NEET Receives a Dating Sim Game

by Little Merger

A 30-year-old NEET is reincarnated into the body of an otaku that choked to death on instant noodles. As he comes to grips with his new life, he realizes that this world is subtly different from Earth. The denizens of this world are far better looking, and this new world also possesses futuristic technology as well as mysterious Yin Yang masters! After reincarnating, he realized th

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NEET Receives a Dating Sim Game Leveling System #Chapter 33 - Twin witches - Read NEET Receives a Dating Sim Game Leveling System Chapter 33 - Twin witches Online - All Page - NOVEL NEXT

Chapter 33: Twin witches

Translator: imperfectluck Editor: - -

Rion Amami and Kotomi Amami loved each other the most in the world.

Or, more specifically, the herself each girl could see reflected in the other.

Normally speaking, even identical twins would have at least a few differences. It was common for them to have differing opinions on certain subjects, and the things they liked and disliked would also naturally be different.

But the Amami twins had always been identical ever since they were born… In fact, they were completely identical, to the point of sharing the same opinion on everything, without even a single difference!

This was definitely an extraordinarily rare occurrence, and it could even be called abnormal, but they'd long since gotten used to it. It was even a source of pride for the twins, as it caused them to believe that they were special and superior compared to everyone else.

And they were indeed quite excellent.

Their looks were already top class, and, in addition to that, they were at the top of their school in academics as well as excelling in sports.

In their clubs, they were the aces of the choir club and karate club respectively. They'd also been receiving awards in everything since they could walk, and they enjoyed creating their own songs that became popular online. As well as that, they also live-streamed, and they even modelled for fashion magazines in their spare time. In conclusion, everything they did was outstanding.

Their entire school referred to the duo as the 'twin witches'.

When they had first started attending school, there were numerous boys who had chased after them fervently, but they had ascertained the true motives of each and every one of them while teasing and toying with their feelings. This ultimately resulted in them being bestowed with such a notorious nickname.

Unbeknownst to the other students, the twins despised all other men; the only ones that were slight exceptions to this rule were their father and younger brother.

They only truly loved each other and themselves.

"Kotomi Kotomi, what type of punishment should we give our brother?"

"Rion Rion, let's make him wear a bunny girl costume, and kneel and meow like a cat!"

"Okay okay! That sounds awesome and amazing."

"Yep yep! Let's do that, let's do that."

The way they talked to each other sounded like the meaningless repetition of two young children. This was because instead of having a proper conversation with each other, they just enjoyed the process of talking.

It wasn't important what they actually said.

They continued to embrace each other intimately, soft skin touching soft skin, and they chatted about meaningless topics, leisurely letting time pass by…

…

Hoshi Amami returned home.

When his shift was over and he had to part ways with Harano-senpai, he felt reluctant to leave just yet.

Not only was that because Harano-senpai listened to his frustrations and gave honest replies in return—even if he was so blunt that it hurt—it was also because Harano-senpai happened to be an otaku!

After discovering that they had similar interests, they had an enjoyable time chatting about various otaku topics.

Even though this was only his first time meeting Harano-senpai, Hoshi could only lament at not meeting him earlier, and he already considered him as one of his best friends.

Harano-senpai was previously a fat otaku, and purely through his own hard effort, he had managed to transform himself into his current handsome form. This miraculous discovery prompted Hoshi to set Harano into his ideal life's goal to become—the light which illuminated his dark life!

On his way back home, he had even changed his cell phone screensaver to Harano-senpai's picture—of course it was secretly taken.

If Senpai knew about it, he'd probably have some stern words for him!

He really wanted Harano as his screensaver, though, so he could only secretly beg for forgiveness.

As he was about to reach home, he felt like looking at Senpai's picture again to grant him the confidence he needed to confront his devilish sisters.

'N… no good! I have to be courageous and face them directly. Senpai told me that I must face all difficulties head-on!'

Hoshi was bursting with boundless courage ever since receiving Harano-senpai's encouragement.

"I'm back!" He put spirit into his voice as he returned home and took off his shoes.

His sisters weren't in the living room, and he felt thirsty, so he went to the kitchen, grabbed a can of juice from the refrigerator and drank it as he paced towards his room.

Two familiar figures appeared.

Hoshi instinctively shrank somewhat at seeing the familiar silhouettes of those two beauties, but he managed to stand up tall again and retain his manly spirit.

"Rion, Kotomi, I'm back."

He greeted them calmly as he bravely gazed directly at them.

Rion and Kotomi simultaneously tilted their heads and glanced at each other before they looked back towards Hoshi.

"Little bro, did your work go well?"

"It definitely didn't go well; he probably caused trouble for others."

"Yep yep, little bro is always so clumsy and can't do anything correctly."

"Yep yep, without his older sisters to take care of him, he's just a good-for-nothing pretty face."

Their attacks had started.

Hoshi secretly ground his teeth.

His older sisters had always been like this: they saw through everyone and talked to each other while exposing everything.

If this had been the former him, he probably would have begun retreating already, since it was indisputable that his older sisters were indeed speaking correctly.

But he had changed vastly now.

He took a deep breath in order to keep himself spirited.

'Yes, Senpai repeatedly mentioned that spirit is the most important factor.'

"Yeah… yes! I didn't do it too well! But so what!? I'm just a normal boy; of course I would give my seniors trouble on my first day working! But all my seniors are nice people. Instead of blaming me, they trust that I'll be able to learn quickly and improve! I've already learned so much after finishing my first day at work. None of what I've learned is anything that I can learn at home under all of your restrictions! Sisters, you're excellent, and I'm definitely a good-for-nothing compared to the two of you, but… I'll do my best, and I've always been working my hardest in order to… prove my worth!"

As Hoshi finished talking, the emotions he had been suppressing for so long erupted explosively, and he almost ended up shouting. The juice can in his hand was nearly squeezed to an unrecognizable piece of scrap metal by him.

Some of the remaining juice spilled onto the ground.

Hoshi glanced at the spillage before he tilted his head back and finished the rest of the can in one gulp, and tossed the can forcefully into the dustbin.

This was quite a spirited action by him.

It definitely wasn't something he would do normally. He attempted to imagine what Harano-senpai would do in such a situation and was consciously trying to imitate him.

"Manliness sometimes is just going ahead with your own ideals… you don't need to think about anything else, you don't have to be afraid, and don't be suppressed. Just do what you like as long as you don't go overboard." Those were the exact words that Harano-senpai told him.

After throwing away the can, Hoshi silently found a rag and wiped the floor clean before putting the rag away again.

That was when he noticed that his sisters were still standing in their original positions, staring at him.

"Do you have anything else to say? If not, I'm going to my room," he said lightly as he passed by the two of them and went to his room.

The moment he closed the door to his room, Hoshi broke out into a sweat as released a huge sigh.

"That… was so scary… I thought for sure that they would scold me. But, I accomplished it… I did it!"

Hoshi Amami felt the joy of releasing his true self for the first time in his life after being suppressed unfairly for the past ten-plus years of his life.

Inside the living room.

Rion and Kotomi glanced at each other with confusion.

"Kotomi, little bro's become quite strange."

"Rion, little bro seems different."

Their pet puppy that they'd been feeding and training for ten-plus years suddenly bared his fangs.

Even though it was just a form of venting without much true substance behind it, he was definitely baring his true fangs for the first time ever!

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Chapter 34: A lesson on how to deal with confession letters

Translator: imperfectluck Editor: - -

"Kotomi, little bro only went to work once—how could he have changed so drastically?"

"Rion, little bro must have met a weird person and fallen under their strange influence."

"Yep yep, Kotomi, we must find out who this weird person is."

"Yep yep, Rion, let's call our aunt; she'd definitely know~"

The twin sisters had figured out the truth just by talking to each other, and they had also determined the correct person to ask.

Their eyes contained the glimmer of having discovered interesting prey to play with as they clasped each other's hands and their smiles arced upwards.

Their chuckling echoed throughout the living room.

It was almost like the whispering of witches.

…

Seiji had a strange feeling.

It was a brand-new week, on Monday morning.

After waking up, Seiji kept feeling like something was about to happen, like he had forgotten something important… It was an indescribable subtle feeling.

He wondered if he had slept poorly last night?

He was slightly tired from the last two days of work, but he also received some nice bonuses, so he wasn't complaining. The newcomer was quite clumsy at first, but he was much better already on his second day, so everything ran smoothly.

If there was something that seemed off, it was the fact that his junior, Hoshi Amami, seemed way too friendly towards him. Perhaps it was over enthusiastic admiration?

At any rate, Hoshi Amami seemed to have an exaggerated opinion of him, and with his appearance looking like that of a trap, strange looks would always fly in their direction whenever they stood together.

Not only that, Hoshi Amami just happened to be a third-year student at Genhana Middle School.

'Haha, no matter what, he wouldn't come looking for me in the high school section, would he?' Seiji joked to himself.

But he couldn't bring himself to laugh at his own joke.

Darn it, it felt like this had a real possibility of happening!

Even if Hoshi Amami didn't have a favorability rating that he could view with his system, Seiji definitely noticed that Hoshi clearly saw him as far more than just normal friends… not only Seiji, everyone had noticed it, since Hoshi's actions were so obvious!

Seiji felt a sense of pressure as he imagined his school life with Hoshi stuck to his side at all times like he was in the store.

'Give me a break…'

Even though he had an ominous premonition, Seiji never expected that today would truly be filled with bothersome things for him…

The first event was at the shoe locker.

Seiji went together with Mika to school as usual, but when he opened his shoe locker, he discovered several letters inside.

Pink, pale blue, light purple… various letters of cute colors were inside, and all of them had heart marks on them.

'These… could these be…'

The legendary confession letters in a shoe locker!?

"Good morning, Mika, Seigo… Oh my?" Chiaki greeted her friends cheerily as she arrived at school until she discovered what Seiji was holding.

"Heh heh, as expected… I was wondering when they would appear. It was this Monday after all…"

Chiaki didn't look surprised at all as she patted Seiji on the shoulder.

"Having so many in just your second week after transferring… Congratulations~"

"What… oh, love letters." Mika pouted but didn't seem surprised at all, "Seigo received them as expected… hmph."

Wait a moment—why were those two so calm aobut it!?

'This was a love letter in a shoe locker event! And more than one, to boot!' Seiji felt a strong urge to say that, but after some consideration he realized that it had to do with his physical appearance and the things that had occurred after he transferred in.

He was a popular handsome guy!

His former way of thinking from his life as an otaku before was too deeply ingrained in him, so even though he realized that he was very handsome, he had never considered the consequences before.

That was why it was such a huge shock for him to receive love letters in his shoe locker like a popular main character of a manga would!

At this school, he was no longer an otaku with zero presence; he was someone with beauties by his side at all time, someone who was brightly sparkling, someone considered as high-tier!

Seiji confirmed all this through Mika's and Chiaki's unsurprised reactions to him receiving love letters. It seemed like a natural occurrence to them.

He was able to calm down as well.

"I… I've never received anything like this before." He looked at the letters in his hand while smiling wryly, "I was… only a fat otaku before…"

"Oh, that's right—you were that type before." Chiaki looked like she had just remembered.

Mika was also had a complex expression.

"So, what you're saying is that you're so surprised at this event that you feel confused on what to do or how to handle it, right?"

"Absolutely correct! Please give me some advice, Chiaki Wakaba-sama! I'm sure that you've received love letters as well before…"

"Of course, I'm not being narcissistic, but I really do have tons of experience in this field. By the way, Mika has experience as well, just a little less than me…" Chiaki grinned mischievously.

"A lot less, okay! I'm not like Chiaki… or Seigo." Mika twisted her head in the other direction.

Okay then, Chiaki and him were now the popular type that attracted the envy of others!

After coming to the realization that he was now the type of person that he envied in his past life and that he was now similar to a main character from the manga known as Boys Over Flowers, Seiji had an indescribable feeling in his chest.

Actually, he had realized it long ago, but such a classic event like love letters appearing in his shoe locker gave him a huge shock to the point where his realization was reconfirmed.

"Just take the love letters with you; I'll teach you how to deal with them~" Chiaki smiled.

Shoe locker love letters had approximately three main types.

One was purely to express admiration—this type was the easiest to deal with as all he had to do was acknowledge reading it.

The second type expressed that a girl fancied him and requested his contact information. The girl would usually include her own phone number or email address in this type of letter. If he was interested, then it was fine to approach and befriend her. If not, it was acceptable if he politely refused by responding to her contact information.

The final type directly gave a time and place for a confession. This kind was also known as a confession love letter, and it was both the rarest as well as the most difficult to deal with.

If there was only one confession, then it was simple; he just had to go the meeting place and either say yes or politely refuse her. However, if there were two or more, and if there was a time or place overlap, then it would get awkward.

If it was at the same time but different place, it could still be barely resolved by moving quickly.

If it was at the same place but different time, then it would mean time was of the essence; he would need to try his utmost to prevent the two girls from meeting each other.

As for the same place, same time… Unfortunately, there was no other way; he had no option but to bravely face the confessors! After all, the most awkward position wasn't his; it was the two girls that met each other accidentally.

"And that concludes Chiaki Wakaba's lecture! Thanks for listening~"

Chiaki pretended to push on nonexistent spectacles as she acted the part of a teacher.

Seiji thought to himself that he had learned the knowledge of the elites… He forced himself to stop thinking that as he recorded everything.

So even the most popular kids in school had their own difficulties!

In mangas, the handsome male leads were often the love rival to the main character, and their school lives weren't described in much detail, and beautiful female leads were only shown interacting with the male lead. There was very little content about their actual lives as well.

Shoujo mangas would have a little more content about the handsome boys, but very few otakus read shoujo mangas! Even if they did, it usually wasn't that popular! And if shoujo mangas worked on the same logic as shounen mangas, then there probably wasn't much detail about the main characters' lives other than their interactions.

Besides, the stories in mangas were typically filled with out-of-the-ordinary events, Seiji doubted the usefulness of referencing them anyway.

That was why Chiaki Wakaba's lecture was quite important to Seiji.

He felt like he owed her a favor in a strange way…

'I'll treat her to a meal sometime,' Seiji thought.

But he didn't know that this was only the beginning…

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Chapter 35: Destroyer of clubs!

Translator: imperfectluck Editor: - -

Since Chiaki told him that it wasn't necessary to rush with his replies to the love letters, Seiji temporarily put them in his backpack and decided to look at them during the lunch break.

During class.

While under the effects of his system's [study] option, Seiji felt like there was a strong gaze upon him, and when he instinctively looked, he noticed… a purple-haired boy.

It was Takashi Kobayashi.

He and Kahei Watari were attending school like normal, with bandages on their bodies. It didn't seem like they were seriously injured. The classmates didn't pay their bruised conditions much attention either. As delinquents, it was only normal that they occasionally got injured.

When Takashi noticed Seiji looking back at him, he turned around and averted his gaze.

Seiji felt a bit confused. Kobayashi was one of the classmates he saved with his [do a heroic deed] action last Friday night. Even though that incident became a little out-of-the-ordinary, objectively speaking, he had saved two classmates and accomplished a good deed.

He was wearing a mask at the time… and no police or black-suited men came looking for him over the weekend.

When he searched the incident on the internet, he found videos taken by some bystanders using their cell phones, but due to the video footage being too exaggerated and the final result so outlandish, most comments doubted the veracity of the video, and there were relatively little views.

There were even less people blogging about it, so it didn't cause even a ripple.

Nothing special happened; a masked hero didn't become popular overnight after just one act of justice.

Seiji thought that the incident had been fully concluded.

But now, Takashi Kobayashi was silently watching him.

Had he… been exposed!?

Seiji felt quite tense. Did Kobayashi recognize him? Was it only Kobayashi's intuition or imagination? Or was it a coincidence and Kobayashi wasn't even thinking anything, and he just happened be looking in Seiji's direction?

Even if he had been recognized… it should be fine, right? He was the one who saved him, so it shouldn't be too much to ask them to protect his secret… right?

'I'll observe the situation before making a decision afterwards.'

Seiji decided to stop thinking about it since he didn't know Takashi Kobayashi's true motives.

After class.

Takashi Kobayashi didn't approach Seiji to speak with him. Seiji glanced to see what he was doing, and found that he was chatting with Kahei Watari just like usual. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

Seiji stopped observing them and was about to get up to go to the bathroom.

Just as he walked out of his classroom, a tall and sturdy boy walked up to him.

Seiji wasn't exactly short, but this… senpai? This boy was taller than Seiji by at least half a head, and he had a ferocious appearance like that of a bear.

Seiji looked at the tall boy in confusion, but Seiji wasn't the type to meddle in others' affairs, so he was about to walk around the tall boy.

However, he was intercepted.

"You're… the legendary transfer student, Seigo Harano, right?" The stocky senpai asked.

Legendary… when did he become legendary!? Seiji was quite astonished.

"I'm the captain of the soccer club, Daiki Takagi." Before giving Seiji a chance to respond, the tall and sturdy senpai continued: "After hearing about your exploits at the tennis and basketball clubs, I'm certain that you're the person that the soccer club's been looking for!"

"…What?" Seiji blinked in confusion.

Slam!* Takagi-senpai abruptly placed his large hands on his junior's shoulders.

"I request that you join our soccer club! We're not an incompetent club like the tennis and basketball clubs—we're all hot-blooded, passionate boys! Come, aim for nationals together with us and spend your hot-blooded youth here!"

His voice was loud and full of spirit.

Everyone in the class and hallway could hear him clearly.

"That's Takagi-senpai from the soccer club… He's here to convince Harano-kun."

"As expected, since Harano-san's so strong at sports… I heard he singlehandedly defeated two clubs by himself!"

"I heard that as well—was it true? The tennis and basketball clubs were…"

"That's right, it definitely happened. The tennis club has collapsed on itself, and the morale of the basketball club is rock-bottom!"

"Wow, that sounds like something only Harano-kun could pull off~"

"He's a destroyer of clubs…"

People were gossiping secretly with each other.

'Just how did such rumors begin!?' Seiji was secretly astounded.

He had already anticipated that he might become infamous for the tennis and basketball club incidents, but… destroyer of clubs? What was with this immature nickname!?

It seemed that he had imperceptibly become a legendary creature himself…

Takagi-senpai was still staring at Seiji with shining hope in his eyes.

Seiji slowly opened his mouth and was about to say something when another voice interrupted.

"Let him go, Takagi, the legendary transfer student should belong to our volleyball club!"

A tall and slender senpai in a sports uniform with a bright and handsome face and wearing a ponytail suddenly appeared.

"Your soccer club already has quite a strong team; it's not like you need a new student, right? Do you intend to make one of the senior students mad by adding a first-year newcomer to the varsity team, or do you intend for a talent like Harano here to be a benchwarmer?"

The ponytailed senpai chuckled coldly as his words hit the mark.

"Our volleyball club is different—we still lack a consistent, reliable ace! Harano-san can definitely join our club and compete with the other candidates. As long as he proves that he has sufficient talent, there's no problem with him joining the main team! Everything in our club is decided based on talent! Harano-san, I'm the volleyball club captain, Shouta Eguchi. I sincerely request that you to join our volleyball club!" Eguchi-senpai exclaimed as he showed off his glistening teeth in a brilliant smile.

Seiji was rendered speechless at this.

"Heh, it seems that I was a bit late to the party, but that's not important. I believe that the legendary transfer student will make the correct decision."

Another senpai appeared; this one was short but well-built, and he had a spiky hairstyle.

"For a talent like Harano-san who has such incredible stamina, the track and field club is obviously the best place for him to utilize his ability! Unlike team sports such as volleyball or soccer, track and field has both individual and team categories. Such a sport is definitely the most suitable for such an outstanding talent like Harano-san to show off his true ability! He can help raise the level of the entire team as well as joining individual competitions without worrying about any of his teammates being too much of a burden on him! That's why you should come to our track and field club, Harano-san. In fact, as the track club captain, I, Kogorou Fujimoto, will promise that you'll shine spectacularly in track and field!" The stocky Fujimoto-senpai spoke with great spirit.

Seiji didn't know what expression he was showing anymore.

"The volleyball, soccer, and track club captains are all here… They're all the captains of major clubs!"

"Is this the true ability of Harano-san? Destroyer of clubs…"

"Harano-san is too amazing—this is the first time I've ever seen anything like this~"

"Which club will he choose?"

The spectators continued to gossip between themselves.

"Harano-san! Please join our club!" Three voices rung out simultaneously.

Each of the senpais had such a fierce atmosphere about them that it felt stifling and difficult to breathe.

'Somebody save me!!!' Seiji shouted mentally.

…

It took much effort, but Seiji finally managed to clarify that he wasn't interested in joining any club for the time being, and convinced the three captains to leave him alone.

However, other clubs kept coming for him.

Baseball, swimming, football, bicycling, weightlifting, wrestling, gymnastics, mountain climbing, handball, ping pong, badminton… Just about every sports club he could imagine came to invite him!

Most of the club captains personally invited him, while the others were all vice-captains or managers. Even some strange clubs such as the fitness club, idol club, public affairs club, and butler club sought him out.

'So this school had that many clubs…' Seiji thought as he collapsed listlessly onto a table.

"Hahaha, you're so popular, Seigo! You've become the target of every single sports club~" Chiaki couldn't stop laughing. "But of course, your stamina is like that of a monster's, and your reactions are incredible as well. You crushed your opponents in the tennis and basketball clubs with purely your physical ability, even if your technique wasn't up to par. As long as you master the techniques of any sport, you'll probably become the ace of that club, or maybe even an ace among aces! As long as you're not held back by your teammates, it should be quite simple to obtain some awards~"

Mika next to her silently nodded; it seemed that she agreed with Chiaki's conclusion.

"But I truly don't want to join a club right now…" Seiji moaned from his position on the table.

As an otaku, his true nature wasn't one where he liked sports—all the exercise he previously did was purely in order to raise his stats; going to the tennis club was only to test his newfound strength, and basketball was for the purpose of grinding points.

Joining a club without actually enjoying the relevant sport… That would make himself feel shackled, and it also felt disrespectful to the members that truly loved that sport.

How about… not going to any sports clubs to test himself in the future? But he still wanted to grind some points on occasion, especially this week… What should he do?

Time passed by as Seiji battled with his frustrations, and it was now lunch break.

Another wave of events were about to come for Seiji.

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Chapter 36: Gifts

Translator: imperfectluck Editor: - -

When the lunch break started, Seiji immediately began reading through the love letters.

Seiji sat together with Mika and Chiaki in their usual spot in the courtyard before he took out the love letters and began to open them.

'Wow!' Even though he had mentally prepared himself, when Seiji saw the dainty writing of female high school students confessing their feelings for him, Seiji's face instantly flushed red as if he had been lovestruck.

The original Seiji definitely didn't have any similar memories, nor did he have such an experience in his past life!

All of this was far too out of the ordinary for an otaku!

After reading just the first letter, he could feel his entire face steaming up. If this had been a manga, he was certain that his face would have been releasing smoke.

So embarrassing…

By the way, was the person they were talking about in the letters really him!?

Even though Seiji knew that he was a handsome boy now, he still felt that the person the letters were describing sounded far more exaggerated… It sounded like his appearance had undergone photoshopping!

Was this the phenomenon where people would see their potential lovers as absolutely perfect?

That didn't seem right… those girls probably just had an overly positive impression of him due to their fantasies.

That's right—teenage girls were still quite shallow; they only saw his physical appearance and thought he was quite handsome, so they imagined him as perfect in every aspect and fell in love with their fantasy version of him.

Actually, the real him wasn't that handsome at all, and apart from his current appearance, his past life's experience told him that he wasn't all that popular with girls.

Reminiscing about the past caused him to feel slightly depressed, but he also felt secretly relieved.

If these girls that had written these letters actually went out with him and saw the true him, they'd surely be disappointed.

Plus, he was inept at dealing with romantic situations… Naturally, the obvious thing to do was to reject these letters politely. There was no need to be friends, and as long as they didn't get close to him, he could protect the fantasy version of him in their minds.

"Seigo, how're you feeling?" Chiaki smiled, "Are you going to continue reading the letters? Do you need us to get out of your way?" She asked concernedly.

"Of course I'm going to continue… You guys don't need to leave—feel free to eat here. Don't mind me," Seiji smiled naturally.

Chiaki squinted slightly at Seiji's expression, but she remained silent as she began eating her own lunch.

Mika was feeling slightly depressed at seeing the boy she liked read love letters from other girls right in front of her.

But, if she left, she knew she would feel even worse, so she also stayed, eating silently while observing Seiji's expression intently.

Seiji continued reading through the letters, and his reading speed gradually increased.

After ten minutes, he had finished all five letters.

Ding!* His system made a sound and a notification appeared in front of him—

[After receiving five love letters, the [gifts] option is now available. Every time you receive an object from a girl that indicates their love, you can receive reward points or items, as well as exchange points for information on the gifts that a girl prefers.]

'A new option!' Seiji instantly widened his eyes in excitement, but he forced himself to to keep his composure.

He didn't expect that another new option would become available so soon… He decided to check it out in detail when he was alone.

According to the notification he had just received, the [gifts] option seemed to be two-way. If he received any type of gift… or objects like love letters, he would be rewarded by his system in the form of points or items.

Not only that, he could also exchange his points for information on the favorite gifts of whoever he wanted to send something to!

The first part was a nice bonus, being another method of obtaining points and items apart from his [actions]. The second part was basically a boon for him, as it allowed him to give a suitable gift to people he was unsure about!

He wasn't 100% certain as he didn't have a chance to verify it yet, but that should be the case.

Seiji thought deeply about his newly unlocked option as he folded the love letters carefully.

"You're finished reading? How were they?"

"Three of them were the first type, and two were the second type."

"There weren't any direct confessions; how boring!"

"Stop joking around—it's a good thing there weren't any." Seiji smiled wryly at Chiaki: "I… I'm really not used to this sort of thing."

"You'll get used to it." Chiaki chuckled, "I… unlike Mika, I don't know anything about what you were like before, but I can assure you that the current you is quite excellent! So have some confidence in yourself and accept your current self! Stop immersing yourself in your dark past!" The tomboy reached out and used her index finger to poke Seiji's forehead.

Seiji eyes widened slightly.

"Are you… encouraging me?"

"What do you think, silly?" Chiaki still had a casual expression.

Mika, who was watching them, felt there was a strange atmosphere about them.

"I… I think the current Seiji is awesome as well!" She hurriedly chimed in.

Seiji looked at her and smiled gently.

"Thank you guys."

'Wow… I made them worry about me.'

"Then… what are you going to do? How are you going to deal with those two girls that gave you their contact information?"

"I… I'll reject them politely." Seiji smiled wryly, "I don't have the heart to think about getting a girlfriend currently."

Chiaki nodded sagely.

She was just about to say something else, when footsteps approached in tandem with a soft voice.

"Harano-senpai!"

Seiji's hand jerked violently.

It couldn't be… he turned around and looked. Unfortunately, it was exactly who he thought it was: a beautiful middle school boy.

Hoshi Amami had ran all the way to the high school section, so his face was red from exertion, and his eyes were sparkling from the anticipation of meeting his idol. He carried a lunchbox in one hand, and his other hand clenched his chest as he panted lightly.

Such a pose was way too cute!

Mika was stunned at the sight.

Even Chiaki was rendered speechless.

There was no helping it—the petite "girl" that stood before them had a flushed face. This, combined with her delicate panting and the light sheen of sweat that coated her face, caused her to emit an alluring charm that was sufficient for even beautiful girls like them to feel appreciative—this "girl" had an almost unearthly aura of beauty surrounding her.

'Well, in all honesty, this man-trap is just too attractive!!!' Seiji felt like covering his face in embarrassment.

"Amami, what are you doing here?" He asked helplessly.

"I… I want to eat lunch together with Senpai… I want to talk more with Senpai!" Hoshi's eyes continued to glitter as he walked over; he even failed to notice the two beauties standing beside Seiji.

