There were three rooms in Minami Rika's house.
Specifically, they were for Marikawa Shizuka, Minami Rika, and the room Su Yan was allowed to stay in after Shizuka had picked him up.
However, after Su Yan won Shizuka over, she basically abandoned her own room. She would sneak into Su Yan's room for a 'night raid' every single night.
Over time, Shizuka stopped pretending altogether. She completely gave up her original room and moved into Su Yan's.
Yesterday, the unconscious Busujima Saeko had been placed in what was originally Shizuka's room.
To keep an eye on Takagi Yuriko, Shizuka brought her into Su Yan's room—the place where she had spent the most time over the past year.
Miyamoto Rei and Takagi Saya were naturally pushed into Minami Rika's room.
Meanwhile, inside Rika's room.
"Hey, Takagi, didn't Yan-kun take you home?"
The girl with long brownish-orange hair glared at Takagi Saya. "Why are you back? And you brought another woman with you?"
"I..."
Just as Saya tried to explain, Rei cut her off again. "How despicable, Takagi!"
"What?"
Saya looked at Rei with confusion. She didn't understand why the girl, who seemed fine a moment ago, suddenly changed her attitude as soon as they were alone.
She also didn't get what Rei meant by 'despicable.'
Rei vented her frustrations, listing her suspicions. "First, you took advantage of Yan-kun's good mood to ask him to take you home, just to squeeze in some alone time with him."
"After he took you home and you introduced him to your parents, you actually came back. Fine, whatever. But you even played this 'buy one get one free' trick and brought back a big sister?"
"A sister act?"
"Quite the tactic. Should I expect nothing less from the 'genius' of Fujimi High?"
"You're really something!"
By the end, Rei's tone was dripping with sarcasm.
She wasn't even mad that Saya had made a move; everyone used their own methods, and there was nothing to say about that.
After all, she was a latecomer herself.
She was angry that this pink-haired, four-eyed girl had introduced a new competitor.
That was the real point of her frustration.
"I did not!"
Saya felt incredibly wronged.
She had never even thought about it like that.
She hadn't even realized she liked Su Yan until someone else pointed it out.
As for 'buy one get one free'?
Saya wanted to cry.
If anything, she was the one being 'given away' alongside the other!
"Hmph!"
Rei snorted and crossed her arms, looking at Saya with a skeptical glare.
Though Saya was a genius when it came to studies, she was a complete idiot in social situations.
Provoked by Rei, Saya couldn't help but blurt out everything that happened and the information she gained after Su Yan took her home.
After listening, Rei's jaw dropped.
Her mind was spinning. 'What is this girl even talking about?'
She didn't fully understand, but she was deeply shocked.
Once she processed the information, Rei gave Saya a complicated look.
She couldn't help but marvel at how lucky this pink-haired girl was.
If it weren't for her clever mother... aunt...
Uh, sister.
She would have been knocked out of the running by now.
Looking at it this way, the pink-haired loser in front of her wasn't a threat at all. It was her sister who was the problem...
Her methods were terrifying. After meeting Su Yan only once, she had managed to get him to bring her back.
"Do you understand now?"
Seeing Rei process the explanation, Saya immediately demanded an answer.
Rei nodded instinctively.
Saya put her hands on her hips and said righteously, "Apologize!"
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have misunderstood you."
Realizing Saya was a harmless loser and posed no real threat, Rei apologized without hesitation.
"Well, it's fine, I guess..."
Seeing Rei's sincere apology, Saya scratched her head, looking a bit embarrassed.
Seeing Saya like this, a glint flashed in Rei's orange eyes.
She immediately realized this might be an opportunity.
She acted quickly, using their reconciliation to build a rapport with Saya.
Compared to the others in the house, they were the same age, classmates, and had shared the awkward experience of witnessing Busujima Saeko's 'boldness' with Su Yan.
Most importantly, neither of them really had many friends. With one person reaching out and the other having no guard up, they quickly hit it off.
Since Su Yan was their biggest common interest, the conversation naturally drifted toward him.
As for the private topics between girls, well, those who know, know.
The two girls got more and more excited as they talked, quickly reaching the point where they were on a first-name basis.
Until Saya killed the conversation with a single sentence...
"Um, Rei, you and Su Yan..."
Saya carefully tested the waters. "Have you... have you two done 'it' yet?"
"Wh-what are you talking about?"
Rei's face instantly turned bright red.
"No? You're always so close to him, and you often let him play with the ahoge on your head. I thought..." Saya said in surprise.
"Don't... don't say another word..."
Blushing, Rei shoved Saya, trying to get her to drop the subject.
Suddenly, Saya looked confused. "Wait, Rei, did you hear something strange?"
"Something strange?"
Seeing Saya's serious expression and wanting to change the subject anyway, Rei perked up her ears to listen.
She heard a sound from outside that resembled a cat in heat.
But when she listened closer, the sound abruptly stopped.
Saya curiously suggested, "The sound stopped? It seemed like it was coming from outside. Should we go check?"
Rei shook her head. "Better not. Yan-kun is probably fighting Marikawa-sensei's friend out there. We shouldn't go out and distract him."
Rei had a suspicion about the strange sound, but since it vanished so quickly, she dismissed the thought.
If it really was what she thought, based on Busujima Saeko's previous 'experience,' how could it end so fast?
So, she must have been mistaken.
Little did she know...
Meanwhile, inside the room where Marikawa Shizuka and Takagi Yuriko were.
"Marikawa-sensei truly has clever methods."
Takagi Yuriko looked at Shizuka, her light purple eyes shimmering, as she couldn't help but offer praise.
She had heard the sounds outside, and she knew exactly why they had suddenly stopped.
Although she had only just begun to learn Nen control and couldn't yet use 'Gyo' to see the energy itself...
The blonde bombshell in front of her wasn't hiding the Nen bursting from her body at all.
With such a large amount of Nen pouring out, even someone who hadn't learned the art would feel something was wrong at such a close distance.
Let alone Takagi Yuriko, who had just learned to control it.
"What are you talking about?"
Shizuka blinked her large golden eyes, putting on a confused face and playing dumb.
If a Nen user capable of 'Gyo' were to focus their energy on their eyes right now...
They would see a massive amount of Nen flowing out of Shizuka, spreading toward the outside of the room like a stream of water.
Not only did it block the sounds from entering her own room, but it also cut off the sounds in Rei and Saya's room.
As for the purpose?
Wasn't it obvious?
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