章節 86: He will be mine

The red blood dripped from her finger as it dirtied her hand, peeler, and the carrot.

The pain, shock, and fear quickly took over her, but once again, Iino felt his hand on her hand, but this time, he held her tightly, with a stronger force, yet strangely enough, all of her previous thoughts were swept away, and she felt more comfortable being held roughly by him.

"Calm down. It's okay."

While Iino didn't say anything, Ishigami pulled the peeler from her hand, moved her to the sink, turned on the water, and washed the blood from her hand.

"What's wrong?"

His voice was quite loud, so naturally, it attracted everyone's attention.

"Iino cut her finger."

"Is she okay?"

While the others were surprised, the teacher was calm since it wasn't her first time to see something like this.

"I have just washed her wound with water, but she needs to go to the infirmary to disinfect and close her cut."

"Good, I will take her to the infirmary." The teacher nodded and was ready to bring Iino to the infirmary. Still, she looked at Ishigami differently since, usually, all the students would be panicked when they saw blood or their classmate had their hand cut by a knife due to an accident, yet Ishigami reacted calmly and cleaned up Iino's wound.

Still, as for the rest, Ishigami could leave everything to her, the teacher.

Ishigami agreed and was about to let go of Iino, but she grasped his hand tightly.

"Iino?"

Iino didn't say anything and just lowered her head; she didn't seem to intend to follow the teacher. However, when she was about to say something, Kobachi said, "Come on, Iino. I will go with you."

Kobachi appeared like a gentle friend who cornered about her best friend.

"If you leave now, then all of our food will go to waste, so I will take care of this, Yuu."

"Okay, leave everything to me. You two can go."

Kobachi directly took Iino away from Ishigami, and unlike before, Iino didn't seem to refuse Kobachi's help.

Yet, strangely enough, Iino stared at Kobachi with a doubtful gaze.

"Come on, Iino."

"O-Oh..."

"Sensei, we will go to the infirmary first."

"Okay, be careful."

The teacher nodded and agreed before she focused on her job once again, teaching the students who were troubled.

Ishigami was also about to continue to cook, but he saw Onodera and Kozue staring at him.

"What's wrong? Do you want to go to the toilet?"

"....." 2x

Kozue didn't say anything and just kept her mouth shut since she knew that Onodera was about to say something.

"You are close with them."

"Them?" Ishigami felt confused since he thought that Onodera would say that he was close to Iino, but Onodera used the word "them," which meant she thought that he was close to Iino and Kobachi.

"Yeah, Iino and Osaragi."

"We're classmates, after all."

'Do classmates call each other by their first name?' Onodera thought inwardly, but it was hard to say that, and she also didn't think that Ishigami would have a relationship with Kobachi. After all, the two of them weren't that close, but then, why did Kobachi call him by his first name?

Yet, while Onodera was bothered by this fact, watching him appear nonchalant, she didn't want to make this matter bigger.

Ishigami also realized the problem, so while he knew that he had done something wrong, he looked at Kozue and asked, "Kozue, are you done?" He knew that he was quite bold to do this, but as Kozue must have known his relationship with Chika and chose to observe him, he also decided to use her.

"Ah, oh." Kozue was startled when Ishigami suddenly called her by her first name before she looked at him fiercely, realizing what this guy was trying to do!

This bastard is trying to use her!

Is using a first name to call a classmate normal?

No way!

In this country, only those who were close could call each other by their first name!

So, to lessen the effect of Kobachi suddenly calling Ishigami by his first name, Ishigami called Kozue for the first name, even if their relationship wasn't that close!

At this moment, her mouth was about to open, clearly expressing what she had seen and understood after watching their interaction, but Ishigami moved faster by whispering, "I will make you two puddings."

"...three." Kozue ground her teeth, trying to feel the temperature of her body slowly rise due to how close Ishigami was, then said coldly, "...only this time."

"Thank you." Ishigami sighed in relief and said, "I owe you one."

"Yeah, you owe me one Yuu-kun~!" Kozue smiled sweetly, yet her eyes were cold.

"...."

Ishigami let out a helpless sigh inwardly, wondering whether Kobachi called him by his first name by accident or deliberately. After all, the two had made up their minds to call each other by their family's name instead of their first name in public, and considering Kobachi's personality, it could be both, especially when he thought about what he had done this morning.

Still, watching Kozue, who hammered the meat to soften it with a powerful force, which caused the "Bang! Bang! Bang!" sound, Ishigami felt even more helpless.

Yet, unexpectedly, he didn't expect that she would really help him to keep everything under wrap, and at the same time, he knew that he needed to talk with her later.

"Makihara-san, is there something wrong?" The teacher suddenly asked with confusion and worry.

"It's nothing, Sensei. It's just Yuu told me to soften the meat with a hammer." Kozue answered the teacher calmly, then looked at Ishigami with a bright smile. "Right, Yuu?"

Was this her revenge?

"Yes, Kozue."

"..."

Yet, if Ishigami looked closely, he would notice Kozue was far from being calm for having her first name being called so softly like that!

Moreover, this was her first time to have a man call her that way!

"Then, can I call you Kozue, too, Makihara-san? You can call me Rei." Onodera decided to join, to which Kozue nodded. "Sure, Rei."

Nevertheless, after this, the three were quite harmonious and worked together well on the cooking, especially when the two of them smelled how delicious the food cooked by Ishigami was!

Only Iino, who followed Kobachi, kept staring at her friend, who she had known from elementary school, in silence.

"Does it still hurt, Iino?" Kobachi asked softly.

"Ah, um, it hurts a bit..."

When Kobachi reminded her, Iino quickly remembered the pain from her cut.

"Then, let's go in a hurry, then. You need to close your wound so it won't be infected or be amputated."

"Huh?!" Iino was dumbfounded, and her expression was so pale!

"Come on."

"O-Okay!"

Watching the nervous Iino, Kobachi's expression was as flat as ever, but then, soon, it became a mischievous smile, especially when she thought about what she had done before.

Yes, as Ishigami had guessed, she called his first name deliberately in front of Onodera.

Yet, it should be okay, right?

After all, did he remember what he just did this morning?

If she doesn't get special treatment, then shouldn't Onodera be treated the same way?

Still, she knew that she needed to do it slowly to make Onodera filled with worry, anxiety, and suspicion before all of that exploded and their relationship broke.

When that happened, nothing would stop them anymore, and he would only for hers.

Yet, as she thought of her plan with a smile, she didn't notice Iino, who appeared in a hurry to go to the infirmary, glancing in her direction, watching her expression blankly before she looked away as if nothing had happened.