You Want Me?

After finally reaching her dorm room, Kazami breathed a sigh of relief and prepared to ask for the information.

But Hoshinomiya gently pushed his hand away and waved, her eyes hazy with drink. "Okay, this is far enough. You were a huge help. Walking while drunk is seriously exhausting. Thanks for supporting me all the way back. Bye~"

With that, she briskly pushed open the door and stepped into her room. With a click, the door shut tight.

She still hadn't told him anything about Ichinose. Kazami stood outside, his eyes lifeless and his face blank, completely petrified.

I'd been conned! That wicked woman had completely and utterly conned me!

He had worked himself to the bone as free labor, helping her back to her dorm, yet she hadn't revealed a single word of the promised information about Ichinose's likes!

Staring at the closed door, he ground his teeth. "You rotten woman! The threads of fate are definitely tangling ominously around you! I curse you to still be unmarried at thirty-five!"

He had still been too conservative in his assessment of this school. To think there was someone like that among the teachers.

After that wretched woman Hoshinomiya played him for a fool without giving him so much as a scrap of information, Kazami left the teachers' dorm building, grumbling and swearing. The late-night campus breeze blew bleakly, filling him with resentment. Sure enough, the prettier the woman, the better she was at lying. Especially older women-he couldn't beat them at their own game.

On Saturday afternoon, Kamuro's little drawing class began.

Kamuro wore loose loungewear and had been in a pretty good mood-until she saw Kazami's finished masterpiece.

"This is..."

Right there on the paper was an erotic yet remarkably soulful piece of fan art, depicting none other than Kamuro. It was positively oozing sex appeal.

Kazami considered this his best drawing yet. He wouldn't sell it even for fifty thousand points.

"Well? This is my fan art of you."

Faced with the supremely confident Kazami, Kamuro remained expressionless. Of course she knew it was her, but that art style...

"When did you draw this?! And have you finally had enough of living? Are you that eager for me to send you across the Sanzu River?"

Wasn't sending me across the Sanzu River a bit too scary? Kazami reassured himself. "You're joking, right? I was just doodling. There's no need to take it seriously."

"Heh heh heh heh."

The girl merely kept chuckling, but her attitude hadn't changed in the slightest. Clearly, she hadn't been joking.

"Hand it over!"

Kamuro stepped forward and reached for the drawing, but Kazami was ready and sidestepped her.

"Give me the drawing! Now!" Refusing to give up, Kamuro lunged at him again.

Seeing how furious she was, Kazami handed her the drawing. "Uh, fine. Here you go."

Yep, just as Kazami expected, the furious girl tore the drawing to pieces.

Afterward, she earnestly warned him, "Remember, never tell anyone else that I taught you to draw."

Kazami was deeply unconvinced. Puffing out his chest and raising his head, he argued, "Come on, Master Kamuro. My drawing skills are clearly pretty good. I've got talent, okay? There's nothing embarrassing about it. Don't worry, I'll definitely make your name famous someday. After all, you taught someone who's going to make a name for himself."

"..."

Famous, certainly, but not in a good way. Kamuro helplessly pressed a hand to her forehead, her gaze full of disdain.

"I'm not talking about your technique. It's your art style. Don't drag me into your embarrassment. If my family finds out I taught you, I'll die."

After their brief chat, Kamuro moved on to the main topic, her tone growing a little more serious. "Your class lately... hasn't a lot been happening? Class D isn't doing too well right now, is it?"

She had only meant to casually ask how things were going in Kazami's class. If he was short on private points, he could ask to borrow some from her.

Kazami completely missed what she meant and sent the conversation off in entirely the wrong direction. He let out a long sigh, his face full of regret.

"Don't even mention it. I'd secured my place as king of the class, but in less than twenty minutes, a bunch of traitors joined forces and overthrew me. Then I was reduced to a lowly lackey. Damn it."

Kamuro Masumi: "..."

She froze, never having expected things to develop like this. How had this suddenly turned into a palace drama about a failed power grab?

"What exactly did you do in class?" Kamuro asked curiously.

Kazami recounted the entire story: the three supremely devious schemes he had proposed at the class meeting-self-destruction, extortion, and becoming a host who provided emotional gratification-along with his determination to save Class D, only for the whole class to reject him and topple him from his throne on the spot.

After listening to the tale of the king's twilight, Kamuro remained silent for a long time. In the end, she said only, "You're way too wicked."

"What?!" Kazami protested, utterly convinced he was in the right. "Our class is already dead last with zero points. We've hit rock bottom. Why bother with morals or rules? We're stuck at zero either way, so we might as well drag everyone down to the same level."

Kamuro nodded, then returned to her original point. "That's true. So do you have enough points right now? I've got some to spare. I can lend you some to tide you over."

Seeing Kamuro act so kind for the first time, Kazami looked at her in disbelief.

"Did you eat something bad? Want me to go with you to the infirmary?"

Kamuro: ...

I really couldn't be too nice to this bastard. You're the one who ate something bad.

"Forget it if you don't want them."

"Wait, godfather! You really are like a second parent to me!"

"What nonsense are you calling me?!" Kamuro's cheeks flushed, and she immediately glared at him, both angry and helpless.

Kamuro was actually offering to lend him points. Ruling out the possibility that she had eaten something bad, Kazami rubbed his chin and hazarded a guess.

"Being this nice... don't tell me you're into me? You want me?"

At that, Kamuro instantly bristled and launched a barrage. "What are you talking about? As if anyone would want you! Am I crazy? Why would I want a stinker like you? You sleaze! Shameless! You've got some nerve! Even a dog wouldn't want you!"

Shameless, at most. Where had "sleaze" come from? And "even a dog wouldn't want me" was going way too far. Still, if Kamuro was saying all that, she probably didn't want him. Kazami let out a long sigh of relief on the spot.

Watching him, Kamuro grew even angrier. "What's that big sigh of relief supposed to mean? So I'm not even good enough for you to want, huh? I seriously want to burst you with one kick. You're infuriating!"

She was talking way too much. Kazami cut in.

"Honestly, you look better when you're not angry. You're really ugly when you get mad."

"You bastard! You absolute bastard!"

Kamuro decided to fight Kazami to the death.

Seeing that she was about to get physical, Kazami immediately changed the subject and hurriedly said, "Let's stop arguing. Oh, right, serious question. How's your preparation for the midterms going?"

At the mention of exams, Kamuro initially looked a little guilty, but she quickly raised her chin and gave a proud huff. "Hmph. I'm a Class A student. My grades are comfortably above you Class D students. My exam prep is coming along perfectly fine."

Judging by Kamuro's lack of confidence, she was clearly just putting on a brave front.