Once the footsteps of those Class C girls had thoroughly faded out at the far end of the corridor and the whole deck had returned once more to nothing but the howl of the sea wind—
Kushida Kikyou, hiding behind Shikime Natsu, jerked her hands away from the hem of his shirt as if she'd just been electrocuted.
She stepped out from behind him, drew in a deep, deep breath of the freezing sea wind, and forced herself to settle her violently pounding heart.
Then, she lifted her head, and with eyes full of rage and reproach glared at Shikime Natsu without letting up.
If it weren't for this insufferable guy insisting on following her out, if it weren't for him pulling off that black-magic trick of his and flattening her, how would she ever have ended up hiding behind Shikime Natsu and getting misunderstood like that?
"This is all your fault!"
Kushida Kikyou ground her teeth, hissing the words in a low, furious voice.
"You're a walking jinx! Now look what's happened — those big-mouthed girls caught us, and by tomorrow the whole school is going to be buzzing with a rumor that you and I were having some sort of tryst out here on the deck! Are you satisfied now?"
Faced with Kushida Kikyou's utterly unreasonable attempt to shove all the blame onto him—
Shikime Natsu, far from getting angry, simply gave a relaxed smile, spreading his hands and putting on an air of the most absolute innocence.
"This has nothing to do with me."
"Earlier, inside the tool box, it was you, Kikyou, who, without bothering to check the situation outside first, went and shoved the door open and walked out on your own initiative — in such a hurry, no less."
He looked at her face, all puffed up with indignation, and his tone carried a touch of teasing.
"Or what — Kikyou, you walk out yourself, and then you expect me to just keep crouching inside that cramped little mop-storing tool box until I sprout mold?"
"I am hardly under any obligation to keep wronging myself, stuck in a place like that, for the sake of your reputation."
On hearing this from Shikime Natsu — who had so thoroughly shucked off all responsibility — Kushida Kikyou was so furious she practically wanted to lunge over and bite him.
This bastard! He always wore that same I'm-just-an-uninvolved-spectator expression, no matter what!
But fortunately... in the matter of the rumor crisis that this Class C girl run-in might have caused, in those few tense seconds just now, Kushida Kikyou had already worked out, at lightning speed, a retreat route and a cover story.
If, tomorrow, someone really did come to question her—
She could simply put on an innocent, sweet little smile and tell everyone that Shikime Natsu had proactively invited her out onto the deck for a private talk because Shikime Natsu was planning to pick out a gift for one of his girlfriends, and seeing that she was easy to negotiate with, he had chosen to come to her for advice.
Or alternatively, that Shikime Natsu was planning to pursue some other girl, planning to make some new girlfriend, but, well, didn't know how to win that other girl over, and so was thinking he'd come ask her — being someone on good terms with that other girl — for advice.
Either way, with her acting skills, plus the credit she'd been accumulating bit by bit over time, this sort of thing should be quite easy enough for her to handle.
She'd push every shred of responsibility, and the whole title of "playboy," right onto the head of this trashy scoundrel who already had multiple girlfriends — neat as you please.
Thinking this far, when it came to the rumor itself, Kushida Kikyou's heart was already nowhere near as concerned or panicked as it had been a moment ago.
She even felt that this might, just maybe, turn into rather a nice opportunity for a counter-strike.
By comparison, what was truly making her go mad right now — what was making her feel as if she had thorns pressed against her back, what one might even call utterly despair-inducing—
Was still this wretched, painful-to-look-at flat figure of hers!
As long as this problem was not resolved, tomorrow she wouldn't dare so much as step out of her room!
And of course, there was also this Shikime Natsu standing in front of her.
She was absolutely, absolutely not going to let him off the hook easily!
The hand that Kushida Kikyou had only just let go was now stretched out once again.
This time, she didn't go for his wrist. Instead, like the most shameless of brats, she clamped tight onto the corner of Shikime Natsu's shirt at his side.
Her intent was perfectly clear: tonight, even if the sky itself came crashing down, she absolutely was not going to let this guy waltz off and go to bed as he wanted!
All so that he couldn't run away — all so that he couldn't just abandon her alone on this cold, biting-sea-wind-swept deck!
If she really was going to have to freeze out here all night, if she was really going to get sick from the wind—
Then Kushida Kikyou would rather drag him down into being sick right alongside her!
That's right!
She couldn't have him share in her glory, but she absolutely was going to drag him down to share her misery! If they were going to have rotten luck, then everyone could have rotten luck together!
Looking at the maiden gripping his shirt for dear life—
"What else do you want, exactly?"
He lowered his head, looking at Kushida Kikyou's exquisite little face, and then let a playful smile play at the corner of his mouth.
"Kikyou, I'm not as idle as you are. I can't stand around here in the middle of the night braving the sea wind to throw a tantrum."
