~ 💎 WEEKLY POWER GOALS 💎🔥 60→1ch | 100→2ch | 200→5ch ⏰ Resets Monday!
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“Yeah…
he always seemed so honest…” “I never expected him to be like this…” “Disgusting.
Stay away from him…” The murmurs rose like a tide, cresting from every corner of the room, swallowing Ito Makoto whole.
His face went the color of ash.
His lips trembled.
He wanted to say something, anything, but under the crushing weight of all those contemptuous stares, every word shriveled before it reached his mouth.
He stood there frozen, like a fool.
Sawanaga Taisuke turned to Hyoudou Issei, his voice sharp with irritation.
“Hey!
Hyoudou!
What’s that supposed to mean?
‘No wonder he hangs out with me’, what the hell?” “Ha?
What do I mean?” Hyoudou Issei let out a short, scornful laugh.
“Exactly what I said.
Scum hangs out with scum.” “Ha?” Sawanaga Taisuke looked like he’d just heard the punchline of a terrible joke.
“Scum?
You’re the guy who can’t go five minutes without talking about boobs.
How exactly are you better than me?” Hyoudou Issei’s face went red.
He stiffened his neck and raised his voice.
“At least I only look!
At least I only think about it!” “What about you?
You actually put your hands on girls!
Since day one of this semester, how many girls have you ‘accidentally’ touched?
How many have you harassed?
You’ve got the nerve to come at me?
You?” Behind Li Ancheng, Katsura Kotonoha had her head slightly bowed, crying softly.
The smell at the tip of her nose was no longer the nauseating reek of cigarettes and stale sweat from that memory.
It was something clean.
Something good.
Like cedar, with the warm, dry scent of laundry left in the sun.
The fear that had almost dragged her back into the dark, that cold, clawing sensation, faded quickly behind the shelter of that solid back.
In its place…
was something unfamiliar.
Something warm.
Seeping slowly into her still-trembling heart.
Safety.
This transfer student, with whom she’d only exchanged a handful of words for the very first time today, had stepped between her and that humiliation at her most defenseless, most vulnerable moment.
He hadn’t just blocked the stares.
He had kicked the whole ugly thing far away from her.
Her icy fingertips found the hem of his uniform jacket.
She held on.
The soft fabric pressed against her fingers.
The trembling eased.
She didn’t let go.
Her tears slowed, and then stopped.
Saionji Sekai stared at Katsura Kotonoha, bewildered.
Shouldn’t she be running to her right now?
Wasn’t that the natural thing to do?
Why Ancheng-san?
Was it because she’d spoken well of Ito Makoto before?
Was Kotonoha angry at her?
“Ancheng-san…” Katsura Kotonoha released her grip on Li Ancheng’s hem and gave his sleeve a small, gentle tug.
“…I’ll — I’ll take you to the Kendo Club.” Li Ancheng turned his head.
Her eyes still held a faint gloss of tears.
He nodded, his voice easy and warm.
“Sure.
Thanks.” The two of them left, one after the other.
The classroom didn’t feel any lighter for it.
CRUNCH!
Ito Makoto brought his foot down hard on the empty box, caving it flat.
He stared at Saionji Sekai, his expression dark.
“Was it you?” Saionji Sekai looked up.
“Huh?
What are you talking about?” “I said — was it you?!” He lunged.
Both hands shot forward and seized her by the shoulders.
“Hss — that hurts!” Saionji Sekai sucked in a sharp breath.
“What are you doing?!
Let go of me!” The surrounding classmates flinched at the sudden violence, heads snapping toward them.
THUD!
A dense, meaty impact.
Hyoudou Issei had closed the distance without anyone noticing.
His fist drove hard into the side of Ito Makoto’s face.
Ito Makoto’s head snapped sideways.
He staggered back, one step, two, three, until his back crashed into a desk and he barely caught himself.
“Ito Makoto!
Are you out of your mind?!” Hyoudou Issei planted himself in front of Saionji Sekai.
He jabbed a finger at Ito Makoto, then swept a hard look at Sawanaga Taisuke, who was already shifting his weight like he was thinking about moving.
“You put your hands on a girl?!
You want a fight?
Let’s go.
I’m right here.
And you, Sawanaga, if you’ve got something to say, come on.
Both of you at once.” Ito Makoto wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand.
His eyes never left Saionji Sekai’s face.
“Talk it out?
I’ve got nothing to say to her.
It was her.
It was her!
She swapped my gift!” “Ha?” Hyoudou Issei’s fist froze in the air.
His brain stalled out completely.
Sw, swapped?
The gift?
The underwear?
Wait.
Saionji?
Why?
What kind of development even is this?!
A love triangle?
Love turned to hate?
Had he just stumbled headfirst into some completely unhinged emotional catastrophe?
“What are you even talking about?!” Saionji Sekai was rubbing her aching shoulder.
