Chapter 152: Familiar Chest ♂!

Huh?

Himekoji was surprised!

Of course, what he wasn’t surprised about was that he had instantly triggered the flag again, since it was nothing out of the ordinary.

What truly surprised him was—

Eriri had actually appeared in the choice?!

Did he see that right?

Himekoji hurriedly rubbed his eyes and looked again.

It was strange, but it was true!

This… this… this…

It was real!

[A: Please savor the Kuchikamizake from Yukinoshita, Yuigahama, Kasumigaoka, and Eriri.]

[B: Let Yukinoshita, Yuigahama, Kasumigaoka, and Eriri savor your Kuchikamizake.]

Although, Eriri’s name was only pitifully tacked on at the end, as if it didn’t matter, and it even seemed like she got in only because she was lucky with the others…

Wait, it didn’t just seem that way, it was definitely the truth, yes!

Eriri was immune to all single-type perverse choices in the Perverse Choice System, but she could still get hurt by area attacks by mistake.

Himekoji thought for a moment and came to this unproven idea.

Then, next—

It was time to make a choice!

“B!”

Himekoji picked the second option, there was nothing to hesitate about, it was obvious.

After all, if he picked A, wouldn’t that prove what Yukinoshita said?

Girls’ drool, I love it the most…

No way, he didn’t like it! Was he a pervert?

Hmm, wait, a beautiful girl?

Why did Yukinoshita always brag about being a “beautiful girl”?

Did she want to be a pretty warrior?

That was so vain!

What a loser, she had no subtle charm, and she should learn from him.

Himekoji Akito was so handsome and cool, but he never went around telling people he was a hunk?

Anyway, Himekoji didn’t buy into this whole “beautiful girl” thing from Yukinoshita!

When he remembered how the System had forced him to lick her before…

Well, this time, with this chance, Himekoji was going to pay her back big time!

Make you taste a handsome guy’s drool… yuck, gross!

No, why was it gross?

Himekoji’s Kuchikamizake, Yukinoshita loved it the most…

Yuck, even grosser!

How could he say such embarrassing stuff in his head?

…

[Ding!]

[Choice Successful!]

[Good job, you got a quest item: One High-Speed Kuchikamizake Brewing Recipe!]

[Quest Completed, reward: A forever skill called Master Mixer!]

[If you fail, punishment: Turn into sticky rice, get chewed to death by Yukinoshita, Yuigahama, Kasumigaoka, and Eriri taking turns, and your “dead body” gets brewed into wine. This wine’s power: Switch souls with your other half.]

[The deadline to finish the quest: one month.]

Oh, a whole month?

Himekoji lost all his willpower at once.

But then, what was with this punishment?

Was this about turning himself into Kuchikamizake?

That “other half, soul swap” thing, wasn’t it the same as in the movie?

Couldn’t it be that the hero Taki drank “that Himekoji” in the film, so he could connect with the soul of Mitsuha who should have died and save the town?

All right, this joke mixed with the movie wasn’t so bad…

For once, Himekoji praised the System.

…

On Monday.

The shooting in the mall had big, bad effects, and the news spread fast.

After all, the place was surrounded by many high schools.

All day today in Toyosaki Academy, the topic among students, and even teachers, after class was almost all this.

Himekoji’s class was no different—

“Heard about it? Heard about it? The one who dealt with the gunman in uniform seemed to be a high schooler too, all alone with bare fists!”

“Stop lying… bare fists, my foot! He had a strong weapon! Photos from the spot came out already.”

“Photos from the spot? Where? Where?”

Over by the seats at the back of the classroom, loud, messy, noisy talk came out, like gorillas beating their chests to show off who was boss.

Hey! Can’t people rest here? Isn’t school a spot for sleeping?

Himekoji frowned with annoyance and turned to look backward.

Just as he thought, sounding them out—

Tobe, Ooka, and Yamato were sitting on the desks.

Remembering their names was tough, Himekoji preferred simple tags like Hayama’s follower number one, two, three, and so on.

Hmm, wait, why were they sitting on the desks when there were chairs?

“Here, the photos.”

Tobe handed over his phone, and Ooka waved his arms around right away.

“This… is that strong weapon you talked about? Too strong… no, way too strong!”

The photo was snapped from far off in a corner of the mall’s ground floor, so it was barely clear, just so-so.

By so-so, it meant everything else was sort of visible except the faces.

“A vibrator?!”

Well, the vibrator wasn’t someone’s face, so it could see clearly.