He finally discovered that there were actually other people with Seiji when he neared Seiji's position.

"Ah… sorry, Senpai, am I bothering you?"

"Yes, you're bothering me!" Seiji retorted bluntly. However, as soon as he said this, he instantly felt remorseful as Hoshi's expression fell pitifully. He sighed deeply and continued: "But… since you've come all the way here, you might as well sit down."

"Thank you, Senpai!" Hoshi instantly cheered up again.

Chiaki and Mika glanced at each other with blank expressions.

"Let me introduce you…" Seiji sighed, "This is one of my junior coworkers, Hoshi Amami, a third-year middle school student… and a boy."

"Hello, Senpais!" Hoshi greeted them politely.

"Hello…" Chiaki and Mika replied dazedly.

Boy…!?

Did Seiji make a mistake? Or was there a mistake with this world!? Both of them were currently filled with complex feelings.

"This is Mika Uehara. The other one is Chiaki Wakaba; they're both my good friends from class."

"Oh? I thought that they were both Senpai's girlfriends," Hoshi said innocently.

"I said before that I didn't have a girlfriend!" Seiji exclaimed forcefully.

"Oh right, hehe~" Hoshi stuck out his tongue cutely.

"What's with that hehe!? And stop doing such cute actions! Didn't you decide to become manlier!?"

"Senpai's observations are just as sharp as yesterday…" Hoshi had a delighted expression as he closed his eyes.

Seiji felt all his strength leaving him.

'That's why I didn't want to meet this person at school, damn it!!!'

Nothing he said was of any use, but if he was too strict, he would hurt Hoshi's feelings, and Hoshi held no bad intentions whatsoever or any strange romantic inclinations; he simply idolized him.

How was he supposed to deal with such a person!?

Seiji felt a sudden urge to go on the internet and ask a question—just how was he supposed to manage a trap who overly idolized him!!??

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Chapter 37: I'm Harano, what do you want?

Translator: imperfectluck Editor: - -

"He's… really a boy?" Chiaki had hollow eyes as she stared at Hoshi: "I feel like… I've lost…"

Don't admit defeat so readily, Prince Wakaba!

"I think… he's more feminine than most girls…" Mika muttered to herself.

Don't let your worldview become warped, Mika!

Hoshi Amami's appearance was quite a blow to both girls.

That was evidence of just how striking Hoshi's appearance was as a trap.

'Okay, calm down.' Seiji forced himself to cool off.

He didn't want to meet this person at school since he didn't want to attract strange gazes from everyone, but… evidently that wouldn't be possible anymore, so he could only accept it.

Or should he harden his heart and chase him away?

No. That wasn't an option because Seiji wasn't a bastard who would harm his friends' feelings just because of strangers' opinions.

Yes, even though he was rather annoying, Hoshi Amami was still his friend, not to mention an otaku friend that was so difficult to come by.

"You could have just called or texted me if you wanted to talk," Seiji said as he opened his own lunchbox.

"Although that works as well, I wanted to see Senpai in person… I kept imagining what it would be like to eat together with Senpai at school." Hoshi took out his lunchbox as well.

"Why… does it feel like I'm still at the confectionery store?" Seiji sighed, "Also, I said it before as well, right? You need to be more aware of your own actions and appearance. Stop saying things that are easy for others to misunderstand, otherwise you'll become food for otakus like ourselves. For instance, in the store, being stared at by everyone makes you uncomfortable as well, right?"

"Mm… even though it's a slightly odd feeling, but if it's Senpai…" Hoshi looked at Seiji, "I think… I can accept it… I wouldn't mind."

"Please, don't just accept it! Pay more attention to yourself, bastard!!" Seiji commented forcefully again.

"Okay~" Hoshi giggled. It was evident that he was enjoying this conversation.

'Harano-senpai… he's so amazing, he always speaks his mind, and says what he believes is right… Even though he obviously dislikes being stared at by girls fantasizing about BL, he cares more about his friendship with me! He's… such an awesome friend and senpai!'

If Seiji had the ability to see Hoshi's favorability rating towards him, he would have discovered that this conversation was causing Hoshi's feelings towards him to skyrocket… and he definitely would have seriously considered chasing this guy away.

But unfortunately for him, Hoshi Amami was a "cute boy", not a "beautiful girl," so the system didn't give him any notifications!

Chiaki and Mika were affected by Seiji's calm acceptance of the situation and returned to their senses as well.

However, the sight of Seiji chatting away with an impossibly beautiful boy was exceedingly difficult for them to swallow…

"Chiaki… could it be that… Seigo likes that type?" Mika's imagination was running wild, and her face turned ashen white.

"No… take a closer look—they don't have that type of relationship. But… I gotta say that this sight is… rather ambiguous and easy to misunderstand. It's probably a delicious banquet for some girls as well." Chiaki sighed deeply.

"If you want to change the impression you leave on others, you can ask your Wakaba-senpai here—she's the ace of the drama club…"

Seiji's clever sentence brought Chiaki into their conversation, and he subsequently manoevered Mika into joining their discussion.

With Seiji leading the conversation, Hoshi began familiarizing himself with Chiaki and Mika.

However, the short-lived calmness was soon to be disturbed.

"We found him, Rion."

"We got him, Kotomi."

Footsteps approached together accompanied by the melodious voices of two unfamiliar people.

The four of them glanced at the approaching figures and widened their eyes in surprise upon doing so.

"Rion and Kotomi!?" Hoshi Amami was shocked, and his face paled visibly in fright: "Why… why are you two here!?"

"Kotomi, our little bro's expression is so amusing!"

"Yep, Rion, he looks just like a puppy that was caught stealing food!"

The identical twin sisters giggled in unison. The only difference between the two seductresses was the way in which they wore their side ponytails. Every other feature was completely identical; they both had thin eyebrows, cyan-colored eyes, and soft red lips. They were both tall and slender with bodacious chests. Either one of them by herself would be a top-class beauty, and if they appeared together, they would inevitably attract everyone's attention with their devilish figures and stunning looks!

"Twins? They're both so pretty…" Mika's eyes became unfocused once more.

"Could they be… the 'twin witches'? The legendary second-years…" Chiaki muttered to herself.

'Hey hey, didn't that sound like an immature teenager's nickname?' Seiji tilted his head in curiousity.

They were indeed twin beauties, just as Hoshi had told him.

Nevertheless… their smiles were somewhat disconcerting, as per Hoshi's words.

"Twin witches?" He glanced questioningly at Chiaki.

"They're the legendary twin sisters from high school second-year. It's said that they're endowed with both beauty and intelligence, and they've toyed with the feelings of countless boys… It's just a rumor, though; I don't know for certain," Chiaki whispered to him.

"Have you met them before?"

"No, I've only heard about them."

"What do you think after meeting them?"

"I think I understand why they have such an infamous nickname and the various rumors surrounding them."

Those twins were quite pretty, but there was definitely something unsettling about the duo.

Chiaki and Seiji silently agreed on this point.

Only the relatively innocent Mika remained oblivious.

"Why are you guys here!?" Hoshi questioned his sisters warily.

"Our amusing brother asks such amusing questions as well," Rion started.

"This is the high school section, and we're second-year high schoolers," Kotomi continued.

"We can go wherever we like in the high school section." Rion stated.

"But as for our cute brother…" Kotomi began.

"Why would you be here?" They finished together.

The two of them finished each other's sentences, and the last sentence was completely synchronized. Their voices overlapped perfectly with each other; even the small action of putting their index fingers over their lips was exactly the same.

There was an unusual beauty about their synchronistic actions.

"Oh…" Hoshi Amami furrowed his eyebrows and was about to retreat out of habit, but he thought about how the person that had been encouraging him was standing beside him, and a burst of courage welled up inside him.

"I'm just here… to find a friend!" He stood up straight and exclaimed, "Sisters, if you would like to talk to me, my apologies—I'm busy right now… If you're just taking a walk, then feel free to continue!"

His tone of voice sounded normal and was filled with spirit; there was not a trace of fear to be found.

However, for the twins, this was a truly unusual occurrence.

Their little puppy with such a weak, cowardly, and soft personality—the puppy that had always been under their control—dared to have such an attitude towards them!

Strange—it was too out of the norm.

Interesting—this was truly fascinating.

Even though Rion and Kotomi Amami felt like their little puppy was barking at them, they were still enjoying the experience.

That was because they had met someone worthy of their interest: the student who had caused this unusual phenomenon.

"Chiaki Wakaba, the first-year ace of the drama club."

"Mika Uehara, the first-year ace of the tennis club, although you recently quit."

They walked past their puppy, looking at the people behind him as they giggled and called out the names of two of those behind him.

"We're not here for you."

"We're here for… the legendary transfer student; the destroyer of clubs who single-handedly trashed the entire tennis and basketball clubs, Seigo Harano."

They synchronized their words perfectly once more as they spoke in an amused tone.

Seiji frowned slightly.

Their voices were quite pleasing to the ears, but for some reason that he couldn't quite discern, he felt a sense of enmity towards these twins!

It definitely wasn't because the content of their words sounded so immature.

It was something about their essence… There was something dark hiding within these twin sisters—that was the source which invoked his hostility.

"You're here to find me? Even though I don't know why, could you please not refer to me using such a stupid method?"

He stepped out in front of Hoshi.

"I've heard Amami telling me about you two before… His beautiful sisters that have mental issues. What business do you two witches have with me?"

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Chapter 38: The hero and the witches

Translator: imperfectluck Editor: - -

A heavy atmosphere permeated the air.

A showdown between the twin witches and the destroyer of clubs was about to begin… Even though a 'showdown' sounded rather immature, everyone here could detect that they were clashing with each other through their imposing manners.

That was right—imposing manners.

Of course, the twins' beauty and intelligence was already well renowned, which naturally led to them becoming arrogant and haughty. This caused them to unconsciously emit an aura of disdain.

Nevertheless, as for Seiji… the three people chatting happily with him moments ago were all astonished; as he stood in front of Hoshi, his imposing manner seemed no weaker than the twins' at all!

Mika inadvertently reminisced about the time when he courageously stood in front of her, protecting her from that scumbag blondie.

Chiaki recalled back to when he caught the book thrown at her when she took him to visit the drama club.

Hoshi remembered the charismatic figure that coaxed the crying child during the store's busiest period.

They all instantly understood one thing.

Seiji Haruta… or Seigo Harano was this type of person.

Normally, with his friends, he would chat naturally, so nobody would feel anything. In actuality, his true essence was actually that of a… hero!

He wasn't a hero from a movie that performed glorious deeds. He was an ordinary one who would help the struggling people around him and even stand up for and defend those in danger… a brave and resolute person.

It wasn't possible for such a person to have a non-imposing manner!

His usual casualness was merely an illusion!

The hero within him was always present, but it only appeared when it was needed.

That was what the three of them were secretly thinking.

The twin sisters squinted at Seiji.

"Hey, Kotomi, it seems like he'll be difficult to deal with."

"Yep, Rion, he seems different from all those good-for-nothings we met before."

The boys their age that they had previously met were always affected by their beauty in some way—either obviously or beneath the surface. Some pretended to be calm, while others were gentlemanly; some were arrogant and haughty, while others were hypocrites…

Even though the boys' appearances and behaviors would be different, none of them were different in their disgusting essence.

Lust, the naked desire to have sex—that was what boys… what all boys lived for!

The twins firmly believed this because they'd observed it countless times.

Even their father and younger brother were no exception to this rule. But as they were family, their target wasn't the twins.

Men were all the same… disgusting perverts.

That was why they were always able to deduce their true motives.

But… it seemed that they'd encountered… a rare one?

"Kotomi, is this our first time? Seeing someone so strange?"

"Rion, I think so. This junior of ours is really strange."

From the very start, they used their deductive abilities to the utmost.

However, they failed to find any weaknesses whatsoever!

Although Seigo Harano seemed like he appreciated their beauty, he wasn't moved by it, and his eyes seemed quite straightforward and revealed no signs of lust at all. It was as if he was looking at a collection of store mannequins rather than living, beautiful girls.

Apart from that, his hair didn't appear like he put any effort into it, nor did he seem to use any makeup or skin care products.

His collar was quite clean; he didn't wear a watch or any other accessories, and his clothes were unruffled; he didn't have the slightest trace of being intimate with anyone.

His pants weren't especially tattered, his fingernails were clean with nothing underneath, and his shoes were completely ordinary as well.

No smell of smoke, gum, cologne, or girls…

There was nothing at all!

They couldn't find any hidden signs that could help them shake him.

"Have you finished looking at me?"

A light voice interrupted their observation and thoughts.

"You were just observing me closely, right? Do you believe that your deductive abilities are on par with a famous detective's?" Seiji asked calmly. "My apologies, unlike a character in a novel, I'm just an ordinary person that has nothing special for you to deduce. At least… everything about me is normal, so I'm extremely sorry that I haven't been able to provide any interesting fodder to test me with. Oh, if there is any, though, I'm an otaku; not to mention I used to be a complete scumbag just a while before. Maybe that will get your attention, but that's nothing special either, since I'm not trying to hide it. Did you find any weaknesses of mine? If so, let's hear it, or else if you keep standing there stupidly, you'll turn into a pair of idiots."

His tone of voice remained light and calm throughout.

To the twin sisters, it sounded like the most arrogant challenge they'd ever received.

He was basically saying that he was looking down upon them.

This was a clear insult to them.

However, they simply weren't able to detect any weaknesses.

How was this possible?

Perverted, disgusting boys would all have their hidden secrets, and these secrets would become their critical weaknesses.

However, they couldn't discern a single weakness in him at all!?

They felt a hint of anxiety at being unable to rid themselves of this insult.

But they managed to remain calm.

Even if they temporarily couldn't find anything, all was not lost.

Long ago, when they first began observing boys, it was common if they weren't able to instantly spot every boy's weakness. This was just a repeat of that type of situation.

The boy in front of them definitely didn't have zero weaknesses; he just hid them much better than others.

"Oh my, Kotomi, I'm rather heartbroken."

"I know, Rion, I feel so bad."

The two of them laughed lightly as they clasped each other's hands.

"We didn't even do anything; we just wanted to meet the person that our younger brother admired."

"Yep, yep, our little bro that we took such good care of for more than ten years went to work for just one day."

"And then he became someone that yelled and shouted at his older sisters."

They giggled softly.

"So, that's why Kotomi really wants to know…"

"Indeed, Rion would love to comprehend…"

"Just what kind of weird person would make our brother so strange!?" The duo exclaimed together.

"Sisters…" Hoshi Amami's face flushed deep red, and he prepared to say something charged with emotion, but Seiji raised his hand and stopped him.

"As you can see, I'm just a normal person," Seiji said calmly as he stared at the twins with a strong light radiating from his eyes, "instead of meeting me, you should reflect on yourselves. Why did your younger brother that you've 'spoiled' for so many years feel closer to me, someone he met at work and hasn't even known for three days, compared to the two of you?"

"Oh my, Kotomi, did we do something wrong?"

"Oh my, Rion, we didn't do anything wrong."

The beautiful duo both wore confused expressions and blinked together cutely.

"We always gave our brother beautiful clothes to wear~"

"They're just about always girls' clothes and some really strange clothes! None of it is anything I want to wear, and… you guys never give me anything that I want to wear!"

"We always cooked delicious food for our brother~"

"You always put strange ingredients into the food and love to watch my reaction and laugh at me!" Hoshi continued denying his sisters' statements.

"We always took our brother to fun places~"

"Even if you did, you always played tricks on me! Leaving me behind on purpose, taking me to scary places, forcing me to go on rides I was too afraid to go on, or making me participate in abnormal programs…" Hoshi trailed off as he continued to list his sisters' deeds against him.

"We've always been thinking about what's best for our brother!"

The twin sisters blatantly ignored all of Hoshi's replies and cackled together in unison.

"Sometimes, I wish that you wouldn't care so much about me…" Hoshi sighed helplessly.

The giggling twin sisters and the dejected younger brother made for an almost comical sight.

Were they acting in a comedy sketch?

Mika and Chiaki failed to suppress their laughter at the sight.

Mika and Chiaki seemed to believe that they had a close family relationship.

Until they suddenly noticed that Seiji, who had been looking directly at the twins all this time, wasn't smiling at all.

Rather, his expression turned grave.

Without even blinking, he stared directly at them with a sharp glint in his eyes as if he could see through them.

"You… don't feel like you've done anything wrong?" He suddenly spoke up again in a severe tone.

"Senpai?" Hoshi also noticed that Harano-senpai wasn't his usual self.

"Of course not! Kotomi hasn't done anything wrong."

"Obviously not! Rion wouldn't make any mistakes."

The twins continued to giggle. Their eyes sparkled brightly, and their mouths faintly arced upwards alluringly.

"The one in the wrong is…"

"The one who's become so strange…"

"Our little brother!"

Their tone of voice, their body language, and even their words were cute.

Seiji widened his eyes.

He saw it.

"Sisters Rion and Kotomi…" Hoshi smiled wryly, not knowing what to say, "you guys…"

"…Are disgusting." Seiji interrupted.

"Er?"When Hoshi heard Seiji interrupt him, he looked curiously in Seiji's direction.

The result was that Hoshi saw an expression he'd never seen before.

His Harano-senpai had such a grim, dark expression.

"You two are truly disgusting."

Cold, direct, harsh, clear, and condescending.

That was the tone of voice that Seiji had towards the giggling twin sisters.

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Chapter 39: Perception

Translator: imperfectluck Editor: - -

Seiji looked at the beautiful faces of the twin sisters, and he clearly saw what was hidden beneath their external appearances.

What he saw made him feel sick.

Without a doubt, the words he just said were unmistakably condescending.

The twins' expressions stiffened.

Mika, Chiaki, and Hoshi froze solid.

The twins were shocked as they had never been insulted so directly before in their entire lives.

Seiji's friends paused because they'd never expected such harsh words to come out of his mouth.

This wasn't in accordance with the "heroic" impression they had just received!

However, that was their misunderstanding.

Seiji Haruta had never considered himself a hero, nor did he wish to be one; in both lives, his life's principles were completely unrelated with the word "hero."

Perhaps in some people's eyes, some of his actions could be deemed as heroic, but that wasn't what he intended. It was merely a coincidence that his actions were aligned with what people considered as heroic.

From start to finish, his life's principles had never changed; all he wanted was to do what he liked, nothing else!

"You two… are just so disgusting… What else do you have other than your appearance? Hypocritical words, pretentious actions, and a wicked look in your eyes… Even a stinkbug crawling around in a toilet is more attractive than the two of you. Even though you haven't learned anything yet, you brats already think you know everything. You're a perfect example of people that have grown up in ignorance. You misunderstand yourselves and your surroundings, but have never been corrected —you're just nothing but a failure of the education system. In the end, you'll amount to nothing more than rotten garbage in a sewer somewhere… Nobody will care if that's what happens, but you actually strive to harm others; even your own relative isn't spared from your madness! You two claim to have taken care of your little brother for more than ten years? What a joke! Can you truly say to yourselves—to your hearts—that you've been treating him as your younger brother!?"

Seiji's eyes were filled with icy rage, and his face displayed an expression similar to someone who had just smelled a decomposing pile of garbage.

He was certain that the twin sisters in front of him lacked certain qualities a normal human being would have.

These twin sisters were awful, ultra-selfish people that only cared about themselves!

In his previous life, he had experience with other rotten characters similar to them before.

Way too many.

He saw them far too clearly.

That was why… he felt such strong disgust.

"I can already tell! Your attitudes, the looks in your eyes; you treat your own relative like a dog… No, it's worse than that—you see him only as a toy, don't you!? If you feel like it, you can tease him or play with him, and when you're bored, or think that he's worthless, you'll just kick him aside! Do you dare to say that's not the case!?"

Seiji's imposing manner… No, it had surpassed an imposing manner already; it was more like an overwhelming momentum that felt almost physical, like a frozen ice cube.

It was like a raging humongous beast that was slowly opening its maw as it glared with eyes that could clearly perceive the twin sisters' true nature.

"I want to vomit just at the sight of people like you!!!"

Time seemed as if it had stopped.

Everything was dead silent.

Rion and Kotomi Amami were completely frozen solid.

That condescending gaze felt like it was piercing right through them, as if they were naked in front of it, and its unconcealed rage and contempt buried them like a collapsing mountain!

Ever since they were born, they had never experienced anything like this.

Of course, they had faced angry, violent, flustered, or frustrated people and so on before, but… this time was different.

Seigo Harano's eyes showed no sign of him having lost control of his emotions, which meant that he was in full control of himself as he logically attacked and vivisected them emotionally.

This was completely out of the ordinary. However, what was even more unusual was the fact that the amount of emotions that had welled up within him seemed endlessly massive.

Massive to the extent where it seemed like it would materialize!

It was difficult for them to resist.

This was scary, way too frightening.

This was dreadful, way too horrifying.

Rion and Kotomi Amami realized that they were facing an incomprehensible existence!

They weren't able to see through him.

Not only that, he saw through them with ease.

He wasn't even in the slightest affected by their beauty, and he saw directly through them and spat on them.

How could there… be such a boy!?

'So, I finally said it out loud,' Seiji thought wryly.

The moment he discovered that they were the type of people he loathed the most, an endless amount of memories from his past life flashed in front of him, causing the darkness in his heart to swell up. This prompted him to voice the words that were so harsh and insulting.

This incident would probably scare everyone else.

However, he didn't regret it at all.

Since everything he previously said was exactly what he wanted to say.

Even if… they might not understand.

Mika, Chiaki, Hoshi… Their mouths were all wide agape, and it was clear that they hadn't regained their senses yet.

Mika and the others never expected that… Seiji could be so brutal.

Both in words and attitude.

Even though it wasn't directed at them, just being bystanders was enough to feel that frightening wave of icy rage.

Mika and the others felt like he had become a bit of a stranger.

Nonetheless, even if that was the case, when they noticed Seiji silently turning around, taking his lunchbox and leaving, Mika and Chiaki reflexively ended up following him.

Even Hoshi Amami glanced at his sisters and hesitated for a moment, before he left them standing there, deciding to chase after his senpai.

…

"My apologies for letting you guys see me like that."

In another section of the courtyard, Seiji sighed as he apologized.

Mika, Chiaki, and Hoshi all glanced at each other awkwardly.

"Seigo, why… why were you so angry? It felt… rather scary," Mika said weakly.

"I admit I agree with her… although I can probably guess the reason," Chiaki said as she studied the beautiful boy beside her.

Hoshi Amami wore a complex expression on his face.

"Senpai… was everything you said just now… true?"

Although Harano-senpai's condescension and cruel insults made him felt like he was an unfamiliar person, what he worried about even more at the moment was the content of what he just said.

"Sisters Rion and Kotomi, they…"

Seiji remained silent.

After some moments, he looked his junior directly in the eyes.

"Do you want me to be honest? It won't sound pretty, and it's all just my personal opinion."

Hoshi Amami felt a little intimidated, but after some hesitation, he ground his teeth and nodded.

"I'm not 100% sure, but I'm over 90% certain that your sisters are… scumbags." Seiji went with the blunt approach, "At least… mentally."

"What…"

It was obvious to see that Hoshi was deeply affected by this, and his face was filled with confusion.

Mika seemed confused as well, while Chiaki had a thoughtful expression.

"They look so beautiful, and they're excellent in everything including behavior, so it may sound a bit ridiculous, but I can tell. In fact, I'm almost certain, because…" Seiji paused.

After all, he couldn't exactly say that he'd previously seen many of this type in his past life.

"Because… they're so similar to the past me."

The original Seiji was truly such an excellent target to disparage.

"The past me had a rotten body and heart… but they're only rotten in the heart and mind… or maybe I should say twisted. Before I met them, judging from your description, I thought that maybe they were a little mischievous. I thought that although they may have some minor personality defects, they were probably still cute older sisters. But after meeting them personally, I could tell from the look in their eyes and their attitudes that it was something all too familiar to me. This was why I could conclude that the depravity in their hearts far exceeds what the others around them could imagine. They never think about anyone else, including their younger brother. They're extremely selfish and willful, and in their eyes, perhaps everything is just a replaceable toy to them… parents, little brother, friends, relatives, classmates… everyone is the same to them."

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Chapter 40: Loneliness

Translator: imperfectluck Editor: - -

Seiji had a serious attitude as he explained his viewpoint, and the content was unbelievably scary.

"It… couldn't be? How could there be people like this?" Being the most simplistic, Mika was the first to unconsciously reject Seiji's conclusion.

"My previous self was exactly like them." Seiji looked directly at her, "To the past me, all other people were items that could move, and were separated into only two categories: useful and worthless… You should know this well."

Mika instantly remembered back to that brooding, dark fat otaku from before and trembled.

After hearing all this from Seiji, she finally remembered that apart from perverted lust, there seemed to be an abnormal light in that fat otaku's eyes.

"Now I've already realized my mistakes, and everything in the world is different to me. It can finally be said that I've become a normal person." Seiji smiled towards Mika.

"But… they still haven't realized. As I used to be the same type as them, I can see their true nature, but for others… It would probably be incredibly difficult for others since they're so beautiful and outstanding, and they don't seem to get into any trouble of any sort. That's why you can just treat all this as my own personal fantasy; it's up to you if you want to believe me or not."

"Senpai…" Hoshi clenched his teeth, wanting to say something, but he stopped himself.

"You need to make your own decision, Hoshi… Amami." Seiji gazed directly at his junior while voicing Hoshi's name out loud.

"Perhaps this is a little cruel, but you need to think this out for yourself, Hoshi… You can recognize if my words—as well as more important things—are valid… These are things about your sisters that you've always been thinking about before, both consciously and unconsciously. Of course, avoiding the problem is one method of dealing with it, but those who avoid the truth will eventually end up being swallowed by it. I don't wish for you to become… a sacrifice like that."

Hoshi remained silent.

Mika also stood there wordlessly.

Chiaki appeared contemplative for a while before she seemed to have a sudden epiphany.

"I just realized… those twin senpais have never shown their true selves to anyone before, right? They're excellent at hiding their true feelings; as long as they're in front of others, they're always acting! No wonder ever since meeting them, I felt that something was off about them."

"Chiaki…" Mika looked at her friend.

"They… truly have excellent acting techniques." Chiaki laughed, but condescension appeared in her eyes, "I… can't stand such actors though."

Seiji sighed.

"Forget about it; let's stop here. If we talk any more it'll be like we're viciously gossiping about others behind their backs."

"Senpai…"

"Hoshi, you need to beware of your sisters. That's the last piece of advice I can give you… Beware of them until they realize their own mistakes, or expose their true selves…"

Hoshi Amami lowered his head, and his beautiful face showed a conflicted expression.

"I… can't accept this… Senpai, telling me all this… I have no idea what I should do…"

Seiji looked at him and smiled gently.

"Even though I hate having to use such a cliché phrase, all I can say is this: do what you want to do. You can choose to believe me, ignore me, or even stop being friends with me; it's all up to you."

A trace of pain crept into Hoshi Amami's expression.

On one side was his sisters that he had been living with for more than ten years; even if he wasn't close to them, they were still family… However, on the other side was his senpai that he had known for only a few days but idolized to the extreme… Just how was he supposed to choose?

And so, everyone finished their lunches in silence.

As they watched Hoshi Amami leave, Chiaki looked at Seiji.

"Perhaps… he won't be talking to you anymore."

Seiji smiled thinly; his thin smile contained a lonely feeling.

A few seconds later, he turned around and stopped, watching the petite figure disappear from view.

Seiji sighed. The period where he'd been idolized by a junior was so short, and it was difficult for him to make another otaku friend.

However, he chose against loading and repeating this day.

No matter how many times he experienced this day, he would still say the same things, because those were his true feelings.

There was something seriously wrong with those twins.

