For two semesters, Ikeda Sachi’s attention had never strayed from the gray-haired, red-eyed figure behind him.
Her fox-like beauty sparked others’ curiosity, yet anyone who tried to get closer was always repelled by her mysterious and icy aura.
Ikeda Sachi was one of them.
At first, being ignored by her stung.
But when he realized this was her attitude toward all “others,” not just him, the pain twisted into a sick sense of joy.
How could anyone else understand?
Above all, looking down on everything?
No, no, using such words to describe Jiang Jian Yue would be an insult.
In his heart, Jiang Jian Yue was the person most deserving of the term “High Ridge Flower” in the world…
No, not a person—only “God-made Being” was worthy.
In Ikeda Sachi’s eyes, no mundane beauty could compare to Jiang Jian Yue.
Because of this, when rumors about her “seducing someone else’s boyfriend” spread, Ikeda Sachi’s reaction was even stronger than the person involved.
He went around denying it like a madman, acting like a fanatic, convinced that his defense would someday break through the walls of her heart.
From that day, there was a slight change in Jiang Jian Yue’s expression—a crack in the ice.
He became certain: his devotion had finally been noticed by the goddess.
Just as he was agonizing over whether to confess his feelings, Jiang Jian Yue suddenly stopped coming to school.
The seat behind him was empty for more than a week.
During that week, many things happened—world-changing events.
But Ikeda Sachi didn’t care.
He only tried desperately to find out anything about Jiang Jian Yue.
Yet, just as in the rumors, she remained mysterious.
No one else knew much about her.
Fortunately, after more than a week, Jiang Jian Yue returned to campus.
She seemed even colder than before.
Yet this only made Ikeda Sachi’s heart race.
He finally mustered the courage to pass her a note.
Jiang Jian Yue replied, but it was a cold rejection.
Ha, no problem!
At least she replied—that was huge progress!
However, new rumors soon spread through the school: Jiang Jian Yue was dating that guy named Yuki Asahi.
Who was Yuki Asahi?
He didn’t even want to know.
But unlike the previous rumor, this one wasn’t entirely baseless.
After school, that guy even came over to talk.
Behind the noisy group of boys, Ikeda Sachi watched coldly as his heart shattered piece by piece.
Even though a busty girl was talking to Jiang Jian Yue, he clearly saw her gaze flicker unconsciously toward the boy brooding by the wall!
Why?
Why him?
He endured another week, listening to the rumors grow.
Unable to take it anymore, he wrote her another note.
This time the reply was, “Hahaha, I’m not going.”
What did that mean?
Was she mocking him?
Ikeda Sachi was both angry and strangely excited.
Excited that Jiang Jian Yue had replied to him again!
He felt like a deranged viewer of a masked female streamer, blocking all external attacks as blacklisted users and patrolling the comment section with high-intensity vigilance.
After receiving a “friendly” warning from the box dog, his first reaction was rage, then questioning disbelief that the perfect solo idol on his screen could have a little boyfriend, then anxiety.
Finally, upon finding evidence of the streamer’s secret boyfriend, he despaired, went mad, broke down, and sent a superchat to demand answers.
That superchat wasn’t ignored—it was read on stream.
Even if the reply was perfunctory, being acknowledged sent a surge of indescribable excitement and joy through him, making him want to keep sending more.
—That was the feeling.
After school, when everyone had left the classroom,
Ikeda Sachi secretly watched the sleeping Jiang Jian Yue, feeling a strange sense of peace.
—This Jiang Jian Yue, just being here, was too cute.
The thought of “cute” didn’t last long, washed away by the downpour on the sports field.
He would never forget the rain that day.
Nor the sight he saw through the binoculars.
The cold rain poured into his heart.
At that moment, it felt like a devil’s whisper echoed in his mind, tiny worms crawling under his skin.
Jealousy and anger flooded his brain—impossible to ignore.
On Wednesday morning, in class, he held the note that said “Hahaha, I’m not going,” tasting iron on his tongue.
He felt the chair leg beneath him being gently tapped by the person behind, each vibration making his obsession stronger.
He had to—he had to destroy the one who had defiled Jiang Jian Yue…
“Hmm?”
Jiang Jian Yue tilted her head slightly, glancing at the boy in front whose name she’d forgotten.
He seemed off.
Well, probably just her imagination.
***
Yuki Asahi reported yesterday’s razor incident to the teacher—or rather, it wasn’t really his idea.
“We must never bow to evil forces!”
Kaori Onishi pulled Yuki Asahi by the arm to the teacher’s office, declaring righteously.
The homeroom teacher took the matter seriously, using class time to warn certain people not to do anything they’d regret.
But there wasn’t much else they could do to find the culprit.
All it did was spread the news that “Yuki Asahi was targeted” throughout the school—turning into increasingly ridiculous rumors and countless variations.
Who knew what those fans were thinking.
Even after being “assassinated” with chocolate, people kept sending him chocolate.
Since he hadn’t brought a lunchbox and had money in his pocket, Yuki Asahi went to the cafeteria for ramen.
When he returned full, he found his desk drawer about to burst.
The spreading rumors eventually caught the attention of the school leadership.
The Principal personally approached Yuki Asahi after lunch, promising not to let the culprit go, and saying they’d be expelled on discovery.
He even called the police in front of Yuki Asahi—but when they learned the victim was Yuki Asahi, they pushed the case to Tokushu Jishou Taiou Honbu.
They apologized, saying the matter involved superhumans and was out of their jurisdiction.
Takaguchi received the news and, despite his busy schedule, called to ask if he should dispatch more SAT-EX Members to Tokiwagi High School.
Yuki Asahi, sweating bullets, refused.
The original submachine guns and riot gear were scary enough!
Now, SAT-EX had upgraded—he’d heard the new equipment focused on heavy single-soldier firepower.
Was it really okay to bring that onto a school campus?
This was why he didn’t want to tell the teacher.
The fallout would only attract more attention.
With everyone talking about him, Yuki Asahi felt completely out of place.
He never expected to one day long for the days when no one noticed him.
The last period was home economics—conveniently, a dessert-making class.
Yuki Asahi recalled Yuma Endou’s deduction from yesterday and carefully observed his classmates.
Was the culprit among them…?
“Oi! Yuki-kun, what are you spacing out for? Come help mix the eggs.”
Kaori Onishi was wearing a scarf, the string tied at her waist, but her chest made the scarf slope at an angle.
Helpless, he gave up on slacking off—ah, no, on investigating.