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

Himekoji bowed slightly to Kasumigaoka's parents, each carrying a large suitcase, though they were different colors. Kasumigaoka's suitcase was grape purple, very much in her style. Judging from the color, the family of three had just returned from a family trip, as the parents looked a little tired.

"You're too kind, you've taken good care of my Shiyu at school."

The mother, who was also taller than the average woman, covered her mouth and squinted as she smiled.

"Speaking of which... Haruto-kun, what are you doing here?"

"Sigh—, I have to go back to my hometown in Shiga Prefecture. Miss Reiko is waiting over there in her car. I just saw you, so I quickly came over to say hello."

"Going back to your hometown... Could it be to get married, no, to go on a blind date?"

Kasumigaoka's expression darkened, and he gripped the suitcase handle much tighter.

"No! It's just a once-a-year trip back to my hometown!"

"So that's not it after all..."

She smiled again, as if the gloom that had been on her face had never existed.

"Of course not! What are you thinking!" Ji Xiaolu rubbed her temples, looking troubled, and said thoughtfully, "By the way, Shiyu, do you want to come with me? Consider it an extension of the trip."

"Huh—?" *3

Kasumigaoka and her parents were stunned. "You said you were going back to your hometown, why did you suddenly ask my daughter to come along?"

"Well—it really is a bit inconvenient, isn't it..."

Kasumigaoka began to hesitate. Her parents exchanged a knowing glance, nodded silently, and said in a deep voice, "Yes!" Then, they both reached out and pushed Kasumigaoka's shoulders, her mother pushing her left shoulder and her father her right, muttering, "Since they've invited you, you should go."

"Yes, yes, this is a rare opportunity."

"You were just complaining about not having enough fun, right? This is exactly what you wanted, isn't it?"

Chapter 142 How terrifying! [Kasumigaoka Utaha] turns out to be a poisonous snake.

"Wait, wait a minute, why did it suddenly..."

Kasumigaoka leaned back, her face flushed. She didn't understand why her parents were suddenly pushing her next to a boy, so she seemed a little resistant. But her parents seemed determined to throw her next to Himekoji. In the end, Kasumigaoka couldn't resist her parents and obediently let them throw her next to Himekoji.

"Then I'll leave my Shiyu in your care."

Her mother smiled and bowed deeply to Himekoji.

"Where."

Ji Xiaolu exchanged a few polite words, but her father gave her a threatening look that seemed to say, "You dare to bully my Shiyu?" But what's with that thumbs-up you secretly gave me from the other side? Excuse me?

Kasumigaoka stood there dumbfounded, blinking repeatedly as she stared at her parents' sudden change in demeanor. Only after they left did she turn around and ask, "Haruto-kun... what on earth is going on?"

"I don't know, and there's no need to know. Let's go. Anyway, your parents left you with me, so of course I have to take you back to their hometown. I was just worried about not having a travel companion."

"Ha...Isn't going back to my hometown supposed to be a huge mansion with countless maids?"

“That only happens when I visit my grandparents. For the next seven days, I will still be living alone in a two-story apartment building. Oh right, now it’s just the two of us.”

"Gudong!"

Kasumigaoka swallowed hard. Himeko glanced at her and noticed a glistening drop of saliva hanging from the corner of her mouth. Her eyes were lifeless, with only a wicked smile playing on her lips, and her shoulders were trembling. For some reason, Himeko suddenly felt that taking Kasumigaoka back to her hometown might be the worst decision she had made recently.

After carrying her heavy suitcase to the trunk, Ms. Reiko got out of the car and opened the door for the two of them to get in. At this moment, Kasumigaoka's expression had returned to normal. Although she sat upright and acted like a well-behaved girl, her slightly aggressive gaze kept glancing at Himekoji.

"The novel... is it okay?"

"There's still plenty of time before the deadline, so it doesn't matter at all."

"Is...really? Do you want some snacks?"

Himekoji opened the small refrigerator in the car, which contained some sweets, juices, and alcohol that Kasumigaoka liked. Kasumigaoka immediately spotted the chocolate bars, took her left foot off her sandal, and pointed in that direction with her toe, playfully indicating, "That one, a chocolate bar."

"..."

Himekoji, feeling incredibly embarrassed, took it out of the small freezer. Kasumigaoka, meanwhile, withdrew her feet and resumed her obedient girl demeanor, her hands pressed tightly against her skirt, her legs neatly pressed together, and she even almost closed her eyes, displaying the air of Snow White waiting for her prince to kiss her. (Of course, the real fairy tale is far more unbearable to read.)

Once on the highway, the car sped towards Shiga Prefecture at the maximum speed limit (which was actually 110 km/h). There weren't many cars on the road, and with Ms. Reiko's driving skills, Himekoji was completely at ease.

