After receiving the answer from his senior, Ryunosuke smiled with satisfaction. He leaned back into his seat and refocused on the movie without another word.
Ayanokouji shot him a meaningful glance...
Only Ibuki felt that her martial arts junior was being truly bizarre. Not long after, the credits rolled. Whether by design or coincidence, Ayanokouji made his exit first, leaving the two of them alone.
Ryunosuke knew Ayanokouji had likely misunderstood the situation, but he didn't care. Only Ibuki—the innocent and somewhat slow-witted girl—remained oblivious to the atmosphere. Seeing Ayanokouji leave, she simply let out a long sigh of relief.
"Finally, Stone-Face is gone. I don't know why, but around him, I feel like a mouse staring down a cat. Every time I look at him, the hair on the back of my neck stands up."
Ryunosuke looked at her, amused. "Are you really that terrified of him?"
Ibuki shuddered. "You don't understand! He gives off such a cold, ruthless vibe. I don't want to go anywhere near him!"
"Well, your intuition is sharp enough..." Ryunosuke murmured softly, turning toward her. "Want me to walk you home?"
Ibuki rolled her eyes. "Do I look like a three-year-old to you? 'Walk me home,' honestly."
True to form, Ibuki's straightforward personality caused her to flatly reject Ryunosuke's subtle advance, choosing to head back on her own.
Under the glow of the streetlights that night, just before she departed, Ibuki stole a glance at Ryunosuke. Though it was hard to tell in the shadows, a faint blush touched her cheeks.
"My debt to you is paid~ From now on, I don't owe you a thing..."
Ryunosuke nodded in understanding. Ibuki turned away, walking while playfully bumping her bag with her knee so it swung back and forth, and said with a note of resignation:
"See you tomorrow."
The words carried no special weight; since school was back in session the next day, they were bound to run into each other.
Ryunosuke gave a small nod. "See you tomorrow, Ibuki."
"Call me Senpai!" Ibuki barked, swinging her bag at him in mock annoyance. They continued to bicker and joke all the way back to their respective dorms—since the boys' and girls' wings shared the same complex, they were headed the same way.
◆━⊰✿✧✿⊱━◆
Time flew by, and about ten days later, the third Special Exam loomed on the horizon. The parameters for this test were simple and blunt: Academic Excellence.
This immediately sent Class 2-D—whose average scores were abysmally low—into a tailspin of anxiety. Yukino stared at the group of "idiots" before her with a piercing gaze, her words showing no mercy:
"How were any of you even accepted into a high-level school like this?"
"Did you all get in through the back door?"
Yukino rattled the test papers in her hand. These were practice problems she had designed herself to gauge her classmates' true abilities so they could improve before the actual exam. The result? The majority could barely scrape a 50. Her blood pressure spiked instantly.
Technically, that was a passing grade—the threshold was 40—but Yukino was far from satisfied. Since she had taken on the mantle of class leader, she intended to take full responsibility and tolerate zero laziness!
Faced with Yukino's rigid and uncompromising stance, the students of Class D began to grumble. Even Ryuen looked displeased. He felt he had made a mistake in choosing a leader; this girl lacked the charisma of a true commander.
Because of Yukino's harsh attitude, most of Class D refused to listen to her. Only Hiyori, Fumino, and Rizu were willing to follow her lead.
Yukino clenched her fists until the papers in her hand crumpled. Her chest heaved with suppressed emotion.
Completely, utterly hopeless idiots!
Yukino felt she had reached her limit. She briefly considered going on strike, but her iron-clad sense of duty forced her to persevere. It was the definition of powerlessness.
Elsewhere, Haruno had arrived at the school. She had come on a mission from her mother to "scout" potential assets. Previously, she had been held up at the gates by the Chairman, and only now had she been granted entry.
In the Chairman's Office:
Haruno, dressed in professional business attire with a form-fitting pencil skirt, sat fiddling with her phone just to disrupt Narumori's workflow.
Narumori set his pen down and massaged the bridge of his throbbing nose.
"How many times do I have to say it? I am not handing Akasaka over to you. Put that thought out of your mind."
Haruno had come to claim a person. Since the two families were very close, she thought asking Uncle Narumori for one student wasn't asking too much. Unfortunately, Narumori refused. If it were anyone else, it might be negotiable, but she was asking for his own future son-in-law. Why would he ever hand him over to someone else?
Because of this, Haruno decided to be shameless and simply camp out there. It was as if she were saying that if Ryunosuke wasn't given to the Yukinoshita family, she would never stop pestering him.
Narumori covered his face with both hands and said sarcastically, "I'm truly 'grateful' to you!"
Haruno stopped playing with her phone and flashed a brilliant smile. "You're very welcome, Uncle Narumori~"
Narumori was helpless against this particular niece.
(Who does this child take after? Her father is an honest man who's afraid of his wife; her mother is the incredibly serious head of the Yukinoshita household. Haruno is like neither of them.)
Narumori finally threw in the towel. "Fine, just tell me—what do you want?"
Haruno smiled victoriously. "I want to stay here for a while. Uncle, can you arrange a place for me to stay?"
This was Haruno's true objective. She wanted to live inside the school so she could see her cute little sister whenever she wanted, while also attempting to pull Ryunosuke toward the Yukinoshita camp.
Narumori, assuming she was only after Ryunosuke, said curtly:
"Whatever!"
"There are plenty of student dorms here. If you don't mind sharing space, just pick one and let me know. I'll get you the key."
Narumori agreed simply because if he didn't, his work would never get done. Haruno left with a light heart. She wasn't worried about Ryunosuke being snatched away; with herself there as a supporter, how could Ryunosuke possibly jump ship to the Yukinoshitas?
If the Narumori of the future could return to the present, he would want to slap his current self: You idiot! Don't you know that in the future, Ryunosuke actually 'marries' into the Yukinoshita family?! Even if he doesn't replace Arisu, the number of love rivals just multiplied, you bastard!
◆━⊰✿✧✿⊱━◆
Haruno wanted to see her sister, but first, she sought out her best friend, Hiratsuka, for a drink at the bar.
"Cheers!"
Inside the school bar, Hiratsuka was already heavily intoxicated. She rambled, complaining about her father who had ordered her to "conquer" a wet-behind-the-ears kid named Ryunosuke. She slammed her one-liter beer mug—filled with potent sake—onto the table.
"That old man! Does he not see the age gap between us?!"
"Even if I could accept it, there's no way that kid would!"
Hiratsuka downed her sake again—her beer mug was indeed filled with hard liquor.
Haruno just watched from the sidelines. She hadn't expected the Hiratsuka family to get involved as well. But it made sense; it was only natural for someone as exceptional as Ryunosuke to be a prize sought by many.
Haruno took a sip of her drink from a tiny, elegant highball glass. She wasn't as wild as Hiratsuka, who drank from a jumbo mug. Hiratsuka was truly wasted. Haruno could only sigh in resignation, propping up her drunken friend to escort her back to the dormitory.