Thursday, noon.
Leaving aside the tense atmosphere in the Student Council on the top floor of the freshman division, the atmosphere in Class A of the second-year division was quite harmonious.
"Ye, what elective did you choose for Thursday afternoon? I don't think I saw you go to class on Tuesday afternoon."
The girl named Yumiko from earlier opened her lunchbox and asked Ye Shiyu, who was sitting in her seat.
Today, Ye Shiyu wore a hair accessory, an early-spring white knit top, a beige midi skirt, and white ankle socks.
Like spring snow beneath newly cleared skies, she looked exceptionally pure and lovely.
Ye Shiyu looked at Yumiko and answered simply,
"...Handicrafts."
"Oh, Yumiko, I think the Handicrafts Class teacher sent them out to buy materials on Tuesday. That's why they didn't have class."
Beside Yumiko was another girl named Aijia, a good friend of hers.
"I see. Ye, would you like to have lunch with us? Looks like we all like bringing lunchboxes to school."
"Yeah, yeah! Let us see what you're eating, too!"
Opening her lunchbox expressionlessly, Ye Shiyu glanced at them. After considering it for a moment, she nodded and came over with her lunchbox.
Ever since Yan Huan's visit on Monday, the girls in class had become very friendly toward her.
They would strike up conversations with her, casually or deliberately, and even when they didn't chat, they would smile and say hello.
She didn't know whether Yumiko had told everyone about her relationship with Yan Huan as older sister and younger brother.
Still, she didn't dislike them saying that.
With a cheerful smile, Yumiko opened her lunchbox, revealing a very attractive lunch with a mix of meat and vegetables. Aijia covered her mouth and said,
"Wow, Yumiko, your cooking keeps getting better! That looks so appetizing."
"Hehe, I picked up a trick online recently."
Ye Shiyu opened her lunchbox too. For an instant, it seemed to burst with golden light, revealing steaming hot food.
Abalone, Lobster Meat, and several very attractive Dragon Nation Cuisine dishes.
Yumiko and Aijia were both dazzled by the food. Even more absurdly, they discovered that Ye Shiyu's lunchbox actually had a heating function.
Looking at the lunchbox engraved with the name "Ye Shiyu," Yumiko and Aijia were both rather astonished.
"Ye, the food your family makes is so luxurious..."
"..."
Ye Shiyu blinked and looked at Yumiko and Aijia, seemingly unsure how to respond. Instead, her stare made them laugh.
They were increasingly realizing that Ye Shiyu seemed very bad at communicating with others, but she wasn't difficult to get along with.
"Well then, time to eat!"
"Let's eat!"
"..."
While the two of them pressed their palms together for some sort of ritual, Ye Shiyu picked up her chopsticks and dug straight in.
As they ate, the atmosphere among the girls gradually warmed.
"Hey, speaking of which, Yumiko, do you make lunchboxes for your boyfriend?"
"Sometimes."
Yumiko took a bite of rice and said with some distress,
"Owen eats so much. One lunchbox isn't nearly enough for him, but making too much makes it hard to carry. Better to let him eat in the cafeteria."
Hearing that, Aijia grinned at Ye Shiyu and explained,
"Yumiko's boyfriend is Owen, the president of our school's Track and Field Club! He's super impressive and super muscular!"
Ye Shiyu showed little reaction and kept eating.
"And Yumiko is our class's famous matchmaker. If you like anyone, Ye, you can ask her to help set you up. Her success rate is super high."
At that, Ye Shiyu's eating paused slightly.
She turned to look at the fashionably dressed Yumiko beside her, making Yumiko a little embarrassed instead.
Yumiko knocked Aijia on the head with her little fist and chided,
"What do you mean, super high success rate? Haven't all my attempts to set you up failed?"
Holding her head, Aijia hurriedly explained,
"My fault, my fault! I always change my mind at the last minute. Mainly because, by the end, I always feel like I don't like the guy that much after all. He's different from what I imagined."
"Hmph. You don't even know what type you like, and you want to date someone? Even if you did get together like that, you'd definitely end up breaking up. Honestly..."
A little embarrassed, Aijia quickly redirected the attention, grinning at Ye Shiyu.
"Right, Ye, do you have a type of guy you like?"
"..."
