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

Kazusa clearly knew it was him. She turned around, stretched, and then turned back. Just as she was about to scold Himekoji for being too slow, she found that he had already opened his favorite jam bread and handed it to her.

"Well, thank you."

After saying thank you rather bluntly, Kazusa started biting into her bread. She hadn't eaten since noon and was quite hungry, her cheeks puffing out like a little squirrel preparing for winter.

"What...you've been staring at me."

"After all, Kazusa is just too cute!"

"Hmph, he spent the whole day playing with some woman from who-knows-where, but he's all unserious when he comes to me."

"Well, Kasumigaoka Utaha stole my hat, there's nothing I can do about it."

"You let her steal it on purpose, didn't you?"

"How could that be? I originally planned to escape through the secret passage from the chairman's office, but I didn't expect her to be already there, waiting for me on the cabinet. As soon as I came in, she took her hat off my head."

"Oh, she really is resourceful, she even knew you were planning to hide in the chairman's office."

“It was my mom who told her. A few days ago, my mom kept asking me what I was going to do, and I said I was going to the chairman’s office. It seems that she was the one begging my mom on the other end.”

"Well, anyway, it's not like you're losing anything by spending a day with such a beautiful woman, Haruto."

Kazusa ate very small bites, but very quickly. By the time Himekoji received a call from Mariya, she had already devoured almost half of the sweets Himekoji had brought, and even licked her fingers, looking like she wanted more.

"Go quickly, Haruto, you still have work to do."

Kazusa urged Himekoji with her eyes, while Himekoji's gaze fell on Kazusa's hat on the piano. He reached out for the hat, and Kazusa immediately froze, trying to stop him, but Himekoji snatched the hat away. He then put the hat on his own head, grinned, pushed up his glasses, and clutched the hat tightly with both hands, saying, "Hehe, Kazusa is my girlfriend now!"

"Idiot, Haruto, if you keep playing these childish games, the student council will come knocking on your door."

Kazusa crossed her arms, trying to appear nonchalant, but her eyes kept glancing at the hat.

"Then, I'll take Kazusa's hat."

"Idiot, give it to me right now!"

Although Kazusa was chasing after her, Himekoji still rushed out the door. Seeing Himekoji's back as she ran towards the student council office, Kazusa gently shook her head and revealed a smile that he couldn't see.

Chapter 262 went smoothly; [Himekoji Haruto] decided to begin his trip.

On Saturday, December 24th, the day before Christmas, the leaves on the trees along the street had all fallen, making the roads near the park feel even colder. The snow that started falling yesterday afternoon had been falling intermittently several times today, much like a pair of lovers who were deeply in love but kept hurting each other, breaking up and getting back together.

Before Himekoji woke up, the housekeepers were already working in the huge yard with a small snowplow. The maids prepared hot coffee and hot chocolate for them to drink when they returned. After working in the snow for a while, returning to the warm indoors and having such a cup really felt like being reborn. Once their limbs were fully recovered, it would be perfect if they could have sex.

Himekoji Daphne Borgia was still fast asleep, but the blankets spread out beside her no longer held their original owner; only a trace of warmth remained. Himekoji's father had returned home very late last night and had to leave early this morning for a speech in Tokyo. The two had only spent one night together before being forced to separate. Fortunately, after finishing the speech, they could at least enjoy a day and a half of vacation.

Himekoji had just woken up and got out of bed to take a shower. Through the window, he could see the butlers working outside and the black-and-white maids constantly bringing him things. After cleaning himself up, he first checked the emails on his phone.

There were two email senders, the first was from Setsuna and the second was from Kazusa. Opening Kazusa's email, she said that she wanted to drive herself to the hot spring inn where it was guaranteed to snow today, and asked Himekoji, the experienced driver, to help her. The meeting place was near Setsuna's house.

The email from Setsuna expressed how much she was looking forward to the trip, and also mentioned that she had taken the day off yesterday, something Himekoji only found out now. This just shows that Setsuna is quite sensitive to these kinds of events, after all, she is very self-aware of her own appearance.

Before the agreed-upon time to leave, Himeko's mother finally woke up. Himeko greeted her, and she was still drooling a little. She sat in front of the dressing table in the master bedroom, having her hair and makeup constantly done by Miss Reiko and several other maids. Judging from her appearance, her mother seemed too sleepy to get up. It was unclear how late her father, who was a lolicon and deserved to be sentenced to death, had tormented her last night.

