Outside, Akane watched as Ho Fei-yu emerged. He blocked her view of the Coach, so she didn't see the monstrous "Unicorn" he had created.
"Let's go, Senpai."
Akane looked at his wet shirt and blushed again.
"Senpai... why did you meet him alone after what he did last time?" Ho Fei-yu asked as they walked toward the main building.
Akane hesitated. She didn't want to tell him she had risked her life for another boy—a boy who had abandoned her. But she couldn't lie to him. She told him everything.
Ho Fei-yu listened in silence. He felt a deep pity for these girls. No matter how smart or brave they were, the "rules" of this world and the "NTR energy" always stacked the deck against them. They were like chess pieces, destined to be broken unless someone flipped the board.
"I'll make sure no one hurts you again," he promised.
Is this... a confession? Akane wondered. "Mmm... okay..."
She leaned into him, her body pressing against his side. She breathed in his scent again. He smells so good... so gentle.
They didn't notice they were being watched.
Hiroki Fujii, the star "genius" of the baseball team, watched them from across the field. He had been "coaching" Shoya, which he found incredibly boring. Diligence doesn't matter if you have no talent, he thought.
He had been about to criticize Shoya again when he saw the couple. He recognized Akane Nanao immediately. He had tried to date her once, but she had rejected him, citing the club rules.
Seeing her clinging to another guy—a guy who looked even better than him—made his blood boil. A cold, competitive fire lit up in his eyes. Shoya, standing next to him, didn't even notice that his "girlfriend" was being escorted away by another man. He was too busy practicing his swing.