Chapter 141: A Turn for the Better?

Aoki Tsukasa checked that the hallway was empty, received an "all clear" thumbs-up from Maeda Tora in the distance, and slipped into the guidance counselor’s office. Once inside, he immediately spotted a thick stack of survey forms on the desk. He hurried over, scanning the grade levels noted on the forms to locate where Fujiwara Miao’s love letter should be.

Meanwhile, Fujiwara Miao and Matsuzaka Dabu were stealthily descending the stairs, keeping an eye out for any anomalies as Aoki had instructed.

"Pull me up, quickly!" Kaneda Ichi hissed, his voice trembling with pain. He tried to push Kawamoto Seita away, but found the guy impossibly heavy. Every time he tensed his muscles, a sharp, stinging pain shot through him. Left with no other choice, he had to tell the still-dazed Kawamoto Seita to get up on his own.

Kawamoto Seita grunted in response and used his hands to push himself off the floor. However, his palms slipped on the slick surface due to sweat, and in his surprise, his head slammed heavily into Kaneda Ichi’s nose.

Kaneda Ichi, who had been struggling to stop the cold sweat from his twisted ankle, didn't even have time to register what was happening before a wave of agonizing pain erupted in his nose.

"Ah!" he shrieked, tears streaming down his face. He felt a hot surge inside his nose, and when he reached up to touch it, his hand came away covered in bright red blood.

"Kawamoto!" he roared, glaring at him with such intensity he felt like punching him right then and there.

Kawamoto Seita quickly sat up, apologizing profusely. He reached out to cup Kaneda Ichi’s face, trying to wipe the blood away with his sleeve. "I’m sorry, I’m sorry! I didn't mean to, Boss!"

Matsuzaka Dabu and Fujiwara Miao, having just rounded the corner at the top of the stairs, were startled by Kaneda Ichi's shout. When they regained their composure, they saw Kawamoto Seita with his back to them, one lying down and the other crouching, with Kawamoto’s back shielding Kaneda’s upper body. From their perspective, it looked as if Kawamoto was cradling Kaneda’s head in his hands.

Matsuzaka and Fujiwara recoiled with strange expressions, rubbed their eyes, and peeked again. At that moment, Kawamoto Seita had leaned his face close to Kaneda’s nose to inspect the wound, looking for all the world as if he were about to kiss him.

"My god..." Fujiwara Miao gripped the handrail, feeling goosebumps erupt all over his skin as he rubbed his arms in disgust. "That is just too vulgar!"

Matsuzaka Dabu shared his expression. "Eww... no wonder the boss wanted to swap spots with us. This is just too hard on the eyes."

As the two of them whispered about Kaneda Ichi, the man himself was oblivious, grumbling in an angry, hushed tone: "Stop staring, for heaven's sake! Just get me to somewhere to stop the bleeding, pull me up, hurry!"

"So... are we not going to sneak a look at... that anymore?" Kawamoto asked. Kaneda Ichi froze.

That was right—if they left now, they would miss their chance! Kaneda Ichi gritted his teeth, pinched his nose, and spoke in a nasally, bitter tone: "But there are people upstairs watching us, we can't get past them..."

"What should we do then?" Kawamoto Seita looked troubled. He hadn't held much hope to begin with, but having come this far, it felt a real shame to give up.

"Are you two okay?"

The voice, suddenly reaching Kaneda Ichi’s ears, made him look up. A middle-aged man wearing a hat was looking down at him with concern. Behind him, Teruhashi Kokomi, beautiful enough to seem as if she were radiating holy light, offered them a polite smile.

"Oh, oh-ho," Kaneda Ichi couldn't help but exhale. Feeling a bit embarrassed, he turned to look at Kawamoto Seita, who was already "oh-ho-ing" uncontrollably, which made him feel slightly better.

"I'm fine," Kaneda Ichi said, feigning composure, but then he noticed the stack of survey forms in their hands.

