"I don't mind, but are you sure you're okay with it?" Shichen looked straight into Kyouko's eyes and asked.
"I'm perfectly fine with it~"
"In that case…" Shichen crooked his arm.
"I'll be in your care, then." Kyouko stepped closer and hooked her arm through his, the corners of her lips curling up.
"Hope you don't regret this in a minute," Shichen warned.
"How could I possibly regre—eh?"
Kyouko had only walked a couple of steps with him when she suddenly realized something was wrong.
"It's Kyouko—!"
"It's really Kyouko! She came to our school!"
"It's her in person! She's so pretty!"
"Ahhhhh! I'm gonna die— I'm seeing her for real!"
"Kyouko—!!"
"W-what… what's going on?" Kyouko stared at the rows of faces pressed against the classroom windows, stammering in shock.
"What else could it be? Your fans," Shichen replied casually.
"H-how did they know I was coming today?"
"No idea who leaked it."
"Was it you? To surprise me?" Kyouko tilted her head, looking at him.
"Why would I?"
Shichen figured it had to be Lala who let it slip. Only a few people knew Kyouko was coming, and the most likely to spill was definitely Lala.
Then one told ten, ten told a hundred, and soon the whole school knew.
They were gonna find out eventually, so he hadn't cared much. Thinking back now, it wasn't hard to guess.
"So it wasn't you," Kyouko said, sounding a little disappointed.
"Does it matter? The second you walked in the gate, it was impossible for them not to see you."
"Seems like I'm pretty popular at your school~" Kyouko said, a bit smug.
"Pretty popular? More like there might not be a single person who doesn't like you."
"Really? What about you?"
"Don't tease me. Let me ask you this: can you still walk like this now?" Shichen flicked his gaze down at where she was holding his arm.
"This… of course I can." Kyouko beamed and squeezed his arm even tighter.
"Then let's go."
Shichen nodded and led Kyouko toward the classroom building.
Even though it was class time, the students were shouting at the top of their lungs, completely ignoring discipline.
Shichen decided these clueless high schoolers might need to be reminded what "school rules" meant.
Maybe a little extra homework over the weekend.
With Kyouko on his arm, he entered the building and started showing her the first-year wing first.
Compared to the second- and third-years, the first-years were a bit better behaved, not fully spoiled yet.
When Shichen and Kyouko passed by classrooms, the students just stared curiously out the windows—they didn't scream or rush out.
"Isn't that Princess Momo and Princess Nana?"
Passing by Momo and Nana's class, Kyouko spotted them right away.
"Yep, that's them," Shichen said, nodding and waving back at Momo, who was waving enthusiastically at him.
"They're staying at your school too?" Kyouko asked, intrigued.
"Lala's here. It'd be weird if they weren't."
"True… Although, why do I feel like Princess Momo is looking at you kind of strangely? And at me too…"
"Hmm?"
Shichen looked toward Momo and saw the jealousy in her eyes—and something scheming lurking there.
My dear little sister-in-law, what are you plotting now?
"You're imagining things," he said.
"Am I? I'm not some naive kid, you know~ Momo looks really jealous. Is it because I'm linking arms with you? Looks like that's it."
When Kyouko tightened her hold on his arm, Momo's expression twisted even further.
Yup, that explained it.
"By that logic, Nana's looking weird too," Shichen said.
"Uh… she is, but it's clearly different." Kyouko had jumped a bit when she saw Nana's expression.
Nana's glare was downright murderous, dark and furious.
But one glance told Kyouko that Nana's anger was directed at Shichen, and it was clearly different from Momo's jealousy.
That glare screamed "I'm pissed you're flirting around."
Felt exactly like a little sister watching an unfaithful brother-in-law.
"Forget about them. Let's go check out the second-years," Shichen said, turning away with Kyouko toward the stairs.
"Hey, you still haven't told me what's going on with Princess Momo," Kyouko pressed.
"Kids don't need to ask so many questions."
"I'm not a kid." Kyouko puffed out her cheeks, looking adorably offended.
