After home economics class ended, Ayatsuki Ayaka brought a bowl of ramen to an old, white, long table in the cafeteria and set it down.
She sat on a stool and boasted to her
friends, "The omelet rice Aozawa and I made just now was really delicious."
"Oh? The omelet rice I made tasted kind of weird."
"That just means it was bad."
"Cooking isn't that easy to learn."
Her friends picked up the topic.
Ayatsuki Ayaka's group was the Hot Girl clique in their class. Besides her, the other three were fashion-conscious Hot Girls.
"Never mind the omelet rice. I saw you exchange LINE contacts with Aozawa just now. Are you interested in him?"
The girl speaking had short, ear-covering brown hair and large eyes accented with light red makeup. Her school jacket was casually tied around her waist. The curve of her white shirt was noticeably less impressive than Ayatsuki Ayaka's; hers could only be described as small and delicate.
Takahashi Saeko.
According to the Hot Girl rankings in Ayatsuki Ayaka's mind, this girl was at the pinnacle—a Demon King. Those captivating eyes could charm anyone from adults out on the town to middle schoolers. Extremely dangerous. There was no man she couldn't handle, famously known as the Men's Assassin.
"I'm a little interested in him, so I added him as a friend. I'll chat with him a bit and see," Ayaka said.
"That's what you say, Iroha, but every time you get a guy's LINE ID at a mixer, you hardly ever contact them."
Another girl spoke. She had a sweet face framed by tea-colored, shoulder-length wavy hair. Her makeup was also on the lighter side, giving her the appearance of a pure, innocent girl—the type any guy would assume is very well-behaved.
Tama Chan. In a way, she was an incredible girl. Just how incredible? Ayatsuki Ayaka could only say that even Tama Chan herself had lost track of how many boyfriends she'd had; she once dated seventeen different guys in a single day. Truly the 'Oda Nobunaga' of the girls' world! Invincible, super incredible!
"Isn't that how dating works? You stick to someone when you like them and dump them when you don't."
"Maru, you're hardly one to talk. I remember you said you loved how clingy that guy was. But the very next day, you dumped him, complaining he was *too* clingy and had no backbone," Iroha retorted, trying to sound mature.
She'd made her high school debut into the Hot Girl scene and had been part of the clique for over a year. However, she'd never actually had the chance to test her theories on any guy. But when it came to talking the talk, she was confident she was second to none, not even the two 'life mentors' before her.
"Did something like that happen?" Maru touched her index finger to her lips, a look of innocent bewilderment on her face. It wasn't an act; she'd simply forgotten the guy even existed.
"Guys who fall for Maru are so pitiful. They always end up getting dumped."
The girl sitting beside Ayatsuki Ayaka spoke up. Her hair was dyed a striking blonde and styled in twin ponytails.
Miyahara Kaoru. She had been Ayatsuki Ayaka's deskmate in their first year of high school and was a junior member Ayaka had brought into the Hot Girl clique. Compared to Ayaka, who was too afraid of the pain to get her ears pierced, Kaoru was much bolder. She'd gotten three piercings on each earlobe in one go and now wore a flower-shaped stud and two silver hoops in each. Her Hot Girl rating was subtly threatening to surpass Ayaka's own.
"Kaoru, I have to correct you there. With every guy I've dated, I've been completely devoted," Tama Chan countered, insisting she wasn't some fickle girl who casually played with guys' feelings. "It's just that such joy always makes love burn out faster." She had truly loved every single boyfriend she'd dated.
"Maru's views on love aren't worth discussing." Takahashi Saeko cut off that topic. She didn't approve of Maru's love life, nor did she care enough to argue against it. Everyone has their own ideas and personality. As long as they have a clear conscience, whatever they do is their business.
"Let's talk about Aozawa. Iroha, don't say I didn't warn you, but you really shouldn't date Aozawa."
Hearing this, Ayatsuki Ayaka swallowed a mouthful of ramen. She blinked, her expression surprised. "Why do you say that?"
Takahashi Saeko hooked a finger under the pull-tab of her orange juice and chuckled. "Because that kind of guy isn't someone you can handle, Iroha. I can tame plenty of guys with these eyes of mine. I can tell which guys can be conquered and which ones can't with just a few glances."
"Saeko, you mean you're not confident you could date Aozawa?"
Surprise flickered across Ayatsuki Ayaka's face. In her eyes, for someone of Takahashi Saeko's caliber, handling a guy as merely good-looking as Aozawa should have been a sure thing.
Takahashi Saeko took a sip of her orange juice. "Back in our first year, I actually considered trying to win him over. But after observing him for a while, I gave up. Aozawa is different. He has incredible willpower, probably from his Sword Dao practice. If I actually tried to date him, it would be a case of me conquering him, or him conquering me. I hate the feeling of failure. If the chance of failing is over fifty percent, I back off."
Takahashi Saeko paused, then chuckled. "Besides, he's pretty close with his deskmate, Phoenix Academy Maggie. With her in the picture, your chances are even slimmer. You'd best not get carelessly involved."
"I just asked him. Aozawa and Phoenix Academy aren't like that." Ayatsuki Ayaka's competitive spirit flared. She glanced towards the two dining near the floor-to-ceiling windows and huffed, "Okay, I admit Phoenix Academy is pretty, and her blonde dye job is better than mine. But I'm not bad either, am I?"
"Heh. Let me put it in terms you'll understand. If beauty were scored out of a hundred, you'd get a hundred points. But your hundred and Phoenix Academy's hundred are different. You can *score* a hundred. For her, the scale *only goes up to* a hundred—she's the benchmark."
Takahashi Saeko added with another smile, "Phoenix Academy Maggie is no simple person either. From what I can tell, her family is definitely wealthy. That kind of aura isn't something an ordinary family can cultivate. She's from a completely different world than us."
"Saeko, don't build her up by putting us down! A mere Aozawa? In my eyes, he's practically offering his head on a platter! Just you watch!" Ayatsuki Ayaka, spouting a few lines she'd picked up from playing Dynasty Warriors, abruptly stood and marched towards the table where Aozawa and Phoenix Academy Maggie were eating.
"Hah, Iroha never listens to advice," Takahashi Saeko shook her head, a smile playing on her lips.
Miyahara Kaoru grumbled, "You did that on purpose, didn't you, Saeko? You knew Iroha hates to lose, so you deliberately provoked her."
"Heh, and you knew I was deliberately provoking her, yet you didn't try to stop her either, did you?"
"Because Iroha looks so cute when she's being all competitive!" Miyahara Kaoru cupped her cheeks, an utterly infatuated expression on her face. She hadn't joined the Hot Girl clique because of any interest in boys; she was only interested in Iroha.
"Sometimes, I really do worry about Iroha," Tama Chan sighed. She's such a husky, why does she insist on running with wolves? With her vast experience, Tama Chan had long since seen through Ayatsuki Ayaka. Aside from a genuine talent for fashion, the girl was an absolute novice when it came to boys.