Completely unaware that she had been followed, Kitasan Black deliberately slowed her pace as she neared the school, pretending she had just returned from a leisurely jog.
Though it was unlikely any other students would be out exercising outside the school grounds this early, if she wanted to maintain her persona, she believed a certain level of vigilance was necessary. She didn't want her cover blown by a moment of carelessness.
However, just as she was about to enter the school gates and pass by the security booth, the guard suddenly asked her, "Huh? Kita-chan, why are you alone? Isn't your classmate with you?"
My classmate?
What are you talking about?
She suddenly had a bad feeling!
Though sensing something was very wrong, Kitasan Black instantly calmed herself down.
She hurriedly asked the guard, "What do you mean, sir? I've been alone this whole time. What classmate?"
Seeing that Kitasan Black's expression didn't look fake, the guard said with a puzzled look, "That's strange then. Wasn't that girl planning to train with you, Kita-chan? She was asking me about you earlier. I thought..."
"Wait! Who exactly are you talking about?"
Kitasan Black urgently cut off the guard.
Right now she only wanted to know which of her classmates had been tailing her.
And had even asked the guard about her? That wasn't something an ordinary student would do!
Kitasan Black already had suspects in mind, and her bad feeling grew deeper.
She understood the severity of this situation.
"It was Miss Satono Diamond, the one who raced against you yesterday. Aren't you two classmates?"
The guard seemed to think they were good friends.
Not just classmates, but also deskmates and roommates. Internally cursing this ill-fated connection, Kitasan Black couldn't laugh at all now. She hadn't expected to be caught off-guard by such a boss-level character.
Though she had already guessed several candidates, with Satono Diamond among them—
When it was confirmed to actually be the Diamond ojou-sama, she still felt the full weight of how troublesome this was.
Because Satono Diamond was not someone easy to deal with.
She might even be far more difficult than Satono Crown.
Moreover, her relationship with the Diamond ojou-sama was merely that of strangers who happened to be classmates. She truly couldn't understand why the Diamond ojou-sama would do this. What had she done to make the Diamond ojou-sama get up so early just to tail her?
The guard walked to the school gate and looked down the main road, confirming that there was indeed no sign of the Satomi family's young lady.
"She really wasn't with you."
"Sir, when did you see Diamond-san?"
Satono Diamond had been tailing her!
This was now confirmed.
But when exactly had she started following, and how much had she seen?
Right now, Kitasan Black could only hope that Satono Diamond had lost track of her midway. But she also knew deep down that such wishful thinking was too naive. Given that she now knew she had been followed, she had to prepare for the worst-case scenario.
Moreover, she hadn't noticed anyone tailing her the entire way. If the Diamond ojou-sama really had been following her from the start, then going forward, she'd better just assume the Diamond ojou-sama had seen everything.
"It was shortly after you left, maybe two or three minutes apart? But she asked me about you, so maybe she lost track of you then."
Hearing the guard's speculation, Kitasan Black could only wish things were really that simple.
If Satono Diamond had lost her from the very beginning, she could breathe a sigh of relief.
But could things really be that simple?
After all, she hadn't been going fast on the way out—just a normal jogging pace.
There was no reason Satono Diamond would have lost her then.
Kitasan Black confirmed the details with the guard once more.
"Sir, you're sure she left following behind me?"
The guard answered with certainty, "Yes."
"Wait, Kita-chan, what are you doing?"
He saw Kitasan Black running back outside and hurried to stop her.
But Kitasan Black was already gone. Without looking back, she called out, "I'm going back to look for her."
"Hold on, Kita-chan, leave this to us..."
How could she possibly leave this to them!
Not only did Kitasan Black not stop, she accelerated. Of course, she didn't forget to conceal her true abilities.
After all, the guard was still watching from behind.
She had to be the first to find Satono Diamond!
She had to intercept her before she got back to school and resolve this matter!
She had to make Satono Diamond keep her secret. Otherwise, the trouble she'd face wouldn't be limited to just one Satono Diamond. As for how to find Satono Diamond, she figured she could probably guess where the ojou-sama was right now.
Though she hated to admit it, she thought the only time Diamond could have lost her was probably that one moment.