But… it probably didn't have anything to do with him anymore…

Seiji felt like things would end like this. Hoshi Amami would stop being friends with him, and the twins probably wouldn't appear in front of him anymore.

Unfortunately, reality often worked differently from people's expectations.

…

During afternoon classes, Seiji inspected the new [gifts] option in his system.

Just as he had anticipated, he received an award for each gift he received in real life. For example, the five love letters he previously received increased his points by 7, with three 1s and two 2s.

The love letters gave him varying amount of points, so it meant that the "quality" of the letter mattered as well—in this case the amount of love contained within each letter.

The higher the "love" of the letter, the handsomer the reward.

Also, Seiji could say a person's name and pull up a gifting list in his system. The gifting list contained information cards he could purchase. The information cards had information regarding the gifts each girl liked, and they ranked from levels 1 through to 9. The highest rank, 9, required the most points to unlock the information about the girl's gift, so he believed it was probably the most important gift information the system could provide and the gift that would be the girl's favorite.

For instance, when he said Mika Uehara's name, the system listed nine information cards that he could exchange for, from levels 1 through 9. However, when he said Chiaki Wakaba's name, the system only listed information cards up to rank 7. From this, Seiji concluded that he could only purchase information at the level equal to the target's favorability rating towards him.

Seiji wanted to try things out and exchange for a gift information card, but he couldn't waste any points to spare currently—he needed to save as many points as possible for the [Bullet Time] skill.

Trading points for gift information cards that contained the target's gifts she wanted the most… Wait a second, wasn't this akin to "mind reading?" Seiji had a sudden realization.

He didn't doubt the ability of his system; since it even had the power to save and load, mind reading wasn't anything special anymore. Besides, being able to see beautiful girls' favorability ratings towards him was already a type of mind-reading; now, however, he was able to view their favorite gifts as well.

Just how deeply could these [gifts] "mind read?"

Seiji thought about it a little, but he eventually decided not to think too deeply into it.

During a break between classes.

Mika and Chiaki went to the girls' restroom together.

"Are you still thinking about what happened during lunch break?" Chiaki asked her good friend.

Mika looked at Chiaki and nodded.

"I know that you must have received a huge shock, suddenly seeing such an unfamiliar side of the person you liked." Chiaki smiled, "That was indeed a bit scary; just being by his side I could feel his chilly emotions… I think that I would pee myself if I was the one being insulted by him like that."

Mika's expression froze solid.

"What… what are you saying!?" Hearing her friend use such a phrase, the pigtailed girl's face flushed deep red.

"I'm just saying the truth—do you have the confidence that you wouldn't pee yourself?"

"I… I don't know! Stop talking about that!" The red-faced Mika glared angrily at her friend.

It was supposed to be a serious topic, but her tomboy friend ruined the atmosphere with those titillating words of hers.

Well, that was Chiaki's goal to begin with.

"Relax, no need to be so serious. Even if I say that, it probably won't be easy for you to accept, since that scene just earlier would leave too deep of an impression," Chiaki shrugged. "But… I feel like Seigo's… Seiji Haruta's intended to prove that he was just a normal person after all. He had been too perfect before this, to the point where… I thought he was a bit fantastical. Even if he seemed a little scary earlier, I still feel like it makes him seem more like a living person."

"Chiaki…"

"Mika, people always have their faults, including the person that you like. It could even be said that taking so long to display a fault of his was incredible already," Chiaki chuckled. "Besides, if you analyze it more deeply, this fault of his… might not even be much of a fault."

"Oh?" Mika blinked.

"Carefully think about what he previously said: if those twin sisters were so similar to the previous him, then when he was so angrily insulted them, he was actually angrily insulting the worthless him from before, right?"

With a deep expression in her eyes, Chiaki glanced at her friend.

"Just like you were doing to the old him as well."

"Er…" Mika was stunned.

Chapter 41: Honesty

Translator: imperfectluck Editor: - -

"Ah…" Mika suddenly recalled her harsh treatment of the previous Seiji.

That was right indeed—why had she forgotten the way that she used to treat and insult that fat otaku?

As the memories surged back into her mind, Mika became increasingly embarrassed.

Her face was scorching hot to the touch.

The way she used to angrily shout at Seiji was similar to how Seiji had lectured the twins a few minutes ago.

So similar…

Considering how she was exactly the same way before, she was unqualified to judge Seiji…

Mika covered her burning face with her hands as tears seeped out the corners of her eyes.

"I'm the worst… I'm terrible… I…"

She absolutely had to apologize to Seiji!

…

"What?"

When Mika suddenly apologized to Seiji out of the blue, Seiji had no idea what was going on.

He had no clue how he should respond to Mika as she seemed extremely embarrassed and depressed, but he noticed that Chiaki, who was standing behind her, was trying to conceal her laughter.

"Chiaki… you must have said something weird to Mika, right!?" Seiji instantly saw through her.

"Chiaki?" Mika looked behind her and abruptly noticed that her friend was now laughing openly.

"Hahaha, sorry… I didn't think that you would think this much into it. Haha, you're so cute, Mika!"

Chiaki couldn't stop her laughter.

Mika was stunned for quite a while; even though she wasn't sure what was going on, judging from her friend's laughter, her mischievous friend must have played a prank on her again!

"Chiaki! I'm gonna get angry!"

"Sorry… but, haha, Mika, I'm guessing that you still don't know what's going on. Honestly…"

"Hmph… waah!" Mika puffed out her cheeks: "Fine… I'm just an idiot!"

She whacked her good friend lightly with her fists as she said this.

'What a party.'

Seiji calmly watched the two girls that were now playfighting with each other.

It took quite a while for them to calm down.

Chiaki gave Seiji a brief and simple explanation that easily helped him understand what happened. Her explanation almost rendered him speechless.

"I see, no wonder Mika was entrapped by you…"

He then looked over at Mika and inwardly remarked on her simple-mindedness. However, her naivety was also one of her cute points.

"Mika, you don't need to feel apologetic to me at all. After all, your anger towards my previous self was rightly justified… The old me was human scum; your anger and loathing was all due to my own faults, not because you're a bad person. Maybe there are some people out there that believe you shouldn't insult others in any situation, but I disagree; sometimes, insulting others is a method of protecting oneself… It's much like protecting yourself from an evil person that's threatening you—there's nothing wrong with self-defense. That's why you weren't mistaken at all, and you don't need to apologize." Seiji smiled gently.

"But…" Mika wanted to say something.

"Besides, during lunch break," Seiji interrupted her, "I admit that perhaps my attitude went a bit overboard, but the words I said then were what I truly wanted to say. Even if I remained completely calm throughout, I would still say the same things to those twins. For me, that was my method of expressing my distaste towards those wicked twins, and perhaps the method wasn't entirely correct, but I don't regret anything. Objectively speaking, Mika, from your standpoint it seemed like I was saying something so ridiculous to two beautiful girls that I never even met before. You thought my words were overly harsh as they haven't even done anything that merits such a severe lecture. For you to feel shaken and even doubtful is only natural."

"I… I didn't…" Mika was shocked and tried denying Seiji.

Seiji smiled as he looked at her.

"You're a kind, simple girl, Mika. But… I'm not exactly who you think I am. I used to be a depraved otaku, and even though I've changed myself, I don't believe that I'm a nice, kind person. The true me… is different from the me in your imagination. My apologies for disappointing you, but… this is the real me."

Seiji opened his hands to display his sincerity to the pigtailed girl in front of him.

"I'm just an otaku. An otaku isn't someone that's good. An otaku isn't someone that's evil. An otaku just does what he wants to do, what he likes to do, and ignores others' opinions. Lastly, every otaku in the world is different, so I can only represent myself. That's all."

Seiji retracted his hands and had a deep smile on his face.

Mika Uehara's eyes seemed slightly unfocused.

Chiaki, who was also listening to all this, could only smile helplessly and shake her head.

"Mika, Seigo's already been quite clear with you. You need to figure out the rest on your own. Maybe… it will be rather difficult for you, but you already know what you should know, and if you make an effort, you should be able to understand. I can't… always be beside you, explaining things to you."

After speaking, Chiaki patted Mika on the shoulder and left.

Then, it was time for afternoon classes.

…

After classes.

Seiji grabbed his backpack and looked in Mika's direction.

The pigtailed beauty was also observing him, but she instantly averted her gaze when their eyes met.

Seiji smiled wryly before looking at Chiaki who laughed and mouthed a word at him.

"Idiot." That was the word that she mouthed.

This "idiot" contained such deep meaning… At the very least Seiji failed to figure it out.

Was Chiaki saying that he was an idiot? Or that Mika was an idiot?

Or both?

Well, forget it.

He waved at Chiaki, said goodbye to Mika, and prepared to leave school.

This long, fatiguing day was finally over…

Or so he thought…

As soon as he had taken a few steps out of the classroom, Seiji detected that someone was following him.

The two people following him weren't attempting to conceal themselves, and they actually sped up and approached him.

"Harano-san…"

They were the delinquents of his class: the purple-haired Takashi Kobayashi and the tall one, Kahei Watari.

They flanked Seiji from his left and right.

Upon seeing their behavior, Seiji knew what was going on.

He must have been recognized by them!

He could only laugh at himself mentally, but on the surface he remained unaffected.

"Harano-san… please come with us," Kobayashi whispered to him.

"What if I don't?"

"Then they'll come looking for you directly," Watari said in a grave tone.

Seiji raised his eyebrow.

He didn't ask who "they" were, since he could guess.

Even though he could probably attempt to feign ignorance, it seemed meaningless.

"Fine." Seiji made his decision. Even if trouble came looking for him, he wouldn't retreat from it.

Watari and Kobayashi continued walking past him, and they intentionally walked in front of Seiji. To the other students, it seemed as if they coincidentally happened to walk past Seiji.

'Are they trying to look out for my reputation?' Seiji suddenly thought as he observed their backs.

Watari and Kobayashi were famous delinquents in school, so any student walking together with them would obviously attract a lot of unwanted attention. The way they were purposefully putting distance between themselves and Seiji could only be explained as acting to protect Seigo Harano's reputation.

As he came to this realization, Seiji's opinion of the duo greatly improved.

Watari and Kobayashi walked out the front gate of the school and turned down a street after walking for a bit.

Seiji followed them wordlessly.

After some more walking, they reached an empty construction lot.

There were three black passenger cars parked there, and a row of men in black suits were standing in an orderly formation in between the cars. In front of the men was a red-haired man wearing a dark red jacket and black leather pants. Beside him was a blonde girl with curly hair. She wore a brown windbreaker together with a dark blue one-piece dress and black stockings.

Watari and Kobayashi halted approximately 10 meters before reaching them and turned around to look at Seiji.

Seiji also stopped.

Everyone's attention was focused on Seiji.

"Is that him?" The red-haired man tilted his head and asked.

"…There's no mistaking it." The blonde girl stared at the handsome boy as her pretty face tinged with a hint of red, "I absolutely wouldn't make a mistake."

Upon hearing this, the red-haired man looked at Seiji and smiled so widely it seemed that his mouth was about to split open.

The next moment, he suddenly rushed towards Seiji!

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Chapter 42: Invitation

Translator: imperfectluck Editor: - -

A short while earlier.

"Why did you come here as well?" Kaede Juumonji furrowed her brows at the red-haired man.

The red-haired man held a cigar in his fingers, which he intermittently took long drags from. He had fierce, bushy eyebrows, a hardened face, and his eyes gleamed with a savage light. His name was Zankita Juumonji, and he was her half-brother from a different mother as well as one of the top-notch fighters in their mafia gang. He was a true battle maniac.

"Is that how you should be talking to your older brother? Hmph, I even saved you recently!"

"Big Brother Hisashi was the one who saved me, not you."

"What!? It was clearly me…"

"Big Brother Hisashi was the one who convinced father to not punish me, or did you really think that you could convince father with your fists?"

"Er…" Zankita Juumonji scratched his head with a trace of embarrassment, "Well, at the very least, I was on your side!"

"Fine then. Thank you, Big Brother. But… why are you here?"

"Your gratitude sounds totally insincere!"

Zankita spat out the cigar dangling from his mouth.

"I'm obviously here to see the guy you were talking about."

"You could meet him after I invited him to our place as well." Kaede sighed, "Big Bro, are your hands itching for a fight again?"

Zankita merely chuckled without replying.

"I knew it… let me warn you beforehand—you're definitely no match for him!" Kaede told him seriously.

"You can know just by seeing Furu-chan—how long would it take you to defeat Furu-chan? Three minutes? One minute? Hmph, well he used only one second and one punch!"

Furu-chan was the scarred man who Seiji had one-hit-KO'd while reaching for his gun. He was one of the stronger fighters in their organization.

"How would I know if I don't try for myself?" Zankita's eyes were showing the determination of a duelist.

Zankita loved fighting. Matching bare fist against bare fist was Zankita Juumonji's favorite activity in the world!

He had the unwavering belief that men should talk with their fists! For him, that was the only type of communication where he could determine a man's truest personality.

Unfortunately for him, his younger sister and brother both strongly disagreed with him, and they even told him his way of thinking was too archaic and old-fashioned.

Who cared!? That was Zankita's opinion.

He didn't understand the way his little sister and brother thought either; all he needed to know was that they were his cute family members.

Ever since becoming undefeated and rising to become the number one fighter in their organization, Zankita wished to seek for someone stronger to fight with. However, due to his father's restrictions as well as his status, he hadn't been able to achieve that goal until now.

An interesting fellow had finally appeared.

He single-handedly defeated one-third of all the goons in their gang, and he even defeated Furu-chan with a single punch. All the members he defeated were still resigned to resting in the hospital.

Even though Zankita could do the same thing, he had to admit after watching videos of the incident that he couldn't do it the same manner.

No… more importantly, is a person with such an outrageous amount of power even human!?

Zankita Juumonji knew that there was a hidden side to this world that ordinary people didn't know about. Not underground organizations like the mafia gang his family ran, but "mystical" things that were incomprehensible to ordinary people.

This person probably belonged to that category.

This idea alone made Zankita more excited than anything, to the point where his entire body trembled with anticipation!

He couldn't bear to wait for his little sister to invite that person over to their place.

He wanted to meet that person as soon as possible and challenge him!

…

Seiji already anticipated what would happen next when the red-haired man looked at him.

As the red-haired man began to rush towards him, he chucked his bookbag into the air.

Whoosh!* As the red-haired man approached Seiji, he threw a straight uppercut, aiming directly for Seiji's face!

Smack!* Seiji was unfazed by his uppercut and easily blocked his punch.

The red-haired man immediately followed up with a rapid flurry of tornado-like punches!

To everyone else, his fists were thrown with such speed that they could only see blurs. Before they could even see the attack clearly, Zankita had already punched again.

Even with this blinding combination, Zankita had failed to land a single punch.

The boy in the high school uniform was able to block each and every attack!

'Amazing!' Zankita Juumonji shouted in his heart.

He was pushing himself to his utmost limit. He used his full power and maximum speed for every punch, desperately hoping that at least one blow would land on this youth's body!

But it was still fruitless!!

The high school boy's expression remained calm throughout, just like… No, he completely saw through each of his attacks and was able to block everything!

Then how about this!?

Zankita feinted with a punch, before he suddenly kicked out with his right leg towards the high school boy's left shin!

Juumonji style kicking technique—Whirlwind Kick!

This move had broken the leg bones of countless underground fighters.

How would this brat block it? Or would he dodge instead!?

Zankita received his answer in the next moment.

Seiji neither blocked nor evaded his kick.

Instead, he took a single step towards Zankita and closed the distance between them.

His one step was followed by a devastating elbow attack!

Bang!*

Zankita discovered that he was flying through the air.

It felt like he had been hit by a car!

When he finally landed back down to the ground, the leftover force forced him to roll him several times before friction finally absorbed the impact.

In order to maintain his image in front of his subordinates, Zankita crawled up again after receiving Seiji's elbow. However, his chest was throbbing explosively, and he failed to suppress the mouthful of blood that spurted up.

Everyone silently watched Zankita struggle.

Thud!* Suddenly, a loud sound echoed out.

Seiji reached out with his left hand and managed to perfectly catch the bookbag that he had previously thrown into the sky.

The spectators wordlessly focused their gazes on him.

What the hell! How could he possibly be this… cool!?

Kahei Watari and Takashi Kobayashi completely astounded.

He tossed his backpack into the air before the fight started, had a high-speed fistfight which they could barely perceive, obtained victory with ease, and timed it perfectly to catch his backpack again… Was this even real life!?

Was this supposed to be a scene from a movie!?

The two delinquents' minds were in turmoil.

Kaede Juumonji's eyes were starstruck. Her pale face flushed deep red, giving her a sultry appearance.

"B… brilliant…" Zankita Juumonji barely managed to speak as he forced himself to remain standing while wiping the blood from his mouth.

"It… seems like you're real…"

'Don't act like you did that simply to see if he was the real one or not!' Kaede Juumonji thought to herself as her half-brother interrupted her daydreaming.

She then sighed deeply.

"You guys… hurry up and take this idiot away to see a doctor."

After ordering her subordinates, she turned around and walked slowly towards the high school boy.

"My deepest apologies, my idiot big brother was rude to you."

Seiji silently watched the blonde girl who lowered her head and bowed towards him.

"Sorry for troubling you to come all the way here. But please believe me—we harbor no ill intentions towards you. My name is Kaede Juumonji, and the idiot that attacked you is Zankita Juumonji. We're from the 'Juumonji Group'. It's fairly well-known in this area, and we would like to invite you to our place to have a chat with us about various matters," Kaede said in a soft and gentle tone.

"What if I refuse?" Seiji asked.

"Then we'll invite you every day until you agree." Kaede quelled her nervousness and continued to speak softly.

After a moderate period of silence.

Seiji finally let out a sigh.

"Alright, seeing as how you were relatively polite about it, I'll come with you to your place for a chat."

At any rate, if something bad happened, he could just load again.

Not only that, he also needed some more information about this group of theirs… At the very least, he needed to know their intentions in order to know how to deal with them.

Kaede inwardly heaved a huge sigh of relief.

"Thank you very much. Please get on our car then." She indicated to a nearby car with her hand.

Just as Seiji stepped forward, two voices suddenly spoke up.

"We… we want to go as well!"

It was the two delinquents. Kahei Watari and Takashi Kobayashi seemed tense yet resolute as they looked at Kaede.

"You only found Harano-san because of me." Kobayashi ground his teeth as he spoke: "He's our classmate and our… savior! We can't just watch you guys take him away!"

"Even though we don't have the power to stop you, but… at the very least we want to accompany him." Watari also opened his mouth and spoke in a low voice.

Seiji blinked in surprise.

Kaede was also somewhat taken aback.

"We're inviting Harano-san as our guest, so there's nothing to worry about. However… if Harano-san wishes to, you two can also tag along." Kaede allowed Seiji to choose.

Those two delinquents didn't seem all that bad.

Seiji smiled mentally. At least they weren't the ungrateful type.

"If you want, feel free to come. I'd also like to ask you two just exactly what happened."

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Chapter 43: Juumonji group

Translator: imperfectluck Editor: - -

That night, Takashi Kobayashi felt a wave of regret wash over him as he remembered his previous words.

The person who saved them obviously didn't want to have his identity revealed, and if he really was Seigo Harano, then that meant that he had exposed the identity of the person who saved him… Wasn't that the act of an ingrate!?

As a delinquent, Takashi Kobayashi wasn't exactly a paragon of virtue, but he had his own principles as well; he would never sell out someone that had helped him before.

But he already said it out loud without thinking, and the information was forcefully obtained from him by that blonde girl and her overwhelming aura.

Thus, he could only pray that Seigo Harano wasn't the person that she was looking for.

On Monday during classes, he observed Seigo Harano closely for a while, and as a result… he became certain that Seigo Harano was the masked person they were seeking!

He was both shocked and depressed at this.

When the blonde girl called him and asked him about the results of his observation, Takashi Kobayashi told her on purpose that he had been mistaken.

But maybe his acting skills were poor, or the blonde girl just didn't believe him, she still forced him to secretly take a photo of Harano and send it for her to decide.

Takashi Kobayashi could only obey her.

He was only a normal person, after all; if he disobeyed the mafia, there were plenty of ways for them to punish him… And besides, even if he resisted with all his might, it wouldn't be difficult for them to obtain the information they wanted.

He and Kahei Watari were only unimportant characters in the grand scheme of life; they were taken advantage of because they were easy to make use of.

A few seconds after, he sent her a cell phone picture of Seigo Harano, and she subsequently confirmed that Harano was the masked hero.

She could confirm instantly just through a cell phone picture!?

Takashi Kobayashi felt even more afraid as he confirmed how resolute the blonde girl was.

Everything else that happened was only natural: Kobayashi was asked to bring Seigo Harano to the place that she requested, or else the blonde girl would take her goons and wait directly in front of the school.

After consideration… well, there was actually nothing to consider—Kobayashi and Watari could only obey.

…

"I see." Seiji finished listening to Kobayashi and Watari's explanation.

"I'm so sorry, Harano-san…" Takashi Kobayashi bit his lips regretfully: "If only I didn't say it out loud back then, you wouldn't have…"

"Even if you didn't say it, as long as they seriously searched for me, I would have been discovered sooner or later." Seiji sighed, "Aren't I right, Miss… Kaede Juumonji?"

Light laughter resounded from the direction of the passenger seat.

"Indeed, although it might have taken some time, all you wore was a simple mask, and there were so many videos taken…"

"Did you hear her? There's no need to beat yourself up about it; even though it did give me some trouble, you didn't do it on purpose, so forget about it." Seiji smiled at Kobayashi.

Takashi Kobayashi nodded, but inwardly, he remained ashamed of himself.

"By the way, Kobayashi-san, you're quite perceptive. I've never even talked to you before, and even though I wore a mask that night and tried to speak in a lower voice, you still recognized me." Seiji changed the topic by praising him.

"Er… it's nothing really. I instinctively felt that I'd seen you somewhere before…" Kobayashi scratched his head.

"Takashi often notices the small details." Kahei Watari who had remained silent suddenly spoke up.

"Oh, indeed… you're often together. By the way, what do you guys usually do together?"

Seiji casually changed the topic again in order to relieve their tension as well as to help himself remain composed.

Seiji wondered if they actually weren't delinquents. Going to internet cafes, reading manga in bookstores, and playing games in game centers—these activities caused him to suspect that the duo were otakus!

A delinquent couldn't possibly be an otaku!

Just as Seiji was thinking that to himself, wanting to ask more about this topic, the car slowed down.

"We've arrived," Kaede Juumonji announced.

Seiji and the others got off the car and were greeted by the sight of a majestic wooden door. It was the type that usually belonged to the huge, secluded houses he would often see in mangas.

The door slowly opened from the inside, and it could be seen that there were two rows of men in black suits, lined up neatly to both the left and right of the pathway, creating an imposing atmosphere.

"Please enter," Kaede politely said to Seiji as she led the way.

Seiji followed her.

Kobayashi and Watari walked behind Seiji.

After they walked past the wooden door, they entered a huge courtyard. At the end of the pathway was one of Sakura Island's traditional wooden mansions.

"WELCOME TO THE JUUMONJI GROUP!!!" x2

All the men in black suits on both sides bowed together in synchronized unison, and their shouting echoed loudly in their ears.

Just this scene could probably make ordinary people that lacked courage pee in their pants.

Kobayashi and Watari had extremely tense expressions. As low-level hoodlums, they'd never experienced anything like this before.

If things didn't go well… perhaps… they wouldn't live to see tomorrow.

Both of them had the same thought and reflexively looked at each other as they prepared themselves mentally.

After entering the mansion.

Seiji was invited by Kaede to enter the deeper part of the mansion, while Kobayashi and Watari were blocked by some black-suited men.

"You guys wait here."

That was all they were told.

"Harano-san…" They looked towards Seiji.

Hearing what happened, Seiji turned around.

"…Relax, there's no need to worry." He thought about it, and decided not to have them accompany him, so he just smiled at them and left.

Kobayashi and Watari could only look at each other awkwardly and remain where they were.

Finally, Seiji was brought by Kaede to a room which had a view of the garden.

A middle-aged man wearing the traditional clothing of Sakura Island—to Seiji, it seemed exactly like a Japanese kimono from his previous world—was sitting formally in the seiza position next to a table in the center of the room.

Bookshelves that were crammed with various texts lined the room's walls, and the scent of paper permeated through the air… This seemed like a study.

"Father, he is the one." Kaede only spoke one sentence calmly to the middle-aged man before she smiled at Seiji and left.

Seiji exchanged glances with the middle-aged man.

The middle-aged man had neatly combed greying hair. Although wrinkles were already appearing on his face, he could be described as having a clear, handsome face. He was wearing spectacles made of a dark wood, and behind them were a pair of light blue eyes that looked both ordinary and sharp.

Rather than being the leader of a mafia group, he looked more like a college professor, not to mention the type that would be popular with women. That was Seiji's initial impression of him.

"Please have a seat, young man." The middle-aged man indicated to the seat across the table from him.

Seiji looked at the table, then walked over and sat down in the cross-legged position.

He didn't know how to sit on his knees… even though he knew about it from his previous life as well, he thought it was hugely uncomfortable, so he decided to sit Indian style instead as it felt more natural.

"My name happens to be Michirou Juumonji."

After seeing Seiji sit down, the man lowered his head slightly and began talking in a low and steady voice.

"Seigo Harano-san, I deeply apologize for inviting you here in such a manner. My daughter and son have both given you trouble, so I apologize on their behalves as well, and express my gratitude for your generosity in forgiving them."

'…Did I ever mention forgiving them?' Seiji couldn't help but think

Well, forget about it. He didn't want to have a verbal confrontation, so he might as well accept it and be the generous one.

"I'm not exactly all that generous; I just didn't want any trouble." Seiji said calmly, "Michirou Juumonji-san… right? Inviting me here in such a manner… What was it that you wanted to discuss?"

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Chapter 44: All I did was say my name, why are you kneeling!?

Translator: imperfectluck Editor: - -

Steady, calm, and unruffled. That was the impression Michirou Juumonji got from the boy he knew as Seigo Harano.

Even now, he remained unsure about what attitude he should take with this youth.

If the boy was truly someone with mystical powers, he would be willing to treat him extravagantly, but it wasn't absolutely confirmed yet, and… since this boy was invited here successfully, that lowered the chances he was a mystical ability user.

Michirou believed that it would be incredibly difficult to successfully invite a real person with mystical powers.

As mystical ability users were arrogant and haughty, they would look down on ordinary people, which included their mafia group. It was doubtful that they would even want to be seen associating together with them… at least on the surface.

When Michirou heard that the invitation was successful and this boy had agreed to meet him, Michirou actually frowned and lowered his expectations.

The development he expected was that if the boy had been a mystical ability user, Kaede would be rejected, perhaps even warned and threatened, and he would ultimately have to personally invite the boy in the most polite and formal manner.

But the current situation was completely different from what he anticipated, so he felt like there was a lower chance that this boy was a mystical ability user…In other words, it was a delicate situation.

After meeting him personally, Michirou could tell that the boy was quite self-assured.

So, was this boy a mystical ability user or not?

Michirou Juumonji felt helpless when faced with these types of uncertain situations.

So, when the boy directly asked him what he wanted to discuss, he contemplated the situation at lightning speed in his mind while mentally frowning. In the end, he decided to use the direct approach.

"What I'd like to discuss is strongly connected with your identity… Could you tell me who you really are?"

'Who I really am?' Seiji raised his eyebrows.

"You haven't investigated?"

"No, we haven't done a deep investigation of you. We only know that your name is Seigo Harano, and that you recently transferred to Genhana High School as a first-year student… We know that you have some connection to the student council president there, Natsuya Yoruhana… as well as the fact that you're far more adept at martial arts than any normal person. That's the full extent of our information," Michirou informed Seiji calmly.