*Wait, I remember Teruhashi Kokomi is in the same class as Aoki Tsukasa, right? That means... Aoki Tsukasa’s survey is in there?* The hope Kaneda Ichi had intended to abandon began to beat wildly in his chest.

He gave Kawamoto Seita a subtle kick and shot him a meaningful look. Kawamoto blinked, caught on, and a flash of joy crossed his eyes, though he quickly gestured back for Kaneda to figure something out.

"Should I take you to the infirmary?" Matsushita Kazuo asked kindly, crouching down to look at Kaneda Ichi’s bloody nose with genuine concern.

Kaneda Ichi had a flash of inspiration and let out a pained cry: "Agh, my nose feels like it's broken! Teacher, please, help me."

Matsushita Kazuo blinked in surprise. He had only been being polite; hadn't this guy just said he was fine? Why was his nose suddenly broken? Matsushita gave an awkward chuckle, but he couldn't take back what he'd said, so he nodded stiffly. "Well, alright then. Come on, let me help you."

As he said this, he prepared to hand the stack of survey forms to Teruhashi Kokomi.

Just as Teruhashi reached out to take them, Kawamoto Seita deftly extended his hand, smiling sycophantically. "Teacher, you take him; I’ll help you deliver the surveys."

*Wait, shouldn't you be going with me? Aren't you two friends?* Matsushita Kazuo chuckled awkwardly, helping Kaneda Ichi up. He noticed the boy leaning his full weight on him, as if his legs were broken too.

"Teacher, um, I think I twisted my ankle as well," Kaneda Ichi said with an awkward smile, hanging his head. He felt a deep sense of tragedy: *It's over. I've completely lost face in front of the goddess.*

Matsushita Kazuo’s face turned red from the weight, but as a man and a teacher, he had to put on a brave, magnanimous front: "It's fine, let's go!"

With that, he limped off downstairs, supporting the hobbling Kaneda Ichi.

Teruhashi Kokomi didn't think much of it; to her, such background characters weren't worth the attention. She simply nodded to Kawamoto Seita and smiled. "Then I'll trouble this student to help me take them up."

"No problem!" Kawamoto Seita hiccuped, stifling the "oh-ho" in his throat and forcing a steady, toothy grin. "Let's go!"

Teruhashi Kokomi had seen countless male students like him; she didn't dwell on it and turned to head upstairs.

Kawamoto Seita followed behind her, watching her sway as she climbed the stairs step by step. Her enchanting silhouette left him completely dazed.

"Hiss..." Kawamoto bit his tongue to steady himself and quickly used his hands to search through the stack of forms. The staircase was short, but miraculously, he flipped through and found Aoki Tsukasa’s form right at the bottom!

He quickly brought the paper before his eyes and began scanning it at high speed.

"Um, excuse me, what are you doing?" Teruhashi Kokomi heard the rustling of paper behind her and turned around curiously.

Kawamoto Seita reflexively snapped his head up. "I'm not looking at anything!"

Teruhashi Kokomi paused, her gaze falling on the top form in his hands, where the name "Aoki Tsukasa" was clearly written.

"What do you think you're doing?" Teruhashi Kokomi felt a sudden surge of irritation.

*How could he just look at Tsukasa-kun's things! Why is this guy so annoying?* Teruhashi frowned, her tone stern. "Prying into other people's privacy is bad behavior, you know."

"I, I didn't..." Kawamoto Seita swallowed nervously, feeling like he'd really lost out. Seeing the faint disgust in Teruhashi’s eyes, a wave of sadness washed over him: *What was the point of all this? Just because of the Boss's random guess, I've ended up being hated by the goddess.*

Teruhashi didn't answer him; she just vigilantly slowed her pace, kept herself parallel to him, and watched him intently as they continued upstairs.

However, the moment they rounded the corner of the landing, Teruhashi Kokomi let out a surprised cry: "Eh? Why are you two here?"

Fujiwara Miao and Matsuzaka Dabu stiffened at the top of the stairs and exchanged a look.

*This is bad!* The meaning in their eyes was unexpectedly unanimous.