Next Bonus, 600PS!
Very long chapter.
--------------------------------------------------
Before Yui Yuigahama could even formulate a response...
Yumiko Miura, who had been sitting nearby, enthusiastically leaned in first.
She grinned widely. "I picked this myself! I'm wearing the same perfume. Doesn't it smell great?"
"Let me get a smell and find out!"
Saying that, Kai blatantly leaned in extremely close to Yumiko.
Even though a furious blush threatened to overtake her cheeks, Yumiko stubbornly held her ground and refused to pull away.
"..."
While this intimate interaction made Yui feel a distinct, uncomfortable twinge of weirdness, considering they were all supposed to be close friends, standing a little close together didn't seem like that big of a deal. So, she chose not to say anything.
"It really does smell incredible! But..."
"But what?" Yumiko was deeply invested in hearing Kai's full opinion.
"But my Yui smells even better, of course!"
He flashed a brilliant smile.
Kai immediately reached out and smoothly pulled Yui into his embrace.
"Kai-kun!"
Yui protested quietly, her face turning pink, but she didn't try to pull away.
"You jerk!" Yumiko felt a sudden, intense irritation.
But since Kai and Yui were officially dating, she kept her complaints to herself.
It seemed...
She didn't exactly have the standing or the right to criticise their PDA.
"Hey Miura, let's all go play tennis together after school today! It's been forever since the whole group actually hung out."
Right at that moment—Kakeru Tobe—who had somehow materialised out of thin air, looked at Yumiko with eyes full of intense, eager anticipation.
It was true. Over the past few weeks, the boys and girls of the popular "normie" clique have rarely hung out as a unified group.
As he proposed the idea, Tobe kept shooting deliberate, unsubtle glances toward Hina Ebina.
Ever since Kai had successfully secured Yui Yuigahama as his girlfriend, the ambitious, romantic gears inside Tobe's head had aggressively started turning.
If even Kai can successfully pull off a confession and get a girlfriend...
'There is no logical reason why I should fail.' He figured that if he successfully invited Yumiko out, Ebina would naturally tag along with her best friend.
However—
"I'll pass. I have to go home and study." Her mood had already plummeted to rock bottom, and hearing Tobe's annoying voice only made it worse.
Yumiko's expression remained entirely flat as she delivered the cold, dismissive rejection.
"Uh..."
'Didn't you literally just tell us yesterday that you didn't need to study??'
"But..."
"No 'buts.' Alright, that's enough. Stop distracting me from my studies."
Having delivered her final verdict, Yumiko aggressively pulled out a textbook and began flipping through the pages.
"..."
But considering Yumiko Miura's notoriously fiery, explosive temper, even though he was screaming complaints in his head, Tobe didn't dare utter a single word of protest out loud.
He could only turn his deeply desperate gaze toward Hina Ebina.
"So...?"
Ebina had seen perfectly through Tobe's painfully obvious ulterior motives ages ago.
But, Ebina genuinely felt zero romantic sparks whatsoever for Tobe. It wasn't like she hadn't dropped massive hints regarding her lack of interest before, but Tobe seemed entirely deaf to all of them.
Before Tobe could even finish formulating his question, Ebina bluntly cut him off.
"Sorry, exams are coming up soon, so I really need to stay focused on reviewing too."
"Then I..."
He almost offered to help her study, but then remembered his own terrible test scores and stopped himself.
'Forget it. I'd rather not humiliate myself.' He had no choice but to awkwardly, dejectedly shuffle back to his seat.
————————————————————
The morning classes officially began, and the very first period was taught by none other than Shizuka Hiratsuka.
Anyone with eyes could easily tell that Shizuka's complexion today was vastly more vibrant and radiant than it had been in a very long time. Even the simple, mundane way she carried herself radiated a captivating feminine charm she had never possessed before.
It was enough to make anyone's heart skip a beat.
However, because of Shizuka Hiratsuka's tough reputation as the 'Iron-Fisted Spinster,' no one dared tease her about it. They just wondered about it quietly.
"Ahem! Let's begin the lesson."
Shizuka had obviously felt Kai's intense, burning gaze, thoroughly raking over her the second she walked in.
She quickly cleared her throat and averted her gaze, pointedly refusing to look in his direction.
In truth... Shizuka had seriously considered simply calling in sick and hiding at home today.
But then she realised, even if she successfully hid for a single day, she couldn't exactly hide from him for the rest of her life.
Furthermore, cowering in fear and acting timid was fundamentally against her core personality. 'Are you kidding me? I am Shizuka Hiratsuka! When have I ever been afraid of anyone or anything??'
Having successfully hyped herself up with that logic, she had ultimately forced herself to come in.
But the second she laid eyes on Kai... vivid and explicit memories of last night's brutal siege forcefully flooded her mind, causing her breathing to instantly turn erratic and heavy. Fortunately, her psychological fortitude was incredibly robust, and she managed to rapidly forcibly suppress her spiralling emotions.
