Eriri hadn't expected that three simple words could completely break Kasumigaoka Utaha's defense. She had never seen her like this before. A trace of joy from finally winning an argument bubbled up in her heart, but it was overshadowed by fear.
She won't pounce on me and fight to the death, will she?
Eriri shrank her neck back. She was just about to decide not to fight Kasumigaoka Utaha to the bitter end this time, but that thought was extinguished the moment it arose by a single sentence from the other party.
"Flat-Riri!"
"Hah!? What did you say?!" Eriri's volume suddenly spiked. Her eyes revealed a fierce glint as she flushed red with anger and stormed up to Kasumigaoka Utaha.
There was a full ten-centimeter height difference between the two, yet Eriri's aura did not lose out to Kasumigaoka Utaha in the slightest. She squeezed three words through her neat, pearl-white teeth: "Old Fat Kasumi!"
"Flat-Riri!"
"Old Fat Kasumi!"
"Flat-Riri!!"
"Old Fat Kasumi!!"
The two of them were like two barbaric bulls locking horns, pressing their foreheads together. Faces red and ears burning, neither refused to yield, their mouths incessantly shouting the other's newest nickname. If Kasumigaoka Utaha had been able to maintain her usual state of mind when bickering with Eriri, her sharp-tongued skills would never have regressed to this repeater-like level of an elementary school argument.
It was a pity that the words "Old Fat Kasumi" had found the weakest point in her psychological defense with incomparable precision, chiseling ruthlessly to breach the entire line.
Kasumigaoka Utaha did not possess a heart as strong as her appearance suggested. That aura which kept strangers away, and that quiet exterior which maintained a distance from the vast majority of people, were merely the hard shell she used to protect herself.
She knew her personality was 'belly-black'—scheming and sharp-tongued. One could tell from her works that her attitude toward emotions was heavy and troublesome. She didn't have many friends, either. She had always held a sense of inferiority regarding these shortcomings.
Fortunately, Kasumigaoka Utaha possessed a beautiful exterior, which diluted the inferiority in her heart. This was the reason she could always be brimming with confidence when facing others, faintly suppressing them.
If it were just a stranger rudely calling her "Old Fat Kasumi," Kasumigaoka Utaha would still be able to sneer, thinking the other party was merely jealous of her appearance. It would only make her more confident in her looks. Those who say the grapes are sour are usually the ones who can't eat them, aren't they?
But Eriri was not a stranger. Although Kasumigaoka Utaha really didn't want to admit it, Eriri was indeed an artist she acknowledged as extremely talented, and a 'half-friend' with whom she shared a fateful, ill-omened bond. Coming from her mouth, the destructive power of the words "Old Fat Kasumi" was not simply doubled.
If one had to describe it, the power was comparable to DIO smashing Jotaro with seven or eight road rollers, and it didn't end there—he had to throw dozens of knives and take two bites out of the old man's corpse for good measure. It was not just murder; it was an execution of the heart.
"Flat-Riri, what's the use of drawing so many giant breasts in your doujinshi? Are you still fantasizing that your fixed bust size will undergo a third developmental phase or something?"
"Then what are you fantasizing about when you write your romance novels? Don't tell me you're thinking a Prince Charming will come to take a belly-black woman like you home? Old Fat Kasumi!"
Kasumigaoka Utaha's concealed identity as a light novel author was finally exposed by Eriri during the argument. This allowed her brain, which had been overwhelmed by anger, to retrieve a shred of reason, and she simultaneously remembered that Jhin was still on the side.
That Sawamura-san could absolutely not come up with such a vicious term.
Kasumigaoka Utaha forced out a smile. "Sawamura-san, could you tell me... exactly who told you this malice-filled nickname... Kasumi-something?"
Seeing the other party actively cease fire, Eriri also gradually recovered her reason. Accidentally exposing the identity the other party wanted to hide made her feel very guilty. Her imposing manner gradually withered; she hemmed and hawed for a long time before finally pointing to her side.
"It was Jhin who said it..."
"Oh? So it was Scum-kun..." Kasumigaoka Utaha's gaze pierced toward Jhin like a venomous snake. She asked with a smile that wasn't a smile, "Speaking ill of girls behind their backs is a very shameless behavior. I remember a certain someone saying exactly that in the past. How come when it's your turn, those words no longer apply? You even came up with such a vicious nickname. Could it be that your brain has been controlled by desires with nowhere to vent, like a wild dog in heat?"
Jhin had been enjoying the show and eating his melon just fine; he never expected the fire to burn him, nor to be targeted by a belly-black venomous snake (tongue). He hadn't held any malice when he said it back then, but the speaker might be unintentional while the listener takes it to heart. Just looking at Kasumigaoka Utaha's reaction, he knew those three words had caused her significant damage.
"This form of address was indeed my mistake. When I was staying up late drawing doujinshi with Eriri, I blurted out such words without thinking. Please allow me to explain: I didn't harbor any malice. I was just teasing that your age is older than Eriri's and your figure is more plump."
Jhin openly and candidly admitted his fault. "I am extremely sorry for causing you mental harm."
Kasumigaoka Utaha truly hadn't expected him to apologize to her so solemnly. Compared to a certain Aki-what's-his-name, who destroyed her campus life and eventually even forgot her—the victim—Jhin was simply a world apart. Kasumigaoka Utaha's impression of Jhin improved considerably, though the fact that he was a two-timing scumbag remained unchanged in her heart. At best, he had been upgraded from 'scum' to 'pleasing-to-the-eye scum.'
"A simple apology certainly won't be enough to vent my anger. How about this, I..."
"No need!" Kasumigaoka Utaha interrupted Jhin directly. His explanation made her feel slightly better—at least he didn't truly attack her appearance with malice. However, a proper warning was still necessary.
"I hope in the future, Scum-kun can speak through his brain and not be controlled by the little brain down below."
Since her identity was already known to Jhin, Kasumigaoka Utaha didn't care about exposing her true nature in front of him. She stared at him with a gaze one would use for garbage.
"I certainly don't wish for you to expose your lower body and vent your misplaced energy everywhere like a wild dog in heat, and then speak those three words to other girls."
"Hey! Don't talk like I have something going on with Jhin!"
"Sawamura-san, you're still here?"
"This is my room! Why can't I be here?"
Seeing that they were about to start arguing again, Jhin hurriedly acted as a peacemaker to persuade them, lest the flames of war burn him again.
"You two, stop arguing. Since Kasumigaoka-san already knows about Eriri's identity as a doujin artist, I don't need to hide it anymore. We need to fill out a questionnaire regarding the doujinshi next. If you don't have any other business, you should go back to your own bedroom first."
I can't give Scum-kun the chance to further capture Sawamura-san at a time like this.
Kasumigaoka Utaha still cared about Eriri in her heart. She sat back down at the desk with righteous confidence.
"I came to this room precisely for this matter. If you are going to fill out a questionnaire, count me in."
____
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