"Engaging in indecent acts on school grounds? And it turns out Maria-san has that kind of relationship with you? My, if the other male students knew their Madonna had been taken, you'd become public enemy number one, Rokuhara-kun."
Positioning herself on a moral high ground, Yuki maintained a calm expression, though secretly she hid the fact that her legs were slightly trembling from the masturbation she had just indulged in.
"Are you threatening me, Suou-san?" Ren narrowed his eyes slightly.
Yuki, who had initially been confident, suddenly felt her heart beat faster. There was something in his gaze that made her hair stand on end—not out of fear, but more from a mix of anticipation and unease.
'Rokuhara-kun wouldn't rape me while recording a video to blackmail me into keeping his secret, would he?'
On the surface, she was a young woman from an aristocratic family, full of grace and decorum. But beneath her elegant appearance, Yuki was actually an otaku. As an avid reader of various doujins, her mind quickly drifted to scenarios often found in such stories.
She began imagining herself cornered, Ren roughly pulling her tie, whispering threats into her ear. Her face flushed as her imagination grew wilder.
'N-No! My virginity is only for Onii-chan!'
Yuki immediately shook her head, trying to dispel the strange thoughts that were beginning to eat away at her rationality. But as she returned to reality, she realized Ren was staring at her with a puzzled expression.
"Suou-san?"
"Suou-san?"
Ren called her several times, his voice growing increasingly impatient.
Quickly, Yuki blinked a few times, trying to regain her composure.
"W-What?"
"I just asked if you were threatening me or not."
"How could I possibly threaten someone, Rokuhara-kun?"
Responding to Ren's repeated question, Yuki let out a small laugh, though it was slightly stiff.
"I promise, Rokuhara-kun. What I saw today won't leave my lips, no matter who asks. I swear on the name of the Suou family."
Ren stared at her expressionlessly, trying to gauge the sincerity in her words.
The Suou family might not match the Shinomiya family in terms of influence and power, but they were still a respected family. Their patriarch, Suou Gensei, was not only a former ambassador to the United States but also an esteemed member of the Raikokai—an exclusive group comprised of Japan's political and business elite.
If Yuki wanted, she could have used her family's name to pressure Ren or even try to turn the tables. But she didn't. Instead, she used her family's name as a guarantee of her sincerity, showing that she had no intention of playing games with this matter.
"Setting aside this girl's eccentric true personality, she's not a bad woman like Miura Yumiko."
If it were Yumiko, she would have undoubtedly tried to exploit this situation for personal gain. But Yuki didn't. Though she was a bit odd and her mind might be too contaminated with wild imaginations, at least she had a sense of morality.
"Sigh..."
Letting out a soft sigh, Ren abandoned his intention of using the Shinomiya family to pressure the Suou family. There was no point in complicating something that could be resolved simply.
"I'll trust you… just this once."
Hearing that, Yuki reflexively let out a sigh of relief. Honestly, her imagination had already drifted to inappropriate scenarios. If Ren were truly as bad as she thought, she might have been in a more critical situation by now.
However, she quickly lifted her chin, putting on a confident expression as if unaffected.
"For clarification, this isn't because I care about you, Rokuhara-kun. I just don't want Maria-san's reputation to be ruined."
"Of course. How could Suou-san care about someone like me?" Ren chuckled lightly.
An agreement was reached.
Rather than prolonging the conversation about the earlier incident, Ren decided to change the subject.
"Say, Suou-san. Aren't you tired of wearing a mask every day?"
The corner of Yuki's eye twitched slightly. However, she quickly normalized her expression.
"What do you mean?" She asked as if she genuinely didn't understand.
"Your acting is very good, I'll admit that. You've managed to fool many people. It's a shame, though, that I'm quite accustomed to international actresses who like to tease me with their acting." Ren shrugged. The international actress he referred to was Nakano Ichika.
Shaking her head, Yuki put on an innocent expression.
"I really don't understand what you're talking about, Rokuhara-kun."
Ren simply smiled faintly, not believing the lie. Casually, he crossed his arms in front of his chest and looked at her with assessing eyes.
"Suou-san, pretending to be something is easy for anyone. Pretending to be smart, pretending to be strong, pretending to be kind, pretending to know something they actually don't... Everyone wears a mask they think they don't need to take off, but if you get too used to that mask, one day you'll forget that you're wearing it. That's what's called being deluded by yourself."
"..."
Silence enveloped the room.
Yuki fell silent, her eyes slightly widening at his words. For a moment, she said nothing, just staring at Ren, pondering the meaning behind his words.
"Haaah..."
After a while, she let out a long sigh.
The graceful expression she always maintained in front of others slowly faded, replaced by something more... natural. A crooked smile appeared on her face, her gaze turning displeased.
"Fufu~ interesting. I didn't expect you to see through it, Rokuhara-kun. Usually, people are just captivated by my graceful and charismatic charm."
She leaned her body against the wall, one leg crossed in front of the other, her demeanor now far more casual compared to before. If Yuki had previously been an elegant noblewoman, now she more closely resembled a wild young woman.
"So, what are you going to do with this knowledge? Will you use it to threaten me? Or maybe... you want to play with me like you did with Maria-san?" Her soft voice carried a teasing tone.
"Tsk."
Ren clicked his tongue, a mocking expression clearly visible on his face.
"You're really narcissistic, Suou-san. I'm not interested in flat-chested women."
"...!!!"
The casual remark immediately made Yuki's eyebrows twitch. With an indignant expression, she puffed out her chest, glaring at him in protest.
"Oi, oi! My chest is not flat at all! In fact, it's girls like Maria-san and Ogata Rizu who have abnormally large breasts for high school girls! I'm perfectly normal, okay?" She said in an annoyed tone.
Ren glanced at her chest briefly with a lazy expression, then looked away as if uninterested. Unsurprisingly, Yuki felt looked down upon. She stomped her foot on the ground in frustration.
"You pervert! You really don't know how to treat a woman!" She snorted before quickly leaving the storage room with hurried steps.
As Yuki walked away, she tried to appear calm, but inside, she was grumbling. She had stood there for too long, and now she could feel her panty was wet, sticking uncomfortably to her skin. She needed to change it as soon as possible.
After Yuki's departure, Ren began cleaning up the evidence. As he approached the spot where Yuki had been hiding earlier, his eyes caught something on the floor—a suspicious puddle of clear liquid.
He paused for a moment, then let out a soft snort. "Who's the real pervert here?"
After making sure everything was clean, he left the storage room, looking for a place to kill time while waiting for Masha to finish her student council duties.