Damn it, if she had known Satono Diamond was tailing her, she would have accepted being late today rather than revealing her abilities.
(No, regretting this now is pointless. I need to think about how to make the Diamond ojou-sama keep my secret!)
Kitasan Black glanced back. Seeing that she was now far from the school with no one around, she finally unleashed her true speed.
This accident wasn't her fault at all.
After all, she genuinely hadn't noticed she was being followed.
This only proved that the Diamond ojou-sama's surveillance skills were extraordinary.
Kitasan Black had inherited her senpais' techniques, and combined with her own powerful perception, an ordinary person's tail would never escape her notice. It was precisely because she had absolute confidence in not being followed that she dared to go out for morning exercises every day.
But the Diamond ojou-sama had successfully stayed in her perceptual blind spot.
This wasn't something an ordinary elementary schooler could do.
Kitasan Black sprinted back along the route she'd taken. With her speed, she quickly found Satono Diamond, who was still on her way back.
Satono Diamond was walking along the roadside carrying two bags of fruit, looking like she had run out of energy and was now just walking.
Sleep deprivation combined with excessive exertion had left Satono Diamond feeling extremely drained. If she hadn't rushed out this morning and forgotten her wallet and phone, she would have called a taxi by now. But as things stood, she could only slowly walk back.
(At this rate, I'm definitely going to be late for morning classes.)
Satono Diamond wanted to run back to school like Kitasan Black, but the dual fatigue of body and mind made that impossible.
But this was probably the price of choosing to tail Kitasan-san.
At least she had gained something from it, so being late this morning was worth it.
Satono Diamond decided she'd just take her time walking back.
But just then, Kitasan Black suddenly appeared before her.
(Kitasan-san?)
Satono Diamond hadn't expected Kitasan Black to suddenly appear. Though she had been thinking about confronting Kitasan Black, now that she was actually facing her, having just done something like tailing someone, she felt a bit guilty.
Kitasan Black walked up to Satono Diamond expressionlessly and asked, "You saw, didn't you?"
Satono Diamond tensed up, because she couldn't read Kitasan Black's true emotions right now. She could only see surface-level things.
And on the surface, Kitasan Black seemed very angry.
If Satono Diamond were really an ordinary elementary schooler, she would definitely be intimidated by Kitasan Black right now. But Satono Diamond wasn't an ordinary elementary schooler—she was the young lady of the Satomi family who had mastered multiple skills.
"I saw."
Satono Diamond feigned composure.
She did feel somewhat guilty.
But she didn't think she needed to apologize to Kitasan Black, because the one with the problem in the first place was Kitasan Black. Just as she was solidifying this thought, she heard Kitasan Black say, "I never expected the young lady of the Satomi family would stoop to tailing her classmates."
Satono Diamond met Kitasan Black's cold gaze and felt immense pressure.
(Kitasan-san seems really angry, and what I did was indeed wrong...)
She knew clearly that the best approach right now was to hide her feelings. But Satono Diamond's expression still wavered involuntarily. The reason she wavered was because she felt Kitasan Black was genuinely angry this time.
If Kitasan Black had noticed why Satono Diamond was feeling guilty at this moment, she could have used that to get Satono Diamond to keep her secret. But Kitasan Black completely misread the reason for Satono Diamond's guilt.
She thought Satono Diamond felt guilty because she had done something bad like secretly tailing a classmate.
But in reality, Satono Diamond felt guilty because she was worried about having made Kitasan Black genuinely angry.
After all, for Satono Diamond, she really didn't think that investigation and surveillance were things she shouldn't do.
"If people found out you're the kind of person who does things like this, it would be quite troublesome, wouldn't it? And it would affect the Satomi family's reputation. You wouldn't want to see that happen, right?" Kitasan Black used this to threaten Satono Diamond into keeping her secret.
However, upon hearing her words, most of the guilt on Satono Diamond's face instantly vanished.
"..."
The Diamond ojou-sama who had been hanging her head couldn't help but look up at Kitasan Black.
The unease she had been feeling suddenly seemed rather amusing.
Was Kitasan-san trying to threaten her with this?
But she wouldn't be scared by such a weak threat.
After all, she knew very well that even if this matter were exposed, it wouldn't really affect her much.
