Chapter 28
"President, guess what aweso news I've got?"
Wednesday noon, Student-Council Office. Hashimoto burst in without knocking, making Yan Huan look up from the "President" throne.
Only Yan Huan was in the office; Sakuramiya had gone ho at lunch. Her phone's security feed had shown the kitten Mitsuki acting off, and the apartnt was only a few blocks away.
Yan Huan was sorting docunts for the study groups Principal Hers had ordered him to form—though mostly he was trying to figure out how to "educate" the two Modifier users.
No progress so far. Bai Yi rarely showed up; for all he knew she was outside wreaking havoc. Spencer, anwhile, had made no demands after two whole days. With the IQ that produced a 66 on the last exam, she'd probably forgotten the whole affair.
So Yan Huan planned to take the initiative—especially since Spencer had been forcibly added to the study group. Before he could email her, Hashimoto barged in.
Yan Huan glanced up; the boy's face was alight with glee, yet his words were maddeningly cryptic.
Yan Huan humored him with the most reasonable guess he could summon. "Zhou Bin has converted to all three teachings and beco a devout, friendly mixed-blood believer?"
"Er—that would be great, but wrong. Try again, President!"
Yan Huan sighed. "Either the gacha gods blessed you with a one-pull SSR, or your pre-ordered figure finally shipped?"
Hashimoto shook his head, pushed up his glasses, and slapped two tickets onto the desk. Yan Huan lowered his gaze.
"Linn-Jinghe Ga Expo—VIP Pass Set."
"So?"
"So? President, do you know how big this con is? Every major studio on Earth will be there! Look at the guest list! I had to fight scalpers for these two!"
"You just want to see Shijo Ai."
Yan Huan flipped the ticket; sure enough, under "2D Zone," the na leapt off the page.
Shijo Ai—the voice actress of the loli heroine in the 18 galga After Eight Thirty, which Hashimoto worshipped as scripture. It had been her early, adult work; now she was mainstream and everywhere.
Hashimoto straightened his face. "Would I be that shallow, President?"
Yan Huan only smiled.
Last sester, during the class camping trip, Hashimoto had set Shijo Ai's loli tsundere alarm tone and forgotten to change it. The next morning the entire B-class boys' dorm woke to "Wake up, you useless pigs!" Half-asleep, Hashimoto shoved the phone under the bunk, where it continued into the ga's steamy scene for everyone to hear. He beca a legend overnight—and C-class Park Seo-mun still teased him about it.
"Go by yourself. Why two tickets—drag along?"
"Exactly."
Hashimoto nodded honestly. "Bundle sale. Everything else was sold out; the scalper only had pairs. One extra ticket—co with ."
"I'll think about it."
In truth, Yan Huan had zero interest. He was already swamped with Modifier fallout; spending a crowded weekend at a convention sounded less appealing than sleeping in.
"Forget the expo—did you reach Bai Yi about the study group? Student-Council emails bounce."
Hashimoto clapped. "No luck. She hardly ever shows. Even the horoom teacher can't reach her. Our best bet is to ambush her backstage at the venue."
"Backstage?"
Yan Huan picked up the ticket again. Sure enough, at the end of the VIP list: Bai Yi.
All the other nas were top-tier influencers. Apparently soone had slotted her in the "pretty-face" block. Paid promo?
Yan Huan's interest spiked. He tapped his chin, thinking.
Hashimoto leaned closer, suddenly rembering. "Oh, and President—Bai Yi's mom was at school this morning."
"You know her mother?"
"Everyone in class does. She picked Bai Yi up once. Bai Yi's super approachable, no celebrity airs. Her mom, though—kinda scary."
Hashimoto shook his head and dropped onto the office couch. "Looked frantic this morning. No idea what happened."
Hmm.
Leaving Bai Yi unchecked was risky; her Modifier might evolve into sothing absurd by the next eting.
Yan Huan pinched the ticket between two fingers. "Fine. I'll go with you. We'll coordinate on Plane."
Hashimoto's eyes lit up. He was actually shy; having a trusted friend along would steady him—especially if he planned to recite the love letter he'd written to the loli heroine in front of Shijo Ai. That would require serious courage.
"Deal, President. I'll ssage you—"
Knock knock knock!
The council-room door rattled. Yan Huan called out, "Co in!"
A sparrow-like girl from his own class slipped inside. "President, sothing happened to your desk!"
"My desk can't 'happen.' Explain."
"I—I can't describe it. Just co see!"
Yan Huan and Hashimoto exchanged glances, then followed her out.
"You're saying you left to refill your water bottle and ca back to this?"
In Class A only the three of them stood among overturned chairs. The girl glanced around nervously.
Yan Huan's desk was splattered with multicolored paint. The chair and floor were speckled too; the room reeked of solvent. Across the desktop, scrawled in dripping letters:
"Drop dead!"
"Gross!"
Personal attacks in every shade.
Hashimoto whistled. "President, who'd you tick off? But on campus...?"
The girl behind them clasped her mouth. "You must've angered a ghost!"
Yan Huan almost laughed. She continued, wide-eyed.
"I went to the water fountain, ca back for my cup—nothing was there. One minute later, boom, graffiti everywhere. Just like what happened to Teacher Zhou! Sa ghost, I swear!"
Hashimoto rubbed his chin. "Think the ghost's a busty girl who needs you to 'purify' her regrets at night?"
Yan Huan shot him a look that said, You're hopeless.
