~ 💎 WEEKLY POWER GOALS 💎🔥 60→1ch | 100→2ch | 200→5ch ⏰ Resets Monday!
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Noon.
Setsuna Kiyoura took her lunchbox out of her desk drawer.
Her fingertips paused on the lid.
Her gaze shifted quietly to the seat beside her.
Li Ancheng still sat with his eyes closed, the stack of delivered books untouched on his desk.
“…Ancheng-kun.” Her voice was soft.
“Did you not bring lunch?” Li Ancheng slowly opened his eyes, pulling his awareness back from wherever it had been.
He glanced at the lunchbox in her hands and shook his head with a wry smile.
“I forgot.” Setsuna Kiyoura hesitated, then nudged the lunchbox toward him.
“Um…
I brought a lot…
if you don’t mind…” “I have some!
I have some!” A bright voice cut straight through the moment.
Xenovia Quarta bounced up to Li Ancheng’s desk hugging an armful of paper-wrapped bread, her hair lifting with the movement.
“Ancheng-kun!
I’ve got yakisoba bread and melon bread!
Let’s eat lunch on the rooftop today!” Setsuna Kiyoura quietly pulled her lunchbox back.
Across the classroom.
Kotonoha Katsura had been halfway out of her seat.
She stopped.
She pressed her lips together, put the lunchbox she’d already taken out back into her drawer, and pulled out a textbook instead.
She opened it.
Her eyes stayed on the same line for a long time.
Li Ancheng glanced at the bread in Xenovia Quarta’s arms and was just about to nod.
“Pffthahaha!” Laughter exploded across the room.
Issei Hyoudou was pointing at the doorway, nearly choking on the bread in his mouth.
“Itou!
What happened to your eyes?!
You look like a panda, hahaha!” At the door.
Makoto Itou walked into the classroom in silence, two dark bruises ringing both eyes like ink stains.
He cut through the rows of desks without stopping, then came to a halt in front of Kotonoha Katsura’s seat.
“Kotonoha, about…” He didn’t get to finish.
Kotonoha Katsura was on her feet in an instant.
She yanked the lunch bag back out of her drawer and walked straight to Li Ancheng’s desk.
“Ancheng-kun.” Her eyes were slightly downcast.
The tips of her ears were red.
“I…
I can’t eat this much.” “Today…
my family made tamagoyaki and fried shrimp.” Plop.
The bread in Issei Hyoudou’s hand hit the floor.
Cream filling splattered across the tiles.
His mouth hung open.
His eyes were the size of plates.
His gaze swung back and forth between Li Ancheng and the three girls clustered around his desk like a metronome that had lost its rhythm.
Wait…
wasn’t it just Xenovia?
His head was buzzing.
What the hell was happening right now?
The petite, quiet Setsuna Kiyoura, the kind you just wanted to shield from the world…
And Kotonoha Katsura?
He could have sworn he heard something shatter.
Ah…
not his.
That sound came from the panda standing next to him.
Makoto Itou had his fists clenched white-knuckle tight, his stare nailed onto Li Ancheng like a pair of iron spikes.
“Sigh…” Issei Hyoudou bent down and picked up the ruined bread.
He let out a long breath, then stepped over and nudged the rigidly frozen Makoto Itou with his elbow.
“Itou, stop staring…
I’ve still got a red bean bread here.
Want it?” Makoto Itou acted like he hadn’t heard a word.
He turned and walked out.
Li Ancheng swept a glance across the three girls beside him, each with a completely different expression on her face, and stood up with a faint, amused smile.
“Then let’s all just go to the rooftop.
It’s spacious enough.
Eating together is livelier anyway.” “Ancheng-kouhai.” A smooth, unhurried voice came from the classroom doorway.
Yuuto Kiba stood at the threshold, posture straight, his golden hair lifting lightly in the cross-breeze.
He was smiling.
His eyes rested on Li Ancheng.
“The President would like to invite you, and Issei-kouhai, to join her for lunch.” “Might I ask if the two of you are available?” The word “President” hit Issei Hyoudou like cold water down the back of his neck.
Those wings of Rias-senpai’s.
Yesterday.
And the intense, unsettling interest she’d shown toward something inside his body.
Even now, the memory made his scalp prickle.
Li Ancheng nodded with a small smile.
“I was headed to the rooftop anyway.
