Chapter 484: Rumors?!
"So Yisha and little Meguri live together..."
Haruto finished signing the last document, stroking his chin as he said: "Though the wild and younger-sibling styles are somewhat conflicting, I could try seamlessly switching between them."
Yura Tsubasa and Meguri Tomoe shuddered, their eyes filled with both embarrassment and annoyance as they looked at Haruto.
Those damned Reya and Momo - they must have leaked their own preferences!
Secretly deciding they must get revenge, the two spoke simultaneously: "Dame, dame, we're not ready yet..."
Bennia and Nimura Ruruko, slower to catch on, finally understood what Haruto was planning.
The faces of the two introverted beauties instantly flushed bright red.
As a reaper from the underworld, even though she had defected, Bennia's acceptance of such matters was much higher than that of humans.
After being embarrassed for a while, she had already adjusted her mindset.
But Nimura Ruruko was different. Though her looks and figure were decent, above average even, she fell slightly short compared to the other girls in the student council.
Not to mention when compared to exceptional beauties like Rias.
She actually lacked confidence about whether Haruto would accept her. Now with only two choices left, and Haruto still placing her last, she felt relieved but inevitably somewhat worried and uneasy.
What if Haruto had no interest in her...
Haruto remained unaware of Nimura Ruruko's mixed feelings. After being rejected by Yura Tsubasa and Meguri Tomoe, he didn't say much, quietly deciding to visit them directly later.
Indeed, when it came to women, they would never admit their desires in front of men.
Having reaffirmed this fact, Haruto gave himself mental praise for directly approaching Kusaka Reya, while also reflecting on his decision to reveal his intentions today.
After his goals were exposed, Yura Tsubasa and Meguri Tomoe would definitely be prepared. If they put up strong defenses, he really wouldn't be able to capture them as easily as he did with Kusaka Reya.
But if he waited for the two girls to prepare themselves and give hints, who knew how long that would take.
He might appear unbusy, but in reality he was handling numerous affairs daily - when the time came, he might not necessarily be able to free up time immediately.
When student council work ended, Yura Tsubasa and Meguri Tomoe immediately grabbed their bags and fled the student council room as if flying, giving Haruto no opportunity at all.
Watching the slightly flustered, graceful figures of the two girls retreating, Haruto couldn't help but touch his nose.
Was that really necessary...
Forget it, since these two were so shy, he might as well ask Bennia and Nimura Ruruko first.
Haruto looked toward the two girls who were also preparing to leave, opening his mouth but momentarily at a loss for words.
I can't exactly say that Yura Tsubasa and Meguri Tomoe aren't ready yet, so I was planning to start with you two first...
Leaving Bennia aside for now, she's quite open to the idea of dual cultivation and seems to harbor some inexplicable admiration for me, so there shouldn't be any issues.
Bennia already likes Haruto, or more precisely, she admires the current Red Dragon Emperor who possesses such formidable strength.
After hearing Sona's explanation and learning about Haruto's true capabilities, she even considered leaving Sona to become Haruto's Familiar.
Although she desires something to happen with Haruto, it's more like a fan's admiration for their idol—they haven't even exchanged more than ten sentences between them.
Thus, this beautiful shinigami with blue-purple long hair has no idea how to confess her feelings to Haruto.
However, her hesitation won't last much longer because Haruto is far more proactive than she is.
Just as Bennia was secretly hoping, Haruto hesitated for a moment, stared at Nimura Ruruko who kept her head down and avoided eye contact, and ultimately decided against it.
First, with Yura Tsubasa and Meguri Tomoe's situation coming first, directly bringing it up would make him feel like a jerk.
Second, he noticed that both Bennia and Nimura Ruruko are too introverted—even if they aren't ready or are unwilling for now, they probably wouldn't say so.
In other words, they'd just endure whatever comes their way.
Haruto finds this kind of personality quite annoying, or even somewhat detestable.
To put it nicely, this trait is called gentleness; to put it bluntly, it's cowardice.
Most bullying incidents tend to happen to people with such personalities.
