Chapter 82: The Evil Eye of the Wicked Lord, the Strongest!!

……

Himekoji Tadashi had endured enough. He stood up, clenching his fists, his expression dark.

As the saying goes—

If a kid refuses to learn, it’s usually because they’re unruly. A good spanking should fix it.

Himekoji highly agreed with that right now.

“Are you going to study or not?”

Before taking action, Himekoji decided to give the girl one last chance.

Of course, even so, he didn’t hold any hope for Rikka’s answer.

After all, what he truly trusted now was his fist.

……

“I’ll study!”

But the facts surprised him.

Takanashi Rikka, who just moments ago struck an “I’d rather die than study” pose, suddenly—as if her brain had short-circuited—agreed crisply and without hesitation.

“Huh?”

Himekoji almost didn’t react in time, his hand already moving straight toward the girl’s backside for a spank.

He barely stopped himself.

“For real?”

It still felt weird and wrong to him, so he asked for confirmation.

“Mm-hmm!”

Takanashi Rikka nodded, her ahoge bouncing energetically side to side.

“But… I’m a bit thirsty.”

“Fine, wait here. I’ll get you some water. Read the textbook yourself first.”

“As expected of Akito, the chosen Contractor!”

The girl clapped her hands happily.

Contractor? Where did this new term come from?

Really… There was no need for extra, pointless additions like this!

Himekoji shook his head and headed downstairs.

……

Three minutes later—

Standing before the now-empty classroom door, Himekoji’s face was livid.

The canned coffee in his grip crunched dangerously under his clenching fingers.

That darn brat! She’d run away!

No wonder she agreed so readily and clapped so happily earlier. She was tricking him all along!

He’d underestimated that little devil!

She couldn’t have gotten far in just a few minutes.

Thinking this, Himekoji stomped off angrily.

However, terribly poor timing—as he turned, he bumped right into a girl.

“Himekoji! What are you doing on the first-year floor? Do you know how long I searched for you? Unbelievable! I’m so mad!”

The barrage started the instant they met.

That level of arrogance, dominance, and sheer disregard for others could only belong to one person: the blunt and straightforward Miura Queen – the Queen herself.

“Why were you looking for me?”

Himekoji was still furious about being tricked by Rikka. Annoyed, he instinctively frowned at her.

“Didn’t you rank first in the grade? So tomorrow there’s that school radio interview, right? They’ll definitely… uh… they’ll definitely ask about us…”

Was he seeing things? Was Miura stammering? The usually proud, haughty Queen acting shy was honestly unsettling.

If catching Takanashi Rikka hadn’t been such an urgent priority, Himekoji might have stayed to chat politely.

But right now—

“Us? What us? There’s nothing between us!”

Himekoji didn’t hesitate. He pushed past her.

“Huh? What’s your problem? Seriously!”

Though Miura complained, her own attitude toward Himekoji was arguably worse.

Well, though lately, for some unknown reason, she seemed slightly less harsh…

Annoyed by Miura’s nagging as she kept trying to block him, Himekoji snapped open the can he’d bought and shoved it straight at her chatterbox mouth.

“Here’s coffee. You’re welcome. Take it. Bye!”

Words and action flowed smoothly, done and dusted.

Himekoji brushed past Miura, leaving only the swiftly retreating sight of his back.

The girl held the coffee can with both hands, lips accidentally closing around the rim.

Then, she froze for a long moment.

“…So cool…”

Finally, without even realizing it herself, that odd little sigh slipped out.

“And… the coffee is… sweet.”

……

If Himekoji had heard it, he’d probably have mocked her—

Hey, did you drink your lip balm along with it?

……

Inside the classroom.

“Huuuh… Is he finally gone?”

A short girl, barely 150cm tall, slowly emerged from beneath a desk.

The ahoge on her head bobbed triumphantly left and right, like a victory flag in the breeze.

“Yay!”

The little girl swung her pink fist excitedly in the air.

“The Evil Eye of the Wicked Lord is the strongest!”

……

Himekoji searched desperately around the school building but still failed to find Takanashi Rikka.

His heart was broken inside.

It was the first time ever he had actually been tricked by a Chuunibyou!

…

The awful Monday finally passed.

Time came to Tuesday afternoon after school.

Just as Miura had said, Himekoji had an interview with the Broadcasting Club.

Actually, this wasn’t his first interview. Long ago, when he had been selected as “Perverted Prince” into the Five Shadows, he had already dealt with the Broadcasting Club before.

So, he had some experience.

Well, shameful experience…

…

“Ahem! It’s an honor today to again welcome the famous Prince Himekoji Akito from Toyonoshi Academy as our guest for this interview! Welcome!”

The female host’s voice echoed through the broadcast across the whole campus.

Though he was very thankful they skipped saying “Pervert,” why did calling him “Prince” make him feel even worse?

Himekoji was totally exasperated.

…

“As everyone knows, Himekoji-kun has always been a top figure on campus. Just a while ago, the kissing incident was all the talk. Now, against all odds, he bravely got first in the grade. So, we have a few questions for him.”

“I did it first. Trying hard? Nope. Not thinking about it for now.”

The host’s questions hadn’t even been asked, yet Himekoji had answered all at once.

“Huh?”

The female host blinked in surprise, then realized and quickly laughed to cover up.

“Ha, Himekoji-kun really is funny! You answered the four questions I planned to ask already. But that’s not okay—listeners don’t know what the questions are. So, let’s go one at a time, all right?”

“Can I say no?”

Himekoji rolled his eyes.

He just wanted to end this pointless interview fast, get it done quickly.

Otherwise, the System might foolishly pop up and cause trouble soon.

“No, you cannot.”

The female host’s reply was exactly what he expected.

So why did she ask him that specially then?

Himekoji pursed his lips and grumbled to himself.

…

“About last month’s kissing incident: some say you kissed Miura first, others say Miura kissed you first. With all the rumors, what really happened?”

“I kissed her first.”

Himekoji answered with a blank face.

Just as he thought: when Miura reached out yesterday, it must have been about that mess.

So that woman was afraid he wouldn’t keep his promise? Whatever!

“Wow, Himekoji-kun really is per… uh, really so romantic!”

Hey, your slip was totally obvious!

The female host gossiped about the kissing incident for ages, and Himekoji just fobbed her off with “uh-huh” and “ah.”

Only after forever did they finally move to the next question.

…

During the lunch break, the Service Club had the broadcast on by surprise.

“Huh? Yukino-chan, why is Akito saying such nonsense?”

Yuigahama stared with wide, puzzled eyes, wondering to herself.

…