Slap, slap, slap.

“Mm... a little harder...”

Slap, slap.

“Down a bit more, yeah, right there.”

Harutaki was lying face-down across the floor, using Nogami’s lap as a pillow while she pounded his back with her fists.

“Hey, I say, Hoshikawa... is this really what you call a lap pillow?”

She glanced down at the jerk resting his head between her thighs. His warm breath brushed against her inner thighs, so sensitive that she shivered from the heat.

“Of course it is. Why else do you think every guy dreams of getting a lap pillow from a cute girl?”

His voice came out muffled against her legs, and every exhaled word sent tingles through her skin, making her squirm awkwardly.

“That’s, enough already, isn’t it!?”

“This doesn’t even come close to one ten-thousandth of the pain you gave me earlier.”

“Pfft... hah... hahaha...”

Unbelievable. The victim was lying there in pain on her lap, and she was laughing like it was the funniest thing in the world.

“That’s rude! You shouldn’t be laughing, none of this is funny!”

“It’s your own fault for making that face! Just thinking about it again, pfft, ahaha, it’s killing me, I can’t stop!”

Her shoulders shook as she laughed so hard she was out of breath.

At that moment, Harutaki couldn’t help but regret his decision.

If he were really lying in her lap, he might’ve gotten to see how Mount Fuji looked during an earthquake.

But on the other hand... the sheer bliss of having his face buried between a pretty girl’s thighs, how could anyone give that up so easily?

Ah, youth. Always making you encounter something wonderful right when you’re too conflicted to enjoy it.

“You sure are having fun...”

He couldn’t see Nogami’s face from this position, but her tone alone painted a vivid enough picture, she was delighted.

As for him, he had already entered a sort of post-battle serenity. With all worldly desires momentarily extinguished, he simply basked in the divine warmth of a young girl’s thighs.

“Was it really that bad, though...?”

Thonk, thonk. Nogami rapped her knuckles lightly against the back of his head, as if knocking on a door.

“Any normal guy would be in agony, okay!? Didn’t you see that delinquent yesterday? One kick and he was down for the count! And all I did to you was grab your wrist and tug your cheeks a little, didn’t even leave a mark! What, do you have some blood feud with me or something? I’m still a virgin, you know. I’d rather not die before I get to experience life’s greatest joy! ...Ahh, a bit harder, yeah, right above the lumbar, that spot, perfect...”

Sure, it was his fault to begin with, he’d teased her because her flustered expression was just too adorable, but the price he paid for it did feel a bit excessive.

“Okay, okay, I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I’ll keep hitting, alright?”

She said it like she was soothing a cranky child.

Listening to Harutaki’s contented hums, like a cat basking in sunlight, she kept tapping his back where he asked. Oddly enough, being ordered around like some maid didn’t make her feel irritated at all.

It must be guilt, she told herself. She’d kicked him too hard. That was all.

“Speaking of grudges... tch, the one who made a mess of me is you, remember?”

“Maybe think about who started it first?” Harutaki retorted dryly.

“Weren’t you the one who butted into Tazaki’s business?”

Nogami wasn’t about to back down.

Sure, she had a point.

But wasn’t what he did the act of a righteous hero, stepping in to stop bullying?

Well, it had been harder to justify once he found out that Tazaki had broken into the girls’ locker room to steal underwear.

Still, saving Tazaki wasn’t just about morals, it was tactical foresight. Preventive self-defense! He was resisting tyranny, not flirting with danger!

Nogami had already bullied her way over to his desk once, what if he was next? Judging by how she’d reacted that first day, she probably had her sights set on him, only Tazaki had been the unlucky buffer.

When it came to bullies, compromise never bought peace.

“If I didn’t teach you a lesson, someone else would, and that person might not be so gentle.”

He decided not to comment on her and Tazaki’s “mutually parasitic” dynamic and instead tried to steer the topic.

“People who hang around the riverbank long enough are bound to get their shoes wet one day. Even if you’ve got leverage on someone, doing cruel and petty things like that... it’s only a matter of time before it all comes back to you. Even your father wouldn’t be able to fix that kind of disaster.”

“Ugh, nag, nag, nag...”

“The world isn’t fair. All roads lead to Rome, but some are born there while others start out in the stables pulling the carts. They grow up only to become the beasts that carry nobles to Rome.”

He spoke calmly, almost philosophically.

“But the world is fair in one way, no matter noble or commoner, everyone’s human. And when a human’s killed, they die. Whether it’s a homemade bomb, a rusty rifle, or a kitchen knife, hit a vital spot and it’s over. Even prime ministers and U.S. presidents have been assassinated. You, Nogami Izumi, have no idea how dangerous it is for a high school girl to go around making enemies.”

“I’m not that, ”

“Even ordinary people have ways of making someone regret crossing them... ways that make you beg for death.”