Of course, the real scum are those who bully others.
These inherently rotten individuals prey on those who are kind-hearted and easy to push around.
But if these people don't change their submissive or timid nature, even if they're rescued, they'll likely get bullied again when they encounter other bad apples.
Although he already learned from Kusaka Reya and Hanakai Momo that the girls have agreed—even feeling excited about it—if the person in question has an introverted personality, Haruto still wants to hear them express their true feelings directly.
Not for any other reason, but just for his own peace of mind.
Haruto hemmed and hawed for a while before finally saying, "Um... well... be careful on your way home."
Bennia was disappointed but still smiled and nodded in response.
"Okay, Haruto-senpai, you've worked hard too."
Nimura Ruruko overthought things because Haruto's hesitation started when he looked at her.
For a moment, her chaotic thoughts made her forget to respond to Haruto.
It wasn't until Bennia tugged at her clothes that she hurriedly said, "Ye... yes, thank you for your concern, Haruto-senpai..."
After Bennia and Nimura Ruruko left, Haruto locked the student council door and left the school.
Yura Tsubasa went to the gymnastics club, while Meguri Tomoe probably went home.
Haruto considered going to the gymnastics club to wait for Yura Tsubasa or directly asking Sona for her location, but remembering how the two girls had run off earlier, he decided against it.
He does want to taste the freshness of a virgin, but he's not so desperate as to act like a horny monkey.
If he hadn't learned about their feelings from Hanakai Momo, Haruto wouldn't have taken the initiative in the first place.
They've known each other for over a year now—if he really wanted it that badly, he would have found ways to pursue them long ago.
After making his decision, Haruto once again visited Hanakai Momo and Kusaka Reya's apartment.
Having postponed matters concerning Yura Tsubasa and Meguri Tomoe, and not wanting to return home, he decided to check on these two again.
Without their artificial Sacred Gears, Kusaka Reya and Hanakai Momo were weaker than in the original timeline, but after their dual cultivation improvements, they probably weren't far off.
However, compared to the instant usability of artificial Sacred Gears, improving their strength required time, and enhancing their abilities needed their own training.
The benefit was that, unlike external artificial Sacred Gears, this was their own power.
If they had the chance to obtain suitable weapons and equipment, their strength could improve even further.
Although he claimed to be checking on them, Kusaka Reya and Hanakai Momo, having just tasted the pleasures, couldn't resist.
This time, the three of them spent the night in the living room in an intimate entanglement.
Kusaka Reya and Hanakai Momo's strength steadily reached SS-class, at the cost of their recently flattened stomachs swelling up again.
Additionally, due to Haruto's intense advances, even though they were demons, both women were left sore and exhausted.
Thus, they took leave again...
With Hanakai Momo's previous day off, she had already taken three days off this week.
Such matters were hard to hide from observant people, especially since the women's absences were connected to Haruto, Kuoh Academy's most handsome and flirtatious immortal student council president.
Soon, after the Occult Research Club, rumors began spreading throughout Kuoh Academy that the student council had also become Haruto's harem.
In reality, "harem" was a euphemistic term.
On online forums, the Occult Research Club, the student council, and even Haruto's current Class 2-A were considered his pleasure dens.
It wasn't entirely wrong, but Haruto had never actually held any orgies in his classroom or the student council.
The emergence of such rumors was partly due to Haruto's somewhat high-profile behavior.
The school community was small to begin with, and private Kuoh Academy had just become coeducational, with very few male students—almost everyone knew each other.
Apart from Haruto, basically all the male students were still single, so having one guy monopolize all the beautiful girls inevitably drew attention.
Online news spread quickly, especially gossip like this.
As time passed, stories about Haruto had become something of an urban legend.
With countless voices, especially online, after observing for a while and confirming it had no impact on him, Haruto simply let these half-true, half-false rumors spread.
He thought this time would be the same, but unexpectedly, it attracted a blond troublemaker after so long.
Friday.
When Hanakai Momo and Kusaka Reya came to school, faced with various inquiries, they silently acknowledged their relationship with Haruto.
