean," Yuefeng said, choosing to play dumb.
Kiyotaka didn't explain. They had reached the end of the path, and the busy central walkway lay ahead.
"The Sports Festival," Kiyotaka said, stopping and turning to face Yuefeng again. This time, his gaze lingered briefly on Yuefeng's damp fringe, then met his eyes. "Watch out for Ishizaki. He might cause an 'accident' during the Obstacle Relay."
Another warning. But this time, Yuefeng no longer felt it was just a simple warning.
"Why are you telling me this?" Yuefeng looked Kiyotaka in the eye and finally asked the question that had been circling in his mind.
Kiyotaka met his gaze for several seconds. His dark-brown eyes remained utterly calm, yet Yuefeng felt as though he were looking into a bottomless, frigid pool, with countless currents swirling beneath the surface, beyond his understanding.
"Because," Kiyotaka said in his usual flat tone, making Yuefeng's spine turn cold, "you can't complete your 'guidance' task if you're eliminated by an 'accident.'
"Nor can you provide... sufficiently interesting 'observation data.'"
After saying that, he gave Yuefeng a slight nod, then turned and disappeared into the crowd of students leaving school, without a backward glance.
Yuefeng stood alone where he was. The evening breeze blew past, but he felt no warmth from it.
Kiyotaka's words were like a bolt of ice-cold lightning, shattering the small sense of security Yuefeng had gradually built up over the past few days.
He knew about "Father's" task! He'd even used the word "guidance"! He saw Yuefeng as "observation data"!
He'd predicted Ishizaki might try something at the Sports Festival and "warned" Yuefeng, not to protect him, but so that his "observation" and "task" could continue?
A chill shot from Yuefeng's feet straight to his head.
He'd thought he was carefully playing his part, scraping by in the gaps, growing stronger through learning and imitation.
But in Kiyotaka's eyes, all his actions might simply be variables that deviated slightly from the script—a data point worth observing, but one that could be discarded at any moment.
Even Yuefeng's attempt to "imitate" Kiyotaka by saving Airi might have been nothing more than part of the "learning process" to him—or an interesting example of the "script going off course."
"Heh..." Yuefeng let out a low laugh, his voice full of self-mockery.
He looked up at the sky. Dusk had settled in, with only a dim streak of orange-red remaining on the horizon.
Survival of the fittest?
No. Here, there might be even deeper rules about control, observation, and exploitation.
And he, Ayanokoji Yuefeng—the "reader" who had wandered into this story by accident, the pawn forced to play the role of "older brother"—
How could he find a way to survive in this unpredictable "script," jointly written by a controlling father and a CPU-brained younger brother, without being casually "observed" and "discarded"?
The Obstacle Relay at the Sports Festival might be the first true trial.
He tightened his grip on his backpack strap, his gaze gradually sharpening.
"Observation data, huh..." he muttered. "Then watch closely, Kiyotaka. Let's see if this 'data point' of yours can break out of your preset model."
He set off toward the dorms. In the deepening night, his figure looked lonely, yet somehow more resolute.
At the bend in the path, the bushes rustled faintly, and a petite figure cautiously peeked out.
She watched Yuefeng walk away. Behind her thick lenses, her eyes blinked, filled with lingering fear, gratitude, and a faint curiosity that she hadn't even noticed herself.
Before you continue