Chapter 103 Yuushi Oshitari, whose side are you on?
In mid-May, Risa completed the groundbreaking script for Hyotei Academy's recruitment promotional video.
When Atobe signed off on "Approved for filming," the entire organizing committee breathed a sigh of relief—until they realized a fatal problem.
"So, the female lead is going to be replaced?" Shinobu pushed up his glasses, the lenses reflecting an eerie light.
Risa nodded, biting the pen cap: "We can't have the director and lead actor at the same time, can we?"
The recruitment notice caused a huge stir at Hyotei University. Every lunch break, long lines formed outside the performance room. Unfortunately—
"Cut!" Risa called for the nth time. "This student, you're playing the 'proud Queen of Hyotei,' not a 'fangirl meeting her idol.'"
In front of the camera, another girl was covering her flushed cheeks, and almost fainted when Atobe glanced at her. Kabaji stepped forward and silently escorted her out.
"Is this what you mean by 'Hyotei has no shortage of talent'?" Risa glanced sideways at Atobe.
Atobe stroked his beauty mark and sneered, "I'd like to see who can act out what you wrote—" He shook the script, "a scene where the male lead is slapped in the face with a rose."
“Actually…” Shinobu suddenly interjected, “Since we’re going to film ‘Villain Academy,’ why don’t we…” His gaze swept back and forth between Risa and Atobe.
"Impossible." ×2
The two spoke in unison.
Atobe lightly touched his beauty mark, secretly thinking: With this woman's vindictive nature, if she were to get a legitimate reason to "whip me with roses," she would probably do it a dozen times before giving up.
Just imagining that scene made his temples ache.
Risa crossed her arms and rolled her eyes inwardly.
These past few days, she's been constantly being bossed around by this young master, leaving her mentally and physically exhausted. If she were to actually act out this scene herself—she's afraid she wouldn't be able to control her strength and might injure him on the job.
"Pfft..." Shinobu couldn't help but laugh out loud. As the two sharp gazes swept over him, he quickly raised the script to cover his face. "I just suddenly realized, since we can't find a female lead who can be 'cold and ruthless' towards Atobe..."
His glasses flashed, "How about having Sanada-kun make a cameo appearance? I've heard his 'iron fist punishment' is quite intimidating..."
"Yuushi Oshitari!" Atobe's fist cracked.
Risa: "......"
Could this guy be that fox Niou in disguise?
“It’s not that there aren’t suitable candidates.” Risa tapped her chin with her fingertip, revealing a sly smile. “I have a friend whose acting skills are questionable, but I can absolutely guarantee that she will remain calm and composed when facing Atobe.”
She glanced meaningfully at Shinobu, who immediately took a half-step back, alert: "Wait, that look... could it be that she's going to sacrifice me?"
“How could that be?” Risa waved her phone. “It just requires Fengjun to sacrifice a little of his personal time to pick her up in person and chat with her during breaks in filming to relieve her boredom.”
Atobe & Oshitari: "......"
The two looked towards the corner simultaneously. Chotaro looked up blankly, revealing an angelic smile: "Eh? Do you need my help?"
Three hours later, Asuka stood in the magnificent campus of Hyotei Academy, quickly flipping through the script, her brows furrowed slightly: "So as long as I finish filming this, I can get 200,000 yen?"
“Of course~” Risa affectionately took her arm. “This is a promise made by young master Atobe himself. The word of the Emperor of Hyotei is as good as gold.”
Atobe, who was drinking water, choked and coughed.
Risa Matsuno, you didn't say this to me three hours ago.
If looks could kill, Risa would have been tortured to death by Atobe a thousand times over.
-
"Action!"
The filming went surprisingly smoothly.
When Asuka faced Atobe, she perfectly embodied the aloof aura of someone who "treats handsome men like dirt." When the script required her to slap Atobe with a rose, her gaze was as if she were looking at a piece of trash waiting to be disposed of.
"Cut! Perfect!" Risa clapped her hands excitedly. "This one can be used right away!"
Atobe had never been treated so coldly by a woman before, and he gritted his teeth: "Where did you find such a...?"
