Inside the room.
Suzune was wearing a pink loungewear set with black tights, sitting cross-legged on the tatami. The way she was sitting pressed gently against her legs, subtly distorting the fabric and shape of them.
Ryunosuke sat across from her in the same position, quietly tasting the food she had made, saying nothing for a moment.
"Mm, this is really good. Suzune-chan is going to make an excellent wife someday."
Suzune took a sip of her miso soup without acknowledging the comment and went straight to the point. "Since you've eaten my cooking, you owe me something. There's a favor I'd like to ask."
*CLACK!*
That was Ryunosuke setting his chopsticks down. "I thought a connection like ours warranted a proper conversation about feelings. Turns out I'm worth exactly one meal."
He put on a wounded expression and made a show of wiping away tears that weren't there. Suzune took another sip of miso soup, ignored the performance entirely, and continued.
"Nii-san is graduating soon. I want to prove myself to him before he leaves. Could you lend me the class leader position temporarily? Once I finish the exam at the end of this month, I'll give it back."
Ryunosuke tapped his chin and raised the price. "One dinner isn't enough. I want ten."
"Deal." Suzune agreed without a moment's hesitation, and the instant the negotiation concluded, she showed him the door, because she had gotten what she came for.
Ryunosuke felt thoroughly betrayed. "You are absolutely something else."
Suzune answered with a flat expression. "I'm nothing compared to you, you absolute player."
The door shut firmly behind him. The rumors about Ryunosuke's situation had been impossible to contain, and they had long since reached Suzune's ears.
Ryunosuke shrugged and walked away from the girls' dormitory. The reason he had asked for ten dinners was simple: ever since Megumi had been caught by Ai in the act of trying to make her move, Megumi had been strictly prohibited from visiting his room.
That meant his current situation, outside of the lunches Asuna prepared, was that he had to handle his own breakfast and dinner. Megumi's cooking was gone.
He let out a quiet, mournful sigh at the thought, though he didn't genuinely complain about it. He already felt extraordinarily fortunate that his wives were willing to forgive him at all, as long as he maintained appropriate distance. The rule was no physical intimacy while at school. Beyond that, there were no other restrictions.
It was Megumi who had drawn the short end. She had lost the privilege of cooking for him, and even her proudest ability, her near-invisible presence, had been decisively neutralized by Ai. There was simply no opportunity left to steal, because Ai watched her too carefully. To manage this, Ai had moved into Megumi's room entirely.
They even wore matching silver bracelets, essentially handcuffs, when they slept, so that Megumi couldn't slip away in the night toward Ryunosuke's room. Maximum security measures.
Inside, Megumi felt deeply gloomy. There was no gap anywhere. Ai lived with her, ate with her, slept beside her, and watched her without pause. Even at night her wrist was chained. She lay flat on the wide bed and looked sideways at Ai sleeping soundly next to her, the silver bracelet still linking their wrists.
"Not a single opening anywhere."
◆━⊰✿✧✿⊱━◆
The next morning.
Ryunosuke came to class and made one announcement: he was temporarily handing the class leader position to Suzune. For the upcoming class exam, he asked everyone to follow her direction.
He stepped down from the podium without ceremony after that. It was now Suzune's time to speak. Among the faces below, the one looking the most displeased was Kushida. She asked a sharp question as Ryunosuke passed her desk.
"What does she have that I don't?"
Ryunosuke stopped, genuinely confused. "What are you talking about?"
Kushida didn't answer. She gave him nothing further. But Ryunosuke knew well enough that she was likely to cause trouble. He made her a promise.
"If you agree not to interfere with Suzune, I'll give you the Vice President position once this is done."
It had once been exactly what Kushida wanted most, but something about it now made her feel deeply, inexplicably resentful. She clenched her fist. It felt like a consolation prize, a favour done in service of helping someone else.
"Hmph." Her voice was cold and dismissive. "You really do protect her, don't you. You're not actually interested in someone that mature-looking, are you?"
(Note: Suzune appears older and more developed than her age would suggest.)
She didn't realize that something in her own mentality had quietly begun to shift.
Ryunosuke looked at her with genuine bewilderment.
(What's going on with her? I just offered her what she's always wanted. What's missing?)
Seeing that Kushida still looked ready to make things difficult for Suzune's temporary leadership, he deployed the final option.
"If you don't cooperate with Suzune, I'll expose what you've been hiding since middle school. Don't assume I'm unaware of what you did."
Kushida bit her lip. The words had landed somewhere tender. Sensing he had pushed too hard, Ryunosuke quickly added a follow-up.
"Consider me in your debt for this. Work with me properly this time. In the future, if you find yourself in trouble, as long as it's within my ability, I'll help you."
Kushida didn't make a scene this time. She accepted it with composed ease, and slipped smoothly back into her usual angel mode, smiling sweetly. "Hmm, if you put it that way, I'll agree. But don't forget, you owe me one."
Ryunosuke exhaled. The price of doing this for Suzune was turning out to be considerable. This Dark Angel was not going to ask for something reasonable when she came to collect. But the promise had been made, and there was nothing to do but accept it.
Nobody could quite follow Kushida's inner logic. Ryunosuke certainly couldn't. He had no framework for understanding someone who moved between angel and demon at will with equal ease.
Shortly after, Suzune stepped up and delivered her address. The core of it was simple: she wanted to use this opportunity to climb to Class B and prove to her older brother, before he graduated, that she was not weak. The point gap between Class B and Class C had narrowed to just 39 points. A strong performance in the upcoming class exam could close it entirely. That was her aim.
She tossed her long black hair back. "In the coming exam, I expect all of you to cooperate actively with me. I will bring this class to Class B, as long as you comply with my instructions and follow my arrangements."
She said it with arms crossed and complete composure, the tone of someone who considered giving orders a natural state of affairs, not something she was asking permission for.
The students below began to stir with quiet dissatisfaction at being spoken to that way. Ryunosuke covered his face with one hand.
(Not even a little improvement? Have I been sheltering her too much?)
He was starting to suspect that his protectiveness had shielded her from the real world too completely, leaving her without the experiences that would have pushed her to grow. This couldn't continue.
He decided he would not intervene further in this class exam. That said, he still quietly cleared the path for her. He pulled Hirata aside and told him to support Suzune fully. Hirata agreed without hesitation, given how much he owed Ryunosuke.
He also went to Ayanokoji and told him to actually participate this time, to contribute something instead of coasting through as a silent presence. That particular friend had a deep personal policy against exerting himself unnecessarily, and Ryunosuke told him plainly that this time was different.
For the sake of his "asset, best friend." Ayanokoji agreed and promised to put in a modest amount of genuine effort.
Ryunosuke felt he had done what he could. From here, he would step back and leave the rest alone.