No, more than just see clearly—that nasty, realistic toy looked incredibly sharp!

Ooka Makoto’s shout was so over-the-top that it instantly grabbed the attention of most kids in the class.

“I thought he was a high school hero? But this… this… this is a high school pervert! Carrying a vibrator or something…”

Yamato, who was usually calm and a bit slow, muttered this low, awkward complaint.

Even though, after hearing about the incident, he actually kind of admired the guy.

He just couldn’t stop his urge to make that joke.

“Pervert? You mean Tsumugu Monogatari, right?”

The jokes and cold remarks about Himekoji were really popular among a few annoying guys.

So, Tobe, who’d managed to slip that nickname in smoothly, ran his fingers through his hairline, flashed a smug look at Ooka Makoto, and looked mighty pleased with himself.

Snickers spread through the group immediately.

Looking closer, even guys nearby fiddling with their phones—whether it was Ota or Harada—were shaking their shoulders going “pfft pfft,” trying not to laugh outright.

So funny, so funny.

Yeah, Himekoji had been dealing with stuff like this a lot lately.

Especially after that rumor spread recently about him “threatening Toyosaki’s Golden Legend, Eriri, with some sneaky, dirty trick”…

Some of the classmates found him even more annoying.

These bored guys kept playing around with his jokes in their own way.

But this wasn’t bullying or shunning—everyone in Class 2-B got along super well. There was no bullying happening here.

No, they weren’t picking on him! It was just the usual jokes, that’s all!

No matter what terrible things they said or did, just tacking on “It’s just a joke, right?” or “C’mon, Himekoji is a pervert after all,” made everything okay. Super convenient.

To describe it, everyone was caught up in this weird, giggly haze. You had to laugh along.

So, Himekoji laughed too.

He was totally laid-back about all this; it didn’t bother him one bit—

“Frickin’ idiots!” he thought.

“Idiot Tobe! Idiot Ooka Makoto! Idiot Yamato!”

See? Not bothered at all.

No helping it; that’s just how cool and easygoing he was~

Like mentioned before, remembering the names of “Hayama’s three lackeys” wasn’t easy, right?

Still, calling them names under your breath often enough meant you’d eventually sort of remember them.

Alright, better not get dragged down by these boring guys. Time to think of something else to cheer up.

Hmm…

Thinking about all those embarrassing nicknames Eriri had since elementary school!

The “Toyosaki’s Golden Legend” mentioned earlier was one.

Then there were others like “Shimagami Middle School’s Pure Jade Maiden,” “The School’s Whitest Skin Number One,” “Sambutai Elementary’s Golden Princess”… and so on.

Way too funny! Hahaha!

While Himekoji amused himself, all of a sudden, the light in front of him dimmed.

His eyes focused to see what had caused the shadow—and the first thing Himekoji saw was…

A familiar pair of boobs ♂!

Ah, actually— no— a familiar face.

“Ya-hallo~!”

Yuigahama had smoothly slid right up to his desk and was leaning forward to look at him.

Her generous chest, presented right there, packed some serious pressure.

“Ah… ah.”

Almost falling off his chair, Himekoji still managed to reply as calmly as he could.

“You’ll come to the club today, right?”

“Ah, um, yeah…”

“Okay! See you then for club stuff.”

Yuigahama whispered quietly. Her timing was fantastic; she seemed to have chosen the exact moment everyone looked away.

After giving a tiny, secretive wave near her chest, she hurried back to Miura.

Miura gave Himekoji a brief, slightly confused once-over, then almost instantly looked back down at her phone.

Totally living up to her Queen title. She seemed completely uninterested in happenings on the “mortal plane.”

That glance earlier wasn’t really at him, but more about what Yuigahama was doing.

It was kinda weird, though, how her cheeks stayed bright red.

Maybe she just had great circulation?

……

Firing up a conversation with Himekoji during Class 2-B’s vibe was basically a high-risk move.

But Yuigahama’s skill at reading the room and being unobtrusive was seriously impressive.

Her short chat with Himekoji barely got noticed by anyone.

No wonder she was part of the elite group with Hayama and Miura, being part of that class.

Hey, wait a sec… Had he let himself get kinda pressured by the big chest earlier, agreeing to something he couldn’t actually do?

“You’ll come to the club today, right?” Yuigahama had asked.

Finally, later, Himekoji suddenly realized the issue—

He couldn’t go.

Because… he had things to do!

……