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

"Whatever..."

Kazusa rested her chin on her hand, seemingly lost in thought. Himekoji picked up the plate and quickly washed everything in the kitchen before returning.

"How boring..." Sitting on the bed, Kazusa made a piano-playing gesture with her hands, closed her eyes, and gently swayed her slender body back and forth. Himekoji could tell from her fingering that she was playing Chopin's Fifth Etude.

"Sleep a little longer."

"No, I've had enough sleep. As for you... never mind, you've got nothing else to do anyway, play the piano for me."

She spoke in a commanding tone.

"It's possible, but you don't have a piano in your room."

"Isn't there some in the basement?"

The basement of the Kazusa family home was transformed by the previous owner into an extremely luxurious and fully equipped recording studio. It can be said to have all kinds of musical instruments, and the soundproofing is also superb. Once the door is closed, you can play the electric guitar and recorder like crazy inside and the sound will not be heard outside.

"There's no bed in the basement where you can lie down and rest properly; it's a dilemma."

Himekoji shrugged and shook her head.

"Hmph, you're stumped by such a small difficulty?" Kazusa pushed back the covers and sat up, then pointed to her bed and said, "Just move all my bedding to the basement."

"you sure?"

"Of course, you'll be the one to move it, or I'll curse you."

Kazusa crossed her arms and gestured with her eyes towards the bed.

"Yes Yes."

So, after his guest appearance as a chef, Himekoji took on the role of a porter once again. He held Kazusa's quilt tightly, which still retained the warmth of her body and the faint fragrance of her shampoo.

"Come on, lie down properly." Ji Xiaolu sat on the floor and patted her bed. Kazusa came over with a pillow in her arms. She and Ji Xiaolu looked at each other and she silently turned her head away and said, "I always feel like there's some kind of little scheme behind your smiling face."

"No, no, Kazusa is a very important person to me."

"Is that so? But even if you say that, you still have to play the piano in front of me for five hours."

"Five hours! Please spare me!"

Ji Xiaolu gave a wry smile and shook her wrist.

"Give me your hand," Kazusa, who had just gotten into bed, stretched out her hands to Himekoji. Himekoji turned to the side and took her hands. Kazusa closed her eyes and stroked them in his hands, frowning for a long time before saying, "You don't practice your instrument for very long each day, so why are there so many calluses on your hands? The skin on your palms and the skin on the backs of your hands are completely different."

"Of course it's because you still have other training to do, otherwise it would be troublesome if some strange man bothered you."

"Idiot," Kazusa said angrily, throwing his hand away and kneeing Himekoji hard in the buttocks. "If there were someone like that, I would have kicked him myself first."

"Yeah, you even beat someone up so badly they ended up in the hospital."

“That’s his own fault. I hate people who keep bothering me.” Kazusa said, then looked at the ceiling and paused before adding, “If Kitahara keeps bothering me, I’d like to kick him away.”

"...I suggest you don't do high kicks."

"Idiot, I'm a high school girl, I know this stuff much better than you. Stop talking nonsense and go play the piano."

Kazusa impatiently urged Himekoji on, giving him a push on the back.

"Yes, yes, my princess."

"What kind of shameful term is that? Forbidden!"

Kazusa pulled the blanket up, leaving only her eyes showing, while muttering something under the covers.

Upon reaching the vicinity of the performance area, Himekoji's previous carefree demeanor vanished completely. He exuded a different aura, turned around, gave Kazusa, who was lying on the floor, a gentlemanly bow, and then, with a flourish, straightened his tuxedo before sitting down. Kazusa muttered under her breath, "Just playing casually would have been fine, why all the formality..."

"Shouldn't we treat every performance as if we were performing in the Vienna Golden Hall?"

"Don't try to teach me the opposite of what that woman taught you."

“Oh, my mother said the same thing, but I haven’t heard Aunt Yoko say it either.”

"...Alright then."

And so, Himekoji began to play.

Himekoji would occasionally exchange glances with Kazusa. About three hours later, Kazusa fell into a deep sleep again. Himekoji stopped playing the piano and simply lay half-reclined on the sofa reading a paperback, admiring Kazusa's sleeping face.

Kazusa woke up after a nap of more than an hour, only to find that Himekoji had already stopped playing. As Kazusa frantically searched for Himekoji in the basement, she found a piece of paper that hadn't been there before.

"Come up and have lunch when you wake up. I've prepared a sumptuous lunch for you and ordered a small cake."

"cake!"

Kazusa's previously muddled mind immediately cleared up, and after catching her breath, she ran towards the exit.

"Take your temperature first."

Himekoji stopped Kazusa, who was about to sit down and start eating, and handed her the thermometer.

"I know, I know."

She impatiently put it in her mouth for a moment, and after the notification sounded, she took it out and looked at it. It was 36.9 degrees Celsius. The effect was good; the fever had basically subsided.

"Cough cough! I can no longer feel cold, only my throat is still a little itchy and I want to cough."

Her voice was slightly hoarse, and the strange tone made Kazusa feel a little embarrassed.

"I just happened to prepare some honey black tea for you, come and soothe your throat."

"Looks like you're not entirely useless after all." Kazusa pushed Himekoji aside and said, "Get out of the way."

"Tsk tsk tsk."

Himeko stood with her arms crossed, leaning against the restaurant door and shaking her head.

"What's wrong? Is there something you're unhappy about?"

