Villain: Your Heroines Were Delicious - Chapter 230 - 18

Chapter 230: Chapter 18

Around a week ago.

The Hamiya Learning Center was a cathedral of quiet industry.

Located in the more affluent sector of the 24th District, it was a designated classroom area, a specialized facility designed specifically to enhance education through self-directed, engaging activities that promote personalized learning and skill development.

For many, it was a place of stress; for Fujiwara Touka, it was a sanctuary.

It was Saturday morning, a time when most teenagers were either buried under their covers or loitering in the neon-lit convenience stores, yet Touka was sitting upright in her usual seat.

It was as if she didn’t want to take a break from studying at all!

Her dedication was bordering on the fanatical, her pens color-coded and her notebooks a testament to meticulous organization.

Now, usually, people would just ignore her. Before her transformation, they had treated her as a loner nerd with no redeeming qualities—a ghost in a tracksuit who existed only to set the curve on the national exams.

But ever since she had changed her look for Seijirou, shed her bulky glasses, cut off her bangs and allowed her natural beauty to breathe, she had been subjected to various stares.

The silence in the room was often broken by the subtle rustle of students turning in their seats just to catch a glimpse of the beautiful, studious girl of the center.

Although it had been a while since she made the change, she still wasn’t used to the attention.

It honestly made her skin prickle with a persistent, low-level anxiety.

However, this time, she noticed something different.

As she scanned the room, she realized that quite a few people actually weren’t here. Usually, the high-intensity Saturday morning classroom would be full to capacity, every desk occupied by a student desperate for an edge.

But this time, three students—regular attendees who never missed a session—were missing.

She wondered why? The seats sat empty, gathering dust in the morning light.

But she soon shook her head, trying to dismiss the thought.

It was none of her business; perhaps they were simply tired and had finally decided to skip a day of the grueling curriculum.

’Such a waste of money, though,’ she thought, her frugal mind calculating the lost tuition fees.

Besides, she has a lot of things to worry about, like how Aunt Hakari had asked her to meet her next week, and about Seijirou who was hospitalised last night.

She barely had any sleep thinking of him! Thamk god Retsu-sensei managed to stabilised his condition.

At this moment, a dark-skinned girl with bleach-blonde hair, wearing a uniform that bordered on the indecently short, sat down in the desk next to her.

One look at her and you’d instantly know that she’s a “gal”—, or a “gyaru”. And an incredibly beautiful one with a very large bust at that.

When Touka first saw her, she couldn’t help but do what most girls do in secret: she immediately compared the girl’s proportions to her own.

To her quiet surprise, she found out they were about the same size.

Although Touka liked to hide hers under modest, structured clothing, she was well-endowed, and in a different set of clothes, she could surely give even someone like Yukina a run for her money.

“Touka-chan,” the gal called out, her voice a casual, honeyed drawl.

Touka blinked, snapping out of her internal comparison, and stared at her. “What is it, Maki-san?”

Hiratsuka Maki—this was the name of the gal.

Despite their polar opposite aesthetics and personality, she and Touka were actually quite close and have been attending the same specialized classes together since they were still in middle school.

It was because of Maki that Touka didn’t have that much negative impression with gals, which was the reason she got along quite well with Rei when they first met.

“You noticed that some students aren’t here today, right?” Maki asked. She wasn’t looking at her notes; she was looking at the empty desks with a strange, flat intensity.

Touka nodded slowly. “They probably skipped, right? It’s a nice day outside. Maybe they went to the beach or a theme park for the weekend.”

Maki stared at her, her dark eyes narrowing as if she were peering through a veil, looking at something that Touka simply couldn’t see.

After a long pause, Maki shook her head. “Maybe… but, Touka-chan, listen to me. Whatever happens, do not let anyone do your attendance for you. Not next week. Not ever. Got it?”

“Hm?” Touka tilted her head in confusion.

“You know how attendance in this learning center works,” Maki said, leaning in closer, the scent of her expensive floral perfume masking the sterile smell of the classroom. “It’s just writing your name on the logbook at the front desk. Sometimes, when students want to skip but don’t want their parents to get the automated ’absence’ notification, they’ll ask their friends to just write their name on it. It’s a common trick.”

“Yeah,” Touka nodded. She had seen the “proxy” signings happen a dozen times.