"These past seven days on the Deserted Island were truly grueling for me. I still need to hurry back and take a nice hot bath, and then settle in for a comfortable rest."
On hearing Shikime Natsu's little speech, Kushida Kikyou couldn't help thinking — just where exactly on the Deserted Island had this guy Shikime Natsu suffered the slightest hardship? Everyone knew Shikime Natsu had been living it up — only Shikime Natsu himself thought he was the one toiling, was that it?
Kushida Kikyou knew that the hard approach wouldn't work. This guy was utterly impervious — neither carrot nor stick worked on him.
And so her face, which had been twisted in fury just a moment before, in an instant, as smoothly as some kind of magic trick, switched over into another mode entirely.
Her eyes faintly reddened around the rims, those dewy pupils took on a faint film of mist, and her whole bearing shifted into one of utterly pitiful helplessness.
"Natsu..."
She raised her head, and in that soft, syrupy voice that could melt the bones of anyone who heard it, with a faint pleading edge, she spoke up.
"Could you really bear it... to leave me like this — a girl, all alone — out on this deck with the sea wind howling, to freeze for an entire night, all by myself?"
"Right now, in this state, there's no way I can go back into the cabin — anyone I know could run into me in the corridor at any moment, and if they saw me like this..."
"That would be huge trouble. So... Natsu, won't you stay and keep me company?"
Shikime Natsu was not moved in the slightest by her tears.
With one hand he rubbed his chin, putting on a show of giving the matter serious thought. After a moment, he offered up an extremely "considerate" suggestion.
"That's actually very easy to solve."
"Didn't I already lend you my coat just now?"
He pointed at the oversized coat draped over Kushida Kikyou, and then pointed at the cramped little tool box from earlier.
"You can wear my coat to ward off the cold."
"Then, you can just crawl back into that tool box and shut the door tight behind you."
A vicious little smile played across Shikime Natsu's face.
"That way, you'd be sheltered from the wind, and you wouldn't be discovered by anyone. Problem solved, no?"
"Granted, crouching in there to sleep might be a little uncomfortable, and your legs might go numb — but with my coat, you might not even catch a cold."
Hearing this devilish "suggestion" from Shikime Natsu—
The pitiful-damsel expression on Kushida Kikyou's face froze on the spot in an instant, and was replaced by a wave of fury that simply could not be held back.
She glared at him through gritted teeth, not even bothering to keep up the act anymore.
This bastard!
The kind of thing he'd just said — was that actually something a human being could say?!
She had already swallowed her pride, put on this whole picture of pitiful, pity-inducing helplessness to beg him!
And his response?
Not only did he not have the slightest cherish-the-fragrant-jade-pity-the-tender-flower in his heart — he actually wanted to stuff her back into that pitch-dark, cramped tool box like a mop, to spend the night in there?!
This was a thoroughgoing devil, through and through!
Kushida Kikyou cursed wildly in her heart.
Could there really be any girl out there who was blind enough to fall for a guy like this — a guy with no compassion at all, a guy whose personality was wretched to the absolute extreme?
No — the instant that thought flashed through her mind—
Kushida Kikyou suddenly snapped to her senses.
She abruptly realized something extremely crucial — and something that left her feeling extremely irritated.
This wicked, scheming, you-might-even-say-takes-pleasure-in-tormenting-others personality of Shikime Natsu's—
In the entire school, he had really only ever displayed it in front of her, in front of Horikita Suzune, and in front of Class A's Sakayanagi Arisu!
With everyone else — for example, those obedient girlfriends of his, or the easygoing, decent types in Class B—
Shikime Natsu, in front of them, was forever that gentle-and-refined, perfectly flawless, even tender-and-considerate Mr. Nice Guy!
He had never once treated her the way he treated them!
The moment she thought of this—
A sharp, intense feeling of displeasure rose up in Kushida Kikyou's heart.
Shikime Natsu's special attitude toward her — the way he'd lumped her in alongside Horikita Suzune and Sakayanagi Arisu, those hard-to-deal-with weirdos — left her feeling thoroughly displeased.
She figured this was, in all likelihood, because her dark, true face had been seen through by this guy Shikime Natsu.
Just as she'd expected!
Kushida Kikyou sneered coldly in her heart.
This hypocrite Shikime Natsu, going on with his mouth about how "compared to that fake angel face of yours, I prefer this real you" —
In actual fact?
He was no different from those shallow men who only ever valued appearances!
If he hadn't known her real face, if she had still been that flawless angel in front of him—
Then his attitude toward her would, in all probability, have been no different from his attitude toward Mei-Yu Wang, or toward any other ordinary girl. It would absolutely have been brimming with gentleness!
Having thought this far—
Kushida Kikyou couldn't help letting out a heavy, cold snort in her heart, and her opinion of Shikime Natsu as a person dropped, in an instant, by several more tiers — straight down into the absolute pits.