Ye Shiyu stared blankly at Aijia, who said quite openly,
"Tell Yumiko about it! Wouldn't it be such a shame not to date anyone in college? Our school already has more girls than boys. The good guys are in high demand."
Yumiko also looked at Ye Shiyu curiously and volunteered, resting her chin in her hands,
"Personally, I prefer athletic guys who look strong. Muscles make them even better."
"Me, me, me! I like good-looking guys!"
"Tch, how does that count as a type...?"
The type of guy she liked.
Ye Shiyu's gaze went unfocused, and her chewing slowed.
In that instant, Yan Huan's face actually surfaced in her mind.
But she wasn't quite sure whether this was the romantic affection they were talking about, or simply the urge to defile him.
Desire.
Ye Shiyu began thinking seriously.
"I like..."
Yet a moment later, she suddenly stopped again, unsure what to say.
Seeing this, Yumiko hurriedly began guiding her patiently.
"Hmm, Ye, do you like someone older than you, or...?"
"Younger than me."
She said that with certainty.
"Then someone who can take care of you, or someone who's more attached to you?"
I don't need anyone to take care of me. I want to take care of him, just like I take care of those dolls.
Likewise, he should belong to me like a doll, keeping me company every day.
But it seems...
Yan Huan has always taken good care of me.
"I... don't know either."
And so, that was what Ye Shiyu said.
"Then someone more introverted, or more cheerful?"
"More cheerful is definitely better!"
Aijia chimed in, only for Yumiko to glare at her. She pouted helplessly.
After a moment's thought, Ye Shiyu nodded and said,
"Someone more cheerful, who smiles at me often... I really like it when he smiles at me..."
Someone like Yan Huan.
Aijia looked at Yumiko with an expression that said, "See? I was right."
But the more Yumiko asked, the harder it became to maintain her smile, and sweat began to bead on her forehead.
Why does it feel like you already have an answer in mind, Ye?
The more I ask, the clearer the matching image seems to become.
Doesn't this feel a little predetermined?
Don't tell me...
The one you like is President Yan?!
Then what exactly is going on with that sister-and-brother relationship between you two?
Surely this isn't incest?
That's just too...
Yet Aijia, beside her, seemed not to notice the implications in Ye Shiyu's words at all. Rubbing her chin, she concluded,
"So, Ye, you like the younger, sweet puppy-dog type of guy."
"..."
Ye Shiyu looked at her, not understanding what she meant.
Reading her confusion, Aijia raised a finger and explained,
"You know, a cheerful, cute, little-brother type! Oh, those guys are so energetic."
Stop talking, Aijia!
Keep going and that answer is going to come bursting out!
Yumiko covered her face and shouted inwardly.
Meanwhile, after considering it, Ye Shiyu nodded in wholehearted agreement.
Stop playing off each other and deepening your understanding!!
Yumiko raised her head and forced a smile at Ye Shiyu.
"S-so that's how it is..."
"Hehe, then you should visit the freshman division more often, Ye. And you'll have to work hard on your communication skills, too."
"Communication... skills?"
"For example, right now, we have to say a whole bunch to you before you can barely manage a single reply. That makes talking to you tiring for guys, and they might give up."
Looking at Ye Shiyu, Aijia explained patiently,
"Love comes from heart-to-heart communication, but hearts can't express their thoughts on their own. That's why you have to say sweet things out loud.
"If you can't communicate normally and share your thoughts, even if you do get together, you'll definitely argue a lot afterward."
What a hassle.
Hypnosis would still be simpler.
Ye Shiyu thought for a second, and that idea popped into her head.
But she quickly shook her head again, emphasizing to herself.
Didn't I already promise I would absolutely never use the Modifier on him again?!
Ye Shiyu, oh, Ye Shiyu, how can you let yourself sink so low?
"If you like someone, Ye, taking a little initiative after carefully checking him out is a good option, too!
"Hehe, puppy-dog boys were born to be won over by older girls and then bullied mercilessly. Thinking about it that way, the cute expressions they make after being bullied sound pretty nice, too!"
Bullied mercilessly?
Ye Shiyu's breathing grew much faster. She was just short of slamming the approval button.
Looking at the enthusiastic Aijia before her, Yumiko covered her face and said rather speechlessly,
"You've never even dated anyone. How come you sound so knowledgeable when you're teaching other people?"
