"..."
If it were a certain puppet, she would definitely say she had been betrayed for the fourth time. But Li Wu wasn't a puppet, nor was he so petty.
After a brief hesitation, Li Wu finally lowered the hand he was about to use to knock.
If he knocked once, someone would surely open the door.
But by not returning in time, he had already broken the rules. Knocking on the door and disturbing everyone's dreams would be adding sin upon sin.
And the person Kiana hated most was someone who broke the rules.
To avoid making Kiana dislike him even more, Li Wu turned around, preparing to go back to the playground for a while.
However, the moment he turned around.
A faint "creak" came from the crack between the door and the wall.
Li Wu subconsciously turned his head, only to see the front door still tightly closed, showing no signs of opening.
But suddenly, a familiar figure caught the corner of his eye. Li Wu turned sideways and looked towards the back door.
The first thing that entered his vision was a silver-white ponytail, as pure and beautiful as falling frost in the depths of winter. It swayed in the air before finally settling behind the absolute territory bordered by black thigh-high socks and a short skirt.
Kiana stood at the back door, looking coldly at Li Wu. Their eyes met, and there was only silence.
Just as Li Wu opened his mouth to speak, Kiana walked out of the back door, brushing past him once again, and headed towards the restrooms, giving him no opportunity to explain.
"I don't want to dream of you again..." Kiana hid around the corner and whispered.
Going to the restroom?
Usually, the class representative would leave the key on her desk. Anyone who needed to go to the restroom could just grab it from her desk without waking her.
So it was a coincidence.
Li Wu let out a long sigh of relief. He was actually a little... disappointed?
No, now is not the time to think about this. I need to go back to the classroom and get some sleep first. I must be well-rested to apologize to her properly during P.E. class in the afternoon!
Li Wu seized the opportunity of the open back door and quickly walked into the classroom.
Upon entering the classroom, however, he found that the class representative sitting by the back door was not sleeping. Instead, she was playing with her phone out of boredom. The key was sitting neatly on her textbook, not in the hands of Kiana, who had just left.
Out of curiosity, Li Wu pointed at the key on the textbook and asked in a low voice, "Aren't you sleeping yet, class rep? The key is in such an obvious place; you don't need to stay awake all the time, do you?"
Hearing Li Wu's voice, the class representative suddenly sat up straight, turned her head, her eyes full of complaint: "You finally know how to come back? Do you know how hard it was for me to wait for you? By this time, everyone should have been back. I was too lazy to count, so I just locked the door. But I was woken up right after I fell asleep and told someone hadn't returned. I waited and waited... No one in the class has your contact information. Raiden Mei said not to bother with you, but Kiana kept insisting someone hadn't returned. I asked who, but she wouldn't say, just kept looking at your seat, so I had no choice but to keep waiting..."
"Since she kept reminding you, why didn't you just give her the key?"
Li Wu noticed a blind spot and continued to ask in a low voice.
The class representative pouted, "I wanted to, but I didn't dare say it. You know Kiana's personality. She hates dereliction of duty the most, so I could only wait."
"I see. Then what was she going out for just now?"
"Stomachache. She's gone out several times already. Does her stomach hurt that much? Ah, whatever. Don't talk to me, I'm sleepy. Go back to your seat and sleep. I can finally lie down..."
After speaking, the class representative lay down on her desk, pulled a prepared blanket over herself, covering her head up to the back of her neck.
Li Wu paused at the back door for a moment, then returned to his seat for his afternoon nap.
Stomachache...
Li Wu silently noted it down. After quickly going over the recent crisis events in his mind, he took out his phone and sent a message to Raiden Mei: Change into your gym uniform as soon as the lunch break is over.
After confirming the message was sent, he drowsily fell asleep.
The curtains blocked the light from outside, and the lights in the classroom had long been extinguished.
The back door closed.
"..."
Kiana's gaze lingered on Li Wu's cheek for a moment before she turned away.
Silence, silence.
Until the bell signaling the end of the lunch break suddenly rang, echoing in every corner of Chiba Academy.
The afternoon sun was even hotter than at noon. A strange smell emanated from the plastic track under the sun.
Most of the students had changed into their gym uniforms and gathered in the shade of the trees. Some were still rubbing their sleepy eyes, waiting for the P.E. teacher to appear.
The girls were in the front, the boys in the back.
Raiden Mei stood at the front of the line, wearing a perfectly intact gym uniform. Her slender figure and perfect curves were fully displayed after she changed.
In the comic plot, Raiden Mei's gym uniform was vandalized, covered with vulgar words like "bitch" and "cum dumpster," which couldn't be cleaned off in a short time. So, she had to attend P.E. class in her JK uniform.
Unsurprisingly, she was verbally attacked by the teacher and classmates in turn. Then, under the deliberate arrangement of the bullies, she suffered all kinds of hardships and ridicule during P.E. class.
In an atmosphere of utter shame, she eventually jumped from the rooftop, dying in front of the protagonist, piece by piece.
Of course, Li Wu would not let such a thing happen.
But strangely, in the comic plot, Raiden Mei's ponytail wasn't so tightly gathered. She simply tied her long hair with a ribbon, her ponytail cascading down to her waist like a famous waterfall in the Far East.
But now, she had tied her ponytail tightly, just like Kiana, appearing exceptionally quiet and gentle.
When their eyes met, Raiden Mei smiled sweetly, made a heart shape with her hands in front of her chest, and winked with her left eye.
It was like an idol in an underground theater in the Far East secretly expressing her love to a true fan in the crowd. Only, this wasn't an underground theater, and she wasn't secretly hiding her feelings.
Instead, she was expressing her thoughts, her affection, more directly, more frankly, without any concealment...
The heavy mood from recalling the dark and gritty plot suddenly became lighter. After hesitating for half a second, Li Wu also returned a gentle smile to Raiden Mei.
Although this action would likely make him the target of public criticism, Li Wu didn't want to see the just-returned-to-normal Raiden Mei turn back into that twisted terrorist because of his neglect.
Their interaction was seen by the classmates and teacher.
There were no comments, only extremely soft "tsks" and "ehs" lingering, as if they were scorning their desperate behavior.
A fallen young miss condescendingly showing favor to a commoner boy, and a commoner boy standing at the center of public opinion for that little bit of desire.
They were simply starving for attention.
"Class, today we'll be having a 1000-meter run test. Students who finish the test can have free activity. We'll start taking names now. Twenty students per group."
The scorching sunlight illuminated the playground clearly. The P.E. teacher stood at the starting line of the track, holding a stopwatch and a list, and spoke.
Soon, the twenty spots were filled. Kiana was not among them.
That's rare...
The P.E. teacher couldn't help but look at Kiana. In her impression, this study representative not only perennially topped the school in academics but also got full marks in every event in P.E. class tests. She was always the first to take the lead in every test.
Although her strength, approaching that of a national-level athlete, made the students who tested after her grimace, it didn't affect her influence among the students at all.
Coupled with her dazzling snow-white long hair and outstanding looks, it was hard for people to take their eyes off her. After every class, there would always be a few boys asking her out and confessing, only to be rejected cleanly and decisively.