"Beep-beep-beep!"
"Beep-beep-beep!"
Saturday morning, South Ward.
The mobile phone charging by the bedside lit up, its harsh alarm instantly piercing through the early morning and sweet dreams.
On the bed, Yan Huan, who had been sleeping peacefully, subconsciously furrowed his brows.
The next second, the blanket squird, and a pair of black cat ears suddenly popped out from his arms.
"ow~"
Still hovering on the edge of sleep, Yan Huan instinctively hugged the fat cat in his arms a little tighter.
However, the cat ears didn't stay put. With a twitch, they squeezed out from under the covers, leading a chubby body up onto the pillow.
"Awoo~"
Myau-chan yawned, gripping the pillow with his front paws for leverage as he lowered his body into a long, deep stretch.
Turning his head toward the still-screaming mobile phone on the nightstand, his soft tail casually brushed against Yan Huan's face, quietly sweeping away the lingering traces of sleep.
"Ugh..."
By the ti Yan Huan was fully awakened by the tail, Myau-chan had already familiarly extended his paw pads to turn off the alarm.
When Yan Huan opened his eyes and sat up while rubbing his face, Myau-chan had already smoothed out his sleek fur and was sitting gracefully beside the pillow.
"Morning ow, Yan Huan."
"Good morning, Myau-chan."
Yan Huan yawned and reached out to rub the cat's head, completely ssing up the fur that had just been grood, which made the feline ow angrily.
Seeing this, Yan Huan smiled faintly, but when he turned his head and saw the packed suitcase sitting in front of the wardrobe, his expression stiffened.
Today was the day the students of Far Moon Academy departed for their School Trip.
Although the annual School Trip was a rare and wonderful journey for the students of Linn, to Yan Huan at this mont, it felt as if his execution day had arrived.
"I shouldn't have chosen that Modifier Fragnt refiner. Otherwise, I wouldn't have such a massive headache now."
Yan Huan muttered, slapping his forehead as he sat on the edge of the bed.
The very next second, Myau-chan's voice chid in right on cue.
"Humans always romanticize the paths they didn't choose. Sotis it's better to focus on the present, ow."
"..."
Yan Huan glanced at Myau-chan beside him, about to retort to the unsolicited life advice, when he suddenly noticed the cat trotting over with a jade green, grease-like fragnt in his mouth.
This was the piece Bai Yi had dropped at school. Yesterday, Yan Huan had dispelled the curse on it using the excuse of inviting Spencer to lunch.
'Right, I can use the fragnt refiner now!'
Suppressing the urge to pet the cat, Yan Huan rested his chin on his hand and looked at Myau-chan.
"Let's try using it then."
"ow!"
Myau-chan nodded, then let out a soft "awoo" as he swallowed the fragnt and began to chew.
His eyes darted around as a faint, rainbow-colored light emanated from his mouth, gradually growing brighter...
"Pfft!"
Just before the light reached a blinding intensity, Myau-chan seed to sense sothing and suddenly spat everything out.
Yan Huan took a quick glance and saw two white snake scales bizarrely floating in front of him.
"...These are An Le's Modifier Fragnts. What was their special effect again?"
Just as Yan Huan began to think, Myau-chan's eyes widened. His body instantly swelled up several tis its original size, becoming nearly three feet long.
Not only did his fur beco silkier and glossier, but his eyes also began to sparkle with a beautiful, jewel-like shimr.
But imdiately after, he shrank bit by bit, gradually returning to his exact original size.
"Burp~"
Then, he let out a satisfied burp and comfortably licked his paws.
"Looks like it's a fragnt that enhances this avatar of mine, ow!"
"..."
Seeing this, Yan Huan's face imdiately darkened.
"Why does it feel like this transford into the most useless type of fragnt?"
"ow?!"
'Whatever, at least the number of fragnts has doubled. I suppose that's a good thing.'
Thinking this, Yan Huan sighed and stood up, taking off his pajamas to change clothes and wash up before heading out.
"By the way, Myau-chan, what was with that growing and shrinking just now?"
Hearing this, Myau-chan stopped licking his paws and stared intently as Yan Huan changed clothes in front of the wardrobe.
"I can alter my appearance to a certain extent, ow. An Le's Modifier avatar was the sa; it could grow and shrink."
Listening to this while pulling on a t-shirt, Yan Huan paused and couldn't help but ask,
"Then why do you still look so fat? Whenever you jump onto my shoulder, you wobble all over the place. Do you just like this look?"
Myau-chan honestly shook his head and replied,
"No, but this is already the smallest size I can shrink down to, ow."
