Chapter 5: Seeing his exposed abs during PE class
As soon as the bell rang, a group of girls surrounded Risa's desk.
"Matsuno-kun, do you know Yagyu-kun?"
"Your skin is so beautiful, what skincare products do you use?"
What are schools like in Tokyo?
Risa maintained a polite smile and gave a perfunctory reply.
"Hey, you guys are so noisy," came an impatient voice from the back row.
The girls immediately fell silent and made way for each other.
Kirihara Akaya, sporting a messy, seaweed-like hairstyle, swaggered in: "Risa-nee! Let's go have lunch."
Risa breathed a sigh of relief and quickly followed him out of the classroom.
In the corridor.
Kirihara lowered his voice: "You'd better not mess with Yagyu-senpai, he's terrifying!"
Risa raised an eyebrow: "Scary?"
"Yeah! Last year, a senior offended him, and the next day he was found running naked on the playground..."
Risa: "......"
Sure enough, the cut of the gentleman's lipstick was black.
-
The courtyard features flower beds and benches.
"Risa-nee! Try this! Mom's special fried chicken nuggets!"
Kirihara Akaya excitedly pushed the bento box in front of Risa. Inside the bento box, the fried chicken nuggets were golden brown and emitted an enticing aroma.
Just as Risa picked up a piece, she heard a sharp, mocking laugh coming from behind the cherry blossom tree.
"You dare to hand a love letter to Senior Yagyu?"
"You ugly woman, don't you even look in the mirror!"
Risa's chopsticks stopped in mid-air.
Kirihara frowned: "Ah... here we go again."
"What's here again?"
"Well... those girls." Kirihara pointed behind the bushes.
Risa turned around, squinted, and saw several girls in Rikkai University uniforms surrounding a small girl behind the bushes. One of them was poking her forehead with her fingertip.
This scene, this setup... Risa's mind instantly made its own comparison.
The ringleader, the henchman, the victim... the standard trio of a school drama. The dialogue is so clichéd, with lines like "ugly girl" and "looking in the mirror"—utterly unoriginal.
“They are all crazy fans of Yagyu-senpai,” Kirihara said in a low voice, making an exaggerated expression. “Forget about confessing, any girl who has ever spoken to Yagyu-senpai will be targeted by them. They just like to gang up on him.”
OMG! Aren't these the sasaeng fans and toxic solo stans she hated the most when she was alive?
Risa sighed, rubbing her forehead. It seems every world has its share of this kind of drama.
"You mean by 'targeting'... you don't mean 'slipping threatening letters into the shoe cabinet,' 'intentionally tripping your love rival during PE class,' or 'spreading malicious rumors,' do you?" Risa listed on her fingers, her tone as if she were listing tropes from bad movies.
Kirihara's mouth dropped open in surprise: "Risa-nee, how did you know? You met her in Tokyo before?"
Risa smiled mysteriously and patted Kirihara's shoulder: "I've fought my way out of a world of fame and fortune that's a hundred times more complicated than this. This kind of petty squabble is nothing compared to what I've already accomplished."
After saying that, she rushed out first.
"Stop." Her voice wasn't loud, but it carried a cold, hard quality, instantly interrupting the "performance" on the other end.
Several girls turned around and paused when they saw Risa. The leader, Misaki Morita, immediately gave a disdainful look: "Who are you? Mind your own business."
Risa ignored them and walked straight to the girl who had been bullied. Her fair face was smeared with paint, and her school uniform was stained with spilled drink.
"Are you alright?" Risa asked softly.
The girl lowered her head, her shoulders trembling slightly, and she didn't dare to answer.
The leader, Morita, scoffed, "What are you pretending to be, playing the saint? You're just as interested in Yagyu-senpai..."
"Shut up." Risa glanced at them sideways, instantly getting into character. The oppressive aura of someone experienced in such situations enveloped them, and the girls immediately fell silent.
Her gaze fell on the girl in the lead; her aura was acceptable, but her eyes lacked sharpness and were merely bluffing. Thumbs down.
“Apologize,” Risa said coldly.
"Huh? On what grounds?"
Risa took out her phone, unlocked it, turned on the video recording function, and pointed the camera steadily at them: "Come on, look at the camera, keep your fierce expressions." She even adjusted the angle to improve the lighting.
