Reincarnated with an SSS-rank Tamer System: My Harem of Villainesses-Chapter 53 – The Deal

Adam was sitting on one of the benches farthest from the other students beside Alice, who had insisted they needed to talk alone after practically dragging him there.

Piers had left them alone almost immediately after Alice appeared, muttering something about going to the library before disappearing at a suspicious speed.

It wasn’t hard to guess why, since those two together got weird, and Piers clearly didn’t want to be present to witness... whatever it was that was about to happen.

Adam stared ahead with a calm expression as he organized his thoughts about the previous class, trying to ignore the fact that Alice was staring at him intensely from his side.

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed she was trembling slightly, though it wasn’t exactly nervousness. It was... more excitement than anything else.

’This is going to be annoying,’ he thought before deciding to address the matter directly.

"About what you said before the tournament—" he commented as he turned slightly toward her.

"Yes!" Alice interrupted immediately with a wide smile that made Adam instantly realize this was not going to end well for him. "Now that we both won our matches, you have to keep what you promised."

Adam glanced at her before responding. "I didn’t promise anything."

"So? I don’t care about that," Alice replied with a shrug as she moved closer on the bench until her shoulder was practically touching Adam’s. "What matters is that we both won and now we have to honor the deal."

"What deal?" Adam asked in a serious tone. "I never agreed to any deal."

Alice completely ignored him as if he hadn’t said anything and continued with her obvious enthusiasm. "Two weeks. Like we said, now you have to be my boyfriend for two weeks."

There was absolute silence for several seconds as Adam listened to her.

"Excuse me?" he finally managed to say as he looked at her as if she had just said something completely absurd. "Where did you get that idea?"

"From the deal we made before the tournament," Alice replied as if it were the most obvious thing in the world while moving even closer until she was practically pressed against his side. "We both won our matches, so now you have to fulfill your part."

"I’m going to repeat this because you’re clearly not listening," Adam said in a firmer tone as he tried to create some space between them, though Alice simply moved closer every time he did. "I never agreed to that deal. There is no agreement. It didn’t happen."

Alice looked at him for a moment before smiling in a way that made Adam realize she wasn’t going to let this go so easily.

"So you’re saying you don’t want to spend time with me?" she asked in a tone that tried to sound hurt but was clearly filled with amusement.

"I’m saying I’m not going to pretend to be your boyfriend for two weeks just because you unilaterally decided that was a deal that existed," Adam replied firmly.

Alice let out a short laugh before abruptly wrapping him in a hug that caught him completely off guard, her arms circling his torso as she rested her head against his shoulder.

"You’re adorable when you get all serious," she murmured against his uniform.

Adam remained completely still for a second before trying to gently push her away. "Alice, let go."

"I don’t want to."

"Alice."

"Two weeks," she repeated without releasing him. "Just two weeks. You don’t even have to do much. Just... be with me. Let me hug you like this. Maybe hold hands occasionally. Nothing complicated."

Adam let out a long sigh as he stopped trying to push her away, recognizing that he probably wasn’t going to win this battle easily. "Why? Why this obsession with me specifically?"

Alice finally pulled back just enough to look him directly in the eyes, though she kept one arm wrapped around his waist possessively.

"Because you’re interesting," she replied with genuine sincerity in her voice. "And because you’re handsome even though you’re a shorty."

Adam raised an eyebrow at that. "How flattering."

"But that’s the least important part," Alice continued with a mischievous smile as her other hand moved to toy with the collar of his uniform. "When the one below is tall."

There was a second of silence before Adam fully understood what she had just said. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

"Seriously?" he asked in a completely dry tone as he looked at her expressionlessly. "That’s your argument?"

Alice laughed genuinely at that, clearly enjoying his reaction. "It’s a valid argument. And you’re not going to tell me it’s not true because I checked personally."

Adam couldn’t stop his lips from curving slightly into something resembling an ironic smile at the sheer audacity of that statement. "You’re impossible to deal with."

"That’s what I’ve been told," Alice replied with that characteristic smile before hugging him fully again, this time from the front as she wrapped her arms around his neck. "So, what do you say? Two weeks. I can be very convincing when I want to."

Adam looked at her for a moment, feeling the weight of her arms around him and recognizing that Alice clearly wasn’t going to let this go no matter how much he refused.

’Why did my life become so complicated?’ he thought with resignation.

"One week," he finally said in a tone that made it clear that was the most he was willing to negotiate.

Alice’s eyes immediately lit up. "A week and a half?"

"One week."

"Two weeks but only on weekends."

"Alice."

"Okay, okay," she accepted with a laugh as she squeezed the hug momentarily before pulling back just enough to look at him directly. "One week. But a full week, every day, no excuses."

Adam sighed, knowing he was probably about to regret this. "Fine. One week."

"Perfect!" Alice exclaimed with genuine enthusiasm before planting a quick kiss on his cheek that caught him completely by surprise.

"What—?"

"It’s official then," Alice interrupted as she finally pulled away completely but kept one of her hands intertwined with Adam’s. "One week starting from... right now."

She stood up, pulling him so he would stand as well, clearly ready to begin this "week" immediately.

Adam let himself be dragged along as he mentally processed how exactly he had ended up agreeing to this.

’I hope the system gets fixed soon,’ he thought with some exasperation. ’Because I clearly need all the help I can get to survive this week.’

Alice looked at him with that wide smile as she began walking, still holding his hand, clearly with no intention of letting go anytime soon.

"This is going to be fun," she commented cheerfully.

Adam didn’t respond, simply letting out another resigned sigh as he mentally prepared himself for whatever Alice considered "fun" over the next seven days.

’I’m definitely going to regret this,’ was his only coherent thought as she dragged him toward... wherever she was planning to take him.

But at least he would keep Alice entertained and out of bigger trouble for a week.

He hoped.