"Join... us?"
Upon hearing this, Spencer could not help but freeze for a mont.
She blinked her sky-blue eyes, looking left at Sakuramiya Hitomi and right at Yan Huan. Then, suddenly realizing sothing, she hastily got up and ran over to Yan Huan.
Under Yan Huan's wide-eyed gaze, she slapped a hand over his mouth and glared indignantly at Sakuramiya Hitomi.
"I don't want you to join at all!"
"..."
Hearing this, Yan Huan instantly realized that Spencer had probably misunderstood what Sakuramiya Hitomi ant by "join," which was why she was now warding her off like a territorial puppy protecting its food.
'Aruiya, you've completely exposed what you were just thinking about...'
Seeing this, Sakuramiya Hitomi was also taken aback.
She covered her mouth and chuckled, explaining to Spencer,
"Spencer, whatever are you imagining? I'm here to join your plan to save the Doujinshi Society. I am completely sincere about this."
"After helping you and An Le make up, and once she rejoins the Doujinshi Society, I won't join the club to bother you..."
"I already ntioned this to the President before. In fact, the extension of the Doujinshi Society's disbandnt deadline is also to my credit."
Spencer scrutinized the peacock whose figure was beginning to distort once more, eventually confirming that she was telling the truth. Slowly, she released Yan Huan's mouth.
"Then... thank you."
'Our Aruiya really knows how to keep public and private separate, huh.'
Watching Spencer's expression shift before she obediently offered her thanks, Yan Huan could not help but smile helplessly.
"You are welco. But, what were you thinking just now to get so worked up?"
Sakuramiya Hitomi tossed the question back with a teasing smile, instantly turning Spencer's face crimson.
She quickly hid behind Yan Huan and declared, fierce-looking but entirely unconvincing,
"I'm not telling you!"
"How truly adorable."
Hearing this, Sakuramiya Hitomi was not annoyed in the slightest.
After all, a little thought made it obvious. An Le, whom Spencer was currently trying to make up with, had already thoroughly devoured her prize, yet here Spencer was, guarding the President's lips like a precious treasure.
How could that be anything but adorable?
But as she smiled, she suddenly rembered that even Hitomi herself had only managed to taste those lips once back in Akihabara.
Fainting embarrassingly from just a kiss was one thing, but that ti the President had probably been under the influence of mory Correction anyway.
'Rounding it up, does that not an I have not even shared a proper kiss with him, let alone hit a ho run?!'
At this realization, the faintly mocking smile on Sakuramiya Hitomi's face abruptly stiffened, and she froze in place as if she had just slapped herself.
"..."
Secretly, however, Yan Huan could not help but grow suspicious.
For Spencer, a human lie detector, to react like that ant this Sakuramiya persona was telling the truth.
'She actually ca here with a sincere heart to help Spencer and An Le make up?!'
This could not help but remind Yan Huan of his earlier confrontation with An Le...
Back then, An Le had told Yan Huan that Sakuramiya Hitomi had said the exact sa thing to her.
'She genuinely does not care at all about the ambiguous intimacy Spencer and An Le share with .'
'Could there really be such a good deal?'
For so reason, as he thought of this, Little Finger's words from that night echoed in Yan Huan's ears like a devil's whisper, making his imagination run wild.
It was hard to say whether, from his past life to his present one—especially during this period of being tornted by the Modifiers—Yan Huan had ever fantasized about the scenario of sharing a bed with beautiful girls in his arms.
But right now, looking at the elegantly smiling noble girl before him, his gaze could not help but drift.
He still rembered that in the days before the Modifiers interfered, his eyes had been drawn to this young woman on more than one occasion.
That heart-fluttering sensation of a first love still echoed within him, even to this day.
Anyone who gave it so thought would understand, right?
Her signature gradient hair, her exquisite doll-like features, the gentle elegance in her every movent, and her petite yet utterly adorable...
Hm?
As Yan Huan's gaze swept over her, it suddenly locked onto Sakuramiya Hitomi's oppai, which were visibly more robust than they had been in the past.
Imdiately, it felt as if a basin of ice-cold water had been poured over his head, violently jarring him awake from his harem fantasies.
"..."
Pulled back from that unrealistic bliss, Yan Huan now felt nothing but terror.
'Sure, it would feel amazing, but at what cost?'
Yan Huan's brow furrowed slightly, but a split second later, it was seamlessly covered by his Mask of Perfect Poise. As his brain raced at top speed, he smiled at Sakuramiya Hitomi and said,
"Perfect timing. We already have a preliminary plan in mind. Sakuramiya, why don't you see if there is anything we can improve?"
"Of course, President."
Yes, no matter what, he intended to invite this Sakuramiya persona to join them.
According to the information inferred from the birth certificate, the location of this usurping Sakuramiya's Jiejiè seed to be incredibly important. Otherwise, the Frail Sakuramiya who had been stabbed to death earlier would not have emphasized it so repeatedly.
