Acceptance and Rejection

"As for private time... Hoshinomiya-kun, do you want to monopolize my free time?"

Sakayanagi Arisu gently stirred her coffee with a spoon, her tone calm and composed, though a hint of mischief surfaced in her eyes.

"Of course."

Hoshinomiya Rinyu answered without hesitation. He had already confessed his admiration and affection for her earlier, so concealing it now would only seem hypocritical.

Sakayanagi Arisu continued to smile as she watched the boy.

Hoshinomiya Rinyu met her gaze openly. He had already voiced his admiration and affection in the previous chapter, so there was no need to deliberately feign detachment now.

"Come to think of it, the school pool will be opening soon. I rather want to see what Lady Alice looks like in a swimsuit."

Hoshinomiya Rinyu stood and walked to the girl's side.

The chair legs scraped softly against the floor.

He went around to the other side of the table, pulled out a chair, and sat beside Sakayanagi Arisu before speaking softly.

"If you have the time, would Lady Alice be willing to go with me?"

Sakayanagi Arisu's hand holding the coffee spoon paused slightly.

Her thoughts stalled for a brief moment, but she regained her composure almost immediately.

The mischief that had lingered in her eyes faded slightly. Clearly, she had not expected him to respond to her teasing in such a manner.

She did not turn her head at once and continued looking ahead, only letting the corner of her eye quietly sweep toward the boy beside her. Her voice remained steady, though it carried a trace of barely perceptible surprise.

"I didn't expect Hoshinomiya-kun's answer to be so direct."

Hoshinomiya Rinyu did not look at her. His gaze rested on the coffee cup on the table.

The impulse had driven him to sit here, but now that he was truly close to her, he found himself unsure of what to say.

An indescribable heat filled his chest, yet little emotion showed on his face as he spoke lightly.

"I simply hope to spend a little more time with Alice."

He deliberately avoided meeting her eyes at such close range, unwilling to let Sakayanagi catch the fleeting wavering within him. His fingertips pressed lightly against the cold edge of the table as he tried to steady his suddenly chaotic thoughts.

"Still, I would be very willing to accept Hoshinomiya-kun's invitation."

Sakayanagi Arisu turned toward him, her lips still curved in her usual mischievous smile, though a trace of unconcealed delight hid in her eyes.

Her tone was as composed as ever, but her genuine joy quietly showed through nonetheless.

At that reply, Hoshinomiya Rinyu's fingertips trembled slightly.

After chatting idly for a while, the two of them pretended to open the materials on the table and assumed the appearance of studying.

Hoshinomiya Rinyu's eyes rested on the pages, but he could not absorb a single line.

The girl he admired was only inches away. Her faint scent drifted gently toward him, while the ripples left by his earlier impulse still echoed in his heart, making his mind wander against his will.

Sakayanagi Arisu likewise failed to settle down and focus on studying. Her fingertips slowly turned the pages without truly examining the questions written on them.

Without turning her head, she could clearly sense the movements of the boy beside her, and her peripheral vision occasionally fell upon his profile.

In the quiet space, only the soft rustling of turning pages remained. No unnecessary words were spoken, yet the air quietly became layered with an ambiguous intimacy that was both near and distant.

Time slowly passed within that wordless atmosphere, and neither of them took the initiative to break the brief tranquility.

Outside the window, the sunlight quietly shifted, lightly overlapping their shadows across the tabletop.

"Um... w-what did Kushida-san and Ayanokoji-kun want to see me about?"

The girl before them wore a pair of non-prescription glasses, her pink hair tied into twin tails that fell over her shoulders.

She hunched slightly, unease written across her face as she tremblingly asked the two people in front of her.

Her hands tightly gripped the hem of her school uniform, her shoulders unconsciously drawing inward. Thick lenses concealed most of her eyes, and her gaze remained lowered to the floor as she did not dare look directly at Kushida or Ayanokoji.

Though no pressure had been placed upon her, Sakura Airi looked so uneasy that she seemed ready to turn and flee at any moment.

"Sakura-san, sorry for calling you over so abruptly, but there is something we wanted to confirm with you."

Kushida Kikyo put away her usual gentle smile and looked solemnly at the timid girl before speaking first.

Ayanokoji stood quietly beside her without interrupting, merely observing Sakura's reaction in silence.

After hearing the full account of what had happened, Sakura Airi's body suddenly trembled. Her lips moved slightly, but for a moment, she could not form a complete sentence.

She instinctively shrank her shoulders back, clutching the hem of her uniform even tighter. She shook her head in panic, fragmented excuses already reaching her lips as she prepared to refuse.

Just as Sakura Airi was about to voice her rejection, Ayanokoji, who had silently watched until then, stepped half a pace forward and interrupted her. His calm voice slowly rang out.

"I understand that this will put a great deal of pressure on you. Forcing you to step forward and testify would be unreasonable in itself."

There was not the slightest pressure in his tone. It was so flat that it nearly sounded cold, and he made no attempt to bind the timid girl before him with moral arguments.

His gaze fell upon Sakura, who had her head lowered, without revealing any unnecessary emotion.

"However, once Sudo is judged to be a bully, the outcome awaiting him will be expulsion. Class D will suffer considerable losses as well. You are the only person who witnessed the entire incident. Your testimony can directly influence the final outcome. Of course, the choice remains yours."

Ayanokoji did not urge her. Once he finished speaking, he fell silent and quietly waited for Sakura Airi's answer.

After hearing the boy's words, which carried no coercion yet weighed heavily with every sentence, Sakura Airi's body tensed further.

Her fingers gripping her uniform hem tightened until her knuckles turned white, as though she might tear through the fabric. She buried her head low, the lenses reflecting a faint light that obscured the panic churning in her eyes.

She understood very well that a single word from her might determine whether a classmate stayed or left.

But at the thought of standing before so many teachers and students, recounting what had happened in public and enduring everyone's gaze, intense fear seized her.

She did not want to reveal her identity!

"I... I can't..."

A tiny, trembling voice slipped intermittently from between her lips, so soft it nearly vanished into the air.

"I can't testify in front of that many people... I can't do it."

She did not dare remain any longer. She took two steps back as though fleeing, and before Kushida could speak again to persuade her, she turned around and hurried away.

Watching Sakura's retreating figure, Kushida Kikyo's face filled with helplessness. She turned to look at Ayanokoji beside her.

"It still failed."

Ayanokoji looked in the direction where the girl had disappeared, his expression as calm as ever, betraying little emotion.

"As expected. Mere verbal persuasion could never easily convince someone who is terrified of appearing in public."

PS: This chapter was posted a little late today. Sorry, dear readers—I thought I had already posted it. Sob sob sob~