I, the mastermind behind the scenes at Soubu High, refuse to be caught in a bloodbath.

"If that guy plays me, she'll be in big trouble..."

Himekoji already disliked Haruno, and if she were to be fooled by her, anyone would be angry. Haruno must be very aware of this, so what she wanted to discuss with Himekoji must be quite extraordinary.

Besides, it's a private matter. What private matters could she and Himekoji possibly have to discuss? It's nothing more than her precious little sister.

It was a donut shop diagonally opposite the movie theater, where coffee refills were available. Milk coffee was no problem either. In fact, enjoying a sweet milk coffee perfectly suited Chiba's character. One can't take afternoon tea lightly—by Hachiman Hikigaya.

The car stopped in front of the store. After instructing Ms. Reiko that he could do as he pleased during this time, Himeko stepped into the store and said a few words to the staff who came towards him. The staff immediately led him to the second floor and also confirmed some of the dishes that she had ordered with him—in fact, it was Haruno who had taken it upon herself to order them for Himeko.

"I know you don't like coffee, so I ordered juice for you."

Yang Nai sat at the table near the kitchen, wearing a white stand-up collar shirt with a chunky knit cardigan. Although her long legs were covered by a long skirt, their elegant and slender shape was still immediately apparent. Despite being winter clothing, she exuded a light and airy feel, perhaps due to her usual demeanor.

When she saw Himekoji approaching, she immediately took off her headphones. Although they weren't the exorbitantly expensive Sennheiser, they were still models that most people would find prohibitive. Yono smiled and waved to Himekoji, who looked around and then sat down opposite her.

"Looks like you've researched my various preferences too."

"I have to remind that blockhead Yukino, otherwise it won't be good if she makes you coffee every day after she marries into the family."

"Tsk, is he spouting such nonsensical nonsense right off the bat?"

"That's true. Yukino is still a few years away from getting engaged. How about I get engaged first?"

Yang Nai crossed her hands and rested her chin on them, staring at Himekoji with delighted eyes, her delicate face showing no trace of shyness.

"Sorry, I'm not interested."

Himekoji rested her chin on her hand, tilted her head, and sipped her orange juice, her gaze not lingering on Haruno's face for long.

"Well then, I have something I'd like to formally ask you for a favor."

Yang Nai dropped her girlish expression, and the flirtatious look in her eyes disappeared.

"tell me the story."

"Could Yukino join the student council? I'm not asking her to become president or anything, I know that's impossible, so... at least, a position as a member..."

"You're saying this because you know that the current student council secretary, Kasumigaoka Utaha, is retiring, right? There are currently two candidates: Eriri and the relatively unknown Kato Megumi. In fact, I would prefer Kato Megumi to join rather than Yukinoshita. After all, although Kato Megumi may not be as capable as her, at least she is very obedient."

"Was it because I didn't give you my price? Then—"

"Don't get me wrong, Haruno. I didn't come here to make a deal with you."

Ji Xiaolu's lips twitched. He wondered what terrifying words Yang Nai would say, so he shut her up before she could speak.

"Then, is it not possible?"

Yang Nai wasn't angry, or rather, she didn't have the right to be angry at all. She gently stirred the coffee in her cup with a small silver spoon, and her smooth wrist exuded a very pleasant perfume scent.

Seeing that Himekoji's expression remained unchanged, Yono finally sighed and slumped onto the table like a lazy Gabriel, her slightly purple hair brushing against her delicate neck, glancing pitifully at Himekoji again and again.

"In fact, it would be best for her to stay in the Service Department now. You always arrange this and that for her. If she doesn't really understand you, she will resent it."

"Service Club? Won't Haruto be jealous if we put her next to Hikigaya-kun?"

Yang Nai's lips curled into a mischievous smile, to which Ji Xiaolu simply shrugged.

"Are there any authors you like here? Freud? Fitzgerald? Socrates? Or Wilde?"

On the table where Himekoji and Haruno were sitting was a stack of books, none of which were paperback editions. Among them were some very finely bound works by Socrates, and it seemed that there was only one Japanese book.

"I prefer this one."

