Amid the commotion around her, Suzune Horikita, at its very center, could only feel overwhelmed by the noise.
She instinctively moved away, glanced over Kamuro and Yuki Gyakukai, then paid them no further attention and left the venue.
How scary. Getting bitten must hurt, right?
In the crowd, a deadpan, fish-headed guy who looked like an extra silently watched Suzune Horikita leave.
The impostor hiding in Class D, Kiyotaka Ayanokoji, was observing the behavior of the normal people around him. But when he thought of the scene just moments ago, when Masumi Kamuro had ambushed Yuki Gyakukai...
No matter how he looked at it, that was not a normal way to say hello.
And if it was supposed to be revenge, it still felt a little undignified...
Of course, no one else could know what the impostor was thinking.
Meanwhile, Yuki Gyakukai, at the very center of the world, took note of the steadily growing crowd.
So he decided to act without hesitation. He changed his hold, tucked the struggling Masumi Kamuro under his arm, and dashed away at full speed.
Aah~~!
Everyone present was stunned by their method of leaving, and Masumi Kamuro's pitiful cries still seemed to ring in their ears.
"Bastard, would it kill you to let me down so I can walk?"
The two of them had fled to the woods on school grounds.
Masumi Kamuro hadn't approved of Yuki Gyakukai's earlier actions. After all, he'd run all the way here carrying her in such an embarrassing position.
It was easy to imagine that she'd become famous at school today.
She tidied her slightly disheveled hair, a suspicious blush still on her face.
Seeing Yuki Gyakukai acting as though nothing had happened, she stormed up to him and raised her leg to kick him.
Smack!
"Put me down! What are you doing now?!"
Masumi Kamuro angrily tried to pull her leg back, but it was already pinned tightly against the man's chest.
"You've got some nerve blaming me! You were the one who came at me. How do you have the gall to ask what I'm doing? I haven't even settled the score with you for ambushing me earlier, and now you're at it again."
"This is all your fault. Why shouldn't I get back at you?"
For a moment, Yuki Gyakukai was so amused by her shamelessness that he laughed.
"Masumi Kamuro, I treated you like a brother and rescued you from danger, and this is how you repay me?"
Kamuro glared at him in annoyance. "Who's your brother? And what danger did you rescue me from? If it weren't for you, there wouldn't have been any danger in the first place!"
"Hey, that's not how it happened. You quietly swiped a beer after the opening ceremony, and I just happened to see you. I was helping you get back on the right path. Why can't you understand that?"
"I wasn't sneaking off with a beer! You..."
Seeing Masumi Kamuro wobble as she tried to balance on one leg, Yuki Gyakukai casually pulled her toward him.
"I even called you Little Thief Cat. You think I didn't see you? You were just about to stuff that can of beer into your inner pocket."
Lying in someone else's arms, Masumi Kamuro was overcome by an inexplicable sense of shame—especially since this guy holding her had caught her stealing beer.
"Let go of me!"
"Okay."
Thud!
Masumi Kamuro got what she wanted and was released from Yuki Gyakukai's embrace, but her butt took a nasty hit when she fell to the ground halfway through.
"I told you you're a bastard! Couldn't you have waited until I was steady before letting go?"
"Good brother, you're the one who told me to let go."
"Bastard, quit pretending to be innocent! Just because I tell you to let go, you actually do it?"
Watching Yuki Gyakukai continue to play innocent, Masumi Kamuro felt like she was about to explode with anger.
She felt as though she'd experienced more emotions today than she had in the past several years combined.
"Give me your hand!"
"What for? You pervert, trying to take advantage of me?"
"Do you want me to hit you? Just give me a hand already!"
Yuki Gyakukai understood, but still wore a smug, irritating expression as he extended his hand toward Masumi Kamuro, who was sitting on the ground.
Got you. Now sit down here with me, bastard!
When her hand touched Yuki Gyakukai's, a delighted feeling welled up inside her.
"Back down you go! Good brother, you're still too green to outscheme me."
But the two of them didn't topple to the ground together as she'd imagined.
Masumi Kamuro's strength was no match for Yuki Gyakukai's.
When she was halfway up, he simply lifted her off the ground, then let go of her hand, and she fell to the ground again.
She felt exhausted, and her butt hurt so much.
Now she felt utterly hopeless, like a fool who'd been toyed with the whole time. A deep sadness welled up inside her.
She'd never been bullied like this before, not once in her life...
How could there be someone so obnoxious in this world?
"Waaah..."
Just as Yuki Gyakukai was about to make fun of Masumi Kamuro again, a sob broke the silence.
The mournful sound could break the heart of anyone who heard it and bring tears to their eyes.
Had he really messed this up?
He was the one who'd been wronged. All he wanted was an apology.
Why was she the one crying first?
She made it seem as if she were the victim.
"You're crying so fake it's ridiculous. If another student comes by, they'll think you're a female ghost. The school'll be talking about a haunting in the woods by tomorrow."
All right, the provocation hadn't worked.
Masumi Kamuro's sobs grew louder and louder, as though she hoped someone else would come along and punish Yuki Gyakukai, the villain.
So Yuki Gyakukai, who had long since seen through everything, deployed his trump card.
"Are you really crying?"
Masumi Kamuro had her head bowed as she wailed, tears blurring her vision. Then another person suddenly appeared in her line of sight.
Yuki Gyakukai crouched down and leaned his head into Masumi Kamuro's arms, looking up at her tear-streaked, catlike face.
"What's dripping on my face? Is that drool? You look like you're faking your crying."
You really couldn't get any more obnoxious!
Yuki Gyakukai, you're dead!
Blinded by rage, Masumi Kamuro no longer cared about anything.
The shortest distance between two points was a straight line. She opened her mouth and lunged straight for the face in front of her!
By sheer coincidence, Yuki Gyakukai had been about to pull his head back.
And so, by a miraculous twist of fate, the two of them kissed...
It was nothing like the timid kiss they'd shared the first time. Masumi Kamuro had gone completely berserk and didn't care about anything. She attacked Yuki Gyakukai's mouth with a furious series of bites, gnawing at him like a wild beast.
What the hell, are you crazy?!
Though his lip hadn't been bitten open, Yuki Gyakukai's mouth was still filled with a faint metallic taste.
Caught off guard, he took in the scene before him and raised an eyebrow.
Then he seized the initiative, giving Masumi Kamuro—who had focused on nothing but biting during their first kiss—a profound shock.
What are you doing?
What am I doing?
Why are you using your tongue?
Why are you twining it around mine?
Shock. Unparalleled shock.
Before you continue