79 I haven't really asked.

"Young master, I…" Su clan's first young lady exclaimed.

"Don't bother to say you are sorry. Just be better." I quoted a saying from my memory. Not quite sure where I heard it, to be frank. "And pray that things like this won't repeat itself in the future, with more devastating results."

I took off my hand from the top of her head, as Yin finally released her grip on my sleeve.

"This little one heeds your words, young master." She was about to bow, but caught herself. It was a public place, and, so far, our interactions could be interpreted as those of a fairly intimate couple. From afar, that is.

"OK. Last question. Is this dumbass gang-affiliated?" I asked for a confirmation of my earlier observation results.

"Yes, young master." My 'mistress' nodded.

"Good." My smile morphed into an animal grin. "Now, excuse me, I have a peacock to hunt."

"Please, don't go overboard in public, young master. It will ruin your reputation." Su clan's young lady gave me advice.

I weighed the pros and cons of her suggestion and decided that it was a good one.

"Thank you for the reminder, Yin." I voiced my gratitude.

The shouting match, which I had completely filtered out of my attention so far, still continued. Except now, it spiraled down to a stream of insults hurled back and forth between the two girls. Hm, interesting. Would this situation devolve into an outright cat fight if I left it alone? Ugh, Olivia's friend was involved, so I couldn't really just ignore this crap.

"Patricia, you are just a whore. The same goes for your friends. Where does your arrogance even come from? Do you think someone will pay you more than me?" Since I finally calmed myself enough to pay attention to my surroundings, this phrase managed to reach my ears.

The bleached peacock was talking crap, and, while his words about the blonde in question weren't technically incorrect, I took offense at the part about her friends.

"Keep my friends out of your filthy mouth, dickhead." Hissed Olivia's blonde bestie.

"Or what?" The peacock responded with a challenge clear in his tone.

"Or I will bash your fucking teeth in," I politely joined the conversation.

"And who the fuck are you?" Came the reply, with, decisively, much less good manners in it.

"A guy whose girlfriend you called a slut." I shrugged. "Thank the heavens that there are too many witnesses, or I would beat the living shite out of you. And Diego would then add some of his own on top for messing with the wrong people."

I felt his evaluating gaze on me. Not sure what exactly went inside his head, but the result was clear. The fighting spirit in his eyes waned, making room for a wariness.

"Do you know who my uncle is?" Ah, the heavy artillery right out of the bat.

"A pig that offended someone he really shouldn't, I bet that an Italian dude clad in all white is questioning him. Very intimately." I answered, watching, with a certain level of glee, how his eyes went wider from shock.

"Who are you?" Peacock repeated his earlier question, his face going white. Oh, so he knows about Bianco.

"A person you shouldn't have offended either, little piglet." I grinned, letting the fucking animal take over my facial expression control. "Now take your hoe with you and get fucking lost. Run away, little piglet. And if I will so much as hear about you, I will turn you into bacon. Am I clear?"

Looks like I finally was able to push him far enough to activate his fight-or-flight response, and this piglet was about as brave as his uncle. He lowered his eyes, refusing to provoke me any longer. Boring.

"Let's go." Without waiting for the answer of the other party, the guy grabbed his shocked hoe's hand and dragged her away. He didn't even look back once.

The crowd of gawkers, loitering around so far, started to disperse, realizing that the fun came to an end.

"Are you alright?" Su clan's first young lady approached us, offering a token of her concern to Olivia's bestie.

"Ah, yeah, I'm good." The blonde replied absentmindedly and turned her attention to me afterward. "Thank you for the help. Um, his background isn't simple. You'll be fine with the consequences, right?"

"Thank you for your concern, but my background isn't simple either." I smiled reassuringly and added a cheeky wink. Because I could.

"So my bestie lucked out even more than I thought initially…" Patricia drawled. "Hey, did you think about my offer?"

This question stumped me for an instant. What was her offer again? Ah right, a night of passion, which Olivia can either watch or join in the fun.

"My answer is still the same. Regretfully, I must decline. I think you are attractive enough to feel tempted, but not enough to complicate my already overly complex relationships over a one-night stand." I gave her my sincere answer.

"Too bad. Well, not a surprise after what you said last time. About 'known paid escorts' as you put it." She said in a deliberately cheerful tone, though, deep in her eyes, for a single moment, glimpsed a real hurt.

Huh? This wasn't even on my mind, not with my own past.

"Eh? I'm not a hypocrite enough to lie about not caring at all, but it wouldn't be a full-stop for me either. Not like it diminishes my interest in Olivia, for example." I refuted her words.

Only to be met with a weird reaction from both Patricia and Yin. They looked at me in surprise, as if I said something weird.

"Um, had Liv not explained to you about her usual clients?" My silly girl's best friend questioned.

"I haven't really asked." I could only shrug.

Two girls exchanged a brief glance, wordlessly communicating about the mysteries of the world. Or something like that, I had no clue.

"Honey!" I heard a familiar voice.

Immediately afterward, I felt a soft impact, and one unit of my girlfriend's body weight was added onto my back. I turned around to return the hug. Well, of course it was Olivia, with her usual bright smile on a makeup marred face.

"It took you long enough," I joked.

"It wasn't a simple job for me to wake up Mimi," my silly girl responded, mockingly exasperated.

A bit further away, I saw Satomi, looking quite pale. Well, it was the first time I've seen her face without war-paint, so I couldn't judge accurately. Noticing my gaze, she waved in greeting, certainly lacking some of the energy she had last Friday.

"I hope the long wait hasn't bored you to death?" continued my girlfriend, releasing me from her embrace, and assuming her usual position, hugged my left arm.

"Not really. Your friends entertained me with conversation." I nodded toward Patricia and Yin. "And some clown volunteered to serve as a bonus distraction."

"Oh." Olivia nodded, then her expression changed into one of concern. "Pat, are you alright? Nothing happened? I heard that bitch Camilla had some plans for after school."

Blonde and brunette exchanged another glance.

"Yeah, your boyfriend scared the…" She paused, as if looking for the right word. "Quote unquote, little piglet, away."

Yin nodded, confirming the words, and my girlfriend turned her attention back to me.

"The night situation. His uncle was involved." I explained. "By the way, why haven't you used my name to do so yourself?"

"Oh, like, I…" Olivia stumbled a bit, trying to find an excuse. "I thought it wasn't serious enough to involve you."

"What did I tell you about asking for help and not waiting until the last minute to do so?" I couldn't help but chide my girlfriend. "I would rather be bothered for nothing than to see you hurt."

"I'm sorry, honey." She lowered her face guiltily and tightened her embrace around my arm.

In the end, I could only sigh again, and mess Olivia's hair a bit, to show some of my frustration. Correctly reading into my reaction, my silly girl giggled and nuzzled into my shoulder.

"Oi, you two, stop flirting. I'm envious." The blonde bestie of my girlfriend tried to interrupt us.

"Leave them be, Pat." Satomi intervened. "Even if I'm envious too."

By old tradition, the award for the strangest reaction went to Yin. The girl in question had an incredibly complicated expression on her face, both amused by what was going on, and not sure how to react around me. There was a glimpse of envy deep in her eyes as well, but I haven't paid enough attention, so it could've been a misinterpretation on my part.