Chapter 17

“Hey, Tomo.” 

“What is it, traitor?” 

“…………………..you’re saying that but didn’t you run away?” 

“I did. But who do you think is the bigger traitor: the guy who ran away in that situation, or the guy who was secretly making the unobtainable flower fall in love with him?” 

“…”

Kazuhiko didn’t understand. But purely based on the wording, he certainly seemed to be the traitor.

During the break, Kazuhiko spoke to Tomonao. It seemed the other classmates were still watching, figuring out how to approach Kazuhiko, a person they hadn’t interacted with much before. 

Incidentally, towards Reika, everyone was quietly watching, as she was even more unapproachable than Kazuhiko.

And there was hostility in Tomonao’s eyes. Was male friendship destined to end once a girl came along?

—I’m the one who was forced into this relationship, though…

If he were to say that, he would surely be rejected with lines like, Who do you think you are? or Do you think your blood is blue? And if he were to say that she wasn’t that great of a girl, Kazuhiko would only earn backlash.

It was true that she was beautiful, talented, excelled in both academics and sports, was a good cook, was fiercely devoted to him, and was erotic. 

Yet, she was also the type of woman who secured the outer defenses, trapped people, and cornered them, all to monopolize Kazuhiko. And the key was that she inflicted no actual harm.

—Wait? Don’t the benefits outweigh the drawbacks?

Kazuhiko was starting to wonder the same thing. 

He thought Reika was a type of yandere, but she wasn’t the uncontrollable type—well, she was unmanageable in a way, but she wasn’t the type to resort to confinement or restriction, nor did she seem like the type to immediately pull out a knife if Kazuhiko interacted with another girl. .

Although, sadly, Kazuhiko had never interacted much with other girls before, so he didn’t really know.

However, it felt correct. Based on his experience so far, she was the type who would drown him in sweet poison, not with a blade. 

Yes, if another girl got involved with him, she would cling to him tenfold, and the resulting constriction would feel strangely good…

“Kazuhiko, your cheeks are slackening, you know?” 

“N-no, that can’t be!” 

“Tch, lucky you, having a girlfriend. And the unobtainable flower at that. Wait, you are dating her, right? If you’re going to say that you’re just being pursued without dating her, I’m going to go buy a fruit knife right now.” 

“Y-yes, we’re dating.” 

“I knew it.”

It seemed others were eavesdropping, and whispers could be heard: 

“Hmm, be careful on a moonless night,” “Like on the train platform,” and so on. But at that moment, Kazuhiko was also realizing with dread that he had been forced to secure the outer defenses himself. Was this also part of her plan?

—I can’t escape anymore…

“So? How did you two start dating?” 

“Huh?”

Kazuhiko was yanked back to reality. The surrounding classmates, thinking, Good on you for asking!, were all listening intently.

“I mean, you and Takane-san have no connection, right? So why the sudden… Oh, wait, did you go somewhere during lunch these past few days because of her…?”

Kazuhiko wanted to say, I hate sharp-witted friends, with a determined look, but internally he was teary-eyed, wondering, How did you figure that out?

“…U-uh, well… We’re childhood friends.” 

“…Wha-at…!”

Tomonao, in fact, had the determined look now.

“So, who made the first move…” 

“Um… She did…” 

“Gaah! You mean to tell me you were eating Takane-san’s homemade lunch during the break all this time…?” 

“You’re good at connecting the dots.”

Kazuhiko gazed somewhere far away, as if this concerned someone else.

“Damn it, how enviable! Our friendship ends here!” 

“Yeah, I have a feeling it does.”

Just kidding. I hope it’s a joke. But he felt this envy wouldn’t stop for a while. And that included the rest of the boys in the class. Why couldn’t she have kept it a secret from everyone in the class?

Seeking support, Kazuhiko looked over at Reika, who was with her friends.

Wink☆!

She winked at him. It was unexpectedly cute. And it only intensified the murderous intent of his friend and the other boys.

—That woman, is she trying to make it so that I only have her as an ally?!

Evil woman, super evil woman… It was a school break where Kazuhiko felt the harsh realities of life.

Chapter 18

“Here, Kazu-kun, aa-n.” 

“A, a-n…” 

“Is it delicious?” 

“Ah, ah, it’s delicious…”

—If only it weren’t for this situation!

Normally, they would feed each other in the empty classroom, just the two of them. But today, they were feeding each other with the entire class present.

The boys were glaring at him with murderous intent, and the girls were looking at him with curious gazes. He was truly sitting on a cushion of needles.

And it wasn’t just Reika.

“Wow, Reika-chan is so lovey-dovey!” 

