Chapter 26 Yukimura-kun, the cunning and ruthless moonlight, please save me! ...
The next morning.
Risa woke up naturally after a good night's sleep, feeling refreshed and humming a song as she went to school.
After changing into her indoor shoes at the locker, she twirled her keychain and strolled leisurely toward the classroom.
Turning the corner in the corridor, Risa abruptly stopped in her tracks—
"Oh my god, that scared me to death!" She patted her chest, still shaken.
Sanada stood like a gatekeeper, his face dark and sour, glaring at her.
"……What's up?"
"Matsuno Risa, come with me to the Disciplinary Committee office."
In the disciplinary committee office, Sanada stood with his arms crossed, his gaze sharp.
The swaying shadows of the trees outside the window cast long shadows on his rugged features, making his face appear even darker.
"That post online," he said in a deep voice, his authority evident, "was it posted by you?"
Risa blinked, looking completely innocent: "What post?"
She certainly knew what Sanada meant.
Last night, the fan art she uploaded to Pixiv was exquisitely drawn and contained explicit content, vividly depicting the "special relationship" between the fox and the gentleman.
Although no names were mentioned, those who know, know.
The post went viral overnight, even being reposted to the Rikkai University fan page. Niou Masaharu must be furious right now.
Sanada clenched his fist, his knuckles tapping the table with a dull thud: "Don't play dumb. The art style of that manga is exactly the same as the tennis club merchandise you drew before."
Risa tilted her head, her hair falling over her shoulder: "Class President, oh no~ Disciplinary Committee Chairman, there are a lot of people with similar styles."
"Ah, are you talking about the third batch of pre-orders?" she exclaimed with a look of sudden realization. "That 'The Deceiver - Pretending to be a Gentleman Special Edition'? That was definitely the one I drew..."
"However, you can't just say things like that. When I sold those merchandise items, I made a special statement that they had nothing to do with your tennis club and did not involve any infringement."
"Not that one!" Sanada's temple bulged with veins. "It's yesterday's group..."
He suddenly choked up, seemingly unable to speak.
A sly glint flashed in Risa's eyes, but she remained outwardly composed: "I wasn't feeling well after school yesterday, so I stayed home and slept. Akaya's mother can vouch for me."
Sanada took a deep breath and suddenly pulled a piece of paper from the drawer: "What about this?"
The paper clearly showed a printed version of the fan art, with a small pear mark drawn in the corner—that was Risa's habitual signature.
Oh no, I got carried away with drawing yesterday.
I accidentally drew my signature on it too.
The indoor air instantly froze.
Risa stared at the paper for a few seconds, blinked, and looked at Sanada with an innocent expression: "Oh my, is this author deliberately imitating me and trying to ride my coattails?"
She took out her phone, opened her Twitter account page, and showed it to Sanada: "Look, I'm quite well-known online these days."
Sanada frowned, his finger tapping heavily on the signature: "Imitation? Even your handwriting style is exactly the same?"
“Then I don’t know,” Risa said in a muffled voice. “After all, when Niou-kun was disguised as Sanada-san, Akaya couldn’t tell either.”
Sanada: "You...!"
The office door was suddenly pushed open.
"Sanada, don't scare Matsuno-kun."
As Risa turned around, Yukimura was leaning lazily against the doorframe. Sunlight fell on his profile, casting a soft glow, making even his eyelashes seem to glow, like a male protagonist straight out of a shoujo manga.
"Wow..." Risa unconsciously swallowed.
For a moment, she was so captivated by the sight that she stared blankly until Sanada's cold snort brought her back to her senses.
"Hmph!" Sanada's dark face suddenly appeared from behind. "She's the prime suspect right now."
Yukimura straightened up and took a step forward.
step.
Two steps.
Until Risa could see the stitching on the buttons of his school uniform.
“I think…” Yukimura leaned forward slightly, his violet-blue eyes filled with amusement, “Matsuno-kun wouldn’t do such a thing.”
A faint minty aroma lingers around the nose.
Risa held her breath, and her brain suddenly lost the ability to think.