When the bell finally rang to signal the end of class...
Shizuka deliberated for a moment before suddenly calling out toward Kai's desk.
"Kai, come with me to the hallway for a moment."
"?"
He hadn't expected Shizuka to actively seek him out right now.
However, Kai didn't panic at all. He stood up casually, looking relaxed and confident.
"Understood!"
As he followed Shizuka out of the classroom...
He could clearly see Tobe and the others shooting him highly amused, schadenfreude-filled looks. They obviously all assumed Kai was about to get torn apart.
After all, any student who was personally summoned by Hiratsuka-sensei never returned without enduring a brutal, soul-crushing lecture.
————————————————————
In the hallway, a few students were still roughhousing and chatting between classes.
Shizuka maintained a perfectly strict, professional facade as she walked ahead, while Kai followed casually behind her, his deeply appreciative gaze continuously, blatantly trailing over the curves of her back.
Perhaps his gaze was entirely too intense and burning, because Shizuka's pace noticeably accelerated by several degrees.
They didn't stop until they reached her private office.
Seeing that the room was empty, Shizuka finally turned and faced Kai.
"LISTEN TO ME, DO NOT PUSH YOUR LUCK."
"When you are in my class, you need to actually pay attention to the lesson! What the hell were you staring at me the entire time for??"
Throughout the entire time, Kai's intense, unwavering gaze remained fixed on her. The sheer intensity of his stare was so distracting that Shizuka nearly stumbled over her lecture notes more than once.
Luckily, her reflexes were sharp enough to cover the slip-ups before most of the students noticed.
"I was just thinking about you."
"Huh?" Kai's response was delivered so smoothly and quickly that Shizuka failed to process it for a second.
When the meaning finally sank in, she shot him an exasperated glare, her cheeks burning bright.
In the very next moment, Kai reached behind him, firmly shutting the office door and throwing the deadbolt lock. He then began slowly, deliberately advancing toward Shizuka.
"W-What do you think you're doing?"
She subconsciously took a step backwards.
Despite famously holding the terrifying moniker of the "Iron-Fisted Spinster," right now, Shizuka was acting exactly like a weak, vulnerable maiden backed into a corner.
However, beneath the surface-level panic, Kai could clearly detect a potent mix of deep anticipation and lingering afterglow shining in her eyes.
As expected. When dealing with an inherently dominant, forceful woman, you simply need to display an even more overwhelmingly dominant presence. Of course, the only prerequisite was that you actually possessed the capital and power to back up that dominance—and fortunately, Kai possessed exactly that.
Without a single second of hesitation, he closed the distance and aggressively claimed her lips.
"A-Are you insane?? What if someone sees us??"
After what felt like an eternity, Shizuka finally managed to snap back to reality and forcefully pushed Kai away.
She wasn't angry—she was just scared someone might see them.
"Do you seriously not want to graduate??"
"Relax!" Hearing her panic, Kai smiled confidently.
"Don't forget, I am a Jujutsu Sorcerer. No one is going to see us."
"..."
Shizuka had personally witnessed the terrifying, mind-bending supernatural abilities Kai had casually displayed in the Service Club room that day.
Being reminded of that, she finally realised that Kai was vastly, fundamentally different from the ordinary high school student she had always imagined him to be. Well, it makes sense. If he were just a normal human, how could he possess that monstrous stamina?
"Regardless, moving forward, you cannot mess around like this while we are on school grounds."
"Oh? Does that mean as long as we're off school grounds... anything goes?"
Easily picking up on the glaringly obvious loophole in Shizuka's phrasing, Kai smiled wickedly and leaned in a few inches closer.
"Whatever... It's not like I can actually stop you anyway."
She wanted to say 'No!' but after remembering how happy she'd felt last night, she couldn't bring herself to say it.
'No wonder Sonoko Machida has been glowing with radiant happiness lately. So this is what she's been feasting on the entire time! And to think I actually treated that traitor like my best friend!'
"Don't worry. I won't deliberately put you in a difficult position."
Given Shizuka's current, fragile psychological state, getting her to concede this much was already a massive victory. If he teased her any harder right now, her brain would probably short-circuit.
Given enough time… after experiencing it a few more times—she would naturally grow used to the dynamic.
Furthermore, Kai wasn't a selfish monster who only cared about his own pleasure while utterly disregarding everyone else's feelings.
"Classes are about to start again. I need to head back!"
The break between periods was very short to begin with.
"You..."
Seeing that Kai was about to walk out the door, Shizuka suddenly called out.
"Are you… tonight…" Even though Shizuka couldn't bring herself to finish the embarrassing sentence, the intense, burning hunger in her eyes made her meaning perfectly clear. She was desperate for another bite.
"I'm fully booked tonight."
Kai certainly hadn't forgotten that a very sweet Sakiko Togawa was waiting eagerly for him back home.
