Chapter 120: Since We're Chasing Excitement, Then…
"Did you find what you were looking for?"
After indulging Mai's whims throughout the lunch break, Ren supported her limp body and asked with patience.
Mai was quite the character, daring to kiss him until her lips swelled. Anyone who'd experienced kissing would recognize what had happened from those vivid, slightly swollen lips, but Mai had abandoned rationality and couldn't be bothered to dwell on it.
She now felt incomparable comfort and ease, having finally understood what she lacked and desired.
"Senpai, would you skip class with me?"
Mai brushed back the hair sticking to her cheek, appearing completely renewed. Her expression was no longer irritable or distressed but had returned to its usual confident and relaxed state as she smiled and extended the invitation to Ren.
"Of course I will."
Their heart-to-heart conversation wasn't over yet. Ren accepted Mai's invitation and left school with her, not through the main gate but by climbing over the wall.
"Have you always been suppressing yourself normally?"
Watching the girl known as perfect among classmates happily doing things only delinquents would do, Ren voiced his speculation upon seeing Mai's content smile.
Some good girls are just acting—whether voluntarily or not—and that accumulates a lot of stress.
Mai's current state was an explosion after reaching her limit, completely disregarding her usual image and doing things the perfect her would never do.
"Maybe so. I always have to maintain my perfect image and sometimes suppress certain thoughts to preserve it. It's embarrassing, isn't it, Senpai? Clearly not being that capable, yet persisting for the sake of face and image, only to become so fragile that I eventually have to let it all out."
"I should thank you, Senpai. I've verified what I suspected in my heart. I'm not particularly obsessed with kissing, nor am I tired of being a good girl wanting to fall from grace. I just wanted to find someone I could rely on to vent and depend on."
"Previously I thought that person had to be Renako, but now I've discovered that person could actually be you too, Senpai."
"Sometimes I really wonder—am I too concerned with face, or are Satsuki and I not truly friends? After all, if they were real friends, I wouldn't worry about being laughed at for sharing such things."
Mai said with a radiant smile. After fully indulging in acting cute with Ren, she had come to understand herself. She truly liked Renako very much.
But that fondness was because Renako accepted her vulnerable side—a side she thought she could only show to someone she loved deeply.
However, after venting with Ren, she realized things weren't actually that serious. She had just been somewhat conflicted herself, having maintained her perfect image with friends and classmates for too long, accumulating baggage that made it hard to lower her pride and confide in Koto Satsuki and the others.
"I see. Congratulations on understanding your heart. It seems you can breakthrough with other friends into becoming close confidants, as long as you can swallow your pride and open up to them."
"If you're too perfect, you'll only make people around you feel inferior and afraid to connect with you heart-to-heart."
No wonder the hint said to open up her heart—Ren now understood why. Mai was also a beautiful girl lacking love, with certain personality flaws.
But these weren't major issues. As long as she confided in friends and made them realize she wasn't actually that perfect, true friends would only deepen their bonds upon learning more about her vulnerable side.
"Right, but I don't plan to do that. Because I'm still the perfect Mai. Only Renako and you, Senpai, need to know about my embarrassing side. Even if Satsuki and Ajisai don't know this part of me, they're still my best friends. I don't want to embarrass myself in front of them—I'd be laughed at."
Mai nodded in agreement but smiled and stated she didn't intend to do so.
Wasn't the very nature of a secret that it remained unknown to others?
She hoped this matter and her vulnerable side would become a shared secret between her, Ren, and Renako.
"That's up to you. So now you can't still be hung up on my girlfriend, right?"
Ren was indifferent to this; his main goal was to make Mai give up her illusions about Renako.
"No, I'm not hung up anymore. After all, Renako only wants to be friends with me."
"I thought it over carefully. Even if Renako and I don't become lovers, our relationship shouldn't be greatly affected just because she's dating you, Senpai."
"But if I like her, that's different. It would actually worsen my relationship with Renako. Lately, she's been almost constantly neglecting me. Thinking about it, I brought all this upon myself."
Mai spoke with emotion, realizing she merely lacked a friend or lover who could listen to her, let her act spoiled freely, and tolerate her minor flaws. Only then did she discover she didn't actually like Renako that much.
She only liked Renako because, previously, Renako was the only one who could tolerate her.
But there were actually plenty of people who could accept her flaws like Renako did.
Upon reflection, it would be similar with Satsuki or Ajisai, because they were all true friends.
"Good that you understand. I think Renako would be very happy to hear you say that. Although she might neglect you, deep down she's somewhat disappointed. After all, you're her friends in class, while Bocchi-chan and I are ultimately not in the same grade as her."
Ren's tone was also relieved. It didn't matter if she was a troubled girl—what mattered was that she could be guided back on track.
"Me too. But, Senpai, aren't you going to take responsibility?"
Regarding Renako, Mai had already formed a clear perspective. She was happy to be friends with her; otherwise, she wouldn't have confided in her.
Perhaps Renako thought of herself as ordinary, but the fact that she didn't gossip behind Mai's back or tell anyone else after learning Mai's secret already set her above many others.
This quality was rare and precious. Moreover, they were somewhat kindred spirits—both acting in ways that weren't truly themselves and troubled by it.
Yet they both enjoyed it and were willing to become the people they aspired to be.
This applied to both Renako and Mai herself.
So what about Ren?
Mai's feelings towards him had already undergone a change. Before meeting Ren, he was an unattainable idol and a slightly admired figure in her eyes.
The songs Ren released not only encouraged Renako but also touched her—the power of music could alleviate her worries.
After getting to know Ren, Mai realized he wasn't as aloof as she had imagined; instead, he carried an elegant and amiable demeanor.
Although at one point she thought he had stolen the person she liked and considered him a jerk.