And even if some negative voices did emerge, the Satomi family's power could easily smooth things over.
They might not even need to use the Satomi family's power.
She was still just an elementary schooler. Even if tailing a classmate were exposed, would there really be any serious consequences?
So hearing Kitasan Black's threat now, she actually found it somewhat amusing.
(Kitasan-san, what are you so anxious about? What are you trying to hide?)
Satono Diamond was no ordinary young lady after all. She was being raised as the future head of the Satomi family, and combined with her superhuman learning abilities, that's how she had mastered so many skills.
Therefore, while Kitasan Black's threat would indeed work on ordinary people, it wasn't very effective on Satono Diamond.
A threat?
Setting aside that this wasn't even a big deal—
There was something else to understand first.
Threatening Satono Diamond meant making an enemy of the entire Satomi family!
So, threatening her was not a good approach at all.
A smile curved at the corner of Satono Diamond's lips.
In her view, Kitasan-san's threat was too naive, too impractical.
She could roughly guess why Kitasan-san was doing this—she wanted her to keep a secret, right?
But she was using the wrong method.
On the contrary, if Kitasan Black had used a different approach—
If she had simply been angry about this incident, Diamond might actually have agreed to Kitasan-san's request.
After all, after what had just happened, she had discovered that she had indeed misjudged Kitasan-san before.
Though Kitasan-san had hidden her abilities, that kindhearted Kitasan-san who helped others didn't seem like a bad person at all.
But she had previously, based on her own feelings, arbitrarily labeled Kitasan-san as a big liar and a villain. For that, she actually felt somewhat apologetic.
This was also one of the reasons why Satono Diamond had felt guilty when she first saw Kitasan Black come back.
If she still thought Kitasan Black was a villain like before, she wouldn't have felt guilty at all about being caught tailing her.
But Kitasan Black didn't know any of this.
Eager to settle this matter, she had chosen the most aggressive approach.
She wanted to use threats to scare the Diamond ojou-sama, still just an elementary schooler, into obediently complying.
But she didn't know the Diamond ojou-sama simply wasn't the type to fall for this.
"Kitasan-san, first of all, tailing you without your permission was indeed wrong of me. I apologize for that."
Satono Diamond regained her composure as a young lady.
After apologizing, she immediately continued, "However, shouldn't Kitasan-san also apologize to me for what happened before?"
Kitasan Black had made a terrible move, because the Diamond ojou-sama was least afraid of this kind of head-on confrontation.
Seeing the Diamond ojou-sama had regained her calm, Kitasan Black also realized this.
She really wasn't suited for this kind of thing.
If it were McQueen-senpai, she would have already resolved everything by now—there's no way she'd be getting counter-attacked like this.
But now she had no choice but to press forward!
"Apologize? Me, to you? Ridiculous. Why should I apologize to someone who tails others!"
"Kitasan-san, if you're trying to threaten someone, you shouldn't so easily dodge their questions. It only makes you look flustered and lacking confidence. Besides, you should know very well what I'm talking about."
Satono Diamond wore a sweet smile on her face.
"And this is how you threaten someone, Kitasan-san. If you don't want me to expose your secret, apologize to me right now."
"..."
Kitasan Black's scalp tingled.
She never imagined she would be counter-threatened by Satono Diamond.
But how could she possibly give in here?
"Between my secret and what you did, which one is more serious? You can't be unclear about that, can you?"
Kitasan Black was still struggling.
Satono Diamond said with a smile, "Of course I'm clear about that. But Kitasan-san, how are you going to prove I was tailing you?"
"You've already been caught red-handed by me. What more proof do I need?"
Kitasan Black hadn't expected Satono Diamond to say something so shameless.
You were caught in the act of tailing me, and you're asking me for proof?
"That's right, you caught me. But so what? Do you think if you tell people about this, they'll definitely believe you, Kitasan-san?"
Satono Diamond revealed a little devil's smile.
She didn't actually want to threaten Kitasan Black, but seeing this reaction from the normally stone-faced Kitasan Black was rare, and she found it quite entertaining.
"..."
"And even hypothetically, if you did have evidence, Kitasan-san—so what? Do you think you alone could go against my Satomi family?"
Satono Diamond's posture was elegant, her smile beautiful, but the words she spoke were utterly ruthless.
