Yukino Yukinoshita had also come out into the hallway, and the very first thing she noticed was the figure that Lin Ye's puzzled gaze had settled upon.
Meguri Shiromeguri.
She had come to the Service Club seeking help just yesterday, because she had been harassed.
As for the person who had harassed her, that was…
Yukinoshita instinctively glanced at the man beside her. Her sister had used Lin Ye's body to harass Meguri Shiromeguri.
And so Yukinoshita found it very strange—why would Meguri Shiromeguri suddenly show up here? Ordinarily, shouldn't she be staying as far away from her harasser as possible?
Or perhaps she had run into some problem, one serious enough that she now had no choice but to come and resolve it herself.
"President Meguri, is there something you need?"
Yukino Yukinoshita stepped forward a pace ahead of Lin Ye, coming to stand before Meguri Shiromeguri, and asked the reason and purpose behind her sudden appearance.
After all, no matter how you looked at it, the fact that Meguri Shiromeguri had suddenly come here and showed no sign of leaving meant she definitely had some business here.
"I, um… it's nothing really, I just came here to… take a look."
The halting words didn't carry the slightest shred of credibility.
Yukino Yukinoshita didn't believe a word of it.
"Does it have something to do with him?"
Yukino Yukinoshita asked bluntly.
"N-no, no, how could it," Meguri Shiromeguri's voice trembled. She stole a glance at Lin Ye standing not far away, then anxiously pulled her gaze back at once, terrified that Lin Ye might fix his eyes on her and make some outrageous demand.
She was already traumatized when it came to Lin Ye.
"We're going to the Service Club afterward. Would you like to come with us, President Meguri?"
Yukino Yukinoshita took the initiative to extend the invitation. For her, this sort of proactive gesture was quite a rare thing.
But given the state Meguri Shiromeguri was in right now, Yukino Yukinoshita truly couldn't bring herself to just walk off alone.
She guessed her sister had probably gone too far with her schemes again—otherwise, Meguri Shiromeguri wouldn't be reacting like this.
Just what had happened to bring Meguri Shiromeguri here? Yukino Yukinoshita couldn't help but feel a trace of curiosity surface within her.
"That, no thanks…"
Meguri Shiromeguri declined a little bashfully, her gaze falling upon Lin Ye. Today she was supposed to go out for a meal and a date with Lin Ye.
She was hoping the restaurant would be crowded, so that Lin Ye would feel more restrained and wouldn't do all sorts of things to her.
While Meguri Shiromeguri was still deliberating, Yukino Yukinoshita continued, "In that case, then we'll be off first, President Meguri."
With that, Yukino Yukinoshita was about to lead Lin Ye away with her.
Just as Lin Ye was about to move, his phone buzzed.
A text message had arrived.
He took out his phone and glanced at the message, and his expression changed instantly.
He immediately dialed a number to make contact, but was met with a notice that the phone was powered off.
"That… woman,"
Angry. Extremely angry.
Lin Ye gripped his phone tightly, his heart full of displeasure.
The message from Haruno was very simple.
She had a lunch date with Meguri Shiromeguri today.
No wonder Meguri Shiromeguri had come over to the International Class.
Yesterday, Haruno hadn't only made a move against Isshiki and Miura Yumiko—even Meguri Shiromeguri had fallen victim to her venomous hand.
What's more, Haruno and Meguri Shiromeguri were on excellent terms, so compared to Miura Yumiko and Isshiki, yesterday's incident had probably only made them even closer!
Lin Ye's expression sank.
"What's wrong?"
Yukinoshita asked. But watching the shift in Lin Ye's expression, she realized something was up—it was probably news from her sister's end!
Did he know where her sister was now?
For a moment Yukino Yukinoshita didn't know whether to do nothing at all, or to speak up and advise him a little—to tell Lin Ye not to be too harsh on her sister—even though she herself felt her sister's behavior yesterday had really been far too excessive.
"It's nothing. President Yukinoshita, you go on ahead to the Service Club. I'll be taking leave from today's club activities," he said to Yukinoshita.
Generally speaking, Lin Ye wouldn't deliberately skip out on Service Club activities; even if he couldn't attend, he would contact them in advance to let them know, fulfilling at least the most basic courtesy.
"Understood,"
Yukino Yukinoshita hesitated for a moment. She knew Lin Ye must have some matter to attend to, but since he wouldn't say what it was and had gone so far as to ask for leave from the club, she didn't press him further.
With Meguri Shiromeguri present, she didn't want to question him too much and shatter her usual composed image.
Yukino Yukinoshita left, her light footsteps carrying her away until she vanished at the end of the hallway.
Soon after, however, she composed a message and sent it to Lin Ye.
——Tell me what this is about tonight.
This was her way of expressing what was on her mind, and at the same time it carried a faint tone of demand, representing her firmness and her attitude.
