"Student, it's nothing like that. I'm just watching the show."
Seeing Ren looking at her with the eyes of a predator sizing up its prey, Utaha Kasumigaoka instinctively shuddered.
She took a step back, waving her hand to clear any relationship with Tomoya Aki.
A wise man submits to circumstances.
Having witnessed Eriri Spencer Sawamura, that little blonde, being mercilessly hung from the tree by Ren even after exposing her background...
Utaha, who had no such background, wasn't about to lose her head and go against Ren.
Utaha was sharp-tongued, but she knew who to use it on.
If she used her sharp tongue on ordinary students, they would at most ignore her or badmouth her behind her back with their friends.
This wouldn't work on Ren. If she dared to be sharp-tongued with him without justification, Ren would really hang her on the tree.
As for why Aki had no justification...
Heh, Utaha saw with her own eyes that Ren was interrupted rudely by Aki just as he was about to start his speech.
Who could stand that?
Putting herself in his shoes, Utaha certainly couldn't.
Aki, that cheap bone, had finally met a hard bone like Ren.
"Alright, student. If you want to take a closer look, you can stand closer."
Ren withdrew his gaze from Utaha and looked beside him, his tone somewhat helpless.
"Student, you've been standing beside me for a long time. Is something the matter?"
The girl with the black bob cut beside him had been standing there since he started hanging Aki upside down. She didn't speak or leave; she just watched quietly.
When Eriri came to argue with him, she was like this.
Even when he was chatting with that unnamed student just now, this girl didn't make any moves.
It was as if she didn't exist.
Quiet, peaceful, and lonely.
"Eh? Katsuragi-kun, you can see me?"
Faced with Ren's inquiry, Megumi Kato actually became curious.
She had been standing beside Ren for a long time, and he had been ignoring her presence.
Kato thought her constitution of having no presence was acting up again, but it turned out Ren was just too lazy to pay attention to her?
This was the first time Kato had met someone who wouldn't ignore her existence.
It wasn't just strangers; even her family sometimes subconsciously ignored Kato's existence.
Because of this, Kato was very distressed about her special constitution.
It was supposed to be a family trip, but in the end, she was left behind alone. That feeling really wasn't good.
"Student, I think we are living in a realistic world. There are no supernatural things like evil spirits or monsters."
Although he didn't understand why the bob-haired girl asked him this, Ren still explained patiently.
She had no bad intentions and wasn't Aki's accomplice, so there was no problem.
"Katsuragi-kun, may I ask when you noticed I was beside you?"
Kato was a bit eager. She wanted to see if Ren had known of her existence all along or if he had discovered her at a certain point.
These two processes meant a lot to Kato.
The former meant Ren was immune to the constitution that distressed her. The latter... well, there wasn't much to say.
If it was the latter, the other party would eventually forget her in future interactions.
"Probably since I hung up the little rat."
"Little rat?"
Kato paused, then looked at Aki, who was still struggling behind Ren, and suddenly understood.
The timing matched. Ren had known of her existence from the very beginning. Thinking of this, Kato felt a little joy in her heart.
It was like... even though you had been forgotten by the world, there was finally one person who remembered you.
"Student, is there anything else?"
Ren didn't understand what the girl in front of him was happy about.
"Katsuragi-kun, can we get to know each other? I'm also a student of Class 2-F, which means I'm your classmate."
Compared to Tomoya Aki, who pestered her, tried to drag her into his club, and wanted her to be the heroine of his game, Kato was more interested in Ren, who wouldn't ignore her existence.
"Hello, I'm Ren Katsuragi." Ren extended a hand towards Kato.
Undeniably, the first thing people look at in interactions is appearance.
Eyes are the windows to the soul?
Beautiful skins are all the same, interesting souls are one in a million?
Correct, but eyes can lie, and souls cannot be felt without contact.
Appearance is the simplest and most advantageous weapon.
Ren readily accepted the friendship request from the cute girl in front of him.
"Hello, Katsuragi-kun. I'm Megumi Kato."
Kato extended her soft, white hand to hold the hand Ren offered, introducing herself.
"Um... Katsuragi-kun, may I ask how long you plan to hang them there?"
Witnessing the conversation between Ren and Kato, and realizing Ren wasn't as scary as she imagined, Utaha summoned up her courage and leaned in.
Although she wouldn't suffer with them, it should be fine to ask how long they would suffer, right?
Should be...
Fine, right?
Utaha wasn't sure, so she quickly added, "If Katsuragi-kun doesn't want to say, it doesn't matter."
Better them than me. This attitude of self-preservation was displayed vividly by Utaha at this moment.
Checking the time on his phone, Ren gave a definite answer: "Hang them until school is over. I don't want to use my after-school time to keep them company."
Hearing this fixed answer, Utaha breathed a sigh of relief.
"Okay, sorry to trouble you, Katsuragi-kun."
Giving Aki and Eriri a look that said "Good luck," Utaha chose to flee.
"You..."
Seeing Utaha running away, Eriri instinctively wanted to say she had no loyalty.
But she swallowed the words back. Ren dared to hang even her on the tree. If Utaha dared to plead for her, she would definitely not escape the fate of being hung on the tree.
Knowing she couldn't blame Utaha for this, Eriri could only bite her little tiger tooth and glare viciously at Ren's back.
The culprit!
Feeling the gaze behind him, like a kitten baring its fangs, Ren held his phone out to Kato and chuckled softly. "Kato-san, want to exchange LINEs?"
"Okay, Katsuragi-kun."
Scanning the QR code on Ren's phone, Kato successfully added Ren as a friend.
Hanging upside down on the tree, witnessing all this, Aki's eyes were about to split open.
The heroine destined for him... just added another boy's contact info like that?
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