Thinking about it carefully, it made sense. This usurping Sakuramiya could not only walk in reality but also seed capable of retrieving various items without opening her Jiejiè, which was extrely bizarre.
But the problem was that the "delivery room" was located on the topmost layer of so Jiejiè.
Either he had to find the Jiejiè himself, or he had to track down the other hunted Sakuramiyas...
Searching for a needle in a haystack on his own would be rather difficult. However, since this usurping Sakuramiya was actively hunting down the other Sakuramiyas—sothing that had even happened right in front of him earlier—he might be able to exploit the situation...
Sitting on the Tatami Mat, Yan Huan handed Sakuramiya Hitomi a bottle of Jinshi Group mineral water. Spencer had lugged a whole crate of it over from her house earlier.
Lacking any snacks to offer, Yan Huan got straight to the point, explaining the plan the three of them had concocted over the past while.
"I see. Using the pretense of persuading An Le to return to the art community to help them make up? That is indeed a brilliant plan."
After listening, Sakuramiya Hitomi pinched her chin in thought.
Yan Huan nodded and explained further,
"The original idea was to casually find an ani convention and invite An Le out to play under that guise.
"Then, at the venue, Spencer would cosplay while Miyake Fufu rented a booth to distribute her previous artbooks for free. We would also call over so fellow fans from the community to show their support...
"As long as An Le realizes how popular her work is and sees Spencer promoting it so diligently, their conflict should naturally resolve itself."
Make no mistake, Yan Huan would not dare let Spencer cosplay a character from An Le's Doujinshi.
If her mama found out about that, Yan Huan was absolutely guaranteed to be turned into a "Lightning Boy," tied to a pillar, and electrocuted until he howled.
The character Spencer was going to cosplay was a safe-for-work mascot from the Chang Gan Li forum, a "Lonely Traveler Girl" whose backstory involved docunting the tales of childhood sweethearts all over the world.
Yan Huan had checked it himself. It was a rather cute character with perfectly normal attire, so it wouldn't draw any suspicion from her family.
However, as he spoke, Yan Huan pulled out his mobile phone, opened an app that browsed convention info, and told Sakuramiya Hitomi,
"The problem is, there simply aren't any suitable ani conventions happening in Linn lately."
"Ugh... if worse cos to worst, I'll go beg my mama to help organize one. How about that?"
Yan Huan cast a glance at Spencer beside him and could not help but sigh.
"Aruiya, your family absolutely cannot know about this. Don't forget, right after we got off the plane, Heather gave us a warning about the the of the Doujinshi Society and ordered us to rectify it..."
Hearing Yan Huan's term of address for Spencer, Sakuramiya Hitomi showed no hint of surprise, reacting exactly as she had the last ti she heard it. She rely glanced at Yan Huan.
"That's true..."
"As it stands, we either need to find an alternative venue or co up with a completely different thod."
Yan Huan felt a bit of a headache coming on. If only An Le had drawn more general-audience content before, they could display it out in the open.
But having seen her work back in Sakura Country, he knew An Le's Doujinshi were exceptionally hardcore. Usually, she only dedicated half a page to buildup before diving straight into the main course.
Then, she would introduce the background while they were right in the middle of the act, interspersing it with tiny flashbacks...
This ant Yan Huan simply could not find many panels that could be shown in a public setting without heavy censorship. Thus, they were at a dead end.
"Hmm, President, I might just have a solution."
Having listened to everything, Sakuramiya Hitomi smiled slightly and spoke up softly.
Both Yan Huan and Spencer looked at her as she gently retrieved two items from in her arms...
Movie tickets with winning stamps on them?
"Flipped? Yan Huan, what's that?"
"A movie about a romantic relationship..."
Yan Huan only needed a glance at the movie tickets to find them familiar. Specifically, seeing the "Blind Box winning stamp" imdiately brought the image of a sunny, constantly giggling girl to his mind.
"Hehe, President, do you want an orange?"
Thinking about how she had terrified him so badly today that he fell flat on his rear, Yan Huan's expression darkened.
"...Are these Yurianna's?"
"Mhm, she was going to give them away anyway, so I just took them."
Sakuramiya Hitomi nodded and placed the movie tickets on the table, continuing,
"In the shopping mall where this cinema is located, there happens to be a store selling adult products and adult books. It's quite popular and can serve as a substitute for the ani convention."
Hearing this, Yan Huan quickly checked the mall in Kyogo Ward where the cinema was situated. After a brief search on social dia, he found that it was exactly as Sakuramiya Hitomi had described.
Looking up, he cast a bizarre expression at Sakuramiya Hitomi and asked,
"Sakuramiya, you actually know about a store like this?"