In her dealings with Lin Ye, she still wanted to reclaim the initiative, still wanted to be that cool, aloof girl who was true to herself.
Lin Ye had just been about to say something to Meguri Shiromeguri when the message from his phone made him choose to reply to Yukinoshita first.
——I'll tell you tonight.
He didn't agree, but he didn't refuse either.
Soon, Lin Ye put his phone away, looked straight at Meguri Shiromeguri, and said, "President, about yesterday's matter…"
"Don't bring up yesterday again,"
Meguri Shiromeguri shook her head.
She had already been in contact with Sis Haruno. Sis Haruno had told her to keep Lin Ye pacified for the time being, to prevent him from taking any extreme actions—because once such a situation actually arose, not only would she suffer, but Sis Haruno would be dragged in as well. And so, all she wanted now was to keep Lin Ye stable.
"Everything we agreed on yesterday, I'll do it all. Let's go! Have you found a restaurant yet?" Meguri Shiromeguri asked.
Lin Ye shook his head. "Not settled yet. President, if there's a dish you'd like to eat, we'll just go there."
He also knew that yesterday's matter couldn't be explained in a moment or two. Talking about it here at school wasn't appropriate either.
Every now and then a student or teacher passed by, and the pairing of him and Meguri Shiromeguri did draw its fair share of attention.
For that reason, Lin Ye thought it best to head out to some secluded restaurant and have a proper talk. Of course, on top of that, this meal also counted as an apology and compensation to Meguri Shiromeguri.
That was what Lin Ye was thinking.
Seeing Lin Ye toss the question back to her, Meguri Shiromeguri felt a little helpless inside. What could she possibly want to eat? She was purely just accompanying Lin Ye for a meal.
But right away, she recalled Sis Haruno's suggestion—to fleece Lin Ye good and hard, to get back at him.
Yes. To get revenge on him.
Meguri Shiromeguri resolved to take fierce revenge on Lin Ye, and fleecing him for a dinner would be a fine place to start.
"If you let me choose, you'll regret it,"
But out of her own morals and conscience, she couldn't help but give him a warning first, to avoid an awkward situation later on.
"That's fine,"
Money was no issue for Lin Ye.
"Alright, then let's go!"
Meguri Shiromeguri and Lin Ye walked side by side toward the entrance of Sobu High.
At the after-school hour, there were quite a lot of students on the Sobu High campus.
Many club members were busy doing something or other, and the students of the athletic clubs in particular were pouring out sweat as they trained.
As a key high school in the Chiba region, Sobu High had a fairly good record when it came to club sports.
"Isn't that President Meguri?"
"Isn't the one beside her that exchange student?"
"Miura-senpai's boyfriend—and now he's walking together with the president too?"
"Could it be that the president has something going on with him as well?"
...
The pairing of Lin Ye and Meguri Shiromeguri inevitably drew a great deal of attention.
President Meguri enjoyed considerable popularity at Sobu High—with her outstanding looks, her friendly personality, and her position as the Student Council President of Sobu High, she was the Goddess in the hearts of many Sobu High boys.
Quite a few boys had confessed to her outright, only to be turned down every time.
For her to suddenly be walking so close to an exchange student embroiled in scandalous rumors made it impossible for people not to let their thoughts wander in a certain direction.
Among the crowd were quite a few of Meguri Shiromeguri's acquaintances.
Facing the odd looks from those she knew, she responded with a smile—a perfectly ordinary smile. She knew now that any different reaction she let slip would only fuel her classmates' imaginations.
For now, all she had to do was smile and keep the same demeanor as always.
And she truly hoped that Lin Ye wouldn't bring up anything like 'girlfriend' at a time like this, and even more that he wouldn't do anything intimate—like holding hands, or…
The moment something like that happened, she'd be utterly done for.
Right up until they walked out through the main gate of Sobu High, right up until they boarded the train, Lin Ye never made a single intimate gesture, keeping a certain distance from her.
This left Meguri Shiromeguri breathing a sigh of relief.
The hardest hurdle was past. Still, there were Sobu High students on the train too—only far, far fewer in number than at school.
The students on the train cast their glances toward the two of them from time to time as well.
Lin Ye didn't care in the slightest, ignoring it the whole way.
He did notice, however, that Meguri Shiromeguri was in fact somewhat mindful of other people's gazes.
Thinking it over, Lin Ye understood that Meguri Shiromeguri was afraid of being misunderstood. Though she was a third-year senior, she had never been in a relationship—she probably had never been in one!—and she was, moreover, the Student Council President of Sobu High. But in the end she was still a girl, and inside there still lived a sense of shyness and embarrassment.
'Clack-clack, clack-clack…'
The train rolled on, the rhythm of the sound of the rails.