"..."
Yan Huan didn't know what to say to that, so he simply shot Myau-chan a speechless glance, leaving the cat to interpret it himself.
His luggage had already been packed the night before. After eating breakfast, Yan Huan grabbed his wallet and ID docunts, ready to head out.
Linn had visa-free agreents with the vast majority of countries in the world, so all he needed was his passport.
Passports could be processed collectively at the school during enrollnt. At that ti, staff mbers from Linn's Departnt of Foreign Affairs had set up a temporary office on campus.
"Phew, ti to go."
"ow~"
With everything in order, Yan Huan dragged his suitcase to the door, while Myau-chan leaped up and landed squarely on his shoulder.
He took out his mobile phone and sent a ssage to Yabashi Ki to let him know he was leaving.
The airport was in the North Sea District, which was incredibly far from the South Ward. The price of a taxi would be outrageously expensive, so carpooling was the best option in this situation.
After receiving a reply from Yabashi Ki on his phone, Yan Huan locked his apartnt door and turned to head downstairs.
While on the way, Yan Huan couldn't help but mull over the upcoming itinerary in his mind...
He had to incorporate the travel schedule to formulate a plan to survive the impending storm.
North Sea District, Linn Shisu International Airport.
Sakuramiya Lily sat in the VIP lounge wearing a black kimono. She was looking through the School Trip brochure in her hands, which detailed Far Moon Academy's itinerary for this excursion.
"Let's see the itinerary... Osaka, Nara, Kyoto, Kobe, and then you're heading to the Kanto region?"
Beside her, Sakuramiya Hitomi, wearing a pale pink outfit, nodded and looked at her mother.
"That's the school's arrangent. I heard each class rented their own bus."
"Hmm."
Sakuramiya Lily folded the brochure and smiled faintly.
"Then it works out perfectly for you to part ways with everyone in Kyoto. That'll save us the trouble of sending a car specifically to pick you up to bring you ho."
Although many mbers of the Sakuramiya family lived in Tokyo, their true main estate was located in Kyoto.
Hearing this, Sakuramiya Hitomi hesitated for a mont before replying,
"Please send a car to pick us up instead. I want to visit Kobe before coming back."
Sakuramiya Lily raised an eyebrow, quickly unfolding the brochure to glance at the itinerary again.
Seeing the hotel listed as "Kobe Port Onsen Ren", she looked back at Sakuramiya Hitomi with an amused smile.
"We have hot springs at ho too, you know. Do you really have to go there?"
"No, it's just..."
Sakuramiya Hitomi paused for a second and pursed her lips.
"The President ntioned that he really likes the ocean, so I want to take him there to see it."
"Oh my~"
Sakuramiya Lily snapped open her folding fan and let out a aningful chuckle. This made Sakuramiya Hitomi's face flush red, and she puffed out her cheeks, playfully smacking her mother's shoulder.
But mid-smack, she suddenly rembered sothing and hesitantly asked,
"Right, Mama. When will Nara... be able to co back?"
"Ara, didn't I tell you? She already passed the family's review. She's been cleared to return for a while now."
"Huh? Then she..."
"Oh, I rember now. She said that following you around was too exhausting, so she wanted to take advantage of this ti to give herself a vacation. She asked to keep it a secret from you, and if you asked, I was supposed to say she hasn't passed the review yet and would need so more ti..."
Sakuramiya Lily blinked, then closed her folding fan with a smile.
"Which ans, Nara still hasn't passed her review, so you'll have to wait a bit longer, Hitomi~"
"Don't pretend you didn't just say all that and then continue to lie with a straight face!!"
Driven to an overheated state by her own mother once again, Sakuramiya Hitomi's veins bulged as she panted in anger.
"That Nara! And here I was, so worried about her! When she gets back, I'm definitely going to settle the score with her!"
"If you want to settle the score, you might have the chance in a few days."
"Huh?"
Sakuramiya Lily tapped her folding fan against her hand and smiled.
"Because it seems she has returned to Sakura Country. And it doesn't look like a vacation; it's more like she has so urgent matter to deal with."
"..."
'An urgent matter?'
'Right, she still has that one-month agreent with the Red-Haired Demon...'
"Don't worry. I've had your older brother assign people to keep an eye on her. If there's any news, I'll let you know." Hearing this, Sakuramiya Hitomi glanced at her mother.
Seeing the smile on her mother's face gradually fade, Sakuramiya Hitomi began to suspect what kind of instructions she had actually given her brother.
"Ah, perfect timing. They're here too!"
