Tokyo: I'm bound to the evil women!

The word "alienation" shut down any excuses he could easily come up with.

He couldn't simply refuse the other party's request to change the way he addressed them using politeness or other simple excuses.

"Hasn't Chiya-kun always called me Fujiwara-kun? Well then, it's appropriate for me to call her Chiya-kun too, isn't it?"

He answered calmly, his tone neither warm nor cold.

The word "君" (jun) in a male-female address carries a rather ambiguous meaning and is not equivalent to the relationship between classmates.

The way Chiya Mio addresses her has always been intimate enough.

However, Fujiwara Matsu deliberately equated them.

"Eh~? Does Fujiwara-kun find this form of address so distant?"

The girl crossed her arms, leaned back, and looked thoughtful. After a moment, she seemed to have thought of something.

"Then I should call you, Matsu-kun~"

She leaned forward, moving closer to Fujiwara Matsu, her eyes fixed on him.

"Will it be better?"

"If we go by your idea..."

He sat up straight and leaned back a little. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of the maid who was making tea. Her gaze was fixed on him, and there was hostility in her eyes, but it quickly dissipated, followed by a mixture of envy and jealousy.

Her fingers gripped the teapot tightly, her fingertips turning bluish-white from the force, and fine cracks appeared on the porcelain teapot where her fingers pressed.

"Yes, Misaki-san."

"Then? Song~"

Chiya Mio leaned forward a little more, unusually looking up at Fujiwara Matsu, but the pressure on him only increased.

"Wouldn't that be better?"

"Click, snap, plop..."

There was a slight pause, but three consecutive voices broke the atmosphere between the two, causing them to unconsciously turn their gazes in that direction.

The teapot that was just in Shiratori Saki's hand is now shattered on the ground. She is holding a broken porcelain ring in her hand, with the tip of her finger pressing the broken end against the pad of another finger.

Tiny fragments of skin were embedded in the flesh at the fingertips, neither too deep nor too shallow.

Black tea splashed on the floor, wetting the maid's shoes and socks, though she probably didn't see it herself.

"Sazaki, what's wrong?"

Her tone remained gentle, but there was still a hint of annoyance in her eyes at being interrupted.

"You don't usually make this kind of mistake."

"I'm sorry, miss. I was thinking about archery club training. There's a competition coming up soon, so I got a little distracted and overexerted myself. I'll clean it up right away."

When Fujiwara Matsu saw this, his eye twitched violently, and his kidneys began to ache slightly.

In terms of feelings, when the other person subdued me last time, I still held back.

Breaking a solid porcelain piece as thick as a little finger with bare hands, is this even human?

Chiya Mio stared at Shiratori Saki for a long time, and finally just smiled gently.

"Sazaki, don't put so much pressure on yourself."

"Yes, miss."

"I've already said, when I'm not home, just call me Misaki. You're my friend."

Chiyo had mentioned this matter many times, but Shiratori Saki still instinctively addressed her as "Miss".

Shiratori Saki's eyes brightened, and the corners of her mouth turned up slightly:

"Okay, Ms. Misaki."

"Isn't this even better... Never mind, whatever."

Chiya Mio sighed as if helpless, but a look of understanding appeared in her eyes.

Fujiwara Matsu's gaze had just swept over the two of them. Hearing how they addressed each other, he raised an eyebrow and finally fixed his gaze on Shiratori Saki.

Shiratori Saki brought over the cleaning tools, and just as Chiya Mio was about to speak again, Fujiwara Matsu had already squatted down beside the debris and started helping.

This action silenced Chiya Mio's words and also made Shiratori Saki pause in her tracks.

"Mr. Fujiwara, I can do it myself."

"It's nothing, just a small favor."

Fujiwara Matsu casually picked up a shard of ceramic from the ground and held it in his hand. From this height, he could just see the wound on Shiratori Saki's fingertip.

She's not made of iron either; pressing such force on the irregular fracture would definitely pierce the skin, and the wound is quite deep, already bleeding.

He happened to have some band-aids in his pocket; he brought several with him today to ensure they wouldn't fall apart due to the movement of his neck muscles and disrupt his plans.

