The Biggest Winner

"I'm screwed!" (Kato Satsu)

"Damn, it's the dreaded choice between two! In this situation, even mind-reading won't help. Pick one, and you offend the other; pick neither, and you offend them both!" (Kato Satsu)

"Doing nothing is the most terrifying option here. The late-night radio host in the apartment next door caused a whole mess of trouble later on by doing nothing." (Kato Satsu)

After freezing for a moment, Satsu made his choice. Staring straight ahead, he said, "Yes, Heart. I promised Hasebe I'd go to the mall with her."

"I can't go back on my word."

At that, joy spread across Hasebe's face, though what she felt most was relief.

She knew perfectly well that she and Satsu had never actually made plans to go to the mall. But the fact that he had a choice—and had chosen her—made her realize where she stood in Satsu's heart.

"You're really going?" Inogashira asked, unwilling to give up.

When Satsu gave a slight nod, Hasebe stepped forward at just the right moment and linked her arm through his. "That's how it is. Even though he isn't feeling well, Satsu still chose to come with me."

"Okay, Inogashira, you should head back to your dorm." With that, Hasebe pulled Satsu away.

After they'd taken a few steps, she seemed to remember something and turned back to Inogashira. "Don't worry. I'll keep an eye on Satsu and make sure he doesn't overexert himself."

"Whoa, what a vicious taunt!" Satsu thought sarcastically to himself.

If Satsu couldn't read minds, he'd never have figured out even if you dug out his brain that this was a taunt. It hit about as hard as someone insulting you by saying, "Your mom doesn't like you."

It wasn't until they'd left the school building and Hasebe seemed to have calmed down that Satsu finally spoke. "You didn't have to compete with Heart over something like this."

Hasebe shot him a sidelong glance and said sarcastically, "You keep calling her Heart. How close."

"What, do you feel bad for her? Regretting that you chose to go to the mall with me?"

"I can't compare to her, obviously. You call her Heart, but I'm just Hasebe. Then again, we never actually agreed to go to the mall in the first place."

"Since that's the case, hurry back and find her. Maybe she hasn't left yet." With that, Hasebe strode off without looking back.

But moments later, the sound of hurried footsteps came from behind her. Before she could turn around to see what was happening, someone suddenly wrapped his arms around her from behind.

(Xiaoyi's friendly reminder: Unless you know how she feels about you—and you've got a decent face—this move is extremely dangerous. Please, don't try it!)

(You'll get slapped!!!)

"Believe me, there's nothing between her and me."

Hearing Satsu's voice, Hasebe instinctively tried to break free. But after a few attempts proved useless, she stopped struggling and said, "Nothing, huh? I think there'll be something between you two soon enough!"

At that, Satsu gently stepped around in front of Hasebe and placed his hands on her shoulders, looking at her.

Hasebe instinctively turned her head away, but seemed to feel Satsu's gaze on her. After a long moment, she took a deep breath, slowly turned back, and lifted her eyes to his.

"Will you stop being mad?" Satsu asked gently.

Hasebe didn't answer right away. Instead, she glanced at Satsu's hands, still resting on her shoulders, then slowly said, "What are we, right now?"

Realizing that they were acting far too close, Satsu paused, then withdrew his hands.

Only then did Hasebe relax. "Is your foot okay? Inogashira said you hurt it."

"It's fine. It won't stop us from going to the mall."

Hasebe gave a slight nod, walked around Satsu, and started on ahead at an easy pace.

Seeing that, Satsu chuckled softly, then jogged to catch up, ignoring the discomfort in his body.

Unbeknownst to them, Suzune was watching with a satisfied look from behind a large tree nearby, examining the photos on her phone.

She opened her messages and quickly sent Ayanokoji a text.

"It's taken care of. Kato won't keep stopping you from gathering Yamauchi and the others. He'll even help."

Ayanokoji replied quickly. "How can you be so sure?"

After waiting a long time without hearing back from Suzune, Ayanokoji tossed his phone onto the bed and stopped paying attention to it.

"No way. Horikita got Kato to fold that easily?" (Ayanokoji Kiyotaka)

"Was it a honey trap? Did she promise to be his girlfriend if he agreed to help?" (Ayanokoji Kiyotaka)

"Come to think of it, Horikita really is beautiful. Satsu, he..." (Ayanokoji Kiyotaka)

"Forget it. I should figure out how to talk to Yamauchi and the others first." (Ayanokoji Kiyotaka)

He told himself he needed to come up with a plan, but Ayanokoji didn't do a thing. He flopped onto the bed without a care and drifted off into a blissful sleep.