The next second, Sakuramiya Lily's bright smile returned as she waved her hand toward the distance.
Turning her head to look, she saw Spencer sitting atop an oversized suitcase, riding it like a little car.
There was also an expressionless Ye Shiyu, her long black hair tied into a ponytail, dragging a large suitcase with the three large characters "Ye Shiyu" written on it.
And finally, a sneaky-looking passerby wearing a baseball cap, a face mask, and sunglasses?
"Auntie Sakuramiya, thank you for helping upgrade our seats."
The very next second, the passerby took off the mask and baseball cap to greet her mother, allowing Sakuramiya Hitomi to finally recognize who it was.
It turned out to be Bai Yi.
"It's nothing, we're all mbers of the Study Group, after all. It would be lonely for to sit up front all by myself."
"Besides, soone is reimbursing the cost. Rather than thanking , you should thank Spencer."
Sakuramiya Lily had personally upgraded the cabin class for the mbers of the Study Group. The rest of the tickets covered by the school were economy class.
Spencer still had no idea what was going on, nor did she understand why they were thanking her.
Upon hearing this, however, Ye Shiyu almost instantly realized a critical blind spot:
'The Study Group got upgraded...'
'Which ans Yan Huan would also be upgraded along with us.'
'But the question is, where will Yan Huan sit?'
Ye Shiyu looked down at her plane ticket, then turned her head to glance at the ticket belonging to Bai Yi beside her.
Her eyes darted back and forth rapidly, instantly absorbing a massive amount of information.
'The airline is Sakura Country's All Nippon Airways, and the aircraft model is Sonic 767-300...'
'If it's an upgrade, the first row is highly likely to be premium economy, not the individual seats of first class or business class.'
'Judging from these seat numbers, it should be a 2-1-2 seating layout.'
'aning there are two connected seats on the left and right sides of a row, with a single, standalone seat in the middle.'
'I am 1K, and Bai Yi is 1H. Those are the two seats by the right window in the first row.'
'Spencer is 2D, which is the middle seat in the second row...'
"..."
Seeing the seating assignnts for the three of them, Ye Shiyu instantly realized sothing and snapped her gaze toward the smiling Sakuramiya Lily in front of her.
'This old woman most likely arranged for her daughter and Xiao Huan to sit together in 1A and 1C!'
'And she took 1D for herself, acting as a barrier to separate Sakuramiya Hitomi and Yan Huan from and Bai Yi.'
'This is too devious!!'
'It has to be noted that a direct flight from Linn to Sakura Country takes nearly seven hours. That is quite a long ti.'
'Isn't this forcefully creating seven hours of alone ti for Xiao Huan and Sakuramiya Hitomi?!'
'Although the rest of us aren't seated too far away and could still catch glimpses of what's happening, for Sakuramiya Lily to make such an arrangent right from the start reveals her blatant intentions.'
'Not to ntion we'll be heading to their family's ho turf for the next ten days. The truly devious sches are probably yet to co...'
Ye Shiyu furrowed her brows. anwhile, Bai Yi beside her was still oblivious to what had just transpired, let alone Spencer.
Feeling Ye Shiyu's sowhat intimidating gaze, Sakuramiya Lily raised an eyebrow and glanced at her own plane ticket.
'This little girl is not simple...'
'It seems the upcoming Study Group will be very interesting...'
Sakuramiya Lily narrowed her eyes, but pretended not to notice a thing, continuing to enthusiastically organize them with a smile.
"Alright, alright, let's go check our luggage first, then pass through security and board the plane."
"President Yan and the others should be arriving soon as well."
"Beep~"
"Hey, President, why is your seat completely different from ours? The first row—it must be either first class or business class, right?"
Right after passing through security, Yan Huan had taken out his boarding pass to check the gate, only for Yabashi Ki to take a quick glance and notice that their assigned seats were worlds apart.
Mainly, the "1A" at the very front of Yan Huan's seating information was simply too conspicuous.
"It's true! My seat number is way back in the twenties. How co yours is so far up front, President?"
From behind, Yurianna snatched Yan Huan's ticket out of Yabashi Ki's hand to compare it with her own.
Then, she shot Yan Huan a sideways glance, rubbing her chin as she asked suspiciously,
"Could it be that the President abused his power for personal gain and did sothing shady?"
Yan Huan inspected the ticket and instantly knew in his heart exactly what had happened.
'Auntie Sakuramiya, please recall your divine powers...'
After pondering for a second, a bright, handso smile blossod on his face.
"Yurianna, does your President usually treat you well?"
