Little Thief Cat, Did You Pay for the Lipstick?

"Karaoke?"

After helping Tomie cool off and making a series of amends, Yuki Gyakukai was finally set free.

Dragging his tired body into the dorm, he collapsed onto the bed.

His eyes were vacant, his limbs sprawled across the mattress. Even now, he still couldn't understand why women liked shopping so much.

There was never anything worth buying, and yet they just kept wandering around.

Thinking back on how he'd spent over half an hour wandering through the women's section with Tomie and the others, he found the whole thing absurd.

But before he could enjoy even a moment's peace, the phone beside his head started popping up with messages again. The screen flashed every so often as the messages poured in like a flood...

What was with these people?

They kept tagging me nonstop. Didn't the class leader need a rest?

Though he couldn't help feeling exasperated, he still rolled over, grabbed his phone, and started checking the group chat, which was now buzzing with activity.

The messages weren't from anyone in particular. They were from the Class 1-B group chat, which had only been created that morning.

At first, no one knew each other very well, so the group hadn't been very active all morning or over lunch.

But after spending the afternoon together, they'd gotten to know one another a little, and the class chat was now quite lively.

Still, it had all started because of this...

"Yuki, since today is everyone's first day at school and we don't know each other very well yet, I was hoping you could organize a karaoke outing for the class... Would that be okay?"

"I think that's a great idea. I fully support Ichinose's suggestion. It's not just that we don't know one another very well yet; given how unusual this school is, we should start by sticking together."

"Exactly, exactly. We should get together and get to know one another."

"@Yuki Gyakukai, this is my lifelong request. Please organize a get-together. I'm begging you!"

"@Yuki Gyakukai, this is my lifelong request. Please organize a get-together. I'm begging you!"

"@Yuki Gyakukai, this is my lifelong request. Please organize a get-together. I'm begging you!"

"..."

Watching everyone continue to flood the chat, he decided he couldn't keep lurking.

If they kept tagging him, his phone would never stop vibrating. It was like that thing...

He immediately replied in the group:

"Sure. Even though we all introduced ourselves this morning, we're still not that familiar with one another. I'd also like to use this get-together to help everyone bond quickly."

"Yay! Yuki, you're the best!"

"You don't need to be so formal with me. No need to be so reserved."

Holding his phone, he thought for a moment. Everyone in Class B was probably scattered around the school right now.

Calling them all together at once wouldn't be very convenient, so to avoid any trouble, he told them in the group chat to get ready for now.

He would head to the school first and book a karaoke room, then let them know when it was ready.

Once he'd sent all the necessary information, Yuki didn't immediately turn off his phone screen.

He opened his contacts and quickly scrolled through the long list of Class B students' accounts.

As class leader, and for a few personal reasons, he sometimes couldn't discuss everything in the group chat. So everyone in Class B, including Hoshinomiya, had added him as a contact.

At last, he spotted a profile picture that looked somewhat familiar, though he couldn't quite place it, and tapped on it.

Remembering how his only white shirt had been torn in half because of her, he couldn't help feeling speechless.

"Little Thief Cat, you really outdid yourself. It's only the first day of school, and I was trying to set you on the right path for your future, but you repaid my kindness by biting the hand that fed you."

It wasn't long before the message showed as read.

"?"

"By the way, did you pay for the lipstick? You just put it on and stamped it all over me. You little glutton, I knew you were hungry for my body."

After he sent that, she finally responded, and her message seemed pretty heated.

"Ha—?! Who are you calling a little thief cat or a little glutton? You meddlesome jerk! And what makes you think I'd like you, you narcissist?!"

"Masumi, you really aren't honest at all. You can't even face your own feelings."

Read.

She seemed a little worked up, so Yuki decided to go one step further: he turned off his screen and set Masumi Kamuro's account to Do Not Disturb.

He'd achieved his goal for now, so there was no need to waste any more time on this little thief cat.

He got up and put on the new shirt he'd bought that day—yeah, the one Himeno had bought.

He got out of bed, left the room, and walked out of the dorm.

Just before he stepped outside, Yuki looked back.

Even now, he still felt like the school's rules were a joke.

After all, this world had gone from being a fictional world in a novel to a real one.

No matter how outrageous the rules were, surely they couldn't be this ridiculous.

The dorms were nice enough, but shouldn't the school take into account the fact that boys and girls were different?

The dormitory housed all sorts of people, with students from all four first-year classes living together in one building. The boys lived on the lower floors, and the girls on the upper floors.

The school had technically set a rule that boys couldn't enter the girls' dormitory area after midnight, restricting them on paper.

But words were just words if they weren't backed up by any real measures. Boys that age were full of energy, and a little teasing from a girl could get them all worked up.

If something happened later on, a serious incident could break out right there in the dorm. By then, it might be too late to stop it.

For safety's sake, Yuki thought he should remind the boys and girls in his class about it at tonight's get-together.

He'd tell them not to give out their room numbers and, more importantly, not to hand their key cards to anyone.

He checked the time and quickened his pace.

Yuki soon reached the entertainment area, quickly booked a private room, and posted its number and location in the class group chat.

Before long, the door opened, and people began filing into the room.

At the front was a girl with thick, jet-black hair, large eyes, and a high nose. Even with the room's dim lighting, her stunning beauty was plain to see.

"Tomie, you're looking so happy. Did something good happen? Tell me about it."

Yuki naturally moved closer. The new lackeys Tomie had gathered around her exchanged glances, grinned, and quickly stepped aside to make room for the two of them.

Tomie didn't say anything. She just handed Yuki the shopping bag in her hand, gesturing for him to open it.

Curious, he gave it a casual heft. It wasn't very heavy, but when he opened it and saw what was inside, the corner of his mouth twitched.

"Uh... Tomie, you really bought all this? Can you even use it all?"

"What are you thinking? This is for a whole week. It's not like I expect you to use it all up tonight."

Even though she'd already revealed her imposing queenly side in front of her new followers, a look of awkwardness and a blush still flickered across her delicate face.

In the end, she didn't lay a hand on him. She just glared at Yuki a couple of times, looking a little annoyed.