Of course, now wasn't the time to be hung up on these personal grievances.
If she really did, because of this change in her figure, not dare to return to her room — and had to vanish for an entire twenty-four hours either on this deck or in the tool box—
Then, in the gossip-soaked environment of Class D, this would absolutely cause no small stir!
That bunch of idiots without anyone to anchor them would absolutely descend into chaos, and behind her back they'd be wildly speculating about everything under the sun.
It was honestly infuriating!
Kushida Kikyou's heart was, at this point, full of regret.
Had she known this absurd thing was going to happen — had she known she was going to run into this nemesis, Shikime Natsu—
She should never have, just because she couldn't keep her emotions in check tonight, gone running out to this damned deck to vent!
Even if she'd just held out for one more day, even one more day later would have been fine!
Then she wouldn't have, at this unlucky moment in time, run into this calamity-star Shikime Natsu — she wouldn't have been flattened by him, and she certainly wouldn't have been spotted by the Class C girls!
This really was an absolutely cursed day!
The more she thought, the angrier she got.
Looking at the indifferent-faced ringleader of her misery in front of her, the fury in Kushida Kikyou's heart could be suppressed no longer.
She let go of the hand that had been clinging so desperately to the corner of Shikime Natsu's shirt.
"Get out!"
Kushida Kikyou stopped bothering with her act and directly reverted to that cold, vicious true face of hers.
She pointed in the direction of the stairwell and shouted at Shikime Natsu without the slightest restraint.
"Since you so badly want to go back and sleep, then get out right now! The further away the better! I don't want to see that disgusting face of yours either!"
However, what came as a surprise to Kushida Kikyou was that, on hearing this merciless expulsion order—
Shikime Natsu, far from getting angry, actually stopped his steps in the very act of leaving.
He just stood there comfortably and at his leisure, slid both hands back into his trouser pockets, and showed not the slightest intention of leaving anymore.
Seeing this contrarian behavior from Shikime Natsu—
Kushida Kikyou's brow furrowed, and once again she glared at him in a fury.
"Are you incapable of understanding human speech?"
She demanded, ill-tempered.
"I'm letting you go now — and yet you're still standing around here like a block of wood, getting in the way of my sight? Hurry up and get out!"
Faced with her demand—
Shikime Natsu, far from leaving, instead lifted the corner of his mouth into a playful smile.
"Oh?"
He looked at Kushida Kikyou, his tone easy and casual.
"But, Kikyou."
"This deck isn't your private property either, is it? I've just changed my mind a bit and decided to stick around a while longer — surely that's not a problem?"
"After all, you and I are good friends, aren't we? How could I bear, in good conscience, to leave Kikyou all alone in this bone-chilling-sea-wind-swept place for an entire night?"
On hearing this grandiose, utterly shameless little speech from Shikime Natsu—
Kushida Kikyou was so angry she practically had to laugh.
"Heh heh."
She let out a cold little laugh.
"Quit putting on this fake-considerate act of yours."
She wasn't about to believe that this guy Shikime Natsu — a man with a belly full of wicked schemes — would have any such genuine kindness in him.
If this guy was choosing to stay behind, then his heart was absolutely plotting some even more wicked scheme!
"Don't tell me..."
Kushida Kikyou crossed her arms in front of her chest and addressed Shikime Natsu in a thoroughly mocking tone.
"Natsu... you guy, you can't possibly be naïve enough to think—"
"That just because you pretend to change your mind and stay here to keep me company, I'll fall all over myself with gratitude for you, right?"
She bit out the words, one by one, through her teeth.
"I'll tell you right now — forget about it!"
Faced with this conjecture of hers, full of hostility—
The smile on Shikime Natsu's face didn't shift in the slightest.
"Now there, you really are wronging me."
He said to Kushida Kikyou with a smile.
"I have never once thought any such thing, and I certainly haven't been counting on you to be grateful to me."
"All of this is nothing more than Kikyou herself jumping to wild conclusions over here."
Kushida Kikyou stared dead at this guy Shikime Natsu.
Those eyes of hers flickered unsteadily in the dark, trying to see through the real intent behind that smiling face of his.
But she failed. She had no idea, really, what bizarre tangle of thoughts was running through the head of this guy Shikime Natsu, whose personality was wretched and whose actions never played by the rules at all.
Just now, when she was shamelessly clinging to his clothes, refusing to let this guy leave for the life of her—
He had worn this cold, ruthless expression, dead set on heartlessly abandoning her and leaving.
And now, when she'd been pushed past her limit, had finally let go of her hands, and told him to scram for real—
This guy Shikime Natsu was acting like a sticky piece of taffy and refusing to move from the spot!
He was, truly, the kind of guy who could infuriate a person to death!