My mind is filled with thoughts of: "My frail but incredibly talented, stunningly beautiful, gentle yet cunning white moonlight..."
A long string of text that exceeded the screen's display was scrolling across the screen.
"Yukimura-kun is simply the beacon of justice at Rikkai! His mind is as clear as a mirror, his observations are crystal clear." Risa showered him with compliments, then turned to Sanada and made a face. "Unlike that certain dark-faced god, that blockhead..."
"Click—"
Sanada's knuckles made a sound comparable to a gun being cocked, and black energy materialized as it surged out from under his uniform.
“Genichiro,” Yukimura said lightly, pressing down on the vice-captain who was about to explode, tapping his arm with his fingertip. “Talk things out. Be gentle with girls.”
Sanada met his close friend's smiling eyes and instantly suppressed his anger.
Risa seized the opportunity to hide behind Yukimura, grabbing the hem of his school uniform jacket and peeking out from his shoulder: "Did you hear that? Class President~ Don't resort to your iron fist all the time. Hehehe~"
Sanada's face turned as black as ink, his anger level instantly exceeding its limit.
“However,” Yukimura said with an elegant turn, pulling Risa from behind to in front of him, “since Matsuno-kun’s work is so popular, why don’t you design the tennis club’s promotional poster for the new season?”
He tilted his head and smiled: "How about this... a portrait rights licensing fee for the regular players?"
Risa: Pupil Earthquake.jpg
(Inner monologue:)
[Isn't this a threat?!]
[This is definitely a threat!]
The last time he smiled like that was when she pinched his cheek. As a result, the next day, Chi was given double the training load and was so tired that he couldn't even hold chopsticks properly.
(This devil in angel's skin! Dark moonlight! Give me back my feelings of gratitude and praise!)
“If the poster turns out well…” Yukimura continued gently, “not only will the tennis club’s image rights be protected, but all those previous ‘minor misunderstandings’ will also be wiped clean.”
Risa rolled her eyes. That sounds nice, but this isn't about a poster at all; it's a power struggle.
If she agrees this time, there will be a next time, and the time after that, which is no different from ceding territory and paying reparations.
Risa was about to refuse firmly when she heard Yukimura sigh casually, "If Akaya knew that his most admired older sister was going to draw posters for us..."
“…I’ll draw.” Risa squeezed out the two words through gritted teeth.
That damn cunning guy, he always knows how to target people's weaknesses.
“However, I have one condition,” she glanced meaningfully at Sanada, “I want absolute creative freedom, including the right to censor related content.”
Sanada's fists clenched so tightly they cracked, but the moment he met Yukimura's gaze, he silently lowered the brim of his hat.
Yukimura smiled and said, "Deal."
-
When I returned to the classroom, the bell had just rung to signal the end of morning training.
Next to Risa's seat, Yagyu's seat was still empty.
This gentleman always had a habit of practicing for an extra half hour after morning training, or dealing with student council matters. Risa breathed a sigh of relief at not running into him head-on.
Yuzuki was engrossed in reviewing math when she heard the noise. She looked up and smiled at her: "Risa, what does the disciplinary committee want with you?"
"It's nothing, we just discussed campus culture development."
Risa casually brushed it off, then opened her notebook to start working on the English essay she needed to hand in for early morning self-study.
Five minutes before class started, regular footsteps could be heard coming from the front door of the classroom.
Yagyu walked in meticulously, followed by the stern-faced Sanada.
As the other party involved in the manga "Gentleman's Medical Records", Risa thought that Yagyu would at least give her a condemning look, or demand an explanation from her.
Unexpectedly, the gentleman, as always, elegantly adjusted his glasses and didn't even glance at her for a second longer.
Never mind. It's a good thing we're not picking a fight with her.
Risa lowered her head and continued doing her homework.
After school, she and Yuzuki went to the club together, and the four of them discussed the pickup time for the second batch of goods in the activity room.
Just then, hurried footsteps came from the doorway.
The next instant, the sliding door to the activity room was pushed open forcefully.
Kirihara clung to the door, his curly hair soaked with sweat and plastered to his forehead.
