Green plums cannot become lovers.

She was filled with excited anticipation and just wanted to get home as soon as possible.

Mom and Dad had such a fierce argument yesterday, they must have made up by now, right? They're so loving usually, their fight must have just been temporary. Maybe when she opens the door, Mom will have already prepared a table full of delicious food, and Dad will put down his newspaper and smile as he says, "Welcome home."

Just imagining that scene made her lips curl into a smile.

"Okay, I'm leaving."

An and Asuka casually tossed their backpacks over their shoulders and stood up. Their gazes swept over Shizuka Kuze, who remained motionless and head bowed in the seat next to them, and they paused.

"Shizuka, would you like to come with us?" he asked naturally.

"I...I'm on duty today." Shizuka Kuze's voice was very low, almost drowned out by the last noise in the classroom. She stared at the mottled wood grain on the desk, not daring to look up.

“I see,” An and Asuka said with a hint of regret, “Then let’s go back together tomorrow, bye-bye.”

"Um……"

Shizuka nodded very slightly. She listened as the boy's light and familiar footsteps gradually faded into the distance, disappearing at the end of the corridor along with Marina's laughter.

The last few students who had been dawdling in the classroom finally left. The noise receded like the tide, leaving only a chilling silence.

The huge, slanting shadow of the setting sun pierced through the window, stretching the empty desks into a desolate fence, and the dust floating in the air had nowhere to hide in the beam of light.

Kuze Shizuka sat alone in her seat for a long time before she seemed to have finally mustered up enough courage to slowly stand up.

Today's chores, sweeping, mopping, watering the potted plants, taking out the trash... were supposed to be done by two people, but now she's the only one left.

Her duty partner, Yamada Aoi, was always just a figurehead; in the end, all the work would fall on her shoulders, and she would even... take the opportunity to bully her.

Perhaps it would be better to do it alone. At least she'd be less teased. She thought somewhat resignedly.

She took a deep breath, walked to the corner, picked up the red plastic bucket, and planned to fill it with water first. She thought that if she watered the floor before sweeping, the dust wouldn't be so choking.

The bucket was quite heavy for her, especially after it was filled with water. She struggled to carry the bucket, slowly making her way back to the classroom, splashing water along a short section of the corridor with each step.

However, when she finally managed to carry the bucket of water into the classroom door, panting, she froze on the spot as if she had been frozen in place.

My heart clenched, and fear instantly coiled around my body like cold vines.

The person she least wanted to see was sitting leisurely in her seat, one leg swinging back and forth, as if he had been waiting for a long time.

"Yamada... classmate...?"

Shizuka's voice trembled uncontrollably. Shouldn't she have gone home long ago? Why is she still here? Did she come back specifically to wait for her?

Hearing the sound, Yamada Aoi, who was sitting in her seat, slowly turned around. A playful, cat-and-mouse smile played on her lips, and in her hand, she casually flipped through an exercise book—

That was Shizuka Kuze's notebook.

Seeing her notebook fall into the other person's hands, Shizuka's pupils suddenly contracted, and her face turned deathly pale.

here we go again……

Just like yesterday, they deliberately tore up her homework, causing her to be punished by the teacher. What is she going to do now?

"Oh, you're back?" Yamada Aoi jumped off the table, waving the notebook in her hand, her tone drawn out, "I thought you were slacking off and running away. I was just thinking about whether to help you 'finish' the rest of your chores."

She emphasized the word "completed," her eyes filled with a malicious glint.

Kuze Shizuka carried the heavy bucket of water, her knuckles turning white from gripping it so tightly. Overwhelmed by immense fear and helplessness, she was instantly consumed by the experience.

Yamada Aoi walked up to Kuze Shizuka with the notebook in her hand, her tone filled with innocence, yet tinged with intense malice.

"Yamada-san, please, please give me back my notebook, okay?"

"Give it back to you?" Yamada Aoi grinned and said, "Of course."

