At this moment, Aier forced a bitter smile, barely managing to squeeze out a grin. “Senior, where is your imagination running off to? That’s really not the reason…”
Mary-senpai really has quite the imagination. Aier couldn’t figure out how she managed to make that connection.
“Not that reason? Then anything else is even less worth mentioning.” Mary-senpai let out a giggle, her eyes still brimming with unshed tears.
Aier: “…”
How could it not be worth mentioning? That one other thing—it’s bigger than anything else, and hurts the most!
Xie Yier’s overwhelming fury was more terrifying than being struck by lightning under a tree in a thunderstorm, because you could avoid the latter by simply not going under the tree, but the former was basically certain death.
“Um… little junior…” Mary’s cheeks, for once, were tinged with a faint blush, her voice lowered, tinged with a rare shyness and anticipation. “Do you… have… uh… you know… that… a girlfriend?”
Mary stumbled a bit, but then simply cut to the chase.
“No, I don’t.”
Aier blurted it out without even thinking.
In her understanding, a partner was someone you built an equal, loving relationship with, with the goal of being together in the future.
She and Xie Yier? That was an absolute obedience employer-employee relationship, completely unrelated to love.
“That’s wonderful!” Mary’s eyes instantly sparkled with dazzling light, that hint of shyness quickly replaced by confidence.
She put her hands on her hips, lifting her graceful figure with a radiant smile that was both dazzling and full of certainty.
She looked just like someone advertising a top-tier luxury item.
“Then… how about giving it a try with me, your senior? I’m very sweet, you know, and I know a lot…”
Mary’s cheeks were tinged with red, shyness mixed with anticipation, clearly eager to experience a citrus-flavored romance with a cute girl.
Aier’s breath caught, stunned wide-eyed by this overly direct proposal.
Huh? Was there something wrong with her ears?
The Goddess of the Academy wants to date me?!
Aier: (⊙△⊙)……
No way, no way! She doesn’t want to die yet!
Aier didn’t even dare to imagine what would happen if she really dated Mary-senpai.
A dark room? Chains and collars? Ribbit! No, please!!!
Aier’s mind raced, searching for a way to refuse.
“She’s not interested. Right now, she’s coming with me to the cafeteria for lunch.”
Just then, a crisp voice laced with clear displeasure suddenly cut in, every word like a little hammer pounding the air.
Immediately after, an orange figure spun in between the two of them like a whirlwind, forcibly interrupting Mary’s “spellcasting.”
It was Donna. Hands on her hips, the midday sun danced on her shining golden hair like flowing gold leaf, and her orange eyes blazed with intense fire as she glared angrily at Mary.
Though she was a troublemaker in her own right, to Aier at this moment, she was like rain after a long drought!
“Oh?” Mary’s momentum was checked by this unexpected challenger, and her competitive spirit was instantly ignited.
Her brilliant smile didn’t falter, but her emerald eyes narrowed, like a feline eyeing a rival, ready to enter “Spinal Dragon Mode” at any moment.
Not only did Mary not let go of Aier’s wrist, she deliberately leaned forward, pushing out her proud chest to make her alluring curves even more prominent under the sunlight.
“And who are you? What’s it to you?”
Interrupted mid-confession, Mary’s face darkened.
Donna, always the arrogant and unreasonable young lady, snapped, “Of course it’s my business! (˶`^´˶)”
Mary’s gaze deliberately flicked to Donna’s chest and she let out a dismissive snort.
Donna: “!!!”
The twin-tailed girl’s cheeks instantly turned bright red, and the fire in her orange eyes looked like it was about to burst forth.
Big chest, so what! It’s just a burden! This young lady is just right!
With that, Donna tried to yank Aier into her own arms.
Donna: This cutie is mine!
The flames in Mary’s emerald eyes also flared up. She let out a cold laugh and gripped Aier’s arm even tighter, calmly ready for battle.
Mary: No one’s ever snatched away someone I set my sights on!
Aier: This is the end!!!
She felt like she was about to die, being pulled back and forth by two forces like a rag doll, her heart left with only a silent cry: Somebody save me!
“If you know what’s good for you, back off yourself.”
Donna, still tugging on Aier, lifted her slender neck in a show of defiance, like a little peacock challenging a rival.
The sunlight danced in her golden hair, and her orange eyes blazed with a fierce possessiveness.
“Back off?” Mary let out a short, mocking snort, her emerald eyes slowly sweeping over Donna’s puffed-up face as if appraising a subpar trinket.
Mary’s lips curled up. “Little sister, you’re the one interrupting my private time with my Future Partner right now.”
Aier: ???
Aier was thoroughly confused, her cute little face practically spelling out “bewildered.”
Wait, senpai, that’s not how you use that word.
Donna instantly exploded: “Who are you calling little sister?! And who’s your Future Partner?!”
Mary’s “Future Partner” was like a spark to a powder keg—Donna blew up on the spot, her golden hair practically standing on end.
As the pampered daughter of her family, she couldn’t stand this kind of condescending provocation and claim of ownership!
Her head got hot and she completely forgot the lesson from their last “mismatch of strength.”
Her body moved faster than her brain—Donna’s strength, far beyond her peers, erupted as she yanked the bewildered Aier straight into her arms.
Mary hadn’t expected Donna to suddenly resort to brute force. Caught off guard, she was pulled off balance by Aier’s movement and stumbled toward Donna as well!
With a thud, all three of them tumbled into a heap.
“Ugh?!”
Sandwiched in the middle, Aier was caught off guard and experienced a real-life “Two-Sided Bread with Cheese.”
Though the impact was cushioned by soft embraces (Donna’s side could be ignored; it was mainly Mary’s), the physical collision still left Aier seeing stars, her mind buzzing.
“Wow! Look over there!”
“Isn’t that… Mary-senpai? And that new girl… oh! Donna’s there too?”
The commotion was impossible to ignore, and with both Mary and Donna being highly noticed in the Academy, a few curious gazes quickly gathered.
Aier felt a wave of suffocation.
The immense embarrassment and instinctive aversion to being the center of attention made her scalp tingle.
She struggled hard, like a slippery fish, and finally managed to wriggle out from between the two of them.
“E-everyone, stop arguing… okay?” Aier’s voice was soft, tinged with a slight pant and an almost imperceptible tremble, her cheeks flushed with embarrassment.