Slap!

After leaving the Meigetsu Café, Kotomi Izumi quickly walked back to the hotel.

This was when the advantage of long legs really showed.

As soon as Kotomi entered the hotel lobby, she spotted Mei Yamazaki cuddling up intimately with an older man in a secluded corner.

The man was clearly a wealthy boss—his hands never left Mei Yamazaki's body. Instead of pushing him away, she coyly murmured things like, "Stop it~" and "There are people around~," driving the man wild with joy.

Mei Yamazaki then leaned in and whispered something in his ear. His wrinkled face lit up with a grin, and his hand slipped under her clothes to grope her hard before he turned and walked toward the underground parking lot.

As Mei Yamazaki adjusted her clothing and got ready to head back to her room to grab her bag, she caught sight of Kotomi Izumi, who had just entered the hotel. With a heavily made-up smile, she approached as if nothing had just happened.

Kotomi furrowed her brows slightly. She had already seen through what kind of person Mei Yamazaki was the first time they met.

That was why she always kept her distance. In Kotomi's eyes, talking to someone like her was a waste of time.

She really disliked Mei Yamazaki. Not that she said anything about it—after all, people are free to do as they please. Kotomi wasn't her father. She had no interest in being some nosy, self-righteous saint.

Originally, she had planned to act like she saw nothing and simply leave in another direction. Let clean water avoid the filthy well. But Mei Yamazaki just wouldn't leave her alone and started heading toward her, which pushed Kotomi's feelings from dislike to outright disgust.

It wasn't just moral disdain—Kotomi genuinely thought she was pathetic.

Always playing clever little tricks, acting like she was juggling multiple love lines, thinking she had every man wrapped around her finger. But from that older man's behavior just now, it was obvious—he was just toying with her and didn't even plan to spend money.

Being useless is one thing—but acting out and lingering around is just plain disgusting.

The farther away from women like that, the better!

If the lobby weren't so crowded right now, saying it aloud would have seemed a bit crude. But if it were more private, Kotomi would've frowned and said:

"What a damn bad omen!"

"Hellooo, Izumi-chan! I didn't see you at all yesterday. I missed you so much!" Mei Yamazaki walked up flirtatiously.

Don't come near me! Kotomi screamed internally, quickly and discreetly widening the distance between them. She had no interest in getting too close to someone whose aura practically screamed "misfortune magnet."

Even though she desperately wanted to leave, the other girl had already walked over. Kotomi had no choice but to adjust her expression and offer a stiff, fake-smile greeting:

"Hello, Yamazaki-san."

Lukewarm at best. Anyone with a shred of dignity would've laughed awkwardly and found an excuse to leave.

The problem was... Mei Yamazaki had no shame!

That's not a jab—it was the honest truth. Kotomi couldn't stand people like that the most.

Mei Yamazaki's dream was to land a sugar daddy. The older man just now was a new target she had her eyes on.

He drove a Mercedes, got into business early and made a few small fortunes. He lived in a luxury house, drank the finest liquor, and openly kept a mistress. His wife didn't care, since the two of them each did as they pleased, playing around more and more extravagantly.

Mei Yamazaki foolishly believed her charm had completely won him over. But little did she know—every man who's made it to that level in business is shrewd and cunning. They've seen more women than they can count, and her cheap tricks? Completely laughable to them.

"Tomorrow's our last day in Kyoto. After the closing ceremony tonight, how about we grab dinner together?"

After saying that, Mei Yamazaki even threw in a flirty wink, which made Kotomi feel sick.

"No thanks. I've got plans tonight."

Kotomi rejected her cleanly and turned to head toward the elevators.

"Hey now, don't be in such a rush to leave," Mei Yamazaki said as she stepped in front of Kotomi to block her path.

There was no way Mei was going to let someone staying in the presidential suite off so easily. In her mind, anyone who could afford three nights in a presidential suite had to be rich—no way they weren't.

On top of that, Kotomi's aura and the designer labels she wore all screamed high-class upbringing. Mei even suspected she might be some heiress from a wealthy family.

In Mei Yamazaki's narrow worldview, heiresses were naive, innocent songbirds—easy to manipulate.

She believed just a few tricks would have Kotomi falling for her, hopelessly infatuated. Of course, she never planned to take it seriously.

Mei's goal was to latch onto a sugar daddy and marry into wealth. Her interest in Kotomi was purely opportunistic—just a stepping stone to get close to elite social circles and maybe scam some cash in the meantime.

Once the timing was right, she'd kick Kotomi to the curb without a second thought.

