The night sea of the Pacific was spilled ink upon satin—pitch-black and bottomless. The lights along both sides of the ship stretched into a ribbon of illumination as the cruise liner sailed on, like a golden blade cutting through the dark fabric.
The weather these past few days had been unexpectedly fine. Not a single cloud marred the sky. Or perhaps it was simply because the ship had sailed into a stretch of the Pacific with almost no light pollution.
When one tilted one's head back, the entire starry sky suddenly crashed into view—stars as dense as crushed diamonds spilled from the bow all the way to the horizon. Billions of stars poured down from the dome of the heavens like flowing, liquid gems. The great Milky Way stretched across the sky, clearly visible.
This was a sight one could only find in books or certain breathtaking astrophotography. It felt as though one had stepped into a dream.
On the deck of the luxury cruise ship, many students seized the opportunity to invite the person they fancied, walking together in pairs.
Couples chatted in low, excited voices, pointing out constellations to each other. Gasps of wonder sounded from time to time. Soft background music drifted from the distance. Waiters carrying drinks wove through the crowd, glasses and plates occasionally clinking with crisp, clear sounds.
The air carried faint traces of perfume, the scent of beverages, and the salty brine of the sea.
At the very edge of the deck, a lone figure leaned against the railing, gazing up at the river of stars. Her silhouette was barely discernible in the darkness.
Kushida Kikyo tilted her head back, the line of her neck tracing a graceful arc. She stood motionless, staring into that vast, boundless sea of stars—or rather, the entire galaxy was reflected in her eyes. Her gaze was focused, yet somehow hollow. The sea breeze, heavy with salt, gently stirred her brown hair and thin dress. Strands of hair brushed across her cheeks, but she seemed not to notice.
Faint music and laughter drifted from other parts of the ship, yet this spot was unexpectedly quiet. Only the rushing sound of the waves below broke the silence.
The girl simply stood there, still and silent, forming a quiet contrast against the dazzling stars above and the luxurious bustle around her...
"I have to say—the grade's renowned socialite beauty, rather than spending time with her friends, standing here all alone with that expression on her face... quite a few of the students who admire you would be utterly heartbroken, you know."
A voice drifted lazily out of the darkness, shattering the quiet atmosphere with impeccable timing.
Fuyuji sat casually on the steel staircase of the deck, one hand propping up his chin, silently watching the beautiful girl before him who hadn't spoken a single word.
Kushida's body stiffened almost imperceptibly, then slowly relaxed.
"They don't admire me. They just like the friendly, approachable image I usually put on..."
She didn't turn around. She raised a hand to brush away the strands of hair the wind had tangled and asked flatly.
"What are you doing here?"
"There's a girl who hasn't paid me any attention for two days." Fuyuji sighed and scratched the back of his head helplessly. "I'd thought I was just playing around with her a bit, wanting to see the hidden side of the grade's beautiful girl. Then suddenly, one day, she stopped replying to my messages. It felt... strangely uncomfortable."
"You didn't come looking for me because you wanted to know who Class D's VIP is?" Kushida seemed dissatisfied with this answer. She turned her face slightly to the side, the corner of her eye glancing toward the figure seated on the steps.
"Yesterday morning, I did want to know. But now... that's no longer important."
Kushida didn't reply. She leaned against the railing. Moonlight spilled across her fair face, tracing its soft contours, lending her an indescribable, stirring beauty.
The deck fell back into silence. The waves crashed against the hull in endless cycles, like a song on repeat, playing in both their ears.
After a long while, gazing at the faintly lonely Kushida, Fuyuji opened his mouth with a hint of playfulness.
"If you're feeling tired... as the only person in the entire school who's the same type as me, I can lend you my shoulder to lean on. But just for tonight."
"Thank you." Kushida was silent for a few seconds, then shook her head gently. Her eyes lowered. "I just... can't sleep, that's all. What about you?"
The somewhat disjointed question came out of nowhere, utterly unlike the usual Kushida Kikyo—the one whose social skills were second to none, who could converse with anyone with effortless ease.
Still, even so, Fuyuji picked up the thread.
"Me?" He leaned back slightly, bracing both hands on the steps, and gazed up at the scattered stars in the night sky. "Probably because I slept too much at noon. Not really tired yet, I guess?"
