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

Kazusa jumped to her feet and grabbed Himekoji's school uniform tie. Himekoji looked incredulous for a moment, trying his best to calm himself down. Kazusa clearly noticed his expression and realized how much she had hurt him. She finally took a deep breath, slowly loosened her grip on Himekoji's tie, and turned her head away, saying, "I'm sorry... I didn't mean to say that."

"Go back, Kazusa."

"Well, go back."

She raised her head high, her delicate hands plucking the keys from left to right, producing a clear and flowing sound.

The guitar music next door had long since stopped, and the students who had been sheltering from the rain had gradually found helpers with umbrellas and gone home together. Himeko took out her phone to contact Reiko and ask them to bring an umbrella over, but Kazusa grabbed his wrist and shook her head, saying, "No need to trouble them, let's walk over ourselves."

"You'll get soaked, and you might even catch a cold."

"It's okay. If I catch a cold, I'll blame it all on you and then give you a good scolding."

Kazusa took a few steps forward, then suddenly turned around and glared at Himekoji.

"..."

So, the two of them, backpacks on their heads, ran out of the school building together. The cool raindrops pelted them mercilessly. A car that had been waiting there in the distance had its headlights and wipers on, lingering in the hazy night. Following the car lights, they could see the skirts of several girls crossing the road swaying precariously, as if they were about to succumb to the weight of the rain.

"Haruto, what if you catch a cold like this? And what about Miss Kazusa? How could you let her come back soaked in the rain too?"

As soon as they got into the car, Reiko handed two clean white towels to the two of them and told them to wipe themselves off quickly. Kazusa was sitting next to Himekoji, and with just a glance, he could see the outline of her pure white underwear and the beautiful shape of her breasts clinging to the clothes through her soaked shirt.

"..."

The two remained silent for a long time after their earlier awkward silence. Just as they were nearing her house, Kazusa suddenly spoke up: "Hey, I said..."

"Buzz, buzz—" Himekoji's phone vibrated at that moment, interrupting Kazusa's words. He immediately took out his phone and saw that it was Kasumigaoka calling. He answered the call.

"Sorry, I forgot to mention earlier... I discussed it with that girl, Kogiso, and after hearing who was going to go, she said she was willing to help, cough cough."

Kasumigaoka's voice was a little hoarse, and the rain was very loud. If she hadn't been speaking loudly, Himekoji really wouldn't have been able to understand what she was saying.

Kazusa's gaze flickered slightly as she looked at Himekoji, then dimmed again. She silently looked out the window, saying nothing.

"Shiyu, thank you so much! I knew you could convince her," Ji Xiaolu said, then paused and frowned, "But what's wrong with the sound on your end? It sounds a bit off."

"It's just a few...troublesome little things, it's okay, I can handle it myself."

Kasumigaoka managed to raise a reasonably cheerful voice, which reassured Himekoji quite a bit. After leaving the school gate, she went to a convenience store to buy some jam to eat with toast, but when she went out, she found that her umbrella had been stolen. She went back into the store to buy an umbrella, but before that, many people had already bought umbrellas because of the sudden rain, so all the umbrellas were sold out. So Kasumigaoka had no choice but to walk home in the wind and rain with her schoolbag on her back. After taking a shower, she quickly called Himekoji, but it seemed that she had caught a cold.

"Really? Then you'd better take good care of yourself."

"Is it your concern, Inspiration? It feels like it was a long time ago. Thank you. See you Monday."

Kasumigaoka quickly hung up the phone to prevent Himekoji from overhearing anything else.

"I think I heard the name Setsuna Ogiso?"

“It’s only Ogiso.” Himekoji put her phone back in her pocket, leaned back in her chair, and said, “But it really is her.”

"You're looking for her?"

"It's just that we need to invite her to a meeting between the student councils of Soubu High School and Binhai High School."

"Oh... I was just asking casually, it's not like you had anything to do with her." Kazusa said, then, seeing that Himekoji didn't react, she asked again, "Was it that Kasumigaoka who called you again?"

"Yes, after all, I can't just dump the student council work on anyone else."

"Achoo—" Kazusa covered her lips and sneezed suddenly, her whole body lurching forward. As soon as the sneeze subsided, she started coughing again. Although she tried desperately to suppress the cough, it was no use. Instead, her throat became increasingly itchy, and the cough intensified.

The car stopped in front of her house.

"It's just a sneeze and a cough, don't worry about it. Go home, Aunt Daphne is waiting for you."