"Ah? W-why are you suddenly saying sothing that sounds like you're sending to my death?! P-President, what are you trying to do?"
Yan Huan smiled faintly, took the ticket from her hand, and waved it.
"Nothing much. I just want to swap seats with you."
Hearing this, Yurianna's pitiful act of clutching her chest and backing away vanished in a flash. Without a shred of sha, she nodded furiously.
"Yes, yes! You're the best, President! I love you so much!"
Behind them, Yabashi Ki and Ashley simultaneously cast her deadpan, fish-eyed stares.
"Shaless..."
Seeing her so thrilled, Yan Huan quickly tossed the ticket to Yurianna as if discarding a massive boulder. She accepted it with delight, even showing it off to Yabashi Ki and Ashley.
However, it wasn't long before she could no longer laugh.
"Dear passengers, the flight to Osaka..."
The boarding announcent rang out over the intercom. Far Moon Academy's first-year students ford a long queue, tacitly allowing the Student Council mbers to go in first.
Yurianna humd a tune, skipping happily to the front to claim her first-row seat.
anwhile, Yan Huan followed closely behind her, beads of sweat forming on his forehead. The mont they stepped inside and passed the welcoming, beautiful Sakura Country flight attendants, they entered the forward cabin section.
As soon as he stepped in, Yan Huan saw the seating arrangent in the first two rows, and his expression slightly stiffened.
On the left were Bai Yi, who was looking at her phone, and an expressionless Ye Shiyu. In the middle sat a beaming Sakuramiya Lily.
Of the two seats on the right, Sakuramiya Hitomi occupied the outer aisle seat, leaving the inner window seat completely empty...
It went without saying who that seat was reserved for.
"Yan Huan, you're here!"
In the second row, the adorable Spencer poked her head out and waved a greeting at him.
Her voice acted like a war horn.
In an instant, several terrifying gazes swept over from the first two rows, locking onto Yan...
Ah, no, let's not forget: standing right in front of him was Yurianna, who had been happily marching toward her first-class seat.
Thus, the pitiful Yurianna instantly beca a human shield, blocking four simultaneous, tsunami-like terrifying glares ant for Yan Huan.
"Uh..."
Her smile imdiately froze, and her body locked up chanically, completely motionless.
The next second, she silently turned around, gently stuffed the swapped ticket back into Yan Huan's chest, and sprinted off toward her original assigned seat in the back.
"President, it turns out I really can't handle this kind of premium service after all!! Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry!!"
"..."
With his at shield completely gone, Yan Huan swallowed hard, left with no choice but to face the apocalyptic onslaught before him alone...
'I knew it. I really should have just called in sick and stayed ho.'
Amidst those terrifying gazes, only Sakuramiya Lily's smile remained as pleasant as ever, resembling a cunning nine-tailed fox.
She pointed to the window seat beside Sakuramiya Hitomi and said softly,
"President Yan, take a seat~"
"..."
The hundred or so students from Far Moon Academy boarded the plane one after another, chatting and laughing. Almost everyone would say hello to Yan Huan as they passed, with the occasional greeting directed at Sakuramiya Hitomi.
Because of this, Yan Huan, who had been facing the window pretending to admire the view while actually playing dead, had to repeatedly turn his head back around to respond.
Fortunately, the stream of over a hundred people was almost finished boarding.
'Just take off already...'
'I really can't take this anymore.'
Just as the line of boarding passengers thinned out, the final traveler stepped onto the flight bound for Osaka, Sakura Country.
It was a girl with long black hair and a generous figure.
As soon as she boarded the plane, before she even opened her mouth, the people in the front row subconsciously had their attention drawn to her and looked her way.
"..."
Taking a quick glance, they saw An Le with downcast eyes slowly stepping into the cabin under the welcoming greetings of the flight attendants.
She carried a crossbody bag and wore a very beautiful white dress.
The dress outlined her exquisite figure, putting on full display a beauty that rivaled anyone else's.
"Ara, what a beautiful little girl~"
Right at that mont, Sakuramiya Lily tapped her folding fan and offered her evaluation.
This sound caught the attention of An Le, who hadn't anticipated the identities of the passengers in the front row, causing her to look up.
The mont she lifted her gaze, she was t with the sight of four girls, each with completely different expressions, and Yan Huan, who was sitting by the window, practically surrounded by them.
It was truly a gathering of all the key players.
"..."
An Le's eyes swept lightly over the four girls present before she revealed a slightly immature smile. Looking solely at Yan Huan, she spoke,
"Xiao Huan, I'm here."
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