Kuze Shizuka was delighted to hear this, but before she could even feel happy, Yamada Aoi said, "On the condition that you tell me when you and Anwa became so close?"

Upon hearing this, Shizuka Kuze's expression stiffened.

So, it's something you care about?

"Hey, Kuze-kun, can you tell me?"

Although it was a question, the tone was incredibly authoritative. However, Shizuka Kuze had no idea what the answer was.

She herself was also puzzled as to why the boy, who usually didn't talk to her much, would suddenly be so nice to her.

"Don't you want to tell me? Kuze-kun is so selfish."

"..."

Kuze Shizuka, who had been falsely accused, wanted to refute, but in the end she could only weakly shake her head.

"I, I don't know."

"You don't know?" Yamada Aoi's voice instantly rose three octaves, saying, "How could I not know? You just don't want to tell me."

As she spoke, she seemed to remember something, and said with a hint of teasing in her tone, "Oh, I know, you're afraid of being discovered as a mistress, just like your mother."

Upon hearing this, Shizuka Kuze's heart tightened instantly, and she instinctively retorted, "I'm not."

"You are! You are!"

"no......"

"That's right, you're the other woman, and I'm going to tell everyone about it tomorrow!"

Yamada Aoi said smugly, adding that seeing Kuze Shizuka's suffering made her happy.

"Your mother broke up someone else's family, and you're going to break up someone else's relationship too. You and your mother are both third parties."

"No, it's not..."

"Don't argue with me!"

Seeing that Shizuka Kuze kept contradicting her, Aoi Yamada glared at her fiercely, then threw the notebook in her hand into the bucket.

"Your child, the child of a hostess!"

She continued speaking smugly, but failed to notice the girl beside her whose gaze was gradually darkening as she looked down at the soaked notebooks in the bucket.

Why do you have to treat her like this again?

Kuze Shizuka looked up and stared blankly at Yamada Aoi.

Her sudden action startled Yamada Aoi, and when she saw that the other party dared to look directly at her, she was instantly enraged.

"Aren't you convinced?"

"Then I'll beat you until you submit!"

With that, Aoi Yamada raised her hand and slapped Shizuka Kuze hard across the face.

But just then a voice rang out from the doorway.

What are you doing?

Volume 1: Chapter 10 I Will Protect You

The sudden sound startled Yamada Aoi, and she quickly turned around to see the boy she liked standing in the doorway looking at her.

Realizing that her actions might cause misunderstanding, she quickly lowered her hand and called out somewhat awkwardly, "An, Anhe classmate."

"Aoi-kun, what were you doing just now?"

An and Asuka approached the two of them, asking a question they already knew the answer to.

"No, it's nothing." Yamada Aoi quickly shook her head.

"really?"

"Ah."

Yamada Aoi's lie amused An and Asuka. Too lazy to argue, he said directly, "Stop lying. You were just trying to bully Shizuka, weren't you?"

"..."

"Why do this?"

An and Asuka thought that the girl's bullying would only begin after Marina's family went through a change, but they didn't expect that she was already being bullied before that.

He hadn't noticed it before.

"I, I didn't," Yamada Aoi quickly denied upon hearing this. "I was just playing with Kuze-kun."

As she spoke, she turned to Shizuka Kuze beside her and said, "Right, Kuze-san?"

The threat implied in his tone was made no attempt to conceal it.

"..."

Kuze Shizuka's body trembled slightly.

The moment Anhe appeared, a glimmer of light flashed in her previously dim eyes, but Yamada's words made her shrink back again. She knew that if she disobeyed Yamada now, she would only face more cruel retribution in the future.

She didn't want to admit it; she was the one being bullied, yet she couldn't even voice her bitterness.

The girl felt a pang of sadness, but when her gaze met that of An and Asuka, the deep-seated grievances she had been holding back could no longer be contained.

