23 Chapter 23

Moments before Tatsuya arrived at SIVCameras.

In Senzo Restaurant—

Ichinose was barely able to keep a conversation going with Airi. Thankfully, her conversation skills had allowed Airi to open up bit by bit.

She didn't let her feel uncomfortable at all and spoke in a cheerful, boisterous tone, making people feel safe.

It was no wonder that Ichinose was one of the most popular girls in Advanced Nurturing High School.

"Sakura-san, do you have a crush on anybody?" Ichinose spoke with a small smile, "Maybe Tatsuya-kun?"

As the conversation steered from hobbies to academics, the topic shifted from miscellaneous stuff to Tatsuya abruptly. Airi was caught off guard.

Unfortunately for her, Ichinose thought that if someone as introverted as her was walking around with Tatsuya, that meant they had a decent relationship.

Airi fell silent upon hearing her question.

"C-crush? No... I don't."

"Eh, really!?" Ichinose was surprised. There was no reaction from Airi, which was odd.

From her understanding, if Airi actually had a crush on Tatsuya, then she would at least be flustered by the sudden question.

Ichinose didn't show it on her face, but the gloomy air around Airi upon the mention of Tatsuya made her suspicious.

She quickly glanced towards Kanzaki, and Kanzaki also matched her gaze for a brief second.

Kanzaki didn't miss Airi's reaction as well.

Her reaction rubbed Ichinose the wrong way.

Ichinose gave the subject of the matter a bit more thought.

'Tatsuya Yamamoto.'

He was a bit odd.

It had been at most a week since the S-System was revealed. It came as a shock to the students that this wasn't just any normal school.

It was a battlefield, a war between different classes.

Even though Ichinose didn't want to think of anyone as an enemy, it was merely the truth.

While things hadn't changed much, there was very subtle tension between students from different classes.

Especially Class C, which was ruled by Ryuen.

If one were only to take the leaders of each class into account, then it would be her for Class B.

Ryuen for Class C.

Katsuragi and Sayanagaki for Class A.

Tatsuya for Class D.

While she had to be a bit wary of these people, if she were to talk about the most likable of them, it would be Tatsuya Yamamoto.

He was just leagues above everyone in the same grade.

Height, Physique, Academics, and Leadership.

He didn't lack anything.

Popular people were swarmed with attention. Similarly, most of Tatsuya's actions were heard of by other classes.

What made her a bit uncomfortable was that Tatsuya, who was supposedly kind and gentle, had gotten into an argument with a classmate who was causing a bit of trouble.

That was understandable.

He was the leader of the class; he had to take care of everyone as she did, which was why she felt he was pretty likable.

But apparently, Tatsuya was ready to discard said student. He made it extremely clear that he wanted no one to help or persuade Ken Sudo anymore.

Even Hirata, who had been repeatedly trying to convince Tatsuya, felt troubled.

She disagreed with Tatsuya's actions.

A kind and gentle person but a ruthless leader...?

Was that his personality, or was it determination brought by the S-System?

Maybe she could persuade him to not make such decisions?

"Ichinose-san..."

As she pondered over such things, she heard Airi call out to her. Maybe it was because she had let her troubles show on her face that made Airi worried.

"Ah, sorry, I was lost in thought." She cracked a small smile and apologized to Airi, who waved her hands saying it was no matter.

Ichinose was right; Airi could see she was troubled. Her senses were sharp, and it wasn't hard for her to see that Ichinose was worried about something.

Airi had a subtle feeling that it was because of Tatsuya, and she felt conflicted. She had a bit of an understanding of Tatsuya.

He was lustful.

Would a person like him leave Ichinose alone?

Of course not!

She had to remind her.

If she didn't, then it wouldn't be long before she was ensnared by the dangerous claws of the 'gentle and kind' Tatsuya.

Her heart was thumping, and she felt sweat gather on her forehead. If Tatsuya were to know what she was going to do, then he wouldn't show her any mercy; she knew it.

There was even a chance that he might punish her by leaking her photos, though that possibility was slim.

But ultimately, Airi Sakura was a kind girl with an innocent heart. She couldn't bear hurting people, even Tatsuya.

She had to warn Ichinose!

"U-hm, Ichinose-san... About Tatsuya-kun..."

"Huh?" Maybe hearing the fear in Airi's voice, she snapped her head towards her. Kanzaki, who was silently enjoying his meal, paused and glanced at Airi.

Her voice was shaky, her hands were very lightly trembling.

Maybe because they all fell silent simultaneously, heavy tension filled the air.

"A-About Tatsuya-kun... He-"

Ichinose gave a strained smile and continued to listen.

"Hmm? What about me?"

Kanzaki flinched, and Ichinose felt her heart stop.

Airi's eyes widened upon hearing his voice. As if the grim reaper with his sickle around her neck had decreed her sentence, she felt her body shiver in fear.

Ichinose and Kanzaki turned their heads back and looked at Tatsuya together.

Tatsuya smiled with thinly narrowed eyes and spoke just like usual, but his sudden appearance and unsettling smile caused the tension in the air to grow.

"Hahaha, what's this? Did I surprise you guys? My bad, my bad. It took me a bit longer to return because of a call from a friend. You guys finished with your meal?"

He continued speaking, ignoring their awkward expressions, and sat beside Airi again.

Airi lowered her head in silence, hiding her face. Tatsuya glanced at her from the corner of his eyes before looking back towards Ichinose.

"Were you guys talking about me?" He had a cheerful voice, somewhat similar to her own, which made Ichinose forcibly smile.

"Indeed, I was just asking about whether Sakura-san had a crush on you-" Ichinose quickly recovered and spoke normally, lightly teasing the both of them.

But all of a sudden, alarms began blaring in the mall.

"Attention all students! Repeating, Attention all students! Return to your dorms at once! Failure to adhere will result in 0 Private Points for 3 months!"

"Repeat, this is an emergency! Return to your dorms at once. Do not cause any chaos and move in an orderly manner."

The same message was repeated five times at once.

"Wha-" Ichinose spoke up in confusion, and Kanzaki got up.

"We should go." He didn't mince his words, and Ichinose nodded.

"I think we should hurry back. Maybe something dangerous happened." Ichinose called out to Tatsuya and Airi.

Unfortunately for her, it wasn't something just dangerous. It was beyond the scope of anyone's understanding and would make the Advanced Nurturing High School, funded by the government, fall into utter chaos.

Tatsuya had already decided to pick the pace up.

He nodded and got up. Airi quickly nodded, and they together left the mall.

Some students were rushing back, while some were leisurely strolling as if not taking the message seriously, but one by one, they were rushing back.

No one wanted to lose three months' worth of Private Points.

***

Phew, I'm done with the latest lemon and just to tease you guys it was quite a hardcore and rough lemon hehe.

Also, I'll return to regular uploads after the 12th (exams) for the next few days there might be one or maybe two chapters.

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