Cherreads

Chapter 38 - Pressing a Handprint, Not Just a Verbal Threat

Damn it, damn it, damn it!

I was so focused on the bench just now that I didn't even think to look at the grass, and I completely missed that there was someone lying there.

Who is that?!

How long have they been there?!

How much of my behavior just now did they hear and see?!

Kikyō Kushida's mind was spinning wildly.

Should she just walk away as if nothing had happened?

Kikyō Kushida believed that without concrete evidence, given her popularity and connections, no one would believe a single person's account. She could even turn the tables on them when the time came.

But…

After seeing that familiar face, Kikyō Kushida couldn't stop herself from walking over.

...

'If you come any closer, I'm going to see everything,' Natsuki Subaru thought.

Seeing Kikyō Kushida walk right up to him without a care for the risk of exposure, he sighed with a bit of helplessness in his heart.

"Subaru-kun~"

"What are you doing here all alone so late?"

As if nothing had happened, Kikyō Kushida spoke to Natsuki Subaru in her cloyingly sweet voice, "You'll catch a cold if you're not careful~"

As she spoke, Kikyō Kushida took a few more steps closer to Natsuki Subaru and then crouched down.

Her seemingly innocent and pure eyes stared intently at Natsuki Subaru's face, trying to discern something from his upcoming reply. If she did, Kikyō Kushida would have to take certain actions.

'Her mental fortitude is really quite good.'

'If people in Japan had Kikyo-san's kind of mental fortitude, the suicide rate would probably drop significantly.'

"I come here to sit for a while sometimes."

Natsuki Subaru smiled at the Kikyō Kushida crouching beside him. He didn't continue lying down while talking to her, but instead stood up and brushed the grass and dust from his clothes.

"But today, I suddenly felt like lying down here."

"Maybe it was a little too comfortable lying down, and I accidentally fell asleep."

One could only say that Kikyō Kushida's luck wasn't that great.

Normally, although Natsuki Subaru would come here to sit for a while by himself, he wouldn't stay for too long—half an hour to an hour at most.

Kikyō Kushida probably didn't come here very often either, and she would choose a later time to do so.

Under normal circumstances, the probability of Kikyō Kushida and Natsuki Subaru running into each other was truly not high.

If Natsuki Subaru hadn't been thinking about what happened in the library with Hiyori Shiina that afternoon, causing his emotions to fluctuate a bit too much and making him accidentally fall asleep, they might have graduated after three years without ever meeting here.

And even if they had met, it wouldn't necessarily have been when Kikyō Kushida was venting.

After all, every time Kikyō Kushida vented, she would first check her surroundings to make sure no one was around before she would relax a little and pour out all the emotional garbage in her heart.

"Oh, is that so?"

"So Subaru-kun has been sleeping here this whole time."

Kikyō Kushida tilted her head slightly and continued to ask as if she didn't know anything, "I thought I heard some noise over here just now. Subaru-kun, did you hear anything?"

"For example… the sound of someone losing their temper unhappily."

"..."

Natsuki Subaru looked at Kikyō Kushida without speaking.

They remained quiet for several seconds, and just as Kikyō Kushida was about to lose her composure, Natsuki Subaru finally spoke again, saying, "Kikyo-san, you don't have to probe any further."

"The things Kikyō Kushida said just now, and the way you kicked the guardrail—I heard and saw everything."

Completely unfazed by the sudden collapse of Kikyō Kushida's composure, Natsuki Subaru just smiled lightly.

"So, Kikyo-san, what are you going to do now?"

"Are you going to cut ties with me, your 'number one friend'?"

Without any beating around the bush or preamble, Natsuki Subaru directly told Kikyō the truth.

And as Natsuki Subaru's voice fell, the cloyingly sweet expression on Kikyō Kushida's face vanished.

Slowly standing up, the sense of intimacy Kikyō Kushida had deliberately created by crouching down vanished in an instant with this series of changes.

Kikyō Kushida stood up straight, lifted her chin slightly, and the feigned innocence in her eyes completely disappeared, replaced by the true nature deep within her heart and an undisguised hostility.

"If you dare tell anyone about this, I won't let you off."

Kikyō Kushida's voice was no longer coy or sweet, but a flat, cold, and stark statement.

Like a fully unsheathed dagger, it displayed a chill never before seen in front of Natsuki Subaru.

"Oh?"

"Kikyo-san, what exactly are you going to do?"

Natsuki Subaru looked at Kikyō Kushida, who was now almost pressed against his chest, a playful smile appearing on his face.

'So you've completely dropped the pretense in front of me?'

'Kikyō Kushida.'

This undisguised hostility from Kikyō Kushida, and the essence she had completely revealed, was far more pleasing to the eye than her previous sweet facade. Natsuki Subaru liked it very much.

Because a Kikyō like this had faintly surpassed the category of 'kindred spirit'.

He was no longer paying attention to her just because he felt she was somewhat similar to himself. Instead, in Natsuki Subaru's eyes, she now possessed the high potential to have her own color.

An existence second only to Hiyori Shiina!

"If it's just a verbal threat, I'm afraid that's not enough leverage."

"What if I accidentally let slip what happened today…"

"Of course it's not just a verbal threat."

Kikyō Kushida directly interrupted Natsuki Subaru's unfinished sentence.

At this moment, Kikyō Kushida had completely lost the patience she had shown in the past. Taking advantage of the fact that they were almost pressed together, Kikyō Kushida grabbed Natsuki Subaru's hand.

She forced Natsuki Subaru's hand firmly against her left breast.

Beneath the fabric of the school uniform was the tactile sensation of a young woman's body, but at this moment, that sensation held no intimacy.

"If you dare leak a single word of what you saw or heard tonight…"

Seeing a flash of surprise finally cross Natsuki Subaru's emotionless eyes, Kikyō Kushida gave a cold laugh and said softly, "I will tell everyone that today, you, Natsuki Subaru, right here, right now, tried to force yourself on me."

___

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