"You invited me over with just this knowledge?"

"We considered the fact that you might be a person with mystical powers, so it would be rude of us to pry with a deeper investigation. We're inviting you with sincerity, not because we wish to do harm to you."

The room remained silent for a while.

'I thought that they'd be able to find everything out about me already in such a short time… It turns out they didn't even bother to investigate deeply; they only invited me over because they were certain that I was the masked person,' Seiji thought to himself, 'well, that would only be normal as the martial arts abilities I showed off that night were incredulous.'

Honestly, Seiji didn't expect either that his fighting ability would become so ridiculous immediately after activating the [Fighting] card—he felt almost as if he had become the main character of a fighting video game.

Just kidding. He still wasn't as outlandish as a fighting game character would be in real life, but if he kept increasing his strength through his system, maybe reaching that level would actually be achievable. Come to think of it, he would soon have access to a technique called [Bullet Time]…

'Cough cough, let's stop getting sidetracked—after all, there's a mafia boss sitting across from me!' Seiji stopped himself from going off on a tangent.

"My true identity… even though it's nothing special, I hope that you guys won't spread it around," Seiji said in a normal tone of voice as he gazed directly at Michirou Juumonji.

"Seigo Harano is a fake name—my real name is… Seiji Haruta."

Haruta… after taking a few seconds to absorb it, Michirou's gaze towards him instantly changed!

"Haruta… Are you talking about the Haruta from the 'Seven Great Families…'"

'The Seven Great Families?' Seiji blinked, and he recalled that Natsuya Yoruhana mentioned this phrase before, so he nodded in confirmation.

Michirou's entire expression distorted. This boy claimed that his real family name was "Haruta," and acknowledged being from one of the Seven Great Families… Could he be lying? Michirou didn't think that was the case… since he couldn't detect any telltale signs of lying from this boy at all. As the leader of the Juumonji Group, he was quite confident in his own judgement regarding other people!

Not only that, considering the out-of-the-ordinary skill in martial arts that this boy displayed, even if he wasn't a person with mystical powers, he would definitely have some connection with those that did and know about them. Anyone that knew about mystical powers would understand the true meaning of the family name "Haruta," and would also comprehend the scary end he would meet if he falsely claimed to be from the Haruta family!

Michirou honestly admitted to himself that even if he had ten lives, he wouldn't dare to falsely claim the Haruta name. Those people were far above ordinary mortals, and anyone that stained the honor of their family name like that would be punished with a fate in hell far worse than death! The existence of a scammer that could falsely masquerade as a "Haruta" without changing expression was completely impossible!

So the answer was obvious. Michirou Juumonji broke out into a cold sweat.

He maintained his seiza position, but backed away three steps.

"I'm so incredibly sorry…" With a flourish of his oversized sleeves, he placed both hands on the ground and formally kowtowed to Seiji!

"You were actually an important member of the Haruta family… Everything we've done before has been overly disrespectful to you; I deeply apologize and hope for your forgiveness!"

Seiji was astounded. What the hell, all he did was say his name—why was this guy suddenly kneeling and kowtowing to him!?

By the way, were all mafia members so used to doing such gestures!? His movements seemed too practiced!!

After remaining in a state of shock for a dozen seconds, Seiji finally recalled the words that Natsuya Yoruhana told him before—he had received the impression back then that his family was incredibly powerful. The original Seiji didn't have any relevant memories about how powerful his family was, so even Natsuya's explanation didn't leave much of an impression on Seiji originally.

Only now did Seiji realize the true might of the "Haruta" name. It was ridiculous!

Just saying it out loud could scare a mafia boss into such an action…

'Oops, he's already been in that pose for quite a while.'

"Juumonji-san, none of this is necessary, so please get up first." Seiji forced himself to speak as calmly as possible, "Even though I'm from the Haruta family… I was exiled from my family, so there's no need for you to be so tense."

'Exiled from his family? A boy who was able to single-handedly defeat one-third of the members in the Juumonji group by himself with a single punch each time, including Furu-chan who was armed with a gun, not to mention my own son who's the number one fighter in our group? He… he's only someone who was chased out of his family!?' Michirou, who only had a blurry impression of the "Haruta" family name before, instantly felt what he imagined to be the family's terrifying nature!

If someone who was exiled from his family had such power, what about a member of the main Haruta family? Perhaps just a single person could easily destroy the entire Juumonji group!

After coming to this realization, Michirou Juumonji had a heavy feeling in the pit of his stomach.

"No… even if you… have some special circumstances, you're still a 'Haruta,' for people like me that are part of the underground society, we must look up to your existence." He slowly raised his head. "I'm truly… truly apologetic for everything that we've put you through."

Okay, having been apologized to so many times, Seiji was beginning to feel awkward.

"I'll accept your apology, so no need to keep repeating it." He scratched his face. "Seeing your behavior… I think I don't need to explain anything further about my real identity, so… just what was it that you wanted to discuss with me?"

"Before that, please allow me to show you the courtesy of the Juumonji group." Michirou Juumonji bowed again, then lifted his arms and clapped his hands. Instantly, two young and beautiful women wearing traditional Sakura Island clothing entered the room. One woman was holding a large tray that contained many small plates filled with a dazzling array of desserts, while the other woman had a tray with a teapot, teacups, tea leaves, stirring spoon… and so on. After the two of them entered, they kneeled by the table and placed the plates on the table one by one. After placing the dessert tray on the table and the tea items next to Michirou, they bowed and left wordlessly.

"Allow me to make some tea for you. Please enjoy some desserts first." Michirou indicated to Seiji.

Seiji could tell that Michirou Juumonji definitely didn't seem to harbor any ill intentions towards him, and even seemed to respect him a little too much, so he relaxed his guard slightly as well, stopped exchanging pleasantries, and picked up some sweets that caught his eye.

'Mm, delicious! They were probably made by a skilled baker—the taste is even better than what the Divine Taste confectionery store produces. Well, after all, the store mass-produces sweets in bulk.'

A thought suddenly popped into Seiji's mind: how good would the desserts that Rika Amami personally baked with care taste? Not only was she the owner and store manager, all the desserts in their store were personally designed by her.

As an employee working in the front, he'd never had the opportunity to taste her cooking before. Most likely only those working in the kitchen would have that chance. Seiji thought about all this as he tasted the sweets laid out before him.

Meanwhile, Michirou Juumonji was doing something with the tools to make tea that Seiji didn't really understand. He boiled some water, added tea leaves, and stirred… All his actions seemed serious as he went about the tea ceremony.

'This probably isn't a real tea ceremony… It's just enough to act pretentious and fool some young girls into falling in love with him, if he had actually been a college professor,' Seiji casually thought.

After some smooth and pretentious… no wait, tea ceremony actions, Michirou held a cup of hot tea in his hand for Seiji to take.

This was the first time that Michirou had ever respectfully offered such a young person a cup of tea personally brewed by him; even his own children had never received this from him before!

Michirou didn't think of all this as insulting at all, but rather considered it his honor to do so. That was because there was a "Haruta" in front of him!

Even if Seiji was exiled from his family… no, Michirou received this opportunity exactly because Seiji was exiled from his family.

This was the answer to his earlier doubts. He assumed Seiji wasn't as arrogant as he expected and agreed to the invitation because he had been chased out of his family.

Otherwise, he might not ever get the chance to meet someone with mystical powers during his entire lifetime!

"Please, have some tea."

"Oh… thank you."

Seiji took the teacup and carefully took a sip.

"Mm, this tastes nice… It's good tea."

Michirou Juumonji smiled faintly at hearing Seiji's compliment. He inwardly considered this to be the most glorious moment of his life.

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Chapter 45: Frozen to death

Translator: imperfectluck Editor: - -

After Seiji finished eating the desserts and drinking tea, it was time for the main topic of conversation.

"Approximately two weeks ago, in our group's territory, something strange occurred," Michirou Juumonji began to calmly narrate a story to Seiji, "somebody… froze to death."

"Froze to death?" Seiji furrowed his eyebrows.

It was currently late autumn, so two weeks ago would count as mid-late autumn. The temperature at that time meant that it impossible for someone to freeze to death.

The only exception Seiji could think of was if the person was homeless and in a truly terrible situation. This, in combination with absolutely awful weather, and the person in question coincidentally possessing a weak constitution… But, even so, it still seemed uncanny.

"Yes, he froze to death in a corner of the street." Michirou clapped his hands three times as he spoke.

A man in a black suit entered the room and bowed respectfully towards them before he placed an envelope onto the table and left the room.

'…Just how many people were standing outside the door awaiting orders?' Seiji's curiosity was roused, but he decided to look at the envelope's contents first.

Michirou Juumonji removed several pictures from the envelope and slowly placed the first one on the pile in front of Seiji.

The photograph depicted a young man with a punk-like hairstyle. He wore a leather jacket, jeans and was curled up into a ball in the corner of some obscure alleyway. He was hugging himself tightly; his face was ashen-white, his eyes were wide open, and his expression was filled with terror.

"This was the first one to be discovered, and as you can probably tell, he wasn't a homeless person, nor was he an old person with a weak body—he was merely an ordinary lowlife scumbag," Michirou informed Seiji.

'Hearing a mafia boss say the words lowlife scumbag, what a strange feeling…'

"Indeed, he doesn't look like someone that would have been reduced to freezing to death in an alleyway." Seiji nodded in agreement.

"However, it's indisputable that the cause of his death was freezing to death… My organization was looking for him for a certain reason, but when we found him, he was already in this terrible condition. His body was completely rigid and icy cold—just like a solid cube of ice," Michirou spoke in a calm tone. "My subordinates reported the incident to me as they felt the situation was abnormal. According to my judgement, it wasn't something we should meddle with, so I anonymously reported his death to the police. But we learned later from our sources within the police that this abnormal body wasn't even forensically inspected and ended up immediately cremated! No investigation, no deeper analysis of what happened, nothing!"

Seiji frowned. "What about the deceased's family members?"

"No idea. This guy came to our city about one year ago, and nobody cared about his past or family members, nor did he have any close friends… He's the type of scum that nobody would care about even if he died." Michirou's tone of voice remained unchanged

'Scum… When a mafia boss uses such a word, there's no condescension in his voice at all—he's merely stating a fact. This person died with nobody caring about him at all—a worthless person to others. There are a surprising number of such people in society.' Since Seiji had thirty years of experience from his previous life, he understood that the world had its dark places, so he wasn't surprised by this at all.

However, what Michirou Juumonji saw was the boy in front of him remaining calm and steady in front of such a situation, which he interpreted as the education that Seiji's family must have given him.

"This is only the first one." Michirou picked up another photograph and placed it in front of Seiji.

This picture seemed even more abnormal. It showed an almost naked middle-aged man with messy hair and an unshaven appearance plastered spread-eagled against a wall with the same terrified expression while clenching his teeth.

"This is the second one… My group was looking for him for a certain reason as well, and they discovered him in the same condition as the first one. Just like the previous person, the cause of his death was freezing; his entire body was ice cold and frozen solid to the point where his flesh had connected with the wall behind him as if he had melded with it." As always, Michirou's voice remained calm.

Seiji rubbed his chin. "If my guess is correct, this guy is another…"

"He's another scumbag, as well as a wanted criminal. He's another person that nobody would miss upon his death."

"The same as the last one… the same type of person, the same kind of death…"

Michirou Juumonji nodded before he silently handed the remaining pictures to Seiji.

In total, there were five people, five corpses, and although each of them died in slightly different positions, they all shared the same terrified expression, and their bodies were all contorted strangely.

"These are all that we've discovered… They're all scumbags that froze to death in alleyways and other such places that people usually don't go to, and if it wasn't for the fact that my group was looking for each of them, who knows when each of them would have been discovered."

"Why were you guys looking for them?" Seiji inquired.

"Because of… a specific type of 'medication.'" Michirou lowered his head slightly.

Seiji raised his eyebrows. A mafia group looking for 'medication…' This probably referred to illegal drugs.

"This 'medication' you speak of… they sell it? Is it 'high quality,' or 'low price?'"

Michirou remained silent for a moment, before he slowly spoke up, "This 'medication' they were selling, although nobody from our organization was able to obtain a sample, based on reports, there was something odd about it. It was something half-solid and half-liquid—a small, soft, mushy lump that would shake by itself if you placed it on the palm of your hand. After ingestion, you could feel it moving in your stomach, then your entire body would heat up, and finally… you'd feel like you were visiting another world. Those observing a drug user reported that the user would enter a near-death state for almost an hour. Their breathing would shallow, and their body temperature would also drop precipitously. But the user would wake up eventually and recover to normal in about half an hour."

Seiji furrowed his eyebrows. "Your group… has never seen this 'medication' for yourselves?"

"That's right, we've never seen it," Michirou agreed strongly. "It's only natural that we would want to find out more about such a thing appearing in our own territory."

"But all the suppliers you found ended up dying in such an unusual fashion?"

"That's correct, and we haven't been able to find out anything useful on their possible cause of death. There are no clues whatsoever."

"Are the police just ignoring all these deaths?"

"Yep, all the corpses have been ignored and cremated with no investigations done on any of them."

"What price were they selling this at? And who were they selling to?"

"They were selling the 'medication' for one-third the street price of other similar 'medications,' and selling mostly to young people… to be more specific, to people younger than twenty-five."

There was a momentary silence.

"There are too many inexplicable things about this situation… The police are ignoring whatever's happening, so you believe that this may have something to do with a mystical ability user?" Seiji asked calmly.

Michirou nodded. "That was the only possibility I could think of… That's why I desperately wanted to seek out another mystical ability user and learn just what exactly has been happening here in our Juumonji group's territory… Or what's still currently happening…"

The mafia boss sighed at the situation. "Since the situation is one where even the police are remaining silent about, it's probably not one that underground folks like us can hope to unravel… But, even if it means I'm old-fashioned and stubborn, I believe that since our group lives in this city, we should know exactly what's going on. Only if we know what's happening can we think about how to protect ourselves as well as… everything else we want to protect! Haruta-sama… we're the mafia; we're an existence that's far beneath those on the top, but just like how ants have their own order in ant society, we have our honor as well, and there are certain things we simply cannot back down from."

After Michirou Juumonji slowly finished his statement, he backed away once more while remaining seated opposite from Seiji and kowtowed again. "I respectfully request you to aid us… Please untangle this mystery!"

'Even if you beg me, I have no clue what's going on, uncle!!' Seiji thought inwardly. Although his outward expression remained unfazed, he mentally broke out into a cold sweat.

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Chapter 46: Praising the Sun

Translator: imperfectluck Editor: vb24

Honestly speaking, Seiji felt a sense of admiration for Michirou Juumonji who was willing to kowtow to Seiji just for the sake of protecting his own organization's territory. Of course, the Juumonji group was a mafia organization that engaged in illegal activities—it was not exactly a group that was praiseworthy, but even among the underground society, some people would be complete scumbags, while others had their own morals and honor.

It wasn't exactly like the second group would be able to take the moral high ground, but Seiji still felt some respect for people who were still able to maintain their moral codes in such a society. Those in the bottom rungs of society might not necessarily be completely evil, just like how those at the top might not always be shining examples for everyone—it was the same logic. Everyone was… simply human.

Faced with the mafia boss kowtowing to him for a second time, Seiji remained silent for a lengthy period of time.

'Even though you want to find out an answer from me, I have no idea either, uncle…' He felt helpless about the situation. How was he supposed to fool Michirou Juumonji? He didn't want to ruin Michirou's impression of him.

"Please get up for the time being, Juumonji-san." At the very least, he needed to prevent Michirou from kowtowing to him.

"I… do indeed know some things about this, but I don't know how much I should say to you." Seiji rubbed his chin. "I need to go back and think on all this and… discuss it with some other people. If there's something I can let you know, I'll contact you… Will that be sufficient?"

Michirou Juumonji's eyes began to glitter as he raised his head. "Haruta-sama… even though you've been exiled from your family, I imagine there are still rules that you must adhere to. I recognize the fact that it may trouble you to ask you about this situation and for you to tell me the truth. It's only natural that Haruta-sama would wish to consider things. Even if it's shameful of me, I shall… sincerely await your news… I'm begging you!" As he finished, he lowered his head respectfully once more.

"I'll consider it over carefully." Seiji could only respond in such a manner.

And so, their formal discussion finally ended.

…

Takashi Kobayashi and Kahei Watari were silently waiting in the same spot.

Not all that much time had actually passed, but it felt like eons to them as their imaginations ran wild.

But no matter what they imagined or thought, they couldn't do anything.

This powerless, helpless feeling was so irritating!

"Sigh… Kahei, just what exactly are we?" Kobayashi crouched down and clenched his head in a depressed manner.

"Takashi…"

"We were almost beaten to death while fighting on the street… We were saved by our classmate, but sold him out… and even though we followed him here, we can only stand here foolishly… I've never ever felt so useless before!"

Watari crouched down in silence beside him.

"There's no helping it; we are indeed useless, since we lack strength," he said lightly.

If they had the strength, then they wouldn't have gotten their classmate Harano involved in the first place.

"Strength… is that so? If only we had strength…" Kobayashi's eyes glinted with an indescribable light.

"By the way, just why is Harano-san so strong?"

'How could I be… as powerful as Harano-san? He's exactly the same age as us, yet he has unimaginable martial arts skills.'

That night, as well as the impression he gave them today, etched deep memories into their minds.

Kobayashi suddenly wondered if Harano-san using his full ability would be able to escape from this mansion even if everyone here attacked him together.

If so, then wasn't him and Watari following him here nothing but a burden upon him!?

He accidentally sold his classmate out with his carelessness, and he selfishly wanted to come along, but he turned out to be useless… How worthless—he was basically garbage!

Takashi Kobayashi fell deeply into self-criticism.

Before today, he had never felt like there was anything wrong with the way he lived; but today, for the first time, he began reflecting upon his life.

Beside him, Kahei Watari was having similar thoughts.

The two delinquents remained crouching there in a depressed, dark manner until Seigo Harano finally reappeared in front of them.

"Harano-san… are you okay!?"

"Oh… I'm fine." Seiji waved at both of them, "I just chatted a little with their group's boss."

He just… chatted a little with the boss!?

Even though Seiji said it so lightly, Kobayashi and Watari instantly imagined many outlandish hypothetical scenarios.

For example, a hulking bald man with many tattoos on his body facing off with the calm high school student, about to have a duel… and so on.

"Even though I said it wasn't necessary, he insisted on inviting us to dinner, so let's just stay here a little longer and enjoy our meal." Seiji smiled at the two of them.

Did he come to an understanding with the boss after a life-and-death duel!?

Kobayashi and Watari glanced at each other awkwardly as their imaginations went even further off-track.

Seiji was oblivious to their thoughts, but if he knew, he would surely have many interesting comments about them.

The three of them were led to a grand hallway that was majestically decorated but lacked chairs.

Seiji was taken to the edge of the table, which was reserved for the most important personage, while Kobayashi and Watari were arranged to sit on his right side.

Moments later, Michirou Juumonji entered and greeted Seiji respectfully before he sat down next to Seiji at the other seat cushion reserved for the most venerated person.

Was this… the mafia boss? Michirou Juumonji's appearance instantly shattered all of Kobayashi and Watari's fantasies.

Following behind Michirou Juumonji was Kaede as well as a man with messy blonde hair and a slightly hunched back.

This man was wearing a normal shirt and slacks, which made him look like an ordinary person, and he seemed somewhat handsome. However, his pair of black glasses combined with the dark sleep circles under his eyes made him look wretched rather than handsome.

There was something almost comical about this fellow walking together next to a brightly shining beautiful maiden.

The two of them entered and sat down across from Watari and Kobayashi.

"Harano-sama has already been acquainted with Kaede, right? This is my younger son, Hisashi Juumonji. I apologize for his lack of respect shown by his appearance—he's always like this." Michirou sighed.

He actually would have preferred to let his oldest son Zankita join them—even if Zankita was an idiot, at the very least, Zankita would give them a better image. But his idiot son was currently in the hospital… so he could only make his youngest son Hisashi join them instead so that there were enough people.

As for his youngest son, Michirou felt helpless when thinking about him. His youngest son's appearance and intelligence were both top-notch. It didn't matter to him that his son was physically weak, since this era depended on brains over brawn.

Still, his son enjoyed some rather strange hobbies and turned himself into the way he was today.

Michirou had previously asked his son on multiple occasions to change his ways, but his son continued to do as he pleased. If it wasn't for the fact that his youngest son also contributed in his own way to the organization, he would have kicked his son out long ago!

'Well, this is only eating a meal together—nothing much can happen in front of Haruta-sama…' Michirou thought.

But when his gaze passed over Haruta-sama, he noticed that he was observing his younger son with a strange look in his eyes.

"Hisashi Juumonji-san… right?" The more that Seiji looked, the more he felt like he was right about something. "I have a question I'd like to ask you…"

"Oh?" Hisashi Juumonji was surprised, and he finally turned his eyes towards the young man in the main seat of honor for the first time.

The moment their gazes met, there was a spark as if both people realized something.

A question?

Michirou was also surprised, and Kaede next to him was mystified as well.

Kobayashi and Watari were even more confused than they were before.

They just met for the first time! What could he possibly want to ask?

"Compared to Idelia, Leila is a better fit for Sparrow's true love. Do you agree?"

Silence fell upon the table.

While Michirou had no idea what was going on, Hisashi's eyes that originally seemed despondent suddenly became charged with energy, and he slapped the table angrily and stood up!

"You're wrong!!!"

He was almost shouting at the top of his lungs.

"Even if Leila's been getting all the focus in the recent episodes, and Idelia hasn't been getting the spotlight! But, no matter if you're looking at it from the author Peach-sensei's viewpoint, or Sparrow's viewpoint, Idelia is the true love!

"The recent episodes are only a method to set up an even more remarkable story in the future! Even if Leila has been the center of attention recently, she's still going to be a stepping stone for Idelia. Admittedly, it's a little cruel, but that's the truth, and the current storyline's direction can prove it as well… Leila's going to disappear from the story, while Sparrow and Idelia will meet up and give us the biggest climax of the story!

"All the fools that believed in Leila up until then will discover that what they believed in was nothing more than a temporary red herring by the author! As a member of the Idelia faction, I shall achieve victory under the direction of the creator goddess Peach-sensei!"

Hisashi lifted his hands high into the air as he kneeled on one knee, in a pose that seemed like he was praising the sun as he shouted into the air.

Everyone at the dining table was rendered speechless by Hisashi's passionate speech.

Michirou's eyes bulged wide in shock, while Kaede clutched her forehead and sighed. Kobayashi and Watari had no idea whatsoever what was going on.

Seiji couldn't help chuckling.

He knew it—he was right!

This guy, Hisashi Juumonji, the youngest son of the mafia boss, was a true, unmistakable, complete otaku!

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Chapter 47: Calm down, right hand of mine!

Translator: imperfectluck Editor: - -

The question that Seiji had suddenly asked was one of the most contentious topics of the popular anime "Honey Candy Girl" recently. It pertained to the so-called factions about which character the author Peach-sensei favored in her original story.

As long as Hisashi was a true otaku, it would be impossible for him to resist!

Hisashi Juumonji easily fell for Seiji's bait hook, line, and sinker, and he didn't even attempt to conceal the fact that he was an otaku, making it obvious that Hisashi was a hardcore otaku.

Except for Seiji, Hisashi's passionate speech and exaggerated posing shocked everyone there.

Well, it shocked his father Michirou Juumonji more than anyone else.

This mafia boss was completely stunned with no idea what had just happened.

All he knew was that Haruta-sama beside him suddenly asked an incomprehensible question, which stimulated his younger son so much that Hisashi prattled on endlessly about something he couldn't understand and finished with a mysterious pose… What the hell was going on!

Well, all the other people present—from Kaede Juumonji to Takashi Kobayashi and Kahei Watari—were younger, which meant they were more or less familiar with the most popular anime in their country which even became a symbol of Sakura Island, so they had some idea what was going on.

They were still speechless about this situation, though!!

Of course, Kaede knew the true nature of her younger brother already, and she was absolutely embarrassed.

Kobayashi and Watari never expected that a mafia boss's son would act so comically, so they were stunned!

Seiji was the only one who completely understood what just happened, and he couldn't stop himself from laughing out loud.

Hisashi turned to face Seiji.

Cough cough…* Seiji finally managed to restrain himself and faked a coughing fit.

"I'm also part of the Idelia faction. I'm pleased to meet you, Hisashi Juumonji-san."

"Comrade! Delighted to meet you, Seigo Harano-sama!" Hisashi sat back down as he flashed a big thumbs-up in tandem with a brilliant smile.

Everyone else was rendered speechless by the duo's antics.

"Harano-sama, what exactly…" Michirou couldn't help asking.

"Oh… Hisashi-san and I happen to be fans of the same anime; we were just talking about that."

"Anime?" The mafia boss's mind was filled with question marks.

"Father… It's a cartoon called 'Honey Candy Girl.'" Kaede sighed, "It's currently a super popular anime in Sakura Island. Most young people know about it, and I've watched it a little… As for Hisashi, he's probably watched every episode."

"But of course!"

Hisashi adjusted his eyeglasses and it seemed like his lenses flashed.

"'Honey Candy Girl' is a brilliant, once-in-a-ten-year story! As a true fan, I am obliged to watch each and every episode a minimum of three times! It's just that… I didn't imagine that the honored guest that father invited would… also be a fan…"

Hisashi exchanged a knowing smile with Seiji.

Communication between otakus didn't need to be verbal.

"…That's how it is, Father."

Kaede felt as if her energy was being sapped.

"Harano-sama asked a question about this anime, and Hisashi answered him reflexively."

"Oh…" Michirou finally had a rough understanding of what just happened.

Harano… no, Haruta-sama saw through his son's nature in an instant; that was why Haruta-sama asked his son such a question as a test… what powerful insight!

'Animes… that's something that young people love to watch… Hmm, perhaps I should make some free time to watch it as well, so that I know what young people these days are up to,' Michirou Juumonji thought.

"What's the story of this anime?" Michirou began talking about this topic in order to fit in better with the youngsters.

Hisashi adjusted his glasses again, and his lenses definitely flashed this time!

"About this anime… Father, please allow me to give a short explanation…"

And so, the lecture began.

…

After the dinner had concluded, Takashi Kobayashi and Kahei Watari were still dazed.

As they finally regained their senses and thought over the previous events, they found it all rather unbelievable.

They had a meal at a mafia boss's home and the main topic of conversation was all about anime!?

Were they lost in their own delusions? Or was there something wrong with the world!?

However, their logic told them that it had all actually happened.

First, that Hisashi Juumonji had a lively but endless explanation of the anime's storyline with Seigo Harano occasionally chiming in, before Kaede also decided to join in. Finally, even the two of them started chatting about it as the mafia boss listened intently. He even seemed to be deeply interested, and he kept asking questions about the anime…

This topic of conversation continued from start to finish during the entire course of the meal.

What the hell!!!?

Kobayashi and Watari couldn't help but think that throughout the entire meal.

Was this really a mafia boss's home? Or was this an anime club discussion!!??

Well, it's acceptable for the young people to chat about this anime that they all know, but why was it that even the mafia boss seemed so interested in this topic!?

This completely ruined their image of how a mafia should be like!!!

As delinquents who previously had a fearful impression of the mafia, Kobayashi and Watari had an endless stream of comments running through their minds.

As for the person who caused all this, Seiji vastly enjoyed this dinner and had lots of fun.

Especially because he got to meet Hisashi Juumonji… They got along very well as they chatted with each other, and they instantly became friends.

"Harano-sama, if only I could have met you earlier in my life! Would you like to take a tour of my room? I could show you my collection…" Hisashi invited Seiji sincerely.

Actually, he was even more excited than Seiji, since it was quite difficult for an otaku in a mafia group to make another otaku friend!

"Oh, can I? Of course I'd love to!" Seiji agreed without even considering it.

