"Yes. I want to know if there's a way to make her voluntarily cancel the engagent, without hurting her in the process."
Hayato looked at Hozuki Nozomi seriously, his eyes filled with a desperate sort of hope. "You're so… experienced. You must have a thod, right?"
Hearing this, Hozuki Nozomi could only sigh. "Hayama, I think you have a deep misunderstanding about . I am indeed experienced in approaching girls. But I have no experience in dumping them. If anything, my experience lies in taking responsibility. As long as I show interest in a girl and she reciprocates those feelings, then I accept the responsibility that cos with it."
Hayato's eyes widened. "You an… take her ho and marry her?"
"Yes."
"Can you even handle that?!" Hayato was genuinely shocked.
Nozomi nodded calmly. "Of course. If I didn't have that capability, I wouldn't make such promises lightly."
Hayato fell silent for a long mont before uttering a single, heartfelt word. "Monster."
Then, a truly desperate idea struck him. "How about… you go charm the girl I'm engaged to? Then I'd be free!"
"You're dreaming!" Nozomi glared at him in annoyance. "While I don't necessarily mind putting a slightly green hat on you, Hayama, I don't just pursue any girl." His standards were specific. He was drawn to girls with a certain… pedigree, the kind who felt like they'd stepped out of another world, not just any random person.
"Moreover," he continued, "that young lady was attracted to your looks, Hayama. And I don't think I'm any worse-looking than you. You could ask your father about my current… reputation among the major families. If I were to get involved with soone new now, it would cause significant discord in my own household."
Hearing this, Hayato couldn't help but pout. "You just don't want to help. Otherwise, why would you be afraid of a little discord? …But actually, I was just kidding. When that young lady transfers here, I think I'll just try to explain the situation to her seriously."
"Then, good luck," Hozuki Nozomi said, giving his shoulder a final pat before turning to head back to the classroom.
Hayato's mind, however, was still racing. Hozuki Nozomi is so exceptional… what if that young lady takes a liking to him after she transfers? Wouldn't I be free then? But then he reconsidered. No, that seems unlikely. What young lady would dare to fight Yukinoshita Haruno for a man?
Hayato let out another helpless sigh. In the end, it seed he would have to bear this burden alone. The thought made his heart ache even more. He didn't want to be engaged to that girl at all.
Maybe… I could just be a scumbag? Date other girls openly, make her back off on her own? He pondered. Hmm… that probably wouldn't work either. It would damage my father's reputation as a lawyer…
Hozuki Nozomi, for his part, wasn't particularly concerned with Hayato's predicant. In a way, Hayato getting engaged was a good thing. Having a young lady to keep him occupied ant he'd be less likely to harbor lingering feelings for Haruno. While Nozomi didn't see Hayato as a real threat, having a handso guy constantly eyeing his fiancée was never a pleasant feeling.
Back in the classroom, he was t with the sight of Ebina Hina having another massive nosebleed. The other girls were fluttering around her, trying to staunch the flow. Nozomi was imdiately exasperated.
Tobe Kakeru, anwhile, was providing a dramatic soundtrack of panic, yelling as if Ebina were on the verge of bleeding to death. But it was all noise—he offered no practical help. All show and no substance, that was Tobe Kakeru. He even grew his hair long for the aesthetic, but it did nothing to mask his lack of a man's sense of responsibility.
During the next break, Hozuki Nozomi sent Ebina Hina a ssage, asking her to et him outside. When she arrived, tiptoeing with curiosity, he imdiately swept her up, pinned her gently against the wall, and captured her cherry-red lips in a fierce kiss.
"Ebina Hina," he murmured against her mouth, "do you know what you did wrong?"
Ebina blinked up at him, dazed and confused. "What did I do wrong?"
"You keep getting lost in those BL fantasies of yours and working yourself into a frenzy. I think that's a very bad habit."
"Hmm… but I can't really control that, can I?" she protested weakly. "It's not my fault I didn't et you before I joined the BL fan club…"
Hearing this, a mischievous smile spread across Nozomi's face. "In that case, let properly educate you on the correct way to get excited."
Ebina Hina rolled her eyes at him. "You just want an excuse to be a scumbag to ."
"And if I do?" he asked, his smile widening as he took in her flushed cheeks. If Tobe Kakeru could see her leaning shyly against like this, he'd probably break down crying.
Mortified but not resisting, Ebina wrapped her arms around his waist. "If you want to be a scumbag, you shouldn't ask a girl like for permission…"
"Mmm-hmm…"
Well, the girl had said as much. What more did Hozuki Nozomi have to hesitate about? He leaned in to capture her lips once more.
It was at this precise mont that Katou gumi, who had just used the restroom and was now hopelessly lost while looking for her group, stumbled upon the scene from beside a cluster of flower bushes: "..."
Should gumi make a sound? To prove her existence?
Dazed, Ebina Hina opened her eyes and, over Nozomi's shoulder, coincidentally t Katou gumi's wide, placid gaze from across the greenery.
"Ah!"
Ebina's cheeks instantly flushed a brilliant scarlet, steam practically whistling from her ears. She had been caught kissing a classmate! Her sha ter exploded. With a soft sigh, her head tilted, and she fainted clean away.
Hozuki Nozomi was speechless. He had just been getting into the mood.
His gaze, now tinged with danger and annoyance, shifted to land on the expressionless, slightly startled Katou gumi. The girl calmly raised a hand in a small wave. "Um. I was just passing by. Please… continue."
Hozuki Nozomi rolled his eyes. "Co here, Katou. Ebina Hina has fainted. How exactly are we supposed to continue?"
Katou gumi instinctively took two steps backward. "Can I… not co over? Also… you rember ?" She was a little scared. She had already witnessed Hozuki Nozomi's intimacy with Kasumigaoka Utaha once before. Now, she had stumbled upon him kissing another cute girl. What kind of terrible karma was this? Was he going to set his sights on her next?
A smile played on Nozomi's lips as he gently picked up the unconscious Ebina Hina and settled her on a nearby bench. "Of course I rember you, Katou gumi. Didn't you know? In elentary and middle school, I always sat in the desk right behind yours."
As he spoke, he had already closed the distance between them. Katou gumi continued her retreat. At the sa ti, she calmly refuted him. "I thought about it carefully. The person behind in elentary and middle school wasn't you at all. Why would you make up such a lie?" She was genuinely perplexed. How did he know her? Moreover, he rembered her na. He didn't ignore her or subconsciously forget her existence. It was very strange.
"Because," Nozomi stated his purpose without a shred of hesitation, "by making up such a lie, it's easier for to get close to gumi."
He took another step forward, effectively cornering her against the wall Ebina had just vacated. "Katou, you interrupted a very good mont between Ebina Hina and . Shouldn't you compensate ?"
Katou gumi blinked, a faint blush finally coloring her otherwise serene cheeks. "Although… this isn't really my fault… how do you want to be responsible?"
"It's simple," Hozuki Nozomi said, his voice lowering. "You can take Ebina Hina's place."
Before she could process the aning, he had leaned in, capturing Katou gumi's warm, soft lips in an unceremonious kiss.
I really am becoming more and more of a scumbag, he thought, even as he deepened the kiss.
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