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With her perfect, ero-worthy appearance and illustrious family background, Natsuya Yoruhana was basically the fantasy of every boy at Genhana High School.
To be polite in describing it, she was the dream girlfriend of every high school boy, and if a more vulgar description was used, er…
At any rate, Yukari felt that Natsuya Yoruhana was an incredibly alluring girl. Yukari herself was attracted to Natsuya’s beauty, despite being a girl, so there was no need to even mention how a boy would feel.
There were many rumors that said Seigo Harano had some type of connection to Natsuya Yoruhana.
But afterwards, the two of them hadn’t been seen contacting each other… more accurately speaking, most average students hadn’t seen them together in public at all, which was why this rumor had died down.
Yukari never expected that now…
Yukari didn’t doubt Mika’s words at all; if she were lying, it would be a meaningless lie as it could be easily proven.
She believed that Natsuya Yoruhana had indeed invited Seigo Harano to spend the Winter Snow Festival together!
A moment of silence fell between them.
“Why are you telling me about this?” Yukari asked.
“Chiaki said that this is an apology for what she did to you last time,” Mika answered.
“Then why isn’t Wakaba-san telling me about this herself?”
“Because… she felt that it would be better for me to tell you.”
Yukari fell silent for a moment, contemplating Mika’s words. “Has she given up?”
“Eh?”
“Wakaba-san thinks that President Yoruhana is too strong of an opponent, so she’s decided to give up on Harano-san… is that the case?”
“No… I don’t think… er… I don’t know.” Mika didn’t know how to answer.
Chiaki didn’t want to give up on Seiji—she wanted to be his mistress! That was too awkward for Mika to say out loud.
“Uehara-san?” Yukari was a little confused by Mika’s reply.
“Chiaki said that she couldn’t think of any method to resist… I suppose it counts as giving up.” Mika could only answer in this way.
“Oh…”
“Asamiya-san, do you have any ideas?”
“Nope,” Yukari answered without hesitation. “President Yoruhana is a girl above all other girls. I don’t have any ideas about how to compete with her, either. To put it extremely, if I were a boy, I would definitely choose Natsuya Yoruhana, not myself. That’s simply how strong President Yoruhana’s charisma is.”
Mika was rendered speechless.
“But Harano-san isn’t me, he’s himself, so it’s still up to him.” Yukari smiled. “My opponent is incredibly strong, but this isn’t a valid reason to give up. At the very least, I won’t give up so easily, and I’ll still do what I can. The winner isn’t decided until the last moment… that’s what I believe. How about you, Uehara-san?”
Mika fell silent for a moment, before hardening her resolution. “I… don’t want to give up either. The president… she’s truly beautiful, truly amazing—a perfect girl in every aspect. Just like Asamiya-san said, if I were a boy, perhaps I would choose the president, not myself. But even so, I don’t want to give up just like this.”
Yukari smiled. “I feel like I can get along quite well with you, Uehara-san. You’re different from Wakaba-san… although when the two of you are together, she seems like the leader. But… I believe that you will walk farther down this path than her in the future.”
Mika didn’t know what she should say to this, so she chose to remain silent.
“Please continue being yourself, Uehara-san. Thank Wakaba-san for telling me about this as well.”
And then, Yukari hung up the call.
“Asamiya-san…” Mika put down her cell phone and lay down on her bed. She stared at the ceiling for a while and slowly closed her eyes.
…
Seiji called to Natsuya.
“Good evening, President,” he said when she picked up.
There was a five-second lull.
“Good evening, Haruta-kun,” Natsuya said in a weary voice.
‘Hmm? Why is Natsuya’s response rather slow and lacking in energy.’
“What’s the matter, President?” Seiji asked.
Natsuya sighed. “Nothing much… yes, it’s really nothing much…”
“Are you not feeling well?” Seiji ventured. “Or… is there some trouble?”
Natsuya fell silent for a moment.
“There is indeed a troublesome matter,” she confessed. “I was just forced to join a Winter Snow Festival party.”
“A party?”
“A party for all the major families’ young Yin-Yang Masters… at least that’s what it is in name—it’s actually more like a goukon .”
“A goukon …”
“You can also call it a marriage-interview party. At any rate, our generation of Yin-Yang Masters will show their abilities and look for boyfriend or girlfriend candidates at this party.”
“Oh…”
“I don’t want to join this party at all, but my family is forcing me into it, which is troubling me,” Natsuya said in a soft voice. “Haruta-kun… although it may be a little overboard, I would like to make a request of you.”
“What is it?”
“Please become my temporary Spirit-Branded Retainer once again and accompany me to this party.”
Seiji blinked in surprise. “Is this request… overboard?”
“Yes, because you may be injured, perhaps even seriously so,” the president told him in a serious tone.
Battling was the most common way that Yin-Yang Masters liked to display their abilities. This would definitely occur at that party.
Natsuya was reluctant to fight, but she knew that she would be unable to stop those who were looking for trouble. It was likely that she would be forced into fighting at that party.
If Seiji agreed to accompany her, he would be taking a serious risk. She worried that the worst-case scenario was Seiji being seriously injured and hospitalized.
“I will avoid any conflicts at all if possible, but I can’t guarantee that there won’t be any fights. Apart from the risk of being injured, there’s also the matter of your identity… if you use your real identity, it may not be good for you, and even if you disguise yourself, someone may still recognize you.” Natsuya paused for a moment. “If it were possible, I wouldn’t request this of you, but Hitaka still hasn’t recovered from her injuries, and Rana has something urgent to do and isn’t here right now. Unfortunately, hiring or borrowing a Retainer have both been forbidden for this event.
“Any accompanying Spirit-Branded Retainer must be officially recognized, and you… will definitely be officially recognized because you helped me in my previous duel. Apart from you, there’s not a single other Retainer that will be able to accompany me.”
Seiji mulled things over for a moment. “If I refuse, President, would you go by yourself?”
“Yes…”
“What will happen if you go by yourself?”
Natsuya fell silent for a moment. “A really annoying person will use this as an excuse to attempt getting closer to me.”
“Eh?”
“I’ll be laughed at and taunted if I don’t have a Spirit-Branded Retainer accompanying me… but I can tolerate all that,” the president continued. “What I have difficulty tolerating is a certain person who I greatly dislike taking this opportunity and approaching me in the name of ‘protecting’ me. I don’t want him to get any closer to me, and he’ll definitely take this chance. I even suspect that the reason I’m being forced by my family to attend this event is because of his meddling.”
Natsuya’s tone remained calm throughout, but Seiji could hear the deep emotions contained within.
“Basically, if I don’t go, President is going to be bothered by a boy that you greatly dislike; is that right?”
“Yes.”
“So I’m going to basically act as a shield and prevent that boy from approaching you, right?”
“…You could say that,” she conceded.
To act as a shield for a beautiful lady against a boy who she greatly disliked… this classical scene had finally appeared!
Seiji recalled various novels that he had read in his past life and grinned widely.
“Alright then, I accept.”