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

"I won't eat it if it's not cooked well."

"...brazen."

"So what? What you owe me can't be paid back in just one or two meals."

"Okay, okay, by the way, do you know what school your childhood friend, Touma-senpai, is planning to go to?"

After all, Touma is already a third-year student who is about to graduate, so she can't possibly choose between arts and sciences. Of course, she did choose sciences from the beginning—although she chose it with her eyes closed.

"She—, Kazusa, she... well, you'll probably be quite surprised."

Ji Xiaolu leaned back. The cat kept trying to climb up his clothes. He remembered that if the cat's claws weren't trimmed regularly, it would scratch everything in the house, such as the sofa and tables.

"what exactly is it?"

Why are you so interested in her affairs?

"I'm just surprised that someone as dazzling as her is your childhood friend with whom you have such a good relationship."

Yukinoshita calmly sipped her tea, glancing at Himekoji out of the corner of her eye.

"..." Ji Xiaolu's lips twitched, and he waved his hand to answer, "She won't go to university. In fact, her mother didn't go to university either. Both of them decided to become pianists after high school."

Although she never went to university, Yaozi's manners are by no means lacking. The saying "reading ten thousand books is not as good as traveling ten thousand miles" is very suitable for Yaozi. Moreover, learning is not something that can only be done in school.

"Where is your mother? The lady who looks like a porcelain doll?"

"She never went to school at all; if you had to name one, you could barely call it a clan school..."

"I'm not too surprised, or rather, schools can't cultivate that kind of personality."

Yukinoshita and Himekoji both took off their coats indoors. She returned to her usual thin appearance. To be honest, Himekoji thought she was somewhat malnourished, or rather—her body simply couldn't store fat, which probably also resulted in her not having much breasts!

As lunchtime approached, Yukinoshita began using the ingredients in the refrigerator to prepare lunch for Himekoji. Himekoji, on the other hand, opened a bottle of beer and sat quietly on the sofa, petting the cat and watching TV. Occasionally, he would glance at Yukinoshita's busy figure in the kitchen, giving the impression of an old married couple, with the husband coming home from get off work.

"Hey, Yukinoshita, where did you get the beer? Did you buy it yourself?"

"My sister put it in the fridge when she came over a while ago. It's beer... I don't drink it. I really don't know why she put it in there."

"Yin-no...that's quite unexpected."

"You call her by her name so intimately."

"So, it was Haruno who told me to call her that, is there a problem? Or should I call you Yukino too?"

"Clang!" The ladle fell to the kitchen floor. Yukinoshita blinked, bent down and picked it up again. Without saying a word, she began washing it, refusing to answer Himekoji's question.

She busied herself for thirty or forty minutes and finally finished preparing the meal to entertain Himekoji. The food made by Ms. Yukinoshita, who seemed to have a complete culinary encyclopedia in her head, was indeed delicious and visually appealing. Himekoji had a great appetite and sat opposite Yukinoshita, just about to pick up his chopsticks.

"Buzz—, buzz—, buzz—"

His phone kept vibrating. He smiled apologetically, and Yukinoshita reached out her hand, saying, "Go ahead." He took out his phone and immediately felt something was wrong.

Although it wasn't my mom, the one who always calls and I have to rush back, the caller was still someone important.

"Ahem, it's me. What's wrong?"

Where are you?

Kazusa's somewhat impatient voice came through the receiver and reached Himekoji's ears, and was also heard by Yukinoshita, who was nearby and had been silent.

"Outside..."

"I'm at your house now, but you're not here. I was planning to learn how to cook a meal with Aunt Daphne..."

Himeko glanced at the delicious dishes Yukinoshita had prepared on the table, and then thought of Kazusa's daily instant noodles, and couldn't help but feel a chill.

"Ahem—, I'm eating out, I won't be going back for now."

"By the way, you wouldn't happen to be...?"

Kazusa's tone gradually became strange, and Himekoji couldn't help but feel a chill run down her spine.

"Ok?"

"You're not at Setsuna's house, are you?"

"Huh? No, no, how could that be?"

Although she wasn't at Setsuna's house, she was at Yukinoshita's house... It's true that both of their names contain the character for "snow"!

