Why is the Demon King like this?

After parting ways with Shinbata Yui at the station entrance, the composed and elegant chief priestess boarded a black sedan and disappeared into the traffic.

"Um……"

Keisuke Ao bought breakfast at a convenience store near the station and sincerely thought—in the future, it's best not to let Yui Kamabatake stay overnight.

This is such a hassle!

All that talk about kaiseki cuisine and heart-to-heart communication pales in comparison to even one percent of her perversion.

Boarding the train, Keisuke Ao took out a new novel, this time a fantasy adventure about a demon king in another world, which he had heard had won a grand prize some time ago.

—But why did the Demon King end up falling in love with the Hero?

Sometimes, it's hard to understand the thought process of these light novel authors. How can enemies who are fighting each other roll around in bed and compete?

But it's not bad for killing time.

After seeing the school, Aokiji put the book back in his bag and went into the classroom.

"Good morning, Qinggui-kun!"

"Good morning."

"Oh ha~"

The classroom was bustling with activity. Nakagawa Yuto was making homo noises while frantically copying Yuki's homework from the morning—this guy had watched a tokusatsu drama yesterday and forgot to do his homework.

In the morning, Yuki shared photos taken by the Prince's fan club with Arisugawa Asuka. Among them was a photo of Arisugawa Asuka gently supporting Keisuke's head with her hand to prevent him from bumping into the pool.

The afternoon sunlight was perfectly positioned in the photo, the water shimmered, and the girl's shy expression was faithfully captured in the picture.

The class monitor, who had just been teased by her mother that morning, was immediately surrounded by her best friend as soon as she sat down, who showed her photos accusing her of secretly getting close to the prince behind her friends' backs.

Faced with the undeniable facts, Arisugawa Asuka could only bury her head in the sand like an ostrich, covering her face and shaking her head repeatedly.

That look made you want to join the bullying.

A bunch of people gathered around, asking him how Kikui's kaiseki cuisine was, and a girl complaining that he hadn't come to sing karaoke last night.

—Is this guy too obsessed with singing? Is he some kind of songstress?

After much effort, Qing Guijie managed to get rid of the person before finally sitting back down and letting out a sigh of relief.

He took out his textbook and pretended to study, to prevent anyone else from trying to get closer.

When Yuto Nakagawa finally finished copying the homework and shouted "New record!", he put down his book and asked this club expert for information.

"Nakagawa, have you heard of the club in Kukai's novels that can grant people's wishes? It's signed Pandora."

"Hmm... Ah! I remember now!"

Nakagawa Yuto thought for a while, then clenched his right fist and slapped it against his left palm.

"Is it that mysterious rich girls' club?"

"What?! What?!" Yuki, who had returned to her seat because morning classes were about to start, joined the chat group: "What kind of rich girl club?"

"It's that girl in our grade... the one who's practically never seen in Class One," Nakagawa Yuto said again.

"Ah!" Yuki exclaimed in surprise, "That club is amazing!"

"You know?" Aoki Keisuke asked, casting a glance his way.

Without hesitation, Yuki nodded repeatedly in the morning: "When we were in our first year of high school, the club she founded was quite famous for a while. It caused a lot of trouble because it clashed with the student council. Although I don't know exactly what happened, it seems that the student council president resigned in the end, and the vice president was in charge until the re-election!"

"The student council president's affair is because of her?" Nakagawa Yuto said that this was the first time he had heard this big news.

"Sota-yo!" Yuki leaned closer, lowering her voice. "That club... it doesn't seem to have an official name. It's not even in the student council's brochure. I've only heard people who've been in the club mention it; it's called 'Fish Intestines.'"

"sakana no naizo"

"What a strange name!" Nakagawa Yuto scratched his head.

Aside from the recently popular "♪sa→ka→na", there's absolutely no sense of style about it.

However, compared to the club's past achievements and its real name, what Aoki Keisuke was more curious about was—

"This club claims to help people fulfill their wishes. Are there any successful cases?"

"Of course!"

Just as Yuki was about to continue speaking, the morning bell rang, and Tsukishima Chizuru walked in with brisk steps, but still unsteadily.

"I'll tell you later, Qinggui-kun~" Yuki stuck out her tongue and obediently turned her head back.

"Thank you, Zaojian. I would be even more grateful if you could send me the photos from your phone."

"—Huh?!"

Keisuke Ao didn't pay much attention to the morning meeting—it seemed to be about the ball games tournament.

In addition to competitions between classes and grades within the school, school teams will also represent Konghai Private High School in regional competitions, and eventually even make it to the national competitions.

Of course, Keisuke Ao had no interest in this.

The one who dreams of becoming famous in one battle is—Yuto Nakagawa.

Yuki's words in the morning did not dampen Keisuke's curiosity about this mysterious group; on the contrary, they made him even more eager to see what the so-called Pandora was all about.

Isn't this more interesting than a ball skills tournament?

After the morning meeting, the entire class was filled with the atmosphere of the upcoming ball skills competition.

"Hey, will Qinggui-kun participate in the basketball game?" Yuki asked eagerly in the morning.

"Probably not, I'm not interested in those sports."

"Eh—"

This girl not only forgot to tell Aokiji about the mysterious club, but she also forgot that Aokiji asked her for photos.

What kind of single-threaded creature is this?!

Keisuke Ao sighed and didn't press the matter.

During the break, Arisugawa Asuka unusually took the initiative to message him, inviting him to talk at the vending machine on the first floor.

Without saying a word, Aoki Keisuke walked straight out.

Asuka Arisugawa lowered her eyes slightly and declined Yuki's invitation to go to the restroom together that morning. Taking advantage of the fact that no one was paying attention, she also sneaked out.

They walked up one side of the stairs and bumped into each other at the vending machine a few minutes later.

Aoki handed her a bottle of strawberry milk, while he ordered an Americano for himself.

"Ah... thank you!"

"Arisugawa-san, is there something you need from me?"

"Cough cough..." Arisugawa Asuka struggled to return to normal and unleashed her invincible communication aura.

"Does Qinggui know about the club founded by Hoshino from Class 1?" she asked.

"Yes."

When Aoki Keisuke and the others were chatting, they were speaking quite loudly, so it's not surprising that Arisugawa could hear them.

But was that "rich heiress's" surname Hoshino?

It seems that Arisugawa might even know her personally—no wonder he has a father who works at the Ministry of the Environment.

"Hoshino-kun doesn't like being around others, so I'm afraid he doesn't plan to recruit any new members," Arisugawa Asuka advised.

"Social anxiety?" Qing Guijie asked.

Arisugawa shook his head, recalling the few times he had encountered that girl.

"Hoshino is a very intuitive person and is very sensitive to the emotional changes of the people around her. Perhaps this is why she dislikes communicating with most people."

Asuka Arisugawa is one of the few people who isn't disliked, but of course, she isn't liked either.

Receiving such praise from Arisugawa Asuka made Ao Keisuke take it seriously—

That Miss Hoshino might really be a troublemaker.

"But sure enough, I felt a little uneasy if I didn't go see them."

Upon hearing this, Arisugawa Asuka chuckled softly: "Just like what Aokie-kun would say. If you really want to see Hoshino-kun, I can help you get there."

"Then I'll have to trouble you."

Yamato Nadeshiko gathered her hair up, gently shook her head, and said nothing.