“It’s funny that Reika’s expression doesn’t change even while doing that.”

The two beautiful girls who were Reika Takane’s friends, ranking outside the main school caste, were also there.

Moeka Watatsumi. She had loosely wavy chestnut hair, down-turned eyes, and a gentle, soft demeanor. Her aura was warm and nurturing, giving off an overwhelming sense of motherhood. Naturally, the symbol of that motherhood was also highly developed for a high school student. It was rumored—just a rumor—that she held the double crown of “Girls who want to be babied at school” and “Girls who give off a mom-vibe.”

The other was Tachibana Kurobe. In contrast, she was a beautiful girl with short black hair, and her canines peeked out when she smiled brightly with her tanned face. She looked visibly cheerful and was a different type from the other two—though Reika and Moeka were also different types, which might be why the three of them were close. Her movements suggested a lithe black leopard, and she, too, had large breasts, no less than the other two.

And Reika Takane had black hair that reached her waist, a dignified face, and sharp eyes. Her body was voluptuous, constantly tormenting Kazuhiko.

Surrounded by these three big-br… three bosses, Kazuhiko was being fed a-n by Reika. In the middle of the classroom.

—Is this hell disguised as heaven?

Kazuhiko thought. Good job, Kazuhiko, you’ve been upgraded from happy torture. Naturally, Tomonao had refused to eat lunch with them and had run away.

—I should seriously reconsider our friendship.

But he thought that a plain, ordinary guy like him couldn’t endure this kind of situation. Though Kazuhiko himself was in the same boat.

“Here, Kazu-kun, a-n.” 

“A-n, mugu-mugu…” 

“Is it delicious?” 

“Yeah, it’s delicious, Rei-chan.” 

“Hehe, that’s good. You finally said it was delicious.”

At those words, the surrounding students suddenly became bloodthirsty.

This guy! He made Takane-san make him a homemade lunch, fed it to him, and he hadn’t even said it was delicious until now?!

—Stop it, please stop! I have a reason, I have a reason!

He had been pretending to be hypnotized. But if he tried to explain that, he would only be met with cold stares and thoughts of, What is this guy talking about?

“Ahaha, Kazuhiko is awful, a real domestic tyrant, isn’t he?” Tachibana cackled.

“Oh, tyrant? That’s jumping the gun. Not yet. Here, Kazu-kun, next, a-n.” 

“A-n, mugu-mugu…”

Kazuhiko didn’t need to pretend to be hypnotized anymore, but his eyes had turned vacant. Yet, why was this happening?

It was fine that Reika brought her lunch as usual. And that they ate together. Since they had gone public with their relationship, eating in the classroom was also fine. But why did the two others have to come along?

“Yay, we finally get to introduce ourselves! I’m Moeka Watatsumi, Reika-chan’s friend. Nice to meet you!” .

“I’m Tachibana Kurobe. Well, you’re our classmate, so you know that already. Haha, but I didn’t know you existed until Reika told me about you. Ahaha—”

Saying that, the two joined Reika and surrounded Kazuhiko. It seemed the two had heard about Kazuhiko from Reika. They had supported Reika’s love and even pushed her forward. Now that it had finally bore fruit, they were celebrating.

That was all well and good, but why were they eating lunch together?

“Um, why are you two eating lunch with us too?”

Kazuhiko, who had been constantly overwhelmed, finally asked this after finishing Reika’s lunch.

“Well, because we’re Reika-chan’s friends?” 

“Are you the type that demands ‘prioritize me over your friends now that we’re dating’?” 

“Kazu-kun controlling me… Hehe, that’s not bad.” 

“No, that’s not it…”

Between the carefree Moeka, the bomb-dropping Tachibana, and the seemingly not-unwilling Reika, Kazuhiko let out a groan of dejection.

“Hmm, I just wanted to be friends with Reika-chan’s boyfriend, too.” 

“Same here as Moeka!” 

“I, I see…”

It seemed the two had no ulterior motives. Kazuhiko had thought that Reika might try to monopolize him, but surprisingly, that didn’t seem to be the case. And apparently, she really was okay with Kazuhiko interacting with other girls.

Kazuhiko glanced at Reika.

“I’ll make Kazu-kun so infatuated with me that he won’t be able to see anyone else, so there’s no problem.”

—Could you please stop reading my mind? Am I really that easy to figure out?

She had clearly read Kazuhiko’s inner thoughts.

“So, please be friends with us, too, Kazuhiko-kun~” 

“Nice to meet you!” 

“A, ah, nice to meet you…”

Kazuhiko replied, but…

—Seriously, how did it come to this?!

He was utterly bewildered, surrounded by beautiful girls.