"Really?"

"Hey, have I become so untrustworthy?"

"Well... remember to come back quickly after you finish eating, I'll be waiting for you."

After saying that, Kazusa hung up the phone, leaving Himekoji and Yukinoshita staring at each other.

"Your childhood sweetheart is quite something, isn't she? She speaks like your wife."

"...I felt a little like that just now too."

I was just about to have dinner with Yukinoshita when Kazusa called. How come her sixth sense seems to be even more sensitive than Yukino's? Yukino's nickname "Zhuge Yukino" isn't for nothing.

"Alright, alright, let's eat." Tossing her phone aside, Ji Xiaolu picked up her chopsticks and said, "I'm starting."

"I'm starting..."

Yukino's expression softened a bit, and she was just about to pick up her chopsticks when Himekoji's phone vibrated again, buzzing as it slid across the table. He quickly grabbed it, and Yukino glanced at it. The caller ID on the screen showed Yukina.

"Ah... Setsuna, hello, what's up?"

"Happy New Year, Haruto-kun."

"Um... Happy New Year. By the way, didn't we exchange text messages?"

Although Himekoji received a lot of congratulatory text messages, replying to them one by one would probably take several hours. He only replied to a few people in his contacts, and Setsuna was naturally one of them.

Chapter 284 The case is solved! [Himekoji Haruto] is truly a pervert.

"But I want to hear Haruto-kun's voice, I want to hear your blessing to me in person."

"Um... okay."

Himeko glanced at Yukina; she was gripping her chopsticks tightly, and although she kept her head down, Himeko felt that something was off about her expression.

"How about we leave it at that for now?"

"Please wait a moment," Setsuna said hurriedly, "Haruto-kun must know that Kazusa is going to participate in a piano competition soon, right? Can I go with you to watch it?"

"Ah... I know that. I'm fine with it. What did Kazusa say?"

"Kazusa had already agreed."

"Let's go together then."

"Okay, that's all for now. Goodbye, Haruto-kun."

After hanging up the phone, Ji Xiaolu quietly put her phone on silent mode and put it in her pocket, thinking that it wouldn't bother her if a call came in.

"Don't just stand there, eat up, it's getting cold."

If someone were to call again, the food would definitely get cold. Although Yukinoshita seemed to have regained her composure, she looked like she was secretly plotting something. She crossed her legs under the table, her panda-head slippers dangling slightly from her toes. Although Himekoji couldn't see what she was doing under the table, he could sense that she was distracted.

Because she was wearing pantyhose for the first time in a long time, Yukinoshita couldn't help but think of the time she sprained her ankle during a school trip and was dragged down the hillside from the Inari Shrine by Himekoji, and then stuffed into his car to have her shoes and socks taken off... For many days after that, she would blush whenever she thought of Himekoji holding her feet as if they were works of art. She wrapped herself in the blanket and hugged her favorite Mr. Pan doll, but she couldn't relieve this awkward yet inexplicably pleasant feeling.

Why is that? Yukinoshita had never experienced that kind of emotion, but she could definitely understand the obsession some men had with women's feet. After all, her shoes had been hidden away so many times when she was in elementary school, and some of them had been bought by older men... As for what those shoes were used for, Yukinoshita couldn't quite imagine.

As she grew older, Yukinoshita realized that those guys were just bastards who wrote about foot fetishes but read about perverts. So, when she was in Himekoji's car that time, she also questioned Himekoji. Although he denied it, judging from his behavior, there was really no need to doubt him.

"you..."

Halfway through the meal, Yukino suddenly spoke up.

"what?"

"No, it's nothing."

Yukinoshita shook her head, inwardly cursing herself for bringing up such a crazy topic. Fortunately, Himekoji didn't pursue it further, which relieved her. After dinner, Himekoji should have rushed home immediately, since Kazusa was already back. Both Yukinoshita and Himekoji leaned back, pressing their backs against the chair backs. Yukinoshita switched her legs under the table. According to a fashion magazine Yuihama had read, this was a very attractive and charming thing for a woman to do to men. However, with a table covering their legs, even if it was very alluring, Himekoji couldn't see what she was doing.

