Villain: Your Heroines Were Delicious - Chapter 186 - 51

Chapter 186: Chapter 51

The heavy, oppressive silence of the classroom was finally shattered by the long, high-pitched ring of the final bell.

For the students of Shunji High, it was the sound of a prisoner’s shackles being struck off.

As the crowd poured out of the main building and toward the school gates, the air was immediately shrouded with a mixture of hysterical relief and the hushed, anxious post-mortem of tricky algebra questions.

“EXAM DAY IS OVER!” Renji and Sakai screamed in unison the moment their feet hit the pavement outside the gates.

They threw their arms into the air, looking like two men who had just survived a shipwreck.

“Let’s party at Seijirou’s house! I want meat! I want games! I want to forget that the quadratic formula exists!” Yukina cheered, her usual sharp energy returning now that she wasn’t forced to stare at a test paper.

“Ooooh.” Emi cheered, although with her monotone voice, it sounded as if she was forced to do it after tiring herself out.

And in some ways, it’s kind of true.

Seijirou walked at the center of the group, his hands deep in his pockets, watching his friends celebrate with a faint, amused smirk.

“Are you guys even sure you passed?” he asked, his voice cutting through their excitement with a dry, skeptical edge. “From what I heard, you four were both looking pretty pale during the math test.”

“What!? Of course not! Math is easy!” Said Sakai.

“Absolutely!” Renji nodded.

“Translation; I can’t be sure if I passed, but if I pray hard enough, I might.” Said Yukina teasingly.

Emi stared at them in amusement.

“If they didn’t pass after the sheer amount of blood, sweat, and tears I put into tutoring them, then they deserve to fail,” Rei groaned.

She looked physically drained, her shoulders slumped under the weight of her and Erina’s schoolbag.

God knew how much she had suffered trying to drill basic concepts into the heads of the academic failures of the group.

Honestly, she didn’t even receive any help tutoring them.

Erina, Touka, and Haruka were undisputed geniuses, but they were essentially useless as teachers.

Their minds worked on such a high level that they couldn’t even begin to explain logic to “ordinary” people; to them, the answers were just self-evident facts of the universe.

Like, how would people understand if your explanations was ’If you do this, and do that, you’ll get them’….like, what!?

On the other hand, Seijirou, while brilliant, couldn’t be bothered to participate in the grueling process of teaching, and Shou had been too lazy to even read a single word of the review materials.

Even Rindou-senpai had been completely occupied with her own high-level senior exams, leaving her unavailable to reign in the chaos.

That had left Rei as the sole academically gifted student with enough patience—or perhaps just enough of a sense of duty—to drag the rest of the gang toward a passing grade.

“Let’s go,” Seijirou said, a decisive glint in his eyes. “In fact, let’s just skip classes tomorrow and party all night. We’ve earned it.”

“YES! Boss is the best!” Sakai cheered, pumping a fist into the air.

“No way!” Rei immediately shook her head, her sense of discipline flaring up. “I absolutely will not skip a class! My attendance record is spotless!”

“…I think, I’m catching strays.” Said Erina.

Out of everyone here, she has the most absences and tardiness. Although they were excused due to her illness, but still…

“You definitely are. You have more absences than Seijirou, and that’s saying something.” Suzune just laughed, her fingers entwined with Seijirou’s as she leaned against his shoulder, enjoying the familiar bickering. “Seijirou has been absent for almost a month straight, you know.”

She watched her friends with a quiet happiness, the stress of the day melting away in the warmth of their camaraderie.

*

*

*

While the group made their boisterous way through the city, the Kageyama household was a hive of quiet, focused activity.

Yuko was in the kitchen, her movements fluid and practiced as she began the extensive preparations for the night’s festivities.

Seijirou had called her earlier to let her know the “victors” were returning for a feast, and she had immediately set to work.

She was humming a peaceful, melodic tune, a soft smile playing on her lips as she often took moments like this to reflect on how much her world had brightened since moving into this house.

The shadows of her past marriage felt like a lifetime ago.

Even Haruka seemed different. Yuko chuckled to herself as she chopped vegetables.

Many people, including Seijirou’s friends, often remarked on how expressionless Haruka was—how her stoic face made it impossible to tell what she was feeling.

But as her mother, how could Yuko not know?