"You're about the same age as Lala and the others. If you're not a kid, what are you?" Shichen countered.
"Oh yeah? Isn't Lala your fiancée? Does that mean you're the fiancé of a kid? Doing not-family-friendly things with kids?" Kyouko shot back triumphantly.
"…"
He had no comeback to that.
"Hehe~ Am I still a kid?" Kyouko asked smugly.
"Fine, you're not a kid. You're definitely… big," Shichen said, letting his eyes drift to her chest, his meaning obvious.
"Mm?"
Kyouko noticed his gaze immediately. She glanced down, didn't pull away at all—if anything, she smiled and pressed closer, tightening her hold on his arm.
A soft, springy sensation pressed against him.
"You are paying attention to this, aren't you?" she asked with a mischievous grin.
"...Miss, have some decency," Shichen said.
He'd just meant to put her off, but it clearly backfired.
"'Have some decency'? Haha~ That's rich coming from the guy who was staring first," she laughed.
"How was I supposed to know you'd react like that? Girls shouldn't be this forward, you know?"
"I'm very conservative, actually~ You're the first one to ever touch me there, you know~" Kyouko said in a teasing, sultry tone, even pushing her chest out a little.
"…Something's off with the way you treat me," Shichen muttered.
"Oh come on, didn't I already tell you? I'm really interested in you~ If you dumped Lala, I'd totally date you."
"Wasn't that just part of the 'plot'?"
"It's how I really feel too~"
"I almost believe that, except we didn't really know each other back then."
"You didn't know me, but I'd already heard about you," she said.
"What do you mean?"
"Your friendliness toward aliens on this planet is famous, you know…"
Riiiing—
Before she could finish, the bell rang, cutting her off.
And then—
"Kyouko—!!"
BOOM BOOM BOOM—
A storm of frantic footsteps shook the whole building.
Then, on the stairs, a wall of students appeared, swarming down like a tidal wave.
"It's Kyouko—!!"
"Ahhhhh, Kyouko! I love you!!"
"…"
A huge crowd of boys charged down from above, and Shichen couldn't see the end of it.
"Shichen…" Kyouko instinctively clung tighter to him. For once, she panicked.
"Looks like we'd better run," he said.
He slipped an arm around her waist—and the two of them vanished on the spot.
"Kyouko disappeared—!!"
"What's the principal up to?!"
"He already has so many girls and he still has to steal Kyouko from us?!"
"Unforgivable!"
"Find him!!"
The students, enraged, started forming "search squads" on their own to hunt Shichen down.
The man himself, however, hadn't left campus. He still had a school tour to give Kyouko, after all.
"Where… are we?" Kyouko asked.
They were crammed into a narrow space, standing face to face so close there was no room between them.
"I'm not sure. I just jumped us somewhere at random," Shichen said.
"You sure about that?" Kyouko looked up at him, cheeks flushed.
"Really," he said, looking down at her seriously.
"I-I don't believe you!" she shot back. Her breathing was a bit uneven, her chest rising and falling.
Shichen could feel the soft motion pressing against him, and warm, sweet breath brushed his face.
Girls this age really were flawless.
"I really don't know. I just teleported us somewhere without people. Don't worry, we're still on campus," he said.
"Still… at school? Then this is…?"
"Let's go out and see."
"O-okay…"
Thunk.
Before she could finish, they heard a door opening outside, followed by a chorus of chattering voices.
"Can't believe Kyouko actually came to our school~"
"Seriously, she's so cute in person."
"The principal's something else. Wonder what the deal is with those two."
"Feels like there's definitely something going on. I heard they were arm-in-arm."
"For real?"
"Yeah, the boys are losing their minds."
"Ha, all they can do is be jealous. Our principal's seriously got game."
"I think so too!"
"So jealous of Lala…"
"…"
"This place is…" Kyouko whispered, suddenly nervous.
"Judging by what they're saying… the changing room," Shichen nodded.
"You did this on purpose!" she hissed.
~~~
Patreon(.)com/Bleam
— Currently You can Read 220+ Chapters Ahead of Others!