The reaction was exactly the same as when I received the betrayal order in the anime.
“F-Fellow junior…”
Hoshino Kasumi fidgeted with her lips as she tugged on my sleeve.
I’m the only one who knows her true identity.
It seems like she couldn’t talk about the betrayal order because she’s worried about Rin being next to me.
“Rin. I’m sorry, but I have to go here for now.”
“W-Well…”
Rin’s eyes wavered slightly before settling down calmly.
“Personally, I don’t like it, but… Hoshino-senpai seems to have her reasons. Fine. Just this once, I’ll let it slide. But you must pay this debt back later, Kim Deok-Sung.”
“Sure.”
Not that the so-called debt is anything big, just a suggestion to go out together.
It’s obvious.
I can totally afford that during my free time.
Just as the rain that was pouring begins to lighten.
“Alright. Then I’ll take my leave.”
With my promise secured, Rin leaves the scene.
Usually, she would have made a fuss about it, so what’s up with her today?
Just as I was pondering this for a moment…
“F-Fellow junior…”
Bam!
Kasumi threw herself into my arms.
What a sudden hug attack.
Totally flabbergasted.
What is wrong with this girl?
“I… What should I do now… Fellow junior… Sniff.”
With her face buried in my chest, Hoshino Kasumi started to sob.
“Waaah. To make a girl cry as a man, it’s a disgrace to manhood!”
“Hold her tight! Wiping away a girl’s tears is also a man’s job!”
“To make such a cute beautiful girl cry, apologize for life! You!”
“Just accept her feelings already!”
My head is spinning.
I’m beginning to wonder if they’ve collectively developed a delusion disorder.
‘Damn it.’
For the sake of surrounding eyes and to calm Hoshino, I mustn’t push her away right now.
I let out a sigh.
What a damn lousy light novel world this is.
*
On the way back to the accommodation.
Rin was smiling as she looked at her phone’s wallpaper.
A photo of her with him taken at Kiyomizu Temple caught her eye.
Thump.
Rin’s heart raced.
When it rained, him taking off his dress shirt overlapped with the scene when he handed her his dress shirt at Imgan School.
She buried her nose in the cuff of his dress shirt hanging over her shoulder.
The smell of rain mixed with his scent lingered at the tip of her nose.
Rin’s face flushed bright red.
“…I really like you, Kim Deok-Sung. I don’t want to let you go.”
She caressed the screen of her phone.
He was the only one who saw her for who she truly was.
He was the one who worried about her not making a physical attack and remembered the taste of the rice balls she made, who praised her clumsy tourist guide plan, and that was about it.
There’s nothing more than being remembered and being praised for the clumsy tourist guide I prepared.
So how can I give up my feelings for him?
“I’ll do whatever it takes to win your heart. I’ll throw myself into it.”
Rin closes her eyes.
He said it was fine and to hold back, but Rin knew.
Her only advantage and greatest weapon was her physical charm.
“As payment for the debt, I should probably ask for a date.”
Rin’s face turns red.
A date with just the two of them?
Her heart starts racing.
While hundreds of imaginations unfold in her mind.
The bus arrives in front of the accommodation.
Rin, finally snapping back to reality, gets off the bus and heads into the hotel.
Hotel lobby.
Since Shuo Hero Academy had rented the entire hotel, the guests were all students.
As soon as she enters the hotel, she meets someone.
“Oh, it’s the cow! Did you have fun with the Master? Of course, not as much as Eri, who’s climbed the stairs of adulthood.”
Nishizawa Eri, with a smug smile.
And then,
“What are you two talking about? It sounds suspicious.”
A platinum-haired beautiful girl, Olivia, pouts.
Seeing the two, Rin opens and closes her eyes.
Nishizawa’s eyes widen at the white shirt draped over Rin’s shoulders.
“What’s this, cow? That shirt. You don’t mean…?”
Heh.
Rin puts on a triumphant smile.
“Now you know, laundry board. This shirt was given to me by Kim Deok-Sung. Is that all? I even took a commemorative photo with Kim Deok-Sung at Kiyomizu Temple.”
Rin holds up her phone proudly.
Nishizawa Eri’s eyes waver at the phone wallpaper.
“What? Cow? You dare take a picture with the Master at Kiyomizu Temple?”
Nishizawa’s heart drops.
It’s impossible.
She feels embarrassed about her joy as if she owned the world from a little happening at Deer Park.
“Ugh…”
Nishizawa bites her lips.
She felt jealous.
“I wanted to take a photo with the Master too…”
Nishizawa’s hands tremble.
The Master is kind.
That’s why she desires more.
She wants to be loved more.
Nishizawa Eri thinks this as she bites her lips.
Nishizawa lowers her head, fiddling with her collar.
‘Master…’
She wishes he would restrict her more.
She wishes he would take all of her.
Nishizawa Eri thinks this while drooping her shoulders.
Olivia is equally surprised by the photo.
“Wait a minute! Shinozaki! What kind of shameless act is this without my permission as the personal maid!”
“Don’t be a tsundere princess who doesn’t even know her own heart. I, Shinozaki Rin, will now fully devote myself to winning his love. Just because you’re a step ahead, don’t let your guard down. Bonaparte.”
Shinozaki Rin’s dark blue eyes turn to Olivia.
Olivia’s hands tremble.
Her blue eyes sparkle, and her cheeks turn pink.
“…A tsundere?! How dare you insult me, a noble French princess…”
“That’s not wrong, is it?”
Olivia bites her lips at Shinozaki’s words.
Pretending.
Olivia places her hand on her chest.
Her blue eyes twinkle.
“…Okay. I accept that challenge, Shinozaki. As a rival in love!”
“Let’s compete, anytime, Shinozaki! As rivals in love!”