"Oh my, isn't this the heroine that Atobe-sama requested—the one who can be ruthless to you?" Risa blinked innocently.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Asuka and Ootori discussing something, and the atmosphere was quite harmonious.
Risa held her coffee cup, a wide smile spreading across her face. "Tsk tsk tsk, youth~"
"Chōtarō," during the break, Oshitari strolled up behind Chōtarō and casually asked, "I heard that Nakano from Rikkai University is really fierce, he even made Sanada cry?"
"Eh?" Chotaro Ootori was tuning his violin when he heard this and put down his bow.
"Asuka-senpai is so gentle! She was talking to me yesterday..." The boy's voice trailed off as he belatedly covered his mouth.
"Oh?" Yuushi Oshitari's eyes narrowed into slits behind his glasses. "You're calling him by his first name now?"
"Senior!" Chotaro's neck turned bright red. "Anyway, it's incredibly rude of you to talk about girls like that..."
"Oh dear, you're blushing."
Oshitari suddenly leaned closer and lowered his voice: "Chōtarō." He paused deliberately, watching the boy nervously swallow, "Nakano-kun is graduating next year."
The boy's body stiffened abruptly, and his light-colored pupils contracted slightly.
Risa, who was not far away, pretended to tidy up the equipment, but actually heard the entire conversation. When Yuushi Oshitari strolled back, she quietly gave him a thumbs up, and the two of them gave each other a high five in unison.
—That assist was absolutely perfect.
Risa silently ticked a box in her mental notebook.
Back during last year's Umihara Festival, Risa had wanted to matchmake the two, but the doujinshi club booths were packed on the first day, and she couldn't find the time. On the second day, Chotaro Ootori had family matters to attend to and didn't come to the Umihara Festival, so her matchmaking plan was forced to be shelved.
Now, thanks to the opportunity of filming a promotional video, these two slow-to-warm-up idiots have finally connected.
-
An accident occurred during the filming of the final scene.
According to the script, Atobe was supposed to stand in the rose garden and deliver a monologue, but Risa changed the design at the last minute: "Add a shot—you throw a rose at the camera, and we capture the petals in slow motion."
Atobe raised an eyebrow: "Are you sure you can film it well?"
“Of course.” Risa took the headphones from the director. “Action!”
The moment the rose petals pierced the air, Risa suddenly shouted, "No! Let's do it again!"
Atobe's face darkened: "What is it now?"
“Your expression is too stiff.” Risa stepped forward and reached out to adjust the angle of his jaw. “Imagine you’re looking at a formidable opponent, with that feeling of both admiration and a desire to destroy…”
The entire audience gasped.
Renji silently took out his phone and snapped a picture of the young emperor's rare expression of bewilderment.
With a quick glance, he forwarded the message to the white fox who had recently been tormented by the two of them.
-
That same night, after filming wrapped, Risa discovered in the editing room that crucial footage was missing.
She was about to check the surveillance footage when she opened the door and saw Huadi blocking the entrance like a mountain, clutching a hard drive labeled "Rose Special".
"Did Atobe send you?" Risa narrowed her eyes.
Kabaji slowly shook his head, his gaze shifting to the corner of the corridor. In the shadows, Shinobu leaned against the wall, elegantly making a "one million hush money" gesture.
Risa: "......"
She rushed over in three strides, grabbed Shinobu's tie, and dragged him towards the emergency exit: "Niou Masaharu! You're up to no good, aren't you?"
The silver-haired boy instantly dropped his disguise, grinning slyly: "Pfft~ You saw through me so quickly?"
Kabaji blinked, then suddenly realized, "Wusu... so it wasn't Oshitari-senpai."
"You damn fox, what are you doing here?" Risa asked, pointing at him. "Weren't your scenes finished a long time ago?"
Niou deftly took a half-step back, twirling the hard drive he'd somehow managed to steal: "I just came to check on behalf of the minister—" he deliberately lowered his voice, "whether anyone's pricked their hand on a rose thorn~"
Risa's forehead veins bulged; this fox really couldn't utter a single truth.