He didn't need the girl from his class to spell it out—just hearing her describe the situation was enough for Yan Huan to connect the dots with Zhou Bin's tragic accident last Friday.
There was only one possible culprit, the very person he and Hashimoto had been talking about monts ago:
Bai Yi.
Still, the baffled look on his face was genuine. He honestly had no idea what he'd done to offend her. He'd barely seen her more than three tis since school started. What had he possibly done to make her hate him this much?
Yan Huan was still scratching his head when another sharp tap rattled against the window beside him.
Clack!
He turned just in ti to watch a pebble skitter down the glass.
"Ah! A ghost! This is definitely paranormal!" the girl behind him squealed, ducking for cover.
Throwing pebbles? How old are we—five? Aren't you embarrassed?
Do you want to up the dosage with Ye Shiyu too?
But when he scanned the greenery beyond the first-floor classroom—the strip of lawn that separated the building from the road—he saw no one. It was as if so invisible phantom really had singled him out.
Where was Bai Yi?
He couldn't spot her anywhere. Either she'd beco a champion at hide-and-seek, or her Modifier had leveled up behind his back, weakening his Resistance so much he could no longer detect her.
It couldn't actually be a ghost... right?
Zhou Bin, you there? DM the links to whatever anti-ghost gear you're wearing—this is urgent.
Clack!
More pebbles clattered against the pane; even Hashimoto had had enough. He flung his arms around Yan Huan, trembling theatrically.
"P-President, protect !"
Could you not cling to , Hashimoto? This is about to turn into a scandal.
Whatever. Yan Huan triggered Perfect Expression Managent first. He drew a deep breath, arranging his face into calm surprise, then took two steps back.
"Everyone out of the classroom. I'll check outside. Stay clear of —whatever this is, it seems to be after ."
Clack!
Even as he spoke, from the corner of his eye he caught the faint glimr of semi-transparent black hair in the grass to the right of the window. He sucked in another breath, yanked the window open, and looked out.
Under a nearby tree, half-transparent and wearing a bucket hat and sunglasses, Bai Yi squatted with another pebble in her hand. Larger stones lay nearby—probably too heavy to lob this far. She'd ditched them.
It really was Bai Yi!
Watching her crouch there like so country girl, Yan Huan fought the urge to sigh and adjusted his expression. He furrowed his brow, put on his best puzzled look, and shouted,
"Don't move!"
With that, he vaulted over the first-floor windowsill and sprinted toward her.
"President!" Hashimoto started after him, but his gar physique moved like a rusted puppet. Lifting a leg took effort; vaulting a windowsill with any grace was impossible. He gave up, turned, and dashed down the corridor instead.
Bai Yi pinched another pebble, ready to throw, when she glanced up—and froze. Yan Huan's cold face lood above the sill, and in her shock she plopped onto the grass. The Indifference effect kicked in a mont later, so she simply sat there, unmoving, watching him jog to a stop a few paces away.
Yan Huan.
No matter how many tis I see that face, it still irritates .
Bai Yi pressed her lips together, eyes narrowing. A filthy thought—filthy even by her own Modifier-warped standards—flared to life. She looked him up and down, unaware that Yan Huan, still pretending to scan the grounds, was doing the sa. He took in the anger her sunglasses couldn't quite hide.
He truly had no idea what he'd done to provoke this. Ye Shiyu's grudge made a twisted kind of sense; Bai Yi, on the other hand, seed to be the type who lashed out at random.
The next second, the ghost-like Bai Yi rose to her feet, expression frosty. She pursed her lips and started toward him, one slow step at a ti. Yan Huan's instincts scread that he should back away—fast.
Just as he turned to leave, pretending he'd found nothing, the wail of sirens burst through the school gate. Both Yan Huan and Bai Yi snapped their heads toward the sound.
A middle-aged woman, tears streaming, hurried out of a police car clutching her phone. Officers followed.
"Officer, please help ! My daughter went out last night and never ca back. We checked the caras—nothing. I'm so worried..."
"Easy, ma'am, we'll take it step by step."
Police?
So Bai Yi had... run away from ho?
Yan Huan blinked, glanced back for Bai Yi—and found only empty air. She'd vanished.
In the corridor, Hashimoto burst out of the building at a dead run, nearly colliding with a girl whose head was bowed beneath a curtain of thick black hair.
"Watch out!"
He sidestepped her, but she stepped into his path again. Hashimoto paused, taking in the pale face half-hidden under all that hair.
"Classmate, you—"
Before he could finish, the girl thrust a plain white envelope toward him—no decorations, no address.
"Um... um... Hashimoto..."
Her voice was soft as a mouse. Hashimoto looked at the envelope. Written in careful characters:
To: Xiao Huan
From: An Le
Another love letter for the President?
Normally, Hashimoto wouldn't know how to refuse a girl—especially one who looked even more socially anxious than he did. But right now there was no ti. He gently pushed the envelope back.
"Sorry, I've got to go!"
He sprinted outside, leaving An Le standing there, envelope clutched to her chest, eyes wide.
An Le opened her mouth, but no words ca. She stared at the unposted letter, shoulders drooping.
Wrong timing...
But the disappointnt was quickly smothered by the fierce desire to finally introduce herself to Xiao Huan.
I'll try again later.
An Le squared her shoulders and turned to head back to class—only to find several girls blocking the hallway, arms folded. Leading them was Park Seo-mun, a cold smile playing on her lips.
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