A pink-haired girl with strikingly vivid hair and a youthful, adorable face stood half a person's distance apart from a raven-haired girl with waist-length locks, her mature beauty reminiscent of a ripe peach. Their eyes locked as if sparks were flying between them.
Faced with this situation, Luo Shu calmly took a step back, clearing the path and retreating to Yukino Yukinoshita's side.
Yukino, who had followed Kisara to spectate, gave Luo Shu a deadpan look and said:
"With things having come to this, don't you have anything to say?"
Yet Luo Shu replied with conviction:
"Giving them space to talk is already me being very considerate."
"You can't expect me to forcibly suppress one or both of them, can you?"
Hearing this, though Yukino disliked it, she had to admit that if Luo Shu interfered further, he might genuinely make things worse and provoke both Kisara and Utaha.
Of course, more than that, Yukino would have preferred to see Utaha and Kisara team up to beat Luo Shu up.
This wasn't about personal feelings—just pure dissatisfaction with someone two-timing.
At that moment, Luo Shu glanced at the still-glaring Utaha and Kisara before whispering to Yukino:
"By the way, classes have already started, right? Isn't it bad to skip?"
"Kisara-chan pulled me out to look for you, using feeling unwell as an excuse..." Yukino sighed here. "Though lying to the teacher isn't good, I couldn't expose her, since..."
She shot Luo Shu another look, as if to say it was all his fault.
Yet Luo Shu seemed slightly surprised: "Kisara dragged you out of class? Are you two in the same class? With Megumi Kato?"
Hearing this, Yukino's lips twitched: "This really isn't the time to bring up Kato-san, is it?"
'The two girls you're two-timing are about to come to blows, and you're worried about whether she and Kisara are in the same class as Megumi?'
'Director, just what is going through your head?!'
But then, Luo Shu gave the two a puzzled look before turning back to Yukino:
"Is this situation really that bad?"
"Isn't it?" Yukino was baffled.
"Not really?" Luo Shu's expression was utterly calm, even slightly dismissive. "At the end of the day, what's the conflict here? Isn't it just Kisara seeing Utaha holding my arm?"
"Um... more or less..." Yukino Yukinoshita nodded, watching Luo Shu's calm demeanour with growing bewilderment.
At that moment, Luo Shu countered:
"Were Utaha and I caught in bed by Kisara? Or was it the other way around, with Kisara and I being caught by Utaha?"
"We were just walking to school arm in arm, right?"
"Uh... yes." Yukino couldn't quite grasp Luo Shu's train of thought, but had to admit this was indeed the case.
Luo Shu narrowed his eyes and asked with an amused smile:
"Then here's the question. Simply walking arm in arm with a woman, even if it's someone I'm attracted to, is merely a moral issue rather than a legal one, correct?"
"It can indeed only be considered a moral issue," Yukino nodded.
Luo Shu continued:
"Good. Before I met Kisara, my relationship with Utaha was roughly equivalent to mutually attracted individuals who hadn't confessed yet. Kisara was the one who came later."
"So in this relationship, who was being immoral?"
"It's... Kisara..." Yukino's expression became extremely complicated as she looked at Kisara, never expecting her to be the other woman.
"Right. After Kisara drugged me and we crossed the line of friendship, we established a romantic relationship. When Utaha found out, she immediately took me to a love hotel and did the same. So who was immoral here?"
Hearing this, Yukino's composure completely cracked.
These three people - one unapologetically two-timing, one using drugs for unfair competition, and another forcibly inserting herself as the third party after being eliminated by underhanded tactics (though Utaha Kasumigaoka bore slightly less responsibility) - were truly a match made in heaven, the epitome of "what a tangled web"!
'Why did I even get involved with these people?'
Yukino's face twitched as she said:
"I shouldn't have come here."
"Indeed, you shouldn't have," Luo Shu nodded, then added, "See, while Utaha and Kisara were arguing, I kept pulling you aside for private conversations. Don't you think that's rather..."
Yukino suddenly startled, quickly turning her head to find Kisara and Utaha standing shoulder-to-shoulder, glaring at her with murderous eyes.
'Oh no...'
Yukino hastily took a step back to distance herself from Luo Shu, then shot him an angry glare...
'This guy was actually using her as a human shield?!'
At that moment, Luo Shu casually added, "Kurumi and I bought several British Shorthair cats in Kyoto. We plan to keep them at the garrison, and the responsibility of caring for them will fall to you, Yukino."
"Don't be ridiculous. Do you really think I'd yield just because of a few cats...?"
Yukino Yukinoshita considered herself a compassionate person who wouldn't submit to coercion and took responsibility seriously.
Therefore, taking care of cats was natural.
"When will the cats be delivered?"
"Kurumi should have already sent them to the garrison."
Upon hearing Luo Shu's words, Yukino Yukinoshita could no longer focus on anything else.
Her mind, entirely occupied by thoughts of cats, temporarily lost its capacity for rational thought.
After placating Yukino, Luo Shu turned to Kisara and Utaha with a smile:
"Weren't you two going to talk? What's the matter? Changed your minds?"
Kisara immediately puffed up her cheeks and huffed, "How can we talk properly when Shu-kun is standing right there, flirting with a fox spirit?"
In contrast, Utaha Kasumigaoka was all about stirring the pot: "We've already settled everything via private messages on the Divine Pantheon forum."
Seeing this, Luo Shu blinked and asked, "Mind letting me in on what you discussed?"
Utaha and Kisara exchanged glances before turning back to Luo Shu in unison:
"We do!!"
"Guess that means I'm not needed here?" Luo Shu shrugged with a chuckle.
"Indeed." Kisara maintained a stern expression, speaking with exaggerated seriousness. "However, after school, Shu-kun must come with me to Senior Kasumigaoka's house."
"Hmm?" Luo Shu looked at Utaha in confusion. "What's this about?!"
Utaha casually flipped her hair, revealing an enigmatic smile:
"Congratulations, Shu-kun. The number of beautiful girls living with you has increased by one!"
"I won't deny the 'beautiful girl' part, but isn't calling yourself that a bit too narcissistic—"
Before Luo Shu could finish, Utaha pressed her index finger against his lips.
"Was Shu-kun about to say something just now?" Utaha smiled sweetly.
Faced with this, Luo Shu paused before replying:
"No, I was just saying I wholeheartedly welcome Miss Utaha's arrival!"
In this situation, Luo Shu chose to back down.
After all, when women unite, it's always the man who ends up bullied!