Soon after, the two of them happened to run into Ichinose Honami, who had rushed over upon hearing the news.
"Mako-chan!"
She had run all the way here, her forehead glistening with sweat, her hair slightly disheveled, and her ample chest heaving like rapidly expanding cotton candy.
The white collar of her shirt was gradually dampened, clinging to her skin, faintly revealing the color beneath.
Her flushed cheeks and rapid breathing gave her an inexplicably alluring expression, especially since her figure was even better than Kushida Kikyo.
Kaoru Mitoma gaze fell on the items in her hands—band-aids, anti-inflammatory medicine, iodine, alcohol, gauze, and ointment.
Did she buy an entire first-aid kit?
"Honami-chan, it hurts, waaah…"
Perhaps finally seeing someone she could rely on, Amikura Mako no longer tried to keep up her composure.
With tears in her eyes, she hugged Ichinose Honami, completely forgetting about the bystander standing behind her.
"Where did you hurt yourself? Let me see. I heard from Himeno-san that you scraped your skin, so I hurried to buy all these medicines." Ichinose Honami anxiously examined the girl in front of her, her heart aching as she saw the scrape on her elbow.
"I was walking and suddenly tripped over a tree root. All the corn fell, and then I ran into…" Amikura Mako cried for a while before suddenly remembering someone and her sobbing abruptly stopped.
"Does it hurt a lot?" Ichinose Honami attention was entirely on her as she quickly picked out the medicine.
"Don't worry, I'll take care of it right away. It might sting a bit, so bear with it."
"I can do it myself!" Amikura Mako struggled out of her embrace, trying to keep a straight face, though for some reason, a faint blush crept onto her cheeks.
It seemed she had realized she couldn't act as spoiled as she usually did.
"Nice to see you again, Ichinose-san" Kaoru Mitoma greeted her proactively.
"I guess you don't need my help now, do you?"
It was only then that Ichinose Honami noticed he had been standing behind Amikura the whole time. Her expression froze for a moment and her pupils contracted slightly.
"I never needed your help in the first place" Amikura Mako retorted, even though his attitude was polite. She didn't feel like she required his interference.
"I'm starting to regret it. I should've taken the corn back to Class A earlier."
Amikura Mako let out a light hum, about to snatch the corn back from him, but a sharp pain from her wound made her wince involuntarily.
Not wanting to lose face in front of him, she casually tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and said.
"Since we've come this far, don't even think about going back."
"Not letting me go back? Are you suggesting I stay in Class B?" Kaoru Mitoma felt exasperated.
"Sorry, but our hammocks and tents are already full" Amako replied matter-of-factly.
"What I meant was for you to bring the corn to our class. Thanks for the trouble, Mitoma-kun."
"Could you at least ask nicely?"
"I'll give you a corn as a thank you."
"At that rate, you might as well just tell me where the corn is."
"..."
Ichinose Honami was momentarily stunned.
Watching the two of them banter back and forth, she couldn't help but feel like an unnecessary third wheel.
Even though his official girlfriend was right here, he didn't even spare her a second glance.
Sure, they had to keep their relationship a secret and it was only temporary, but couldn't he at least pretend a little?
Besides, hadn't they agreed that he wouldn't make moves on any other girls besides her?
Why was he acting all friendly and smiling with Mako-chan right in front of her?
He should know that Mako-chan was her friend, right?
If he knew that, then why was he doing this? Was he deliberately trying to send her a warning?
And wasn't Mako-chan supposed to dislike him?
Why did it seem like there was some kind of ambiguity between them now?
Even though she kept telling herself not to overthink things and that Kaoru Mitoma had probably just run into Mako by coincidence, Ichinose Honami couldn't shake off a strange sense of unease.
"What's wrong, Honami-chan?" Amikura Mako asked, puzzled by Ichinose obvious distraction.
Ichinose immediately snapped back to reality and forced an unnatural smile.
"It's better to take care of your injuries first. We can talk about the... corn later."
Amikura Mako eyed her suspiciously, keenly catching the slight oddity in her tone.
"Hey, Ichinose, you ran too fast. I almost couldn't catch up."
Just then, a voice of complaint came from behind Ichinose.
Kaoru Mitoma turned his gaze and saw Shiranami Chihiro and an unfamiliar girl walking towards them, one after the other.
The latter had long twin tails that swayed as she walked.
"Ahaha, sorry, Himeno-san. I was just too worried about Mako-chan."
"You didn't have to run that fast" the girl replied, her tone tinged with exasperation, her expression rather cold.
If he remembered correctly, this girl was Himeno Yuki, their classmate.
Kaoru Mitoma averted his gaze.
The amount of desire emanating from her wasn't particularly strong, probably on the same level as Amikura Mako and Shiranami Chihiro.
Speaking of Shiranami Chihiro, why had she been staring at him so intently?
Had she noticed something?
Soon after, Ichinose helped Mako tend to her wounds, discovering that not only was her elbow scraped, but her knee was also swollen.
With nothing else to do, Kaoru Mitoma tactfully handed the corn to Himeno Yuki and Shiranami Chihiro, preparing to leave.
"Wait!" Ichinose suddenly called out to him. "The cornfield Mako-chan found is quite large. We can share it equally with Class A."
Amikura Mako eyes lit up, though Himeno Yuki let out an inadvertent sigh.
Faced with this survival game, the idea of sharing food with their opponents left Kaoru Mitoma momentarily silent.
"No need, I was just joking earlier."
Watching him leave without hesitation, Ichinose bit her lip tightly, her thoughts in complete disarray.
She couldn't just chase after him and demand to know who his real girlfriend was, could she?
From a rational standpoint, she actually preferred that Kaoru Mitoma ignored her, since the two of them weren't truly a couple.
But her emotions told her she couldn't just sit back and do nothing.
She needed to flexibly use her "girlfriend" status to pressure him, or else she might end up facing situations she didn't want to see.
Thus, Ichinose had been constantly torn, unsure of how to interact with him.
"What's wrong, Honami-chan?" Amikura Mako asked, puzzled by Ichinose obvious distraction.
"Let's head back too" Himeno Yuki said, uninterested in Kaoru Mitoma departure.
If it weren't for Amikura Mako injury and the reluctance to abandon the corn, she wouldn't have made the trip again.
Ichinose held Mako hand and silently retraced their steps.
"Chihiro-chan, why are you looking at me like that?"
After walking for a while, Amikura Mako tilted her head slightly, glancing at the girl beside her.
"N-nothing!" Shiranami Chihiro quickly averted her gaze, her fingers tightly intertwined, her heart pounding.
Perhaps only she knew what had really happened earlier.
Ichinose and Mitoma were a couple, yet Mitoma seemed to have some ambiguous relationship with Mako.
Wasn't that just scummy?
What was even stranger was that seeing this scumbag made her recall that moment again—the person she secretly loved gasping, places she had never touched being kissed by a man.
It was enough to make her blush furiously.
The more she thought about it, the more she felt a lingering fear, as if an invisible hand had gripped her ankle.
No matter how she struggled or cried for help, she could only watch helplessly as the other person violated her.
No, no, no… it should be violating someone she cared about.
Shiranami Chihiro quickly rubbed her cheeks, which were too red and hot.
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