Guess the Bead Game

Fuka Kiryuin's expression carried a hint of disdain.

"Are you pitying me?"

Star Color merely shook his head, looking dazed and adorable.

"Nope."

Senior Asahina interrupted the two of them.

"Then Star Color will be the [defender], and Kiryuin will be the [attacker]."

"When the [Offense-Defense Battle] begins, Star Color will need to put on the [Blindfold], and I'll turn on the speakers and play music at random."

Fuka Kiryuin began to think.

"For the [defender], this is a hellish level of difficulty. Unless luck stays on your side the whole time."

"Luck? Believe in that stuff? I figure I'd have died a long time ago."

Star Color merely closed his eyes and replied calmly.

When he opened them, his bright purple pupils turned into chaotic tapes. Black—he could only see a strange, unnatural black. Horrifying lines of chaos writhed and multiplied meaninglessly.

They were the eyes of decaying darkness, pupils made of indescribable malice. The kind of gaze only someone with nothing but [malice] in their heart could have.

It lasted only a moment, yet it drove Fuka Kiryuin's instinctive [disgust] to its limit. She controlled her urge to use violence, resisting the urge to beat up the dead freak in front of her who was neither one thing nor the other.

"Let's begin."

Star Color smiled and spoke to Asahina Nazuna.

"Round one—"

"Wait!"

Fuka Kiryuin interrupted Asahina Nazuna's countdown.

"I want to inspect the props."

First, Fuka Kiryuin picked up the [Blindfold] to make sure it was opaque and not some kind of magic trick prop. Then she checked that the paper cups hadn't been tampered with. After confirming there was nothing wrong and that her opponent couldn't possibly cheat—

"We can start."

Fuka Kiryuin walked behind Star Color.

Star Color tilted his head back to look up at her. His purple hair fell like a waterfall, its color unusually vivid in the sunlight. His adorable face made Fuka Kiryuin sneak a few glances at him, and the two of them stared at each other in that strange position.

"Is it okay if I tie it on?"

"Mm, totally fine."

Star Color obediently tilted his head back, as docile and well-behaved as a cat.

Fuka Kiryuin draped the cloth over his eyes, plunging his vision into darkness.

His silky-smooth hair fell against Kiryuuin's hand. Though he was a boy, his hair was so beautiful it made her, a woman, jealous.

Her hand, tying the knot without thinking, suddenly pulled a little too hard.

"Ow—"

His squeak, like a small animal's cry, made Kiryuuin's heart flutter.

She followed it with a very gentle chop to Star Color's face.

"Stop making a fuss."

"Round one of the [Offense-Defense Battle] begins."

The speakers on the table between them turned on. A Nocturne began to play, and the piano's long, drawn-out notes filled the room. Even at full volume, the melody was so beautiful it made everything feel still. But every now and then, a few notes seemed off...

Kiryuuin picked up a Steel Ball first and looked at Star Color.

Star Color's catlike lips trembled slightly, his mouth opening and closing...

"Some kind of tactic?"

Kiryuuin felt a surge of irritation. She had the sense that Star Color wasn't taking this seriously at all.

There were five paper cups, so the odds were one in five. This game was entirely about luck. The [attacker] won as long as they didn't give themselves away. All they had to do was control their expression.

Kiryuuin placed the bead under the second cup from the left. Then she'd use the [closed-eyes tactic]. No matter what Star Color said or how he tried to lead her with his words, he could watch her expression all he wanted. As long as she didn't pay him any attention, she'd win.

Kiryuuin nodded to Asahina.

As the music stopped, the entire board game club fell silent.

"Star Color, please take off your blindfold."

Star Color removed the cloth, revealing Fuka Kiryuin with her arms crossed and her eyes closed.

"The second cup from the left. Open it."

Star Color's soft yet oddly firm voice cut through the nerves in Kiryuuin's brain.

"How is that possible?!"

Fuka Kiryuin opened her eyes, disbelief showing in her wine-red gaze.

She immediately watched Asahina Nazuna's reaction. Even Asahina Nazuna was looking at Star Color in shock. It wasn't an expression she could fake; it was genuine emotion. And Kiryuuin trusted Asahina Nazuna's character.

Asahina Nazuna hadn't helped Star Color cheat.

"Interesting! This is really interesting!"

Kiryuuin decided to get serious. She already knew the brat had cheated, one hundred percent. If she could catch him in the act, she'd have every right to beat him up.

Star Color had won a Steel Ball, and he toyed with it in his hand.

"Can we start round two, Senior [Ki][ryuu][in]~?"

His dewy purple eyes stared at her innocently, but his tone was exaggeratedly flippant.

His way of speaking was a far cry from his appearance. Kiryuuin figured his usual hobby was pretending to be [kind, innocent, and cute], then looking down on everyone while observing them from the dark side of his heart.

"A lady isn't afraid."

Fuka Kiryuin flashed a dashing smile. As long as she got serious, she'd win.

Kiryuuin went behind Star Color to check whether he was wearing a communicator or other devices. She couldn't see anything, so she went ahead and felt him up.

"Ah—Senior, what are you doing?"

"D-don't! Not there!"

Star Color squirmed and yelped on the chair, instinctively trying to get away, but she held him firmly in place.

Star Color's face was flushed, and he lay sprawled across the chair, panting as Fuka Kiryuin [inspected] his entire body.

"My body's been defiled... I'll never find a girlfriend now."

Kiryuuin tossed the [Blindfold] in her hand onto Star Color's face.

"Ow, ow—Senior, be gentler!"

Feeling the terrifying, uncanny force of the cloth as it tightly constricted his skull, Star Color thought he'd turn into a smashed watermelon if this went on... He stopped running his mouth and immediately begged for mercy.

Asahina Nazuna watched the two of them interact with a helpless look.

"Ahem. I'm not a third wheel, you know."

"Asahina, start round two!"

"Round two of the [Offense-Defense Battle] begins."

Star Color sat upright with both hands on his thighs. Though the blindfold covered his most distinctive feature, it also somehow made him seem more [provocative].

This time, the music was the famous piece Flower Dance, which appeared in the Italian sci-fi cult film Assig: Outer Space.

(Music translation: Flower Dance)

It was a very beautiful piano piece, except that a few notes were off.

When she placed the bead under the cup on the far right, the melody seemed to go out of tune for a few notes.

(The author doesn't know how to play piano. If you do, don't beat me up.)

Star Color gently swayed his head to the melody, his lips opening and closing as if he were saying something.

Suddenly, she understood! Star Color's method of cheating!

She planned to put it to the test this round and see whether Star Color could [hear]!

Kiryuuin nodded to indicate she was done.

Her sharp gaze fixed on Star Color, as murderous as a leopard about to catch a lamb.