Looking at the three girls in the camera, she shook her head inwardly: their acting was terrible—failed to control their expressions, their movements were stiff, their adaptability and delivery of lines were practically nonexistent, and they didn't even have the professional qualities to play a villain. If they were on set, the director would be yelling at them until they cried.
“I’ve already recorded your amazing performance.” She waved her phone and smiled slightly. “Should I post it on social media right now? The title will be ‘Live Record of Bullying at Rikkai University Senior High School,’ and I guarantee the click rate will skyrocket.”
The girl's face turned deathly pale instantly.
"You...you dare!"
Risa raised an eyebrow, her fingertip hovering over the send button: "Want to try? I'll count to three. Three..."
The standoff lasted less than two seconds before the girl in the lead gritted her teeth and squeezed out three words: "...You win!"
After saying "I'm sorry" to the girl who was being bullied, she grabbed her companion and fled.
Risa watched their disheveled figures as they left, commenting: "Their exit was too rushed and undignified. Looks like their mental fortitude isn't great either."
The bullied girl finally raised her head, her eyes red-rimmed. Risa took a handkerchief out of her pocket and handed it to her, her tone softening: "Wipe your hands."
The girl hesitated for a moment, then took the handkerchief and said softly, "Th-thank you, senior. My name is Sato Chinatsu..."
“Matsuno Risa.” Risa smiled. “Second year, Class A.”
Sato's eyes lit up: "I...I know you! You're the one who was with Yagyu-senpai this morning..."
Risa: "...?"
Sato suddenly realized he had let something slip and quickly lowered his head, saying, "N-nothing!"
-
Back on the bench beside the flowerbed, Kirihara Akaya exclaimed with admiration, "Risa-nee, you were so cool just now! You were just like a heroine in a movie!"
Risa picked up her chopsticks and poked at the now-cold fried chicken nuggets: "Who were those people? Don't the teachers care about bullying students?"
"That red-haired girl is named Misaki Morita, and she is the vice president of the fan club."
When Risa heard the words "fan club," her eyes widened in surprise.
"What about the one with pink hair?" Risa asked.
"That's Suzuki Yui, Morita's number one follower."
"When the president, Sonoda-senpai, was around, the support group was pretty normal. Everyone would cheer for the tennis club and organize offline events."
"But after Sonoda-senpai went to Okinawa as an exchange student last semester, Morita temporarily took over as president, and the entire support group changed. She made a complete mess of things. In addition, Morita-senpai's father is a member of the school board, so as long as things don't get out of hand, they will basically be suppressed."
After listening to Kirihara's explanation, Risa concluded, "So, it's just a small school group controlled by love-struck and jealousy, doing whatever they want because they have some connections?"
"Pretty much..."
“Tsk,” Risa shook her head, “The methods are low-level, the motives are superficial, and the scope is too small. If this were in the Chinese entertainment industry, someone of this caliber wouldn’t last three episodes.”
Kirihara Akaya blinked his green eyes. Although he couldn't understand what his older cousin was saying, he just felt that... her image had suddenly become much more impressive.
-
In the afternoon PE class, the PE teacher did things differently than usual.
"Today we have a surprise physical fitness test!" the PE teacher announced, blowing his whistle. "Boys: 1500 meters; Girls: 800 meters!"
The group immediately erupted in groans of despair.
Risa was running at the back, panting heavily.
This body's physical abilities are shockingly poor.
Risa ran so fast her eyes were practically sparkling.
Looking at her energetic classmates in front of her, she felt a tightness in her stomach.
Is this the world of sports anime? Are even ordinary high school girls monsters?!
"Come on! Two more laps! Victory is just ahead!" the PE teacher shouted, blowing his whistle.
"Matsuno-san! Good luck!" a girl who had already finished running shouted to her.
Risa forced a smile, her vision already starting to blur. By the time she reached the last lap, she was practically dragging her legs forward.
"Hang in there! The last half lap!" The PE teacher waved his stopwatch.
Risa gritted her teeth and sprinted forward, feeling as if her lungs were stuffed with cotton. The moment she crossed the finish line, she collapsed onto the grass.