"You can't sleep either? Come to think of it... how did you find me? Don't tell me you were lurking in some dark corner again, peeping at me all creepily?" Kushida seemed to have recovered a bit of her spirit. She turned and leaned sideways against the railing, following Fuyuji's lead and teasing him half-jokingly.
Fuyuji raised a thumb and flashed his radiant grin. "Because you're surprisingly easy to find. If you're not with those friends of yours, eight or nine times out of ten, you've hidden yourself away somewhere, venting who-knows-where. You'll probably show up in some corner where no one ever goes."
"How do you know that?" Kushida's expression shifted. She glared viciously at Fuyuji. "Don't tell me... you've actually been doing that kind of disgusting thing—stalking me?!"
Fuyuji felt he'd been somewhat wronged. "Oi, oi. There's a first-come, first-served rule for those kinds of places too, you know. Don't you realize I'm Class A's weirdo—I love lurking in places like that the most? Every time, I'd only been there a short while before the grade's famous beauty would come charging out of nowhere and slam her foot straight into the railing beside me."
Kushida: "..."
Now she understood. She'd always been careful to check whether anyone was following her. Why, in the end, had her true nature still been exposed? So the whole time—every single time—someone had already been there, lying in wait!
Did this Class A weirdo have some kind of special proclivity?!
"Wait!"
Kushida's expression shifted again. Her eyes narrowed as she stared at Fuyuji with open suspicion.
"You said... you've run into me more than once. And come to think of it... I've always found it strange. Back then, why exactly did you create an alt account to add me as a friend? Would you really be so kind-hearted as to specially warn me not to expose my identity?"
"..."
Fuyuji's gaze began to drift. His Adam's apple bobbed unnaturally. He silently turned his head toward the pitch-black sea and began whistling guiltily out of the corner of his mouth.
Oh, crap... how was it that Cha-Cha suddenly got sharp the moment she was alone? Could it be that Cha-Cha was actually a genius, and it was only because making friends took up too much of her CPU memory that she normally seemed so easy to fool?
"Fuyuji-kun~"
One step forward. The heel of her open-toed sandals struck the deck with a heavy thud. A sweet smile first blossomed on Kushida's face. Then, in an instant, she switched modes. Her face darkened as she spoke.
"You... wouldn't happen to be holding some kind of leverage over me, would you?"
In a flash, cold sweat soaked through the back of Fuyuji's shirt. He let out two dry laughs and replied with a perfectly normal expression. "How could that be? We're good friends, aren't we? And besides, don't you also hold leverage over me?"
"So that's a yes!"
Kushida immediately caught the implication behind his words. Without the slightest hesitation, she pressed forward yet another step. The distance between them shrank abruptly.
"Your leverage—if I exposed it, it wouldn't hurt you at all. But if you blab about my true nature..."
Kushida didn't continue. Her footsteps halted as well. Only those increasingly dark, deep eyes silently fixed on him.
Feeling that palpable, bone-chilling cold, Fuyuji rose on instinct. He retreated two steps almost reflexively and raised his hands in a placating gesture, laughing sheepishly.
"Rest assured. Even though the Cha-Cha who messages me every day to ask how I'm doing is great, the Cha-Cha who sends me fan service from time to time is pretty nice too. If your true nature were exposed, wouldn't I lose both—"
Before he could finish, the cold-faced Kushida suddenly, without any warning, pitched forward and crashed directly into Fuyuji's arms. Her cheek buried deep into his warm chest. Both arms wrapped tightly around his waist. Carrying a faint, almost imperceptible frailty, she murmured softly.
"I'm sorry. I lied... I... really do feel lonely when I'm by myself. Let me hold you for a bit. Just for tonight..."
Soft warmth enveloped him in an instant. The sea breeze stirred the strands of her hair. The scent of the cruise ship's shampoo mingled with the salty brine of the sea and seeped into his nostrils.
"Do you still want to borrow my shoulder to lean on?" Fuyuji's voice unconsciously softened. The hand hanging at his side hesitated for a moment, then gently came to rest on her back.
"No need. This is more comfortable." Kushida's voice came muffled from his chest. She seemed to bury herself even deeper. Her taut body gradually relaxed, bit by bit. As if in a dream, she murmured.
"Then I'll lend out my chest for just this little while too—to the universally beloved Miss Kushida." Fuyuji joked.