However, this action was actually a bit embarrassing for Yukinoshita. Without this table, she wouldn't have been able to do it in front of Himekoji at all. But even after doing it, it had no effect, like wearing fine clothes in the dark—a bittersweet experience.

Seeing that Xue's face was slightly flushed and she was staring at the area under the table, Ji Xiaolu couldn't help but become curious. She glanced under the table and asked, "Is there something under there that you're interested in?"

"Huh—? How could this be..."

Yukino quickly shook her head, but her face turned even redder. Himekoji became even more curious and bent down to look. Yukino tightly pressed her crossed legs together, but in her haste, the panda-head slipper that was originally hanging from the toe of her left foot fell off and hit the floor with a thud. Now she was left with only her pantyhose hanging in the air, which felt a little cool and made Yukino very uncomfortable.

Seeing those delicate little feet dangling not far from her under the snow, Ji Xiaolu suddenly had an idea—wouldn't it be interesting to grab those cute little feet and knead them?

"Have you... finished reading?"

Because Himekoji was looking under the table, Yukinoshita couldn't get her legs down from their cross-legged position, as it would easily expose her panties. But Himekoji clearly wasn't going to give up. He casually replied, "Okay, okay." As he stood up, he grabbed Yukinoshita's left foot, causing her to tremble and let out a shy "Ahhh!" sound.

"What are you doing?"

Yukinoshita's blush turned from shyness to anger. She glared at Himekoji, trying to take back control of her left foot. Himekoji had already raised his head, but his hands were firmly gripping her left foot under the table. Because her ankle was being held, Yukinoshita couldn't pull her left foot back. She tried to twist it a few times, but Himekoji still wouldn't let go, so she had to threaten him with her eyes and words.

"It was a sudden thought, sorry."

"I don't see any embarrassment in you at all. Let go of me right now... This is serious sexual harassment..."

Yukino struggled a couple more times, kicking and rubbing her left foot against Himekoji's leg, but Himekoji held on tightly. Yukino turned her head away, her cheeks flushed. She tried to get up, but with one leg held by Himekoji and a table between them, it was impossible for her to stand up. From her position, she couldn't even reach Himekoji to punch him; after all, with her leg held, her body was only so long and couldn't stretch any further. As a result, they were in a stalemate. As long as Himekoji didn't let go, Yukino couldn't do anything to him.

"Crunch crunch crunch~"

One wicked thought after another welled up in her mind. Ji Xiaolu grabbed Yukinoshita's foot and began to gently tickle it. Yukinoshita had never been treated like this before. She could only hold back her laughter for a second before breaking down. She covered her mouth and kept shaking her shoulders while her left leg struggled more and more violently. But this was obviously not enough to make Ji Xiaolu let her go. Her right foot also came out of the panda-head slipper and began to kick Ji Xiaolu with her heel. However, because she was laughing so much that she couldn't exert any strength, her kicking with her right foot was no different from tickling Ji Xiaolu.

Chapter 285 So, [Yukino Yukinoshita] is like a lover.

About two minutes later, when Yukinoshita was begging for mercy, Himekoji reluctantly released her left foot. She immediately pulled her left foot back, then kicked Himekoji's knee again in frustration before pulling both feet into her slippers. She then stared at him with an extremely resentful look, as if to say: If you don't give me a reasonable explanation, I'm going to call the police.

"Um... cough—, your legs are perfect for wearing stockings, so I just couldn't resist..."

"Is this your reason for suddenly doing something so outrageous?"

Although Yukinoshita believed Himekoji's nonsense, that didn't mean that believing and understanding were the same as forgiving. She stared intently at Himekoji, her cheeks puffed out like a silly mouse that had eaten too much food and had bulging cheeks. She was slightly out of breath, and her body was still hot from the laughter she had just had. It was as if she had just been to the Inari Shrine in a crowded place, and she was exhausted, both physically and mentally.

"That's the best excuse I can think of."

Himekoji remained calm and composed, as if nothing had happened. Yukinoshita, on the other hand, wanted nothing more than to tear him to pieces, but after staring at him a few times, she couldn't muster any anger at all.

Sigh, there's just no way to deal with this guy.