Chapter 71: Promise And Meeting

Due to her pride and obsession, Kushida wouldn't let go of the chance to gain a very significant secret of someone.

What Kushida wanted to do was simple. She had sent Haruka over, assuming I would've taken her there and then, which, in fact, was not wrong. Had Karuizawa not come, I really would've been fucking Haruka.

But the dorm room, however, remained locked.

Attempting to barge in was futile. Why bother? The idea of her having a separate key for my dorm room was plausible, yet Kushida wouldn't dare to make such a move.

A slave with a rebellious heart was in the end still a slave.

It was most likely that she was going to glue herself to the door and try to record the audio. After her session with me, she might've thought it was impossible for Haruka to not moan loudly.

Though the audio recording held no threat to me, for Kushida, it proved valuable. Her aim was to convince Haruka of its potential danger. Turning Haruka's fear towards the recording into a valuable card.

In a way, Karuizawa's timely arrival spared Haruka from potential embarrassment. Though, it wasn't anything serious in the first place; I would never allow Kushida to harm Haruka.

While I was having these thoughts, a considerable amount of time passed in a silent exchange of gazes. Any longer, and people might get suspicious.

Having completed my selections, I approached the counter. Once again, Kushida followed me. "Say, Tatsuya-kun, why was Hasabe-san allowed to leave? Did I make a wrong prediction? I was certain you would sing her sweet lullabies and devour her—"

She turned silent for a second since she didn't want the cashier to hear it. The cashier was a young adult, and his eyes naturally followed Kushida's figure.

That was just the charm she held.

Kushida offered a faint smile to the cashier as I settled the payment for my items before leaving. The cashier shot a jealous glance toward my way, something that happened quite often.

"Well you're not wrong, just your luck was a bit bad. I was indeed planning to get intimate with Haruka."

"Aww~ look at you using the word intimate as if you aren't a perverted rapist, hehe..." She giggled while covering her mouth and my lips twitched.

"You can stop following me now, y'know," I said after we entered the lift again. My finger paused just before the floor buttons; depending on her answer, the situation might change.

"But you haven't told me how you'll help the class, Tatsuya-kun. I was hoping you'd give me a bunch of private points that I would then share with the class. You promised to help me increase my status, didn't you?" She smiled sweetly, and there it was, the answer I was hoping for.

A smile slowly found its way to my face as I pressed the 12th-floor button.

"Hmm?" Kushida was confused understandably; the 12th floor onwards was the girls' dorms.

"You're right. That would be the best. It'll make Haruka happy, the hatred and fear for me in the class will diminish significantly, and I'll be able to keep my promise to you."

We walked out of the lift, and Kushida's smile widened upon hearing my words.

Though her smile started receding the more I continued to walk. By the time I stopped walking, her smile had faded completely.

Kushida gritted her teeth while standing outside her room. I unlocked it using the spare key I had before stepping inside.

I turned around and smiled at her, the boundary of her room separating us, "Let's have dinner, Kushida."

...

I made my way to Pallet Cafe a bit nervously. It was an intimidating place for a loner like me. I really wouldn't have come if it weren't for Horikita who was calling for me.

I was really curious about her mental state and having a conversation with her was the best method possible. In fact had she not invited me I would've been the one trying to initiate a conversation.

Her gaze was wandering in class which was very Un-Horikita-ish. If her goal was still to defeat Tatsuya she would've already been trying to find a way to win against him and appear focused in class.

I wonder what they talked about alone. It was quite obvious that Horikita had followed him on impulse in the morning. The expression she made while chasing after him was quite... strange.

Could it be something related to her brother? I can't seem to find any other reason Horikita would be so agitated.

Just as I was going to continue my useless pondering I noticed the increase in crowd along the path I was taking.

I really hoped Horikita had reserved a seat, it would be sad if we had to talk while standing. Alternatively, if we had to change places I wasn't keen on being seen with Horikita alone.

If only I could reign my curiosity in I could've avoided this meeting at Pallet as well.

I quickly entered the cafe trying to avoid any familiar eyes. I scanned through the crowd and in a split second spotted Horikita at the corner of the bar.

She was sitting alone sipping on coffee. I made my way towards her and swiftly sat down opposite her. I really liked the spot she chose, people won't be able to see us easily through the crowd.

"You're late." She said, without even bothering to greet me. I looked at the time on my phone, it was 6:01 p.m.

"...By a minute." I muttered and all I got was a "Still late," in response.

"Alright, my bad," I admitted defeat, there was no point in arguing with her. She was probably trying to make a light-hearted joke which failed. I guess isolating yourself from others for almost a decade has a significant impact on your humor.

She was almost as bad as me and that was a feat I couldn't even imagine for a normal human.

Should I tell her that?

"You can order whatever you want, it's on me since I invited you here." She brushed her hair behind and shifted in place, appearing to be more comfortable now.

"... I'll pass."

"Hmm? Why?"

"I'm not in the mood for anything right now."

"Are you sure? Isn't it a very lucrative offer considering we're all low on points thanks to a certain some—" She paused before turning quiet.

She probably wanted to blame Tatsuya but realised due to her forceful intervention the class lost more points than it needed.

We could've just accepted their expulsion and not gone against Tatsuya yet because of her impulsive decision the class lost 300,000 private points.

Since the air was turning awkward I opened my mouth.

"Is there anything you wanted to talk about?" The primary goal of our meeting was to be laid out by Horikita. My own objectives were secondary at the moment.

"Are you really not going to order anything? Don't worry I promise I won't try to coerce you into anything nor will I make any demands." She continued to insist completely ignoring my question.

She really wasn't going to let it go huh...?

But since it was direct confirmation of no strings being attached it was probably fine to order this time... right?

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A/N- The next few chapters are gonna be spicy~

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