After packing the necessary luggage, Reiko shoved her into the car amidst her mother's farewell kiss and drove her to the agreed meeting place. Before getting out of the car, Reiko gently tapped the steering wheel with her fingers and asked, "Is it really okay to let Miss Kazusa drive? It just snowed on the road, we don't want any accidents."

"It's alright. By the way, Sister Lingzi, since you're so worried, why don't you give me some blessings?"

Ji Xiaolu shamelessly leaned closer to Miss Lingzi. She cleverly turned around, cupped Ji Xiaolu's cheek, and kissed his lips. Then, she pointed at his lips and laughed, "I won't compete with the rightful owner."

"Well, thank you, Reiko-nee."

"Go quickly, Miss Kazusa is waiting."

After saying goodbye, Himekoji took a small bag of luggage and came out. At the same time, Kazusa also got out of the car. She looked really cool now, like a white-collar worker who had officially entered the workforce and was on vacation. She wore a violet casual suit, a black knitted sweater and a crisp white shirt underneath, plus linen casual trousers and brown sunglasses. This outfit suddenly gave Himekoji the feeling of a young Yoko-san.

When he was very young, Yoko would also dress like this, but she already had short hair back then, while Kazusa always had long hair.

"Haruto, do you always take this long to get off the bus?"

Kazusa had obviously recognized Himekoji's car long ago, but the reason he was dawdling was not because he was slow, but because Reiko had given him a kiss. Fortunately, Reiko hadn't put anything on her lips today, otherwise she would have been even slower.

"Come on, please spare me." Ji Xiaolu carefully examined the old BMW 520, but after looking for a long time, he still couldn't find anything wrong. Seeing Ji Xiaolu's unusual behavior, Kazusa couldn't help but kick him and ask, "Hey, what are you looking at? Is this car prettier than me?"

"Ahem, I just wanted to see if you were driving without a license, and to confirm the safety of your driving."

Himekoji stopped Kazusa's legs and stood properly in front of her again.

"Huh? Yes, I did break one of your cars, but that doesn't mean I won't improve, right? I practiced a lot... for a while after my mom came to Japan."

Kazusa's voice trailed off towards the end, and Himeko suddenly realized that Yoko-nee had been busy teaching her to drive. Himeko was confident in her driving skills; although they weren't quite at the level of her piano playing and she couldn't possibly drive like a shrimp catcher on Mount Akina, they were certainly steady and reliable.

"Kazusa is wonderful."

Himekoji wanted to reach out and pat Kazusa's head. Kazusa stood there, blushing, waiting to be touched. Just then, Setsuna's voice came from the side. She waved and greeted them with an apologetic smile, saying, "Sorry, it took a lot of time to tidy up..."

It's really tiring for a sophisticated girl to go out. One suitcase wasn't enough; she brought two suitcases and a bulging handbag. Seeing this, Kazusa couldn't help but shake her head and sigh, "It would be better to kill me than to make me carry so much stuff when I go out."

Of course, Setsuna wouldn't hear this.

After helping Setsuna load her suitcase into the car, Himekoji checked the fuel gauge, tire pressure, spare tire, and other conditions before confirming that the car was indeed roadworthy. Of course, he was a little hesitant to let Kazusa drive, but it would be disrespectful to her if he insisted on driving at this time.

"Haruto-kun's event yesterday really caused a huge commotion! The whole school was ecstatic. I'm a little disappointed that I had to take the day off... I'm sorry, I suddenly wasn't feeling well yesterday." Yukina bowed respectfully in apology, while Himekoji waved her hand dismissively and said, "If you're not feeling well, you should just stay home."

"Hey, you two, get in the car."

Kazusa honked the horn inside the car. Honking is prohibited in busy areas! Did Yoko-nee only teach you the practical operation, not the theory?!

In Chapter xxx, [the author] wanted to investigate the overall market trend.

Ahem, actually I just wanted to see how much support everyone has for the female leads. Please leave your comments and vote for the female lead you support.

Yukino Yukino

Kasumigaoka Utaha

冬马和纱

冬马曜子

Saki Kawasaki

Shizuka Hiratsuka

Setsuna Ogiso

Himekoji Daphne Borgia (lol)

Surely no one would vote for the mom, right? Probably not, right? Don't be so heartless!

Chapter 263 And so, the three of them set off in a lively and cheerful manner.

Minakami Town in Gunma Prefecture is about two and a half hours from Chiba. Because she wasn't too confident in Kazusa's driving skills, Himekoji sat in the passenger seat and took out her phone to check the route. Of course, once they confirmed that it was snowing there and would continue to snow for the next few days, they had already canceled all the hotels they had booked that they could.

