"U-Utaha Kasumigaoka?!!"
Eriri sprang to her feet, quickly retreating from the art room door to hide behind Megumi.
Just then, the door slowly opened to reveal a smiling Utaha. Noticing Megumi, she showed slight surprise before turning her gaze to Eriri with a smile:
"I heard from a first-year junior that you ran off crying. As expected, you hid in the art room, didn't you?"
Hearing this, Eriri flushed red. Wanting to retort but fearing Utaha's retaliation, she awkwardly said:
"None of your business."
Mid-sentence, Eriri paused and looked around Utaha in confusion:
"Wait, didn't you say Luo Shu was coming? Where is he?"
"At a time like this, you're concerned about Luo Shu rather than me?" Utaha teased with an amused smile.
"Hah?" Eriri gaped before realising and blushing furiously: "You're using Luo Shu to scare me again, aren't you?"
"Did it work?"
Utaha chuckled before explaining:
"After hearing you'd run off, I thought you'd be in the art room, while he guessed you went to the Astronomy Club classroom, so we split up."
"Count yourself lucky, Eriri. So far, I'm the only one who's seen your pathetic state."
Eriri's face turned red with rage:
"What pathetic state?! And what's there to feel lucky about?!"
Hearing Eriri's still lively response, Utaha smiled, her tone full of mirth:
"Good. It seems your mental state is holding up quite well."
Eriri snorted at the words, about to retort that no matter how good it was, you'd still scare them off. Then she saw Utaha Kasumigaoka's expression instantly darken:
"However, certain people have been left physically and mentally exhausted because of you..."
Hearing this, Eriri shuddered and immediately hid behind Megumi Kato, only peeking half her head out:
"I apologise, I'll apologise, alright? I really didn't mean to. Who knew that after oversleeping, I'd end up bringing Kisara to witness that scene?"
'Kisara? That first-year transfer student?' Megumi tilted her head in confusion while also giving Eriri a puzzled look.
'Why are you hiding behind me like this? I'm just an innocent bystander here?'
At that moment, Utaha sighed, flicking her hair aside as she glared at Eriri in annoyance:
"Thanks to you, I now have to back down to Kisara."
"Honestly, I'm the one who had my boyfriend stolen, yet in the end, I'm the one who has to yield first."
"Eh?" Megumi couldn't help but gasp in surprise.
After all, the idea of Utaha Kasumigaoka having her boyfriend stolen was genuinely shocking.
The cold beauty senior, who consistently ranked first in second-year academics, the model student of the school, actually had her boyfriend stolen?
Shouldn't it be the other way around, with her stealing Eriri's boyfriend?
Hearing Utaha's complaint, Eriri, still hiding behind Megumi, couldn't resist muttering:
"Well, you were the one who made your move so late back then."
"Sawamura." Utaha smiled sweetly. "Does hiding behind an ordinary person give you the courage to provoke me?"
At those words, Eriri trembled in fear and quickly protested:
"Hey, Utaha Kasumigaoka, don't you dare do anything reckless!"
Eriri hadn't forgotten what Utaha's most terrifying ability was.
If this woman really went all out and hypnotised everyone present, she'd be in serious trouble.
Just imagining the kind of hypnosis scenarios from those doujins made Eriri absolutely terrified.
Right then, Megumi timidly raised her hand:
"Um... Senior Kasumigaoka, if you two have matters to settle, could I perhaps excuse myself first?"
Hearing Megumi speak up, Utaha merely glanced at her before narrowing her eyes with a smile:
"Sawamura, it seems you've been telling Kato-san things you shouldn't have, haven't you?"
Eriri froze at these words before suddenly realising something and exclaiming in shock:
"Utaha Kasumigaoka, you didn't just use Mind Reading on us, did you?"
"Eh?" Megumi blinked in confusion.
Mind reading? What was this about? Had Senior Kasumigaoka studied psychology? Microexpression analysis?
Seeing Eriri's reaction, Utaha sighed:
"Honestly, when it comes to messing things up, Sawamura, your talents are truly remarkable."
Eriri immediately flushed red, shrinking her neck in embarrassment:
"I-I'm sorry... I really didn't mean to."
"I know." Utaha crossed her arms and sighed.
She was well aware that Eriri was just a bit foolish, stubborn, and occasionally prone to blunders, but she wasn't the type to deliberately scheme against others.
In fact, when dealing with Eriri, Utaha often felt like she was raising a dim-witted daughter.
Perhaps Luo Shu felt the same way, which was why he never said anything about Eriri's slacking off.
To some extent, the second member of this Familia was practically a pet daughter being raised by her and Luo Shu.
"I accept your apology." As Utaha Kasumigaoka finished speaking, Eriri visibly relaxed, only for Utaha to abruptly change her tone: "However, the other party involved might not forgive you so easily."
Eriri froze at these words, then instinctively looked behind Utaha—immediately spotting Luo Shu standing there.
"L-L-Luo..."
"L-Luo what? Have you developed a stutter after just a short time apart, Eriri?"
Luo Shu, dressed in Toyogasaki High School's uniform, looked at Eriri with an amused smirk as he led Kisara into the art room.
At the sight of Luo Shu, Eriri—who had earlier convinced herself that offending him wasn't a big deal—immediately buried her face in Megumi Kato's back, not daring to peek out.
Facing Utaha Kasumigaoka, Eriri could still muster a few words, but when it came to Luo Shu, she couldn't bring herself to say anything at all.
Seeing Eriri's reaction, Luo Shu couldn't help but smile:
"It seems you're well aware of your recent performance."
"Considering you were a newcomer, we didn't involve you in previous missions. But now, even a simple task like showing a junior around school ended in failure."
"Eriri, it appears I can't let you take it easy for the next while."
Eriri hid behind Megumi Kato, not daring to utter a word.
In response, Luo Shu calmly stated:
"I'll explain the situation to Sayuri. For the next fortnight, you'll take a temporary leave from school and receive training under Kurumi."
Hearing this, Eriri couldn't help but timidly suggest:
"Um... could we not tell my mum about this?"
Luo Shu looked at her in surprise:
"What, do you really think Sayuri hasn't noticed your odd behaviour?"
"Eh?" Eriri froze, stunned. "Mum knows? How?"
"Wait, how do you know that she knows, Senior?"
Luo Shu gave her an odd look.
'Do you really have no self-awareness about how obvious you are? As if you could hide anything from someone as sharp as Sayuri.'
Sensing his gaze, Eriri seemed to realise she'd asked a stupid question and shrank back:
"Fine, two weeks' leave then. Got it. Actually, this might be a good time to avoid the school rumours."
After this morning's social death, Eriri genuinely didn't want to face school anytime soon. If transferring schools didn't require parental consent, she might have tried it.
Hiding away for half a month to calm down sounded perfect right now.
Seeing Eriri comply, Luo Shu nodded slightly. Though a bit dim and prone to mistakes, at least she was obedient:
"Don't worry about the school rumours. I've already asked Utaha to handle it."
"She's handling it?" Eriri blinked, turning to look at Utaha Kasumigaoka. "How?"
"Like this, of course." Utaha smiled and snapped her fingers.
The next moment, screams erupted from the corridor outside the art room.
"Ahhh!!"
"There's a pervert streaking!!"