"Huh?"
Aijia rubbed her head sheepishly.
"Theoretical experience is still experience! I've watched plenty of Romance Dramas. I know everything!"
"And the moment you have to put it into practice, you turn into a clown, right?"
Yumiko looked at Ye Shiyu beside her, who had stopped eating altogether and instead seemed to have sunk into some kind of contemplation.
Shiyu, you brilliant strategist, you aren't actually going to listen to this genius Aijia's dating advice, are you?
And use it on President Yan, at that?
Yumiko opened her mouth, but couldn't really say anything. All she could do was helplessly avert her gaze and look out the window.
On the field outside, the Track and Field Club members were training hard, seemingly preparing for some upcoming event.
Leading the runners was a tall, muscular blond boy.
It was none other than Yumiko's boyfriend, Owen.
She smiled fondly, resting her chin in her hands as she watched him train.
Ah.
The Club War was coming soon.
That afternoon, in the Handicrafts Class classroom in the elective building, a handsome boy yawned.
Ever since that strange Modifier had ambushed him at noon, Yan Huan had been considering who its host was and what their motive for attacking him had been.
Spencer was the likeliest candidate. Both her identity and her motive fit.
She had a Modifier, and he had only just provoked her. She had still been fuming when she left.
But if that was the case, wasn't her blond delinquent Modifier far too powerful? Did it have that many functions?
What about the others?
Hitomi Sakuramiya and You Anlina had also been on that floor at the time, but they had absolutely no motive to do that to him.
With such an immense surge of pleasure, however he looked at it, that Modifier's host must have used it out of hatred toward him.
Surely their hand hadn't slipped and made them use the wrong Modifier?
Girls at school who hate me...
Aside from Bai Yi and Spencer, could there be someone else?
If it was someone else, then her Modifier must have a very wide attack range, deal heavy damage, and even pierce resistance.
Thinking about it that way, doesn't that sound a little like an ADC?
"Everyone, take out the materials you prepared, pair up, and sit down at a workbench. Then I'll explain today's assignment."
The teacher's words interrupted Yan Huan's thoughts, and quite a few girls around him who knew each other had already started pairing up.
He looked around. There were hardly any boys here. Yan Huan had only chosen this class because he hadn't managed to get a spot in another one.
At the time, his only two options had been Handicrafts Class or cheerleading.
Compared with cheerleading, which required a public group performance at the end of the semester, he still felt Handicrafts Class suited him better.
Besides, he could take this class with Ye Shiyu, couldn't he?
Yan Huan searched for Ye Shiyu and soon found her at the back of the classroom.
Only to discover that she was looking at him too.
"Sister Shiyu."
Smiling, Yan Huan picked up his bag and walked briskly toward her.
When he reached Ye Shiyu, he invited her,
"Sister Shiyu, want to pair up with me?"
Ye Shiyu nodded, agreeing.
"Great! Let's sit here. I don't know much about handicrafts. I only picked this because I couldn't get into another class. Having you help should make things a lot easier."
"Mm."
Ye Shiyu sat down at a workbench with a sewing machine, and Yan Huan sat beside her.
She silently turned to study Yan Huan. The more she looked, the cuter she found him.
Yan Huan, however, didn't seem to notice her gaze. He was only examining the bag she had brought to class, which contained a huge amount of materials.
"Sister Shiyu, are these materials required for class too? How come I don't remember seeing them in the notice?"
"..."
Ye Shiyu wanted to say something, but then remembered what Aijia had said earlier.
She wasn't very good with words. Would explaining it that way make him find it troublesome?
So, after a moment of silence, she took out her phone, her fingers tapping nimbly and rapidly across it.
After receiving no response for a while, Yan Huan looked up in confusion, following her movements with his eyes.
"Sister Shiyu?"
What faced him was the phone screen she had raised once again.
Seriously?!
We're in class, Shiyu!
At the sight of this familiar move, Yan Huan nearly jumped out of his seat in fright.
After being hypnotized twice in a row with zero warning, he could only say he had developed a stress response.
"..."
But when he looked, he discovered that the screen wasn't showing the familiar Hypnosis App, but a notes app.
She had typed a line on it.
"This is my materials kit. It includes the materials the teacher requires, as well as other materials for making clothes."