Footsteps suddenly came from the end of the corridor.
Atobe appeared around the corner with Oshitari, who was adjusting his glasses, a glint of light flashing in the lenses.
"Looks like we missed a good show?" Oshitari said with a hint of amusement in his Kansai accent.
Niou immediately shoved the hard drive back into Kabaji's hands: "Pfft~ I was just passing by~"
Before he could finish speaking, the silver-haired boy had already nimbly climbed out the window and escaped.
The next day, Risa received a photo on her phone. In the photo, she and Atobe were standing very close together in a rose garden, the angle of the shot was so suggestive it was outrageous.
"An exclusive collector's edition, isn't it fair to exchange it for Fengjun and Nakano's love observation diary? —Your loyal gossip reporter, Oshitari Yuushi"
Risa stared at the signature and sneered.
Has this Kansai wolf, who's obsessed with romance novels, been getting too close to Masaharu Niou lately?
Sooner or later, he'll taste the punishment of Sanada's iron fist.
-
The moment the official Hyotei Academy account released behind-the-scenes footage of the promotional video, the entire Kanto high school forum exploded.
#Hyotei's Aristocratic Villainous Aesthetics Explode
#KeigoAtobe's Amazing Lens Footage
#Rikkai University's Genius Director's New
While the entire internet was still buzzing about the filming techniques and artistic expression of Hyotei's promotional video, a post with a sensational title quietly started a thread about shipping the two:
[Breaking News] Rational Discussion | Atobe Zaibatsu heir × Rikkai University genius female director, anyone shipping them?
[Top Comment] 178L (8.6k Likes)
That rose scene was incredibly sexually charged! When she used the rose to lift Atobe's chin, his Adam's apple moved! I watched it in slow motion 100 times to confirm!
[Top 2 Most Popular Comment] 222L (7.2k Likes)
Insider information! Rumor has it that the two were arguing (or flirting) every day on set.
→Reply: Cross out the words in parentheses. There was no emotion in their eyes, only an obsession with winning.
[Top 3 Hottest Comments] 280L (10.3k Likes)
The key point is this! When the director said, "This is more in line with the aesthetics of a villain," Atobe actually smiled! He! Smiled! That doting smile... oh my god! He usually has that "I'm the coolest guy" look on his face when he's with others! (Comparison photos in a nine-grid layout)
→Reply: Hey, please stop shipping couples randomly, okay? [Eating popcorn]
The post also included a poll at the end:
Fire | Which couple do you ship?
□ Atobe x Risa (Domineering CEO x Genius Director)
□ Yukimura × Risa (Child of God × Designer)
I want them all (a fan of chaotic love triangles)
□ Bystanders (waiting for the battle to begin)
Oshitari turned the tablet towards Atobe: "Do you need crisis management?"
Atobe glanced at it, his lips twitching almost imperceptibly, before finally letting out a soft hum: "...It's alright."
Shinobu narrowed his eyes and forwarded the message to Yukimura Seiichi, who was in France participating in the CH100 Challenge.
The postscript consisted of only one line:
"Your cat seems to be attracted to the roses?"
Yukimura was doing pre-match stretches in his hotel in Paris when his phone vibrated beside him. He glanced at the message from Shinobu, and his violet-blue eyes narrowed slightly.
With a light tap of his fingertip, the moment the photo loaded, his stretching motion froze.
In the scene, Risa is standing on tiptoe, holding a bunch of roses in one hand, and lifting Atobe's chin with the other. The usually arrogant King of Hyotei actually lowers his head slightly in compliance, and a rare emotion appears in his eyes.
Yukimura grabbed the phone, nearly crushing the screen, before immediately resuming his smile.
"Seiichi, it's time to go," the coach reminded him from outside the door.
"Wait a moment." Yukimura's voice remained gentle as his fingers rapidly tapped on the keyboard.
The reply from Shinobu was only three words:
"Very interesting."
-----------------------
Author's Note: The main story is expected to end in 110 chapters, followed by a possible 5-10 chapters of side stories, depending on the situation...
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