He then turned around to look at his two classmates who were still mired in confusion.

"Kobayashi-san, Watari-san, there's not going to be anything else tonight, so go ahead and return home first without me. I'm going to stay here a little while longer."

"Oh…" Kobayashi and Watari returned to their senses and exchanged awkward glances with each other. "Then… we'll go back first."

"I shall arrange for a car to take you guys back home," Kaede informed them.

And so, Kaede sent off Kobayashi and Watari as Seiji followed Hisashi to his room.

Michirou was more than happy at the fact that his son was getting along so well with Seiji, thinking that his son had done quite good.

Hisashi Juumonji's room was actually rather large. However, due to how crammed with items it was, his room appeared quite narrow.

There were several shelves filled with figurines in various poses, bookshelves filled with mangas, CDs, cassettes, and so on. The rest of the shelves were filled with various anime products while anime art and posters were plastered on every wall…

There was a pile of anime pillows and dolls on the bed. There were two humongous LCD televisions with all the newest, limited edition game systems. Some obviously high-spec computers hooked up to six large monitors were the centerpiece of the room, and the newest, most expensive edition of VR glasses lay beside them…

The way this room was arranged caused Seiji to recall something about an article of news he read about in his previous world entitled "The most otaku person in the world." Although this room probably still wasn't at that level quite yet.

Seiji suddenly felt a strong urge to make some money with his save and load ability, and create a hideout of his own like this… no, a heaven!

'Ahh, calm down, restrain thyself, oh right hand of mine! I can't release my seal and abuse my power just because of something like this!'

Seiji used the entirety of his willpower to prevent his dark urges from overcoming him.

Seiji remained silent for the entire time while Hisashi delightedly talked about his proud anime collection. After a while, he finally sighed.

"Hisashi… can I pull an all-nighter here?"

"You're more than welcome, Harano-sama!"

"Don't address me by -sama—we're close friends now!"

"Ah… happily!"

The two otakus shook each other's hands.

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Chapter 48: Befriending

Translator: imperfectluck Editor: - -

Only after having fun in Hisashi's room in an all-nighter did Seiji finally leave with satisfaction.

At first, Kaede came to play with them as well, but she fell asleep as she played, so Hisashi unhesitatingly called for the maids to take his sister away while they continued playing on his game systems.

So this otaku wasn't a sis-con…

After spending the night at his house, Seiji learned that besides being a true otaku, Hisashi was also a sharp investor. All of Hisashi's otaku products were purchased with money earned by himself through the stock market with risky investments such as futures.

His family only provided him with some initial funds which he had returned with interest long ago, and he was now allowed access and control over half of the Juumonji group's total funds.

In addition to this, Hisashi was also a skilled hacker. He proved himself by hacking into the websites of several major companies before Seiji's eyes in a short period of time. His typing speed and programming ability was difficult to keep up with, and even Seiji, who knew nothing about hacking, could instantly recognize his incredible skill!

After meeting a person like Hisashi Juumonji, Seiji felt like he had previously been a waste of an otaku.

Hisashi was a truly skilled otaku!

As they parted ways, they exchanged contact information with each other and promised to keep in touch.

…

"Hisashi, what do you think of Harano… Seiji Haruta-sama?"

After Seiji had departed, Michirou summoned his younger son to his study and questioned him in a grave tone.

Hisashi adjusted his glasses.

"Setting aside the fact that we have the same interests and I get along great with him, he's someone well worth our time to befriend."

The current Hisashi showed no hint of being a depraved otaku as he wore a solemn expression, and his eyes gleamed with cold intelligence.

"He's direct and honest yet lacks naivety. He isn't a scheming character that enjoys plotting against others, yet he has the ability to see through hypocrisy and darkness. After discovering my ability and status in the family, his attitude towards me remained completely unchanged, which means that he regards me as a true friend, not just someone he can take advantage of. Of course, there's also the chance that he has little regard for my abilities at all, but I believe that to be a low possibility, since he's currently exiled and should be in a state where he needs to take advantage of anything he can. I… as well as the Juumonji group has value to the current him, but he doesn't seem to be the type that's only polite on the surface. He neither disparages us for who we are, nor does he view us as simply tools to be used; he simply treats us equally. This combination of traits is incredibly rare."

Michirou nodded. He wholly agreed with Hisashi's opinion.

"Then how much value do you think Seiji Haruta-sama has to us?"

"We have too little information on him, so it's difficult to judge. However, there are no downsides to befriending him, as he is not a man to abandon his friends and allies. In fact, the more we aid him, the more he'll want to return our favor. Ignoring whether or not he'll be able to return to his family in the future, just his martial arts ability alone could help us resolve various difficult problems if he's willing… When he was facing our goons, Furu-chan, and my brother Zankita, he barely even used his true abilities. If he was equipped with some guns and went all-out, I'm sure that his destructive ability would be truly frightening! At the very least, I doubt that the entire Juumonji group could harm him."

Silence fell in the study.

Michirou couldn't find any faults with Hisashi's judgement.

Actually, he had also been considering the situation late into the night, and he ultimately came to the same conclusion as his son.

If Seiji Haruta was equipped with guns, Seiji could probably defeat the entire Juumonji group by himself! This was no exaggeration.

So, even if they didn't befriend him… there was no way they could make an enemy out of someone with such monstrous strength.

"And if we take into consideration the fact of his probable eventual return to his family, his value to us will skyrocket uncalculatedly!" Hisashi's eyes were glistening with excitement.

"Honestly, I strongly believe that he'll eventually be allowed to return to his family, because he was only exiled originally due to his former depravity, not because of anyone plotting against him, and now that he's changed himself for the better, there's a high chance that his family may accept him again. If I was in the Haruta family's shoes, I wouldn't discard a talent like him that's self-reflected on himself already. He should be quite valuable to them even if he's only in their bottom ranks."

Michirou nodded in agreement.

Seiji was an exiled member of his family, yet he possessed mystical powers; this meant that he still had the possibility of returning to his family. He was currently in the most abject state of poverty he'd probably ever been in before, but his personality and morals weren't malicious. Besides, his martial arts skills alone were at the pinnacle of what mortals could achieve!

There was no need to even consider this matter any further; if they let the chance to befriend him slip by, they would be completely idiotic!

"So, what should we do in order to befriend Haruta-sama?"

Hisashi smiled victoriously.

"He's into the same things I am, so I naturally have an advantage when conversing with him. As long as I maintain my sincerity, it won't be hard to truly befriend him… Although I'm already his friend, I'll attempt to become even closer to him without messing things up between us. Also, didn't Kaede fall in love with him at first sight? Just let her do as she pleases. Men are weak against a beautiful girl like Kaede, especially when they're sincerely attempting to obtain his love. It will be best if my little sister can quickly capture his heart, but even if that doesn't work in the short-term, as long as she's able to constantly have contact with him, she'll naturally become closer to him as well.

"In summation, we should use normal methods: we must be direct and sincere and honestly show him that we intend to forge a friendship with him, and that we are willing to assist him in order to befriend him. This is the only way which won't evoke his disgust. However, we cannot be overly friendly either, or else he'll be annoyed with us… How about giving full control over the situation with him to me? I'll do my best and balance things."

Michirou raised his eyebrows.

"Asking of your own volition for a task… This seems like the first time, Hisashi."

"That's because I feel like this task is the most appropriate one for me. After all, nobody else in our organization can outshine me in this field; not even Kaede, since she's fallen in love, which will affect her rationality. But most importantly, I'm quite interested in him as well… If he marries Kaede in the future and rises to become the future leader of the Juumonji group that… that'll be the absolute best future I can foresee for us!"

Hisashi's eyes were filled with passion.

Michirou could only smile wryly upon seeing his younger son's uncharacteristic manner.

"You… both you and your older brother… you're so strongly against inheriting the leadership of the Juumonji group?"

"I'm just an otaku. All I'm willing to do is come up with some ideas from time to time, forget about working as hard as you, Father! And Zankita's just an idiot; even he's clearly aware of this fact. Kaede… even though she's qualified, she's still lacking in some areas. And the person that she's currently in love with might be the perfect candidate! Father, don't you think so? Compared to me, Zankita, and Kaede, doesn't he feel more suited to be the future leader of our group?"

Michirou Juumonji recalled Seiji's actions, body language, words, attitude, manner, and the look in his eyes before a smile slowly suffused across his face.

Indeed, if he had another son like Seiji, he'd feel absolutely secure about the future of the Juumonji group.

It surely wouldn't be an easy task to befriend him to such a degree, but you couldn't know without trying.

"Then I'll leave it up to you, Hisashi. Do everything in your power to accomplish this task."

"Yes, Father."

Chapter 49: You Know Too Much!

Translator: imperfectluck Editor: vb24

Seiji returned home, washed up, changed clothes, and headed for school.

Even though he hadn't slept all night, he wasn't all that fatigued—a one-time all-nighter had little impact on his vastly strengthened body.

As he headed downstairs, he found Mika waiting at the landing for him.

"Good morning." Mika smiled and handed him a lunchbox, "Here you go."

"Good morning. Thanks for preparing my lunch today as well." As usual, Seiji accepted the favor from the Uehara family.

After greeting each other, the two of them spoke no further and exchanged a smile before heading together towards school.

"I considered many things last night." Only after walking a while did Mika slowly begin speaking while keeping her gaze fixed on Seiji.

"If you're wondering if I was shaken… I was definitely shaken to some extent, but not because I doubted you or anything. You had your reasons for saying what you did towards those twins, and I believe in you." A resolute light shone in Mika's eyes as she continued: "I believed you… but I was still shaken, not because of doubts, but rather… because I wasn't able to comprehend. Chiaki wasn't shaken at all. Although she told me she was rather surprised, she trusted in you and was able to understand you. But as for me, I wasn't able to understand your way of thinking… or hers. That's the true reason why I was shaken and disappointed." Mika lowered her head.

"I… felt a distance between us. Even though I already felt that there were some differences between me and Chiaki, I felt it even more strongly with you this time, that's why…"

'That's why I felt so pained.

'My chest hurt, like there was something congested.

'Even though one is my best friend, and the other is the person I like… Even though they're right beside me, I can't follow their way of thinking.'

Mika Uehara felt melancholy about it all.

"Hey, Seiji, what should I do? Just how can I understand you and Chiaki better?"

Seiji looked directly into her eyes and smiled. He raised his hand and patted her head.

Mika was surprised at the sudden contact, but her face began to turn red at the warm and comforting feeling.

"Just take things slowly, and if you meet any problems, simply ask or think, and you'll be able to understand. There are some things that you still can't notice yet, Mika, or maybe you won't think of them. It's not because you're an idiot—it's because you're still inexperienced. Being the way you are isn't a bad thing. I suspect Chiaki befriended you precisely due to your innocent nature, and I… I think that you're cute like this."

'C… cute?' Mika's face burned up even more.

'Hey, isn't this the first time Seiji's praising me as cute!? Ahh—how embarrassing!'

"Chiaki and I aren't quite as simplistic. You already know about me, and as for Chiaki… she probably has her own circumstances as well." Seiji failed to notice her embarrassment as he continued.

"You're the simplest one among us, and that's exactly why you bring us… relaxation? I don't know how to put it into words, but regardless, you're an important friend of ours, and that won't change. It doesn't matter if you completely understand our way of thinking or not; you're still our friend, so you don't need to feel anxious. Just do as you like."

He retracted his hand upon finishing his speech.

Mika instantly felt disappointed that he was no longer patting her head, but she didn't allow the disappointment to appear on her face.

"You could have patted me a little longer…" She muttered under her breath.

"Hm?" Seiji didn't hear her clearly.

"Er… nothing!" Mika twisted her head away in embarrassment. "I get what you're saying!"

"Oh, that's good then." Seiji smiled.

That's good.

As always, sunlight shone down brilliantly as they walked down the familiar street together.

…

At school, Seiji discovered another two love letters in his shoe locker, so he placed them into his bookbag.

Next, he saw Takashi Kobayashi and Kahei Watari in class.

The two delinquents acted just like they always did; they greeted Seiji by nodding slightly when they noticed him.

'It seems like they've decided to completely avoid any contact with me at school in order to avoid affecting my reputation,' Seiji thought.

Well, if that was their choice, Seiji decided to go along with it.

During class time.

While Seiji was on his way to the restroom, he stopped in the hallway and made a call with his cell phone.

"Hey, it's me. There's something important I'd like to tell you in person. It's not urgent, however. Lunch break… okay, I'll head over at that time."

After he hung up, he looked out the window with a serious expression on his face.

"Were you just talking to some secret organization?" A voice suddenly sounded out from behind him.

It was Chiaki.

"Why are your footsteps so cat-like?"

"Heh heh, this is the proper cat-style footwork," Chiaki stated pridefully.

"There's no such cat-style footwork like this!" Seiji responded reflexively.

They exchanged glances.

"I just wanted to scare you, but it sounded like I overheard something incredible, plus your expression just now… Will I be killed off in order to protect your secret?" Chiaki pretended to act frightened.

"Ha, you're right—you know more than what's good for you!" Seiji tilted his head forty-five degrees and also acted the part of the villain.

After a few seconds of silence, both of them broke out into laughter.

"I was just on the phone with President Yoruhana. I wanted to inform her about something, but she won't have any spare time until lunch break, so I'm heading to the student council room." Seiji put away his cell phone and continued, "As for what it's about… that's private, I apologize."

"A secret discussion with the beautiful and brilliant president? Sounds immoral~" Chiaki pressed her index against her lips in a shushing pose.

"How is it immoral!?"

"Is it pure love then?"

"It has nothing to do with love, okay!?" Seiji commented forcefully.

Thanks to Chiaki's joking around, the serious atmosphere from the previous phone call had completely vanished.

"You're commenting as forcefully as always! That's the Seiji I know!" Chiaki chuckled.

"I've always been like this."

"But just earlier, you appeared so uncharacteristically serious." Chiaki retracted her playful smile, "Since you said it was private, I won't pry. Just… if there's anything I can help you with, you must let me know."

'Well, she probably just wanted to tell me that she's here for me.' Seiji smiled at his friend.

"But of course! How can I not take advantage and use such a good friend by my side?"

Chiaki sighed. "Treating people as objects… How terrible!"

"Hmph, I'm an ice-cold man who'll stoop to any means—did you finally notice?"

They continued joking as they walked off together.

"Mika's already calmed down completely—did you do anything to her last night?"

"Nothing at all."

"Tsk, how boring…" Chiaki pouted.

"What did you expect me to do to her!?"

"A haughty princess like Mika is actually quite easy to conquer. All you need to do is hug her gently, whisper sweet things to her while she's feeling anxious, kiss her, and then…"

"Halt your words! It'll get R-rated if you say anything more!" Seiji stopped her decisively.

"What an excellent chance you had… You failed to even take advantage of it—how disappointing." Chiaki shook her head and shrugged smugly.

"It would have been a problem if I took advantage of her!"

'Whenever Mika's not with us, I suppose this is how it'll be like between Chiaki and me.' Seiji suddenly thought in between their joking.

Right before Seiji arrived at the restroom, Chiaki seemed to suddenly recall something.

"By the way, Seigo, do you need me to keep your secret date with the president a secret from Mika?"

"I already said it's nothing like that!"

'Yep, in summary, I can have fun chatting with her, but she's definitely a good friend that will occasionally give me headaches.'

…

Lunch break time.

"You're going to the student council room again?" Mika asked in surprise. "Why?"

"Mika, boys always have one or two secret da, er… secrets. You should just smile, accept it, and let him leave." Chiaki extended her hands and wore same smug expression from earlier.

Mika and Seiji were rendered speechless by Chiaki's words.

There was something odd about what Chiaki just said.

For differing reasons, they each felt like objecting to her statement.

"Stop joking around—I just have some personal matters to take care of." Seiji sighed. "So let's get going… Chauffeur, begin driving."

"Who're you calling your chauffeur!? And we're not even in a car!"

Kazufuru Ooike, who had been captured by Seiji, couldn't help but retort.

"Besides, don't you already know where the student council room is? Why do you still need me to show you the way!?"

"I forgot." Seiji pretended to be self-righteous about it.

"You're lying! You're definitely lying!"

"If I say I forgot, I forgot, so let's go. Secretary Ooike-sama, we can improve our friendship while on the way." Seiji began dragging Kazufuru away with a vice-like grip on his neck.

"I'm not your friend! Let go of me—!" Kazufuru made a fruitless attempt to struggle free, but Seiji's iron grip was too strong to break free from.

Mika was stupefied as she watched them leave, while Chiaki remained cool and collected.

"Mika, I'm thinking…"

"Hmm?"

"Seigo… perhaps he's secretly actually a bit of a demon?"

Mika was lost for words upon hearing this.

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Chapter 50: Idiotic Mistake

Translator: imperfectluck Editor: vb24

On the way to the student council room.

When Kazufuru Ooike was finally released from Seiji's iron grip, he adjusted his spectacles and collar before frowning.

He began to regret… no, he already regretted agreeing to become Seigo Harano's "friend."

He originally intended to discover Seigo's weaknesses and take advantage of this "friendship" agreement, but he hadn't learned anything useful, and instead always felt pressured by Seiji's imposing manner.

Kazufuru was clearly a popular and excellent student with no reason to fear Harano, but he always felt unable to stand up to Harano whenever they were together.

Was it because Harano was so outstanding in sports?

No, this didn't have anything to do with the difference between their physical abilities… Kazufuru couldn't understand why, though.

"Why'd you stop walking? Secretary, continue leading the way." Harano's voice sounded from behind him.

Kazufuru sighed.

"You know the way, don't you? Why do you insist on having me come along?"

"I told you before—I just wanted to chat with you."

"I don't think I have anything I'd like to say to you." Kazufuru's expression was icy and his voice distant.

Seiji observed this excellent student in front of him for a while before he released a sigh.

"Is taking that attitude with me really fine? You know, I'm…"

"I'm not friends with you!"

"I wasn't talking about that. It's quite rude to interrupt people while they're speaking, Ooike-san…" Seiji glanced at Kazufuru out of the corner of his eye: "You seem like an intelligent person, so why are you making such an idiotic mistake about something crucial?"

"What are you saying?" Kazufuru furrowed his eyebrows.

"Your target is President Yoruhana, right?" Seiji said lightly, "Don't deny it—it's quite obvious… You want to become her partner, and you're making an effort to reduce the distance between the two of you."

"…What's it to you if I am?" Kazufuru squinted.

The fact that his target was the president wasn't exactly a huge secret, so it couldn't be said that it was his weakness.

"You still don't realize your mistake? You want to get closer to the president, and I, Seigo Harano, am someone that the president personally helped transfer into the school, which means that she and I have a special relationship. For someone like me to voluntarily become your friend, and for you to resist… How else can I describe it other than idiotic?"

Seiji smiled upon finishing.

Kazufuru Ooike was surprised for a moment as his brain worked at analyzing what Seiji meant, before he suddenly came to an epiphany.

Yeah… Harano was right!

All he had to do was change his way of thinking slightly, and he had to admit that Harano had a point.

He had previously viewed Seigo Harano as a strong enemy to be defeated, but Harano had never truly opposed him in any way… Not only that, there was the possibility of Harano becoming his ally!

Kazufuru Ooike's expression contorted.

'Just where did I go wrong? I… at such a crucial junction, I… actually became stupid!?'

Seiji silently watched the delicate and pretty boy's expression change in front of him.

'Kazufuru has a slightly twisted personality, but it's not too severe. With how he is, even if he remains like this, it probably won't be a problem. As long as he receives enough experience in the future, or if a difficult situation befalls him, he should be able to realize his own faults. He thinks he's better than others, he thinks he's so smart, and he thinks he's the best… he believes that he's a special existence—this is a common thought process that many young people possess before reaching maturity; it's especially common among middle schoolers. Combine it with some strange behaviors, and you get what's commonly known as middle schooler syndrome.

Kazufuru Ooike… to put it simply, he never awoke from his middle schooler syndrome, and he never saw through a few specific flaws in his personality.

With Seiji's life experience, he could see through even the twin witches that concealed their true selves so deeply from others, so of course an immature brat like Kazufuru Ooike was simple for him to understand.

Seeing as how this model student didn't seem to have a rotten personality at his core, Seiji wanted to help him out a little… But Seiji preferred abstaining from such activities as he wasn't used to them.

It wasn't like he was Great Teacher Onizuka or anything.

'Let's prank this guy one last time, then that'll be enough.'

"Harano-kun…"

Kazufuru Ooike seemed to finally understand what Seiji meant as he carefully considered his words.

"You're too late, Ooike-san." Seiji purposefully showed a cold smile.

"I originally wasn't your enemy to begin with, but you kept showing me enmity for no apparent reason and kept resisting against my friendliness towards you… So, I apologize, but I'm already tired of you. So, as you wish, we're no longer 'friends' anymore. You're free, Ooike-san; go do as you like."

Seiji waved his hand casually as he turned to leave.

"Wait… Please wait, Harano-kun…"

Kazufuru Ooike's expression changed drastically as he hurriedly rushed to catch up to Seiji.

"Everything… everything was my bad, I was… a bit mistaken, so…"

Seiji ignored him and continued walking onward.

A wave of anxiety rushed over Kazufuru Ooike upon seeing Seiji's apathetic attitude.

He was already at a bottleneck in improving his relationship with Natsuya, and this mysterious transfer student might be a breakthrough point… Perhaps he was even the only breakthrough point!

And Kazufuru, due to falling victim to negative emotions such as jealousy and fear, automatically listed him as an enemy… A love rival.

But thinking it over more closely, Seigo Harano had never showed any special feelings for Natsuya Yoruhana!

At the very least, in the past week, Kazufuru had never heard him talk about the subject of the president, nor did he hear anything about this topic from the other students. Rather, he heard several times that Seigo Harano had informed the other female students in class that he didn't have any special relationship with President Yoruhana.

Considering the fact that President Yoruhana helped him transfer in, they definitely had some kind of relationship with each other, but it was not a romantic one—if they were romantically connected, it should've become a hot topic in school long ago!

Kazufuru inwardly beat himself up. For some pointless negative emotions that were common during puberty, he overlooked such an obvious fact and made a huge mistake.

Had he been infected by the other students who were much lower in ability than he was? Those idiotic morons who held envy, fear, or hatred towards Seigo Harano… Had those low-class emotions really infected him!?

How could it be possible!? He should have remained calm and in control, without being affected by the atmosphere! But imperceptibly, he had become just like those idiots.

It's all those guys' fault! Kazufuru was furious at them.

But no matter what, objectively speaking, he made a crucial mistake just as Seigo Harano mentioned.

Seigo Harano hoped for his assistance in being able to get along better with everyone in class, and in exchange, Seigo would be able to help him improve his relationship with the president… This should've been a mutually beneficial relationship for both of them, but he resisted it for an idiotic reason and had ultimately ruined things!

Kazufuru put himself in Seigo Harano's shoes and thought about it. If it was him voluntarily approaching another person with a good deal in hand but receiving only an unfriendly response, he, too, would feel anger and treat the other person with cold condescension as well.

He believed that Seigo Harano was currently feeling such emotions.

'Damn it! I… How could I make such a low-level mistake!!'

Kazufuru Ooike bit his lips.

"S… sorry, Harano-kun! I was wrong for everything before. I'm… sincerely begging for your forgiveness!"

He tried to speak as loud as possible without attracting the attention of any other nearby students as he apologized to Seiji's back.

Seiji halted his footsteps.

"I've received your apology." Seiji didn't turn around, leaving Kazufuru with a view of his back. "But if I forgive you so easily, will you believe me?" He questioned.

"Er…" Kazufuru paused for a moment in surprise as he regretfully ground his teeth.

"Feel free to get going, Ooike-san. There's no need to waste your time standing behind me." Seiji lightly left behind one last sentence as he continued striding forward again.

Kazufuru was left rooted on the spot, filled with regret as he watched Seiji leave.

Seiji dismissed the model student Secretary Kazufuru Ooike from his mind as he left him standing there.

The important thing now was his upcoming conversation with President Yoruhana.

Seiji arrived at the student council room once again.

"Excuse me." He entered the room.

To his surprise, he discovered another person seated beside Natsuya Yoruhana in the student council room.

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Chapter 51: Snow Girl

Translator: imperfectluck Editor: vb24

The student council vice president, Hitaka Shuho.

As a red-haired, red-eyed beauty, her outer appearance was already quite flashy. Plus, she had something akin to a warrior's spirit emanating from her and always accompanied President Natsuya Yoruhana as if she was the president's personal bodyguard, making her relatively popular within the school.

Actually, when Seiji met her for the first time, he almost felt as if she was a swordswoman from some video game. He didn't meet her the last time he visited the student council room, so he decided to observe her closely this time around.

Hmm… She definitely had a warrior's aura, and especially now that he knew she was one of the president's Spirit-branded Retainers, Seiji wondered if she was actually a living version of Rurouni Kenshin from his previous life…

If possible, he wanted to ask her to try using Kenshin's ultimate technique…

Cough cough.* He went off on too much of a tangent.

Faced with Seiji who was obviously studying her intently, Hitaka Shuho ignored it as she was already used to such a thing.

Seiji seemed appreciative of her without showing any perverted lust, which was acceptable. However, Hitaka noticed that his eyes seemed to be shining with a strange light.

Hitaka didn't know what it was, and although she was a bit curious, as long as it wasn't enmity, she didn't really care.

"Hey, President Yoruhana." Seiji greeted Natsuya, who sat by the round table. After greeting her, he suddenly noticed two unopened luxurious-looking lunchboxes resting on the table.

"Welcome back to the student council room, Harano-kun." Natsuya smiled warmly.

"I feel bad about bothering you during lunch break." Seiji scratched his face awkwardly: "Do you two… often eat lunch here?"

"Yeah, it's nice and quiet…" Natsuya averted her gaze slightly.

"Why aren't you eating together with your friends outside?" Seiji detected something and continued asking along this line of thinking.

"Milady doesn't need useless friends." Hitaka Shuho stated coldly as she opened her mouth.

After a period of silence.

Natsuya Yoruhana sighed.

"Okay, I'll admit it… Hitaka, you don't need to clumsily cover for me any longer; it'll just make things more awkward."

"I'm not covering for you at all; there's hardly anyone that's worthy of becoming Milady's friend." Hitaka's expression showed she remained convinced of the validity of her previous statement.

Natsuya smiled wryly as she looked in Seiji's direction.

"In school, I don't have any close friends. If I wanted to, I could eat lunch together with many other students, but the atmosphere would always feel a little strange… It's not relaxing at all. Also, I… I'm not sure if I should be making friends with ordinary people. You're aware of my true identity, so… there are restrictions I must observe."

Seiji nodded sagely.

"Your worries are that of a young mistress from a powerful family."

He didn't even know how to respond as she was unexpectedly forthright with him about her situation.

A scion who could naturally eat lunches together with commoners… this scenario wasn't realistic, albeit it wasn't impossible either…

A real scion like Natsuya Yoruhana would possess excellent etiquette and appearance, not to mention her outstanding field of vision and the virtue of her self-cultivation… In conclusion, everything about her would be far above ordinary people.

Normal people would feel unworthy just by standing beside her, and even if they worked up the courage to speak to her, it would only take a few sentences before they realized the vast distance between them. It was as if a thin membrane separated them, an insurmountable wall.

As for the reverse, even if there were some rare ones among the commoners that didn't care about Natsuya's status and were willing to continuously chat about ordinary topics with her, would a lady like Natsuya really be interested in those topics?

And as for reality… there were all sorts that would appear: sycophants, those who wanted to take advantage of her or her connections, and those wanting to capture her heart, causing her to fall in love with them. If she had been a vain scion in search of flattery, it wouldn't matter, but Natsuya would most likely feel only disgust towards such people.