He gasped, "Risa-nee, the vice minister says he wants to search your locker!"
Risa rested her chin on her hand and curled her lips into a smile.
It seems that what happened this morning is not over yet.
"Search the lockers?" Yuzuki was the first to react. "Why?"
"The vice minister said... said that students should be ruled out as suspects, and now only Risa's locker is locked..."
"Yuzue, could you three please discuss and agree on a pickup time?" Risa put down her pen and calmly stood up.
"I'm going to the teaching building. If it gets late, I won't be back. Contact me on LINE if anything comes up."
Yuzuki hurriedly followed: "Risa, you don't have... in your closet, do you?" She lowered her voice so that only the two of them could hear her.
When Yuzuki saw that comic last night, she guessed that it was Risa's work, and now she is a little worried.
"Don't worry." Risa gave her a look.
How could she possibly stay at school with such conclusive evidence?
-
The corridor leading to the lockers in the teaching building was crowded with students who had come to watch. Hearing footsteps, the crowd parted automatically like a tide.
Risa strolled leisurely to her locker, her hands behind her back, her hair swaying slightly as she tilted her head, looking just like a harmless rabbit.
"Sanada-kun—"
She suddenly tiptoed closer, her large, innocent eyes blinking, "Excuse me, do you have a search warrant?"
"Or rather..." Risa drawled, tapping the metal door of the locker with her fingertip, "that Rikkai University's disciplinary committee members can just rummage through students' personal belongings? Hmm?"
Faced with these two questions about death, the onlookers gasped in horror.
This scene reminded them of last month when she single-handedly took on two of the fan club's biggest bullies.
Sanada's brows furrowed into a tight knot, and the shadows under his brow bone grew even darker.
He didn't have any search warrant; he just wanted to use the disciplinary committee's inspection as a pretext to thoroughly investigate whether any students were carrying suspicious items, and also to see if she had the line drawings for that set of comics in her closet.
“If you don’t have any contraband, you don’t need to feel guilty,” Sanada said in a deep voice.
"Oh?" Risa laughed. "What if I have a special issue about Yukimura from 'Tennis Monthly' in my closet? Would that be considered contraband?"
A commotion broke out around them, with onlookers whispering and gossiping among themselves.
Sanada's face turned as black as the bottom of a pot: "...Matsuno Risa!"
"Just kidding."
She chuckled lightly, the key dangling from her fingertip. "But, Sanada-kun, are you sure you want to search here? What if you uncover some girl's secret..."
Sanada pursed his lips, and his ears turned a suspicious red.
"That's incredibly lax," he growled in a low voice, glaring fiercely at her.
Risa pouted and raised her hands in a gesture of surrender: "Fine, fine, I'll cooperate, okay?"
She swaggered to the locker, her fingers gripping the key, and paused deliberately before aiming it at the lock.
"Speaking of—Disciplinary Committee Chairman,"
Risa turned to Sanada: "According to Article 5 of Chapter 8 of the Rikkai University Campus Safety Code, shouldn't a female supervisor be present when searching a female student's personal belongings?"
Sanada froze, his ears turning a deep, almost bloodshot red. He mechanically turned to the crowd, his voice hoarse: "Shimabukuro... Shimabukuro-san!"
The bespectacled girl wearing an armband stepped forward quickly, a glint of light flashing from her lenses: "Excuse me, Matsuno-kun."
She lowered her voice as she took the keys: "By the way, I really like your little devil chibi badge design."
Risa paused for a moment. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of a limited-edition bracelet under the cuff of the other person's uniform. It was a mini version of the "Little Devil Series" lucky charm, a hidden item that could only be obtained with a lottery ticket from customers who placed an order of 10,000 yen or more in the first batch.
As the key turned, the cabinet door slowly opened: neatly stacked textbooks, indoor shoes, spare hair ties, a folding umbrella... and a sketchbook with curled edges.
Risa's pupils contracted slightly.
Although it wouldn't matter much if someone saw this sketchbook, but...
Shimabukuro's movements were clean and efficient; he quickly pulled out the sketchbook.