Since it was the day before Christmas and a weekend, there was quite a bit of traffic on the highway. Kazusa didn't seem to be sleepy at all, and she drove steadily, which reassured Himekoji. Her phone kept sending reminders, but they weren't about the route; they were about her speeding.

"Hey, Kazusa, you'd better follow the speed limit!"

“I never mentioned it when you were driving with Sister Lingzi.”

"Private roads and highways are two different things! If something goes wrong on a highway, you're basically dead."

"Okay, I got it. I'll slow down, alright?"

Kazusa irritably smoothed her bangs and lightened her press on the accelerator, which reassured Himekoji. Seemingly finding the atmosphere in the car a bit heavy, Setsuna pulled a CD from her bag and handed it to Kazusa, saying, "Since we're just killing time anyway, why don't we listen to some music?"

"Yes Yes."

They took the CD and put it into the player, and the pleasant music immediately flowed out. However, compared to this, the voice singing in the back seat, which was almost indistinguishable from the original singer, made Himekoji and Kazusa feel a little embarrassed.

"What's going on... making it sound like a karaoke session."

Kazusa muttered a few complaints under her breath and continued driving.

After Kazusa parked the car at the service area, the group ate lunch in the car. It was a lovingly prepared bento box made by Himekoji's mom and Setsuna's mom. Of course, the portions were very generous, enough for the three of them to have another small meal. When children are away from home, parents are most worried about whether they can eat and stay warm.

It's understandable that Kazusa is too lazy to make her own bento boxes. She's too lazy to cook for herself and eats instant noodles every day. If it weren't for the fact that she often gets better meals at Himekoji's house, he guesses Kazusa might not even be getting enough nutrition.

"It's my turn to drive now. You seem to be yawning and getting sleepy."

"Well... that's fine too."

After the meal, the two got off the bus and switched seats. Yukina, somewhat confused, asked Kazusa, "Hey, Kazusa, aren't you going to sit in the back with me?"

“After all, I also need to keep an eye on Haruto and make sure he doesn’t make a mistake.” Kazusa gave an answer that Setsuna couldn’t refute. Setsuna muttered softly, “I see…” Himekoji didn’t say anything, just briefly felt the handling of the car before telling them to fasten their seatbelts, and then turned and left.

They arrived in Minakami Town at 3:30 PM. To ensure safe driving, Himekoji drove a little slower, but of course, she couldn't drive slower than the highway's standard lane markings. The first thing she did after arriving was to call her mother to let her know that she had arrived safely. What made Himekoji even more speechless was that, for safety reasons, her mother told her that all the rooms at the hotel they were going to stay at had been booked by Himekoji's family, which meant they had booked the entire hotel for free. The whole hotel was waiting for their arrival.

"What's wrong? Why that expression?"

Seeing that Himekoji's expression was off, Kazusa immediately asked.

"Mom..."

"Ok?"

"She booked the entire hotel... Now we are the only three guests in the whole hotel."

"Huh—? Isn't that great?!"

Setsuna was both surprised and delighted, while Himekoji and Kazusa exchanged a glance and both sighed.

Sometimes I just want to take a normal trip... I've been to hot spring inns and similar places every time since I was a child, and it's always been like this.

In summer in Japan, the sun is already setting by 5 PM, and in winter, it gets dark even earlier. With overcast skies and the ever-present threat of snow, it feels like it's already quite dark. Around the car is a path cleared by the hotel staff, covered in patches of fine snow. From here, you can see the billowing steam from the hot springs of several other nearby inns. It's cold and damp here; I'd better hurry inside.

After helping Setsuna carry her luggage out, the people in the inn quickly ran out as well. The young landlady, wearing wooden clogs and the kimono she wore for working at the inn, rushed over and bowed, saying, "Excuse me, are you Mr. Himekoji Haruto and his party?"

"Ah, yes, that's me." Ji Xiaolu nodded in response. She bowed again and very respectfully invited the three of them to come into the house. As they walked in, she said, "We have been waiting for you three for quite some time."

Seeing this, Kazusa was speechless, wondering how much money Himekoji's mother had shoved into the hotel.

The shop assistants lined up in two rows in the hallway after the entrance. As soon as the door opened, they bowed in unison and said, "Welcome." Yukina looked excited, while Kazusa was practically rolling her eyes.

After settling in and tidying up, before it got completely dark and before the three of them felt any hunger, Yukina suggested going out to build a snowman.

"Yukina, you really do love snow."

"Doesn't Kazusa like it?"

"It's cold and dry, so cold to hold in my hand, and freezing cold if it falls down my neck. I don't like it."