Upon hearing Shikime Natsu's words, Ibuki Mio made no effort to hide her disdain — she clicked her tongue with a sharp "tch," her face twisting into something openly impatient.
"Shiki, are you an idiot or something?"
Ibuki Mio addressed Shikime Natsu without the slightest courtesy, her tone edged with unmistakable venom.
"Do I really need to spell out how I feel about you? I have a serious problem with you — got it?"
It had to be said: when Ibuki Mio had no leverage being held over her head, she was more than bold enough. She was downright prickly — thorns and all.
That merciless way of speaking was something even Horikita Suzune — whose personality was equally unpleasant — didn't dare direct at Shikime Natsu anymore, and she was the sharpest tongue in the entire first year.
After all, Horikita Manabu was Horikita Suzune's biggest vulnerability. And to be fair, it was Horikita Suzune herself who had handed that weakness over to Shikime Natsu. Had she never admitted that relationship, Shikime Natsu wouldn't have been able to exploit it so quickly.
Of course, there wasn't really much need to use the Horikita Manabu card anymore these days. After several months of change, Horikita Suzune had actually managed to make friends, and her personality had softened a little. On top of that... not so long ago, Shikime Natsu had done her a genuine favor — and because of that, even Horikita Suzune found it hard to truly dislike this ill-natured fellow.
If anything... gratitude might have been the stronger feeling.
But the girl standing before him right now was a completely different story.
By any count, Ibuki Mio and Shikime Natsu had only crossed paths a handful of times. And those encounters had left essentially no positive impression on her. Understandably so — on every single occasion, Ibuki Mio had been at Ryuuen Kakeru's side when they approached Shikime Natsu, only to witness Ryuuen and his crew get beaten down, then extorted. Basically all of Class C's private points had been flowing straight into Shikime Natsu's pocket. For Ibuki Mio to have anything resembling a good impression would've been nothing short of miraculous.
That said, in Ibuki Mio's mind, there weren't many people at this school she had a high opinion of in the first place.
Within these walls, Ibuki Mio remained exactly what she had always been: a proud, solitary wolf.
Even Ryuuen Kakeru — the undisputed, untouchable absolute leader of Class C — wasn't someone she particularly liked. In fact, she found some of his methods rather repugnant.
Still, as long as Ryuuen had the ability to drag the class upward, she didn't make too much noise about it. She'd even lend a hand with some of his dirtier work — like that rooftop incident — without much complaint.
With that thought, Ibuki Mio's gaze returned to Shikime Natsu.
She studied him carefully, letting out a quiet, contemptuous snort in the back of her mind.
She might despise this guy — that much was true — but she couldn't deny a certain fact.
During that rooftop incident, Shikime Natsu had gone after Ryuuen with overwhelming, crushing force — utterly subduing that tyrant in a way no one else had managed — and as a result, Ryuuen's use of violence within the class had dropped dramatically.
In a roundabout way, this bastard Shikime Natsu had actually done something decent for the average students of Class C, even if it was entirely incidental.
Listening to Ibuki Mio's blunt, openly hostile words, Shikime Natsu simply stood in place without moving.
He smiled. That handsome face of his showed not a trace of hurt or offense. Not even the angle of his lips really changed.
Seeing that, Ibuki Mio ground her teeth.
The thing she hated most was dealing with someone like Shikime Natsu — someone who simply could not be rattled.
No matter how rudely she spoke, no matter how hard she tried to provoke him with words, he was like a wall of cotton: her jabs sank right in and disappeared, producing no reaction worth speaking of.
He never lashed out in response to her rudeness, never fired back with equally nasty words.
Every last one of them — always playing the part of the brooding, wise enigma in front of others.
The type who always seemed perfectly in control, who toyed with everyone around them like they were all performing monkeys — Ibuki Mio despised that type above all else.
[CG64: Contempt (Ibuki Mio)]
[What a genuinely insufferable person.]
[Congratulations, Host! You have obtained Skill Card: Jinxed Streak (Can inflict a streak of bad luck on someone you dislike, lasting twelve hours, with a three-day cooldown.)]
Blinking at the suddenly-appearing CG notification, Shikime Natsu was momentarily taken aback. Another character who hadn't triggered a CG in this long?
That was genuinely amusing. And besides... this skill wasn't bad at all. He already had a luck buff — and now he had a bad-luck debuff to go with it. Offense and defense, covered.