She clearly said she wanted snacks, but even though the snacks were in Himekoji's hand, she showed no intention of reaching for them. It seemed she clearly wanted Himekoji to feed her. He pondered this with a troubled expression, then opened the bag of Choco-Pack. A few sections were slightly broken, and cookie fragments mixed with chocolate powder spilled out of the bag and landed on Himekoji's beige trousers. He gently brushed them off, noticing that Kasumigaoka was peeking at him with her left eye. Just before their eyes met, she immediately closed her eyes, pretending she had never looked in his direction.

Kasumigaoka seemed a little uneasy again. Her long, upturned eyelashes trembled slightly, as if she was trying to suppress the urge to open her eyes and see. She then grasped the hem of her skirt with both hands and gently pulled it down to cover her fair, beautiful legs that she couldn't hide no matter what. But if you changed the direction of the force, this action would lift the skirt up in an instant.

It was as if some precious Pokémon was hidden under that black-trimmed dress, making the Pokémon in Ji Xiaolu's zipper seem restless, eager for a fierce battle.

Oh no, this is bad. It's been a long time since I've been intimate with Yoko-nee. I've been numbing myself with various training sessions and classes. Now that I've suddenly relaxed, and there's Utaha, dressed so alluringly, next to me, Himekoji has the urge to adjust her posture.

No, no, no, I need to cool down.

She shifted uncomfortably, then used her right hand to adjust the strap of her dress, which was about to slip off her left shoulder. Her jet-black hair cascaded against the pure white fabric, creating a striking visual contrast. If one's gaze shifted even slightly, it would be irresistibly drawn to her breasts. Was this what Hachiman meant by "universal breast power"? (This is because the first syllable of Newton's name is the same as "breast" in Japanese.)

"You'll eat... right?"

Ji Xiaolu took out a complete Choco Stick and slowly moved it towards her.

Kasumigaoka nodded slightly, then opened her small mouth, her full, pink lips resembling blooming cherry blossom petals.

She squinted her left eye again, peeking at the location of the chocolate stick. Once she realized she could catch it, she lunged at it like a venomous snake that had spotted its prey, quickly snapping the chocolate stick clean with a crunching sound. If Ji Xiaolu hadn't released it quickly, she probably would have been bitten hard.

Are you a venomous snake after all?! You poisoned my lunchbox last time too!

"...Hiss, are you going to continue?"

Himeko asked, but Kasumigaoka remained silent, instead moving her left hand across his trouser leg and rapidly drawing circles on it with her slightly long fingernails.

It's so itchy... and this is just so unfair, you bastard!

"Cough—" He coughed, shifted his leg, and freed himself from the seemingly magical left hand. Himekoji subconsciously looked down and thankfully—he pulled out another Choco-stick and handed it to Kasumigaoka.

"Crackling, crackling, crackling!"

If Kasumigaoka's sudden act of stretching out her little head to bite the Choco-stick was like a venomous snake waiting in ambush before launching a sudden attack on its prey, then the way she ate it piece by piece was like a squirrel rapidly cracking open a nut shell.

"Do you...do you want more?"

Because she was a little worried about being bitten on the finger, Himekoji was a bit apprehensive when feeding Kasumigaoka.

Chapter 143 Ningyocho, [Reiko Izayoi] Slams on the brakes

Kasumigaoka remained silent, but this time she didn't trace the lines on Himekoji's trousers with her fingers. Instead, she pouted as if being sulky, opened her mouth, and made an "ah—" sound. Himekoji then fed her again.

"squeak------!!"

Just as Kasumigaoka was about to bite the third Choco-stick, a sudden stop caused Himekoji and Kasumigaoka to stumble forward, breaking the Choco-stick in his hand and nearly causing him to fall into the carriage.

"W-what happened?"

Looking up, there were very few cars on the road, with only one car moving in the distance, and the rearview mirror showed no cars following behind—it would have been dangerous if there had been!

"I'm so sorry, Master Haruto, I stepped on the wrong step."

Reiko's incredibly calm voice came from the front seat, while Ji Xiaolu felt as if he had just escaped a disaster. "You didn't just step on the wrong pedal, you were trying to kill me! You, an old driver, can't possibly step on the wrong pedal?!" On a side note, Ji Xiaolu knew how to drive after he transmigrated, but Reiko taught him even more advanced driving skills.

However, after that, Kasumigaoka stopped letting Himekoji feed her and started taking the bag of Choco-Packs herself and eating them, but a sly smile, like that of a cunning little fox, always lingered on her lips.

Overall, the journey was successfully completed despite some bumps along the way. Because Kasumigaoka was very tired from the car ride back from her trip, she fell asleep on Himekoji's shoulder not long after finishing her Choco-Bun. Her hair always tickled Himekoji's neck when it slipped into his neck.