She’s welcome to come along.” “Oi, oi, Ancheng…” Issei Hyoudou pressed close and dropped his voice to an urgent hiss.
“Rias-senpai is a devil.
The bad kind!” Yuuto Kiba’s smile didn’t move.
Only his eyes shifted, going a shade deeper.
“Ancheng-kouhai, you’re new here, so perhaps you’re not yet aware.
At Kuoh Fusion University, an invitation personally extended by the President carries a certain weight.” Li Ancheng slipped both hands into his trouser pockets and strolled, unhurried, until he was standing directly in front of Yuuto Kiba.
His gaze settled on him from above.
Calm.
Still.
“Is there a problem with what I said?” “Or is it that in your eyes, humans are simply beneath devils?
That we’re supposed to fall in line?” “I gave you a smile.
You should accept it.
Understand?” The smile on Yuuto Kiba’s face went rigid.
His pupils contracted.
The moment his eyes met Li Ancheng’s, something primal crawled up his spine and spread through every nerve in his body.
There was no anger in those eyes.
No fear.
Just a calm so deep it had no bottom.
And yet it felt like it could swallow a person’s soul whole and grind it to nothing.
Breathing…
became difficult without him quite knowing when it had started.
“Just kidding!
Just kidding, haha!” Issei Hyoudou lunged between them, hooked Li Ancheng’s arm with both hands, and hauled him toward the hallway, dry-laughing hard enough to fill the silence.
“So, uh — Katsura-san, everyone!
Ancheng and I will head up to the rooftop first!
See you there!” Five minutes later.
The rooftop.
Wind snapped across the open air, whipping Issei Hyoudou’s hair into a mess.
He looked sideways at Li Ancheng, who was leaning against the railing with all the ease in the world, and his face was tight with worry.
“Ancheng, you really shouldn’t have provoked Kiba like that.” He raked a hand through his hair.
“There are no classes this afternoon.
If you’re planning on going home…
you have to tell me first.” “I…
I’ll do my best to escort you.
I can probably keep you safe.” Li Ancheng let out a quiet laugh and nodded.
“Sure.” “Huh?” Issei Hyoudou blinked, turning to stare at him.
“I said I can probably keep you safe…
and you just believe me?
Just like that?” “Why wouldn’t I?” Li Ancheng’s eyes dropped toward his trouser pocket.
“That jade stone you’re carrying.
It was mine.” “Y-you…” Issei Hyoudou stared at him, mouth opening and closing, opening and closing, like someone had cut the wire connecting his brain to his tongue.
“Keep it between us.” Li Ancheng patted his shoulder.
“As for Yuuma Amano, I’ll make sure she’s returned to you safe and sound.” Issei Hyoudou stood very still and took a slow, deep breath.
Then he stepped back.
He faced Li Ancheng and bowed, low and deliberate.
“Thank you…
for saving my life.” “From this point forward, whatever you need, whenever you need it — please don’t hesitate.
Just say the word.” Li Ancheng raised one hand.
A gentle force caught Issei Hyoudou and lifted him upright.
“Honestly, my suggestion would be to focus on school.
Graduate.
Marry Yuuma Amano.
Have a family.
That’s a good life.” Issei Hyoudou was quiet for a beat, then clutched his chest and smiled ruefully.
“But there’s something inside me that fallen angels and devils are both after…” “If you want,” Li Ancheng said, his tone easy, “I can extract it or seal it.” Issei Hyoudou went silent.
He scratched the back of his head and laughed a little awkwardly.
“Sir…
could I have some time to think it over?
Besides, Makoto Itou still hasn’t backed off, and my mission isn’t exactly finished yet, so, ahaha…” “Mm.” Li Ancheng nodded, a smile on his face, and turned his gaze toward the open sky.
Then.
A figure with crimson hair descended slowly onto the rooftop, wings folding in the moment her feet touched the ground.
“Ancheng-kouhai.” Rias narrowed her deep blue eyes.
“It seems you frightened my club member rather badly.
As you wished — I’ve come myself.” Issei Hyoudou scrambled behind Li Ancheng.
Li Ancheng simply turned toward the rooftop entrance.
“Ancheng-kun!” Xenovia Quarta came sprinting through the door first, and right behind her, sure enough, were Setsuna Kiyoura and Kotonoha Katsura.
“We’re here!” ➤ Next: Ancheng-kouhai, You’re Very Greedy — .—— .—— .—— .—— .—— Enjoying the story?