Ayanokoji Kiyotaka had seen Ikishima Midari on many occasions recently and had admired her in many different poses.
He had seen her gentle and proactive side at the hotel, her high-spirited side at the kendo dojo, and her radical and crazy side at the casino… However, he had never expected to see her holding a gun at a shooting range.
That was quite a coincidence.
Fortunately, when his older brother competed with the athletes before, he hadn't visited a shooting range, so she hadn't seen him and Ayanokoji Kiyotaka in the same place.
It would have been bad if she had seen them.
Although Ayanokoji Kiyotaka had a physical relationship with her, and in their interactions, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka was the dominant one, telling her to pose however he wanted.
But after all, their relationship was not that of a couple but rather "friends with benefits," so it was impossible to bring the dynamics of their time in bed into their daily lives.
No matter what Ikishima Midari did in private or what she said to others, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka couldn't control it, nor could he easily make her shut up.
Ikishima Midari wasn't a talkative person, so Ayanokoji wasn't worried that she would intentionally say things that were detrimental to him, but the fewer people who knew about this matter, the better.
She was too reckless in her daily life; without knowing the seriousness of the situation, she might unintentionally reveal some information.
Fortunately, she had stayed in the shooting range and hadn't come out. If she had coincidentally met the two of them, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka really wouldn't have known how to handle it.
As for now, meeting her was just right.
With her by his side, she could also serve as an "eyewitness," proving that he came to this sports club alone.
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka did not rashly disturb her. She was wearing noise-canceling headphones and hadn't noticed him yet. If he suddenly went up to greet her and triggered her stress response, causing her to turn around and shoot him, that wouldn't be good.
Ikishima Midari's posture for holding the revolver was very standard, as if she had specifically practiced.
Unfortunately, only her posture was standard. Ayanokoji Kiyotaka stood behind her and saw that her hit rate was actually not much different from the other guests around her.
Ikishima Midari seemed dissatisfied with her results as well, raising her gun again to aim and pulling the trigger towards the target—
Unfortunately, Ikishima Midari's shooting performance was not ideal. The next few shots not only lacked accuracy but also missed the target entirely.
Soon, the six bullets in her magazine were expended.
"Tsk."
She tsked in annoyance, pulling the spring-loaded ejector rod below the barrel to eject the empty casings from the cylinder, then, through the loading gate on the right side of the pistol, just like a real revolver, she forcefully pressed the lead bullets one by one into the revolving cylinder.
She was quite skilled at this reloading process.
She defiantly raised her gun again, and as she was about to shoot, her peripheral vision suddenly noticed a boy diagonally to her side who was staring at her.
"...Ayanokoji?"
Ikishima Midari blinked in disbelief. At first glance, she thought she was seeing things, so she quickly removed her noise-canceling headphones, and the intermittent gunshots resumed in her ears.
She shook her somewhat dizzy head and quickly realized that she hadn't seen wrong; Ayanokoji Kiyotaka was right in front of her.
"Ayanokoji, how are you here?!" Ikishima Midari's face showed a surprised expression. She really hadn't expected to meet Ayanokoji Kiyotaka in a place like a shooting range.
"I also feel it's quite a coincidence to meet you here," Ayanokoji said with a smile. "I didn't expect you to enjoy playing with guns?"
"I'm a member here. In my free time, I always come here to play for a day. Besides shooting, I also try other activities..."
Ikishima Midari smiled, crossing her arms and looking at Ayanokoji playfully: "It's you, though. I haven't seen you at this sports club before. You're not stalking me, are you?"
"Yes, I followed you all the way from school. I originally thought you had some special skill, but unfortunately, your marksmanship doesn't seem to be very good," Ayanokoji said with a chuckle.
Ikishima Midari didn't take Ayanokoji's words about "stalking" seriously at all. If he had really followed her from school, she would have noticed long ago.
"Tell me the truth."
"Alright... Someone gave me a business card, saying that with it, I could consume here for free, so I came to check it out." Ayanokoji Kiyotaka shrugged and pulled out the private business card Ayanokoji Kiyotaka had given him.
"How do you have Koenji's private business card?" Ikishima Midari raised an eyebrow, quite surprised. "Didn't that guy go to Advanced Nurturing High School? Did he give you this card?"
Ikishima Midari actually recognized this card?
"Someone else transferred it to me." Ayanokoji Kiyotaka calmly put the card away. "You know him?"
"He also attended Private Hyakkaou Academy in middle school and was in the same grade as me. He was very high-profile and also very good at gambling. He often used his private card as a stake on the gambling table, saying that this card was worth at least ten million or something. I still have some impression of him."
"Then why did he transfer to another school?"
"Because he challenged the new Student Council President when she took office half a year ago. He lost in the gamble, and according to the wager, he left a huge sum of money and dropped out early."
Speaking of this, Ikishima Midari's expression suddenly became a bit annoyed: "If only I had known, I would have challenged the Student Council President back then too."
"Momobami Kirari accepted challenges from many people at that time to establish her authority. Now that her authority is established, she doesn't easily accept challenges from others anymore. I've asked her to gamble several times, but she's refused..."
"You even thought about challenging the Student Council President?"
"That's right, I really want to gamble with her!"
Ikishima Midari nodded vigorously, a slightly dazed smile appearing on her face: "Ayanokoji, don't you think it's incredibly fun to play a gamble where everything is on the line? How exciting would that be! Just thinking about it makes my heart pound!"
"Not at all." Ayanokoji Kiyotaka flicked her forehead, speechless: "I think I told you, I hate gambling my fortune and playing gambles that could harm my body.
You too, it's best to get rid of this bad habit early and stop doing things that harm your body, like playing that fast knife finger game."
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka had currently received two missions from the system: to get Saotome Meari and Ikishima Midari to leave the gambling abyss.
Progress with Meari was smooth, but with Ikishima Midari... Although the two of them had already been completely open with each other and had close contact, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka still couldn't influence her thoughts.
However, she wasn't gambling with others much anymore, shifting her attention to doing 'two-person sports' with him, which was a good sign.
"I know, I know, I've got it under control, just don't worry about these things..." Although Ikishima Midari didn't take Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's words seriously at all, she still appreciated the feeling of being cared for, at least superficially, she humored Ayanokoji.
"Oh, right, you just said my marksmanship was bad, didn't you?
Do you think shooting is that simple? I'm shooting at a ten-meter target, and it's impossible to get good results without long-term practice! I only started shooting recently, so isn't it normal for my marksmanship to be bad?"
Ikishima Midari saw that Ayanokoji Kiyotaka also had a gun in his hand, and her eyes darted around. She suddenly smiled: "Since you also have a gun, let's have a shooting competition!"
"You want to bet?"
"Yes."
Ikishima Midari licked her lips, her breathing quickening: "Let's bet, to see who has better shooting skills! The loser has to do whatever the other person says tonight..."
As she spoke, she deliberately lowered her gaze, looking at Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's lower body.
Ikishima Midari's words carried a strong suggestive meaning.
She wants to gamble with me... Interesting.
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka couldn't help but sneer.
If she had used words like "competition" or "match," Ayanokoji, a complete novice at shooting, might not have accepted. But if it was "gambling," then he really wasn't afraid of Ikishima Midari.
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