But what Mei didn't know was that every bit of her petty scheming had already been seen through by Kotomi.

That's exactly why Kotomi hated her so much.

Already disliking her was bad enough. But to find out she was trying to use her? The only reason Kotomi hadn't asked Kazumi to arrange an "accident" to make her disappear from this world was because she was feeling merciful.

"Please move," Kotomi said with a polite smile.

Mei thought she was still playing around and replied in a mock-coquettish tone:

"I don't wanna~ What's the rush? Gonna go meet that quiet little blonde girl who follows you around like a mute puppy?"

Kotomi immediately recognized who Mei was referring to. Her words were a veiled insult directed at Mashiro Shiina.

That's right—Mei Yamazaki was insulting Mashiro. She had no idea the blonde girl always around Kotomi was actually a world-renowned artistic prodigy. All she saw was an annoying tagalong who kept getting in her way.

It frustrated her. She thought Mashiro was ruining her chances to seduce Kotomi.

In Mei's eyes, Mashiro was blocking her path to wealth. So she started looking for ways to drive a wedge between them—schemes that were as cruel as they were malicious.

Kotomi's usually gentle pink eyes instantly turned sharp, her pupils seething with blood-red fury. A cold, deadly gleam flashed through them.

Just as Mei Yamazaki was smugly thinking about how to sow discord between Kotomi and Mashiro next, Kotomi raised her hand.

Without hesitation, she closed the distance and slapped Mei across the face—hard.

The sharp sound of the slap echoed through the hotel lobby, loud and unmistakable.

SMACK—!

Kotomi's slap was brutally direct. Even someone with combat training would have struggled to react in time—it was ferocious.

The force of the blow sent Mei Yamazaki flying. She let out a shriek as her body tumbled across the floor, landing near a column at the far end of the lobby.

Before she could even register what happened, blinding pain exploded across her face.

Several of her teeth had been knocked out by the slap. Blood gushed from her mouth, and the left side of her face swelled up instantly.

Silence.

The hotel lobby was dead silent.

No one could believe what they had just witnessed.

...

As satisfying as it was to see Kotomi land that slap, Eiren Kanagawa—professor at Kyoto University's Department of Fine Arts—knew she had to clean up the mess quietly before it escalated.

Kotomi had slapped Mei Yamazaki. If it hadn't involved Mashiro, Eiren wouldn't have lifted a finger. She'd have let it blow up however it wanted to.

But once Mashiro was involved, it became a whole different matter. This couldn't be allowed to spiral. Whatever it took, it had to be contained—even if it meant forcefully suppressing the issue.

"I really just did Kotomi a huge favor. No way I'm letting this go without making sure she knows about it. I'll find the right moment to brag a little, show what a kind soul I am—handling this big mess for her. Who knows, maybe she'll be so touched she'll decide to apply to Kyoto University's Fine Arts Department~"

No favors without return, no early riser without profit.

Eiren Kanagawa wasn't doing this purely out of admiration. No professor would voluntarily clean up a mess like this unless their interests were somehow tied.

Appreciation was one thing. But admiration wouldn't compel a university professor to personally step in and handle something this troublesome—unless she had something to gain.

Eiren's plan was simple: use this incident to do a favor for Kotomi first, then cash it in later. When college entrance exams rolled around in her senior year, she'd remind Kotomi of this favor—and draw her straight into Kyoto University under her wing.

That said, it wasn't like Kotomi would be losing out.

Kyoto University was one of Japan's top institutions. Most people would kill for a professor from there to take interest in them. Kotomi was only a first-year, and she'd already caught Eiren's eye. If word got out, it would surely stir up a storm of envy.

To others, this would look like she had met a true benefactor.

And true benefactors—those don't come around often.

"Are you alright?" Eiren Kanagawa walked over to Mei Yamazaki and handed her a tissue to wipe the blood from her face.

At that moment, Mei Yamazaki was glaring hatefully in the direction Kotomi had left, clenching her teeth. She had already decided to beg that older man from earlier to help her get revenge.

Eiren caught every flicker of emotion on Mei's face. She squatted down slightly and gave a cold chuckle. "You don't like that blonde girl with Kotomi, do you?"

Mei blinked, surprised. She looked at Eiren and asked in shock, "Wait—Professor Kanagawa, do you dislike her too?!"

In that moment, Mei felt pure elation. Just when she thought she'd hit a dead end, a new path opened. If Eiren Kanagawa was willing to help her deal with Kotomi and Mashiro, then she'd have a real shot at bringing them down.

