Chapter 227: Trouble ; Ride (1/2)

”Haru,” Sora's not-so-warm voice reaches my ears.

The club-room suddenly seems to have gotten a lot colder, as the club members stop chattering and look over at us with curious expressions on their faces.

Fortunately, I am Sora's brother, so I don't have to worry about any strange rumors spreading around once this calamity has passed by.

”Now, now, my dear sister,” I say in the most soothing tone I can muster, ”You shouldn't just jump to conclusions without hearing what the other side has to say.”

As a response to my words, Sora gazes at me with a deadpanned look on her face, silently awaiting my 'explanation'.

Being the one closest to Sora as her brother and lover, I'm well aware of her personality and how she views my relationships with other girls.

To put it in simple terms, as long as she's certain that I won't be leaving her and prioritize her, Sora won't be all that dissatisfied with most of what I do.

Yet, here she is, witnessing another girl wearing a ring that's clearly the one I had been wearing before.

”You should know that the ring is not an ordinary one, right?” I question, to which Sora just nods her head once.

Before I can utter another word, I hear Nao say, ”Wow, he already has put a ring on the new girl. Didn't even notice it before.”

”He sure works wonders,” Misa 'praises'.

A moment of silence passes as Sora squints her eyes at me.

Letting out a sigh, I conclude that a demonstration would be the best way to solve this issue.

As such, I create an illusory barrier around us, making it seem like we're all frozen in place.

Then, I turn to face Jeanne and say, ”Pull your banner out.”

With an unperturbed expression on her face, Jeanne pulls out her banner from the ring and holds it firmly.

Sora has always been quick-witted, so she figured out what's going as a look of realization appears on her face.

With the calamity passed, I nod my head while facing Jeanne as she nods back before storing the banner in the ring again.

The moment I dispel the illusory barrier, the club-room gets a little chaotic as the girls begin to chatter among themselves.

”Did you see that? They weren't moving just now!” a girl says disbelievingly.

”Yeah. It's like they glitched or something,” another girl responds.

Their topics mostly revolved around that and how our positions had changed after the 'glitch'.

Shaking my head in exasperation, I face Sora and say, ”Everything is fine now, right?”

Sora nods her head once with a small smile on her lips, seemingly satisfied knowing that there is no ulterior meaning to the ring.

”But,” she suddenly says, ”Why is the ring on that finger?”

Hearing her emphasis on the word 'that', I get what she's asking.

”Well, I wasn't paying much attention to that when I put it on for her.”

”Put it on for her?” Sora repeats in a tone much colder than before.

Damn it. I should pay more attention to my words from now on.

---

Somehow, I managed to live. The only price I had to pay for my 'crime' was that I had to lock hands with Sora and walk out of the school like that.

So much for no strange rumors spreading...

Whatever. It's not like I will stop loving Sora because a few dozen mortals find it unbecoming.

”My Lord, what's that?” Jeanne asks for the fifth time while pointing at something on the other side of the tinted window.

Shifting my sight to where she's pointing, I find a pair of high schoolers riding bikes.

”That's called a bicycle,” I explain, ”It's a form of transportation that's commonly used in this era instead of cars.”