“If someone offers to write your attendance for you… if they tell you that you can go home and they’ll handle the book… refuse it. No matter how much you want to leave,” Maki said, her voice dropping into a serious, urgent whisper.

“Okay?” Touka was confused by the gravity of the warning, but she nodded nonetheless.

She wasn’t planning on letting others do her attendance for her at all; after all, she isn’t planning on skipping a single day.

Her academic goals were far too important to be left to the whim of a proxy.

Just then, their professor finally arrived, a dry, elderly man who moved with a scholarly limp.

He greeted everyone in his usual monotonous tone and immediately started his lecture on advanced macroeconomics.

Touka listened carefully, her pen flying across the page, capturing every nuance.

Beside her, Maki was the complete opposite; she was scrolling through her phone, her thumb moving in a rhythmic, bored flick, seemingly not caring about the lecture at all.

Finally, after two grueling hours, the class ended as the professor gathered his leather satchel, said his curt goodbyes, and left the room.

Immediately, the heavy silence broke into the sound of zippers, shuffling paper, and students rushing for the door.

“I’ll be leaving first, Touka-chan. See you around,” Maki said as she stood up, slinging her designer bag over her shoulder, and left the room without a backward glance.

Touka nodded at her retreating back and began to slowly gather her own things.

At this time, she couldn’t help but think about her schedule. Next week, she still had to attend this vital session, but Aunt Hakari had also asked her to come see her as early as possible.

And the Kageyama matriarch’s invitation was a command in all but name.

’Hmm,’ she couldn’t decide.

The lesson started at 9 AM and ended at 11 AM. Even if she rushed and caught a taxi immediately, she’d probably meet with Aunt Hakari at noon… and for a woman like Hakari, noon was not “early” at all!

What if she started having a bad impression of her? What if she saw Touka as someone who lacked punctuality or respect for family elders? Wouldn’t she have no chance with Seijirou-kun then?

The thought sent a cold shiver of dread down her spine.

At this moment, someone tapped her shoulder.

Touka flinched at the sudden action—the classroom was almost empty now, and she hadn’t heard anyone approach.

She turned around, her heart fluttering.

Standing there was a girl she vaguely recognized from the front row.

The girl was smiling, but it was a strange, fixed expression. Her eyes were closed, squeezed shut into thin, crescent lines, while her mouth curved into a very eerie smile as she was rubbing her hands together in a rhythmic, dry friction—like a shady businesswoman closing a deal.

“Fujiwara-san… you’ve been very diligent, you know?” the girl whispered. Her voice was thin, carry a strange, wet rasp. “Working so hard every single Saturday. Don’t you think you deserve a reward? Want to take a break next week? Attend some important meeting?”

Touka stiffened. “How did you…?”

“I’ll do your attendance for you,” the girl continued, ignoring Touka’s question as she leaned in closer, and Touka realized the girl didn’t smell like perfume or sweat, but more of an old, wet paper and stagnant water. “You won’t even have to come to the building. Just stay home. Or go wherever you want to go. I’ll sign your name perfectly. My handwriting is… very adaptable.”

The girl’s smile widened, but her eyes remained closed—tightly, unnervingly shut as a small trail of dark, viscous fluid began to seep from the corner of her left eyelid, tracing a path down her cheek.

But it soon vanished, making Touka wonder if she was just seeing things. But still made her take a step back.

“Um…personal space?” Said Touka, feeling incredibly uncomfortable.

“Of course,” the girl hissed, her hand suddenly gripping Touka’s shoulder with a strength that felt like cold iron, “you’ll have to pay a little… extra. Don’t worry, it won’t cost you much. In fact, those three who were absent already asked me to do their attendance, and I already took their payment. It’s a reasonable transaction.”

Just then, the shadows in the corner of the classroom seemed to stretch and lean toward the girl, and for a split second, Touka thought she saw the girl’s jaw unhinge just a fraction too wide, revealing rows of grey, needle-thin teeth behind that fixed, smiling mask.

But when she blinked, everything returned to normal, as if everything she had just witnessed was simply her brain playing tricks on her.

“So… do we have a deal?”

Touka stared at her. Well, she did have to go meet Aunt Hakari next week, so it should be okay, right?

It’s just one day, after.

She opened her mouth, while the girl’s smile widened.

“…sorry. I’ll be attending next week’s lecture, so maybe next time?” Touka bowed apologetically.

With that, she took her bag and broke free from the girl’s hold and immediately left the classroom, breathing heavily.