“Is that so?”

“Ow, ow, ow, ow! I surrender! Let go of my hair, it hurts!”

When Nogami finally released him, Harutaki sat up and instinctively took a few steps back from the volatile girl.

Sure, he’d wanted to keep enjoying those soft thighs, but reason told him that wisdom meant knowing when to retreat.

Taking a small hit and walking away with dignity, that was fine. For her, it was a bit of payback; for him, a lesson learned.

“If someone really does come after you someday, just run. And if you can’t, then fight back hard. Otherwise you’ll just provoke them into doing worse.”

“I’m not an idiot!”

If it had been anyone else, she wouldn’t have held back nearly as much.

The two of them returned to their desks, pushed together like a makeshift table. But when she saw how gingerly Harutaki was moving, she burst into laughter again.

“Pfft...”

“You little, ! I changed my mind! I demand once with your hand and once with your foot before I forgive you!”

He feigned outrage.

Becoming the butt of a joke was, at times, the fastest way to close the distance between people. So long as you were the joke, not the clown.

“Oh? So Hoshikawa’s actually asking to be fed by hand now? My, my... you want me to feed you with my foot, too? What a pervy little dog.”

“Yeah, and I want to pour whipped cream and yogurt all over Nogami-san and lick it clean like a hungry pup.”

Harutaki’s gaze traveled up her body, inch by inch, and she felt like his eyes were licking her from head to toe. A shiver ran up her spine.

“L-lick...? You disgusting pervert! Go home and dream about it, idiot!”

She might act all sharp-tongued and cruel, but deep down she was so easy to fluster, it was kind of adorable.

“Anyway, I’ll help you out. You don’t have to give me anything in return.”

Once he felt the mood had evened out, Harutaki finally got serious. His tone turned calm and measured, instantly changing the air between them.

“I just need you to promise me one thing. Swear it on the Nogami name, try to rein in your temper. Stop doing things that’ll make people hate you... unless the other person truly deserves it.”

“Tch. Since when were you the righteous type? Those words sound so fake coming from you.”

“Why do you assume I’m saying this out of some sense of justice or morality?”

A soft breeze drifted in through the cracked window, carrying the scent of grass and damp earth, the breath of late April fading into full May.

He didn’t rush to continue, instead letting the quiet linger for a while.

Then, across the table, she muttered under her breath.

“Why do you even care what I do...”

“Because if you keep this up, you’ll get hurt. And I’d hate to see a pretty girl like Nogami-san getting hurt.”

Wha, Whaaat!?

The legs of her chair screeched against the floor as she jolted upright, eyes wide like a startled cat.

“Don’t mess with me! You’re worried about me? You think I’ll fall for that fake nice-guy act and start dating you? Keep dreaming!”

“Yeah, I was kidding. You didn’t really believe that, did you, Nogami-san?”

“Die, you lying, womanizing jerk!”

“My grandma always said the handsomest guys are the biggest liars. Honestly, I just think if I go through all this trouble helping you and you still stir up drama, it’ll make me look bad, you know?”

He leaned back casually, hands folded behind his head, one leg crossed over the other, smiling like he owned the world.

That smugness made her want to throw something at him.

How could one person be this infuriating!?

“And what if I don’t keep your stupid promise? I’ve got plenty of ways to make you regret it.”

“Then I’ll print a giant banner that says: ‘Nogami Eiji, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary, has a daughter named Nogami Izumi, a vile sinner who should die to atone for her sins.’ I’ll make sure your dad’s name is huge and impossible to miss. Then I’ll climb Tokyo Tower and jump with it. Public outrage will do the rest, no politician survives that.”

From her reaction earlier, it was clear, her father was both her greatest shield and her biggest weakness.

“You really are a ‘wise-man’ in the making, aren’t you, Hoshi, Kawa, kun, ” she said through gritted teeth, putting special venom into the word great.

Of course, the irony was lost on him. To Harutaki, that so-called “threat” was just a joke. Like he could ever outmaneuver a seasoned politician!

Even if he jumped off Tokyo Tower, the news would probably get buried, or worse, he’d just be labeled as another mentally unstable case.

At most, he’d give the deputy secretary a mild headache.

“Thanks for the compliment.”

Honestly, the only real damage he could ever do to Nogami Eiji would be to completely ruin his daughter, and maybe add a scandalous death on top.

“Anyway, I’m the dashing, clever, unflappable, brave-yet-gentle Hoshikawa Harutaki, destined to become a wise-man someday.”

“Ugh. You disgusting, shameless idiot.”

“You’re the one who said it, Nogami-san.”

“Hmph.”

With that, she turned her face away, refusing to look at him again.

He simply grinned, said his goodbyes, and headed off to catch the last few minutes of lunch break in the student cafeteria.