The signs were there if you knew where to look.

For example, whenever Haruka was genuinely happy, she had a habit of rhythmically clenching and unclenching her left fist.

When she was feeling sad or overwhelmed, her usually iron-straight posture would develop a nearly imperceptible slouch.

And whenever she was feeling shy or flustered—usually when Seijirou acknowledged her work—she had a specific way of tucking a stray lock of hair behind her ear.

To Yuko, her daughter was an open book, and lately, that book had been filled with Chapters of quiet contentment.

Just then, the sharp chime of the doorbell echoed through the house.

Yuko looked up and wiped her hands on a clean towel and walked toward the foyer, assuming perhaps a delivery had arrived early.

She opened the door and blinked in surprise when saw someone standing outside the gate.

It was a woman who looked like a vision of matured elegance. She had long, silken purple hair and a presence that commanded the space around her.

“Excuse me, how may I help you?” Yuko asked politely.

The woman stared at Yuko for a long moment, her violet eyes scanning Yuko’s face with a depth of scrutiny that felt almost predatory, yet her expression remained perfectly poised.

Finally, she let out a gentle, disarming smile. “Greetings. I am Kurosaki Akane, the mother of Kurosaki Erina. I heard through the grapevine that she has been staying here under your care?”

Yuko stared in shock. Erina-chan’s mother?

Wait, now that she took a closer look, the resemblance was undeniable.

Akane looked like a much more mature, more developed version of Erina, so much so that even a kind hearted woman like Yuko couldn’t help but think to herself, ’Wow, the father’s genes didn’t even try to compete with this.’

She quickly shook off her surprise and smiled brightly, walking down the path to open the gates. “Yes, yes! Erina-chan is staying here. She’s been a lovely guest. Please, would you like to come in? They should all be on their way back from the school right now.”

“Sorry for the intrusion,” Akane said smoothly, stepping through the gates and following Yuko into the house.

Her eyes took in the opulence of the Kageyama estate with a cold, appreciative glint that Yuko didn’t notice.

Once inside, Yuko led her to the living room and gestured toward the plush sofa. “Please, make yourself comfortable, Mrs. Kurosaki.”

“I am truly sorry if my daughter has caused you any trouble,” Akane said as she sat down, her movements as fluid as a cat’s.

“No trouble at all! She’s very well-behaved,” Yuko said, placing a glass of water on the coffee table. “I apologize, we’re actually out of juice and tea at the moment—I was just about to finish the party preparations.”

“It’s fine, thank you,” Akane replied, taking a small, elegant sip of the water as her gaze drifted toward the kitchen. “That child… she had a bit of a falling out with her father. She’s quite headstrong and refused to come back, so her father asked me to come and personally pick her up.”

“I see,” Yuko said, her maternal instincts flickering. “I can understand family friction. But… can it wait just a little while? They’re all planning to party tonight to celebrate finishing their exams. It would be such a shame to pull her away right when the fun starts.”

Akane nodded slowly, her smile remaining fixed and beautiful. “It is fine. I can wait. I wouldn’t want to be the one to ruin her celebration.”

“That’s good! It really would be a waste if she had to leave early,” Yuko said, her voice filled with genuine warmth. “And the other girls surely wouldn’t let her leave anyway. Between Suzune and Rei, they can be very persistent when they want someone to stay.”

“So I’ve heard,” Akane murmured, her eyes narrowing slightly at the mention of the names.

“Well, I should probably get back to the kitchen and finish the preparations. Please make yourself at home, Mrs. Kurosaki,” Yuko said, turning to head back to her work.

“Oh, I can help,” Akane said, standing up with surprising alacrity.

Yuko paused, waving her hands dismissively. “Oh, no need to bother yourself, Mrs. Kurosaki! You’re a guest in this house. Please, just relax.”

“No, I insist,” Akane said, her voice soft but carrying an undeniable weight of authority. “I feel terrible just sitting here while you do all the work, especially since you’ve been looking after my daughter.”

Yuko hesitated, looking at the determined expression on the purple-haired woman’s face. “This… very well. If you’re sure, I’d appreciate the help. We have a lot of hungry mouths to feed!”

Akane smiled, “Well then, shall we start?”

Now, she just needs to wait for Kageyama Seijirou to return.