Keep Pulling Back and Forth

After waiting a while, Shi Cheng saw that Sakura Airi was still like an ostrich, her little head tucked beneath the desk.

Shi Cheng was nearly speechless.

Since she had worked up the courage, why was she still wasting time here?

What if he failed to notice and left?

Thinking that, Shi Cheng couldn't help giving his attentive self a thumbs-up.

Good thing he had paid attention.

Otherwise, running out to chase thin air would have been embarrassing.

Shi Cheng clenched his fist and coughed lightly.

In a friendly tone, he asked, "Sakura, is there something you wanted to say to me?"

Shi Cheng thought his attitude was already quite friendly.

"Eek!" Unfortunately, even that simple greeting frightened Sakura Airi into letting out a pitiful little whimper like a startled animal.

That soft, easily bullied appearance made Shi Cheng feel a little sorry for her.

But he soon hardened his heart again.

Rather than letting her be led astray by bad people in the future, it was better for a good person like him to educate her first.

"Say it already. I don't have time to waste here with you."

Shi Cheng's manner suddenly turned forceful.

Since the soft approach didn't work, he might as well use a hard one.

The effect was excellent.

Sakura Airi nearly burst into tears on the spot.

She forcibly suppressed the urge to run away.

Mostly because she was afraid she wouldn't get away and would get beaten up, Sakura Airi raised her large, mist-filled eyes pitifully.

"Shi... Shi Cheng, could you please not tell anyone?"

Shi Cheng gave her an appraising look, frightening her into immediately lowering her head again.

Pretending to ponder, he said, "You mean the way you looked when I saw you back then?"

"Mm." She hadn't expected serious-looking Shi Cheng to be so easy to talk to. Sakura Airi tried her best to restrain her fear and let out a relieved little murmur.

Her voice was so quiet that if the classroom hadn't been empty right then, he really wouldn't have heard her.

She still needed some teaching. Didn't she know to look people in the eye when talking to them?

Shi Cheng strode over and tapped on her desk. "Raise your head. Are you looking down on me?"

Shi Cheng deliberately spoke fiercely, wanting to see an even more amusing reaction from her.

The effect was excellent.

Sakura Airi immediately trembled like a quail.

Sakura Airi hadn't expected Shi Cheng to change his face so quickly.

Her heart nearly stopped beating.

But more than the fear, Shi Cheng's warning was the first thing that sank in.

Sakura Airi struggled to keep herself from crying and tried hard to raise her little head.

After all, Shi Cheng had said so.

If she still didn't listen, something bad would definitely happen.

Especially since he had something on her now.

"That's more like it." Seeing how obedient she was, Shi Cheng suddenly felt like the Crooked-Mouth War God. It felt pretty good.

Shi Cheng reached out, hooked his fingers beneath Sakura Airi's soft little chin, and leaned down. "Don't worry. I won't tell anyone."

Shi Cheng's action greatly exceeded what she had expected.

Coupled with her long-standing shyness around strangers,

Sakura Airi's eyes immediately turned into spirals.

So she could barely take in what Shi Cheng was saying. All she felt was a buzzing in her head.

Shi Cheng was so close. Shi Cheng had made close physical contact with me.

That thought kept repeating in her mind.

Rather than being ready to flee, Sakura Airi was still frozen stiff.

Perhaps it wouldn't take long before she regained control of her body.

Shi Cheng didn't know what was going on in her mind, but he confirmed one thing.

Sakura Airi really was absurdly easy to handle.

Shi Cheng felt rather smug.

Did she really think she would be fine just by hiding her presence in the classroom as much as possible?

His sharp eyes had already seen through everything.

Shi Cheng went full villain mode and whispered like a demon.

"After all, Airi is so pretty, and I seem to be the first one to know. How could I bear to share that with anyone else?"

"A... Airi?!" Sakura Airi's soft, delicate body flushed even redder, invisible white steam rising from her head.

Unlike Kushida Kikyo, who generously emphasized that everyone should just call her Kikyo,

Sakura Airi couldn't accept it.

Because that represented a very intimate relationship.

And it had happened so suddenly. How was she supposed to accept that?

Shi Cheng continued as if talking to himself. "Airi, be my girlfriend. Taking pictures alone must be hard, right? Let me help you."

"Gi... girlfriend?! Huh?!"

Sakura Airi snapped out of her daze and cried out. Her eyes widened and her small mouth fell open, completely unable to understand how things had turned out this way.

"That's right, that's right. You don't want to?" Shi Cheng nodded repeatedly.

Perhaps because it concerned the happiness of the rest of her life, Sakura Airi finally gathered the courage to face Shi Cheng and speak loudly.

"Of course I don't!"

It was true that Shi Cheng looked pretty good, but they barely knew each other. This was far too sudden.

No.

Sakura Airi shook her head frantically.

This wasn't the time to be thinking about that at all.

It was that she had never had such thoughts in the first place.

"No?" A trace of disappointment appeared on Shi Cheng's face.

Sakura Airi's heart softened for a moment, then she became resolute again.

Great, she had said it.

"Is it because of Yamauchi?" Shi Cheng abruptly changed the subject and mentioned a name she wasn't very familiar with.

Yamauchi? Who was that?

Hearing that name so suddenly, Sakura Airi's head filled with question marks.

She had always kept a low profile at school, and even now, she didn't have a single friend.

Sakura Airi blinked her large eyes, which were full of confusion.

Unfortunately, Shi Cheng had no intention of explaining.

She didn't dare ask, so she could only try hard to remember.

After a long while,

a bright lightbulb seemed to pop up above Sakura Airi's head.

She remembered.

Sakura Airi wasn't particularly obsessed with appearances; she simply had a natural fondness for handsome people.

What was wrong with remembering someone?

So the question was, why could she remember Yamauchi Haruki?

There was only one reason.

His mouth was simply too big.

It was hard for Sakura Airi not to notice him.

But what did that have to do with her? Sakura Airi couldn't figure it out no matter how much she thought.

Just then, Shi Cheng said something else that left her utterly baffled.

"So you were taking those pictures for Yamauchi to see, to please him?"

Faced with Shi Cheng's curious gaze, Sakura Airi's heart trembled.

What was any of that supposed to mean? She didn't know Yamauchi Haruki at all.

Sakura Airi desperately wanted to shout that.

But before Shi Cheng, she couldn't muster the courage.

Though she didn't know what was going on, Sakura Airi understood one thing deeply: she had to distance herself from him right now.

How could she possibly have any connection with Yamauchi Haruki?

That was far too frightening.

It wasn't because she thought he looked bad.

She simply felt uncomfortable all over.

"Of course not. This is just one of my hobbies." At this point, how could Sakura Airi still worry about hiding her identity? She could only correct him.

"Is that so?" Shi Cheng looked unconvinced, then pulled out his phone.

"I knew you'd deny it. Look for yourself."

But I was telling the truth.

Sakura Airi's long lashes trembled slightly.

Before she could even feel wronged,

the bright screen was waved before her eyes.

Looking at the chat history on it, Sakura Airi felt curious.

What was this?

As her gaze focused, Sakura Airi's pupils shook violently.

What was this? How could he do something like this?

This was slander.

No wonder Shi Cheng didn't believe her.