Sakuramiya Hitomi's face flushed slightly. She gently reached up to tuck a stray lock of hair behind her ear and murmured softly,
"Actually, it's because I originally wanted to see if the President had ti this weekend. I wanted to invite you to watch it with , so the tickets wouldn't go to waste...
"Even though I hadn't had the chance to invite you yet, I couldn't resist looking up a guide for the mall in advance—checking what fun things to do, what good food to eat...
"So, that's how I found out about this store."
Yan Huan blinked. Looking at the bashful Sakuramiya Hitomi in front of him, his heartbeat could not help but accelerate slightly.
'This isn't the real Sakuramiya, this isn't the real Sakuramiya...'
Chanting this calming mantra in his heart, Yan Huan hastily looked over at Spencer beside him.
He saw her scrutinizing Sakuramiya Hitomi, subconsciously attempting to gauge for lies, but ultimately coming up empty-handed.
Realizing that Sakuramiya Hitomi was telling the truth only infuriated her further; even her blonde hair practically bristled on end.
"You—"
"However, in order to help Spencer and An Le make up, you should give these two tickets to the President to use as an excuse to invite An Le out, right?" Just as Spencer was about to speak, Sakuramiya Hitomi smiled at her and pushed the tickets over, instantly completely shutting down her rising temper.
On one hand was her completely sincere intention to invite Yan Huan out, and on the other was her heartfelt desire to help them reconcile...
This was the first ti Spencer had felt such imnse contradiction since discovering her lie-detecting ability. It practically short-circuited her already insufficient brain capacity.
If only one of these two things had been a lie, she would not be nearly as conflicted.
"Ugh..."
Her small face flushed bright red. After hesitating for a long ti, she said with a pout,
"I don't want your tickets! When the ti cos, I'll buy the tickets for Yan Huan and An Le myself!"
"Ah, but these two tickets have Blind Box winning stamps on them."
Sakuramiya Hitomi cheerfully picked up the two Blind Box movie tickets and countered,
"If he didn't win them in a lottery and instead bought them separately, why would the President—who lives in the South Ward—buy tickets for a cinema in Kyogo Ward to watch with An Le, who lives in Luoqiao District?"
"Th-That..."
"Furthermore, there aren't many famous adult-oriented stores in Linn. Since An Le is a part of that community, she might very well know about that place. If you just ask her to go there directly, your whole sche will be exposed before you even set it in motion."
Resting her chin on her hand, Sakuramiya Hitomi looked at Spencer and delivered the final blow,
"Although she might play dumb and tag along anyway, the impact wouldn't be nearly as effective as a sudden surprise. Are you really sure about this, Spencer?"
"Ugh..."
With just two or three sentences, she manipulated Spencer to the point where she completely overheated.
Spencer puffed out her cheeks in anger. Yet, faced with words that were undeniably sincere and perfectly reasonable, she felt as if she had punched a ball of cotton; she had all this strength but nowhere to vent it.
"D-Dammit... wuu!"
After struggling internally for ages, Spencer reached out a trembling hand and finally accepted the two movie tickets.
But just as she took them, Sakuramiya Hitomi offered another gentle smile and murmured to her,
"Since you care so much, why don't you simply take the initiative to invite the President to the movies later?"
"Eh? You're right!"
Hearing this, the silently sulking Spencer perked up imdiately, as if she had just experienced a grand epiphany.
Even an idiot could figure this logic out, right?
Sakuramiya Hitomi gave up her movie tickets and missed her chance to watch a film with Yan Huan. So, if Spencer actively invited Yan Huan out later and succeeded, what was there to be angry about?
"You truly are adorable, Spencer."
Sakuramiya Hitomi rested her chin in her hands and spoke with a joyful chuckle, but her eyes were entirely focused on Yan Huan the entire ti.
And Yan Huan was genuinely astounded by her maneuvering.
During the exchange, he had sensed the imminent danger of an Asura's battlefield multiple tis and had hastily intended to speak up and diffuse the situation.
Yet, Sakuramiya Hitomi had handled it all on his behalf.
The first ti Spencer complained, he had intended to ask for the two tickets directly, which would have been the equivalent of telling Spencer:
'I am not watching a movie with Sakuramiya; I am just taking the tickets to help you and An Le make up.'
But Sakuramiya Hitomi had already voiced that exact sentint for him.
The second ti was when Spencer reluctantly took the tickets while fuming. He had wanted to say:
'It's okay. I'll invite you to the movies this weekend, Aruiya.'
But in the end, Sakuramiya Hitomi had preempted him by suggesting Spencer invite him instead.
As a result, he hadn't needed to say a single word throughout the entire ordeal, and the looming Asura's battlefield had completely vanished.
Even though Sakuramiya Hitomi was the one who provoked the Asura's battlefield in the first place, nothing bad had co of it. The plan to reconcile An Le and Spencer had been finalized, and Spencer might even actively invite him to the movies later...
