Deepening Feelings

"Are you saying..."

"That's right."

Tachibana Akane stopped working. Her fingers tightened around her terminal until they turned white.

As she thought, she bit down on her lower lip with her canine tooth, disbelief in her eyes.

"Has Miyabi Nagumo gone insane?

Has he even thought about the consequences for himself?

The level of competition those old-timers consider acceptable is far more intense than what we're seeing now.

It's downright cruel and bloody.

Compared to that, his little schemes are nothing more than child's play."

People would die for wealth, just as birds would die for food.

Marx once said:

"If capital can get a 50 percent profit, it will take risks; if it can get a 100 percent profit, it will trample all human laws; if it can get a 300 percent profit, it will commit any crime, even at the risk of being hanged."

So Horikita Manabu found the answer easily enough.

He straightened up, his bones cracking softly, while the hand pulling a file from the cabinet remained as steady as a machine.

"Someone must have promised him enough benefits."

"But he shouldn't carry enough weight on his own. Even if some of the leaders support him, the others aren't pushovers."

"Hard to say."

Tachibana Akane suddenly raised her terminal to block his view.

Her cheeks puffed out like a little bun.

You...

Now isn't the time to keep your partner in suspense.

"So what do we do?"

"We can only trust the younger students to be clever enough."

Horikita Manabu suddenly curled his lips. That almost-smile sent a chill down the back of Tachibana Akane's neck.

It seemed the underclassmen would have to rely on themselves if they wanted to stay safe.

The third-years would graduate sooner or later.

"What about the Sender and the student who made a deal with Ichinose? Shouldn't we keep an eye on them?"

"One is a first-year. The other probably is, too."

It was the student council president's firm principle not to interfere in the affairs of other grades.

But both of them were first-years?

That made sense.

Silver hair, around 1.8 meters tall, handsome, and strikingly charismatic.

There were no students in the second or third year who fit that description.

This year's first-years were certainly a talented bunch.

Tachibana Akane sighed.

After karaoke, it was nearly time for dinner.

The other girls left on their own.

Tanaka Yukishin brought Karuizawa Kei and Koenji Rokusuke to the third floor of the cafeteria.

Since everyone was willing to get to know one another, the meal was a pleasant one, and they ate happily.

Back in the dorm, Tanaka Yukishin finally couldn't hold back any longer.

He swept Karuizawa Kei into his arms and tossed her onto the bed.

As Karuizawa Kei sank into the down comforter, her hair fanned out in the moonlight like countless silver-white strands.

Tanaka Yukishin's fingertips hovered three centimeters from her ear. The air-conditioning stirred the growing warmth between them, letting it build in the cramped room.

"Your eyelashes are trembling," Tanaka Yukishin murmured in a low voice. His fingertip brushed lightly over Karuizawa Kei's quivering eyelid, as if touching a butterfly about to take flight.

Kei suddenly grabbed his wrist, pressing a crescent-shaped mark into the pulse point with her nails.

The wind outside swept away their unfinished words. As she tipped her head back, her neck arched like a swan's. The warm lamplight pooled in the hollow of her collarbone like an amber pond.

The sound of Tanaka Yukishin's throat bobbing was clear as he rested his forehead against her neck, his hot breath seeping into her collar.

"You'll wrinkle your uniform." Kei's voice was muffled against his neck, but her fingers clutched the back of his shirt.

Tanaka Yukishin chuckled, winding a strand of her hair around his finger.

"I'll iron it for you tomorrow."

In time with the night wind stirring the curtains, their overlapping shadows swayed across the wall like seaweed.

When Kei's thumb unconsciously brushed his Adam's apple, Yukishin suddenly rolled over and hugged her tightly, burying his face in her hair and breathing in her scent.

Moonlight spilled across the unopened strawberry milk by the bed. Kei curled up, her knee pressed against his waist, listening to their heartbeats weave together in the darkness.

When Tanaka Yukishin counted the seventh change in her breathing, the warmth in his arms suddenly pulled away. Kei jumped out of bed barefoot and grabbed the milk, the tips of her ears red as if they might drip blood. "Dummy, you can't drink it if it's expired."

Deepening Feelings

Tanaka Yukishin said nothing.

He simply propped his head up with one hand and lay on his side, quietly watching the girl.

"Why are you looking at me like that, you... bad guy?"

She hadn't realized how lousy her excuse for calling a truce was, blurted out in her panic.

Karuizawa Kei found her lover's gaze strange.

Like a cat puffing up its fur, she turned the blame right back on him.

But she didn't have the slightest bit of menace about her. If anything, she was kind of cute.

...Tanaka Yukishin still said nothing.

He planted both hands on the bed and pushed himself upright, leaning against the headboard. He bent one leg and sat with it raised.

Then he reached out and picked up the other carton of strawberry milk on the bedside table.

It was meant to help them replenish their fluids while they rested.

He peeled off the plastic seal unhurriedly and inserted the straw into the opening.

Then he took a gentle sip.

As his index finger repeatedly tapped the same spot,

Tap... tap...

The sound rang out at regular intervals.

At some point, a mischievous smile appeared on Tanaka Yukishin's face, and his eyes brimmed with teasing.

Karuizawa Kei sensed that something was off.

She followed her lover's fingertip with her gaze.

A few numbers were printed on the carton at the spot he was tapping.

4.01

The strawberry milk had been made and packaged on the day they entered the school. How could it possibly expire the very next day...

When Karuizawa Kei finally realized what she'd done,

she felt her cheeks burning.

The flush spread from the tips of her ears throughout her body.

For a moment, she thought steam was rising from the top of her head.

She was going to turn into a steam princess...

Seeing this, Tanaka Yukishin straightened his expression.

After learning from Kamuro Masumi that pushing too far could backfire,

he decided to quit while he was ahead.

He quickly gulped down the rest of the milk in his hand.

Then he jumped off the bed and hurried over behind the girl.

Once he wrapped his arms around her, he cupped her face with one hand.

He easily pulled off a surprise kiss attack.

There was no helping it. Resolving things with words was still too difficult for him.

He decided actions spoke louder than words.

Mmm... They kissed for a long time.

Only when the girl in his arms gently patted Tanaka Yukishin's thigh did he stop.

Karuizawa Kei was panting. Her trembling arms wrapped weakly around her lover's waist.

She lowered her head and rested her cheek against his chest.

"Yukishin-kun, you're a bad guy."

"Kei-chan, you're an idiot."

"I'm an idiot for letting a bad guy trick me into being his on the very first day we met."

They held each other for a long time before Karuizawa Kei looked up.

"Yukishin-kun, you won't abandon me, will you?"

"This bad guy is really bad. He's going to trick you for the rest of your life."

"You always know how to cheer me up."

Karuizawa Kei smiled and nestled against his chest again.

"Why did you suddenly ask that?"

"Because..."

Karuizawa Kei looked a little shy and hesitant.

In the end, she worked up the courage to voice what was troubling her.

"This morning, when the senpai mentioned a harem, you didn't deny it."

And in the private room,

when she handed out points to the girls,

she could feel that the other girls were eyeing her lover.

...How should she put it?

Tanaka Yukishin could feel the girl's heartbeat.

When their mental fields made contact, it was sincere.

She really seems to have fallen for me.

Sincerity for sincerity.

Fine. I'll tell the truth.