Will You Go Out With Me?

It was autumn, with its cool, pleasant weather, and a week had already passed since the new term began.

In the meantime, Vita had grown a little closer to her desk mate.

Pale-brown ponytail and ruby-like eyes.

Her name was Sasha Noah.

As for her personality—

“Bianca must be so happy…”

After the morning classes ended, Sasha, who had been yawning lazily, spoke to Vita. She was lying face-down on her desk with a sly smile.

“Your name is so pretty, too, and your face is even prettier than your name could ever suggest. You have such a delicate body, but your face has this sharp, catlike feel. I’m so jealous!”

“…Sasha, you’re pretty enough yourself.”

When Vita awkwardly returned the compliment, a giggle drifted over.

“You’re even kindhearted, too, aren’t you? That’s cheating, isn’t it?!”

“Stop joking around, Sasha…”

“I’m not joking, Your Majesty.”

If anything, Sasha was an especially outgoing person. Thanks to that, she was certainly easy to get along with.

“Don’t say things like that…”

What did she mean, queen? Queen!

Embarrassed, Vita timidly looked around, but surprisingly, the others did not seem to care much.

On the contrary, weren’t several of the boys nodding slightly?

Vita wanted to hide forever.

“You’re just so cute. But whatever, who cares? I shall serve Her Majesty.”

Ignoring Vita’s reaction, Sasha linked arms with her. The sensation of their arms touching left Vita a little flustered.

‘W-wait a second…’

It was only natural, perhaps. Until recently, she had been a perfectly healthy man. How could she possibly be used to this?

‘Do girls normally play around like this?’

She had been even more flustered when Sasha first started doing this, but by now, Vita had developed at least a little immunity to it.

‘S-soft…’

Sasha was definitely glamorous.

With her face slightly flushed, Vita spoke.

“So where are we going, then?”

“The snack bar, obviously!”

The two were on their way to the snack bar together when—

It was already the third time that day.

“Excuse me, sorry to bother you, but could I get your Magiphone number?”

A male student had approached them despite Sasha standing right beside Vita.

Vita should have been used to it by now, but she was still flustered. How was she supposed to refuse?

“Uh, yes…?”

While Vita was briefly lost in thought,

Sasha stepped in for her.

“I’m glad you know how to apologize. But she has a boyfriend, you know?!”

Crack—

The male student’s expression seemed to fracture at those words.

“Oh, well, I didn’t know. S-sorry!”

After stepping in for her and sending the male student away, Sasha burst out laughing.

“This is kind of fun! Do I feel like a fox beside a lion?”

“But, Sasha, I’m telling you, we’re really not dating.”

Although Vita was grateful, she still stuck out her lower lip.

[Are you dating Carlisle?]

[W-whaaat?!]

She had been so flustered when she first heard that question!

[N-no?! There’s absolutely no way I’d date that bastard Carlisle, okay?!]

Maybe the nuance had been too strong—or maybe she had suddenly gone off the rails.

Laughter had spread through the classroom that had fallen silent. Thanks to that, Vita’s image had become fixed as that of a slightly eccentric girl.

‘Me, with that guy Carlisle…?’

It was ridiculous.

Just as Vita was thinking that, Sasha suddenly spoke.

“But Bianca, even if it isn’t him, it would definitely be better for you to say you have a boyfriend, wouldn’t it?”

“Huh? Why?”

“Just look at your appearance. You can’t give people any room to hope!”

Sasha suddenly pulled out a small mirror and held it up to show Vita her reflection.

“You aren’t even wearing makeup, and you look like this. This is practically a crime. Girls as ordinary as me deserve an apology, you know?”

A catlike face that contrasted with her shy expression.

Soft, flowing reddish-gold hair and delicate features.

“Be honest, Bianca. Even you think you’re pretty when you look at yourself, right?”

Vita could not deny Sasha’s words.

But even so.

‘This appearance isn’t who I really am. So it doesn’t mean anything.’

Even as she thought that, she gave a slight nod.

“Wow, what a jerk. You’re annoying, but pretty. You’re really such an unfair existence.”

“No, but… you were the one who asked…”

She had only teased Vita on purpose. But seeing Vita’s reaction, Sasha thought to herself,

‘She’s really innocent.’

You could tell when you saw her up close. For all her pretty looks, everything she did was completely guileless.

Maybe that was why Carlisle, that playboy, had fallen for her too?

Sasha had asked in the first place because it seemed such a waste. She was rather nosy by nature.

‘What could a girl like this possibly be lacking?’

A rumor had just begun to spread. Apparently, the two of them had been spotted together.

