Chapter 368: Worth Twenty of You |
"Hmm... I don't really feel anything about it," Shimizu Yu honestly expressed her feelings.
This kind of situation where a large group went out together, and she was singled out for special treatment and enthusiastic care by a certain boy—this had happened fairly often since she was young. She had long since developed a calm and indifferent attitude toward such matters.
However, Oguri Aino clearly did not quite believe her. She leaned in a little closer to Shimizu Yu and asked with a grin, "Really?"
"Really," Shimizu Yu reiterated in helplessness.
Oguri Aino raised her eyebrows slightly. "Alright."
But she quickly let out a low chuckle. "But not feeling anything means you do not dislike it, right?"
Shimizu Yu blinked. Of course, her personality was not so twisted that she would feel disgust toward someone showing her goodwill without crossing any boundaries. Naturally, she also would not hypocritically say things like, "Ah, it is always like this, so annoying," just to satisfy her own vanity.
Being shown affection by an above-average, or even excellent, member of the opposite sex was the greatest validation of one's own charm. This provided far more emotional value than any verbal praise or compliment. Being able to maintain a calm heart was already quite impressive; being hypocritical at a time like this would only make others feel she was being pretentious.
Shimizu Yu was certainly not a pretentious person, so she answered honestly, "I do not dislike it, it is just a bit uncomfortable."
Shimizu Yu pouted her lips but remained silent. However, Oguri Aino saw right through her. The corner of her mouth twitched, and she said, utterly speechless, "Could it be... because of Hoshino?"
"Oh, please! Not only is he not even here, but you are not Hoshino's girlfriend..."
Looking at the expression on Shimizu Yu's face, Oguri Aino could not help but sigh, advising kindly, "If Hoshino were not engaged and did not have a fiancée, all of us would actually support you, Yu-chan, in winning that guy over. But the problem is, he already has a fiancée, and she is a girl on Sasaki's level..."
"We all know you like Hoshino, Yu-chan, but... anyway, I suggest you try getting along with Ikegami. Even though he is not as much of a cheat code as Hoshino, he is also very dashing, isn't he? Plus, his athletic ability is outstanding, and he is a member of our school's basketball team. Countless girls like him. Even that delinquent girl who clearly thinks she is better than everyone else obviously likes him, which says a lot!"
This really could not be considered Oguri Aino being nosy; it should even be considered fulfilling her obligation as a friend. After all, in a Japanese school, stealing someone else's boyfriend was highly taboo. Of course, this was taboo anywhere, but it was especially serious here, considering the bullying culture on campus was quite rampant!
And if stealing a boyfriend was like that, let alone stealing a fiancé.
But Shimizu Yu still shook her head. "Aino, stop talking. I... I do not have feelings for that guy... Anyway, it is not what you think. He is already engaged, and his fiancée is the super excellent, super beautiful Sasaki, whom a hundred of me could not compare to. I know all of this. I just... regardless, I have no interest in romance right now. You... you guys should stop bringing this up."
Seeing the lonely expression on Shimizu Yu's face after saying those words, Oguri Aino could not help but roll her eyes. 'Not interested, huh? If that guy Hoshino broke off his engagement with Sasaki tomorrow, let us see if you are interested then...'
Though she thought this, Oguri Aino indeed stopped talking about romance or Ikegami Shinichi. She just sighed, linked arms with her good friend, and comforted her, "Sasaki is indeed excellent and beautiful, but it is not so exaggerated that she is worth a hundred of you, Yu-chan! At the very least, in terms of attractiveness, I think you two are evenly matched. As for the rest... hmm, let me think—she is worth twenty of you at most!"
"..."
...
Zzzzt!
On the previously empty large bed, the bedding suddenly bulged, and footsteps echoed through the villa, which had already been thoroughly searched and confirmed to be empty.
Sasaki Ayane's response to these sudden anomalies was to raise her hand, and electric sparks instantly flashed.
Accompanied by a dense crackling sound, blue-white electric sparks instantly filled every corner of the bedroom, paying special attention to the large bed where the anomaly occurred.
The wooden furniture and floorboards in the room instantly scorched black. Strangely, however, the bed, which contained highly flammable bedding, seemed to be largely unaffected. Under the bombardment of lightning, only its edges caught fire slightly, and even those flames quickly extinguished.
Sasaki Ayane could feel an unseen power resisting her.
While concentrating the power of the lightning toward the bed as much as possible, she quickly took a step forward. With a swing of the odachi in her hand, she slashed straight at the bulging section of the bedding on the bed.
Rip!
The duvet cover was easily torn open. Amidst the flying cotton wadding, the blanket quickly deflated. Not only did Sasaki Ayane's slash strike nothing, but the power resisting her also vanished without a trace in an instant.
Lightning glow enveloped the bed, and the airborne cotton wadding turned into falling flowers of flame as they hit the floor. All the bedding and pillows on the bed were ignited in a split second.
Lightning glow enveloped the bed, and the airborne cotton wadding turned into falling flowers of flame as they hit the floor. All the bedding and pillows on the bed were ignited in a split second.
Sasaki Ayane withdrew her strength and flicked the tip of her blade, tossing the burning blanket onto the floor. Beneath where it had previously bulged lay a complete set of women's clothing, arranged exactly as if someone were wearing them. It was indescribably bizarre.
Sasaki Ayane glanced outside the bedroom door; she had heard footsteps earlier.
After waiting for a moment and confirming that no new anomalies had occurred, she hurriedly turned around and returned to the window to look outside. The car was already parked outside the villa's main gate, and through the windshield, she could even vaguely see Hoshino Gen sitting in the driver's seat, seemingly playing on his mobile phone.
Facing a Vengeful Ghost's attack completely alone for the first time, even Sasaki Ayane could not help her rapidly spiking heart rate. Her mind and spirit had fallen into a moment of panic, especially when she had realized that Hoshino Gen had disappeared outside.
But now that she confirmed Hoshino Gen was still waiting outside, she settled down.
Thinking carefully, the Vengeful Ghost in this villa was truly insidious and cautious. First, it exploited a psychological gap to launch a sneak attack, and upon failing to achieve any results, it vanished and fled immediately.
Recalling the encounters of the victims swallowed by the supernatural phenomenon here, which Hoshino Gen had told her on the way over, Sasaki Ayane felt that the difficulty of this trial was not how to defeat or kill the Vengeful Ghost, but how to force its true form to appear before her...
The fire in the room was gradually growing larger. Sasaki Ayane looked at the flames, which showed signs of burning ever more fiercely, and suddenly had an idea.
Unlike ordinary Transcendents, at least at this C-tier stage, she possessed an advantage that other Transcendents could never hope to match. Compared to her offensive lethality, which Hoshino Gen evaluated as C-tier, the energy within her body was a genuine SS-level...