He had been patiently waiting to devour this specific little cake for a very long time—there was no way he was going to miss his chance.
"Whatever! Don't come then!"
Hearing his blunt rejection, despite the intense disappointment crashing through her, Shizuka stubbornly forced out a defensive, tsundere retort.
Otherwise, she would look entirely too desperate and needy.
"Don't worry. I'm busy tonight, but my schedule should be completely open tomorrow evening. I'll make sure to take my time and feed you properly then."
Having delivered his promise.
Kai shot Shizuka one final suggestive look before stepping out of the office.
"Pfft!"
"We'll see exactly who ends up feeding who!"
Shizuka scoffed at his retreating back, her expression fixed in stubborn, unyielding defiance.
However, perhaps because her mind immediately conjured a vivid, all-too-explicit image of what that "feeding" would entail, Shizuka's face quickly began to burn all over again.
Fortunately, there was no one else around to witness the terrifying Iron-Fisted Spinster reduced to a flushed, blushing mess.
————————————————————
"How did it go? Are you okay?"
As soon as Kai walked back into the classroom...
Yui Yuigahama was the very first to ask with deep, genuine concern.
Yumiko Miura also immediately leaned over.
"Did you get completely screamed at? Because if you're about to cry, I actually have some tissues you can use."
As expected of Yumiko Miura.
She was clearly worried about him, but her tsundere delivery made it sound like she was openly mocking him.
"No thanks. You should definitely save those tissues for the next time you decide to hide and cry your eyes out!"
"Tch!"
Yumiko rolled her eyes at him, her expression openly exasperated and faintly aggressive.
But seeing that Kai genuinely didn't look the slightest bit upset or traumatised, Yumiko felt a massive, heavy weight lift off her chest.
After sufficiently messing with Yumiko...
Kai finally turned his attention to Yui, who was still looking at him with deep worry. He smiled warmly.
"Relax, it's nothing major. She just noticed I wasn't really paying attention during her lecture and wanted to check in on my study progress. It's fine."
"That's a relief!"
His perfectly logical explanation didn't raise even the slightest suspicion from anyone.
From across the room, Tobe even let out a disappointed "Booo," clearly let down that he hadn't gotten to watch Kai suffer a brutal public humiliation.
As soon as Tobe said that, Yumiko snapped at him.
"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?? ARE YOU SERIOUSLY THAT DESPERATE TO WATCH SOMEONE ELSE SUFFER??"
"Huh??"
Caught off guard by the sudden, aggressive questioning, Tobe could only stare at her in confusion.
"No, no, I was just making a joke! Isn't that what we all do??"
"Yumiko, please don't misunderstand. Tobe didn't mean any harm by it." Seeing the situation rapidly escalating, Hayato Hayama immediately stood up to defuse the tension and defend Tobe.
"Tch!"
Perhaps realising that her reaction had been entirely too defensive and disproportionately explosive, Yumiko simply shot Tobe one final, vicious glare before shutting her mouth.
She violently threw herself back into her seat.
However, when Yumiko cautiously sneaked a secretive glance over at Kai... she immediately saw that he was looking right back at her, a faint, deeply knowing smirk dancing on his lips as he actively evaluated her outburst.
"..."
'I wasted my energy worrying about you!' Yumiko violently glared at him and instantly snapped her head away.
If anyone was the true, innocent victim in this entire exchange, it was absolutely Kakeru Tobe.
"It's fine. Yumiko's probably just in a really bad mood lately. Don't take it personally." Hayato Hayama stood up and comfortingly patted Tobe's shoulder, signalling him to let it go.
"Alright, I guess!"
Seeing Tobe finally settle back down into his seat...
Hayato withdrew his gaze, casting a complicated, conflicted look at Yumiko before shifting an equally intense glance toward Kai.
There was a reason Hayato Hayama had become the undisputed leader of the popular "normie" clique. Beyond his excellent grades and striking good looks, his emotional intelligence and keen ability to read a room were truly top-tier.
At first, he might have been slightly unsure of the shifting dynamics.
But as time passed, if Hayato still couldn't see what was unfolding right in front of him, he would be an absolute idiot…
Yumiko's explosive, hyper-defensive behaviour made it painfully obvious: she had developed deep romantic feelings for Kai.
But the massive, glaring problem was that Kai was already officially dating Yui Yuigahama.
"No. I need to find a quiet moment to sit down and have a serious conversation with Yumiko about this." Even though Hayato firmly believed the person he truly loved was Haruno Yukinoshita, watching Yumiko so openly fall for another guy still stirred an inexplicable, deeply uncomfortable ache in his chest.
He frantically tried to rationalise his feelings.
--------------------------------------------------
~ Every 200 PS = Bonus Chapter!
~ 15 Advanced Chapters Available on Patreon!
https://p-atreon.com/dragonnx
(Just remove the hyphen to access Patreon normally.)