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Chapter 65
Words counted-- 1400
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Aki, still basking in his small victory, whistled as he strolled down the hallway. 'Today's turning out pretty well,' he thought.
"I haven't seen Rena today though... Should I look for her after school? Maybe a karaoke session or something. We did go on a date, and we haven't talked since." His mind wandered as he walked, then he remembered the stalker that had been trailing him since break. 'Ugh... should I deal with her too?'. He sighed, already feeling exhausted by the idea of confronting her. I should just reject her directly this time, he concluded, shaking his head to clear the nagging thought.
As he descended the stairs, something caught his eye. Two familiar figures were walking below him, carrying large bundles of papers and books. Aki squinted, recognizing one of them immediately. Isn't that Yuriko-senpai? His eyes shifted to the girl beside her. And... Hori? Wait, Hori from Horimiya?! Aki blinked in confusion seeing both of them, his thoughts spiraling. 'Hold up... something feels really off.'
"Sempai!" Aki called out from the stairwell, his voice echoing in the hallway. Both girls stopped in their tracks and looked up, startled.
"Ah, Shijo-kun!" Yuriko exclaimed, smiling brightly at the sight of him. "Were you up on the rooftop? Or sneaking around?" she teased, her tone light and playful smiling at her junior whom she had just met this morning.
She could already tell that this mischievous boy was full of surprises. From the rumors she had heard around the school, and what she has witnessed till now.
Aki Shijo was someone who truly enjoyed life to the fullest, often bending the rules and pushing boundaries without a second thought.
She remembered hearing the wild stories about him- showing up to school dressed in a girl's uniform, only to arrive today riding a motorbike like a rebellious gangster. 'This guy really knows how to make a scene,' she thought with a smile, already intrigued by his carefree.
Aki grinned, sliding down the stair railing with practiced ease. "Sempai, let me help you with those," he said, swooping in to take the stack of papers from Yuriko before she could protest.
"Eh, but won't you get tired?" Yuriko asked, her eyes widening in surprise as Aki casually balanced the hefty load.
"Haha, don't worry, senpai! I may look like this, but I'm pretty strong," Aki boasted, puffing out his chest a little in pride.
'Shijo-kun, the humble hero, here to save the day!' he thought, silently congratulating himself on his gallant behavior.
'But my body isn't showing any refinement of muscles, even though I'm pretty strong," Aki thought to himself. 'Maybe it's due to a lack of proper nutrition... or due to aki habits of consuming those questionable substances.'
Despite his strength, Aki knew that his physique didn't exactly scream "athlete." What he relied on the most was his skill—developed from years of hanging out with his friends at the dojo's and other places. His mastery over various fighting techniques was what truly made him formidable, not his size or visible muscle.
Shaking off these thoughts, Aki turned to Yuriko with a grin. "Sempai, how about helping hori-san with half of her books? It looks like she's carrying quite a load," he said, trying to be helpful as he gestured toward the stack of books in hori's arms.
"Hori?" the girl repeated, blinking in confusion. She pointed to herself, clearly unsure of what he was talking about.
"Umm, isn't your family name Hori ?" Aki asked, his brow furrowing. He tilted his head, clearly puzzled.
Yuriko, unable to contain her amusement, burst into a soft laugh. "No, Shijo-kun! This is my sister,Kyouko. You must've confuse her with someone. Kyouko, introduce yourself."
"Hello, my name is Kyouko Koyanagi. I'm from Class 1-C," she said, bowing slightly in greeting.
Aki blinked in surprise. 'Same section as Shikimori-san, huh... WAIT, that's not what's important right now!"
He raised his head, a look of disbelief on his face. "Why Koyanagi? Not Hori? Isn't the title supposed to be HORIMIYA? HORI-MIYA! What went wrong with the plot?!'
