Kei who saw her classmate arrive, instantly gained courage. She ran lightly to Ryunosuke's side and reflexively hugged his arm, as if she had found a place to lean on, then said to him:
"Hey, Akasaka, they're bullying our classmate, teach them a lesson!"
Ryunosuke calmly looked at his arm being hugged, he felt a bit helpless.
"It seems we're not that close. Why are you suddenly hugging my arm?"
Without further ado, he immediately pulled his arm back. This girl had a boyfriend, Ryunosuke didn't want others to talk badly about him.
Seeing his attitude, Kei didn't care; she hugged Ryunosuke's arm again without hesitation, like a plaster that was hard to remove no matter how hard Ryunosuke tried to shake it off.
This time Ryunosuke was truly resigned. He didn't know what Kei was thinking?
Wasn't she afraid others would misunderstand?
Actually Kei didn't want to do this either... it's just that right now she felt scared and needed support. And coincidentally Ryunosuke appeared in front of her, she reflexively wanted to hold his arm to get a little sense of security.
After all, she had been a victim of bullying in the past, the wound in her heart was very deep... That's why she asked Hirata to pretend to be her boyfriend.
Hirata, who was too good a person, agreed to that unreasonable request.
Because of her status as Hirata's girlfriend, Kei felt free to do anything. Her nature slowly began to resemble the bullies.
As the saying goes, someone often becomes the person they hate most. Perhaps that was a form of self-protection; pretending to be the person they hate most to avoid being bullied by others.
Ryunosuke looked at his arm being hugged again by Kei, he furrowed his brow but didn't remove it again.
He began to understand that Kei was being harassed by students from another class, and as a classmate, he should stand on her side.
On the other side, Hiyori's face looked slightly unpleasant, she didn't even realize that Kei beside her was tightly hugging Ryunosuke's arm.
Hiyori slowly walked toward Shiho and Ishizaki, then reprimanded them with authority as a leader.
"Didn't I already say don't look for trouble and don't fight? Have you forgotten how Ryuuen Kakeru left this school?!"
"Have you also forgotten how our homeroom teacher could be taken care of?"
Hearing that, both of them reflexively looked at the main perpetrator, Ryunosuke.
Ryunosuke felt a bit awkward and avoided their gazes. After all, all of that was his doing, he felt a bit guilty...
But Hiyori seemed not to notice, she continued scolding them until they lowered their heads in shame.
When had they ever been scolded like this? But because the one scolding was their own leader, they could only endure it...
Hiyori finally felt thirsty after talking at length. Ryunosuke promptly took out a bottle of mineral water from his bag and gave it to her.
Hiyori accepted it, said thank you, then drank a little to wet her throat before continuing to scold them until they were helpless.
Both of them gritted their teeth in annoyance, in their hearts cursing Ryunosuke: (Why did you give her water?!!!)
Originally their leader was already out of breath and might stop scolding, but because of that bottle of water, her energy was refilled. Ryunosuke just shrugged, ignoring their resentful gazes. He deliberately did it... letting these two be scolded longer so next time they'd be more obedient.
Kei could only gape seeing that scene. Unconsciously she tightened her hug on Ryunosuke's arm even more.
Ryunosuke himself could feel the softness from the girl's chest, making him start daydreaming.
Seems not quite B size, but there's a slight bulge, is this A+?
Kei didn't know Ryunosuke's dirty thoughts at all. She was now looking at Hiyori with admiration.
She really wanted to become a woman like that... that way she wouldn't be bullied anymore, right?
Kei tightened her hug even more, completely unaware that Ryunosuke was thinking lewd things.
Hiyori finally felt it was enough, she put her hands on her hips while panting, clearly exhausted. She said to Ryunosuke with an apologetic feeling:
"Forgive me for troubling you. I'll take both of them away now."
While talking, she pulled one hand of each to leave. Shiho's resentful gaze kept sharply focused on Kei without letting up for even a second.
Kei responded by sticking out her tongue and pulling down her eyelid, clearly mocking. Shiho gritted her teeth with a dangerous look in her eyes, but Kei didn't notice at all.
Ryunosuke noticed the ill intent in that gaze. He thought for a moment, to prevent something bad from happening to Kei, he spoke up:
"Let's exchange contacts, Karuizawa-san." He showed his phone, signaling he wanted to add friends.
"Eh?" Kei was stunned for a moment, then after coming to her senses, she covered her chest and stepped back with an embarrassed face.
"Sorry! Akasaka-kun, I already have a boyfriend, please mind your behavior!" After that, she bowed respectfully to him.
Ryunosuke felt as if hit by a 10,000-point critical attack, he almost knelt and vomited blood, but he held it in and replied curtly:
"If you don't want to then fine, you think I really want your contact?!"
Kei immediately got fired up. "What the heck! You asked for contact, why is your tone like that?"
"You said you don't want it, I'll give it instead!"
Without further ado, Kei immediately scanned the QR code on Ryunosuke's phone, added him as a friend, then just left without looking back.
"Hmph!" Kei snorted while waving her phone. "Don't contact me if it's not important, I'm busy."
Ryunosuke's lips twitched. "Who would want to contact you anyway? So narcissistic..."
At that moment, Chiaki approached and took out her phone with a sweet smile.
"Let's exchange contacts too." She looked toward Kei who had already walked away, "You might need it someday, right?"
Ryunosuke had a flat expression. "It seems you can guess what I'm thinking."
Chiaki just smiled without speaking. Reluctantly Ryunosuke took out his phone again to add Chiaki's contact. Before leaving, he reminded:
"If something happens to Karuizawa, remember to contact me."
"I feel Manabe's gaze earlier was a bit strange, she might take revenge anytime. As her friend, watch her closely."
Chiaki who was carrying her small bag showed a meaningful expression.
"You're quite attentive to Karuizawa, huh? Are you interested in her?"
Ryunosuke shook his head with a flat expression, stating no.
"Oh?" Chiaki stared sharply at him with her big eyes blinking, trying to see if he was lying. "I studied psychology, I can tell at a glance whether you're lying or not."
Ryunosuke kept his poker face. He wanted to see if this little girl really had the ability to read his mind.
Chiaki kept staring at him, and Ryunosuke maintained his flat face.
Both stared at each other. Chiaki held back laughter until the corner of her lips lifted; clearly she could barely hold it in.
Ryunosuke just raised an eyebrow, he could still hold on.
Finally Chiaki looked away. "Never mind, I won't guess anymore. With such a stiff face, how can anyone read it."
Ryunosuke sighed in relief. "It seems your 'nonsense' psychology isn't useful."
Chiaki felt indignant. "Even though I can't guess what you're thinking, I know what you want to do. You're afraid something will happen to Karuizawa, right?"
Chiaki waved her phone containing Ryunosuke's contact as if she had predicted everything. "Rest assured, if something happens I'll contact you. After all, Karuizawa... is my friend too."
Ryunosuke had a flat expression. "Good if you think that way. I leave the rest to you."
Chiaki nodded seriously, signaling that she understood.