Hiyori clutched her book tightly to her chest, bit her lip, and turned her face away. She refused to acknowledge any of it. Ai took note of the reaction and didn't press her, turning instead to sort out the rankings among the others.
"I'm first. Now, who's second?"
"The order after me is determined by who made things official with Ryunosuke first."
Megumi raised her hand with a calm, steady look. "I made things official with Ryunosuke-kun on October 28th, at 4:30 in the afternoon. By that logic, I should be second."
Every pair of eyes in the room turned to her at once, including Ai's.
Ai was slightly startled. How had she barely registered this girl's presence until just now?
Seeing the looks on their faces, all of them staring at her as though she had materialized from thin air, Megumi pursed her lips a little. She had already tried turning off her natural tendency to suppress her presence, but apparently it remained difficult for others to notice her regardless. Still, the date and time she had cited were undeniably early, and no one could argue with it.
At that moment, Airi raised a small, hesitant hand, her voice a little unsteady. "Um, I think the time I made things official with Ryunosuke-kun was just slightly earlier than Kato-san's. Mine was October 27th, at 3:30 in the afternoon. One day before her."
She immediately lowered her hand and looked down, not daring to say more. The message was clear enough, though: she was second.
The light went out of Megumi's expression for a moment.
(I remember that at the time, I was busy holding a fruit knife to Morishita-san's throat to make her back off. It never occurred to me that the shy one would sneak around the corner first.)
She looked at Airi with that quiet, slightly mournful gaze of hers. Truly unexpected. But since Airi had gotten there first, Megumi accepted it without making a fuss.
Ai had no objection either. As long as her position at the top was untouched, the order beneath it was of little concern. Her place as the head was unshakable.
And so it was decided: Sakura Airi would be second, and Kato Megumi would be third. Shiina Hiyori should have been fourth, but since she wanted Ryunosuke all to herself and had refused to join the arrangement, she had walked out. Even so, Ai set the fourth position aside and left it open for her. Fifth place, naturally, fell to the youngest among them, Sakayanagi Arisu.
Arisu wanted to object, but Ai reached for her cane again by way of a threat.
Arisu clenched her fist in silent fury and swallowed the indignity without a word. Once everything had been settled, the group dispersed.
Megumi's eyes had taken on a slightly dim, calculating quality as she left. She slid a sideways glance at Ai before slipping out the door.
Ai, for her part, watched Megumi go with clenched fists and grinding teeth.
That girl was a threat. Aside from her almost nonexistent presence, she was full of schemes. If Megumi decided to make a move on her own, Ai had no reliable way to stop it. She kept forgetting Megumi existed, and that was the problem.
(I need to think of something.)
She reached into her bag and took out a small carving knife. She had made up her mind.
◆━⊰✿✧✿⊱━◆
Back in his dormitory room, Ryunosuke paced back and forth, dragging his hands through his hair. He was completely frantic. His situation had exploded into an open disaster, and calm was simply not available to him. He was even considering taking an extended absence from class until the storm passed. He had no idea the girls had already reached an agreement and settled the rankings among themselves.
Right outside his door, Megumi stood with her hand already on the handle. Her eyes had narrowed to slits. She had decided: she wanted to take first place. And the only card that could beat Ai was having his child before anyone else did.
She had made up her mind to go in tonight and give Ryunosuke no chance to think, no protection, no way out, until it was too late to undo. She was certain he wouldn't be able to turn her away. If she was the first to carry his child, she would become the most undeniably legitimate wife by any moral standard.
Megumi was frighteningly clever about it. Her naturally low presence was a weapon she knew how to use. But just as she was about to turn the handle, a hand closed over hers and stopped her cold. A voice she knew very well came from behind.
"And what exactly do you think you're doing, Kato-san?"
Megumi went rigid. She turned slowly and found Ai standing there.
What stopped her breath was the fresh blood running down Ai's forearm. To keep Megumi's existence fixed in her mind, she had carved a reminder of her into her own skin.
Even at the cost of leaving a permanent scar on her fair arm, she had forced herself to make Megumi's presence impossible to forget.
(Note: In the future, when Ryunosuke discovers this scar and the reason behind it, no one will ever be able to take Ai's position as the head wife from her.)
Megumi stared at the blood with something close to horror. She hadn't expected this. To simply keep herself from forgetting Megumi existed, Ai had been willing to hurt herself. Faced with that, the scheme fell apart in her hands. She conceded, and she acknowledged Ai's position. She knew, honestly, that she herself could never have done something so reckless.
Ai's voice came out firm and clear. "You, and everyone else, are not to be physically intimate with Ryunosuke while we are still at this school. Understood?"
She was drawing a line to keep things from spiraling into chaos. They were all adults, technically, but Ai felt it was too soon for that. At least wait until graduation.
Megumi said nothing. It was evident she wasn't truly listening. She would find a gap if one appeared.
Ai exhaled and offered some room. "I can't be completely rigid about it. Holding hands, hugging, things like that I can accept. What I won't allow, for anyone, including myself, is going past that or kissing. Until we graduate, no one crosses that line. Is that acceptable to you, Kato-san?"
Megumi stayed quiet, still turning possibilities over in her mind. Ai's gaze began to sharpen. "If you still want to push for more, go ahead and try. Let's see whether Ryunosuke listens to me or to you."
She let the full weight of her position as the head wife press into the room. The meaning underneath it was plain: "I've given you ground and shown you consideration. Don't push it."
Megumi let out a long, slow breath. "I understand."
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