She kept coughing as she prepared to open the door and get out of the car. Lingzi immediately handed the umbrella to Ji Xiaolu. After she got out of the car, Ji Xiaolu quickly opened the umbrella and ran towards her, catching up with her and holding the umbrella for her at her door until she opened the door.

"I'm fine, you should go back now."

Himeko grabbed the door that Kazusa was trying to close, but Kazusa refused to back down and held the doorknob tightly in the entryway, preventing him from entering.

"You have a cold and don't want anyone to take care of you? Don't be stubborn."

Himekoji forcefully pulled open the door, and Kazusa, who was holding the doorknob, was pulled out of the door and fell into Himekoji's arms.

"A cold... I don't have a cold, it's just... cough cough! That's all."

She coughed twice in Himekoji's arms, her attitude finally softening. Himekoji put away her umbrella and went into the room with her, then called out to Reiko, who had been waiting by the car door with an umbrella, "Excuse me, Reiko, I won't be going back to Kazusa's house today. Please tell my mother for me."

Chapter 049 Without Hesitation, [Himekoji Haruto] Made His Choice

"Ah—? My wife will kill my duck!"

Reiko also had a troubled expression on her face.

"Never mind, I'll call her later. You guys go back first."

Himekoji led Kazusa into the room and slowly closed the door.

"Go take a hot shower first. Honestly, I told you you'd catch a cold, but you still insisted on coming here with me in the rain. You could have just asked Miss Reiko to come in and bring an umbrella."

Himekoji folded up the umbrella and put it in the umbrella holder. She took off her wet shoes and socks and put on slippers. Kazusa coughed as she completed this series of actions and went up to the entrance hall. She leaned on the shoe cabinet with one hand and said, "Now I have a cold, it's all your fault. I'm going to curse you."

"Yes, yes, my dear Kazusa-neechan, go take a bath now."

"Hmm... I think I'll call Aunt Daphne first." Kazusa held out her hand to Himekoji and said, "Give me your phone."

So even when Kazusa made a phone call, Himekoji could hear her mother's heart-wrenching cries on the other end, which still surprised Kazusa, who was already used to it.

"Here you go, I'm going to wash... cough cough!, take a shower."

Just as Kazusa handed Himekoji the phone, she trembled slightly from coughing. Before Himekoji could catch it properly, the phone fell from her hand and crashed onto the entryway floor with a thud. Himekoji clearly heard the sound of shattering glass.

"...Feel sorry."

After biting her lower lip and apologizing, Kazusa immediately turned and ran towards the bathroom as if fleeing. Himeko slowly picked up her phone. The screen was shattered from the fall, and there was a dent in the upper left corner, but it could still be used normally, although the touchscreen had started to jump around erratically.

This phone was bought for Himeko by Yoko a few months ago for his 16th birthday. Himeko usually doesn't lack anything, but Yoko happened to break his phone that day, so she bought him a new one as a gift.

"Hello...it's me, what's up?"

"I'm at your house right now, Yoko-nee. Kazusa caught a cold from being caught in the rain, so I'm afraid I can't keep our appointment."

"Is that so... What a pity. But since that's the case, please take good care of him, or I won't let you off the hook when I get back to my country."

Yoko's tone became stern, and she hung up the phone immediately after saying that. Himeko immediately deleted the call history and threw the already battered phone onto the sofa.

"I'll buy another one tomorrow...sigh."

Ji Xiaolu looked at the room she hadn't been to for over a year and was filled with emotion.

"Buzz, buzz—"

The phone started vibrating again, but this time it only vibrated twice before going silent. Ji Xiaolu picked it up and saw that it was an email from Yaozi. The email read: "If you dare to lie, I will curse you fiercely when I can't see you, and I will beat your butt when I get back to China."

"They spanked me... Isn't that something that happened ten years ago? And why do these two, mother and daughter, always use the same tricks? They both curse me."

Himekoji deleted the email while complaining.

Himekoji walked to Kazusa's kitchen, opened the refrigerator and saw that it was full of instant noodles, the kind that are similar to instant noodles. There were basically no ingredients that could be used for cooking. There were also various desserts such as puddings, cream puffs, small cakes and ice cream. The rice was also the kind that is only for one meal, that is, a small box of rice that can only be eaten in one meal. Several boxes were scattered around.

"Ugh—, why are we eating this..." Himekoji, who had originally wanted to cook a meal for Kazusa, was extremely troubled. He picked out two boxes of instant seafood broth noodles, gathered some cooking utensils in the kitchen, and started boiling water.