Eiren chuckled again. Now she understood why Kotomi had hit Mei so hard. In fact, she found herself thinking—Why didn't Kotomi really do what she said and tear that mouth apart?

Mei, seeing Eiren smile, was ecstatic. She thought she had found her ally. As she stood up, ready to lay out her grand plan for targeting Kotomi and Mashiro, Eiren suddenly pressed down on her shoulder.

Smack. Before she could even fully rise, Mei was forced back down into her seat.

"Professor Kanagawa?" Mei looked up in stunned confusion. Eiren Kanagawa had changed in an instant.

Wasn't she going to help her?

"Yamazaki-san, I suggest you mind your own business. Kotomi may have hit you, and as her teacher, I share some responsibility. Here's some money for your medical fees. Go get your face looked at before it swells up like a pig's head. This matter ends here."

As Eiren Kanagawa spoke, she opened her wallet and placed several 10,000-yen bills beside Mei Yamazaki. Honestly, just one or two would've sufficed, but Eiren figured she might as well give her a stick and a carrot—so she offered a few more. If money could solve the issue, then money it would be.

If it couldn't... then other methods would have to be used.

Of course, Mei Yamazaki couldn't possibly accept this kind of settlement. She shouted indignantly:

"She hit me and you're not going to hold her responsible?! Shouldn't she be disqualified from the competition?!"

Realizing Eiren Kanagawa wasn't going to help her, Mei lost her temper and yelled at her, tearing off any pretense.

Eiren frowned, visibly displeased, and said in a low voice:

"If you let this matter go, I can't promise you anything in return. But if you insist on pursuing it, I can promise that your painting won't make it into the second round of the exhibition."

That one line from Eiren shut Mei up instantly. Her face turned pale. She needed the National Art Award badly.

Her academic performance was visibly terrible. Many of her subjects were perpetually failing, and at this rate, even graduating from high school was in question. Fortunately, she had a bit of talent in art. Her technique wasn't bad, and she had her eye on the fact that winners of the National Art Award could receive recommendations to top universities.

In today's cutthroat society, everyone was grinding for every inch. Even if you were selling yourself, your university background could affect the price.

Mei Yamazaki had been confident in her skills and signed up for the competition. To her surprise, she made it into the first round of the exhibition. Even her high school teachers were shocked—how could a delinquent girl who spent all her time with shady people have artistic talent?

The school principal told her outright: don't worry about winning the award; that's unrealistic. But if you can make it into the second round, the school would let you graduate.

Only then did Mei realize that forget about elite universities—just graduating was already a challenge. And even though she hadn't seen Mashiro in person, the moment she learned the world-class prodigy was also competing, she knew her chances of winning were zero. So she agreed to the principal's terms.

She couldn't win, but making it to the second round? That seemed doable.

Forget about elite universities—just surviving high school came first.

That's why when Eiren Kanagawa threatened to disqualify her from the exhibition, Mei's arrogance evaporated. She had to stay in, she had to advance to round two!

Otherwise... she wouldn't graduate.

Her grades were abysmal, and even if she wanted to study now, it was likely too late. Besides, Mei's personality made her fundamentally incapable of sitting down and focusing on schoolwork.

She had to make it to the second round of the art exhibition—no matter what!

Eiren Kanagawa knew all this. That's exactly why she was confident she could handle this quietly.

Mei's work was actually decent. If nothing unexpected happened, she'd probably make it to round two. Clearly, she had put in the effort—desperate to secure her graduation.

So now, just a little pressure from the exhibition committee, and Mei would have no choice but to swallow her pride and comply.

Then Eiren added:

"Also, don't even think about stirring up trouble. This isn't just about Kotomi slapping you. If this escalates, just from the things you said earlier, your high school could expel you without question."

"It's better that it's just the two of us talking. Let's settle this privately. As long as you stay away from Kotomi and that blonde girl beside her, you'll still have a chance to make it to round two."

"But if you make a fuss, you won't even have the option to regret it."

"Don't think all adults around you are idiots. Adults are far sharper than you think."

"Does your face hurt? Good. That's what we call a well-earned taste of reality. You want to climb the ladder? Fine. But open your eyes and use your brain first."

Eiren Kanagawa's words left Mei Yamazaki shaken. Whatever thoughts of revenge she had vanished. All she wanted now was to settle the matter quickly. She nodded desperately:

"I will! I will! I swear I won't mess with them again!"

"OK. You said it yourself."

Eiren snorted lightly. The matter was handled—quietly. And that favor? Already banked with Kotomi.

Thinking ahead to three years from now, Eiren's mood lifted at the idea of having a talented—and very pretty—student under her wing.

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