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"Even though it's the truth, hearing it said so bluntly still feels a bit offensive," Megumi Kato couldn't help but point out.
If she had a choice, Megumi obviously wouldn't want to have such a low presence either.
"Well, don't be so shy." Kai naturally wrapped an arm around Megumi's shoulders, steering her right in front of Yukino Yukinoshita and Hitori Gotoh.
"Actually, Yukino and Bocchi's situations are pretty similar to yours." Kai then gave a brief rundown of Yukino and Hitori's circumstances.
One had an icy, brutally honest tongue that pushed people away, and the other suffered from crippling social anxiety—both fundamentally lacked friends. And now, he was adding Megumi, with her low presence to the mix.
"..."
Megumi finally understood exactly why Kai had lumped them all together as fellow problem children.
After learning about Megumi's predicament, the inherently kind-hearted Yukino naturally didn't object to her joining.
But seeing Kai holding Megumi so intimately, and Megumi showing zero signs of resistance or discomfort, Yukino made a highly pointed remark.
"Are you two really that close?"
"Of course." Kai looked nonchalant. Acting as if he hadn't caught Yukino's underlying implication in the slightest, he stated directly, "Megumi-chan and I are good friends."
"..."
Hearing Kai publicly claim her as a friend, even Megumi's perpetually blank, deadpan face couldn't stop a faint smile from tugging at the corners of her lips.
Furthermore, Megumi could clearly sense that she wasn't actually repulsed by Kai's close physical contact at all.
Still, she perfectly understood what Yukino was getting at.
"Please don't misunderstand. I just happen to know some specific things about Kai-chan, which is why we're a bit closer. It's not the kind of relationship you're imagining."
Megumi wasn't entirely sure if the other girl actually knew that Kai was an unrepentant scumbag. To be safe, she didn't state it outright, only vaguely mentioning that she "knew some things."
However.
"I see. It seems you've encountered it too."
"?"
Seeing Yukino's look of sudden, profound realization, Megumi was bewildered for a moment.
"So, you've seen it, Yukinoshita-san?"
As she asked this, Megumi couldn't help but cast a deeply skeptical sidelong glance at Kai. 'What is going on here? Are you actually this open and honest about being a scumbag? Why does it seem like every single person in this room knows exactly what kind of playboy you are?'
"Yes. And it's not just me. Hitori knows about it too." Saying that, Yukino glanced at Hitori sitting beside her.
"Mhm, mhm!" Hitori nodded rapidly like an excited little hamster.
The terrifying, mind-shattering image of seeing that Cursed Spirit yesterday was burned into her memory for the rest of her life.
"So... you guys are just okay with it?" Megumi's tone was uncertain.
Has everyone's tolerance for scumbags gotten this absurdly high? They know he's a three-timer, and they seriously just don't care?
"Why wouldn't we be okay with it?"
If Megumi was confused, Yukino was equally perplexed.
"No matter what he turns out to be, I firmly believe that his heart is kind." Saying that, Yukino subconsciously glanced sideways at Kai, her gaze softening considerably.
"I didn't expect Little Yukino to have such a glowing opinion of me."
"..." Give him an inch and he takes a mile... Yukino shot Kai an exasperated glare, but then failed to hold back a small, genuine smile.
"Mhm, mhm, Kai-kun is a really good person."
Even Hitori nodded in agreement. Regardless of what anyone else might say, Hitori genuinely felt that Kai was a good person—an incredibly kind person. If it hadn't been for him, she would still be isolated right now. Absolutely no one would have ever invited her to join a club. She would have remained a solitary shadow in the background forever.
"I see."
————————————————————
Meanwhile, watching this entire bizarre exchange play out, Kai lowered his head slightly, struggling desperately to suppress the massive grin spreading across his face.
Good lord. If you ever wanted a textbook example of people talking past each other, this is it.
They were clearly talking about two entirely unrelated things, yet somehow, their wavelengths had miraculously synced up perfectly.
However, Kai had no intention of exposing the misunderstanding. He couldn't wait to see the chaos when the truth finally came to light later on.
"Alright. Since Kai-kun introduced you, Kato-san, on behalf of the Service Club, I formally welcome you."
"..."
'I never actually said I wanted to join this club in the first place. Besides, a name like 'Service Club' sounds incredibly questionable.' But since she was already standing right here, Megumi honestly didn't know how to gracefully refuse. In the end, she could only offer a numb nod.
"Thank you."
By the time she finished filling out the official club registration form, Megumi was still feeling dazed by the entire sequence of events.
————————————————————
Lunch break ended.
Kai walked alongside Megumi Kato as they headed back to their classroom.
"You really have a wicked personality."
Glancing at Kai beside her, Megumi suddenly dropped the remark out of nowhere.
"You knew perfectly well that I wouldn't be able to say no in that specific situation. You did that on purpose, didn't you, Kai-chan?"
Even though her inner thoughts were entirely unreadable from her blank expression, her phrasing gave her away. If Megumi were genuinely angry, she wouldn't still be calling him "Kai-chan"—she would have reverted straight to his formal surname.
"I did it on purpose."
"Eh?"
He admitted it just like that?
"Because I want to get closer to you, Megumi-chan. Now that we're in the same club together, I'll have much more time to see you from now on."
Faced with such an unapologetic, direct straight pitch... Even the normally unflappable Megumi Kato found herself struggling to maintain her composure.
"D-Don't say such weird things."
"What's weird about it? I told you before, didn't I? I really like you, Megumi-chan. Honestly, when I first saw you always sitting all by yourself, I was actually pretty happy about it."
"??"
What is that supposed to mean?
If it had been anyone other than Kai saying that, Megumi would have assumed they were maliciously gloating over her loneliness.
But when Megumi looked up at him in pure confusion...
She saw Kai staring right back at her with an intensely serious gaze.
"Because if that's the case, then I will be the only person in your world. I'll be the only one who can see how brilliantly you shine, Megumi-chan. And I have no desire to share that radiance with anyone else."
"..."
THIS IS A CONFESSION, RIGHT?? IT DEFINITELY IS! RIGHT??
Growing up, this was the very first time Megumi Kato had ever been confessed to in her entire life.
Not to mention, it was coming from a guy she explicitly knew was an unrepentant scumbag—yet she was still entirely willing to associate with him anyway.
'Should I reject him?'
"But... your world doesn't only have me in it."
At the end of the day, love was inherently selfish.
She simply couldn't wrap her head around it. Why on earth were Yukino Yukinoshita and Hitori Gotoh so perfectly okay with the fact that Kai was a three-timing playboy?
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