They didn't even directly refute the claims about the student council becoming a harem.
Inevitably, this involved Sona Sitri, at the academy's top tier.
Everyone already knew about Tsubaki Shinra's involvement with Haruto, and now that the entire student council had fallen, what about former student council president Sona Sitri?
Those brave enough to ask directly knew the truth, while those who didn't know didn't dare to ask.
However, since Sona didn't come forward to clarify, many interpreted it as silent confirmation.
Of course, some die-hard fans refused to believe it.
How could the beautiful and elegant student council president possibly stoop to being with a playboy scum like Haruto!
Absolutely impossible! It must be fake!
Saji Genshirou, with his head of yellow hair, was one of them.
Due to Haruto's influence, he did not become Sona's Familiar as he had in the original timeline, but the Sacred Gear dwelling within him still existed—it had just awakened a bit later.
Because many things had been happening in the Underworld recently, the attention of the student council and the girls of the Occult Research Club had been diverted, causing the awakening of his Sacred Gear to go unnoticed at first.
Without a guide, after awakening his Sacred Gear, he simply buried himself in studying it alone.
The more he studied, the more he felt he was the chosen one.
As an ordinary high school boy who had lived a mundane life for over a decade, he had always believed that magic and the like were fake. Now that he had suddenly awakened this supernatural power, he thought he was the only superhuman in the entire world.
But before he could even enjoy it for a few days, news like this about the goddess he had secretly admired for so long spread. As the chosen one, how could he possibly tolerate it?
He, Saji Genshirou, had even planned to confess to the beautiful student council president once he fully understood his superpowers!
On the rooftop of the school building, Issei Hyoudou pointed toward the sports field and excitedly shouted to his friends beside him, "Matsuda, Motohama, look! It's the beauties from the student council!"
"Where, where? Let me see!"
"Me too!"
The pervert trio no longer dared to peep at girls up close, only observing the beauties from afar like ordinary boys.
At most, they would do something like this—running to the highest rooftop just to catch a glimpse of the scenery beneath their collars.
For this purpose, they had even bought high-powered binoculars.
After all, peeping up close wasn't something they could get away with every time. Getting beaten up by the girls was one thing, but if they got caught again, they would really be expelled.
"Ooh, I see! Bennia-chan is still so cute. That skull mask is unexpectedly adorable."
"Really? I think Kusaka is amazing. That figure is top-tier even across the entire academy."
"Nonsense! Akeno-senpai and Naruse have better figures than her."
"I just said top-tier, not number one!"
The pervert trio bickered noisily, fighting over the binoculars.
However, even with the aid of binoculars, there wasn't much to see.
Thanks to Haruto's proper guidance, the girls' outdoor attire was quite modest.
As for why they still appeared alluring, it was purely due to their exceptional figures—the elegant and tempting curves that even clothing couldn't fully conceal.
Amid the trio's commotion, they subconsciously overlooked the boy standing among the group of beautiful girls.
They had almost grown accustomed to it—no matter which beauty they looked at, there was always a chance they'd spot Haruto nearby.
But this time was different. Just as they were about to instinctively ignore Haruto's presence, a golden spiky-haired head barged into their line of sight.
Issei Hyoudou, resisting the pulling and tugging of his two troublesome friends, kept the binoculars firmly in his grasp.
Staring at that familiar hairstyle, he muttered, "Saji? What's he doing blocking Haruto's way?"
After having his Sacred Gear taken away, Haruto and Issei Hyoudou's relationship had cooled considerably. But since Haruto had taken his Sacred Gear, he still showed him some consideration.
It was precisely this slight consideration that made Issei Hyoudou's school life somewhat more comfortable.
Of course, he still hadn't managed to find a girlfriend.
If he had, he wouldn't still be hanging out with Matsuda and Motohama.
Conversely, as long as Matsuda and Motohama were around, he could forget about properly searching for a girlfriend.
Even if a girl showed interest in him, she'd be scared off by these two troublemakers.
