Under the murderous glares of the two witches, Luo Shu maintained his smile, continuing to peel pistachios and feed them to Mukuro Hoshimiya until the girl's already slightly round face resembled a squirrel's.
Seeing Luo Shu's shameless behaviour, Aya Tokoyogi shot Natsuki Minamiya a look.
'Can't you think of a way to kick this bastard out?'
Natsuki Minamiya wasn't sure how she'd interpreted that meaning from Aya's eyes, but her right hand resting on her lap unconsciously scratched at her left hand.
Then.
Aya Tokoyogi sent another glance.
But this time, what came across was a technique.
And surprisingly, it was an Arcane Art that could transmit information through eye contact alone.
'What the hell, Aya? Since when did you develop this kind of technique?'
Natsuki Minamiya instantly grasped the technique but couldn't use it.
This was a witch-exclusive technique. She wasn't a witch anymore, so naturally it wouldn't work.
'Damn, has Aya gotten so angry she's forgotten I'm not a witch?'
Faced with Aya Tokoyogi's continuous eye messages, Natsuki Minamiya gritted her teeth. Just as she was about to explain, Luo Shu spoke up:
"Are you two flirting with your eyes?"
"Seems my interpretation earlier wasn't wrong then!"
At these words, Aya Tokoyogi immediately lowered her gaze, not daring to look at Natsuki Minamiya.
However, the fist hidden in her sleeve clenched slightly tighter.
On the other side, unable to respond to Aya in front of Luo Shu since she couldn't use the technique, Natsuki Minamiya had no choice but to steel herself and say:
"Luo Shu, could you step outside for a moment?"
"And watch you two argue from out there?"
Luo Shu tossed a peeled pistachio into his mouth and mocked:
"If you two could communicate properly, you wouldn't have ended up in this mess to begin with."
Natsuki Minamiya's face froze. She had to admit Luo Shu's words held some truth.
"Besides, with me here, I can at least mediate. If I leave and your talk breaks down, if Aya runs away, next time you see her might be her corpse."
Hearing Luo Shu call her 'Aya', Aya Tokoyogi shot him an icy glare.
The gaze was too obvious for Luo Shu to miss, so he immediately adopted a sarcastic tone:
"'Aya' is only for my dear Natsuki to call. Who do you think you are, daring to use that name?"
Natsuki Minamiya shivered at these words.
Aya Tokoyogi was so angry that she rolled her eyes and muttered, "Bastard!" before turning away.
Seeing this, Luo Shu chuckled:
"Wrong wording, but that's the gist of it, no? What, did your parents give you a name people aren't allowed to use?"
Aya Tokoyogi's face darkened instantly, and she began struggling against her chains, ready to leave.
She feared that staying here any longer would make her die of anger.
But before she could move, the chains binding her suddenly tightened.
In an instant, Aya Tokoyogi turned her head and saw Natsuki Minamiya's apologetic face.
Seeing this, Aya Tokoyogi fell silent for a moment, ceasing her struggles. Yet she wasn't idle—secretly, she began preparing an escape technique.
Though she knew it was futile, she started the preparations nonetheless.
Noticing Aya Tokoyogi had calmed down, Natsuki Minamiya immediately turned to glare at Luo Shu:
"Can't you speak properly? Why must you be so sarcastic?"
Luo Shu didn't respond. Instead, he lowered his head and muttered to Mukuro Hoshimiya:
"See that, Mukuro? That's your Natsuki-sensei for you—a woman who discards the old for the new. Back when she was chasing me, she even called me 'Shu-kun.' Now it's just 'you, you, you.'"
"One glance from her ex-wife, and she forgets all about her current partner. Serves her right—divorce court awaits!"
"Enough already!"
Natsuki Minamiya couldn't take it anymore. Fuming, she stood up and shouted at Luo Shu:
"When did I ever chase after you? And who's calling you 'Shu-kun'? What's this nonsense about 'loving the old and loathing the new'? How dare you misuse idioms to insult people?"
Luo Shu didn't even lift his eyelids, casually eating pistachios as he remarked:
"She's rattled, she's rattled!"
Mukuro Hoshimiya immediately asked like an inquisitive child: "What does 'she's rattled' mean?"
Unfazed about corrupting youth, Luo Shu answered with mock seriousness:
"It means I've hit upon an embarrassing truth she doesn't want exposed, so she's desperate to chase me away!"
Mukuro nodded in sudden understanding:
"So that's what 'she's rattled' means. Then Natsuki-sensei is truly rattled."
Natsuki's face turned red.
Not from shyness, but sheer fury!
She wanted to whip Luo Shu with her chains, but he was holding Mukuro, and Aya Tokoyogi was watching nearby. Even she wasn't thick-skinned enough to act out.
Wait... Aya was watching?
Natsuki turned and immediately caught Aya's meaningful gaze.
'Chasing after a man? Calling him 'Shu-kun'? Since when were you such a forward woman, Natsuki Minamiya?'
Even without Aya's technique, Natsuki understood that look perfectly - and wished she hadn't.
Panting heavily, she abruptly turned, grabbed the black tea from the side table, abandoning her usual refined sipping to gulp down half in one go. She slammed the cup down, wiped her mouth, and sat back with a darkened expression:
"From now on, no more irrelevant talk. Let's discuss how to handle Aya's situation directly."
Glaring at Luo Shu, she snapped:
"You speak first!!"
"One more word of nonsense and I'm walking out right now."
"You'd leave?" Luo Shu feigned shock. "Then I could do all sorts of things to helpless Aya in your room?"
Natsuki: "???"
Aya: "!!!"
'Doing that to me in Natsuki's room?'
Aya wasn't stupid - she understood Luo Shu's implication perfectly. And precisely because she understood... she found it rather amusing.
'How interesting. Your little man seems more interested in me, doesn't he?'
Natsuki received this silent message with a blank face. Which only infuriated her more.
That mocking 'Oh dear, your taste seems questionable!' vibe - especially coming from Aya - made her blood boil.
She desperately wanted to storm out. But Natsuki knew Luo Shu might actually follow through.
And most crucially...
Aya might genuinely roll with it just to spite her!!
This wasn't a gamble she dared take!
Though this garrison room wasn't her real home, she'd decorated it carefully. The mere thought of those two defiling her brand-new mattress made her nauseated.
Natsuki's breathing became erratic.
Like a boiling kettle.
She grabbed her teacup and hastily drained the remaining liquid.
Not daring to let Luo Shu speak first anymore, she ground out through clenched teeth:
"Since you won't propose how to handle Aya, I'll take charge!!"
Hearing this, Luo Shu smiled.
He peeled a pistachio and popped it into Mukuro Hoshimiya's mouth, then said cheerfully:
"You talk, I'll listen. If anything's unacceptable, I'll point it out for you to revise."
At Luo Shu's words, Natsuki Minamiya's breathing hitched, but she suppressed her temper and gritted her teeth as she began negotiating with him.
Right now, she just wanted this damned matter over with so she could kick Luo Shu out—no, kick Aya out too!
Her newly bought bed was for her alone! She absolutely wouldn't let these two bastards roll around on it!!