Chapter 203 : Scumbag

The next morning, the cruise ship was still en route to Tokyo Port.

To ensure a safe and stable voyage, the ship's speed during the night hadn't been particularly fast, maintaining a steady, optimal pace.

Thanks to the cruise ship's stability, the calm sea, and the quietness of the rooms, everyone onboard had a pleasant night.

"…"

Kaguya sat up in bed, but there was no one else in the room.

"Hayasaka?"

No response.

"Fujiwara-san?"

Still no response.

That left the just-awakened Kaguya feeling a little strange. She tilted her head, trying to rouse her foggy mind and figure out where the two had gone. Her body stayed frozen for a long time, her brain seemingly caught in a delay.

After five minutes, Kaguya finally straightened her tilted head and turned to look out the white window.

"Is it already morning?"

The bright light outside helped bring some clarity to her groggy mind, and her vacant expression began to fade.

"It's already the second day…"

Kaguya clearly remembered everything that had happened yesterday.

She had officially confessed to Ren. And not only that, but the confession was witnessed by everyone.

After that, she fainted during the exercise, likely because of Hayasaka's dimension-shattering ability. When she regained consciousness, she was already back in her room.

"Yes, I confessed to Ren."

But because those people had interrupted at the time, she never heard his answer.

Thinking of this, Kaguya dropped back onto the bed.

She started tossing and turning restlessly.

"Hayasaka... ugh, she's not here."

Whenever she ran into trouble, her first instinct was still to rely on the all-capable Hayasaka.

But the moment she called out her name, she remembered that Hayasaka wasn't in the room.

She looked at the large clock mounted in the center of the room.

It was 6:04 AM—early morning. Normally on weekends, she'd still be enjoying the warmth of her bed.

Kaguya recalled that Hayasaka always started her duties early, so she probably had already gotten up.

"I remember Ren works on weekends, but he usually wakes up a little later."

In order to better understand Ren, Kaguya had investigated his entire daily routine beforehand.

He wakes up about an hour later on weekends than on school days. That means, based on his past habits, he probably wasn't up yet.

With that in mind, Kaguya was now fully awake.

She genuinely cared about the answer to her confession. Only by hearing it could she confirm whether or not they were officially dating.

Yes, at this moment, Kaguya wasn't even sure whether she and Ren were in a relationship, since she never got a response.

All of a sudden, she sprang up from the bed.

She walked barefoot into the bathroom, washed her face, brushed her teeth, then changed into an outfit different from her usual attire. She tied her long hair with a ribbon and stood in front of the full-length mirror. Her appearance was no different from her usual refined look.

"Well, I'm ready."

After confirming her appearance in the mirror, she took a deep breath and stepped out of her room.

The rooms assigned to their group were located fairly close together, as expected for a group booking.

However, since Ren was the only boy among them, his room was slightly separated from the girls' section. Still, it was only a short walk away.

Kaguya took a deep breath and gently knocked on Ren's door.

She made some quick mental adjustments while waiting.

But when the door opened, her composed smile instantly vanished.

"…Hayasaka? Why are you in Ren's room?"

The one who opened the door was none other than her maid, Hayasaka Ai.

She wasn't dressed like a proper maid at all—she was in a nightgown.

"There are a lot of reasons. Miss Kaguya, you should come inside first so we can talk."

Seeing Hayasaka's face full of things left unsaid, Kaguya momentarily held back her questions and entered the room.

Inside, Ren was seated on a single sofa, while Chika was lying on the bed. The scene looked rather complicated.

However, factoring in Hayasaka's earlier words, Kaguya didn't immediately assume anything inappropriate had happened. She just found it strange that all three of them were in the same room.

Seeing the confusion on Kaguya's face, Hayasaka closed and locked the door behind her before stepping forward to explain.

"Miss Kaguya, a lot happened last night."

"First of all, Miss Fujiwara got the diary. Of course, so did I."

To lend weight to her explanation, Hayasaka pulled out her diary and showed it to Kaguya.

"The second batch?"

Kaguya blinked, surprised by the diary in Hayasaka's hand. Then, with a calm look, she turned toward Chika, who was still sleeping on the bed.

"So… what exactly happened with Fujiwara that resulted in you and Ren being in the same room?"

"Yes."

With Hayasaka's confirmation, Kaguya gave a slight nod. That explained why Chika, a girl, would be in Ren's room.

"Miss Fujiwara took the same power system drug as Ren. Unfortunately, what didn't happen to Ren… did happen to Miss Fujiwara."

"Because of the side effects, Miss Fujiwara was frightened once."

"If no one is around her, her emotional state becomes unstable. So, for now, she needs someone to stay with her."

That side effect is way too intense…

Kaguya was a little stunned, but when she saw Chika curled up on the bed with a frown on her face, she couldn't help but feel worried.

Normally, she found Chika annoying and troublesome. But still, she didn't want anything bad to happen to her.

"Is Chika okay?"

"She's fine."

Hayasaka looked at Kaguya. She hesitated briefly, unsure if she should say more. But considering Chika's behavior later would be impossible to hide from Kaguya anyway, she went ahead and added,

"But since she was frightened, she still needs someone by her side for now."

"And Miss Fujiwara is a little... clingy."

As she said that, Hayasaka subtly glanced over at Ren, who was sleeping on the sofa.

In an instant, Kaguya understood—and the concern on her face vanished in a flash.

Sure enough, this woman is still a scumbag!

(To be continued.)

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