Ever since she followed Su Yan and the others here this evening, Takagi Saya had felt uneasy.
It was as if she were completely out of place among Su Yan's group.
Just now at dinner, even though she was eating the incredibly delicious food Su Yan made by hand, it had tasted like wax to her.
Specifically, every time she saw Su Yan's face, she couldn't help but recall what Busujima Saeko and Su Yan had done not long ago.
Her throat felt dry and her skin crawled, as if ants were walking all over her.
She desperately wanted to escape this place.
This impulse grew stronger and stronger until, after dinner was over, Takagi Saya finally spoke up.
"Oh?"
Su Yan looked at Takagi Saya and asked curiously, "Aren't you and Saeko-senpai friends? Why don't you wait for her to wake up and ask her to take you back? You saw her strength earlier, didn't you?"
Takagi Saya nodded.
Su Yan was right. Busujima Saeko's strength was indeed powerful—no, it was ridiculously strong. Killing zombies was as easy as playing a hack-and-slash game.
But that was only if she really was friends with Busujima Saeko!
She had just happened to run into Saeko outside the infirmary and was pulled inside.
The other girl had only claimed they were friends out of kindness.
In reality, her understanding of Busujima Saeko was even less than her understanding of Su Yan, whom she had always considered her primary rival.
With a relationship like that, how could she dare to ask Busujima Saeko for a favor?
As for why she was asking Su Yan?
Perhaps even Takagi Saya hadn't realized it, but because she had always seen Su Yan as her greatest enemy, she paid extra attention to his every move. Without even knowing it, she had developed a slight fondness for him.
Especially after learning Su Yan possessed psychic powers like Nen, her innate admiration for the strong quickly amplified that small seed of affection.
Under these circumstances, she held a certain level of expectation for Su Yan, even though she had seen him and Busujima Saeko being intimate with her own eyes.
However, Saya herself didn't realize this; she simply felt like she didn't belong here.
For one, she had heard Marikawa Shizuka's explanation of Nen.
According to her, even if a genius like Saya were to be taught, it would take years just to grasp the basics.
By that time, everything would be long over.
Second, as stated before, she had no real relationship with Su Yan. She had no right to demand he share his power with her.
Unless... was she supposed to take the initiative and act as shamelessly as Busujima Saeko did with Su Yan?
Takagi Saya was proud.
She couldn't bring herself to use her body to please others.
And the most important point...
Whenever she thought about what she saw between Su Yan and Busujima Saeko, she couldn't help but lower her head and look down.
'Is it really that big?'
'It won't fit. No matter how I think about it, there's no way it fits, right?'
So, given all these factors, Saya's first thought was to have Su Yan send her home, back to an environment where she felt comfortable.
Yet even she hadn't expected her head to heat up, causing her to subconsciously blurt out that she would do anything—a somewhat shameless yet probing statement.
Takagi Saya said frankly, "Busujima Saeko and I aren't actually friends. In that dangerous situation, the kind Busujima-senpai simply took me under her wing."
"You're quite honest."
Su Yan looked at the pink-haired girl in surprise.
In a way, Busujima Saeko was indeed very kind.
Or perhaps her sense of morality was too high?
Because if Saeko were even slightly more selfish, she wouldn't have felt so guilty about injuring someone in middle school or fallen into a spiral of self-doubt upon discovering her violent tendencies.
Therefore, if Takagi Saya could fully exploit Saeko's kindness, she could achieve a lot.
Even Su Yan didn't expect her to be so candid.
So, should he agree?
Su Yan looked at the pink-haired girl and rubbed his chin.
After thinking for a moment, he reached a conclusion and said, "Alright, but I have one condition."
Because Busujima Saeko's weapon, Reizan, had significantly boosted the Nen in his body, and because he had spent the night with Saeko, he was in a good mood.
Of the three women at the house, Marikawa Shizuka and Busujima Saeko were intimate with him, and Miyamoto Rei had an ambiguous relationship with him.
Only the Takagi Saya in front of him truly felt out of place among them.
Since he had nothing better to do anyway...
But then again, selfless devotion wasn't his style.
He should at least get something in exchange.
Su Yan immediately thought of the sword Busujima Saeko used in the original story.
It was a gift from Takagi Saya's father.
Although Saeko could now manifest Reizan for combat, that specific sword from the anime still had some collector's value.
When Saeko woke up and saw the sword he gave her, she would probably be happy.
Unexpectedly, after hearing his words, Takagi Saya didn't reply immediately. She stood frozen, lost in thought.
After a long while, she placed her hand on her collar, her face turning as red as a beet. Heaven knows what she was imagining.
Saya said bashfully, "I... it's my first time. Can you be... a little gentle?"
"In your dreams!"
Before Su Yan could even react...
Miyamoto Rei completely gave up on her attempts to touch the Snowball Beast.
She screamed and lunged at Takagi Saya, pinning her down onto the sofa.
Rei stared at Saya with an unfriendly expression.
It was one thing for Busujima-senpai to get a head start; after all, she had known Su Yan longer.
Plus, their relationship seemed very close already.
So, even though Saeko claimed she wasn't dating Su Yan, Rei remained skeptical.
She had quickly come to terms with seeing Saeko do that with him.
But what was with Takagi Saya?
Trying to get a head start in front of her, too?
Miyamoto Rei: 'I won't allow it! Any evil before me will be brought to justice!'
"Let go of me!"
Under Miyamoto Rei's suppression, Takagi Saya found it difficult to breathe.
It was understandable. After all, Saya was a pampered young lady from a wealthy family; how could her strength compare to Rei's, who practiced spear techniques relentlessly?
Besides, Miyamoto Rei had the upper hand.
"No way!"
Rei's attitude was firm.
"Su Yan-kun, help me!"
In desperation, Takagi Saya could only signal Su Yan for rescue.
"Uh... Miyamoto-san, let her go first."
Su Yan rubbed the bridge of his nose. The development of this situation was a bit beyond his expectations.
Miyamoto Rei said resentfully, "You've already done that kind of thing to me, yet you still call me Miyamoto-san. Are you really unwilling to even call me Rei?"
Su Yan was at a loss for words.
What did he do?
At most, he had just played with those two cowlicks on her head, right?
But changing a name was no big deal. He wasn't like a local who strictly categorized names by level of intimacy.
This wasn't a psychological burden for Su Yan at all.
Su Yan scratched his head and said, "Well, Rei, can you let her go?"
"Okay."
Upon hearing this, Miyamoto Rei performed an instant face-change.
Her expression cleared up immediately as she let go of Takagi Saya—though this kindness was only for Su Yan.
When facing Takagi Saya, she still didn't give her a friendly look.
"Phew... finally saved."
Takagi Saya took deep breaths of fresh air, looking quite exhausted.
She then looked at Su Yan and asked, "So... Su Yan-kun, do you still want to trade?"
Su Yan said bluntly, "Say, have you all misunderstood something? I don't think I ever said I wanted to do anything to you."
"Actually, I just wanted the treasured sword your family keeps as a gift for Saeko-senpai..."
"Huh?!"
Su Yan's words hit Takagi Saya like a bolt from the blue.
The pink-haired girl was completely stunned.
So it was her own misunderstanding?
'Takagi Saya, oh Takagi Saya, what on earth is going on in your head?!'
In short, it was social death!
A total and complete social death!
Shame!
At this moment, the pink-haired girl felt an overwhelming sense of shame!
If she had a knife in her hand right now, she would perform seppuku in front of Su Yan this very second.
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