Kei Karuizawa

!!!!

Kei's expression shifted instantly. She stood up abruptly, shaking her head and waving her hands, appearing to have fallen into a state of extreme panic:

"No, no, no... you, you, you, what kind of joke are you making? How could I possibly..."

Katsuya Shinjo didn't speak, simply watching Kei. Her reaction was even more intense than he had imagined.

The entire room fell into an inexplicable silence. Perhaps unable to bear the immense psychological pressure any longer, Kei muttered a goodbye and, like a student rushing to the cafeteria the moment the bell rang, bolted toward the door.

"Well, I just thought you might have played some prank on a classmate in the past... My apologies."

"Eh? Me?"

Kei's footsteps came to a sudden halt. She turned around slowly, discovering that Katsuya seemed to be bowing in apology, genuinely believing he had misunderstood her.

"Actually... you don't need to apologize... It was me who asked a strange question today. Um, sorry about that. It's getting late, I should go."

"But that won't do. After all, I was the one who spoke out of turn. How about this..."

Katsuya scanned his prizes several times before finally settling on the caramel pudding he had intended as an appetizer, thrusting it into Kei's hand.

"Consider this my apology gift. It's not worth much, but I truly think it's a treasure. It was rude of me, I'm sorry."

Looking at the pudding in her hand, Kei froze for a moment, then gradually emerged from her panicked state, scratching her cheek in embarrassment:

"W-well, alright then. Don't make jokes like that again, okay? Goodbye..."

"Oh, see you tomorrow."

"Yeah, see you tomorrow."

With that, Kei waved her hand and said goodbye to Katsuya.

"Though it stings a bit to part with it, I suppose I've obtained a remarkable secret... Let it be, she's a beautiful girl, after all."

Sweets = Work (Reward) > Secrets > Less important sweets > Trouble > Beautiful girl

This was Katsuya Shinjo's consistent code of conduct.

Since Kei wasn't the one doing the bullying, she must be the one being bullied.

"Come to think of it, school bullying... a disgusting phenomenon worldwide. People who only dare to draw their blades against the weak to please themselves, yet don't even dare to breathe loudly when they encounter the strong—truly despicable..."

On the other side, having returned to her dormitory, Kei placed the pudding on her nightstand and stared at it for a long time...

It was impossible to tell what she was thinking.

In the half-month that followed, the topics of conversation between Kei and Katsuya grew more frequent. Because the latter possessed an innate talent for listening, any subject could be sustained with ease.

This allowed them to tease and joke with each other at any time, to the point where Kei would even take the initiative to invite Katsuya to eat at the cafeteria together.

"Hey, Kei. Have you been hiding something from us lately?"

Kei had integrated well with the gyaru group in class, and her closest friends were two girls named Matsushita and Sato.

"Ah? What could I possibly be hiding from you guys?"

Regarding her best friend's question, Kei appeared somewhat bewildered; she didn't know what she could have done.

Sato let out a huff of annoyance:

"Hmph, don't play dumb. Do you still consider us your best friends?!"

Meanwhile, Matsushita was staring straight at her, as if she were about to swallow her whole.

This gave Kei a massive fright. She did indeed have a secret, but how could she possibly reveal that?!

"Y-you... what are you talking about?"

"Still playing dumb? Have you been having trouble with Hirata-kun lately?"

"Hirata? Why is his name being brought up here?"

Kei was startled at first, then shifted into confusion.

She had considered asking Yosuke Hirata to enter a fake relationship with her, purely to rely on his class status to protect herself.

After all, she was merely a parasite who couldn't survive without relying on others, and since Hirata was so gentle and held such high status in the class, he had naturally become her first choice.

However, she hadn't taken any action yet. She and Yosuke Hirata could be called good friends, but that was as far as it went.

"Heh, you've rarely been interacting with Hirata-kun lately, haven't you? Instead, you've been laughing and chatting with Shinjo-kun... Kei, don't tell me you've had a change of heart?!"

The girls of Sakura Island had a habit, or perhaps a tradition.

They would declare to their best friends who they intended to pursue, and if such a declaration was made, others were forbidden from pursuing that person.

Otherwise, they would be viewed as traitors who betrayed the friendship!

Therefore, in order to survive as a parasite, Kei had indeed told her friends that she intended to pursue Yosuke Hirata.

"Ah? This..."

Kei cursed inwardly; if not for Sato's reminder, she would have almost forgotten about this matter herself.

For some reason, she always felt that Yosuke Hirata couldn't provide her with enough protection, even though his status in the class was quite high.

On the contrary, Katsuya Shinjo, despite keeping a low profile in class, seemed gentle and shared a similar fate to hers. Plus, his physical strength appeared to be quite impressive—after all, he could go toe-to-toe with Koenji.

And so... in an instant, what was originally a single-choice question had turned into a dilemma between two options.

Perhaps noticing that her close friend was in a difficult spot, Matsushita, who had been silent until now, gently patted Kei on the shoulder:

"So, between Hirata-kun and Shinjo-kun, which one is more to your taste?"

"I..."

After Matsushita and Sato exchanged a glance, they both sighed:

"Forget it, we're just looking out for you. Since you haven't made up your mind yet, you should think it over carefully. Just... if you do like someone, be brave, okay~"

"Y-y-you... what are you saying... brave or not..."

Generally speaking, Kei's external image (let's call her Surface Kei here) was that of a gyaru, so theoretically, it would be normal for her to have had many boyfriends.

But in reality, Inner Kei was a pure-hearted girl who had suffered from bullying, so she had never even touched the word "romance."

"Alright, Kei, no matter who you decide to pursue, we will support you!"

"Who said I liked him?! We're just friends, that's all!"

"Friends... hmm, good friends, right..."

"You guys!! I'm not talking to you anymore!!!"

Although Kei acted quite tough, both Sato and Matsushita knew very well that this girl was clearly the type to be all bark and no bite.

Therefore, teasing her had become one of the great joys of their lives.

The two girls looked at each other and simultaneously revealed a gossipy, motherly smile.