Just as Kushida Kikyou was wildly cursing him in her heart—
Shikime Natsu's gaze suddenly shifted away from her face, drifted slightly upward, and came to rest on her long hair, fluttering in the wind.
"Come to think of it..."
"Kikyou, your hair seems to have grown out quite a bit."
Hearing Shikime Natsu suddenly drag the conversation off onto this subject—
Kushida Kikyou was momentarily taken aback, and then promptly rolled her eyes at him in irritation.
"And whose doing is that?!"
She complained coldly to Shikime Natsu.
"If it weren't for that agreement I made with you, I'd never in a million years be growing out a head of disgusting hair that looks just like that woman Horikita's!"
It had been three months since she'd made that agreement with Shikime Natsu, and Kushida Kikyou had not cut her hair. In those three months, her hair had grown roughly three centimeters, and for the original air Kushida Kikyou carried about herself, that meant something of a subtle shift.
Of course, this change was not her own wish.
Kushida Kikyou eyed him warily.
"You aren't going to tell me that, in the middle of the night, you suddenly changed your mind about leaving just so you could stay here and chat with me about this utterly boring topic of hair length, are you?"
Hearing this, Shikime Natsu laughed softly.
"Of course not."
"Didn't I already say it just now? I simply don't want Kikyou to have to spend the long night all alone on this cold, empty deck."
"After all, the sea wind here is so cold."
"If you really did end up freezing and getting sick out on the deck, I would actually feel quite guilty."
Hearing this string of sweet-talking words full of phony concern—
The look of disgust on Kushida Kikyou's face deepened even further.
"Save it."
She shot back without the slightest restraint.
"I'm not one of those several girlfriends of yours, those poor things who've gone all dizzy from love. I absolutely will not be falling for these disgusting sweet-talking words of yours."
"And what's more, I have to say — Natsu, the words you just said, combined with that expression of yours, really do leave me feeling a touch nauseated."
Faced with this sharp attack of hers, Shikime Natsu, far from getting angry, actually let out a helpless little laugh.
"Kikyou really is, as ever, quite uncompromising in the way she speaks."
Kushida Kikyou did not let up just because he'd taken her words on the chin.
On the contrary — as if she'd found some new rhythm of attack — she took a step forward.
That originally cold-faced look bloomed once more into a sweet smile.
"Oh?"
She looked at Shikime Natsu with eyes squinted into smiles, and in a syrupy voice, provoked him.
"Hasn't Natsu kept on going on about how he likes my real self best?"
"Oh? So now, hearing me speak a few honest words, your fragile pride can't take it anymore?"
She tilted her head slightly.
"Or could it be that the current me — not only does my figure no longer interest you, but even this real face of mine has begun to disgust you?"
As she said all of this, although Kushida Kikyou's face was wearing that smiling look, her eyes were brimming with aggression.
Yet Shikime Natsu's reply, once again, caught her completely off guard.
"Why, of course not."
He met her aggressive gaze, the corner of his mouth lifting into a smile.
"I still very much like Kikyou's real self, you know~"
Hearing this from Shikime Natsu, the sweet smile on Kushida Kikyou's face could be sustained no longer.
She shook her shoulders in the most exaggerated way possible, openly revealing an expression of nauseated disgust she didn't bother hiding at all.
"Revolting!"
At Kushida Kikyou's response, Shikime Natsu only smiled, and then spoke to Kushida Kikyou.
"Are you already prepared to spend the night out here? Even if you make it through tonight — what about during the day? Can you really keep on hiding?"
During the day, things were hardly the same as at night. There would be more idiots wandering around during the day, and many of them would come up onto the deck. By that point things would be even more troublesome.
"So then? Do you have a way, right now, to change me back to normal?"
Kushida Kikyou snorted coldly at Shikime Natsu, an understanding flashing through her eyes — just as she'd thought, this guy Shikime Natsu did, in fact, have a way.
To Kushida Kikyou's question, Shikime Natsu did not refute her — but neither did he give a reply. He simply looked at Kushida Kikyou with a smile playing across his face.
Looking at Shikime Natsu like that, Kushida Kikyou's fist genuinely clenched.
If she could actually take this guy Shikime Natsu in a fight, she'd absolutely have made him taste the flavor of her fist.
"I do, of course, have a way. However..."
On hearing Shikime Natsu say that, Kushida Kikyou couldn't help feeling a chill run up her spine — Shikime Natsu absolutely was not planning on doing anything decent.
"What is it you want?"
Kushida Kikyou eyed Shikime Natsu warily.
"Shrinking was what you wanted, and what's more, it was the outcome of a bet. So then... if you want them to grow back, what can you offer in exchange?"
____
👻🔥Walnut-chan🔥👻
🔥 New history: A Martial Arts Master Will Never Be Humiliated
🎯 100 Powerstones = +1 Bonus Chapter for everyone