His body pressed down, and Sakayanagi Arisu flusteredly blocked his chest with her hands.
Her silver hair cascaded onto the bed like melting snow, her eyes flashing with shock and indignation.
The hot, sticky sensation on her lips carried a presence entirely foreign to the girl.
Never imagining she'd lose her first kiss under such circumstances, her frustration channeled into her hands as she instinctively pushed against Kaoru's chest.
Her brows furrowed, her stiffened legs devoid of strength, while an inexplicable discomfort welled in her chest—a suffocating weight that forced delicate, breathy gasps from her nose.
Her arms straightened, finally parting their lips.
Kaoru looked down at her with amusement, licking his lips as if savoring her taste.
"You've taken my first kiss. Satisfied now?" Sakayanagi panted lightly, lips pressed tight as she glared at him with flushed annoyance.
"Let me go, or I'll really get angry."
Kaoru still held her legs, his back slightly straightening as his hand slowly traced the curve of her calf, gliding upward along her slender thigh.
By now, her nightgown was in disarray, the hem slipping down her waist under gravity, revealing a glimpse of smooth, pale skin along her hips
"Hmm..." Sakayanagi Arisu tightly pursed her lips, enduring the strange sensations he brought.
The position tested the flexibility of a young girl, but only because her legs were weaker and more delicate than an average person's could she withstand his playful antics.
Even so, the touch from the opposite sex sent shivers down her spine, raising goosebumps all over her body—unlike anything she had imagined.
The consequences of mischief might be far more severe and uncontrollable than she had anticipated.
"You're actually the easiest high-society young lady to handle," Kaoru said. "With your background, someday you'll marry a man of equally noble birth or comparable status. That's just how these so-called elite circles work."
Sakayanagi Arisu stiffened slightly.
"In other words, as long as the price is right, a young lady like you is practically a commodity with a clear price tag," Kaoru continued with a faint smile. "The only tricky part is your grandfather—he's a politician, after all."
Sakayanagi's grandfather represented a certain faction that established this special high school, giving it an official nature and even turning it into one of a politician's achievements.
In a place like Japan, financial conglomerates were the establishment—the larger the conglomerate, the greater its influence on the government.
Thus, some politicians were more than happy to arrange marriages with these financial dynasties.
Perhaps in the future, Sakayanagi Arisu would appear at one such wedding.
"You want to buy me?" Sakayanagi's expression turned odd.
This was the first time she had heard such a proposal.
"My father would never agree to someone like you. You could offer him all of Tokyo, and he wouldn't even blink."
Kaoru blinked. "If I step in to take responsibility afterward, would your father still refuse?"
"Hmph. At best, you'd only qualify as a live-in son-in-law," Sakayanagi retorted stubbornly, though her gaze shifted away as if searching for an escape.
"Not necessarily. Aren't you curious why I'm here?" Kaoru whispered temptingly in her ear. "What if I came specifically for you?"
Sakayanagi's ears flushed red—likely the first time a member of the opposite sex had ever breathed so close to her.
Her sensitive skin tinged with a faint blush.
"What do you want?" she asked, feigning composure.
"I hold shares in the Shinomiya Financial Group. Status-wise, I might not be a bad marriage prospect," Kaoru murmured. "Don't you think that's enough, Arisu?"
Though one percent might not sound like much, in a conglomerate of this scale with such a complex ownership structure—where even the head of the Shinomiya Group held less than twenty percent—Kaoru was effectively the seventh-largest shareholder.
"Shinomiya Financial Group shares?" Sakayanagi's expression turned stunned, momentarily forgetting his familiar address.
Trapped in the closed-off environment of Advanced Nurturing High School, her awareness of the outside world was limited.
Otherwise, she would have known what Kaoru had done just the day before.
"I suspect your father has already caught wind of it. Arranging a marriage proposal shouldn't be too difficult," Kaoru mused. "But even I admit that alone might not be enough to seal the deal."
Sakayanagi watched as he touched his own calf and even licked it, her face flushing slightly with embarrassment—this guy really was a perverted foot fetishist.
"If a father knew his daughter's illness could be cured, I doubt he would refuse," Kaoru murmured.
"After all, not just anyone can invest trillions into her treatment."
At the mention of her illness, Sakayanagi Arisu froze for a moment.
Then she recalled how he had always subtly paid attention to her legs.
Could it be that he wasn't just a foot fetishist, but actually concerned about her condition?
Kaoru, however, wasn't thinking that deeply.
The reason he brought up the Shinomiya Financial Group's shares was simply that he needed an excuse—it couldn't just be that Sakayanagi miraculously recovered for no reason.
Though the shares were just shares, and he certainly didn't have trillions of yen lying around, he suspected Sakayanagi Narumori would likely be tempted.
After all, anyone capable of acquiring Shinomiya Financial Group's shares must have some powerful backing.
So, Kaoru's point was simple: even if Sakayanagi Arisu refused, he could just win over her father and grandfather instead.
