COTE: Horikita Is My Childhood Sweetheart

Chapter 179: The Princess Is Very Smooth

___

Rin noticed that Arisu was looking down on him, and it immediately made him angry!

He was not some obedient dog who would just leave at the wave of a little loli's hand!

"Cricket… just a little girl, and you think you can make me leave?!" Rin suddenly stood up.

However, before storming out, he reached out with lightning speed and pinched Arisu's smooth, delicate cheek.

Caught off guard, Arisu's eyes widened in shock. Under her astonished, stunned, and embarrassed gaze, Rin smiled mischievously and slipped out of the private room.

"Matsuoka..."

The sound of Arisu gnashing her teeth echoed in the room. A faint blush appeared on her fair, flawless face. It was unclear whether she was furious at Rin or just deeply embarrassed.

Perhaps both.

Sitting outside the café, sipping milk tea, Hashimoto saw Rin emerge from the private room. He couldn't help but ask, surprised, "Matsuoka, why are you out so soon? Did Her Highness the Princess finish her discussion with you already?"

Rin glanced at Hashimoto and nodded. "Oh, yes."

At this point, Rin wanted nothing more than to punch the guy who had tricked him into meeting the little loli.

"What did you two talk about?" Hashimoto asked curiously.

"Don't be nosy. I'm not telling you," Rin replied dismissively.

"Aw, come on, good brother. Just tell me a little bit!" Hashimoto's curiosity was clearly piqued.

"…"

Rin looked at Hashimoto, whose face was filled with curiosity, and an idea popped into his head.

He smiled meaningfully and rubbed his fingers together under Hashimoto's eyes.

"I'll tell you a little," Rin began, his tone cryptic. "But all I can say is… your princess is very smooth."

"!?"

The words "very smooth" immediately sent Hashimoto's imagination into overdrive. Whatever strange things he envisioned, it made him look at Rin with an expression of admiration.

"Matsuoka, you're incredible," Hashimoto said in awe.

"Ahaha, it's nothing special," Rin replied, pretending to be modest. "I also found out that Sakayanagi likes being praised for being very 'plump.' So, you see, girls love compliments."

Rin said this with such seriousness that Hashimoto couldn't help but nod along in agreement.

"Alright, brother, I'm off. See you later."

"Okay, take care."

Hashimoto enthusiastically saw Rin out of the café, completely unaware that Rin had just tricked him.

When Hashimoto returned inside, he saw Sakayanagi emerging from the private room, leaning on her cane. Her expression was dark and gloomy.

As she passed by, she noticed Hashimoto's strange smile. It made her uncomfortable.

"Hashimoto, why are you smiling like that? Did Matsuoka say something to you?"

Hashimoto tried to suppress his grin, but it was impossible. He couldn't stop smiling as he replied honestly, "Matsuoka said… Princess, you're very smooth—"

- Whack!

Arisu's face darkened as she swung her cane at Hashimoto, causing him to yelp in pain.

"Princess! Why are you hitting me?!"

Hashimoto looked at her with a wounded expression, genuinely feeling wronged. Hadn't his good brother, said that the princess liked such compliments?

Arisu pressed a hand to her cheek and huffed. "You made such a ridiculous comment about me. Isn't it natural that I hit you?"

"But Matsuoka said you like being praised for being smooth... Wait—did he trick me?!"

Arisu gave Hashimoto a disdainful glance. "You just realized that now?"

"That's impossible. Before he left, Matsuoka was calling me his brother. We're good brothers," Hashimoto said in disbelief.

"Good brother, huh?" Arisu Sakayanagi's voice was laced with sarcasm. "Matsuoka also told me that you, Hashimoto, will never find a girlfriend and are destined to live alone."

"??"

___

After leaving the café, Rin walked toward the school library. He planned to check if there were any books on chess to study and improve his skills.

In fact, the various abilities Rin had acquired through the narration system could be upgraded through his own effort, learning, and research.

For instance, because Rin had programmed software on his own before, his intermediate electronic programming skill had already reached [11%] progression. Once the progress reached 100%, his intermediate programming skill would upgrade to the advanced level.

Rin suspected that the little loli, Arisu, would continue pestering him to play chess in the future. To prepare, he decided to improve his intermediate chess skills through diligent study and research.

As Rin was making his way to the school library, the school's radio broadcast suddenly came on.

The female voice on the broadcast sounded familiar. After a moment, Rin recognized it as Akane Tachibana, the secretary of the student council.

"Now notifying the entire school."

"The former vice president of the student council, Nagumo…"

"…has been found guilty of abusing his authority over the swimming club, forcing boys to leave, and arbitrarily implementing illegal rules prohibiting boys from joining the club."

"The school's administration has decided to remove Nagumo from his position as vice president. He will remain in the student council as an ordinary member to make amends for his actions. Additionally, Nagumo must seek forgiveness from those he persecuted."

"Repeating the announcement…"

The broadcast repeated the message three times, ensuring that every student in the school knew that Nagumo had been stripped of her position as vice president due to abuse of power.

Nagumo was no longer the vice president of the student council.

The first-year students didn't react much, as most of them didn't know who Nagumo was.

However, the second-year students had a completely different reaction. Nagumo had essentially dominated the sophomore year, so all of them were very familiar with her.

The second-years were shocked, surprised, and incredulous. Some were even delighted—ecstatic, in fact!

Many of these students harbored resentment toward Nagumo. His downfall brought them immense satisfaction.

"That bastard Nagumo got what he deserved!"

"Yeah, he had it coming!"

"Now that he's no longer the vice president, isn't her status even lower than his two lackeys?"

"Exactly! Nagumo's position in the student council is now beneath her own subordinates! How humiliating!"

In reality, the chairman, had only informed the student council about the decision to demote Nagumo. He had not instructed anyone to announce the news to the entire school.

However, Tachibana, the student council secretary and the person in charge of broadcasting, took it upon herself to spread the news across the entire campus.

It was no secret that Tachibana was firmly on Manabu's side and had disliked Nagumo for a long time.