Even if the other person was the handsome Carlisle Schultz, strictly speaking, his track record with women wasn’t exactly great, was it?

Of course, Vita had immediately denied it, but Sasha did not believe her at all.

‘Hmm…’

They were obviously dating. Anyone could see that.

“There you are, Bianca.”

Even just looking at this scene.

***

“We should have lunch together.”

A handsome young man with black hair and golden eyes. He gave off an impression closer to that of a young man than a boy.

His expression would have seemed cold if he were not smiling, but Carlisle Schultz now wore a smile at the corners of his lips.

He was the one who had spoken first to Bianca Shamal, prickly as a kitten.

“I don’t want to. Why? I’m eating with Sasha.”

Vita’s attitude was stubborn, but—

Sasha herself wore a sullen expression at the sight.

‘This couple is always like this. Is it some act they’ve agreed on?’

The man was always pulling her in, while the woman pushed him away.

But the real punchline was that Vita had never once actually refused Carlisle Schultz.

Yes, and besides!

This reminded Sasha of the time she had subtly badmouthed Carlisle Schultz.

-Hey, Bianca. Carlisle is kind of a delinquent, so he’s not exactly great, is he?

-Hmm, I don’t know… He’s not that bad…

For someone who said they weren’t dating, Vita sure defended him enthusiastically.

So Sasha smiled and pushed Vita from behind.

“Your boyfriend is here! Go on, Bianca!”

“Ah, no! I’m telling you, it’s really not like that!”

“Yes, of course it isn’t—so don’t play hard to get. Go on!”

And that was how things ended up.

Vita trailed after Carlisle, thoroughly displeased, her lower lip protruding.

‘At this rate, everyone has completely misunderstood us.’

They thought she and Carlisle were dating each other.

All Vita could do was laugh hollowly. It was ridiculous.

She had denied it so many times, but the rumors kept spreading because of that guy.

“What are you going to do about this?”

Vita glared resentfully at Carlisle’s back and tossed out a remark.

“What do you mean, what am I going to do?”

What a shameless attitude, while everyone misunderstood them.

Recently, the two of them had always eaten lunch together. That was why the absurd rumor that they were dating refused to die down.

There was a reason for it, okay?

In fact, Vita was being blackmailed by Carlisle.

He had saved her in the first place with ulterior motives.

-You’ll pay me back, right, Senior?

Using the fact that he had saved her from that delinquent Nathan as leverage, Carlisle had made a demand of Vita the next day.

Strictly speaking, Carlisle had not exactly saved her, and Vita could have handled things herself. Still, he had definitely helped her.

And there was another reason, too.

Carlisle had suddenly brought up the contest Vita had forgotten about.

-We settled things back then, but someone seems not to remember the result at all.

-T-the contest…?!

He hadn’t forgotten?

Vita’s mouth fell open.

She had assumed he had because he had not mentioned it again.

Vita tried to insist that it did not count as a contest, but Carlisle’s rebuttal was merciless.

-Then what was it? You considered it a contest and accepted it in the end.

Fighting with facts was so unfair.

Yes, she had.

Hadn’t Vita herself admitted that a contest in bed was still a contest after falling for Carlisle’s provocation?

All those points, one by one, had eventually forced her to concede.

-What am I supposed to give you as a reward?

As a result, Vita had become Carlisle’s lunch companion for the next month. All because of this shameless bastard.

“I hope you trip while walking and end up with a hooked nose.”

So Vita hurled curses at Carlisle’s back.

“I hope you wake up tomorrow with premature ejaculation.”

“Then shall I use you to prove it?”

At those words, Vita was rendered speechless.

He said he would use her to prove it.

“N-no!”

That was ridiculous.

Her face went bright red.

The more she talked, the more she felt she was losing, so she fell silent, and Carlisle merely chuckled.

As always, Vita realized once again that it was difficult to win an argument against this guy.

***

The rooftop of the annex beside the academy was Carlisle Schultz’s hideout.

Now it was their hideout.

Grab—

Vita was a little startled when Carlisle suddenly grabbed her hand, but by now, it was something she was used to.

As Vita stammered, Carlisle carried her in his arms up the emergency stairs.

“The steps are far too high for you to climb here.”

“Why would high steps keep me from climbing them alone?’”

Vita had thought that, put it into practice, and gotten a nasty shock. They really were high.

-Eek…!

Even with an adult man’s legs, the steps felt undeniably high, and Vita’s face went white.

-Th-thanks…

If Carlisle had not caught her, Vita had no idea what would have happened. The building was badly worn, with damaged steps here and there—and there was no railing at all.

“It’s only this part.”

It was only the final floor.