A soft fist thumped against his chest, neither too lightly nor too heavily. "You got off cheap..."
"Yes, yes. I got off cheap—"
Fuyuji grinned and wanted to say more, but Kushida preempted him and forcibly cut him off.
"Shut your mouth. Don't say another one of those buzzkill lines."
"..."
Fine...
Fuyuji swallowed the rest of his words. The hand that had been resting on her back now wrapped more gently around her shoulder. His other arm came up as well, enclosing her more closely within his embrace.
The waves continued to crash below. The liquid-diamond Milky Way overhead had, unnoticed, flowed a small distance across the dome of the sky.
The whispers of couples in the distance on the deck grew sparse, leaving only scattered traces. The sea breeze seemed to soften, carrying the deepening chill of night as it gently swept past the two embracing figures.
Time flowed in silence. Only their heartbeats and breathing remained startlingly clear in the quiet.
Who knows how much time passed.
The girl in his arms stirred. A muffled voice emerged, breaking the stillness.
"Kushida Kikyo."
"Mm... what do you mean?"
"Kushida Kikyo is the Dragon Group's VIP. If you want to win, write my name down. I won't show you the school's text message. Believe it or not."
Barely a moment after being held, and she'd already turned dumb again. When I messaged you yesterday morning asking about it—if you weren't the VIP, you wouldn't have had such an abnormal reaction.
"You don't want the VIP's five hundred thousand?"
"Consider it payment for tonight." Kushida lifted her head. Her cheeks still carried a faint, lingering flush and the crease marks from pressing against him. "I'm not the kind of girl who likes owing people things."
"You're a lot like Horikita Suzune in that regard. She also—"
"Bang—!"
A foot landed precisely on Fuyuji's toes. The force was neither too light nor too heavy. Right after, a sharp, piercing pain shot through his shoulder.
"Hss—"
Kushida had viciously bitten down on his shoulder. Her voice came out muffled and indistinct. "Don't bring up that woman at a time like this. Just hearing her name pisses me off."
Fuyuji: "..."
I'd been teasing you for ages and you didn't recover. The moment Horikita's name comes up, you're instantly energized. Shaking and shivering with cold—as expected, I still can't compare to Horikita Suzune in your heart.
"Also..." Kushida's voice had gone completely cold.
"Also what?" Fuyuji blinked with a touch of innocence.
"If you keep groping my butt and taking advantage of me, I'll break both your hands!"
The palm resting on that soft, pert bottom came to an abrupt halt. It released as if nothing had happened. The plush, elastic sensation lingered in his palm, refusing to fade for a long while.
Another moment passed.
Small hands gently pushed against Fuyuji's chest. Kushida slowly pulled away from that embrace.
Beneath the moonlight, she drew a deep breath of the cool sea air. She raised her hands and carefully tidied her tousled hair, then smoothed out the wrinkles in her dress. Before long, she had regained her usual composure.
When she raised her eyes again, the faint blush lingering on her cheeks had been perfectly concealed. Kushida Kikyo had once again become that sweet, endearing figure beloved by the entire grade.
"It's getting late. If I don't head back, Mii-chan and the others will get suspicious. I'm off now. Good night~" Having said this, she turned to leave.
"Oh, right—Kikyo-chan!"
Fuyuji suddenly spoke up, stopping Kushida just as she was about to step away.
"Mm? Is there something else?" Kushida turned back, her hands clasped behind her. The hem of her white skirt traced a graceful arc.
"If something this nice ever comes up again, make sure to call me. The embrace of the grade's famous beauty—I'm still very eager for it."
"..."
Kushida's fine brows curved like crescent moons. The corner of her lips lifted into a captivating arc. She rolled her eyes with a look full of charm and allure.
"In your dreams~"
Having said this, she lingered no longer. Hands still clasped behind her back, she walked off with light, brisk steps. Her figure melted into the lights and shadows on the other side of the deck and soon vanished completely.
Fuyuji stood where he was, gazing at the direction in which she had disappeared. Then he tilted his head back and looked up at the Milky Way, still flowing in brilliant splendor overhead.
The sea breeze swept past, seeming to carry with it the faint scent of shampoo still lingering in her hair. His gaze fell upon his own hand, as if still carrying the residual warmth. His fingertips unconsciously rubbed together. Then he smiled, shook his head, and turned, strolling unhurriedly toward the ship's interior.
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