Crossing over, and then being blocked by a rich JK.

Chapter 556 Prelude
"No, what is that?"

Aragaki Yumezuki turned her head away, not even having time to explain to her husband, and looked directly at Nitta Kurei.

This doesn't seem to be quite the scene she imagined.

Judging from Risa Yasuhara's expression, she didn't resist holding hands with the young man at all, and her expression was quite relaxed.

"That's Yasuhara's boyfriend, Watanabe Yu."

Nitta Karen casually added a sentence.

How could she not understand what Aragaki Yumezuki meant? But she didn't want to go along with the latter's wishes. Compared to the latter, she was more inclined to help Yasuhara Risa. At least Yasuhara Risa was really sincere and treated everyone in the class the same.

Unlike some people who merely show 'enthusiasm'.

This is why, in all those class reunions, she always managed to get called out by Aragaki Yumezuki just when she was clearly in the lead.

Her reason was simple: her old classmate wanted to have a drink with her, and she made it seem like refusing to drink meant she was looking down on them, so Aragaki Yumezuki 'gave in'.

"Her boyfriend???"

Aragaki Yumezuki stared wide-eyed at Nitta Kurei with a look of disbelief.

Even though she had just checked it with her own eyes, she still felt it must be fake. She couldn't see the flaws because she wasn't careful enough.

To put it bluntly, given Risa Yasuhara's temperament, which well-off man her age could stand her?
On her days off, she's more manly than a man, and she's not gentle at all in her speech and actions. Although she's beautiful, not everyone can accept this kind of personality.
Living together isn't just about looks; you have to be compatible with each other.

Not to mention that Risa Yasuhara herself is resistant to romance.

The key point is that this isn't just happening for one or two years, but that Risa Yasuhara has been like this every year.

The year before last, when she was most frequently going on blind dates, the president of the company she worked for mentioned this. Although she overheard it by chance, that was the gist of it.

In other words, unless there is a special need for cooperation, it is best not to arrange blind dates for people with the eldest daughter of the Yasuhara family.

Later, she subtly inquired about the situation herself and found out that at that time, Risa Yasuhara would not even have a proper meal with her blind date, let alone drink half of a regular coffee; she would usually leave halfway through.

Therefore, given all these factors, unless Risa Yasuhara suddenly changes her personality this year, she absolutely refuses to believe that she can find a boyfriend.

As the saying goes, you can never wake someone who is pretending to be asleep.
—And it's quite obvious that in matters of the heart, Risa Yasuhara is the one who's 'pretending to be asleep'.

“Yes.” Nitta Kurei nodded, then 'casually' added, “They get along very well. Although there’s not much kissing or hugging, judging from their expressions, Yasuhara must have found a boyfriend who loves her very much.”

The following sentence was entirely her own speculation, but that didn't stop her from saying it to disgust Aragaki Yumezuki.

There's a saying that goes, "Never miss an opportunity to disgust a petty person."

Especially when this petty person is aggressive, you should seize the opportunity.

As for whether she would offend anyone, she never worried about it.

Because she doesn't work outside the home, she directly inherited the family business.

Given Aragaki Yumezuki's actual situation, it would take her half a lifetime of arduous struggle to get revenge on her, and that's only if there's a chance. Under normal circumstances, she has no hope at least in this lifetime.

Not to mention that Aragaki Yumezuki has always maintained the persona of 'having a good relationship with everyone'. In other words, apart from Yasuhara, with whom she clearly doesn't get along and doesn't need to pretend at all, she has to greet everyone else in the class with a smile.

Even if she didn't want it to be this way, there was nothing she could do.

Because that's her "persona".

It can be said that he was held hostage by his own persona.

However, she doesn't deserve any sympathy at all; she's not the only one trapped by her own persona.

Moreover, it should be noted that under such circumstances, if she still targets a certain person for no reason, then there is even less reason to sympathize with her.

Because it's simply not worth it.

Interestingly enough, most people in the class, including herself, were aware of the whole story behind the conflict between Aragaki Yumezuki and Yasuhara Risa.

Throughout the entire process, Risa Yasuhara never intentionally targeted Yumezuki Aragaki; the latter inexplicably started clashing with Risa Yasuhara on her own.