Lin Ye and Meguri Shiromeguri got off once the train reached the station.
Meguri Shiromeguri looked around and confirmed the direction.
"This way…"
Meguri Shiromeguri said.
She led the way in front, with Lin Ye following behind the girl.
Walking out of the train station exit and into the open air, Meguri Shiromeguri glanced at a signboard and kept walking, while Lin Ye trailed half a step behind her.
About ten minutes later, Lin Ye followed Meguri Shiromeguri to a commercial building.
At the entrance of the building stood a floor directory, with introductions to each of the shops on it.
There was the common hotpot and yakitori, as well as Western cuisine, French and Italian food.
Just from the imposing exterior grandeur of this building, Meguri Shiromeguri could roughly gauge the price level of the place—it certainly wouldn't be low.
In any case, it was the most expensive establishment she could recall ever having seen.
"Have you decided what it'll be, President?"
"Just this… Wagyu beef."
Meguri Shiromeguri pointed with her finger. In truth, she was a little nervous, worried that if she really fleeced him, it might put too much pressure on Lin Ye.
"That works,"
"…"
Meguri Shiromeguri hesitated. "Um… are you really sure it's fine?"
"It's fine."
Lin Ye nodded.
"Alright then,"
Though Meguri Shiromeguri still had her doubts, she accepted it. She walked toward the elevator hall and pressed the button.
Soon, the elevator doors opened. She stepped in and pressed the button for the top floor.
Lin Ye stood quietly, his expression unchanged.
Meguri Shiromeguri mused that, while she knew the families of exchange students who could come study in Japan wouldn't be too badly off, showing no great reaction to spending at such a high-end place—could it be that his family was really that rich?
Or was it all an act—maybe he had a private stash of pocket money, so he could just about afford to splurge once or twice?
'Ding…'
The elevator doors opened.
"Welcome."
The moment the doors opened, two staff members dressed in Western-style uniforms greeted them at once.
"Um… we…"
Faced with this show of formality, Meguri Shiromeguri grew nervous first.
For all that she was the Student Council President of Sobu High, and had dealt with the school's leadership and negotiated with outsiders, she was, in the end, a girl who still lacked social experience and fell short when it came to interacting with strangers.
Especially since she was gentle and timid by nature, she had a natural sense of apprehension toward strangers, toward this kind of high-end restaurant bearing such an upscale label, and toward the solemn, formally dressed staff.
"The private room I came to before—it should still be free, right?"
Lin Ye had spotted a familiar staff member. He was certain the staff who worked here had excellent memories; while they couldn't remember every single customer clearly, they would surely have an impression of him.
After all, the one who had come here with him was none other than Haruno—Haruno Yukinoshita, of the prestigious Chiba family.
"It's still free, sir. Please, this way," the waiter said, extending a hand to lead the way ahead.
Meguri Shiromeguri: ???
She had assumed that bringing Lin Ye here would be nerve-wracking for him, had assumed he'd be at a loss, faring no better than she was. But she was wrong—she was completely wrong.
There was nothing unfamiliar to Lin Ye here; Lin Ye was thoroughly at home.
It was as though coming here was like coming to his own house, without the slightest trace of strangeness or timidity.
So this was what an exchange student was like?
To have enough spare money to spend at a place like this.
In Meguri Shiromeguri's eyes, at a high-end restaurant like this, never mind coming to eat here once a year—even coming here once in a lifetime seemed a bit much.
With the waiter leading the way, Lin Ye and Meguri Shiromeguri soon arrived at the private room.
A dim, orange-yellow glow suffused the space. The room, with its air of classical charm, was understated, yet it exuded a faint trace of luxury.
Here, the ambiance itself was an indulgence.
At Lin Ye's gesture, Meguri Shiromeguri took her seat. She felt a little uneasy and cramped, unable to grow accustomed to it very well.
"Student Lin, this…"
"This is the menu. Please make your choice, Senpai."
Lin Ye handed the menu over in front of Meguri Shiromeguri.
Looking at the prices displayed on the menu, Meguri Shiromeguri was secretly alarmed. Even the cheapest steak's price was equal to a whole month's living expenses.
If it were some even more high-grade beef, that price was enough to make her feel a little dizzy.
"Whew…"
She slowly breathed out.
"Don't be shy, Senpai, order whatever you like. I'll take care of the bill—you don't have to worry about me not having enough to pay and leaving you here as collateral."
Lin Ye even cracked a joke.
"Haha…"
Meguri Shiromeguri relaxed a little, a faint smile appearing on her face.
The atmosphere had eased considerably, but Meguri Shiromeguri truly had no idea how to order.
Cuisine at these prices—she realized she had come to fleece Lin Ye, come to get revenge on him and make him bleed money, yet now that the moment had actually arrived, she instead couldn't take that step.
It was too hard.
...
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