Meanwhile, Sakayanagi Arisu roughly grasped his intentions and found it both amusing and exasperating.
A strange emotion welled up inside her—this was the first time she had lost in chess to someone her age, the first time she had been proposed to, and now she had even lost her first kiss.
All these circumstances mixed together, creating a peculiar sense of disarray within her.
"You want to cure my illness… could it be just to satisfy your perverted desires?" Sakayanagi Arisu chuckled, though unease flickered in her heart.
It felt like she truly couldn't escape.
Would she not only have to serve as a maid next year but also become his wife in the future?
Speaking of marriage, Sakayanagi Arisu had never given it much thought before.
The only reason she had made that bet with Kaoru was because he was interesting enough—she had never imagined she might actually end up marrying him.
"If it were just about perverted things, I could always turn to Honami," Kaoru paused.
"Rather than just that, I'd say I want you to experience more of life's pleasures too."
"Oh?" Sakayanagi Arisu smiled. "How smooth. Right now, Mitoma-kun sounds just like a playboy who knows how to charm girls."
Kaoru lowered his head and kissed her lips again—soft, just as he remembered.
"Shameless." Sakayanagi Arisu pushed him away, her face now completely flushed, her heart pounding as if it had suddenly sprung back to life.
"If this is what it takes to kiss you, I'd gladly stay shameless forever." Kaoru lifted her legs, about to set them down, but her arms looped around his neck instead.
"Even if you can cure my legs, in my eyes, you'll only ever be a live-in son-in-law," Sakayanagi said, her arms tightening around him, her gaze unwavering.
"I won't be a mistress, I won't be a second wife, and I certainly won't submit to you."
Kaoru blinked, then smirked, tilting her chin up with a finger.
"That's not for you to decide, loser."
Remembering her earlier defeat in chess, Sakayanagi Arisu's face burned red with frustration.
"Heh… next time, you'll be the one losing."
"Such bold words from a mere loser."
"I won't fall for your tricks again—mmph—!"
Kaoru sealed her lips once more, her protests dissolving into muffled whimpers.
"Mitoma-kun."
"Are you feeling unwell?"
"No, I simply wanted to ask you—how exactly does one write the characters for 'pervert'?"
"It's not because your body can't take it anymore, is it?"
"Well, yes, but what does that matter?" Sakayanagi pondered for a moment. "I think we should petition the education board to change the pronunciation of 'pervert' to 'Kaoru Mitoma.'"
"In that case, the pronunciation of 'lewd' should be 'Sakayanagi Arisu,'" Kaoru replied with mock seriousness, looking straight at her.
Sakayanagi playfully punched his shoulder, as if finding the joke too amusing to resist, and let out a soft laugh.
"What should I do? It feels all sticky."
"Just change it when you wake up tomorrow."
"Your twisted tastes are disgusting. Has Ichinose and the others been subjected to this too?"
"Kikyō had a similar experience, though it was with stockings."
"Are you a fetishist?"
"I have a particular interest in defiling beautiful girls."
Sakayanagi shot him a sidelong glance before sitting on the bed, subtly smoothing her skirt over her lap, her slender legs pressed together, showing no outward signs of disturbance.
In truth, the girl could still feel a lingering dampness, as if the sensation from earlier remained on her fingertips, leaving an odd tingling along her inner thighs.
Kaoru stole a glance—everything from before was now hidden beneath her skirt.
"Just out of curiosity, how many others have received rings from you besides me?" Sakayanagi touched the ring on her finger, which she hadn't paid much attention to earlier but now found herself growing increasingly fond of.
She wondered where he had managed to find such a design.
"Honami, Kei, Kikyō, and Suzune," Kaoru answered.
"It's strange they haven't started fighting over it." Sakayanagi studied him suspiciously, feeling like things had gone a little too smoothly for him.
Kaoru stayed silent.
His stock of rings was running low, and he wasn't even sure who to give the next one to.
"Alright, alright, get out already. I just took a bath, and now you've made a mess of everything. I need to wash again."
In truth, Sakayanagi just felt too sticky, as if his presence was still clinging to her skin, leaving behind an unsettling sensation.
"You might have trouble moving. Should I help you?" Kaoru offered earnestly.
Sakayanagi stared at him blankly.
"If you feel unwell, don't hesitate to call me." With that, Kaoru gathered his things and left the girl's room.
Once he was gone, Sakayanagi finally let out a sigh of relief.
Then, recalling what had just happened, she lowered her gaze, her ears burning red.
A delayed wave of shame nearly made her want to bash her own head in—how could she have done something like that?
Perhaps too much had happened tonight, muddling her thoughts so much that she hadn't pushed Kaoru away immediately, leading to... whatever that was.
And she hadn't taken off the ring. Did that mean she had accepted his proposal?
Sakayanagi's emotions were tangled, and for the first time, she felt truly lost.
What exactly did love feel like?
He mentioned shares—that had to be real, right?
If it was, would her father even agree to his proposal?
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