Some say Aragaki Yumezuki's actions stemmed from jealousy, while others say it was simply out of displeasure; she tends to agree more with the former viewpoint.

Aragaki Yumezuki's 'hatred' for Yasuhara Risa stemmed from jealousy; it was purely making trouble out of nothing.

As for why the hatred runs so deep and lingers for so long, it's probably because some of Risa Yasuhara's words really stung Yumetsu Aragaki.

Otherwise, even if someone holds a grudge, they wouldn't hold it for so long.

"Yasuhara is finally happy."

She let out a long sigh, feigning emotion, before adding the final 'killer move'.

She really knows all too well how to pretend it's unintentional in situations like this.

Some things really need to be said in this way to truly make certain people feel like they have a fishbone stuck in their throat.

After all, those who aren't involved always see things most clearly.

"Isn't it a bit too early to talk about happiness at this point?"

Aragaki Yumezuki frowned and asked in an unfriendly tone.

She knew there was no need to argue with Nitta Kurei, but when she heard the latter say that, she couldn't control her emotions.

To put it bluntly, Nitta Kurei has no evidence to prove that he was Yasuhara Risa's real boyfriend. Isn't it a bit outrageous to draw conclusions so early?

"I don't know about that," Nitta Kurei shrugged. "I hope they're happy. Don't you want them to be happy, Aragaki?"

She then asked a question in return.

"I……"

Aragaki Yumezuki was stumped by the question.

Even if she and Risa Yasuhara don't get along and often clash, she absolutely cannot say things like that carelessly.

Even if everyone knows the truth, she can't say those things out loud.

"Of course I want An Yuan to be happy, but I'm also afraid she might meet the wrong person. What if she runs into a scumbag who cheats her out of money?"

She changed the subject and said this.

"Really?"

Nitta Kurei was trying her best to suppress her emotions, afraid that she might burst out laughing if she didn't control herself.

In a sense, Aragaki Yumezuki is truly remarkable, able to lie so blatantly and remain completely composed.

Seriously, no one else can compare.

Honestly, she couldn't do it.

"Really." Aragaki Yumezuki suppressed the nausea in her heart and continued with a high-sounding explanation, "Although we don't get along, as classmates, I still hope she can live a good life."

Shit!

She wished the Yasuhara Risa family would go bankrupt immediately so she could enjoy watching their miserable state.

But she also knew that the impossible was impossible. With the size of the Yasuhara family, even if they made the stupidest decision, they could still live quite well after filing for bankruptcy.

You have to be at least better than her.

That's precisely why she hated him so much.

Why does Risa Yasuhara have so many things that I've never had, and why can she be so 'pretentiously generous' in front of me?

"I see." Nitta Kurei feigned agreement, nodding as she spoke, then pointed behind her, "You guys sit down and rest for a bit, the class monitor and the others will be here soon." She was too lazy to waste any more words with this person.

To put it bluntly, only those who are completely unaware of what Aragaki Yumezuki said would believe it. Even if she knew the truth, or if the scope were broadened to the whole class, no one would believe it, and they might even secretly laugh at her.

"Ah."

Aragaki Yumezuki nodded, took her husband's arm, and followed him into the banquet hall.

She knew exactly what she should do and when, and she knew that even if she didn't believe it in her heart, she had to pretend to believe it when they met.

To expose her flaws without hesitation, she needs to find a clear weakness.

"It looks like she really hates it; she's practically gritting her teeth."

Asada Orihime glanced at Aragaki Yumezuki who walked in through the door, then looked away and whispered something to her friend.

She wasn't worried that Risa would be at a disadvantage. At the gatherings a few years ago, although Risa had suffered a slight loss in terms of partners, overall, Risa hadn't fallen behind.

And this year, they are likely to gain an even greater advantage.

"Who knows."

Risa Yasuhara rolled her eyes.

Whether in the past or present, she has never abused her power or bullied others, nor has she ever deliberately used her family's wealth to bully any classmate.

She herself would not do that, and her upbringing would not allow her to do so.

"Speaking of which..."

Asada Orihime deliberately drew out her words, then glanced meaningfully at Yasuhara Risa until the latter felt uncomfortable under her gaze and turned to meet her eyes. Only then did she slowly continue her story.