Ibuki Mio's expression had settled into open, undisguised disdain, her brows furrowed tightly, her eyes practically pushing him off her turf through sheer force of glaring alone.
Faced with the girl's contempt, Shikime Natsu let out a soft, easy chuckle.
"Is Ibuki-san's dislike of me... possibly because I've taken quite a few private points from your Class C?"
The moment those words landed, something shifted in Ibuki Mio's expression.
She thought: this guy clearly knows exactly what he's done — and he has the nerve to ask about it to her face with that shameless grin?
Of course, the extorted private points weren't the entire reason she disliked him, to be fair.
After all, in Class C's autocratic environment, even without Shikime Natsu the vampire around, Ryuuen would have forcibly collected her monthly points anyway.
The amount she could freely use each month was always pitiful.
But there was still a fundamental difference between the two.
At least when Ryuuen took everyone's private points, he was genuinely fighting to pull Class C up toward Class A. He was doing it for the collective good of the class.
But those massive amounts of private points going into Shikime Natsu's hands?
God only knew what this guy would blow it all on. Winning over girls? Buying luxury items?
Either way, from Class C's perspective, it was money thrown into a bottomless pit — zero benefit whatsoever.
"Don't flatter yourself."
Ibuki Mio glared at him and spoke coldly.
"I just plain dislike you. Even without the whole extortion thing, you'd still rub me the wrong way!"
But just as Ibuki Mio was holding her chin high and delivering that pointed declaration —
Her gaze, aimed in Shikime Natsu's direction, kept being involuntarily drawn to the golden-brown, perfectly crisped grilled fish he was holding in his hand.
Gulp.
A faint, involuntary swallowing sound rose in her throat.
On this resource-starved deserted island, the appeal of food was... intoxicating.
Ibuki Mio wasn't someone particularly obsessed with eating. She didn't have especially high standards for food.
But ever since arriving on this island for the special exam, she'd barely eaten anything that could pass as a real meal. And since Ibuki Mio was a loner by nature in the class — she didn't like others, and they didn't like her — she'd had to find all her food herself. Over this stretch of time, she'd eaten almost nothing good. Even her grilled fish had just ended up burnt and barely chewable.
Now, faced with something that looked, smelled, and no doubt tasted genuinely good, her eyes were helplessly seized by the most primal of urges.
And naturally, Shikime Natsu had already taken sharp notice of those frequent, furtive glances.
He looked at this stubborn, hard-mouthed girl before him, and felt a quiet amusement well up inside him.
However sharp her tongue, however many insults she lobbed — that earnest, fixed stare she kept sending toward the grilled fish told an entirely different story.
In the face of hunger, the allure of food was priceless. That much was universal.
Shikime Natsu didn't bother calling her out on the awkwardness. Instead, he extended his hand in the most natural way possible, holding out the fragrant, golden grilled fish toward Ibuki Mio.
"Want some?"
He looked at her, smiling as he asked.
Well — Ibuki Mio was, after all, a high-quality character who could trigger CGs in the system. Shikime Natsu naturally had his own calculations in mind.
For different types of girls with different personalities, Shikime Natsu always had entirely different approaches.
Come to think of it, this Ibuki Mio in front of him actually had a few things in common with Horikita Suzune from his own class.
But they were absolutely not the same.
Before getting to know him — before he'd gradually begun to change her — Horikita Suzune had also been the solitary type, always wearing a "keep your distance" expression.
But Horikita Suzune's reason for shutting herself off was that she stubbornly believed making friends was an unnecessary waste of time. All she wanted was to reach Class A at this school and earn recognition from her brilliant older brother.
Ibuki Mio, on the other hand...
Shikime Natsu didn't know much about her past yet, but he could sense it — the loneliness and thorns inside her were a very different breed from Horikita Suzune's.
And so, Shikime Natsu decided to start with the simplest, most direct method available: food.
Of course, he wasn't naive enough to think a single grilled fish would be enough to tame this wild cat.
He still hadn't fully grasped the real nature of Ibuki Mio's personality. The useful information he had on her was limited. He'd need to feel things out slowly.
Upon hearing Shikime Natsu's casual offer to feed her.
Ibuki Mio looked at him like he'd grown a second head — a gaze dripping with suspicion.
"Are you out of your mind?"
She addressed Shikime Natsu with a voice laced with wariness.
"I literally just said I can't stand you! And you're seriously trying to offer me grilled fish?! Are you stupid?!"