Kitasan Black couldn't help but lean back.
Holy crap, how is she this good?
She did something wrong, got caught by me, faced my threats—and not only showed no fear, but was trying to use her family background to suppress her. Was this how wealthy young ladies operated?
Kitasan Black knew she had encountered a tough opponent.
Her earlier assessment had been completely correct.
Satono Diamond was indeed far more difficult to deal with than Satono Crown.
If Satono Crown had been caught tailing her in the act, she probably wouldn't have even needed to threaten her—Satono Crown would have immediately thumped her chest and promised to keep her secret. She wouldn't have been like Satono Diamond, trying to counter-threaten her.
The Diamond ojou-sama really was on another level.
But fortunately, the current Diamond ojou-sama wasn't yet her final form, or she might have had to flee in defeat right now.
Though her mind was in chaos, Kitasan Black used her powerful willpower to control her expression.
Because right now she had no retreat.
She knew very clearly that showing any sign of weakness at this moment would only embolden this ojou-sama's arrogance.
Though she had started with the wrong approach, since she had already committed to it, she could only grit her teeth and continue!
"I've recorded our entire conversation just now!"
Kitasan Black pulled out her phone, launching her second attack.
Though in reality she hadn't prepared any recording beforehand, that didn't stop her from using this trick to scare her opponent.
Satono Diamond was right.
Even if her tailing got exposed, it wouldn't really affect her much, especially with the Satomi family behind her.
But a recording was different.
If the things Satono Diamond had just said were really recorded, then once exposed, Satono Diamond's image would be completely ruined. Plenty of classmates who were currently on good terms with the Diamond ojou-sama would probably choose to cut ties with her.
Of course, the premise was that she actually had such a recording.
But how could Kitasan Black have anticipated the Diamond ojou-sama would be at such a high level? She hadn't made any such preparations at all.
So right now she was purely bluffing Satono Diamond.
She didn't actually have a recording, but she was going to act like she did.
Satono Diamond looked at Kitasan Black's phone, and the smile on her face abruptly vanished.
That's too underhanded, Kitasan-san!
Satono Diamond had indeed been fooled.
She even began to doubt her earlier deductions, wondering if the openings Kitasan Black had shown were deliberately meant to bait her. If she hadn't said those things just now, she wouldn't have been recorded by Kitasan-san.
But she hadn't meant any of what she said.
It was all just to scare Kitasan Black.
"Kitasan-san, don't you realize? Against the power of the Satomi family, what you're doing is utterly meaningless."
"I don't know if it'll work against the Satomi family, but I know it'll work against you, Diamond-san."
Kitasan Black revealed a cold smile.
As expected, the Diamond ojou-sama wasn't yet her final form. Her level might not be low, but it was still within her ability to handle.
Satono Diamond was now sweating coldly.
Kitasan Black was right.
The Satomi family could indeed smooth this over, but there was no way she, Satono Diamond, could really accept this recording being made public.
If that recording got out, her image would be completely destroyed.
She was still just an elementary schooler—she couldn't withstand that kind of pressure.
"Hehe..."
Satono Diamond let out a dry laugh.
(What do I do? Think fast!)
But looking at the cold-faced Kitasan Black, Satono Diamond really couldn't get a read on what she was thinking. She felt she still couldn't see through this person. And Kitasan Black, seeing her like this, knew she had succeeded.
(Phew, good thing I'm still one step ahead!)
"Still want me to apologize to you, Diamond-san?"
"...Kitasan-san, the fact that you're threatening me like this only proves how important this secret is to you!"
Satono Diamond knew it was impossible for her to gain the upper hand now.
After all, she had also been caught with leverage.
But Kitasan Black hadn't won either!
Because at most, they were now on equal footing.
Since neither side wanted to escalate things, there would be no loser.
"My only demand is this: pretend you didn't see anything today. As long as you agree, Diamond-san, I won't release the recording."
"Fine. But if the recording gets leaked, I won't let you off easy, Kitasan-san."
"Then we've reached an understanding."
The two established a mutual agreement of secrecy.
And this outcome was undoubtedly Kitasan Black's victory.
After all, her goal from the start was simply to get Satono Diamond to keep her secret.
...
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