"Let me see." Sanada eagerly took the sketchbook, opened it, and was immediately struck dumb.
Risa: "..."
That was an alternative plan for the second batch of pre-sales. Because it didn't look serious or official enough, it was unanimously decided to use it as a lottery plan when the time was right.
The sketchbook, which she had left in the locker as a discarded draft, was now openly laid out in Sanada's hands.
The latest page prominently features a chibi-style doodle of Sanada being knocked unconscious by a tennis ball, with the caption: 【Disciplinary Committee Member's Day - Special Episode】
The entire corridor fell silent instantly.
Sanada's fists clenched so tightly they cracked, his eyes blazing beneath his brow, and every word seemed to be squeezed out from between his teeth.
"Pine, wild, pear, sedge—"
Risa took two steps back, her back against the locker: "Wait, wait a minute! There's a reason for this—"
"The reason?" Sanada took a step forward, and the ground seemed to tremble.
At the critical moment, Risa suddenly widened her eyes and pointed behind him: "Yukimura-kun!"
The instant Sanada turned around reflexively, she snatched back the sketchbook with lightning speed and darted out of the encirclement.
Behind him, Sanada's furious roar echoed through the sky:
"Too lax!!!"
Risa ran swiftly through the twilight, and as she rounded the corner of the corridor, she unexpectedly crashed into a wall of flesh. A numbness and a stinging pain in her nose instantly brought tears to her eyes.
"Running so fast, are you hiding from some ferocious beast?" A familiar voice came from above, with a hint of laughter.
She looked up through teary eyes and met the boy's downcast gaze.
Yukimura gently supported her shoulder, his palm warm. The twilight flowed along the curve of his eyelashes, and his usually calm eyes now held the gentlest sunset in all of Kanagawa.
Sunset. Dusk. A beautiful woman.
Risa forgot to breathe for a moment.
The sound of the wind chasing her and the whistle from the distant stadium all turned into a roar that made my blood rush to my ears.
"My frail and sickly yet incredibly powerful, peerlessly beautiful, gentle yet cunning white moonlight..."
The barrage of super-long comments flooded my mind like a raging flood bursting through the dam, rushing down three thousand miles unstoppable.
—This damn suspension bridge effect actually made her heart race at the thought of minors.
As footsteps approached in the distance, Risa glanced at them sideways, and when she looked away, a smirk appeared on her lips as she hatched a wicked plan.
She tilted her head back, tiptoed closer to Yukimura, her eyelashes fluttered, and a thin layer of mist rose in her eyes.
"Yukimura-kun..."
Her voice trembled slightly, and her fingertips gently gripped his collar.
"I'm being chased."
His voice was low and soft, with a hint of panic, like a cat that had been soaked by the rain.
Please help me.
-----------------------
A word from the author: Thank you all for your continued support.
After 30 days of writing, I had accumulated 700 followers. Honestly, I almost cried when I saw that number. Thank you so much everyone!
For the past few days, I've been hesitating about whether to make it a paid subscription, and I feel a bit apologetic to those who have been following the story. However, if I don't make it a paid subscription, it might not get any more rankings or exposure. This book represents a lot of my hard work and passion; I had to promote it while writing, and I've received quite a bit of ridicule. But regardless, I hope to have more exposure so that like-minded people can see it.
Starting tomorrow, this will be a paid chapter, beginning with chapter 22. So I'm releasing this chapter early after revisions, hoping you all can see it soon.
According to the rules for paid content, there will be a 10,000-word update early Thursday morning (if I can finish writing it). I hope everyone will continue to enjoy this story. (Author bows 90 degrees)
Finally, thank you to all the lovely people who have been contributing nutrients and commenting on the discussion. Thank you also to those who threw "thunderbolts" (a form of online marketing for negative feedback): 74993146, 一只脱纾的兔子？, Empty, Deserve.., Cherry, and Miss Yuuko. With the support of these six people, plus the author's own money to commission a cover, it should be ready by tomorrow. Thank you all for your continued support! [Heart emoji]
This must be the longest preface I've ever written ovo
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