“Senpai, I want to ask you about someone…”
“Oh?”
Zhongcun Xiangtai looked at the distracted girl in front of him, a hint of confusion in his heart.
‘Interesting. Akiba Sakura isn’t usually interested in other people. Yet today she’s come to ask me about someone?’
“What’s wrong, Akiba Sakura? Who do you want to ask about?”
Zhongcun Xiangtai leaned in, curiosity practically dripping from his voice.
As the president of the Anime Club, he was the school’s notorious “information broker.”
Whether it was campus gossip or classmates’ little secrets, there was nothing he didn’t know.
Plenty of people came to him for information, but a beauty of Akiba Sakura’s caliber asking for intelligence was a first.
Akiba Sakura glanced sneakily at Momoka Aoi, who was standing behind her and frantically signaling her. She took a deep breath.
“Senpai, I want to ask about… what was it again?”
“Let me! Let me!”
Momoka Aoi quickly leaned in from behind to supplement for Akiba Sakura.
“Senpai, I want to ask if there’s a cute girl in our grade with twin tails. Do you know who that girl might be?”
“Twin tails girl?”
Zhongcun Xiangtai stroked his chin, feigning contemplation.
“That’s a pretty broad range. There are quite a few girls with twin tails at school. But when it comes to the most popular twin tails girl in the first year…”
Zhongcun Xiangtai searched his memory for information about that girl, and soon recalled her name.
“Twin tails girl… Are you talking about the one who’s small, has round cheeks, and looks very lively?”
Hearing this, Momoka Aoi immediately nodded.
“Yes, yes, yes! That should be her! Senpai, do you know her? Who is she?”
“If I’m not mistaken, the girl you’re talking about is Zaolai Qianxiao from Class 1-6. I heard she’s quite lively, usually wears twin tails, and is pretty popular in her class.”
“Zaolai Qianxiao…”
Akiba Sakura murmured the name, her expression instantly falling.
‘Well, well. So the homewrecker is hiding in Class 1-6. How interesting…’
“Sakura, we don’t know if it’s her yet… Don’t jump to conclusions, okay…”
“Hmph, if you’re not sure… I have a photo of her here.”
“What?!”
Hearing Zhongcun Xiangtai’s words, Akiba Sakura and Momoka Aoi widened their eyes.
“You have a photo of her?”
“Of course I do!”
Zhongcun Xiangtai puffed out his chest, looking proud, his dual dignity as an information broker and anime club president at full display.
“Our Anime Club has to prepare a list of potential cosplayers in advance! Anyone with distinctive looks or photogenic qualities, I make sure to pay attention and archive them — it’s called business foresight!”
He paused, then added with a grin:
“It’s not just that twin tails girl. Actually, both of you — Akiba Sakura and Momoka Aoi — are in my album too! Your vibes are perfect for 2D, and I’ve already marked you as ‘high priority’.”
“…??”
Akiba Sakura and Momoka Aoi exchanged glances, both making disgusted, twisted expressions.
“Pervert senpai.”
“Otaku are disgusting.”
“Hey, hey —! This is art! It’s called aesthetic appreciation! Not perversion!”
Zhongcun Xiangtai wailed, then, too lazy to argue with them, turned around and dragged a thick photo album from the corner of the club room, slapping it onto the table.
“Alright, alright, let’s get down to business. You can see for yourselves if it’s her.”
He flipped through the pages noisily, stopping at a candid shot from an event.
The girl in the photo had fluffy twin tails, round cheeks, and crescent-shaped eyes when she smiled.
It was the owner of the back that Yuuma Tsugumu had been staring at all morning.
Momoka Aoi’s head shot over, and with just one look she slammed the table.
“That’s her! Absolutely her! I remember that back and that hairstyle! Right! It’s Zaolai Qianxiao!”
Even though she had only seen her from a distance, the characteristic curve of her twin tails and her body proportions were unmistakable.
Akiba Sakura leaned in to look, and her heart sank with a thud.
‘Oh no… I’m doomed… To be honest, she is cute… Really cute. And those twin tails and round face are exactly the type that pig-headed Tsugumu wouldn’t dislike.’
At this moment, Akiba Sakura’s mouth twitched, and she put on a fake ‘kind’ smile.
‘Well, well… Now we have the goods on her. Zaolai Qianxiao from Class 1-6, huh? Fine. I’ve got my eye on you.’
Of course, as for the instigator Yuuma Tsugumu, Akiba Sakura had already cursed him from head to toe in her mind, her small fists clenched so tightly they creaked.
Jealousy and grievance surged up.
‘Pig-headed Tsugumu, you’re flying! Ah, no… Aunt Riko is not wrong, pig-headed Tsugumu, you’re flying! Damn two-timer! Yesterday you carried me, bought me coffee, were so gentle, and today you go find a twin tails girl! Cheater! Liar! Pig trotters! Go die!’
The more she thought about it, the angrier she got.
She wished she could rush back and drag that someone out for questioning.