Himeko pointed to the all-English copy of "Salome" with her fingertip. Then, Yono immediately showed a surprised expression. A second later, the surprise turned into a cute giggle. She patted Himeko's arm and laughed non-stop, her shoulders shaking and her chest heaving.

"Seriously, you like 'Salome'? Are you trying to hint at something weird to me? If I didn't know you a little bit, I would have turned around and left right now. I'm not good at dealing with people with weird tastes."

Yang Nai finally stopped laughing, but she kept patting her chest, trying to calm herself down. After all, they were in a coffee shop. Although Yang Nai looked like she was laughing exaggeratedly, she didn't actually make much noise. It was just that her body language was very exaggerated.

"I don't care if you take it as an implication."

"Oh, is that so..."

Yang Nai nodded, seemingly unsurprised by the answer. Did this person accept it so quickly?

"Haruto-kun, you can't see it from your angle, but there's a very interesting person in the store now."

Yang Nai suddenly leaned closer and whispered in Ji Xiaolu's ear, the pleasant scent filling Ji Xiaolu's nose and rushing straight to her brain.

"You said it's very interesting, and I know him, so I think after narrowing it down to this, it can only be Hachiman."

Himekoji whispered to Yono as well, the soft hair near Yono's ear tickling Himekoji's nose.

"Yes, it's Hachiman, and he's with two cute girls. Doesn't that make it even more interesting? Hey—those two girls are walking this way."

"call--"

Upon hearing this, Himekoji turned her head and saw Orimoto Kaori, whom she had met a few times before, and a girl named Nakamachi Chika.

Chapter 245 So, [Himekoji Naoto] is very busy.

She had short, neat hair that was slightly dyed dark green, with a cute light blue hair clip in front of her forehead, and her pupils were pure amber. Overall, she was an ordinary girl in every way—both of them were wearing the school uniform of Seaside High School.

"Ah, I knew it! I knew I wouldn't mistake it!"

Orimoto excitedly pulled the girl named Chika along and strode towards Himekoji. Meanwhile, Yono wore a look of anticipation, knowing that she definitely didn't recognize the two girls. They must be looking for Himekoji, no doubt about it.

"Oh, so it's a loss. What a coincidence."

Himekoji stood up politely, nodded, and then sat down again.

"Your white hair is so distinctive—" Since she said that, Hachiman, who arrived at the store first, must have noticed Himekoji, but he wisely refrained from coming over to greet him. Chika, the girl being pulled by Orimoto, seemed a little awkward, but Orimoto himself was nonchalant and didn't seem to care. Instead, he looked at the eye-catching Haruno and asked curiously, "Is this... your girlfriend?"

"No."

Himeko immediately denied it.

"So, who are these two with—?"

Yang Nai leaned closer and asked in a low voice.

"This is Kaori Orimoto, from Seaside High School. We worked together during our joint sports festival, and I've seen her briefly since. And the one next to her is..."

"Ah, this child, she's my classmate, her name is Nakamachi Chika." Orimoto pushed Chika forward slightly, then whispered something in her ear. Chika's thin lips parted slightly, her face showing embarrassment.

"Hello, I'm Yukinoshita Haruno, Haruto-kun's... what was it again?" Haruno was also stumped by this question, and asked Himekoji to herself, "Hey, what am I to you, Haruto? Friends... I don't think so, although I always call myself an older sister, but that doesn't quite feel right... Let's just combine them, how about I be your loyal dog?"

Even with his excellent composure, Himekoji almost choked on Yono's words. He practically forced himself to swallow his breath back down, and at the same time, Kazusa's face appeared in his mind. He shook his head with a smirk and said under the two girls' dumbfounded gazes, "If that's the case, I'm in big trouble. I should say—my business partner's daughter, hmm, that's the most appropriate word."

"What? How indifferent!"

"You're clearly exaggerating."

Loyal dog... You can even say something like that with a smile? Yang is really something.

At this point, the girl named Chika's face grew increasingly grim. Ji Xiaolu glanced at her, a highly improbable guess flashing through her mind: Could it be...?

He remembered that this girl named Nakata Chika wanted to get to know Hayama and planned to have Hachiman introduce them, but Hachiman declined. However, at this moment, she seemed to be interested in him. Himekoji thought he had never seen her before... or maybe he had seen her somewhere and then ignored her because she was too ordinary?