"Risa, do you think tactics are important in a relationship? I mean the little tactics to maintain the relationship, or the tactics used during the pursuit."

She felt it was necessary to talk to Risa about this, both to explain things in advance and to give her a heads-up.

After all, some things always begin with 'false'.

Although, as of now, she hasn't seen any lustful desire for Watanabe Yu in Risa's eyes, the kind between a man and a woman, it's better to be safe than sorry.

If every pair of siblings were just siblings, then there wouldn't be so many sibling-like relationships.

"Important, right?"

Risa Yasuhara thought for a moment and then gave her opinion.

Although everyone says that sincerity begets sincerity, from what she's seen of students' relationships, most of them still rely on gimmicks to win people's hearts.

Even if a female student knows that the other person's words are copied love quotes, she will still feel very happy.

Yes, she understands that it's emotion at play, but isn't the core purpose of the 'routine' to make the other party act on emotion?

"What do you mean by 'important,' right? Don't you find that strange?"

Orihime Asada rolled her eyes and glared at her best friend with annoyance.

Important is important, and unimportant is unimportant. What's the point of leaving it stuck in the middle?
"That's important!"

Risa Yasuhara didn't dawdle and continued talking along with her.

Having known Orihime Asada for so long, she was initially quite curious about what her friend wanted to say.

"So you think both sides are just playing around and starting with these so-called 'routines'?" Orihime Asada paused for a moment. "Do they really feel any affection?"

This is a point she sees very clearly: although tricks always win people's hearts, if you play tricks too much, when you encounter a particularly sincere person, you will reflexively feel that the other person is also using tricks.

Once such thoughts arise, one will fall into a predicament of self-doubt.

If you're not sincere enough too often, you won't be able to be sincere when it's time to be.

Of course, there are also those who respond to others' sincerity with a set of tricks. Although they may achieve the same goal in the end, it often ends in tragedy.

"Maybe."

Risa Yasuhara didn't get her friend's meaning and just answered her question.

"Yes, but the further they go, the more they only feel excited during the ambiguous period. Dopamine is only secreted during this time. Once they officially confirm the relationship, they will find it boring and tasteless."

As she spoke, Orihime Asada smiled.

"Once they reach this stage, they will start to doubt the meaning of love, and then they will start to think about how long to end this relationship. Some even feel that they are treating their current partner as a backup plan, and will kick them to the curb when they meet someone better."

She despises and finds this behavior disgusting.

But the objective facts will not change because of her likes or dislikes. People who do such disgusting things have always existed, and in fact, there have been more and more of them in recent years.

Especially in the last two years.

"so?"

Risa Yasuhara tilted her head.

She still didn't understand what her best friend meant.

Others might use so-called tricks, but she definitely wouldn't. In fact, you could say she's the person who hates tricks the most. In her view, only sincere people deserve true and genuine feelings.

It's not that just because someone is in a relationship with another person temporarily, through some kind of manipulative tactic, their feelings for that person are genuine.

Rather, true sincerity lies in those who are compatible, share similar thinking, have complementary personalities, and both enjoy being together.

"So the more tricks you use, the further you are from true love, especially when you use these tricks and they are spoken out reflexively."

Orihime Asada sighed and chose to speak frankly.

"But I'm not like that."

Risa Yasuhara retorted.

She was never that kind of person.

"What I mean is, don't assume that just because something is an old, tired 'trick,' you can completely escape it. Some things are beyond your control by your personal emotions."

Orihime Asada let out a long sigh and looked down at the doorway.

Their class monitor was coming in, and according to the usual practice, after the monitor came in, everyone would raise their glasses in a toast.

Then came the chats between the various small groups.

Around this time every year, Aragaki Yumezuki would naturally squeeze in front of Risa.

Just as she was thinking this, as if sensing her thoughts, Aragaki Yumezuki also turned her head and looked in her direction.

Their eyes met in the air.

After a brief two-second eye contact, they both looked away.

"You'd better think of a good way to deal with her 'interrogation' later."

With that, Orihime Asada patted her trouser leg and stood up.

The time for a toast was approaching, and they had to join in.

At least at this point, they need to fit in.

(End of this chapter)