“Rivals in love…?”
Shinozaki Rin’s eyes tremble.
Nishizawa Eri’s gaze turns to Olivia.
Olivia’s face flushes bright red under the combined attention of the two girls.
With her eyes shut tight, Olivia screams, “W-Well, is there any couple trouble or something?!”
Thump, thump.
Olivia’s heart races.
She likes Kim Deok-Sung.
Even though she acknowledges her feelings, admitting it to others is a whole different ball game.
Nishizawa Eri’s eyes fixate on Olivia.
“Princess, have you accepted your feelings?”
“…If it weren’t for a stupid, dumb sea cucumber like me, he probably wouldn’t ever get married and would end up single for life… So, I have no choice but to take care of him as his devoted servant!!”
“That’s a classic Bonaparte answer.”
“Sh-Shut up!!”
Olivia, now aware of her feelings, is a formidable opponent.
Shinozaki Rin quietly buries her nose in her shirt sleeves, swallowing her words.
“…If it comes to this, Eri, I, too, have no choice but to get serious.”
She can’t let the other rivals get ahead of her.
Nishizawa Eri tightens her fists.
The fiery gazes of the three girls cross.
*
In his arms, Kasumi cried.
She cried until she couldn’t cry anymore.
And while crying, she confessed, “Junior, I don’t want to be alone… I can’t go back to being alone again…”
Since meeting Kim Deok-Sung.
Having met Makoto, Eri, Rin, and Olivia made her realize the joy of being together.
Their first meeting was the worst, but now there’s the promise of salvation from her beloved junior.
Though not very honest, Olivia is unexpectedly considerate and caring.
Rin acts cool but actually has low self-esteem.
Eri, who plays the role of a cold beauty, is foolish around Kim Deok-Sung but icy toward everyone else.
Makoto, shy but always says what she means.
They are all precious juniors and friends to her.
She can’t return to being alone.
She doesn’t want to lose them.
“It can’t happen… I… But I’m scared…”
She can’t reveal her true identity.
She’ll be seen as a traitor, hated.
People will point fingers at her.
She’ll end up alone again.
She can’t bear such a future.
“Junior… Junior…”
She feels Kim Deok-Sung’s warmth.
His warm, solid chest against her cheek.
She doesn’t want to let go of him.
She doesn’t want to lose him.
She doesn’t want to become the League’s puppet and hurt him.
She wants to stay in his arms forever.
She’s happy.
Contradictorily, that’s how Kasumi feels.
“I wish time would just stop like this…”
Kasumi utters her wish.
“Please, stop crying. It’s embarrassing. Everyone’s watching. How many times have I said this today?”
She hears a blunt voice by her ear.
“Hic… What should I do?”
“I don’t know what’s going on, but this doesn’t seem like the right place to talk, so let’s move somewhere else.”
*
Leaving Kiyomizu Temple with Kasumi.
A tea house on Sannenzaka.
I rent a private room to sit with her.
Only after listening to Kasumi’s story in full do I grasp the whole situation.
“I see.”
My predictions were right.
A betrayal order arrived almost at the same timing as the original story.
Meet with Maruyama Ryosuke.
Of course, since this differs from the original, there’s no guarantee things will go as planned.
‘To prepare for unexpected variables, I need another helper who knows the context besides me…’
The first ones that come to mind are the first-year members.
They’re a significant force.
But to handle potential situations, they alone won’t be enough.
I need a helper with greater authority and stronger power.
‘Only one person fits this condition from the training group.’
Student Council President Saionji Aris.
I must use her here.
Otherwise, I can’t overcome this hurdle.
Fortunately, this is a kind world, so if I explain Kasumi’s situation, Aris will understand.
The problem is convincing the mentally shaken senior Kasumi.
A sigh escapes me already.
First, I need to calm her down.
I start with a composed tone.
“Senpai, I understand your circumstances well.”
“Junior! What should I do?”
Kasumi wipes her puffy eyes and speaks.
“Listen closely. There’s only one way. Here, you must inform the Student Council President about the situation and ask for help.”
“The President…? About the circumstances…? Junior… That’s…”
Kasumi’s face stiffens as expected.
From her perspective, it must be shocking news.
“Junior, no… I’ll be hated… I won’t be forgiven… That’s… That’s…”
But I can’t back down now.
I need the President’s cooperation.
In fact, I don’t need a great argument to persuade Senpai Kasumi.
This world prioritizes emotion over reason, like a light novel.
Using the typical blind belief in convenience, “Do you trust me? You do, right? I trust you!” I can persuade Senpai Kasumi smoothly.
Because that’s how this world is.
The problem lies with my mouth and hands saying those words.
Taking a deep breath, I prepare my mind and call out to Senpai Kasumi.
“Senpai.”
“Uh, yeah. Junior…”
She looks at me with trembling eyes.
“You trust me, right?”
Kasumi responds in a shaky voice.
“Yeah, I… I trust you, Junior… You’re a bad guy, favoring only the knight princess, dreaming of being a harem king, and a black beast… but you’re kind… so I trust you.”
Still a dizzying answer.
But the important point here is that she trusts me.
Now it’s time to use that magical blind trust.
“So just this once, please follow my words. Senpai, I will only reveal our situation to the President in a three-way face-to-face, and there will absolutely be no harm to you or anything you can’t be forgiven for. I promise.”
I throw down the gauntlet.
“Promise…”
Kasumi fidgets with her fingers.
Seeing her hesitate means that persuasion is already done.
Now, all that’s left is to wait.
Blind trust is the best.
“Okay. I’ll make that promise. I trust you, Junior… So let’s pinky swear on this too, Junior.”
Kasumi extends her pinky.
Here we go again?
Suddenly, PTSD from the clubroom hits me.
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