"Good morning, Shichen."
"Morning… haaah~"
Shichen greeted La Folia, then yawned and headed into the bathroom to wash up.
"La Folia, why are you calling the Sensei… 'Shichen' so directly?" Himeragi Yukina frowned at her while waiting to walk to campus with Shichen.
"Hmm? I'm already Shichen's woman—calling him that is normal, isn't it? It's more intimate," La Folia replied with a smile.
"Your Highness, that was fast… You only met him yesterday," Kirasaka Sayaka couldn't help griping.
"That's what happens when you meet your fated one. If you act reserved, someone might snatch him first," La Folia said, pointedly glancing at Sayaka.
"I—" Sayaka heard the implication and couldn't think of a comeback for a moment. She had been there first, and he'd already done this and that with her—she even dreamed about him feeling her heartbeat. But she really couldn't say it outright; she felt a little guilty—wasn't she "cutting in line" ahead of Yukina? And her original intent was to be punished in Yukina's place, not to get closer to him.
"But La Folia, doing this won't cause trouble for Sensei?" Yukina pressed.
"Trouble? What kind? Shichen is the Fifth Primogenitor—the strongest being in this world. What 'trouble' could trouble him?" La Folia countered.
"But what if he doesn't like trouble? Isn't he teaching at Saikai precisely because he wants a laid-back life?" Yukina argued.
"That's where you're wrong." La Folia chuckled and shook her head. "Beings like Shichen don't want a quiet life—they're just bored. If you care about him, you should make life interesting."
"That's just your guess."
"But Shichen accepted me."
"Sensei did not 'accept' you! He's just… a bit lecherous!"
"Perfect, then. I have the looks—just his type."
"You… you don't even know what Sensei really likes."
"Isn't it girls like you—loli types?"
"I…" Yukina stared at her, mortified.
"Hehe~ you might fit Shichen's taste, but you've mistaken one thing."
"What do you mean?"
"Shichen doesn't only like loli-type girls. He likes pretty women too. Sayaka's the proof, isn't she?"
"Wait! Why bring me into this?"
Sayaka startled and looked at Yukina, flustered. "Yukina, don't listen to her—no way that guy's interested in me…"
"Sayaka, you don't have to fool me. I know you and Sensei have a murky relationship," Yukina said through gritted teeth, frustrated. She wasn't upset that her best friend and Shichen had something; what upset her was that her best friend had gotten further with him than she had.
She was still just his monitor, with the faintest trace of ambiguity at best. Sensei was obviously into loli types, and she fit that so well—so why hadn't he made a move on her and instead on others? Who weren't even loli types. Did he actually like more proactive girls? Come to think of it, both Sayaka and La Folia liked approaching him first…
"N-no… I only did it for you…" Sayaka denied weakly.
"For me?" Yukina blinked, not following.
"I…"
"What's going on, exactly?" Yukina pressed, frowning.
"Actually… I was scared Shichen would do something to you, so I let him do it to me instead—hoping he'd spare you…" Sayaka confessed; she didn't want to keep it from Yukina.
"Sayaka, is that really what you were thinking?" Yukina wasn't moved in the least.
"Really!" Sayaka nodded hard.
"Then why are you and Sensei like this now… this close?" Yukina asked, a question straight from the soul.
"I…"
"You didn't use that as an excuse to get close to him on purpose, did you?"
"No! At first I was forced."
"At first… What about now?"
"I…" Sayaka had no idea how to answer—very guilty.
"My, my—why the infighting?" La Folia cut in, perfectly timed.
"I'm not fighting with Sayaka. I just want her to tell me the truth and stop hiding things from me," Yukina said coolly.
"Yukina…" Sayaka stared at her, then steeled herself. "Alright. Yukina, I do… kind of like… that guy now."
"'That guy'?" La Folia teased.
"Fine! I like Shichen, okay!"
"Why? Weren't you androphobic?" La Folia asked on.
"I… I don't know. When I'm with Shichen, I don't feel that disgust. After he spanked me, I couldn't stop thinking about him," Sayaka admitted.
"Spanked…" Yukina's brow twitched.
"Yukina, it's not what you think—I didn't ask for it. Shichen insisted on spanking me!" Sayaka hurried to explain.
"Sensei…?" Yukina didn't quite buy it.
"It's true! He suddenly hoisted me against his hip and spanked me, and hard, but at the end he healed me…" Her voice dropped by the end, and a hint of joy crept onto her face.
"Sayaka, you're not a masochist, are you?" Yukina asked despite herself.
"Masochist? Of course not!" Sayaka shook her head.
"Then why do you look so happy?"
"I'm not happy… I just didn't expect he'd come back to heal me afterward. Though the 'treatment' was a bit off—he, um, rubbed for a long time…"
"Rubbed… So you did do something outrageous with Sensei and kept it from me…" Yukina shut her eyes, wounded.
"I'm sorry, Yukina. It's not something that's easy to confess…"
"Forget it—it already happened. I know what Sensei's like… And after that? Is that why you fell for him? That easy?"
"No! I wouldn't like him just because of that."
"So what else happened?"
"Later, I got 'punished' again…" Sayaka said, face blazing. Anyone could tell something serious had happened.
"What did Sensei do to you?" Yukina asked coldly.
"He… spanked me first, then healed me, then kissed me—and touched my…" Sayaka crossed her arms over her chest, cheeks burning; the meaning was obvious.
"He kissed you too? Where?"
"My… mouth," Sayaka answered shyly.
"…" Yukina fell silent. She'd never done anything like that—Sayaka was way ahead. So this was the benefit of being proactive? But being proactive wasn't that easy…
"Eh~ Didn't expect you and Shichen to do that much already," La Folia said, amazed.
"I… I was forced," Sayaka protested.
"Do you believe that yourself? If you didn't agree, would Shichen do that? I don't think he's the type to force people," La Folia said.
"Mm… I was just scared he'd turn on Yukina instead…"
"Sayaka, you're still saying that?" Yukina snapped.
"Ah—sorry, Yukina," Sayaka apologized at once.
"So that's how you ended up liking Sensei? Because he did that? You're that conservative?"
"Of course I'm conservative. But it's not just that…" Sayaka blurted, then lowered her head, voice small. "Shichen is… unexpectedly kind. He bullied me first, but then he healed me—he didn't treat me like someone to push around. And… he's the first man I haven't recoiled from. I can't help thinking about him. He listens to me complain every night, keeps me company, and comes the instant I need help…"
Plain, visible happiness spread across Sayaka's face—the look of a girl in love.
La Folia watched with interest. She had to admit—Sayaka was truly pure-hearted, a sheltered girl—no wonder Shichen "won" her so quickly. Bully her first, then comfort—create contrast, a classic playbook. Only a pure girl with little real-world contact would fall for it so fast.
Though that wasn't quite fair either—Shichen's identity weighed on the mind; that sort of presence does sway people. In La Folia's case, she might have fallen too—up close, you don't overthink. He's the Fifth Primogenitor, the strongest in the world, and handsome on top—when a man like that runs a "play," it's hard not to stumble.
There was one more thing, though: La Folia felt Shichen had been interested in Sayaka from the start. If he hadn't, why take the trouble with the "play"? He could have done whatever he wanted. And when he's not interested, he doesn't. She remembered: when that synthetic angel had been naked earlier, he hadn't reacted at all—though her flawless body had certainly been striking.