Kita stood frozen in place, dazed for a long while, a sense of loss washing over her heart.
If one were to say that Kita's previous proactive moves were all because she was dazzled by lust, then after having such a conversation with Kanzaki Saku on impulse, she truly birthed the idea of wanting to change.
The power of love is great—or at least, Kita unilaterally decided so. It could make a person accustomed to hiding in the shadows yearn to walk into the light for the first time, even delusionally hoping to touch the sun.
As an ordinary person who was introverted and had low self-esteem, Kita had never thought that anyone would like her. Her memories from childhood to the present were a gray tableau pieced together from walking alone in corridors, conversations with lowered eyes, and futile envy directed at virtual stories late at night.
For someone who didn't even have friends, having a partner was something she dared not even imagine. That is, until a handsome male lead like Kanzaki Saku actually took the initiative to approach her, even if the relationship began through an unspeakable method of "assistance."
But it was precisely this format that made her even more convinced that Kanzaki Saku was not playing with her. Because the amount Kanzaki Saku asked for... rather than saying Kita was assisting him, it was more like he was assisting Kita.
Moreover, beyond the assistance relationship, Kanzaki Saku actively cared for her, introduced her to a band, and encouraged her to make friends. It could be said that, setting aside Kanzaki Saku's job, he was the perfect man for Kita.
And Kita did not want to let down Kanzaki Saku's good intentions. She decided that while making herself better, she would also help and "correct" Kanzaki Saku. She could feel from what Kanzaki Saku did for her that his essence was good and gentle; selling his body must be due to some unavoidable difficulties.
It was perfectly normal for Kita to think this way. It wasn't stupidity, but rather that humans who fall in love always instinctively plate the object of their admiration in gold and weave rationalized stories to hypnotize themselves.
Kita had only just shed her status as a virgin. Regarding the first member of the opposite sex with whom she had such intimate contact, and regarding the future, she naturally harbored unrealistic fantasies.
How did that song go again? If I were young and promising and not inferior~
Now, the motivation in Kita's heart was unprecedented. She wanted to desperately save more money through the band and part-time jobs, and then use this money to keep Kanzaki Saku. Not purchasing services as a client, but keeping him by her side in a more legitimate, long-lasting way.
She would make it so he no longer had to reveal that kind of smile to others, no longer had to involve himself in such transactions. She wanted to correct the wrong path Kanzaki Saku had taken and arrive at a happy ending together.
This plan was laughably naive, full of holes, and wishful thinking. But at this moment, in the corridor where the class bell was ringing, Kita Ikuyo, rubbing her sore legs with the blush still lingering on her face, felt the heart in her chest pounding for it.
*
In another school building not far away, at the base of the Kato Legion, Megumi Kato's heart was also beating violently, but the reason was perhaps a bit different from Kita's.
She was purely frightened!
Kato Megumi had just learned the news. Yesterday, while those delinquent girls around her—who insisted on making her the boss—were dragging her to drink celebratory wine she didn't want to drink, a gang known as the Service Club had nearly rushed in to wipe them all out.
"I heard the other side mobilized everyone. Yukinoshita Yukino led the team personally, seething with murderous intent..." The little sister reporting the news spoke with lingering fear in her tone. "It was all thanks to Strategist Kotegawa and Sister Kushida desperately maneuvering that we managed to persuade them to retreat."
As Kato Megumi listened, her face turned paler and paler, and the hands resting on her knees were trembling slightly.
Of course, in the eyes of the surrounding minions, the Boss was super-invincibly enraged because of the shameless sneak attack by her defeated opponents. She was so angry her face had turned white and her hands were shaking.
In reality, regarding her title as the "King of a Hundred Beasts," having worn it for so long, Kato Megumi had gotten somewhat used to it. She even started to enjoy some of the conveniences it brought.
Back when she wasn't treated as a delinquent boss by others, her extremely high presence made her miserable. Being called on in every class and forced to participate in sports festivals were minor issues. The problem was that whenever something happened around her, big or small, everyone thought of her first.
If a good deed was done, someone would jump out to claim it, but if she was misunderstood to have done something bad, no one would actively jump out to say they did it. Although there was no evidence she did it, those who spread gossip didn't care about evidence; the more explosive, the better.
This caused her reputation to be victimized, and she went down the path of becoming the legendary "Scapegoat King" with no return. Then came the turning point in Kato Megumi's fate.
A mysterious person defeated numerous delinquent girl seniors—that is, the delinquent matrons. Since no one claimed the identity of the mysterious person, the combo punch of public opinion gossip and her status as the Scapegoat King began to exert its force.
That's right, she, Kato Megumi, was immediately "decoded" as that mysterious person!
At first, Kato Megumi thought this was just another outrageous rumor that would pass quickly. However, she underestimated the power of rumors and also underestimated the mobility of the delinquent girls. Soon, delinquent girls saying "I want to follow you" really came knocking, indiscriminately honoring her as "Big Sister" and worshipping her as "The Woman Closest to the Vertex."
From then on, the Woman Closest to the Vertex, Kato Megumi, and her fan support group, the Kato Legion, made a sensational debut.
What Kato Megumi didn't expect was that she initially thought becoming a delinquent boss would make her more conspicuous and force her to take the blame for more things. But in fact, it was the exact opposite. After she became the King of a Hundred Beasts, most people didn't dare to look at her, and negative gossip about her basically went extinct.
Let alone teachers calling on her in class; they simply treated her as if she didn't exist. After all, arranging a living legend requires courage, which most people do not possess.
The low presence Kato Megumi had dreamed of was actually realized in this form. Was this the principle of "the higher the presence, the lower the presence"?
Kato Megumi didn't quite understand the philosophy behind it, but she clearly recognized that this identity of the King of a Hundred Beasts effectively reduced those annoying trivial attentions and malicious speculations from the past.
Then, unsurprisingly, an accident happened. That woman, Yukinoshita Yukino, announced war on the Kato Legion.
Kato Megumi originally didn't intend to respond. She didn't want to fight at all, nor did she know how to fight. However, the subjective initiative of her minions was too high.
"Big Sister disdains responding to the provocations of clowns!"
"Yukinoshita? Is she even worthy of Sister Hui acting personally? Let's go meet her first!"
Thus, with Kato Megumi herself almost completely unaware, the friction between the two groups escalated from verbal arguments to small-scale conflicts, and then snowballed into a full-scale confrontation. Even major events like the "Decisive Battle" were things she only learned about on the morning of the battle itself.
____
New Story: FGO: Building a Lostbelt from Scratch, the Winner is Canon
✅ Access up to 40 advanced chapters of ALL stories!
✅ Receive exclusive content and updates!
Help us hit our community goals:
🎯 100 Powerstones = +1 Bonus Chapter for everyone
🚀 180 MEMBERS = +5 extra chapters of ALL STORIES!
👻 P - Walnutchan