Although Haruto had handled things cleanly back then, leaving Issei completely unaware of demons, Fallen Angels, and other supernatural beings, deep in his soul, he held a faint fear of Haruto.
After all, he had nearly died at Haruto's hands, his soul almost shattered.
This was also why, after Haruto distanced himself, Issei never actively sought him out again.
Saji Genshirou was also his friend, though not as inseparable as Matsuda and Motohama.
Seeing Saji Genshirou blocking Haruto's path, he instinctively grew worried for his friend.
Casually tossing the binoculars to Matsuda, he immediately dashed toward the sports field.
"Hey, Hyoudou, where are you going? Not watching anymore?"
"Hyoudou probably wants to see it live on the scene."
At that moment, Motohama also noticed Saji Genshirou.
Mainly because once Haruto stopped, the entire student council procession halted, making it impossible not to notice the blond blocking the way.
Meanwhile, Haruto wasn't exactly pleased as he looked at the blond in front of him.
He no longer held any prejudice against blonds, but he didn't have any particular fondness for them either.
Especially when this one was arrogantly blocking his path with a haughty expression.
"Who are you? Why are you blocking the president?"
Before Haruto could speak, his devoted admirer Bennia spoke up first.
Saji Genshirou glanced at her dismissively, offering no reply, and instead declared, "He isn't fit to be president! The only one I acknowledge as president is Lady Sona!"
"Oh? Then why don't you go tell Sona not to advance to the next grade and stay on as president?"
Haruto retorted impatiently, "As if I even wanted this position in the first place."
By now, he had recognized the blond's identity. Though he didn't know why he was blocking his path, that didn't stop him from firing back.
"You...! Hmph!"
Stumped by Haruto's retort, Saji Genshirou could only let out a heavy snort, unable to refute.
Of course, he couldn't possibly ask Sona Sitri to delay her graduation and remain as student council president. As for Haruto claiming he didn't want the position...
Damn it! If you don't want it, then give it to me!
Sona Sitri was amazing, the goddess of his dreams, but the other girls in the student council were incredible too!
Being able to get along with Issei Hyoudou, their shared lecherous nature was definitely a common ground.
Or perhaps it's more accurate to say that all normal men are lecherous—there's nothing particularly blameworthy about that.
Haruto didn't dislike this trait either; he was just annoyed by Saji Genshirou's blocking behavior.
Being stopped near the playground like this, all the surrounding students had turned to look.
Although school was already over, it was still early—even students in non-club activities hadn't all left the campus yet.
Seeing that Saji Genshirou showed no intention of moving aside, Haruto lost his patience.
"Got business or not? If you do, speak up. If not, get lost."
"Of course I have business."
Noticing the growing crowd around them, Saji Genshirou had achieved his purpose.
"Recently, there have been rumors that President Sona has become your girlfriend. I find that impossible and hope you can clarify this."
Haruto looked at him as if he were an idiot. "Before asking me to clarify, didn't you think to ask Sona herself?"
"Hmph! No need to ask at all. How could President Sona ever be with someone like you!"
Haruto gave Saji Genshirou another look of pure disdain, vaguely feeling the guy's blond hair seemed to carry a greenish tint.
With this level of self-deception, it'd be a waste for him not to become the classic cuckold character.
Being a decent person, Haruto couldn't stand watching someone trapped in delusion.
"Oh, sorry, I can't clarify that—because it's true."
"What? What?!"
Saji Genshirou's eyes widened, momentarily unable to process this.
"I mean Sona is my girlfriend. We're together. And just so you know, we've already taken the step toward adulthood together."
Haruto repeated himself, then added, "Oh, and just to be thorough—it happened at Sona's place, right there in her bed."
"Whoa—"
Haruto hadn't bothered to lower his voice, instantly causing an uproar and heated discussions among the crowd.
However, under the stern gazes of the female student council members, the commotion quickly died down.
"Impossible! I don't believe it! How could the president... how could she choose you... someone like..."
Saji Genshirou stared wide-eyed, still refusing to accept it.