However, after confirming that Chiyo had discovered it, they didn't change it, and now the band-aid is loose and flimsy.

He stood up, placed the ceramic shards he had picked up in Shiratori Saki's hand, with a band-aid underneath, and gently brushed away the loose fragments from Shiratori Saki's fingertips.

Shiratori Saki's hand stiffened, then she gripped the object in her hand tightly.

"Does it hurt? Be more careful next time."

Fujiwara Matsu said a few words in a low voice. He knew clearly that this would affect his plans, but he wasn't quite sure what kind of impact it would have.

Let's see how Chiya Mio reacts; it's quite interesting. But, this girl isn't entirely that scary, is she?

"Thanks for the band-aid last time."

He turned slightly to the side, revealing the same type of band-aid on his neck as the one in her hand.

"Hmm? You two are even closer than I imagined?"

"Sazaki, have you been doing something behind my back?"

Chiya Mio spoke in a teasing tone, as if she were joking with her female friend.

"It's just cleaning up some trash, it's no big deal. Besides, if Shiratori-senpai, a member of the archery club, cares so much about the literature club's environment, shouldn't I, as a member, be even more committed to maintaining it?"

Although Chiya Mio asked Shiratori Saki, Fujiwara Matsu took the initiative to speak.

"As the president, I'm very satisfied with your performance, Matsu~"

A playful look appeared in the girl's eyes. Her gaze swept between the two of them, and she casually repeated the name she had just used.

His eyebrow twitched and his body stiffened; the other party clearly hadn't given up on their approach.

"Thank you for the compliment, Misaki-san."

He recovered very quickly, sat down calmly, ignored the other person's address, and remained composed.

The maid's efficiency was astonishing; she cleaned up the mess in no time, and even mopped the floor again, making it even shinier than before.

This time, she stood next to Chiya Mio, just as she had at Chiya's house.

Previously, she had not reacted to this, but this time Chiya Mio pulled her to sit down next to her and pushed her black tea toward her.

"Saki, you don't have any extra tea this time, so drink mine. You can't refuse."

Having anticipated her reaction, Chiya Mio preemptively cut off any possibility of her refusal.

"You've always brewed your own tea, but you've never tasted its best flavor. How was it this time?"

"It was delicious."

"After all, you're the one who made it."

The atmosphere between the two was harmonious, and Fujiwara Matsu felt somewhat unable to get a word in edgewise, so he simply spoke up and tentatively suggested leaving.

"Mio-san, something came up at home, so I have to go back now."

Upon hearing Fujiwara Matsu's words, Chiya Mio turned her head, a look of frustration at her defeat flashing in her eyes before she returned to normal.

"Okay, Matsu~, see you tomorrow~"

Surprisingly, she didn't stop him. Instead, she saw him off in a lighthearted tone, only... how she addressed him.

"See you tomorrow."

As usual, Fujiwara Matsu ignored him, but this time his reaction was much milder. He smiled, turned and left the literature club, leaving the two of them alone.

Chiya Mio took Shiratori Saki's hand, took the band-aid from her, carefully removed the remaining bits of tissue from her fingertips, and bandaged up her recently punctured wound.

"How could someone as shrewd as you be so careless at a time like this, Saki?"

So, Miss has never been like this before... Have I become interesting?

Feeling the warmth of her fingertips, Shiratori Saki felt a flutter in her heart.

Then, should I continue to learn from Mr. Fujiwara, and...?

Chiyo's touch and the bandage on her hand reminded her of what Fujiwara Matsu had just done.

Besides being interesting, there are many things we can learn from Mr. Fujiwara.

…………

Meanwhile, just as Fujiwara Matsu had boarded the train home, his cell phone suddenly rang.

"Thank you, Mr. Fujiwara. I think I understand what you mean by 'interesting' now?"

"However, I feel I still need to learn. Do you have time this weekend?"

[Task: Increase Fujiwara Matsu's "Domination" to 20%, Completed]

[Quest Rewards Obtained: 1 Attribute Point, Specified Mastery Level Skill]

Has this guy's dominance increased so much all of a sudden?

Connecting these events to the present, Fujiwara Matsu felt as if he had figured out the pattern of dominance.