Instant noodles are easy to make; you just need to cook the noodles, add a few packets of pre-mixed seasoning, and it's ready to serve. Generally speaking, they're more nutritious than instant noodles, but they're not a long-term solution, Ji Xiaolu thought to herself as she cooked the noodles.

"Sizzle—" After the bathroom door opened, Kazusa walked slowly barefoot on the clean and flat wooden floor. Her curvaceous body was wrapped in a large white bath towel, which was smoothed and covered her from her chest to near her knees. Her wet hair was loosely draped over her fair shoulders, and water was still dripping from the ends of her hair.

"Clatter, clatter." She slowly walked towards the living room, and seeing that Ji Xiaolu wasn't there, she went to the kitchen area. Ji Xiaolu had her back to her the whole time, and when she heard her come in, she said, "I took two boxes of your instant noodles to cook some food, seafood broth flavor, do you like it?"

"I... um."

"Stop wandering around the room wrapped in a bath towel. You already have a cold, and this is making things worse. Go wipe yourself down, change into your pajamas, wrap yourself in the blanket, and sit up on the bed. Oh, and use a hairdryer to dry your hair, don't let it air dry."

"I don't want to brag..."

"Then change into your pajamas and sit back down. I'll cook something right away. It's already 7:30, aren't you going to eat something?"

Himekoji never turned around to look at her.

"By the way, how did you know I was just wrapped in a bath towel if you didn't see me?"

"Isn't this a habit you've had since you were little? Come on, go wipe yourself down and get dressed."

"Anyway, it's your fault for catching a cold."

After saying this, Kazusa turned and left the kitchen, returning to her room to change into her pajamas. She sat there wrapped in the blanket for a few minutes. A few minutes later, Himekoji walked in steadily carrying a tray. At first, Kazusa was a little afraid to look him in the eye, but after secretly glancing at his face and seeing that there was no reproach on his face, only a warm smile, she mustered up the courage to look at him. However, she was still wrapped tightly in the blanket, her little head almost half-hidden inside, only her two clear eyes staring at Himekoji, her wet long hair draped behind her.

"I'm so sorry, phone... I didn't mean to."

Kazusa pouted slightly and said dejectedly.

"Let's buy another one tomorrow. Come on, open your mouth first."

Himekoji picked up her rice bowl, used her chopsticks to pick out smooth noodles from the thick soup, and slowly approached Kazusa.

"I can eat by myself, I don't need your help."

Kazusa seemed embarrassed to be fed by Himekoji, and kept turning her head away, refusing to cooperate.

"You said it was my responsibility that you caught a cold, so I have to take responsibility and do something about it now, right?" Ji Xiaolu gently blew on the steaming noodles and said, "Alright, come and eat."

"Go eat your own food and leave me alone."

Kazusa noticed that Himekoji's noodles had also been brought over by him. If he kept feeding her like this, the noodles would get cold by the time she finished eating.

"My conscience is tormented if I don't watch Kazusa eat it."

"It's unbelievable that you could say such embarrassing things..."

Chapter 050: Stirring Up Trouble - [Himekoji Haruto] Comes Up with a Mischievous Idea

Although Kazusa was scolding Himekoji with a blank expression, her mouth gradually moved closer. She first opened it slightly, then quickly glanced at Himekoji. Only after noticing that his expression remained unchanged did she open her mouth with peace of mind. Himekoji then put the fairly delicious noodles into her small mouth.

She kept feeding her, one bite at a time. After she finished eating, Himeko even thoughtfully brought a spoon to scoop soup for her to drink. Kazusa kept looking at Himeko's bowl of rice, which seemed to have gone cold. She wouldn't cooperate with anything Himeko said, only saying, "Don't worry about me, go do what you need to do."

"Feeding Kazusa soup is my job right now." Himekoji's unyielding tone moved Kazusa, who rolled her eyes at him and said, "How can there be someone like you..."

Come on, say 'Ah—'

"...I won't tell you." She opened her mouth slightly, and Himekoji took the opportunity to bring the spoon to her lips. Watching her drink several mouthfuls with satisfaction, Kazusa finally couldn't help herself. She grabbed Himekoji's waist with her hand, turned her head away, and curled up into a ball again, saying, "I'm not drinking anymore."

"Are you really not going to drink anymore?"

"Ugh...! So annoying, they said they wouldn't drink anymore and they really won't."