Looking at Yuriko, Aki suddenly realized why he had been feeling confused a moment ago. 'Wait a minute... isn't Yuriko supposed to be Hori... no, Kyouko's mother? Why is she her sister now? Is that proverb —"Mother and daughter are best friends (sisters) forever" coming true? This is seriously messing with my head.'
He sighed deeply, shaking his head in frustration. 'I can't even trust my little bit of knowledge anymore...'
"What's wrong, Shijo? You don't look too well. Are they heavy? We can share them," Yuriko said with concern, noticing the strange expression on Aki's face as he stood there, looking puzzled.
Hearing Yuriko's concerned voice, Aki snapped back to reality. "Ah, I'm fine, I was just in a bit of a dilemma. Um, Koyanagi-san, my name's Aki, Aki Shijo. Nice to meeting you. Let's make sure we greet each other properly now that we've exchanged names."
He noticed Yuriko glancing at him oddly. Confused, Aki asked, "Uh, what's wrong, Sempai?"
"Shijo-kun, you do realize I'm also Koyanagi, right?"
Aki blinked and then laughed awkwardly. "Ah, sorry about that, Sempai. Then can I call you Kyouko-san, just so I don't confuse the two of you? Are you fine with that koyanagi san." he said, addressing the younger Koyanagi instead of the older koyanagi.
I'm fine with it but-" Kyouko responded with a smile, though her gaze shifted toward her sister.
Hori—now Kyouko—looked at her sister who seemed calm on the outside, but she could sense something really dangerous.
It was fine for Aki to call her by her first name, but shouldn't he have said that to her older sister first? As she considered questioning him about this, Kyouko noticed the playful glint in Aki's eyes. 'This guy… he's playing with fire!' she thought, realizing that Aki's mischievous behavior was deliberate, teasing her and her sister.
Kyouko realized Aki was teasing her sister, and while he might think he was just playing around, she knew he was playing with fire. Her sister was calm, beautiful, elegant, and playful, but Kyouko also knew that she could be really dangerous when she got mad.
'Ah, I like this,' Kyouko thought, finding the idea of playing with fire exciting. "If it's okay with you, then can I call you Aki too?" Kyouko asked, her curiosity piqued.
Despite the obvious tension in the air, and the misunderstanding of her sister, Yuriko seemed oblivious, watching the interaction with a knowing smile. She had already pegged Aki as someone who enjoyed mischief, but she hadn't expected him to tease them so openly. But her sister Kyouko wasn't someone to be toyed with, and she sensed this might get interesting.
As they walked down the corridor, Aki continued talking casually with Yumiko and Kyouko. Yumiko suddenly said, "We're here. Student Council Hall."
"Come in!" came a voice from inside before they even knocked.
"Hah, okay…" Aki muttered, following behind the sisters. As they entered, the first person to greet them was a man wearing glasses.
"Oh, Koyanagi-san. And your sister too. And who might this be?" Sengoku asked, eyeing Aki curiously.
"Ah, this is Shijo-kun, Sengoku- san" Yumiko answered, smiling.
"Humm… Oh! Shijo-kun!" another voice chimed in from behind Sengoku. It was Shirogane, sitting at one of the desks, looking up from a stack of papers.
Aki raised an eyebrow in surprise, recognizing the familiar face. "Oh, Shirogane-san! Long time no see. I forgot you mentioned you were in the Student Council."
"You two know each other?" Kyouko asked, intrigued as she looked between Aki and Shirogane.
"Yeah," Shirogane nodded, "we met once briefly a while back. Not much, though."
Kyouko glanced at Shirogane, then back at Aki. "Sounds like a small world," she said, folding her arms. "So, Shijo-kun, do you often end up bumping into random people like this?"
Aki chuckled. "You could say that. Life has a way of throwing surprises my way."
Yumiko, noticing Sengoku's curious gaze, quickly added, "Sengoku-kun, we brought the documents you requested earlier."
Sengoku nodded. "Great, let's get started then. You too, Shijo-kun, Right! since you're already here. You might as well help."
"Sure," Aki agreed with a shrug.
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