Kazusa, who had just picked up her exquisitely carved black tea cup, glared at Himekoji.

"no!"

Himekoji immediately replied with utmost seriousness, almost saluting Kazusa.

"Is that so..." She silently turned around, her shoulders shrugging as she secretly smiled. Because her back was to Himekoji, he didn't notice. She quickly suppressed her smile and began to eat the food on the table.

"Hmph, your cooking skills are really terrible. I really don't know why Aunt Daphne always wants you to cook for her."

Kazusa ate while complaining, while Himekoji kept apologizing and reading with her eyes fixed on the book.

Chapter 053 I'm very worried, I can't get through to [Kasumigaoka Utaha] on the phone.

About twenty minutes later, Kazusa got up and came to Himekoji. She looked down at the book in Himekoji's hand, her dark blue hair flowing over the white pages and into his arms. Himekoji casually brushed his hand against her hair, but Kazusa didn't seem to notice. She just pointed at the book and asked, "Is it good? I feel so bored."

"I've read this book several times, but yours is still brand new... The first time I read it, I found it super boring, and I even fell asleep after reading only one chapter, but I gradually discovered the fun in it later."

Ji Xiaolu was reading "One Hundred Years of Solitude." He had read this book several times in his previous life, but he never fell asleep before reading more than the first chapter. He had a deep attachment to this book because he always used it to induce sleep when he couldn't sleep, and the effect was excellent and never failed him.

"Oh, is that so... I don't find it interesting at all." Kazusa chatted idly with Himekoji. Just as he was about to turn the page, Himekoji suddenly felt something soft, sticky, and cool smeared on his face. In the blink of an eye, Kazusa had slipped away, standing in the doorway, her eyelids lowered, sticking out her cherry-colored tongue at Himekoji, and saying, "Hey—, you big tabby cat! Your cooking is awful!"

It was cake; the cake she smeared on her face was cake she had secretly smeared on with her fingers!

Ji Xiaolu didn't rush to chase after her. Instead, she spread some cake on her lips, tasted it, and said with a smack, "Even if my cooking was so bad, it's not too much to say thank you after taking care of you for so long, is it?"

"Hmph, it's all because you meddle in other people's business. I didn't ask you to take care of me, Ba-Ka."

Kazusa ran towards the basement, then obediently hid under the covers, peeking out to keep a close eye on the door, waiting for Himekoji to arrive, muttering to herself: How could it possibly be bad...

The afternoon was spent listening to Himekoji's piano music. After having dinner with Kazusa, Himekoji suggested that they go buy a cell phone.

"Why do I have to go with you to buy a phone?"

"Isn't this what you promised me?"

"Ah...that seems to be the case, but I don't want to walk. Shall we drive?"

Kazusa remembered that there was a BMW without navigation parked in the garage. Although she didn't know exactly which BMW it was, the woman liked it, so it must be a pretty good car, right?

Do you have a driver's license?

“No,” Kazusa said confidently, puffing out her chest. “But I’m a genius, you know, I’ll be able to start it up very quickly.”

"I drive pretty well, but driving without a license can easily get you taken to the police station. Trust me, the traffic police in Chiba Prefecture are quite capable. Oh, by the way, how about riding a bicycle?"

"I haven't ridden a bicycle in ages."

"Idiot, why would I let you ride? Of course, I'll ride the bike and take you there."

Himekoji is still wearing her school uniform. She does have Kazusa's clothes at home, but Kazusa doesn't have any of hers. It's been quite a while since she last visited Kazusa's house. The frequency with which Kazusa visits her house is completely disproportionate to the frequency with which Himekoji visits Kazusa's house.

Upon hearing that she wouldn't have to ride a bike, Kazusa readily agreed to go. However, the bicycle hadn't been ridden in a long time, so it needed to be thoroughly cleaned and the tires inflated before it could run properly. After Himekoji got on the bike, Kazusa pulled on his clothes and sat on the back seat.

"Well then, let's set off."

"Oh."

She gave a casual reply, and Himekoji took a step forward, the mountain bike started moving instantly, and Kazusa gasped softly, grabbing his waist.

"Hold on tight, don't fall."

"Humph..."

She didn't speak, but silently leaned closer and pressed her little head against Ji Xiaolu's back.

"arrive."

"Cough cough, so fast..."

She said it with a hint of reluctance.

"On the way back, take a detour to the beach."

"You're doing this troublesome thing again. I didn't ask you to take me there."

"Yes, it was my own idea to bring Kazusa along."

"Then I'll reluctantly keep you company for a bit." Kazusa gave Himekoji a push from behind, chuckling to herself, and said, "Hurry up and go inside."

Himekoji successfully bought a new phone, a ○ Star. He liked its screen very much in his previous life, and he still did now. He removed the SIM card from the phone, which had long since run out of power, and put it in. After restarting the phone and checking that everything was fine, he went to the cashier to pay.

"Hello, that lady has already paid." The cashier in uniform gestured to Kazusa, who was waiting on the side, and nodded to Himekoji. Himekoji looked in the direction she pointed and met Kazusa's slightly evasive eyes. She casually said, "After all, I'm the one who broke it... cough!"

"In that case, thank you very much!"

Himeko knew that Kazusa was not short of money at all. Not to mention how much Yoko gave her every month, her own mother would worry about this and that and transfer a lot of "pocket money" to Kazusa. Himeko conservatively estimated that the "pocket money" Kazusa had left in her card could easily buy her family's BMW 520.