If not for her injured leg, she would have already stormed back to the classroom for a confrontation.
“Thank you for your help, senpai… We have things to do, so we’ll be going now. We won’t disturb you any longer…”
Just as Akiba Sakura was about to leave with Momoka Aoi, Zhongcun Xiangtai suddenly called out to stop them.
“Wait, Akiba Sakura, I have a favor to ask you. And it would be even better if Momoka Aoi could help too!”
“?”
Akiba Sakura and Momoka Aoi turned back, looking confused at Zhongcun Xiangtai who had stopped them.
“What favor?”
“You know the school sports meet has an opening ceremony that morning, right? At the opening, every club has to perform a skit on stage…”
Zhongcun Xiangtai scratched his head, then pressed his hands together in a plea.
“Please! I hope you two beauties can help our Anime Club get through this crisis!”
“I’m not even a member of your club…”
Momoka Aoi was about to leave, but Akiba Sakura grabbed her arm and looked at her helplessly.
“But… I am one of the club members…”
—
“Ah-choo!”
Yuuma Tsugumu let out a loud sneeze, rubbing his nose with a bewildered expression.
‘Who’s been thinking about me behind my back?’
Yuuma Tsugumu had already decided to wait until the sports meet to corner that girl and confirm if she was that bratty girl from the coffee shop.
So after this class ended, he didn’t go to Class 1-6 again, sitting steadily in his seat.
But when he turned his head, the seat next to him was empty.
He looked further back — Momoka Aoi’s seat was also empty.
He froze for two seconds, then couldn’t help muttering softly:
“What the… Isn’t her leg still injured? She just disappears like that? Does she think she’s fully healed?”
He had no idea that a certain girl had already pronounced him guilty.
At this moment, he was still thinking about catching that bratty girl from the coffee shop on the day of the sports meet and giving her a proper punishment.
‘Heh heh, I can’t wait to see her panicked expression when she’s exposed… When the time comes, I’ll definitely tease her well and make her know my power!’
The more he thought, the more immersed he became, his fingers tapping rhythmically on the desk.
But at that moment, Akiba Sakura, accompanied by Momoka Aoi, limped in.
Her face was full of anger, her brows tightly furrowed, her cheeks puffed out like an angry little hamster.
Her whole walk exuded an aura of “keep away.”
Momoka Aoi walked beside her, occasionally glancing at her expression while also looking back into the classroom.
When she saw Yuuma Tsugumu, she secretly made a face.
Yuuma Tsugumu looked up and saw the two walking in.
His eyes lit up for a moment.
“Where did you two go? You rushed off so fast after class. Especially you — isn’t your leg still injured? Why aren’t you sitting and resting? Running around everywhere, aren’t you afraid the wound will open?”
But Akiba Sakura shot him a fierce glare.
The disdain and anger in her eyes practically overflowed, and her mouth was pursed so tightly it could hang a kettle.
“Mind your own business! I don’t need you to control where I go! And pig-headed Tsugumu, I’m warning you, you are not allowed to talk to me for the rest of the day! I’m very angry today!”
After saying that, she limped to her seat and plopped down with a thud, deliberately turning her back to Yuuma Tsugumu.
Her shoulders were still heaving with anger, and she refused to even look at him.
“Huh?”
Yuuma Tsugumu was completely dumbfounded.
“What did I do???”
Countless question marks popped into his head, utterly confused.
‘What’s going on? What did I do wrong? Wasn’t everything fine just now? She was helping me earlier. How did she become a different person after just one trip outside?’
Just as he stood there dumbfounded and at a loss, Momoka Aoi leaned in and made a big funny face at him, sticking out her tongue.
“Yuuma, you’re on your own~ As you can see, Sakura is really angry today, and the consequences are severe! If you don’t quickly figure out how to cheer her up, she’ll probably ignore you for the next few days!”
With that, Momoka Aoi didn’t give Yuuma Tsugumu a chance to ask more.
She turned and went back to her seat, her eyes full of amusement at the spectacle.
Yuuma Tsugumu stood there stunned, looking at the fuming Akiba Sakura, then at Momoka Aoi’s gloating expression.
He fell into deep self-doubt.
‘Did I provoke her? I didn’t, did I? Did I actually do something to upset her?’
‘Is she settling scores from before? Did she remember something I did that made her unhappy?’
‘Or did something happen when she went out? Did she get into a fight with someone?’
Countless guesses swirled in his mind, but no matter how much he thought, he couldn’t figure it out.
He could only glance helplessly and blankly at Akiba Sakura, his mind going numb.
“Momoka…”
“Hmph…”
Since Akiba Sakura was furious, he wanted to ask Momoka Aoi what had happened, but Momoka Aoi deliberately turned her head away, pretending to read a book seriously, completely ignoring him.
Akiba Sakura, with her back to Yuuma Tsugumu, had her ears perked up, carefully listening to the sounds around her.
‘No, why aren’t you coming to console me? Damn it, the answer is right in front of you, and you go to Aoi instead? Are you asking for death!’
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