Finally, even if there was someone great enough to overcome all those barriers, Natsuya Yoruhana's true identity was still that of someone with mystical powers. She would always have… various worries when making friends with ordinary people that were ignorant of such powers.

Differences in social statuses simply weren't so easy to overcome.

Seiji mulled it over.

"Even though you just said you don't have any close friends, although it might be impolite for me to ask further, I'd still like to ask something: what's your opinion of Kazufuru Ooike?"

"Ooike-kun?" Natsuya tilted her head slightly before replying, "He's an above-average student and an excellent secretary."

"Apart from that?"

"Nothing else." Natsuya lightly skipped over anything else she thought of Kazufuru.

Seiji felt it was impossible for her to be incognizant of that guy's true feelings towards her. In fact, she was probably crystal-clear about it. If that was all she had to say about him, it meant…

Ooike-san, you're not even at the level of a "nice person" in her heart!!

Even Seiji felt a twinge of pity for that guy.

Well, forget about it; it had nothing to do with him.

In actuality, Seiji could've kept asking why she was studying here if she couldn't make any appropriate friends. However, he wisely avoided this question as he believed she had her own reasons; it might even end up being a minefield question!

Seiji decided to get to the main topic at hand.

"Actually, I received some information yesterday…"

He informed her of what he learned from the Juumonji group while skipping over the details of how exactly they invited him.

Natsuya Yoruhana and Hitaka Shuho silently listened to his tale.

"I didn't expect that the local mafia would have such backbone." Natsuya sighed before continuing, "Normally speaking, people like them would avoid this topic when they discover that even the police are keeping silent."

"As I expected—it has something to do with Yin Yang Masters, right?"

"Indeed." Natsuya acknowledged his assumption with a nod before she fell silent, evidently in midst of considering something.

Seiji patiently waited for her.

"The enemy is making arrangements for a large spell formation."

Natsuya finally looked back at Seiji and spoke up again.

"Arrangements for a spell formation?"

"Yes, my opponent… It's almost certain that it's my opponent who's about to challenge me to a duel who's making these arrangements. That mysterious drug is probably something used for absorbing ordinary people's spiritual energy… Although I don't know what that drug is specifically, from its description and the reactions of its users, that's probably what it's for. Gathering a large amount of spiritual energy for a massive spell is one type of preparation that a Yin Yang Master will do before a duel. In order to prevent a massive outcry, the ordinary people that have spiritual energy stolen from them won't die… nor will there be any severe aftereffects, but they'll still be permanently weakened." Natsuya sighed.

"Actually, I've already had Hitaka attempt some countermeasures, but they haven't been working well."

"Milady…" Hitaka seemed downcast: "My apologies, I was useless."

"I said it already, Hitaka—it's not your fault." Natsuya furrowed her brows as she looked meaningfully at her good friend: "If only my spells were more powerful, you would've been able to stop the enemy's Spirit-branded Retainers."

"It's because I'm not fast enough! Every time, I'm always just a little late…" Hitaka chewed on her lips, expressing her discontentment.

Seiji blinked in realization.

"So, these incidents… Those corpses were all because of the enemy's Spirit-branded Retainers?"

"Yes, the enemy is ordering their Spirit-branded Retainers to make use of those hoodlums to peddle the spiritual energy absorption drugs. As a precaution, they also cursed those hoodlums so that if there was any risk of them being discovered, or if they broke some restriction that was imposed on them, the curse would activate and kill them. I attempted to use spells to locate the enemy's retainers, but every time we were always just a minute too late, so Hitaka was unable to catch them."

Natsuya lowered her head.

"I know… I'm not good enough as a Yin Yang Master."

"No, Milady is excellent!" Hitaka wore an unhappy expression: "If it wasn't for me…"

"Don't say anything more, Hitaka—my strength is insufficient. That's an indisputable fact."

Natsuya Yoruhana raised her head again as her expression turned serious.

"I need to… work harder!"

Seiji could only look on in silence.

"Haruta-kun, tell that mafia group to cease attempting to investigate this affair, and advise them to avoid it entirely," Natsuya cautioned in a grave tone.

"The enemy will continue to use his or her Spirit-branded Retainers to do what they've been doing, and I'll try my utmost to prevent it. This is a duel between Yin Yang Masters—ordinary people shouldn't get involved."

"If they interfere… they'll be eliminated by the enemy's retainers, right?" Seiji clutched his arms.

"That's right—since it's allowed by our own rules for Yin Yang Masters to get rid of anyone that may discover their identity, the enemy's Spirit-branded Retainers will kill any interfering parties without hesitation," Natsuya stated. "Presently… we can't even find out the identity of the enemy's Spirit-branded Retainers, much less order around whoever this enemy Yin Yang Master is. All I know is that the spirit that this retainer's bonded with is most likely one of the strongest among the spirits with ice powers—Snow Girl!"

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Chapter 52: Don't Be Afraid and Step Forth!

Translator: imperfectluck Editor: vb24

Snow Girl, a medium-ranked spirit in a popular video game Seiji played before in his past life, whose main attack was an AOE crowd control…

'How nostalgic. She was the first character I received for free in that game.' A memory flashed through Seiji's mind.

Cough cough.* He went on a sidetrack again.

In Sakura Island, snow girls were a spirit that everybody had heard stories about before. According to legend, she would possess incredible beauty paired with heartless cruelty; she wouldn't even hesitate to take human lives, a frightening yet beautiful contrast.

Her appearance rate in animes in this world was very high, reaching almost 100 percent in animes regarding ghosts or spirits.

To Seiji, snow girls were the exact same legend from Japan in his previous world about the yuki-onna.

Anyway, snow girls were considered beautiful yet life-stealing existences.

"We'll meet a snow girl if we continue investigating… It sounds like a joke, but I think they'll believe me." Seiji rubbed his chin. "Let's do it like you say, then; I'll advise them to back off while doing my best to not reveal too much. But… as for you two, will you be able to deal with the enemy?"

Seiji directly faced the two adolescent girls in front of him.

Both girls remained silent.

"It doesn't seem like you have high chances… Let me ask you a different question—how do you think the situation will develop?"

He was yet again greeted by silence.

Seiji received the impression that he wouldn't be able to obtain an answer.

Just as he was about to take his leave, someone suddenly jumped onto his back and hugged him!

"Eh… Kirin?" Seiji was quite startled until he discovered that the person hugging him was the cat-eared girl who loved to appear out of nowhere!

"Rana?" Hitaka was astounded upon witnessing this sight: "Why are you…"

Much like Natsuya, Hitaka was nothing short of astonished at seeing the cat-eared girl acting so intimate with a boy she'd just met.

Rana Kirin was clinging Seiji's back like a koala bear would, and she placed her head on Seiji's shoulder while looking in Natsuya and Hitaka's direction without blinking.

"Rana…" Natsuya seemed to detect something from the cat girl's heterochromia eyes.

Silence returned for another few moments.

"Rana, hurry up and get off his back!" Hitaka called out to the cat girl.

But instead of letting go, she instead closed her eyes and rubbed her face against Seiji's.

Seiji felt like it was a bit itchy.

He had no idea why she was acting so friendly towards him, or how he should respond to her. Should he just continue standing there?

Natsuya Yoruhana sighed.

"Rana, you feel like Haruta-kun will be of assistance to us?"

"Eh?" Hitaka was surprised at this revelation.

"Meow~" Rana purred as she continued rubbing against Seiji's face.

How cute! Seiji was overwhelmed by a dose of moe.

"Milady?" Hitaka looked to Natsuya for direction.

"I don't know what Rana is thinking either, but it seems that she believes we should let Haruta-kun know more about this situation."

"How could… Even if he is a 'Haruta,' he's currently only a…"

"I know." Natsuya sighed.

Then, she fixed her gaze upon Seiji once more.

"Rana seems to believe you should hear more details… Would you really like to listen?"

From Natsuya's eyes, Seiji received the impression that this matter was not one he could simply listen to then forget about.

Should he advance further into the realm of mystical ability users?

Seiji laughed in his mind.

There was zero hesitation within him.

Even if it wasn't for the fact that the student council president who helped him was possibly in danger, and without taking into consideration the fact that he was a member of the Haruta family by blood, just Seiji's own natural curiosity would impel him to learn more about mystical powers.

After reincarnating and obtaining such an overpowered cheat, how could he possibly back down from other mystical powers!?

There was no need to be afraid; he'd simply step forward!

"Please tell me. Even if I'm not certain I can be of any help… I don't wish to watch without doing anything!" Seiji exclaimed resolutely with a firm look in his eyes.

Natsuya widened her eyes slightly.

Hitaka also showed a surprised expression.

Seiji's current imposing manner moved both of these girls that possessed mystical powers of their own.

"Alright… as you wish."

Natsuya nodded.

"Hitaka, could you pour some cups of tea for us?"

A minute later.

The three of them sat around the round table with a steaming hot cup of tea in front of each of them.

Seiji originally wanted to just hug the cat girl like last time, but she closed her eyes and fell asleep while clinging on to his back. She was just like a real koala.

Well, she didn't weigh much to him, and she was warm, soft, and cute, so he decided to leave her there!

Seiji took a sip of the president's tea for the second time. It was good tea, just like last time.

"Haruta-kun, I think you've noticed already, but we don't exactly have the upper hand." Natsuya drank some tea as well before speaking up. "The enemy's already made a move, but we still don't even know who the enemy is. We haven't even succeeded at stopping the enemy's Spirit-branded Retainer. If this situation persists as it currently is, the enemy will get closer to finishing their preparations. When the enemy challenges me to a duel, they'll be completely prepared… I think I don't need to explain what that means."

Seiji nodded in understanding.

"If it's that difficult to prevent the enemy's actions, why aren't you making your preparations? If the enemy knows how to prepare a spell formation, you should know similar techniques, right?"

"Our spell formation is already located here." Natsuya peered outside the window. "The entire Genhana High School is part of our spell formation."

'Whoa, she suddenly got the entire school involved!?'

Seiji raised his eyebrows.

"You don't appear all that shocked."

"I'm still a bit surprised… It's just that I can imagine it due to seeing so many similar plotlines in animes before."

"You're right…" Natsuya chuckled.

Her smile made Seiji recall the question he wanted to ask her the last time they met, but now wasn't an appropriate time for it.

"You can view Genhana High School as my personal castle in which I hide my identity as a Yin Yang Master. The school grounds are covered by a huge spiritual barrier, and there's many hidden magical traps awaiting any enemies. There's also many spirits and demons patrolling, both out in the open and in hiding—only those with mystical abilities are able to detect these. Hitaka and Rana are like my left and right arms while I'm the commander that's controlling everything here while only appearing to be the student council president on the surface. So this place is usually safe, which means a Yin Yang Master would be unable to invade the school in a normal situation. However, things are different in the case of a duel between Yin Yang Masters.

"Continuing to use the analogy of a castle, if I'm the one that's in a strong defensive fortress, then what the enemy is currently doing is akin to building siege weapons and arranging their armies. When they're finished with their preparations, they'll challenge me to a duel, which is equivalent to beginning their attack on my castle. You should understand now, right, Haruta-kun?"

Seiji rubbed his chin as he nodded.

The enemy would only attack her figurative castle when fully prepared. If the enemy didn't feel optimistic about their chances of winning, they wouldn't even bother to challenge her.

This also meant that when the enemy began their attack for real, there would be a high chance of her castle's defenses being unable to withstand the enemy's attack!

So the only options that Natsuya's side currently had were to either interrupt the enemy's preparations, thus disrupting their preparations to complete the spell formation necessary to attack Natsuya's castle, or to discover the enemy's identity and hideout before they finished preparing and launch a preemptive attack to defeat them!

"I… understand. The most important task right now is to stop the enemy's Spirit-branded Retainer that's currently making the preparations for a spell formation. No matter if we want to interrupt their arrangements or find out whoever this hidden enemy, the Spiritual Retainer is the only breakthrough point."

Seiji glanced at Natsuya.

"Indeed, that's right." Natsuya sighed before continuing, "But we're currently stuck with no progress on this."

Silence fell once more.

"Hypothetically speaking—just in theory…" Seiji spoke up again cautiously, "If the present situation persists, and you aren't able to prevent the enemy from finishing their preparations, what will happen to you guys when the enemy begins the attack after fully preparing? And what will happen to this school?"

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Chapter 53: Detection

Translator: imperfectluck Editor: vb24

"If the situation continues…"

Natsuya looked directly at Seiji.

"The best result will be that we repel the enemy's attack successfully and defeat them or force them to retreat. The worst result will be… that all three of us will die."

Death.

Even though Natsuya said the word in a calm tone, Seiji was still able to detect a sliver of fear deep within her.

"A duel between Yin Yang Masters… Must it always end in one of their deaths?"

"No, but as a 'duel,' both sides will use everything in their power to achieve victory, so injuries or deaths are quite common."

Natsuya slowly sipped her tea.

"As for the school, it probably won't be affected; duels between Yin Yang Masters typically don't involve normal people."

Seiji sharply analyzed Natsuya's diction.

"You say 'probably' and 'typically'—you don't sound very sure."

"…I can't say with certainty that innocents won't get harmed." Natsuya sighed before continuing: "Yin Yang Masters live by the rule of not attracting the general public's attention… but the flip side is, as long as it's not to the degree of attracting a huge amount of attention, a few deaths are permitted."

"So it's a natural thing to them like how two lions dueling might accidentally crush a few insects to death?" Seiji frowned.

He had already felt a bit uncomfortable when he viewed the pictures taken by the Juumonji group, which depicted the drug dealers who had frozen to death.

Although they were human scum that nobody cared about, were willing to be taken advantage of, and their deaths were brought about by their own greed, the fact that human lives were ruthlessly taken still had a profound effect on him.

And now, hearing that there was a possibility that his fellow students were at risk from suffering the same fate of being frozen to death, the uncomfortable feeling lingering within his heart magnified.

Seiji's frown deepened as Mika and Chiaki's faces surfaced tin his mind.

"I can now somewhat understand the reason that Milady doesn't want to make friends with ordinary students."

Natsuya smiled wryly in response.

Hitaka glared at Seiji before exclaiming, "What do you know? Milady is…"

"Hitaka!" Natsuya interrupted.

The red-haired girl could only bite her lips.

'There's something they're hiding…' Seiji could tell as it was obvious.

But if they decided not to inform him, he would remain ignorant.

"My apologies; my words may have been hurtful."

"No, what you said was a fact."

Seiji and Natsuya exchanged glances.

"In order to prevent the worst outcome, the first thing we need to do is stop the enemy's Spirit-branded Retainer." Seiji rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

Actually, he already had an idea.

The solution was quite simple; all he had to do was find out when and where the next incident involving this Spiritual Retainer would be, then load, turn back time, and notify Natsuya and Hitaka about it.

The only problem he faced with this was how to tell them!

'Should I tell them about his save and load ability?' Seiji firmly rejected this course of action in his mind; he knew that his system and the save/load power were his trump cards. He absolutely must keep it as his personal secret for his own safety.

So, should he deceive them by pretending that he had some type of power to predict the future, or that he possessed a special sense or instinct?

This seemed possible… But for an amateur like Seiji to deceive people with mystical powers like them required him to make sure his story was airtight.

So what exactly should he do?

Seiji continued to contemplate.

"You mentioned that you use a spell to locate the enemy's Spiritual Retainer—how exactly do you do it?" He inquired.

"I've set up a detection spell formation—as long as the Spirit-branded Retainer uses mystical powers within the detection area, the detection spell will automatically notify me."

"And then you'll inform Hitaka-san and order her to catch the culprit, but you're still too late on every instance… There's nobody else that can help you?"

Natsuya sighed.

"Of course I can ask my family for help, but unless I absolutely have to, I don't wish to do that."

"There seems to be a deep reason behind that…"

"Yes, I don't want to talk about it, so please don't inquire any further." Natsuya wore an uncomfortable expression as she averted her gaze.

"I'm not the type who lacks that much common sense." Seiji scratched his face. "Then, how about viewing it from a different angle—why don't you request the assistance of an ordinary person?"

"I just mentioned that ordinary people shouldn't be getting involved, right?" Natsuya looked confused as she furrowed her eyebrows: "Haruta-kun, was your attitude earlier simply faked?"

"Of course, I'm not talking about having a normal person fight a Spirit-branded Retainer or anything like that." Seiji waved his hand.

"I just want to say this: is it possible that they can support your detection formation, without catching the attention of the enemy's Spirit-branded Retainer, thus increasing the overall power of your detection spell… Is something like that possible?"

"Support…" Natsuya showed surprise at Seiji's idea before she mulled it over seriously.

Seiji wanted to drink some more tea but found that his cup was empty. He gestured to Hitaka, indicating his cup was empty and that he wanted her to pour him a refill, but she coldly ignored him.

'Ah, she doesn't like me all that much…' Seiji could only smile wryly inside his mind as he was forced to rise in order to hold the teapot. He then poured some additional tea for all three of them.

It took a minute for Natsuya to finish considering Seiji's idea.

"What you just said… is possible," she stated slowly. "I can create a talisman that will enable an ordinary person to increase the power of the detection spell, as long as it's placed on their body and they move around within the detection spell's range. However, its effectiveness is quite low, and many people are required in order to strengthen the detection spell significantly. I don't have that many people I can command… And even if I somehow managed to do so, making them walk around everywhere within the detection spell's range would be quite apparent, and the enemy's Spirit-branded Retainer might notice them."

Seiji smiled slightly as he listened attentively.

"A large amount of people that won't be noticed easily even if they're walking around on the street, right? What a coincidence! I just met a group of people yesterday that fits these criteria."

Natsuya Yoruhana blinked.

"Are you talking about the local mafia?"

"Of course I am. They're the leader of the local underground community; asking the local hoodlums that go about their business on the streets every day to do something insignificant like wearing a talisman should be quite simple for them to achieve."

"Will they be willing to help us? Normally speaking…"

"Normally speaking, they'd avoid a situation where even the police are remaining quiet about, right? But the Juumonji group is an exception! If it wasn't for the fact that they have more backbone than even the police, they wouldn't have even bothered inviting me over, nor would I have appeared in front of you like this."

Seiji extended his palms.

"They want to protect their own territory; even if they've realize that the enemy is something incomprehensible to them, they still want to know. As for their backbone and their so-called pride… Honestly, I don't understand it all that well, and perhaps looking at it from a different angle it's merely stubborn foolishness, but mafia like them really do exist! Their boss even kneeled to me and kowtowed when asking for information!

"So that's why I came to find you, and now that I know what's going on, I think that he won't refuse to help us when I give him the information that he's been seeking. Of course, he's a mafia boss, so perhaps he'll add in some extra conditions. If that's the case, you can just go ahead and have a discussion with him; I believe that you can come to an accordance with him."

Silence fell in the room as Natsuya began considering Seiji's proposal once again.

This time, she thought it over for a much shorter time.

"The mafia…" She sighed.

"Using the mafia's power… Honestly speaking, it's quite a shameful thing, but right now's not the time to be worrying about honor. The fact that my power is insufficient is indisputable. In order to compensate for my lack of power, I should set aside some of my pride as a Yin Yang Master."

"Milady…" Hitaka Shuho furrowed her brows before she viciously glared at Seiji, evidently blaming him for Natsuya's ignoble decision.

Natsuya turned and faced Seiji directly with a serious expression on her face.

"Your idea is excellent. You have my heart-felt thanks, Haruta-kun. I'm going to need to trouble you to talk to the leader of that Juumonji group once more, and request their assistance. If it's necessary, feel free to contact me if I'm needed to talk directly to their leader. I'll leave it up to you, then!"

Natsuya lowered her head towards Seiji.

"No need to be so polite with me, President Yoruhana." Seiji smiled before continuing: "It's nothing, really."

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Chapter 54: Mysterious Phone Call

Translator: imperfectluck Editor: vb24

When faced with the sunshine after leaving the student council room, Seiji suddenly felt as if he had returned to reality after a trip to fantasy land.

Of course, that was wholly due to the nature of the topic he had just been discussing.

According to his system, the idea and assistance he provided to Natsuya and Hitaka had apparently increased their favorability ratings towards him. Even Hitaka, who carried such a cold attitude towards him, now viewed him more favorably.

As for Rana Kirin, that cat girl had a super high favorability rating towards him since the beginning, but as for why? That was a mystery.

Well, there was no need to think too much into it.

Seiji took out his cell phone and made a call.

"Hey, it's me. I've confirmed I can tell you what you wanted to know. Ok, let's do that then."

After finishing his side of the conversation in a natural tone of voice, he hung up the call normally.

Nobody would have guessed that he just called a mafia boss and arranged another meeting with him. The casual way he carried it out sounded much like the way a normal high school student would call his friends to hang out and have some fun.

Only after putting away his cell phone did Seiji realize that he'd casually acted unbelievably cool a few seconds ago…

Well, forget about it.

For the current him, the most important thing was rushing back and eating lunch together with his friends.

…

He gained another 7 points from his [gifts] option today.

He obtained 2 points from two love letters and 5 points from Mika Uehara's handmade lunchbox!

The amount of points that a personally handmade lunchbox gave was even higher than a normal day's [work, which showed the full extent of the feelings imbued into the lunchbox.

Seiji gratefully enjoyed the lunchbox and made sure not to leave even a morsel of leftovers.

This made Mika feel delighted inside.

As usual, Chiaki watched over the duo, smiling both outwardly on her face and inwardly in her heart.

After they finished their lunches, there were still a few minutes before lunch break was over, so the three of them just relaxed lazily.

Suddenly, Chiaki's cell phone started ringing.

When Chiaki took out her cell phone and saw who the caller was, her expression instantly changed.

"Oh, Chiaki, what's the matter?"

Noticing that Chiaki had a strange expression as she looked at her cell phone, Mika couldn't help but question her

Chiaki returned to her senses and forced a thin smile.

"Nothing… I need to go take a phone call."

After speaking, she hurriedly walked off.

Mika widened her eyes in surprise, and Seiji also noticed something seemed peculiar.

"What's going on?"

"I don't know…" Mika paused before continuing, "I've never seen Chiaki… have such a forced smile before!"

The pigtailed beauty's face was filled with concern for her friend. They'd been best friends for all this time, but she'd never seen such an expression on Chiaki's face before, so she noticed it all the more clearly.

Judging from Mika's tone and expression, Seiji realized that the situation was probably quite serious.

"It has something to do with that phone call… Who could it be?"

The two of them could only silently watch the tomboy's back as she walked off into the distance while talking to someone on her cell phone.

During afternoon classes.

Chiaki seemed to be paying zero attention. Even an idiot could tell that her mind wasn't on the lesson, which naturally meant that the teacher also noticed.

The teacher called on her to read a passage from the textbook, but Chiaki attempted to read the textbook while holding it upside-down, eliciting an outburst of uproarious laughter from the other students.

Seiji and Mika didn't join in the laughter; instead, they exchanged glances filled with concern for their friend.

The last class of the day was P.E. class, and the topic of the class happened to be volleyball.

Smack!* The ball crashed into Chiaki's right cheek.

Smack!* The ball crashed into Chiaki's left cheek.

Smack!* The ball smashed directly into Chiaki's face.

"Chiaki Wakaba, get off the playing field!''

The P.E. teacher Oosuke Sasaki's (27 years old, unmarried, with the nickname of 'Orange Orangutan') roaring resounded throughout the entire field.

Seiji could only shake his head wordlessly. Mika hurriedly helped her friend Chiaki to sit down outside the playing field, and Chiaki immediately sat down in a contemplative pose, her chin resting against her fist.

If it wasn't for the fact that Chiaki's sudden nosebleed ruined the image, it would have been a pretty scene to look at.

"Chiaki!?"

"Wakaba-san is having a nosebleed!"

"Medic! Er… Take her to the infirmary!"

This tomboy was quite popular with both boys and girls in class, so her sudden nosebleed caused a small commotion.

A girl brought out some tissues which Mika accepted and used to staunch the bleeding as she slowly supported Chiaki, helping her to the nurse's office.

"Harano-san, what's going on with Wakaba-san?" The class representative Koji Hoshihara approached Seiji and inquired about the situation.

Seiji could only shake his head since he, too, was ignorant of what had previously transpired.

Who was that call from, and what did that person say to Chiaki? With their words they had managed to turn the heartless Chiaki… er, no, the lively and direct Chiaki Wakaba into a melancholy girl…

Seiji was quite curious.

After school.

All the other students had already left.

Chiaki remained in the classroom. She had even skipped drama club, and now sat listlessly in a daze, with her chin resting on her fist, gazing at something outside the window.

There was nothing outside but milky-white clouds in a blue sky… Could it have triggered some sort of memory within her?

It was truly a striking scene.

Seiji took out his cell phone and silently took a picture.

"You're taking a picture!?" Mika scolded him.

"Because I've never seen her like this. It's quite rare… Would you like a copy?"

"No! Stop joking!" Mika was getting angry.

"But she's not telling us anything, so there's nothing we can do." Seiji sighed before speaking: "She's not even responding to jokes—how about trying a perverted joke instead?"

"Don't do that!" Mika seemed slightly embarrassed.

"Sigh…" Chiaki finally moved, and she sighed while letting her head collapse onto her desk.

"Chiaki…" Mika went over to her out of concern.

"Oh, Mika, Seigo… you guys still haven't left?"

"Seeing the way you are, how could we possibly leave you!?"

"I… I'm fine. I was just thinking about some things." Chiaki smiled wryly.

"It was a phone call from your debtor, but you have no money, so that's why you must now escape, and you were wondering about whether or not to run away tonight… Something like that?" Seiji expressionlessly blurted out a long sentence without any pauses.

"That's way too long! And so cliché!" Chiaki retorted reflexively.

"Then are you considering about what sex position to debut with for your first pornography video?"

"What a terrible lame excuse of a joke!"

Mika was rendered speechless upon hearing this exchange.

Seiji and Chiaki exchanged a glance before they both burst out into laughter.

"If you still have enough energy to comment about lame jokes, then it means it's not something as terrible as the world is ending, so I can relax," Seiji remarked.

Chiaki sighed before speaking, "Even though I want you guys to stop worrying about me, but to stop so suddenly… it makes me feel a little sad as well…"

"My concern for others shuts down at 3:30 in the afternoon," Seiji retorted.

"Don't talk about emotions like it's a part-time job!" Chiaki rebuked.

Seiji snorted disdainfully. "How bothersome… I'll just have to trouble myself to worry about you a little longer."

He then slapped the desk while exaggeratedly tilting his head 45 degrees: "Now hurry up and tell me, or you won't have a chance anymore! Just who was it that was calling you!?"

"Don't pretend that this is a police interrogation!" Chiaki responded forcefully.

She then followed up her words with a sigh.

"Man, my girlish heart which rarely appears was ruined by you, Seigo."

"You have such a thing?"

"I'm gonna get mad!"

Smack!* Chiaki punched Seiji lightly.

"Hmph, your combat ability is a paltry five points." He pretended to adjust some fictional glasses as he spoke condescendingly.

"Are you ever going to stop!?" Chiaki and Mika shouted in unison.

Seiji finally stopped acting like a clown.

Cough cough.*

Now that her friends seemed ready to listen to her seriously, Chiaki broke out into a coughing fit. After she finished, she turned her gaze towards the two of them.

"Um… actually… I…" She scratched her face awkwardly.

"Now that I have to say it… I'm feeling embarrassed, hehe…" The tomboy acted bashfully.

Mika and Seiji were lost for words.

What the hell!!

Just as Mika's eyes were turning hollow and Seiji's cheek was beginning to twitch, Chiaki scratched her hair forcefully.

"Fine, I'll say it! I'll talk! Actually, that phone call… was from… my ex-girlfriend!"

Oh, so that was how it was.

Hm? Wait, something seemed a little… ex-girlfriend?

Ex-girlfriend!?

Chapter 55: Ex-Girlfriend

Translator: imperfectluck Editor: vb24

"Ex-girlfriend, you say?"