My heart was pounding so hard it felt like it was going to burst out of my throat, and sweat was plastering my bangs to my forehead, making me look completely disheveled.
What does she care about her image? She's practically dead now.
"This pace..." she said, lying on her back, barely breathing, "is even more tiring than when I rehearse for my concert..."
Before he finished speaking, a shadow fell from above.
Risa suddenly covered her mouth and blinked rapidly.
Oh no! Did he hear us again?
Yagyu Hiroshi stood backlit, his glasses reflecting a blinding white light, obscuring his expression. But one could make out his abs, faintly visible beneath his workout clothes.
Gentleman, oh gentleman, do you know that this angle will expose you?
A bottle of soda water suddenly came into view.
"Replenish fluids." He knelt down, his voice eerily calm.
Risa stiffly took the water bottle, and as her fingertips touched the bottle, Yagyu suddenly lowered his voice:
"Concert?"
Risa's little hand trembled.
Clang—
The water bottle hit her directly in the face.
"It hurts!" She sat up, covering her nose, tears welling up in her eyes.
Through her blurry, tear-filled eyes, she saw Liu Sheng push up his glasses, revealing an upturned corner of his eye behind the lenses.
"Why are you so nervous?" Liu Sheng asked. "It's not like you have a dual identity, is it?"
Risa was slightly taken aback.
No way?
Has it already been seen through on the very first day?
"Um..." Risa tried to remain calm as she unscrewed the bottle cap, "I mean... the school festival concert..."
"Oh? I'm also looking forward to your performance at Rikkai University's Umihara Festival this year."
"No problem, no problem." Risa smiled on the surface, but fine beads of cold sweat seeped out on her back.
Under the shade of a tree not far away, Sanada stood with his arms crossed, looking at the two of them with a serious expression.
-
The school bell rang, and the students walked out of the classroom one by one.
Risa was packing her schoolbag when a tall, slender shadow fell on her textbook.
"Matsuno-kun."
Liu Sheng stood at the table in front of her, as if he had suddenly returned after leaving.
"I heard you 'played the hero' and saved the damsel in distress' at noon?"
Risa paused for a moment, then casually closed the book: "The news travels fast."
The number of students in the corridor gradually decreased, and the noise of club activities could be heard in the distance.
"Why?" His voice held an unusual hesitation.
Risa snapped her pencil case shut: "If you know someone is being harassed but pretend you didn't see it—" she raised her eyelids, "what's the difference between that and being an accomplice?"
Liu Sheng remained silent for a moment. He recalled the malice that grew more frantic the more he tried to dissuade them, swelling like a snowball.
“You’re right.” His fingers unconsciously rubbed together. “But you shouldn’t have messed with those two.”
"What?"
"He's crazy."
"......?"
He turned to leave, but suddenly stopped, picked up a note from her desk, wrote something, tore it in half, folded it, and handed it to her.
"You can contact me if you encounter any problems."
Risa took the note. Yagyu's nails were meticulously trimmed, just like the man himself.
"Is this considered preferential treatment for transfer students?" she asked half-jokingly.
Yagyu's gaze behind his glasses darkened: "No, it's because I'm worried about you."
Footsteps echoed down the corridor. Genichiro Sanada appeared in the doorway: "Yagyu, we're going to be late for club activities."
"I'll go right away."
Before leaving, Yagyu gave Risa a meaningful look.
Sanada glanced at Risa, then turned and disappeared around the corner of the stairs along with Yagyu's figure.
Risa unfolded the paper strip.
His handwriting was elegant, and he wrote a string of numbers—his phone number.
There is also a line of smaller text below:
Your Chinese seems to be more fluent than your Japanese?
Risa's heart suddenly raced.
She glanced down at her notebook.
grass.
Without even realizing it, I started taking notes in Chinese while listening to the lecture.
But then Risa thought, so what? There's no rule that says I can't learn Chinese.
It's this arrogant high school student's tone of voice, so pretentious and profound, that really makes me angry!
Risa was about to crumple up the note and throw it into the trash can when she suddenly stopped.
Keep it; it might come in handy someday.
A note from the author:
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Please feel free to save and leave comments, everyone! I'd love to discuss this with more like-minded people.
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