This...
Was this the fully automated life of an emperor?
"..."
Yan Huan observed Sakuramiya Hitomi with secret astonishnt, getting the lingering illusion that she, too, was an unofficial mber of the unbreakable alliance of the "Love Myau-chan TV" faction...
Was that even right?
"Yan Huan, these movie tickets are for tomorrow. Shouldn't we hurry and contact that... um, Big Sister, so she can prepare the booth and contact people?"
Beside him, Spencer had completely missed all the deeper implications. Staring at the movie tickets, she was entirely imrsed in the prospect of making up with An Le.
"Ah, right. I'll ssage Miyake Fufu imdiately. But we'll have to head out to the venue soon; otherwise, we won't have enough ti to set things up tomorrow."
"Okay! I'll call my family and tell them I'll be ho late!"
Seeing that everything was properly arranged, Yan Huan contacted Miyake Fufu on Plane, while Spencer walked over to a corner to call her family. With a gentle smile, Sakuramiya Hitomi stood up to leave.
"President, I'll go find Nara now and have her contact the store manager there to secure our venue. Then, the two of you can handle preparing the items, inviting the people, and all of that, alright?"
"Ah, sure."
"Then, could you walk
out, President?"
Hearing this, Yan Huan paused and looked up at the beaming Sakuramiya Hitomi in front of him.
He narrowed his eyes slightly, cast a glance back at Spencer—who was busy on the phone—and proceeded to stand up, nodding.
"No problem."
"Thank you, President."
"There is no need to thank
for sothing so simple..."
Yan Huan stepped off the Tatami Mat, slipped on his shoes, and walked ahead to pull the door open for Sakuramiya Hitomi. Rather than stepping out himself, he gestured for her to leave first.
Feeling her petite fra brush past him, Yan Huan could not help but take a deep breath before following her out into the Corridor.
As the door clicked shut behind them, the entire Club Instruction Building fell incredibly silent, as if the three of them were the only souls left inside.
Sakuramiya Hitomi walked ahead with her hands clasped behind her back, her footsteps as light and soundless as a kitten's.
After taking only a couple of steps, she suddenly broke the silence with a soft murmur.
"President..."
"Hm?"
Yan Huan looked at her as if facing a formidable enemy, his hand subconsciously tightening around the precious birth certificate hidden inside his pants pocket.
'Could it be...'
'Does she know that I went to the Equipnt Room this afternoon?'
"What is it?"
Though his heart was plagued by doubt and alarm, Yan Huan maintained his usual composed expression as he replied.
"Well, it's just... earlier, you called Spencer by her first na, Aruiya. Right?"
The vigilant Yan Huan froze instantly. The heavy boulder in his heart lifted slightly, and his expression shifted into one of mild embarrassnt.
"Ah, that was..."
"There is no need to explain, President. It is completely normal. We all call Yurianna and Ashley by their first nas too, don't we?"
Once again, Sakuramiya Hitomi had graciously provided him with an out.
And Yan Huan had no reason not to take it, so he offered a faint smile.
"That is true."
"Then..."
As she spoke, Sakuramiya Hitomi completely turned around, flashing Yan Huan a brilliant smile.
"President, could you call
by my first na too? Just call
Hitomi. Is that alright?"
"..."
Yan Huan's pupils contracted slightly as he just stood there, staring at her.
Staring into her beautiful eyes that perfectly reflected his own figure, he could spot a faint trace of pleading within them.
It was as if this was sothing incredibly important to her.
Hitomi...
That was her na. How could Yan Huan not know that?
'At this mont, the safest path is undeniably to say her na, right?'
It was just a na, after all. The only reason they still called each other "President" and "Sakuramiya" was out of pure habit, which was why it hadn't changed for a whole year.
So, even if he suddenly called her "Hitomi" right now, it shouldn't really be a big deal...
"..."
However, after a prolonged silence, Yan Huan tried to open his mouth multiple tis, yet the na simply refused to leave his lips.
He took a deep breath. By the ti he looked up again, his face was adorned with an absolutely flawless smile.
"I just feel like... I am already quite used to calling you Sakuramiya. Changing it suddenly feels a bit awkward on the tongue. Can you wait until I... get used to the idea for a while?"
"..."
Sakuramiya Hitomi's eyes widened slightly before her eyelids unavoidably drooped in a hint of sorrow.
She did not show a disappointed expression, instead forcing a smile much like Yan Huan's.
"I see... alright."
She then turned back around with her hands behind her back, acting as though she didn't mind, though her side profile remained angled as she watched Yan Huan.
Revealing a stunning and gentle smile, she murmured softly,
"Tomorrow, may I secretly go and observe from the shadows?"
"...Of course."
Hearing this, her smile widened, causing her eyes to curve into beautiful little crescents.
"Then, I'll see you tomorrow, President."
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