After the car arrived at the door, Himekoji woke Kasumigaoka, and the two staggered out of the car. The nearly five-hour journey was over, and it was already dusk, but things weren't over yet. Both Kasumigaoka and Himekoji were starving and needed to eat first. Reiko was going to the main family to report on the situation. She would eat at the main family's house and then drive back, not with Himekoji.

Anyway, it still has to be either him or Kasumigaoka who cooks.

"Well then, see you in a week, Master Haruto."

Miss Reiko bowed respectfully to him, and Himekoji responded before leaving. She needed to report to the main family that she had safely delivered Himekoji, and she also needed to rest here for the night before returning to Chiba the next morning.

As for why she didn't take a plane, it's because Himekoji felt that flying was too rushed, and it would be better to take a car. After all, she was finally on "vacation," so wouldn't it be better to relax?

He only brought a travel backpack with him, which contained his own things and some local specialties from Chiba, which he would later deliver to his neighbors. As for clothes and daily necessities, they were all available here. Of course, there were no women's clothes for Kasumigaoka to wear, so it was fortunate that she had just returned from her trip with her suitcase, so she didn't need to go home to pack her clothes and could come directly.

"Let's go, put your luggage in first, then I'll go buy groceries to cook. You can take this time to rest or take a shower. By the way, do you have enough toiletries in your travel bag? Should I go to the store to buy some for you?"

There are no large supermarkets here. Most people in the town buy their things in one large store. Naturally, there are no 24-hour convenience stores either. Besides this store, there is only one small shop near the shrine that is open. I don't know if it's still open this year.

"It's okay, we have enough. We bought new ones when we left for our trip. We're staying here for seven days, right?"

"Seven days... I should say seven days and eight nights."

"I see."

Kasumigaoka Tina struggled a bit to carry her suitcase up to the entryway, so Himekoji helped her lift it up and pulled it all the way to the living room. This small two-story house was an extremely simple and traditional Japanese house, with tatami mats, old-fashioned round fluorescent ceiling lights, small round tables, small square tables, sliding wardrobes, ukiyo-e screens, and so on. Apart from some necessary modern furniture, it could be said that there were almost no European elements. In the end, if her father had married a Japanese woman, she would probably be living in a large Japanese-style courtyard house now.

Anyway, Himekoji won't have any aversion to any style.

"Haruto-kun, is the washing machine available? I have some clothes that I didn't have time to wash at the hotel, so it would be best to wash them now."

Kasumigaoka, supporting her suitcase, covered her mouth and yawned, clearly still feeling drowsy from the journey.

"Of course you can. By the way, before that, you can choose a bedroom. There are two downstairs and two upstairs. Both rooms are spotless, and all the bedding is brand new."

"The newly replaced one... What a pity, I thought Haruto-kun would be the one to surpass it."

"Hey! What kind of fetish is this? Most girls would choose a clean, new blanket!"

Ji Xiaolu complained, looking quite annoyed.

"If it were Haruto-kun's blanket, I would definitely curl up in the blanket and be so excited that I couldn't sleep."

She suddenly blushed, her hands trembled violently, her whole body seemed to be shaking, and even her eyes seemed to be swirling, as if her thoughts were running wild.

"Where did you come from, Senjougahara Ryouko?!"

"Ahem—, in short, I'll just choose the room next to Haruto's."

"Okay, my room is the one on the second floor that faces the shade. I'm going out to buy groceries. You can just use the washing machine; it's over by the bathroom."

Himekoji pointed out the location of the washing machine to Kasumigaoka, thus saving her the trouble of going out to buy groceries with her.

There's no such thing as a vegetable market in this town. Of course, the slightly larger stores sell packaged vegetables and meat, but many people still choose to buy from the vegetable carts. It just means they have to travel a bit further, but that's okay. The pace of life here is ridiculously slow. The older generation really enjoys the experience of picking out vegetables, haggling over prices, and chatting with the old lady next door at the vegetable cart.

Riding one of those women's bicycles with a basket in front (also known as mamachari), Himekoji rang the bell and whistled as she left home.

As is customary, he is going to report to his family home tomorrow, so Ji Xiaolu has some free time today. This is because his loving grandmother couldn't bear to let him spend the whole holiday in such high-intensity schoolwork, so she insisted on bringing him here. Otherwise, his mother probably wouldn't have let him go.

In this town, there are no neighbor girls you haven't seen for a year, no maids who secretly played doctor games with you when you were little, no cute shrine maidens who blush when you meet them, and apart from your own family, there isn't even anyone Himekoji can call a close acquaintance.

"Oh crap, I forgot to ask Shiyu what she wanted to eat."

After riding her bike to the store, Himekoji slapped her forehead and realized that the long trip had indeed made her very tired, and her mind had become sluggish.