"Nice to meet you, I am Himekoji Haruto."

Since she hadn't introduced herself to this girl named Chika, Himeko thought it would be better to do so briefly.

"Um... hello, I'm Nakata Chika..."

She seemed somewhat unsure of herself, her gaze constantly darting around, her hands gripping the hem of her skirt. After introducing herself, she bit her lower lip and remained silent.

"Phew—" Oribon sighed with a look of disappointment, put her hand to her forehead and let out a long sigh. She then whispered something in Chika's ear. Yono wore a smile that said, "I've seen through everything," and stirred her coffee cup calmly.

"So, would you two like to take a seat here?"

Seemingly feeling that it wasn't hot enough, Haruno added more fuel to the fire. Chika looked incredulous, while Orimoto immediately chimed in, "Then... can we bring the things over?"

They had just placed the food on another table.

"Oh, of course, right?"

Yang Nai gently tapped Ji Xiaolu's arm with his elbow, and Ji Xiaolu nodded slightly, neither confirming nor denying.

Himeko gently pulled up the cuff of her left sleeve. The hour hand of her watch pointed to the position between 5 and 6. It looked like it was already 5:30. She guessed that her mother would call to urge her to hurry up in a while.

"Sorry to bother you."

The two chatted softly and sat down happily next to Himekoji. Orimoto even deliberately let Chika sit next to Himekoji, while he sat on the other side of Chika.

This is so deliberate... Besides, Himekoji himself has absolutely no interest in Chika. He didn't come out to pick up girls. Although he could probably get this ordinary girl into bed with a little time, there's nothing about her that attracts Himekoji, and Himekoji isn't some insatiable idiot.

So Orimoto immediately started chatting with Himekoji. After a few casual words, she immediately said, "You were a great help at the last sports festival, but... Himekoji-kun, didn't you say you were going to take me somewhere fun? Do you have time after that?"

Yang rested her chin on her hand, simply smiling and winking.

"I--"

Before he could finish saying "I," Ji Xiaolu's phone started vibrating incessantly. He apologized, took out his phone, and answered it without a word.

"Haruto~~"

The moment the call connected, the voice on the other end was sickeningly sweet. Even though she knew it was her mother calling, the voice still gave Ji Xiaolu a chill down her spine, and the same was true for the other three people present.

"Um...What is it, Mother?"

"Hurry home, sobbing, sobbing. Naoto said he can't come back tonight, boohoo... Please come back soon."

Naoto, Himekoji's father, usually comes home once every ten days or so. He's usually in Tokyo. It's not that he's living apart from his mother, but he's just too busy. So, there are times when he plans to go home but can't. Whenever this happens, his mother cries.

She cried even more than usual.

"Um... okay, I'll go back now."

Although Orimoto and Chika both looked hesitant, Himekoji didn't want to get entangled with these two girls any longer. Her mother's call came just in time to help her out of the predicament. She would leave the rest of the time to Haruno, though she would probably go and tease Hikigaya next.

"Oh, Mom, I called Reiko. She's waiting for you at the shop entrance now. Haruto, you absolutely mustn't sneak away. You have to come back obediently. You made such delicious food, but Naoto isn't coming back... I can't eat by myself, boohoo—come help Mom eat!"

Chapter 246 How could this be? [Touma Youko] still couldn't escape this calamity.

"Okay, okay." After saying "okay" three times, Ji Xiaolu hung up the phone and said to Yang Nai and the other two, "I'm very sorry, I have to go back now. Let's talk about it next time."

After saying goodbye, he ran straight out of the coffee shop. He seemed to hear something behind him like, "Hey, you didn't even say your email address..." But Himekoji ignored it. When he passed by the table where Hachiman was, he lowered his head, but their eyes still met for a moment.

Yoko had already returned to France. The day before she left, she made a special appointment with Himekoji. After they were both lying on their backs, exhausted, Yoko jokingly quoted Reiko Ishida's line from "Norwegian Wood": "I don't have to have sex anymore. I've done everything in my life, and I can now do other things in peace."

"how you said that?"

"I'm sick. I hope you won't tell Kazusa, otherwise I'll tell her everything about you and me."