But after experimenting by confiding in him and acting spoiled, Mai's impression of him changed again.
It seemed, perhaps, that she had fallen for her friend's lover. After all, her vulnerable side wasn't something just anyone could see—otherwise, why wouldn't she go to Satsuki or the others instead of turning to Ren, her rival in love?
Of course, it had to do with her impulsively offering her first kiss back then, but the most important factor was the feeling in her heart. She didn't dislike Ren, especially after freely acting spoiled in front of him and feeling immensely relaxed.
They kissed throughout the entire lunch break—even without feelings, that much kissing could stir something.
Her family background wasn't poor; she lacked nothing in material comforts, so she cared deeply about spiritual satisfaction, and Ren happened to fulfill that need for her.
Thus, she inevitably developed a flutter for Ren.
"Take responsibility?"
This topic was rather sensitive. Ren hadn't really thought about taking responsibility—after all, in this matter, he hadn't lost out at all.
If Mai hadn't previously believed she liked Renako and pursued her, he might not have had such an easy time winning Renako over.
But if she were to demand he take responsibility, he felt it unnecessary. Their relationship was transactional, not romantic—kissing didn't obligate him to commit.
"Senpai, you seem surprised. Do you not want to take responsibility? Or do you not want to betray Renako?"
Seeing Ren's astonished expression, Mai sighed inwardly. She knew her words might come off as strange, but she had genuinely developed both emotional and physical flutters for him due to his companionship.
If she had felt nothing at all, kissing someone would definitely have made her show disgust and struggle intensely.
But she had done none of that—she had even actively embraced Ren, throwing herself entirely into the kiss.
She could also understand Ren's dilemma; after all, they had been rivals in love. But who said rivals couldn't be together? Sometimes, rivals understand each other best, right?
"A bit of both. Since you've observed me, you know what kind of people are around me, don't you?"
Ren countered with a subtle expression.
"Hmm... pink-haired beauties!?"
Mai quickly thought of the common trait among Hitori Gotou and the others, then looked at Ren in shock.
She had only suspected it before, never thinking it was true, but Ren's words were tantamount to laying his cards on the table.
Ren nodded candidly. Even if he hadn't been particularly fond of it before, after being with Hitori and the others, he had grown to like it very much.
"But this isn't too big of a problem, right? Don't you want to try something different occasionally, Senpai? No matter how much you like something, there will come a day when you get tired of it, won't there? I'm willing to be the seasoning that balances your relationships, and I'm also very curious about how you manage to maintain them."
Mai, having recovered from her shock, was not discouraged by Ren's rejection.
Not having pink hair was the reason and disadvantage for her rejection by Ren, but it was also her advantage in pursuing him.
If everyone had pink hair, then she, with her golden hair, would become the more unique one among Hitori and the others.
She could not only allow Ren to experience different feelings of novelty and excitement but also enrich his tastes.
There are so many beautiful girls—you can favor pink-haired beauties the most, but why limit yourself to them?
"That makes sense. Then I'll give you a task: you're responsible for persuading Renako. After all, you were friends before, and you were in the roles of pursuer and pursued."
Having said this much, and considering that she was a beautiful girl who had given him her first kiss—it was already settled—Ren did not refuse.
But there were some things he didn't want to handle himself, so he assigned that task to Mai.
"I will, but not now, Senpai. I understand things about you."
Seeing that Ren had accepted her, Mai smiled charmingly and then began chatting with him about their respective lives.
She shared her family situation and upbringing, revealing her more vulnerable and hidden side to Ren—things that even Renako and the others didn't know.
Through this, Ren learned that she came from a single-parent family and understood why her personality was a bit complicated.
She wasn't trying to gain sympathy, but she earned his care, and his situation was somewhat similar.
When she found out that Ren was an orphan, Mai felt pleased to know this and developed a sense of camaraderie with him, though her feelings were more centered on caring for him.
Then they talked about Ren's harem. Now that Mai was part of it, she wanted to verify if her assumptions were correct.
Naturally, they weren't wrong. Ren told her about Hitori and the others.
His behavior of maintaining a harem was silently attributed by Mai to his lack of love since childhood. As someone from a single-parent family, she at least had a mother, even if they didn't spend much time together—she was still the closest person.
But Ren had no such person. How could his personality, shaped under such circumstances, be without issues? If his harem was just due to a lack of love, she could fully accept it.
"Senpai, if you need to, you can totally think of me as your mom~"
Believing she had understood and deciphered Ren's inner self, Mai patted her chest, indicating that he could freely act spoiled with her. Maybe she wasn't entirely qualified, but she was willing to fill the maternal love he lacked.
"It's a shame you don't have that kind of aura, and I'm not that maternal either."
Ren chuckled and shook his head. He truly didn't lack maternal love—Mai's misunderstanding was quite off the mark.
"It seems I still need to work harder, Senpai. Thank you so much for today. I'm really happy and content."
Mai didn't take it too seriously either. Such words could be treated as a joke—if Ren was in the mood, she'd play along; if not, there was no need to dwell on it.
"I can tell your smile is much more natural than before. But you should prepare yourself for your mom's interrogation when you get home tonight. The teacher's phone call has probably already reached overseas."
"I know. I've already received the text messages, but I don't feel like dealing with them today. Since we're going for excitement, we might as well go all the way, right? Senpai, would you like to come to my place for a while?"
As she spoke, Mai playfully winked at Ren. Though her tone was questioning, she was already pulling him by the hand toward her home—she didn't give him any choice in the matter.
Having mustered the courage to confess to Renako, another girl, just the day after developing feelings, her decisiveness was beyond ordinary.
The same applied to Ren. Since she liked him, she was determined to match her feelings with corresponding resolve and action. Not only would she skip class with Ren, but she would also bring him home—taking this excitement all the way to the end...