Seiji sat opposite from Chiaki; he was currently seated in a reversed chair, supporting his chin with both hands as he stared directly at her.

"That's right, ex-girlfriend." Chiaki sighed.

"What type of ex-girlfriend?"

"Probably… Exactly the type that you're thinking about."

"Ah, so you swung that way!"

"Well, accurately speaking, I'm actually bisexual." Chiaki also propped up her face with her hands and suddenly revealed a sultry expression: "By the way, I've never had an ex-boyfriend~"

Seiji was rendered speechless by her abrupt display of emotion.

Mika's face slowly began to redden.

"C… Chiaki, honestly…"

"Oh my, was it too much stimulation for our innocent and lovely Mika?" Chiaki chuckled as she looked towards her friend's direction. "That's exactly why I never told you… Well, of course it was also because I didn't want to talk about it."

"I have a premonition; a strong prediction that the following content may be mid-level restricted, or maybe even powerful high-level restricted access content," Seiji said in a mock-serious tone. "So, Mika, go ahead and leave first! Don't mind me; I'll stay behind and take the hit for you… Come, Chiaki! Give me your best shot!"

"Seigo… no, Seiji, your face is distorting!" Mika coldly glanced at the boy who was currently acting slightly idiotic and showing a hint of anticipation for the upcoming steamy topic.

"Haha, it's nothing like that. It's only low-level restricted content; as I was still purer back then, I didn't do anything too overboard." Chiaki rubbed her cheek in embarrassment.

'She really did do it with a girl before!?'

Seiji and Mika both felt like they suffered a serious impact before Seiji began cackling, while Mika's blush deepened even more.

"While I was in middle school, I was at Shimizu Middle School, which was a supposed high-class girls' school that prided itself on its dormitories, discipline, and high grades." Chiaki recalled her past. "When I first began attending there, I was already a rather boyish girl. I didn't want to change myself even in that environment, no matter how the teachers lectured me. Perhaps because it was during my rebellious phase, I turned even more boyish. I was very popular with the girls, so I pretended I was like an actual boy and attempted to get close to them, and… doing some certain things with them."

"Could you add some more details about the last part?"

"Seiji!"

The idiotic boy was forced to close his mouth with a slap to the face.

"That may have been the best time of my life! Middle school girls are so soft and delicious~"

"Chiaki!"

The idiotic girl was also suppressed with a smack.

Judge Mika placed both hands on her hips as she viciously glared at both of her friends.

"Talk only about the important things."

"Yes, ma'am…" Chiaki rubbed her head where she was smacked.

"At any rate, back then, I was basically a girl acting like a boy. In fact, I was a bit of a playboy: I dated various cute girls, doing this and that, and lost myself in their admiration and flirtation."

'What an envious lifestyle!' Seiji kept his mouth tightly shut, but he shouted a comment inside his heart.

If it wasn't for the fact that Chiaki was a girl, this type of experience would probably stir intense feelings of jealousy within many boys.

But unless you were a girl, you wouldn't be able to go to a girls' school… Although that wasn't always necessarily the case…

"And so, I became a second-year middle school student. But that's when I met her."

Seiji returned to his senses since Chiaki continued to tell her story.

"She was different from the other girls around me… She was exceedingly beautiful and gave others a quiet impression. She wasn't particularly friendly with me, nor did she dislike me. She had a few friends she would converse with, but she also often read books by herself. She… I don't know when, but she became a special existence to me."

Chiaki looked outside the window as she muttered; it was obvious that she was lost in her recollections.

Seiji and Mika exchanged glances and allowed Chiaki to continue uninterrupted.

"After discovering that I had completely fallen in love with her, I began trying my best to vie for her love. This was obviously a difficult process, since towards me… no, towards everybody, there was a type of distance she kept from us all. I stopped all my interactions with every girl I was intimate with and concentrated fully on her; I tried every method I could think of, but I was rejected on every instance. This situation persisted until my third year in middle school."

Chiaki paused and slowly stood up, without taking her gaze from the scenery outside the window.

"Due to my constant advances, her attitude did soften towards me, but even so, I failed to see any hope with her. I didn't have any ideas how I should progress, so I thought that perhaps being able to befriend her would be a good result. However, on one night…"

Chiaki's face had a complex, contradictory expression that seemed like a half-smile, half-frown and was happy yet lonely.

"After that night… the relationship between us changed. Even though I wondered what happened to her, I was happier at being able to finally get closer to her. We became… lovers, and when I said that out in public, she didn't deny it either. We stuck together for a long, long time, and made many pleasant memories. Until… our graduation approached."

Chiaki's expression turned downcast.

"I thought that we'd be able to continue going to the same high school together and have more fun times. But, she… told me many things. Afterwards, I was disconsolate, and I wept uncontrollably. She also shed many, many tears, but her attitude remained resolute. And so… we broke up. She didn't go to the high school attached to that school, and as if I was escaping, I transferred schools as well."

Chiaki finally stopped gazing out the window, instead fixing her gaze on her two good friends once again.

"I never changed my cell phone number… I probably should have changed it and deleted her number. But, just earlier… I received a phone call from her."

The tomboy forced herself to laugh and hid her melancholy expression.

"What do you think? It's not much of a story, right?"

Mika's face was bright red, and she was evidently lost for words.

"Indeed, it's not much of a story… You skipped over all the juicy parts! Wakaba-sensei, you're skimping on the word count!"

"Oh my, I'm so sorry! The final edition is still in the writing process, so please wait a little longer~"

"Please tell me the expected publication date!"

"Oh, in approximately 100 years or so."

"That's way too late!" Seiji clutched his head.

Mika silently watched the two of them playing around.

"So, what do you intend to do about the second season?" Seiji suddenly stopped joking around and asked in a serious tone.

"Mm… It doesn't count as a second season. I think at the very most it will only be a special extra episode." Chiaki tilted her head. "Honestly, even now I don't know what I should do about her."

Her tone was simultaneously self-deprecating and helpless.

"The phone call was most likely about wanting to meet you again… or something like that." Seiji observed her expression and advised solemnly, "Then go and meet her! If things go well, you can get back together again; if not, you can just treat it as meeting an old friend."

"You make it sound so easy…" Chiaki pouted.

This was the first time that she'd ever used such an expression, and it was actually quite cute.

"Then you don't want to go?"

"I didn't say that either…"

Seiji tugged at his lips.

"Fine then; just stay conflicted! When you're done deciding, let me know. I still need to go to work, so see you later!"

"You're so heartless! Abandoning me at such a time; have you forgotten about all those marvelous days and nights we spent together?" Chiaki complained jokingly.

"I haven't spent any evenings together with you! Don't say it like we have a relationship that could be easily misunderstood!"

After commenting forcefully as always, Seiji turned around and waved.

"Sorry guys, but I really do need to go work now; the highest-level person is waiting for me."

Although Seiji's words didn't contain any falsehoods, Mika and Chiaki naturally assumed he was referring to the confectionery store owner. They would never have imagined that he was talking about a mafia boss.

The two beauties watched Seiji leave the classroom.

"Sheesh… That Seiji, always joking around." Mika sighed.

"He's trying his best in his own way to help my melancholia dissipate." Chiaki's lips arced upwards: "I'm quite thankful to him; it's really comforting to have him by our sides."

"Chiaki…" Mika glanced at her friend and was forced to admit that if it had just been the two of them, the atmosphere wouldn't have been this relaxed.

Indeed, she was still unable to follow their leads.

Perhaps she should seriously try to study forceful retorts and casual jokes? The pigtailed girl was soon trapped in this line of thought.

Chiaki continued to stare in the direction Seiji left from as her eyes glistened with an indescribable light. After a while, she finally squinted warily at Mika.

"Mika, I need to apologize to you beforehand."

"Hmm?"

"Because… I want Seiji to become my boyfriend."

Mika couldn't comprehend what she had just heard.

A few seconds later.

"Eh? EHHH—" Her panicked shouting resounded throughout the entire classroom.

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Chapter 56: Your Name

Translator: imperfectluck Editor: vb24

After leaving school, Seiji walked to the construction site from yesterday and boarded a car owned by the Juumonji group.

When he reached their residence, he entered Michirou Juumonji's study again and began to recount the story that he had prepared to Michirou, in order to enable the Juumonji group to understand the current situation. Seiji made sure not to reveal too many details.

As Michirou Juumonji expressed his gratitude, Seiji took the opportunity to request his assistance, and it didn't take much considering on Michirou's part for him to readily agree.

This was doubtlessly the best outcome.

In fact, the proceedings were uncannily smooth. This gave Seiji a peculiar feeling about the whole scenario.

Michirou Juumonji was a mafia boss, and even though he treated Seiji politely, it should have been obvious that there was something more behind this request. Seiji didn't expect Michirou to acquiesce so easily.

Although Seiji considered it strange, he didn't display anything untoward on his face. At any rate, as long as Michirou agreed, Seiji considered his mission successful.

Afterwards, Michirou invited Seiji to stay for dinner, but Seiji refused, saying he was busy.

Surprisingly, yet again, Michirou didn't insist; all he did was speak a sentence filled with deep meaning as they parted ways.

"In the future, I hope that… Haruta-sama will take excellent care of my daughter and son, and give them lots of advice."

Seiji failed to grasp the profound meaning behind this sentence.

Forget about it; it was fine as long as Michirou agreed to provide his assistance.

"President, the Juumonji group has agreed to help us."

Seiji called the president to make a report while he walked towards the confectionery shop.

"There were no problems; everything went really well… Although the mafia boss's attitude was slightly strange, it shouldn't be anything of concern. I'll accept your gratitude. I didn't really do anything all that amazing; just take it as me repaying your favor."

'Let's just leave it at that.' Seiji relaxedly hung up his cell phone.

On the other side of the call, Natsuya, who was still in the student council room, was the complete opposite of relaxed.

The extremely difficult problem she previously faced now had a hope of being resolved due to the boy who had just called her. As long as she was able to quickly mass-produce as many talismans as possible to enhance her detection spell, she'd be able catch the enemy's Spirit-branded Retainer efficiently!

"I owe him a huge favor…"

The lady scion with sleek, long black hair was seated in the chair reserved for the student council president. She currently wore a different type of frustrated expression.

Although Seiji Haruta acted like it wasn't a big deal to him, and perhaps it wasn't that difficult for him, Natsuya regarded his assistance with this matter a huge favor for her.

If it wasn't for Seiji's help, and the current situation persisted, Natsuya would be forced to use her last resort plan. Except from that, she didn't have any other methods left. And even if she used her final trump card, there was still a chance of failure.

If the present situation developed without changing, the end result could have devastating consequences for Natsuya and her two Spiritual Retainers, Hitaka and Rana… The ending was so horrifying that Natsuya didn't even dare to consider it.

So, no matter how Seiji Haruta viewed this affair, this definitely wasn't a small favor at all in Natsuya Yoruhana's eyes.

Giving him money would be the most direct method, but the lady scion with sleek, long black hair felt like that would be insulting to him.

If Seiji Haruta had wanted money, he probably would have asked for it already with his direct personality. However, he hadn't asked for money nor had he requested for anything else, which meant that he was truly helping her out of friendship.

Natsuya wanted to repay his sincerity with her own.

So that was why she was now faced with a difficult problem.

Ever since her birth, Natsuya Yoruhana, a beautiful, brilliant scion and the Genhana High School Student Council President, had never even once had the experience of showing her true self to a boy!

How should she display her appreciation to a boy who'd given her so much help? She wanted to give a gift that wasn't cliché; one that would make him delighted in addition to showing her gratitude and sincerity… Giving such a heartfelt gift was something she'd never even had to think about before!

"Hitaka, tell me—how should I return his favor?" After being frustrated with this problem for a while, she sought the advice of the red-haired girl beside her.

Hitaka Shuho regarded Natsuya with a blank gaze.

'Fine! My friend and Spirit-branded Retainer is even less experienced than me in this topic! I'm really an idiot for attempting to ask her,' Natsuya commented inwardly.

But she really didn't know what to do… Should she just send him a pile of otaku goods as a gift?

In the end, this was the best idea that she could come up with.

'Forget about it; let's think it over later. Right now the most important thing is creating as many talismans as possible!'

Finally, Natsuya chose to avoid her problem for the time being.

…

After finishing his work shift, Seiji returned home.

He didn't see Hoshi Amami at work today, but Seiji didn't put any thought into it, since he figured they'd meet again sooner or later anyways.

In his apartment, after grinding [write a diary] and [draw] like usual, Seiji put on his mask and opened his live-stream.

"Cat-loving Flying Fish" instantly joined his stream.

She instantly greeted him with a long string of angry and condescending emoticons.

Seiji chuckled.

"Where did you disappear to last night!? Idiot streamer! Stupid streamer!" A long comment, flashing with vivid colors, appeared on Seiji's computer screen.

"It's too long to explain. I had quite an eventful day yesterday, with various situations popping up at school, before I ended up getting invited to a mafia boss's home for a discussion, and finally, I was stuck in some fierce battles; I didn't have any spare time at all!"

'Yep, I didn't lie at all! The fierce battles are referring to the all-nighter of games I played together with Hisashi Juumonji. I'm such an honest person,' Seiji inwardly flattered himself.

"You're just making it all up!!!"

He was once again peppered with a stream of vividly colored exclamation marks, combined with another long line of angry and condescending emojis.

'Sigh, why is it that nobody these days believes the truth on the internet?'

Seiji pretended to act hurt.

"I'm not lying—why don't you believe me?"

"Who'd believe that!? Hmph, you probably forgot the time while playing games together with someone and accidentally pulled an all-nighter!"

The bright words flying across his screen saw through half of the truth.

"My apologies, but you're completely wrong, beautiful Flying Fish…" Seiji shook his finger at his webcam and acted cold and haughty.

"I didn't forget the time, nor was it an accident. It was… I got to know a new rich otaku friend and intentionally stayed over at his place for an all-nighter!"

He revealed his secret.

"Go to hell—!"

An endless stream of colorful comments and countless emoticons drowned his entire screen.

Seiji laughed out loud.

Ever since he began live-streaming, it'd been one week since he met this cute spectator of his.

He'd already become internet friends with her.

Apart from live-streaming, they also chatted occasionally on other messaging devices. Although they didn't communicate frequently, Seiji felt like they were quite compatible with each other.

He wasn't certain if she felt the same way, but judging by her words, it seemed highly likely.

If this was in real life, they could become even closer friends, but this was the internet.

She didn't seem to intend to become any closer than this to him, and Seiji cooperated by doing the same, so they just casually chatted about their hobbies, the news, and whatever struck their fancies.

At any rate, she was a pretty good internet friend, but in the end, she was only an internet friend.

Hmm… Only…?

To be honest, Seiji had already considered another possibility.

Perhaps… this girl behind the screen was actually… a person that the original Seiji knew!

Because they were remarkably compatible with each other!

Ever since that song "Snail and Sparrow," any old songs, movies, comics, animes, games, and everything from their childhoods—whatever they liked and hated—the reasons for liking and hating… every detail seemed to be the same.

It was almost as if they were childhood playmates who had been separated and coincidentally met again on the internet after growing up.

In the teeming sea of people out there, meeting someone with the exact same interests as you wasn't impossible.

But, wasn't it also likely that the two of them actually knew each other, grew up in the same environment at the same time, and played together? They saw and liked the same things together and hated the same things together… Wasn't that a possibility as well?

Which of the two possibilities was a greater one?

'Hey, Cat-loving Flying Fish, do we actually know each other? Could I ask your name in real life?' Seiji thought to himself.

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Chapter 57: Cat

Translator: imperfectluck Editor: vb24

There's a legendary cat known as "Schrodinger's cat."

The simple explanation about it was that unless a subjective observer made an observation, the result would be uncertain.

Although it sounded fantastical, it was actually high-level theoretical quantum physics, and that was the subtlest part about it.

Schrodinger's cat was comparable with Cat-loving Flying Fish's current situation.

After her personal observations, she still couldn't decipher if the person across the screen from her was, as she imagined, a person she previously knew.

The boy with the silver mask that she'd only known for one week was one of the strangest live-streamers she's ever seen, as he was satisfied with her as his only spectator for the entire week…

At first, she simply thought that this boy was cute and funny, then she discovered that they had many common interests; but now, she was beginning to suspect something.

Ever since that "Snail and Sparrow" song, there were so many small details that they were coincidentally complementary on.

In the teeming sea of people out there, meeting someone with the exact same interests as you wasn't impossible. But, wasn't it also likely that the two of them actually knew each other?

Cat-loving Flying Fish was having the exact same thought as Seiji. She couldn't figure out which of the two possibilities seemed more likely.

She thought about it from the angle of some sort of plot to ensnare her as well, thinking that perhaps this boy was targeting her for some reason, but the more she thought about it and the more she chatted with him, she believed this scenario wasn't the case.

But it still wasn't impossible, since if a scammer was serious about it, such a plot seemed possible.

That was the reason behind her current indecisiveness.

Cat-loving Flying Fish was hesitating whether or not she should confirm his identity.

If he really was a perfect stranger who coincidentally had the same interests, then it was fine, and they could continue being friends and improve their relationship.

But what if he was someone she knew, or a boy that was targeting her to capture her heart, or he had some other nefarious intention?

For the first, depending on who he was, it could have various outcomes. If he was specifically targeting her, then it would be as if she had poked a bubble—it would pop, and he would disappear.

She genuinely enjoyed chatting with him and enjoyed hearing him sing and watching him dance, even though he was nothing special.

But the moment she tried to confirm his identity, everything might change.

Schrodinger's cat.

Her internet username "Cat-loving Flying Fish" didn't have anything to do with the legendary Schrodinger's cat whose concept was even in this parallel world, but she didn't expect that such a situation much like Schrodinger's cat would arise.

The state of life or death of the cat would be decided by an observer.

And the relationship between her and him would be decided by her observations.

She couldn't bring herself to observe anymore and confirm his identity.

Nobody had ever truly observed Schrodinger's cat before, so even now, nobody knew if that cat was living or dead.

She could copy that.

If everything would end if she observed the result, then all she had to do was remain passive.

Although she wouldn't be able to improve her relationship with him if she couldn't confirm his identity, that didn't really matter. It was just an internet friendship to begin with; there was no need to make it any deeper.

'Yep, this will be fine.'

Cat-loving Flying Fish decided to continue raising this cat.

'Well, forget it. I won't think too much into it.'

Simultaneously, from across the screen, Seiji also made the same decision to give up on asking her name and identity after some hesitation.

Sometimes, leaving a bit of mystery would be more romantic.

The two of them made the exact same decision without even discussing it.

"My apologies. I'm so sorry for leaving you alone last night, beautiful Flying Fish… But now it's time for my singing performance. Milady, which song would you like to hear tonight?"

Seiji grinned widely as he talked to the computer screen.

…

The next day.

Kaho Miyamoto quietly got out of her bed, put on some clothes comfortable to exercise in, washed her face, and was about to go out for her morning jog.

However, she saw her older sister at the door.

Karen Miyamoto.

With sleek brown hair tied in a ponytail, a beautiful oval-shaped face, thin and dainty eyelashes, soft and gentle orange-colored eyes, a small birthmark that just happened to be at the corner of her right eye, and attractive luscious lips that were gently smiling, Karen Miyamoto was a beauty that embodied the ideal of a Yamato Nadeshiko.

But for the opposite gender, the first thing they would notice about her wasn't her serene beauty, but rather what was underneath her own workout clothes—the two bulging mounds that her clothing completely failed to conceal!

Her large breast size was just too obvious; even if all she did was stand there with her arms folded, it would still make her breasts stand out like a pair of ripe fruits!

"Good morning, Kaho."

Seeing her beautiful sister smile and wave towards her, Kaho's shoulders instantly drooped.

Kaho loved her older sister, but the thing she hated the most in the world was standing by her sister's side!

Not only was her older sister beautiful, Karen had a gentle yet resolute personality and was skilled at just about everything.

Karen was skilled at housework and helping their parents out at work. She was a good athlete, had high grades, and she was even adept at making friends; in conclusion, Karen Miyamoto was perfect in everything.

Kaho Miyamoto could only pale in comparison—even though she was actually decent at everything, she would only seem like an idiot when compared to her sister.

When they were still little, Kaho would always stick by her sister's side. However, thanks to constant comparisons with her sister, cruel reality attacked Kaho's heart, distancing her from her sister and changing her into a loner obsessed with otaku things. She stopped caring about her personal appearance and finally turned into a fat otaku girl.

During this process, her parents lectured her countless times about learning from her older sister, being as hard-working as her older sister, and living like her older sister… It was so annoying!!!

Kaho was aware that her parents were right, and she also knew that her sister didn't do anything wrong, but she was so annoyed at everything that she didn't want to listen or build a closer relationship with her sister.

Her parents' attempts at persuasion and her sister's gentle demeanor would only cause her to feel pain and frustration, even if she was clear that her family didn't do anything wrong, and it was her who was in the wrong.

But those were her feelings.

She shut herself in, just like a tiny animal living in a dark corner, and continued to eke out an existence by herself.

Until that day.

"Yes, you're rather fat and somewhat disgusting."

"But so what?"

"I'm already used to someone that's 100 times more disgusting than you are. I'm talking about myself."

"I didn't expect to become this handsome—I only intended to lose some weight."

"Please let it remain a secret for me."

"Because you're the same type as me."

That impossibly handsome boy had been reaching out to with his hand while smiling in the brilliant sunshine.

"Will you be my friend, Miyamoto-san?"

That moment was like a beautiful fantasy to her.

It had been just like a dream, but it was all real!

She was the only one who'd ever learned of the boy's secret.

Neither the bright and shiny pigtailed girl nor the charismatic tomboy that were always by his side knew this about him!

This was something that belonged only to her; it was her personal experience, a dreamlike… reality.

She wanted to hold onto that hand of his.

But she couldn't.

She felt like she'd contaminate him if she impulsively touched that boy who was shining so brightly after he'd finally managed to break free from his dark past following his great effort to change himself.

Even if he didn't really mind.

Especially because he didn't mind.

She wanted to change herself!

She wanted to hard at losing weight, learn how to put on makeup, buy some new clothes, and become prettier.

Change herself to the degree where he'd be rather surprised, before appearing in front of him, saying: "Look at me, I've become beautiful!"

He'd definitely laugh at her saying how silly she was, but he'd probably be mentally praising her at the same time.

That's when she'd finally be able to happily reach her hand out to him and say—"Please be friends with me!"

"Honestly, did you reject me the first time because you wanted to do this?"

He'd probably say that while laughing and taking her hand.

"You shocked me—I've lost to you, Miyamoto-san…"

With that fantasy in mind, and convinced that she could make it a reality, Kaho Miyamoto was currently working hard towards her goal.

In the past week, she'd been secretly exercising and decreasing her food intake appropriately.

The change was clearly noticeable. In just one week, she'd lost more weight than she expected, which gave her more confidence that she could succeed.

However… it was only natural that she'd be found out.

Kaho sighed; it was evident her older sister was intentionally waiting for her there.

"Good morning, Sister… What are you waiting here for?"

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Chapter 58: Goal

Translator: imperfectluck Editor: vb24

"I… I'd like to go running together with you, Kaho… Is that alright?" Karen Miyamoto spoke up cautiously.

"That won't be necessary. Go ahead and get some more sleep, Sister, or prepare breakfast or something," Kaho replied in a disinterested tone while walking past Karen.

"Breakfast's already been prepared." Karen followed her younger sister while speaking in a weak voice.

'Just how early did you wake up!?' Kaho helplessly thought as she failed to think of a suitable retort.

She knew what her older sister wanted, but it really wasn't necessary for her sister to do things to such a degree!

"If it's already finished, then go back and rest."

"But… I want to have a morning jog together with Kaho."

"I already said it's not necessary! Your weight is fine—there's no reason for you to exercise more, so don't tire yourself out needlessly."

After she finished speaking, Kaho began jogging.

"I won't get tired!"

Karen began jogging as well, causing her ample chest to jiggle.

"Kaho… you've changed recently. I'm so happy, and I want to do things together with you…"

"Why be together? We're not little kids anymore!" Kaho increased her running speed.

"This doesn't have anything to do with our age!" Karen also sped up, causing her breasts to bounce up and down even more violently.

"Even though I don't know the reason, my younger sister's begun to make an effort to change herself and is currently working hard. Naturally, as your older sister, I should…"

"That's pointless!" Kaho glared at her sister.

"It has meaning to me!" Karen glared back at her: "It does, to me!"

"You're being unreasonable!''

"Is there something wrong with a girl that wants to be together with her sister!?"

"Karen, don't say something that could be misunderstood as a double entendre!"

"I don't know, I just… I just want to be by your side, Kaho—"

Honestly, what an annoying sister.

A wet glimmer sparkled in Kaho's eyes.

'You're so perfect, so I feel like I'm nobody when I'm standing next to you. But, as a family member, you're the best sister I could ask for!'

"Forget it. If you want to follow me, just come along…"

"Kaho!" Karen was delighted.

"Hey! Don't pull my hand while we're running! Your chest is getting in my way, let go—"

The sisters ran down the street at dawn, into the rising sun…

The end.

The end—what the hell!?

This wasn't a cliché idol drama!

When Kaho arrived at school, she felt fatigued as she'd overexerted herself and spent her "youth" together with her sister earlier this morning.

But she instantly saw someone that could have come right out of an idol drama, which erased all her weariness.

Seigo Harano.

He looked handsome today as usual. It was almost as if he was shining brightly. He walked into the school grounds chatting and laughing together with the tomboy prince Chiaki Wakaba from the drama club as well as the cute and lovely girl next-door-type who was surprisingly innocent, Mika Uehara.

With the gentle sunshine beaming down upon the three of them, if someone took a cell phone picture of them right now, it would probably be mistaken as a scene right out of an idol drama.

After all, that was just how brilliantly each of them seemed to be shining!

Kaho Miyamoto stared at his face for a long period of time.

Suddenly, he seemed to detect something and turned his head in her direction!

Then, before she could even react, he smiled and nodded at her.

Wah!

Kaho hurriedly averted her gaze and felt her face was burning hot.

'He noticed me! He even smiled towards me. How embarrassing…'

"Hey hey, was Harano-kun just smiling in this direction?"

"It seemed like it? Who was he smiling towards?"

"I don't know… But he's so handsome! Just like an idol."

"I know! He's so tall and strong, and he seems reliable as well—it's amazing!"

The girls around her were gossiping idly.

'He smiled towards me!'

A sense of pride welled up in Kaho, combined with some other complex emotions.

Harano-san was so popular.

He was handsome, had a nice body, a good personality, and he wasn't bad at academics… Not to mention his physical ability that was way overboard… Kaho still remembered what happened two days ago when he had been surrounded by all those club presidents desperately trying to recruit him.

Because of that incident, his reputation as the "destroyer of clubs" became even more well known within school.

By now, most students had learned that Year 1, Class 5 in Genhana High School had a new handsome transfer student who was ridiculously amazing at sports, to the extent where several club presidents had stated that as long as he joined their club, he'd easily be able to become the ace and go to the nationals!

Unfortunately, the transfer student didn't seem interested in joining any club, which disappointed all the club presidents, although each of them maintained a sliver of hope.

Many students were curious about him simply due to the rumors, and girls were constantly falling in love with his physical appearance.

In addition to this, his personality was indeed nice, so he was given an excellent assessment by the girls in his class. Even all the boys that were jealous of him found it difficult to find any flaws; all they could do was make a few snide comments.

If it wasn't for the fact that he had two beauties accompanying him at all times, and the fact that he hadn't joined a club yet and shown off his true abilities, he'd probably be even more popular with how outstanding he was.

The more she thought about it, the more Kaho felt the vast distance between them.

That day, she wasn't dreaming, was she… No!

'I can't deny reality. Don't get depressed—be more spirited!'

