The case where I was gradually getting buried in the heavy love of my childhood friend who had miraculously recovered from their illness was perfect!

“Hey, Tohsaka, your illness is finally cured, so let’s celebrate. How about inviting your friends for karaoke?”

Not only I but also other classmates’ eyes turned toward those words. While the words themselves were an invitation to have fun, the issue was that it was Itou who said them, and the target of his invitation was Rion.

Around Itou were students with a bad history… to put it bluntly, they were similar to Itou in all aspects.

“What are you talking about?”

“Aren’t you getting a bit too friendly?”

Saying so, Rion’s friends, including Asumi-san, glared at Itou.

Among the people Itou had invited, Asumi-san and her friends were undoubtedly included. That was because they, like Rion, possessed exceptional looks.

“What’s the matter, Tohsaka?”

“…..”

Apart from my close friends, there should be a significant number of people who consider him an enemy… despite that, his courage to invite Rion without showing any signs of fear is slightly admirable. Of course, not in a good way.

Well, Rion was being invited like that, but she ignored Itou completely without even looking in his direction.

‘No, it’s not just ignoring… It’s like she doesn’t even acknowledge his existence.’

Rion seemed to have no awareness of Itou’s existence… it was the epitome of indifference.

Continuing this attitude, Itou understandably became irritated and started glaring at Rion.

“…Seriously, why the hell do you even want to get involved with her?”

I sighed and headed towards Rion.

Rion turned her gaze towards me when I approached, finally seeming to acknowledge Itou’s presence.

I didn’t need to say anything more. I stood in front of Rion and faced Itou.

“Just disappear.”

“Huh?”

The tension in the air changed as I said that… I realized that this is what they meant by “cracking the air.”

However no matter how annoying this guy might be, I knew he wouldn’t back down from just these words.

“Inviting Rion to celebrate her discharge from the hospital… I think that’s a fantastic idea. Rion has been looking forward to this day for a long time, and I felt the same way.”

“Well then—”

“If it weren’t for you, Rion might have considered it. Remember what you did last year and what Rion thinks of you.”

I didn’t call him a bastard.

Itou initially had some level of goodwill towards Rion, albeit on a somewhat dirty level, but even so, I couldn’t forgive him. He had persistently approached Rion, and when rejected, he blamed her. It wasn’t just me and Rion who knew this; everyone in the class did.

That’s why this guy is not in a position to invite Rion.

“Besides, this afternoon is already booked. Right, Rion?”

By the way, I hadn’t made any plans for this afternoon. Rion nodded without a word in response to my words.

“Yes, I already have plans for today. Even if I had no plans, I wouldn’t accept your invitation.”

Rion stated firmly.

Itou… even though he had some initial goodwill towards Rion, it was undeniable that he had crossed the line. He didn’t even seem to have any intention of rounding off the situation, and there was no way Rion would get along with him.

“Damn it.”

Not only me but also the fact that Rion rejected him again seemed to have an effect on him, and he stepped forward with an angry expression.

I wasn’t used to fights… not that I was, but I remembered a somewhat tougher guy from my past life, so I wasn’t scared of anything. Furthermore, I remembered scenes where iron bars rained down on me by drunkards, so I was even more fearless.

‘… Oh, now that I think about it, this situation is similar to that time.’

This was similar to the interaction I had with a senior who transferred last year.

At that time, I protected Rion, just as I was doing now. It was hard to breathe when my collar was grabbed, but I didn’t back down.

“Really… You’re so annoying. You’re always getting in the way… Know your place, you piece of trash.”

As Itou approached, Akira and Takeshi moved.

I appreciated their consideration, but I thought, “Is this going to turn into a fight… I’m going to cause trouble for the teacher,” just then Rion stepped forward and said.

“By the way, Itou-kun, are you close to the friends behind you?”

“Rion?”

“What’s this all of a sudden?”

…What’s going on?

Itou was surprised by being suddenly addressed like that, and I, too, tilted my head at Rion’s words.

In the first place, I think that if you define friends as people who are close, then… Well, they are friends. No, it’s not as simple as that… No, it’s not so simple — right now, the atmosphere Rion exudes is the same as when she faced that senior.

“It seems that each of your friends behind you has a girlfriend, even though they’re in different classes, right?”

Itou and the two guys behind him nodded. Whether it was due to the atmosphere Rion was creating or simply because they had been suddenly drawn into the center of the conversation, they had no choice but to listen to Rion’s words unconsciously.

“If you’re just friends, is it okay for you to have a secret intimate relationship with their girlfriends?”

With a smile, Rion said those words which baffled everyone who listened to it.

Rion’s words left Itou pale, and his friends started questioning him.

“Hey, what’s going on?! Is she telling the truth?”

“This is obviously nonsense! Hey, Tohsaka, what are you…”

“I see… you would still defend yourself huh… Then what is this?”

As Itou tried defending himself, Riontossed two photos onto the floor in front of them, overlapping his words. The photos fluttered down and landed on the floor in plain view, so I along with everyone could see them clearly.

“…Ah.”

There was no mistaking it; the photos depicted a man and a woman engaged in an intimate act. The man was Itou, and the woman was one of the girls from the adjacent class. They, too, were dressed in flashy outfits, similar to Itou and his friends, and were known as delinquent girls.

“You…!”

“No, this is not what it looks like!”

“Shut up! The girl in these photos is our girlfriend!”

…Things got even worse from there. Without the need to confirm the truth, a brawl erupted. It escalated to the point where the girls from the adjacent class, who were already a topic of conversation, arrived to watch.

“Hey, what’s going on here!?”

“Why are these photos…”

“No, it’s not like that!”

“What do you mean it’s not like that!?”

Naturally, when those girls arrived, chaos ensued. Itou ended up being punched by two girls and couldn’t move later on. These guys are still middle school students, right? They’re going too far so early in this stage of life…

In the end, this commotion continued until a teacher arrived, and Itou and his friends were all taken away.

“What was that?”

“Phew, that was tiring.”

Just as Rion started to move, things seemed to progress all at once. She smiled at me reassuringly and said.

“Now, shall we go home?”

“Yeah, let’s go.”

“Thank you for everything, Mana-san.”

“You don’t need to thank me. It’s like a little gift I prepared for the return of the queen called Rion, after all.”

A little gift…? Could it be that Rion had asked her to prepare those photos? I’d like to ask for more details, but it’s a bit scary… By the time we left the classroom and headed for the shoe lockers, the earlier commotion seemed like it had never happened. Rion was happily wearing the beret I gave her, and she didn’t try to hide her satisfaction.

“Who is she?”

“Did we have such a senior in our school…?”

As happened in the morning, the fact that Rion was hospitalized during the relevant period meant that this year’s new students didn’t recognize her. Because of that, Rion was attracting attention, mainly from the first-year students. Rion walked elegantly by my side, not seeming like someone who had been lying in a hospital bed just a few days ago.

“As for those photos…”

“Hmm… Yeah?”

“Originally, those were prepared by Mana-san for you. I knew that Itou-kun would pester you, so I used them as a countermeasure.”

“…I see.”

“Yes. But I’m glad it ended with just that. If someone like that senior had tried to harm you, I think I would have done something more significant.”

As expected, she has not changed even a slightest bit.

‘She’s unfathomable. I must absolutely not make an enemy out of her.’

Nevertheless, if things continue like this, there might be more grudges against us.

Thinking that, I realized that Rion still had a card up her sleeve.

☆☆☆☆☆☆

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