She bit her lower lip, gently shook her head, and her eyes reddened slightly.

This subtle movement did not escape Anwa Asuka's eyes. He stepped forward, blocking Kuze Shizuka's path, his gaze as sharp as a knife as he stared directly at Yamada Aoi.

"Aoi-kun, are you still thinking about bullying Shizuka at a time like this? How disappointing."

An and Asuka looked at Yamada Aoi with a hint of regret in their eyes, "Bullying classmates is not allowed in class. What would you do if I told the teacher?"

"Or how would you feel if I bullied you?"

"do not want!"

Upon hearing that she was going to tell the teacher, Yamada Aoi immediately became flustered.

Upon hearing that the teacher would be told, Yamada Aoi's face instantly drained of color, and she panicked. What she craved was the twisted pleasure of bullying others, not being the one to be blamed or even retaliated against.

She couldn't imagine what kind of punishment she would receive if things were exposed.

What terrified her even more was that if even An and Asuka started targeting her, then those opportunistic people in the class would likely also isolate and bully her.

"Anhe, please don't tell the teacher, and please don't bully me, okay?"

Yamada Aoi looked at An and Asuka with a pitiful expression.

“Then apologize to Shizuka.” An and Asuka’s tone left no room for argument. “And swear that you will never bully her again, in any way.”

He thought for a moment, then felt that this was not enough. His gaze swept over Shizuka Kuze's slightly thin clothes, and he added, "Also, starting tomorrow, bring a loaf of bread every morning as an apology to Shizuka."

This can at least temporarily alleviate the predicament of Shizuka Kuze often coming to school hungry.

"Huh? Bread...?" Yamada Aoi was taken aback, clearly not expecting this request.

"What, you don't want to?" An and Asuka narrowed their eyes, looking somewhat indifferent. "If you don't want to, I think the teacher would be very willing to handle this matter."

"I'm willing! I'll take them! I'll take them!" Yamada Aoi hurriedly agreed, afraid that he would change his mind.

“Then, apologize.” An and Asuka said, gently pulling Kuze Shizuka, who had been hiding behind him, forward to protect her, and looking firmly at Yamada Aoi.

"I...I..." Yamada Aoi bit her lower lip, her cheeks flushed red with shame and resentment, her chest filled with indescribable grievances.

But under Anwa Asuka's calm yet intimidating gaze, she could only manage a barely audible whisper through clenched teeth as she spoke to Kuze Shizuka: "I...I'm sorry..."

Before she could finish speaking, a strong sense of humiliation overwhelmed her.

Yamada Aoi could no longer stay. She turned around abruptly, wiped away the tears that welled up in her eyes with the back of her hand, and practically ran out of the classroom.

An and Asuka ignored her and bent down to pick up the homework from the bucket. When they looked up at Kuze Shizuka again, she was biting her lip and had red eyes, looking like she wanted to cry but dared not.

This made An and Asuka find it both funny and endearing, and they asked, "What's wrong? Aren't you happy that I helped you solve the problem?"

"No, it's not..."

Shizuka Kuze quickly shook her head. She wasn't unhappy; she just felt a little like crying.

Today, she wasn't punished by the teacher for her homework, nor did she go hungry. In addition, she heard the person who had been bullying her apologize to her.

All the gloom of the past few months seemed to be dispelled by the boy in front of her at this moment, letting in a light she had never dared to hope for.

All of this was given by him.

She didn't understand why he was suddenly being so nice to her; it felt so abrupt and unreal.

At this moment, her deepest fear quietly surfaced—she was afraid that this was just a one-day act of pity, and that when the sun rose tomorrow, everything would return to normal, and he would take back this brief tenderness, leaving her alone to face the cold world once again.

This anxiety of gain and loss made her want to cry even more than simple grievances.

An and Asuka gazed into the girl's eyes, where trembling tears seemed to have been crushed and contained within the most brilliant starlight of the night, fragile yet luminous.