Yan Huan drew his gaze back and looked at Ye Shiyu, who was holding her phone up with both hands, half her face peeking out from behind it as she blinked her dark eyes at him.
Kind of cute.
Though Yan Huan didn't want to admit it, that was indeed a fact.
Are you Komi or something?
Do you have a communication disorder too?
"Oh, I see."
Yan Huan nodded, but still smiled helplessly.
"But why are you typing it out for me?"
Ye Shiyu pulled her phone back and tapped extremely quickly on the nine-key keyboard, typing a sentence in just a few seconds.
Then she raised her phone again, facing it toward Yan Huan.
"Because this lets me say what I want to say quickly, so I can communicate with you a little better, Xiao Huan."
"Hmm."
Yan Huan thought for a moment, then said with a smile,
"Although talking this way is more efficient, you didn't originally have this habit, did you, Sister Shiyu?"
Ye Shiyu didn't type this time. She simply shook her head.
"So, Sister Shiyu, you can just stick to your usual habits. I didn't feel there was any trouble communicating with you before. Making you go to the trouble of changing your communication habits isn't what I want either."
Mainly, with Ye Shiyu raising her phone so frequently, who knew when she would be holding up the notes app and when it would be the Hypnosis App?
"..."
But after hearing his words, Ye Shiyu, still holding up her phone, parted her lips.
Then her eyes slowly averted themselves from Yan Huan's smile, hiding behind her phone screen.
Yan Huan could only see her press her lips together and give an almost imperceptible nod of her fair face, before a quiet, pleasant voice emerged from her throat.
"Mm."
Her earlobes beneath her black hair flushed once more, looking as delectable as cherry blossom mochi.
Yan Huan withdrew his gaze and looked at the teacher at the front.
"Sister Shiyu, it looks like we need to make a little cloth bag today."
"Mm. It's very simple."
"Really? Then teach me, Sister Shiyu."
"Okay."
Ye Shiyu turned her head away and tucked a strand of dark hair behind her ear.
But at the slightest touch, even she noticed that her earlobe felt hot.
Her eyes flickered, and as though afraid Yan Huan would notice, she let the black hair she had tucked away fall back down.
Yan Huan took out his bag of materials, only to discover that he seemed to have forgotten his scissors.
He hadn't bought craft scissors specifically for this class, instead making do with the scissors he normally used.
He might have taken them out to open a package or something at home and then forgotten to put them back.
"Sister Shiyu, I don't think I brought my scissors. Could I borrow yours?"
Incidentally, this was also a test.
Ye Shiyu blinked, then readily took the scissors bearing her name out of her bag and handed them to Yan Huan.
"Okay."
Huh?
Looks like she isn't so possessive anymore.
Does that mean I'm making pretty encouraging progress?
"Thanks, Sister Shiyu."
Yan Huan accepted the scissors she handed him, took out the spool of thread, and began preparing the materials.
Ye Shiyu continued watching the boy beside her until, a moment later, a girl nearby bashfully reached out to poke her shoulder.
But before she could touch her, Ye Shiyu turned toward her, a frightening, eerie light gleaming in her eyes.
Eek!
"..."
Ye Shiyu loathed physical contact with others. She had an almost terrifying intuition, able to turn around instantly before anyone even touched her.
The girl was startled by Ye Shiyu's terrifying gaze and didn't dare speak, but still mustered the courage to point at the scissors Yan Huan was holding over there.
Her meaning was obvious: we'd like to borrow the scissors too.
"..."
Ye Shiyu remained motionless, simply staring at her with an unnerving gaze.
Under that gaze, the girl could no longer sustain her courage. She hurriedly turned away with an awkward smile and went to borrow from someone else.
Not a word had been exchanged. Meanwhile, Yan Huan, who had taken out all his materials, had only just raised his head and spoken to Ye Shiyu.
"Sister Shiyu, I'm ready. Take a look. Is this enough?"
Ye Shiyu turned back with an expressionless face. Her unnerving gaze gradually receded, turning into a harmless blankness.
She glanced over the materials, nodded, and said,
"Mm. That's everything."
"Then shall we start?"
"Mm. I can do it."
"That would be too much trouble for you. Let's do it together."
"...Okay, Xiao Huan."
Before you continue