“They won’t repair it until the end of the year. Just let me hold you for a few seconds.”

“But do I really have to go there like this…”

Did she really have to go?

“You promised, Bianca, didn’t you?”

Carlisle kept persuading her, saying that she was light and it would not matter anyway, so Vita nodded.

A promise was a promise, after all.

‘Once you’ve said something…’

A true man’s duty was to keep his word.

In the end, Vita’s choice was to quietly remain in Carlisle’s arms and go up to the rooftop.

If Vita was in the high 150s, around 160 centimeters tall, Carlisle was nearly 190.

A thirty-centimeter difference.

“Hey, slow down.”

Held in Carlisle’s arms, Vita climbed the high staircase.

“If you drop me, you know you’re dead, right—?!”

“Just hold on tight, will you? Don’t worry.”

The height made her uneasy, but—

As Carlisle had said, clinging tightly to him reassured Vita. Without realizing it, she wrapped her arms around his neck and kneaded it like a cat. That was the only way she could avoid falling.

In fact, from that moment on,

the relaxed smile disappeared from Carlisle Schultz’s face.

As though a devil were goading him from the side, desire for the woman in his arms gradually welled up inside him.

‘…Hoo.’

This was bad.

Whenever she backed off one step, he advanced two. This little childhood game of slowly closing the distance was becoming a little difficult.

After a very short while, the two finally arrived at the annex rooftop.

When Carlisle set her down, Vita scampered away.

“Haa—so refreshing.”

Even if Vita found Carlisle Schultz annoying, coming here always left her feeling refreshed.

The campus spread out before them. Since it was early autumn, dozens of trees had begun dyeing themselves red.

The shouts of boys playing and the laughter of girls carried on the breeze.

“Come here, Bianca.”

When Carlisle spoke, Vita needlessly bristled.

“What? Why?”

Just as it always had been until now,

even though she already knew what would happen next.

***

“Who are you to order me around—”

The words that followed never came. Carlisle had approached her before she knew it and stolen her lips, leaving Vita’s face flushed as her breath was quickly swallowed.

She pounded on his body in protest, trying to tell him to let go, but—

Thud—

At the same time, her expression nearly melted away.

“Mmm—mph…”

She was soon drawn in by his gentle manner.

Before she knew it, Carlisle’s arm had curled around Vita’s slender waist.

Vita slowly drew her legs together under an inexplicable yearning, backed away, and landed right in the net.

Their bodies overlapped on the hammock where Carlisle always slept.

The sensual feeling and self-loathing surged over her at once, and Vita kept thinking how pathetic she was for being unable to resist merely being pushed along.

‘…Why don’t I feel repulsed?’

What, exactly, felt so different about Carlisle Schultz compared to that delinquent Nathan?

When Nathan had touched her, even the slightest contact with his arm had made her furious and disgusted, so why wasn’t it like that now?

It wasn’t that Vita liked this guy. Absolutely not.

Yet, as always, she was getting swept up by him once again.

When Vita began breathing heavily, Carlisle stopped kissing her.

“How long are you going to leave me aching?”

His voice was low, deep, and calm.

It was a little out of the blue, perhaps, but Carlisle’s expression was quite serious.

“What are we? Could we at least be friends?”

Vita was left speechless by the sudden question.

She did not really know what this relationship was either. Several memories flashed through her mind.

Carlisle as her rival, the transfer student she disliked.

The frustration she had felt at becoming a perennial second-place finisher.

The memories of consciously belittling him as nothing more than a delinquent compared to the model student she was.

Carlisle really was shameless and annoying, but—

‘Is that really all…?’

After becoming a woman, Vita had often encountered Carlisle and realized that her prejudices had been wrong.

Carlisle Schultz was not quite a delinquent, surprisingly. He was difficult to compare with someone like Nathan.

He was sometimes surprisingly normal and impossible to predict, but he was not a bad person at heart.

So perhaps—

“Being friends might be okay.”

When Vita answered, Carlisle tilted his head slightly, as though dissatisfied.

“But what am I supposed to do about this…?”

An unknown, intense emotion rippled through his golden eyes.

“Friends leave me wanting something more.”

“Huh, what?”

Vita was startled. Her eyes widening so suddenly was due to another reason, though.

It was only a brief kiss. When Carlisle pulled away, he wore a playful expression.

“Friends don’t do this.”

Then, after thinking for a moment, he continued.

“Will you go out with me?”

“W-what?!”

Perhaps she had been overwhelmed by the atmosphere.

Vita could not process the words she had just heard, and her thoughts froze completely.

Then her vision began to swim, and her heart suddenly pounded—

Before she even realized it, Vita Shamal had…