And yet, just as Ibuki Mio was righteously rebuffing his temptation —
Grrrumble——
A loud, completely undeniable rumble from her stomach erupted into the quiet forest.
Her flat belly made its honest protest known to the world.
Ibuki Mio's words died in her throat.
The face that had been wearing its fierce, guarded expression went scarlet in an instant — the flush spreading all the way down to the base of her neck. A wave of crushing embarrassment crashed over her without warning. She hadn't expected her own body to betray her so thoroughly and publicly. This was mortifying.
"Damn it...!"
Ibuki Mio swore under her breath, fumbling to cover her own embarrassment, then raised her voice at Shikime Natsu.
"Since you're not leaving, then I will!"
With that, she pulled her arms in tight and hugged her bundle of wild fruits — gathered in large leaves — firmly to her chest, and turned to flee this utterly humiliating scene.
Ibuki Mio strode forward with quick, decisive steps.
But as she passed by Shikime Natsu's side, she deliberately paused, turned her head, and fixed him with a fierce glare.
"I'm telling you — I don't need a single thing from you! Take your fake kindness and shove it!"
That parting shot delivered, Ibuki Mio stared hard at Shikime Natsu's face.
She had expected that even after saying something so harsh, she'd be able to read at least some kind of reaction on his face.
Even a flash of irritation at having his good intentions thrown back at him would've been satisfying — or some other ugly expression from being turned down.
But.
Nothing.
Not a thing.
Shikime Natsu still wore that same composed, effortless expression — the faint smile at the corner of his mouth unchanged, the kind of smile that seemed to embrace everything and mock everything at once.
What the hell was that supposed to mean?!
Shikime Natsu's utterly unruffled reaction left Ibuki Mio feeling like she'd just thrown a punch straight into a pile of cotton — completely hollow, not a shred of satisfaction to show for it.
She thought: was this guy some kind of emotionally dead mannequin? No matter what anyone said to him, he just kept smiling — it was absolutely infuriating!
But that was none of her business anymore.
All she wanted right now was to get away from here as fast as possible, find somewhere without people, eat her wild fruits, fill her stomach, and never have anything to do with Shikime Natsu again.
Ibuki Mio held his gaze for one silent second.
Then she let out a cold snort, looked away, and walked briskly past him.
Shikime Natsu felt the faint breeze she left in her wake.
He stood in place and made no move to stop her.
They weren't close yet, after all. Forcing her to stay would only provoke a stronger backlash.
And unlike with Horikita Suzune, he didn't currently have any real leverage over Ibuki Mio that he could use.
The monthly private points from Class C were a deal directed at Ryuuen — they couldn't be used as a direct threat against Ibuki Mio alone.
But that was fine.
There was still plenty of time ahead at this school.
For this little wildcat, Shikime Natsu had all the patience in the world. He wasn't in any rush to make concrete progress right this moment.
And yet.
Just as Ibuki Mio had barely passed by his side and taken only a few steps away —
Something happened.
"Ugh...!"
Ibuki Mio suddenly stopped in her tracks, letting out a suppressed sound of pain.
Her whole body bent forward sharply, and her face went white as a sheet in an instant.
The sharp, spirited brows that usually gave her such an air of toughness were now knotted together in obvious agony.
One hand barely managed to keep hold of the bundle of wild fruits; the other pressed firmly against her stomach.
Beads of cold sweat broke out across her forehead.
At the sound, Shikime Natsu slowly turned around.
His gaze quickly fell on the wild fruits cradled in Ibuki Mio's arms. Had she already eaten some of them when she found them?
This deserted island had an abundance of plant life — but not everything here was safe to eat. Nothing would kill you, of course, but at the very least you could end up with a very unhappy stomach.
And clearly, that was exactly what had just happened to Ibuki Mio. This girl didn't even know what she was picking, and she'd stuffed it straight into her mouth anyway. You had to admire the courage, at least.
Watching Ibuki Mio hunched over in discomfort, Shikime Natsu found himself wondering — he hadn't even used the Jinxed Streak debuff on her. How had she managed to have such terrible luck on her own?
Perhaps fate simply had it in for her.
Shikime Natsu walked over and stood before her, looking at her with an expression that was half a smile and half something else entirely.
"Ibuki-san... are you all right?"
Looking up at Shikime Natsu standing right in front of her, Ibuki Mio could only groan inwardly. Of all the moments for her body to give out on her — it had to happen right in front of this guy. Could this get any more embarrassing?
____
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