She’d decided he’d simply lost his mind.
“I swapped your gift?!
Why would I swap your gift?!
Ito Makoto, do you have paranoid delusions?!” “I went out of my way to help you go after Kotonoha!
I gave you advice!
I helped you pick the gift!
And now you’re turning around and accusing me?!
I haven’t even brought up the fact that you’re the reason Kotonoha is upset with me!” “Out of the goodness of your heart?!” Ito Makoto was shaking.
“If not you, then who?!
Taisuke?!
You call that helping me?!
It was never about helping me, it’s because you like me!” A pin-drop silence fell over the classroom.
Every classmate who had been watching from the corners of their eyes went wide-eyed at once, straining to catch every single word.
Saionji Sekai stared at him.
She pointed at her own nose.
The fury on her face curdled slowly into something beyond disbelief.
“…Me.
Like you?” “What else?!” Ito Makoto pushed forward like a man who’d found the only truth that made sense.
“Why else would you go to all that trouble to help me chase Kotonoha?!
Why else did you switch seats with Setsuna back then and sit next to me?!” “You had your own agenda the whole time!
You wanted to get close to me, but you couldn’t stand watching me be with Kotonoha, so you pulled this stunt to make sure she’d never accept me!” “You —!” Saionji Sekai’s tears finally broke free.
But this time it had nothing to do with pain.
This was rage.
This was the pure, burning grievance of being twisted into something she was not.
“Ito Makoto!
You are completely unreasonable!” She scrubbed the tears off her face with one hard swipe.
Her voice came out loud, almost shaking with the force of her anger.
“I switched seats because you helped Setsuna at the opening ceremony!
I thought that meant you were a decent person and I wanted to get to know you, that was it!” “And when I found out you liked Kotonoha, I genuinely thought she was wonderful and that you two suited each other.
That’s why I tried to help you.
That’s all it was!” “I can’t believe I ever thought you were worth helping!” She glared at him, her expression iron.
Slow.
Deliberate.
Every word landing like a verdict.
“Listen to me carefully.” “This.
Is.
Not.
Like.” “And if you want to know what kind of guy I actually like,” The image surfaced without her permission.
That tall, steady figure, stepping in front of Katsura Kotonoha without a moment’s hesitation.
The kind of presence that made everything stop feeling dangerous.
“…It would be someone like Ancheng-san.
Gentle and good-looking, and someone you can actually count on when it matters!” Silence swallowed the room.
Hyoudou Issei’s mouth was hanging open.
His entire face had turned to stone.
He knew.
He’d known something like this was coming.
He just didn’t think it would happen this fast.
Come on.
Not like this.
The Supernatural Studies Club already had Kiba Yuto.
And now the Literature Club had to go and produce a Li Ancheng?!
Ito Makoto’s face ran through its full range, pale to white, white to red, red to something approaching purple.
Extraordinary.
The rest of the class, still reeling from the whiplash of that confession, found their eyes drifting almost automatically to the classroom door.
It had been empty for a while now.
Saionji Sekai blinked.
A flush crept onto her cheeks before she could stop it.
But she kept her spine straight.
She didn’t look away from anyone.
Kiyoura Setsuna had gone quiet, something thoughtful in her eyes.
She turned instinctively toward the window.
She could just see them, Li Ancheng and Katsura Kotonoha, two figures walking down the path outside.
A comfortable distance between them.
A natural one.
Good instincts, that.
She found herself curious about the new transfer student.
And Sekai…
Sekai had probably genuinely fallen for him, hadn’t she.
CRASH!
Sawanaga Taisuke was reaching out to pull Ito Makoto back when his foot shot out from under him.
He went down hard.
A bright flash of purple spilled out of his pocket.
Hyoudou Issei blinked.
Then he grinned.
He was across the room in an instant, scooping up the wristband and holding it high in the air, one foot planting itself on Sawanaga Taisuke’s back.
“Ito!
Isn’t this the one you said you searched all over town for?!
What’s it doing in Sawanaga Taisuke’s pocket?!” “I always said scum flocks with scum!
You two set Katsura-san up, didn’t you?!
And then you turned around and tried to pin it on Saionji-san!
You almost had me going, I’ll give you that!” Ito Makoto stood very still.
He turned his head slowly and looked down at Sawanaga Taisuke lying on the floor.
“Ito Makoto.
I’m changing seats.” Saionji Sekai gave a cold, clipped snort and walked out.
Out on the gravel path, the campus was quiet.
Katsura Kotonoha glanced at Li Ancheng, who had just let out a soft, private laugh.
She pressed her lips together.
“Ancheng-san…
thank you.
For just now.
And, what are you laughing about?” “Hm?
Don’t mention it.” Li Ancheng shook his head, still smiling faintly.
“Just something that amused me.
I’m happy.” ➤ Next: The Demon Emperor’s Private Iai Slash Teaching Course