Kaho Miyamoto clenched her fists in order to galvanize herself.

She didn't want to become his girlfriend; she wanted to become his friend.

Besides, he already reached out to her; she just temporarily decided not to take his hand.

'There are no problems and no obstacles. All I need to do is change myself slightly!'

"…What are you doing?"

A familiar voice abruptly sounded from behind her.

Startled, Kaho turned around and was greeted by a round face staring at her.

"Don't scare me like that, Momoko!"

Momoko Matsuoka was one of Kaho's classmates and good friends. She was short and petite with a roundish face, light orange short hair, light yellow eyes, and a quiet personality.

"I wasn't trying to do that intentionally… You were lost in thought about something, and you didn't even notice me standing right behind you." Momoko tilted her head. "Were you perhaps thinking about Harano-san?"

She hit the mark on the first try.

"N… No!" Kaho reflexively denied it.

"Heh, your face is reddening. Kaho, you're so bad at lying." Momoko chuckled, "You probably saw Harano-san pass by and were awestruck by his presence."

"Er…" Kaho couldn't come up with any words to say.

"Stop being silly and standing there! Hurry up and go to class—it's almost starting… Honestly, you can stare at him all you want in class, but you insist on watching him while outside." Momoko began walking as she glanced at her friend out of the corner of her eye.

"It… It's not the same!" Kaho followed her friend's footsteps.

"You're not denying it anymore?"

"Fine. I admit it, I admit it!" Kaho could only give up the act helplessly. "Is it wrong for a girl to enjoy looking at a handsome boy!?"

"Of course not. Harano-san's quite handsome indeed—he's much better than any of those other idiots in our class in both appearance and personality," Momoko stated calmly. "However, precisely because he's that way, he's on such a different level from all the other boys that he's not the type of person ordinary girls like us can hope to approach. You should realize this as well."

"I… I know." Kaho pouted.

"If you understand, then don't fall too deeply in love with him." Momoko sighed before continuing, "I know that he's helped you before in such a gentlemanly fashion; it's only natural for you to fall in love, but… I don't wish for my friend to get her feelings hurt."

"Momoko…" Kaho could feel her friend's compassion. She felt a sense of warmth along with an apologetic feeling.

"Don't worry about it—I won't have my feelings hurt, so relax!"

'Because I don't wish to overstep my boundaries—I simply want to be able to shake the hand that he reached out to me.'

…

In the classroom.

Seiji saw Kaho Miyamoto entering class with another girl and couldn't help but take an extra look at her.

He just nodded towards her in greeting, but upon seeing her instantly turn away from him at an amazing speed, he felt a little hurt.

Did she really hate him? He didn't think he did anything to deserve it.

He didn't really understand… Well, forget it.

What Seiji cared more about currently was that Chiaki had informed him that she wanted to discuss something important with him after class.

When Chiaki told him this, Mika's expression turned strange. It was obvious she was aware of what Chiaki planned to discuss with him.

Just what could it be?

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Chapter 59: Fake Boyfriend

Translator: imperfectluck Editor: vb24

Between classes.

Seiji walked out of class together with Chiaki and Mika before finding a secluded spot for their discussion.

"Okay, what's up?" Seiji took a relaxed pose as he leaned against the wall.

Chiaki glanced at Mika first before turning to Seiji. She then clasped her hands together and bowed towards him.

"I'm begging you, Seigo—become my fake boyfriend!"

"What?" Seiji raised his eyebrows. "Become your fake boyfriend?"

What a classic situation!

This situation usually happened in stories when it was necessary to attend a party or some event with a date, or when refusing to find a marriage partner found by pushy parents, whereas the current situation was…

"Does this have to do with your ex-girlfriend?"

"That's right!" Chiaki grinned widely. "I want to make her jealous by taking a super-hot boyfriend along with me!"

Seiji was rendered speechless upon hearing her words.

'Ok, somebody explain to me—what's going on with this scenario!? Director, there's something wrong with the script again!'

"Can I interview you, as you're a les… er, bisexual girl? Just what exactly impels you to take a boyfriend and make her jealous!?"

Seiji could only comment forcefully on this situation without holding back at how strange it all seemed.

"I don't know either, but she said that she's bringing her boyfriend to our reunion, so I'm taking one with me as well." Chiaki's grin remained, but there was a steely glint in her eyes.

"So she did it first… Hey! Don't refer to boyfriends like they're items!"

"Is there much of a difference?"

"There's someone with a malfunctioning brain here!!"

After a period of awkward silence.

"Alright, I understand what's going on now." Seiji sighed in exasperation. "She invited you to a meeting, but she said that she's bringing along her boyfriend, and that you could also bring your boyfriend if you wanted… Something like that?"

"Yep."

Chiaki retracted her arms as she finally let the grin drop from her face, revealing a complex expression.

"I really do want to see her again, but her doing this… I don't care if it's real or if she has a fake boyfriend as well; either way, it's definitely upsetting. That's why I need a splendid boyfriend to act as my own shield and sword. Perhaps she didn't intend to hurt my feelings, but there's no doubt that it will definitely hurt me, so I'm going to hurt her back!"

Chiaki even repeated the word "hurt" three times in a single sentence. It was quite obvious to see how she viewed the invitation.

"Are you certain that she'll be upset at this like you are?"

"I don't know, but I'm going to do it regardless."

Chiaki's expression was now devoid of any traces of mirth; even the usual relaxed air about her had disappeared. She was being completely serious.

Such an expression made Seiji imagine Chiaki shouting, "Come at me!! Let's just hurt each other's feelings some more!!" in a fictitious scenario.

How messy.

Well, it was definitely a plan befitting of Chiaki's style.

'Going to a meeting by herself, trying to bear the pain in her heart while smiling, and greeting her ex-girlfriend who now has a new boyfriend… Such a garbage scenario wasn't suitable for her personality at all; she'd never be able to do that.'

As he thought this, Seiji smiled to himself and stood up straight instead of leaning against the wall.

"Okay, I'll do it. Even though I'm not sure if I'll properly become a good item for your usage, go ahead and use me as you wish!"

The tall and handsome boy saying such a juicy sentence with laughter in his tone—this alone would cause many a girl's heartbeat to quicken.

Mika's face reddened as she listened to their conversation.

Even Chiaki's cheeks were tinged with a hint of red.

"Er… Yes, I will." The tomboy averted her gaze slightly as she couldn't bear to look at the shining sun.

'You'll definitely become an excellent shield and sword for me, Seiji. You're just that handsome!' Chiaki thought as silence fell for a few seconds.

"When will you be meeting her? And where?" Seiji asked for the specific details.

"I haven't discussed it yet… I'll reply to her later and come to an agreement about when and where to meet."

"Oh, I'll be waiting for you to contact me about the details then."

"Okay… Let me know when you have free time. That way I can arrange a time convenient for you."

"Apart from school and work, I'm usually free. As for my work schedule this week…" Seiji informed Chiaki of his schedule.

Chiaki nodded after noting down the information.

"Got it… I'll call her tonight and arrange a time to meet. Now, before we go to her meeting, we need to prepare some things."

"Prepare?" Seiji blinked in surprise.

Chiaki chuckled.

"Before we head to the battlefield, we should make sure our equipment's top-notch."

'Don't say it like we're heading to a real battle…'

Seiji couldn't bring himself to say it out loud, though. Perhaps to Chiaki, this was indeed a true battle—emotionally speaking, at least.

"How do we need to equip ourselves?"

"Our clothes and appearance!" Chiaki became more spirited and energized upon saying this. "We're going to appear our best in front of them! That's why, Seigo, you need to go shopping with me.

We're going to buy a matching set of couples' clothing that'll brilliantly enhance your handsomeness and my beauty!"

The ferocity in her words was almost tangible.

"Oh…" Seiji couldn't resist her fervor. "But… I don't have much money…"

"I'll pay for the costs!" Chiaki bluntly stated before she shifted her gaze to her best friend who was still looking on: "Mika, come with us—tell us your objective opinion!"

"Oh…" Mika also fell victim to Chiaki's fervor and could only respond in a stupor.

"This is my specialty, heh heh. Allow me to show you guys my true ability as the ace of the drama club!"

Chiaki focused her attention outside the window with a sparkle in her eyes. It seemed almost as if she was shining brightly.

Clap clap clap.* Seiji couldn't help but clap for her in support.

Clap clap clap.* Mika followed up with another round of applause.

The two of them felt like as if the tomboy in front of them was currently putting her all into performing on a stage.

…

Later that evening.

Seiji received a call from Chiaki.

"The battle will occur on Sunday at 8:30 pm. The location will be the White Snow Coffee Cafe in Silver Valley."

"Silver Valley… I've never been to such a high-class area."

"We'll go scout the place out on Saturday night, and we'll also buy some clothes there!"

"The clothing there must be quite expensive."

"Don't worry, I'll pay. I'm actually quite well off, you know~ If you're willing, I could even give you an allowance!"

"Nah."

"Don't reject me so quickly—at least hesitate a little!"

"It'll be bad if I do hesitate!" Seiji retorted decisively.

He heard Chiaki's laughter on the other end of the cell phone.

"I'm really looking forward to picking clothes together with you… Alright, let's leave it at that; I still need to let Mika know as well."

"Ah, okay." Seiji prepared to hang up.

"Don't you want to know how I persuaded Mika to let you be my boyfriend without her objecting?" Chiaki suddenly asked him an unexpected question.

"I'm just a fake boyfriend."

"Even if it's fake, a girl will mind."

Chiaki was laying on a luxurious canopy bed while talking to Seiji. She was playing with a cute plush cat doll while chatting lightheartedly on her cell phone.

"I used my deep friendship, intimate hugs, gentle wording, as well as passionate lips to…"

"Stop! I don't need any special sex chat services over the phone!"

Chiaki's laughter increased in volume.

"What's the matter, Seiji? Nobody else could hear anything!"

"Oh, right… the hell! Do you want me to look at the two of you with a strange look in my eyes in the future!?"

"Sure, if it pleases you."

"That's not what you're supposed to say!!"

Chiaki could vividly imagine Seiji forcefully retorting towards his cell phone—that was just how familiar and clear the scene was to her.

Speaking with him was never tiresome. Even though she knew that it was time to hang up, she felt a little sad about having to go.

"Anyways, that's enough about this topic. Hurry up and let Mika know the time and place. I have something else to do, so I'm hanging up."

Ahh, he escaped!

Chiaki pouted as she heard the cell phone's beeping after Seiji had hung up.

'I wonder if he's noticed the subtle changes in my heart…' Chiaki thought to herself. 'Well, even I don't even know what's going on with myself…'

While hugging the round, cute cat plushie, she rolled around on her bed while staring intently at the picture on her cell phone's screensaver with something glittering in her eyes.

Her cell phone's background picture was a selfie taken together with Seiji and Mika.

In that picture, the handsome boy was in the middle of the two beauties while showing off that gentle, sun-like smile of his which exuded a radiant aura.

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Chapter 60: Dream

Translator: imperfectluck Editor: vb24

Seiji opened his system after hanging up on Chiaki.

Thanks to all the extra unexpected points he received from his new [gifts] option, he had managed to gather the 75 points required for activating the [Bullet Time] skill tonight!

Compared to [actions, it seemed quite easy to rack up the points using [gifts]… Should he attempt to become a popular idol for real?

Seiji imagined what the hypothetical scenario would be in his mind. He would have to sing and dance passionately on stage, act in deep, emotional scenes on television, and he'd be surrounded by fans at all times… and so on.

'Yep, I'd much rather just be an otaku!'

He resolved to follow his heart.

Even though he didn't particularly dislike the feeling of being admired, he decided against developing himself in this direction. He felt that he'd get tired of it eventually, and perhaps he'd even get depressed about it…

Seiji didn't want to make a living which relied on others' adulation.

The system was only supposed to be a cheat to help him live more comfortably. If he had to do things he didn't enjoy in order to obtain more points, then it wouldn't serve its purpose anymore.

It was much like trying to obtain a reward in some game and having to stay up all night grinding a certain level over and over again. The game would be playing you, instead of you playing the game.

Getting more points was indeed important, but doing the things he truly enjoyed came first. That was what Seiji wholeheartedly believed.

Well, it was all simply ordinary logic.

And now, he finally obtained the ability he had desired for so long.

Just like when he purchased and activated the [fighting] card, a swirl of light surrounded the card as it hovered in front of him. A black shadow facing countless silver bullets was depicted on the card.

Activate!

This time, Seiji was mentally prepared for what would happen next. He ground his teeth while laying on his bed as his brain absorbed the knowledge…

He regained consciousness some time later.

'This learning process kinda sucks.' He rubbed his aching temple.

Seiji finally stood up and slowly observed his surroundings.

He could feel as if he'd changed imperceptibly. There was only one problem: how should he test out his new skill?

'I can't exactly go rushing into traffic to test myself against cars, can I…?'

Seiji came up with an idea within several seconds.

He went to the kitchen in his apartment and took out a sharp vegetable knife, which flashed with a metallic glint.

Seiji took the knife to the middle of his room before taking a deep breath to prepare himself.

Then, he suddenly chucked the knife upwards!

The knife spun upwards at a high speed, almost reaching the ceiling before dropping back down towards Seiji.

Seiji concentrated fully on the falling knife.

A sudden burning sensation rushed through his body, activating his hidden potential.

[Bullet Time, activate!

A subtle electric shock coursed through his entire body.

After that, Seiji felt as if the rapidly descending knife was actually falling down in slow motion.

Just like how movies would slow action scenes down for audiences.

He could vividly detect each and every knife rotation; he could tell exactly where it would land, and he even swung his hand through the twirling knife successfully without getting injured!

It was just like what that triple sword user in One Piece could do.

But that character relied on astonishing luck, while Seiji relied on his newfound skill!

The knife was almost about to hit the floor as it came within centimeters of his right hand.

Seiji reached out with his foot and caught the knife handle with his toes right before the knife was about to hit the ground.

[Bullet Time] ended.

Seiji suddenly felt like his body became heavy, and his breathing turned labored. It was as if a switch had turned off part of the energy in his body.

So that was the price for using the [Bullet Time] limit break ability… Right after it ended, his body would be temporarily weakened for a period of time.

Well, as long as he rested properly, Seiji would quickly recover with his body's current strength level.

But if he activated [Bullet Time] again during his weakened state, it would sap even more of his energy afterwards.

Seiji figured that if he activated it many times in quick succession, it might even exhaust him to death!

But if he ever met with such a dangerous situation, he should probably just load as the main priority.

At any rate, just like the [fighting] card's activation, this skill was even stronger than Seiji expected, making him feel like he'd received a good deal!

Of course it was a good deal! It was because Seiji was able to obtain it for half-price—75 instead of 150 points!

So, no matter what, this was an excellent exchange.

Seiji opened up his system again, filled with self-satisfaction.

Unlike when he purchased the [fighting] card, no new options appeared in his system.

This was within Seiji's expectations; after all, [Bullet Time] was simply a skill card that was also a reward, not a skill tree activation card. If he wanted new abilities such as [Bullet Time lvl. 2, he'd probably have to complete a specific action or become stronger to unlock it.

Seiji began thinking about the next ability to exchange for after confirming that no new options had appeared.

'Should I continue increasing my fighting prowess or begin improving something else? Considering what I might face in the future, perhaps it'll be reassuring to raise my combat ability, but…'

Even with the new [gifts] option, Seiji still felt like he wasn't accumulating points quickly enough.

Rather than continuing to increase his skills in the [fighting] ability tree, perhaps he should activate more skill trees instead, so that he could have additional [actions] in order to grind points quicker, resulting in more skills at a faster pace…?

"This is almost like a strategy game… Should I recruit a stronger army and increase my military strength, or do I increase my economic production, so that I can hire a higher-level army in the future… A decision like that," Seiji muttered to himself.

He recalled a vastly time-consuming famous strategy game from his previous life.

The game had been wonderfully intricate with numerous development strategies. Every move the player took would have an effect later down the road.

The sense of instant accomplishment the game had on gamers would make them unable to stop themselves from playing once they got hooked!

"Just one more turn… Eh, when did it get light outside?" This was a phrase that became popular due to the game's influence.

Seiji had played that game in his past life as well. Not very deeply, but he knew the basics.

At any rate, he believed that even though such a game had many choices, there were only two major directions—obtaining strength immediately, or accumulating resources in order to become stronger at a later point in time.

In that game, he always chose the latter option.

As for the current situation… Seiji glanced at his system indecisively. Finally, he came to a decision.

'I don't know what's going to happen in the future, so there's no way I could make the right decision.

In that case, I might as well just do what I originally preferred to do in the first place!'

Besides, he could simply make a save file at this point in time. He had prepared himself.

'Next, I'm going to exchange for the [academics—writing activation card].'

Seiji's [academics] stat had reached a high number as he'd grinded for points.

He was full of hopes for what might happen to him after he activated the [writing] ability!

If he had the skill, he wanted to write his own novels… light novels!!

Novels which weren't from his previous world; he wanted to create brand-new stories that were completely his own—ones that everybody loved reading!!!

Instead of simply being a reader, Seiji desired to author one of his favorite mediums. This was one of Seiji's unrealized dreams from his previous life.

In this new world, he absolutely had to realize his dream!

Otherwise, what difference would there be from his previous life an ordinary, unremarkable person!?

'On Earth, I was merely an idle fish at the bottom of the lake, and now… it's time for me to go ashore.' Seiji's grin grew wider as he considered the endless possibilities the future held.

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Chapter 61: Trying on Clothes

Translator: imperfectluck Editor: vb24

The next few days passed by uneventfully.

The only thing that caught Seiji's attention was the fact that Hoshi Amami still hadn't appeared at work this Saturday.

Being somewhat worried, Seiji decided to ask the owner Rika Amami about the situation. All she knew was that Hoshi supposedly felt sick, so he hadn't shown up to work this week.

Was he actually sick with a cold, or was there something more to it?

'Perhaps… he's trying to avoid me…' Seiji had his suspicions.

'Well, forget about it. Since his aunt doesn't feel like there's anything wrong, then it's probably fine.'

Saturday night.

Seiji, Mika and Chiaki took a bus to the upper-class district Silver Valley to grind… oops, buy clothing.

Right across from the bus stop was the flourishing business district filled with bright, colorful lights sprinkled across all the store signs, illuminating the night sky. The surroundings were filled with a fashionable, luxurious air.

"Welcome to Silver Valley, the shopping and gaming heaven—if you have money, that is!" Chiaki grinned as she informed her friends.

The ex-NEET who's now working and the female high school student with no income of her own: "…"

"Do you come here often?" Seiji ended up sighing.

"I often took girls I was intimate with here during middle school, but I haven't been here since I started attending high school," Chiaki explained. "Now don't just stand there; let's get going!" She waved at them with a huge smile on her face.

'This really feels like a rich and experienced gamer taking two free-player newbies along to grind for experience,' Seiji thought to himself.

It was obvious that Mika was also out of her comfort zone here.

It was her first time here, mostly due to the costly nature of the products they stocked. No ordinary high school girl would be able to afford them, which why she'd never shopped here.

When Seiji noticed how nervous she was, he smiled at her, attempting to relieve the tension.

"You don't need to mind too much. Other than the fact that all the prices have one or two more zeros at the end, things aren't really that different here."

"That's a huge difference, okay!" Mika responded reflexively.

"Who cares? After all, we have a rich gamer… Cough cough, Chiaki's paying today, not you or me." Seiji shrugged nonchalantly.

"That's true, but your attitude…" Mika couldn't think of an appropriate adjective to describe Seiji with.

"Follow the rich girl and don't worry about anything! By the way, why is Chiaki so rich?" Seiji finally thought to ask that question.

"Her father's a famous artist that's really wealthy. But he's never home, so he gives Chiaki a lot of spending money as compensation," Mika explained.

Seiji nodded in response.

'I see. Mika didn't mention Chiaki's mother, so perhaps the Wakaba family is also a single-parent household… I wonder if Chiaki's mother got divorced or something else… For two beauties with such differing personalities to become friends requires some points in common.'

"What are you secretly chatting about? Come, we're gonna head over there to the Grand Spring department store!" Chiaki who had been walking ahead of them suddenly bounced back to Seiji and tugged his right arm.

"The Grand Spring department store… That's the most expensive place in all of Silver Valley!" Mika muttered to herself.

Mika's eyes became unfocused as she gazed at the majestic structure in front of them. She didn't even notice the fact that Chiaki was getting cozy with Seiji.

"Relax relax, I'm here, come!"

"You don't need to pull on me…"

"This is the practice performance for tomorrow."

"Wait… wait up!"

They bantered playfully with each other as they walked down the bustling street together.

The Grand Spring department store.

This store had fifty years of history and tradition behind it. After experiencing various ups and downs and booms and recessions, it was now one of the top-class department stores in all of Sakura Island.

It was currently at the apex of Silver Valley's merchants.

Any normal person's evaluation of this store would only contain one word: expensive! If you had to add another word to assess it, it would simply be "very expensive!"

But to those who were better off financially, the consumption level here was appropriate for them.

Each item for sale here had a price suitable for its brand name and quality, so this store was actually quite popular with the upper-middle class.

After entering the store, an average person would almost be blinded by the extravagant yet fashionable clothing selection which stunned them with its traditional yet splendid garbs. In addition to this, the sound of a piano playing was audible throughout the entire store. Naturally, it wasn't a recording played through a loudspeakers; instead, it was a real person who was performing—a pianist of some renown.

Every customer here was well-dressed, with the women seeming elegant and graceful while the boys were gentlemanly hunks. Even though there were a decent number of customers, it wasn't too noisy inside the store.

Each brand name store displayed clothes, accessories, purses, and other products that were expensive to the point where an ordinary person wouldn't even want to inquire about the prices.

This was like a completely different world for Seiji and Mika who were only used to shopping in supermarkets and bargain stores!

Seiji wouldn't shrink back at such an atmosphere thanks to his experience in a previous life, but Mika seemed as if she'd become smaller somehow, and she was acting stiffly.

"Don't be nervous, Mika. Everybody here is so pretentious, so just treat them all as vegetables. It's fine!" Chiaki gave her good friend a big thumbs-up.

"I know you're just trying to alleviate her tension, but don't just make fun of everybody here." Seiji gave Chiaki a look of exasperation: "It'll be bad if someone overhears us."

"So what will you say if nobody could overhear you?"

"Heh heh…" Seiji covered his face with one hand, and peeked through his fingers in a classic middle schooler's pose: "From my angle, humans are simply garbage."

"How terribly overboard!" Chiaki retorted.

Mika was lost for words upon witnessing the duo's manner.

'Hah, it's impossible to be tense for more than a minute whenever I'm with these two,' Mika thought.

In fact she was both delighted and thankful to be with them.

"Let's start exploring from the store I'm most familiar with. To the third floor!" Chiaki led the way.

And so, a joyous shopping trip began…

…Just kidding.

Two hours later, Seiji wore a helpless look on his face as he watched the two beauties that accompanied him absorbed in picking out clothes.

Perhaps there were quite a few boys that would have similar thoughts when shopping together with a girl. To the average boy, a girl would transform into a mysterious creature who didn't feel fatigue, hunger, or thirst; she'd be able to try on an endless array of clothing without needing to stop for rest at all.

Seiji had fun at the beginning as well, since he was able to watch Chiaki and Mika (Chiaki told Mika to not pass up this chance to try out some clothes) wear various types of attractive clothing with glamorous styles. He kept snapping an endless amount of pictures.

But after two hours… Meh.

Seiji wasn't tired physically, but he wanted to rest mentally and just sit down somewhere for a little while, even if it was doing nothing but resting. However…

"Seigo, come over here—try this on!"

How many times had he worn clothes for them to judge? Seiji had completely lost track.

Without being narcissistic about it, Seiji truly possessed an excellent body now. Every article of clothing suited him perfectly him, and the different styles did little to change his overall appearance.

Chiaki and Mika were that type as well; every article of clothing enhanced their charisma.

But the two beauties just couldn't decide as they continued pulling him around here and there, forcing him to try different sets of clothes. It seemed like they could continue this until they'd made him try every piece of clothing in the entire store.

Seiji sighed mentally as he walked over and took the clothes they selected for him into the changing room.

He failed to notice that every woman in the store, including the employees, the customers, and Mika and Chiaki… were all quietly paying attention to him!

"That boy's so handsome! He's really tall and strong, so he's basically a perfect clothes mannequin!"

"So handsome! If only I had a boyfriend like him!"

"Such a handsome and strong young man… My husband can't even begin to compare…"

"Is he a model? Or an idol?"

"He seems more like a rich young master… It almost feels like I've seen him somewhere before?"

"Stop it! You just want to flirt with him, heh heh."

"No, I really do feel like I've seen him before…"

One of the female employees furrowed her brows deeply as she searched her memory.

A minute later, the door to the changing room opened again.

A crisp, handsome youth with a slightly cold expression walked out wearing a white windbreaker over gorgeous, luxurious clothing.

His figure exuded the aura of a tall, rich, and handsome young master as he simply stood there. This, in tandem with his disinterested look (which was actually due to his mental fatigue), made him seem as if he were a male model in an advertisement!

'Wow!' All the women who were secretly observing him simultaneously thought precisely the same thing.

This included the female employee who had been wondering where she'd seen him before. She was dazed as her attention was completely stolen away by his handsomeness.

Mika and Chiaki became slightly drunk on this scene as well.

Ever since they began forcing Seiji to try out various types of clothing, they'd already received many such impacts, which was why they'd gotten addicted to making him into their personal model.

'I knew he was handsome before, but this is…'

'Only after making him wear these clothes did I discover that he's really…'

'Just way too handsome!!' Both girls shared the same sentiment in their hearts.

Seiji was idol level… No, he was even above idol level!

All he did was wear some high-quality clothes—no makeup was even necessary!

His genes were ridiculously broken!!

'Hey, Seiji Haruta, just who are you, really? Are you actually some rich young master that's been exiled from your family!?' The same thought ran through both Mika's and Chiaki's minds.

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Chapter 62: Older Sister

Translator: imperfectluck Editor: vb24

Neither Mika nor Chiaki knew that the thoughts that randomly passed through their minds were actually correct.

If only Mika could have connected the dots to the first meeting between Seiji and Natsuya Yoruhana—especially the words Natsuya'd spoken to him—she may have been able to realize the truth after thinking it through.

However, that didn't happen.

Was it that she simply wasn't very bright, or was something unconsciously preventing her from thinking along that direction?

While Chiaki was also aware of their meeting, she only knew that Seiji saved Mika, which led to the president's gratitude and the subsequent invitation to transfer to Genhana High School. She didn't mull over this incident too deeply.

That was because Seiji acted too much like a normal person! He made a living by working, bought ordinary products, and had otaku hobbies… None of these actions seemed befitting of a rich young master!

This was why the two girls only treated their passing thoughts as a joke and didn't think it was really serious.

But, unbeknownst to them, their 'joke' was actually fairly close to the truth.

The trial that Seiji endured continued as the duo brought out even more clothes for him to wear.

Feeling helpless, Seiji was forced to use the excuse of going to the restroom in order to give himself a little break.

The piano music continued to echo throughout the entire store. Listening to such a melodious tune while being in a grandiose store was a form of enjoyment in itself.

Leaning against the guardrail, Seiji peered down at the first floor. He noticed a female musician playing wholeheartedly as a small crowd quietly listened to her in a nearby rest area.

The female musician wore dark red ceremonial clothing. Her hair was wrapped up in a bun, exposing her jade-white, delicate neck.

Seiji couldn't see her face from the angle he was at, but he figured she was probably a beauty.

He relaxed there for a few seconds, enjoying the sight.

At that moment, two girls appeared on Seiji's floor.

"Milady, it's almost time."

"I know. Let's shop for just a little while longer."

An alluring, sultry voice as well as a light and clear voice came within Seiji's earshot.

Seiji suddenly felt as if he'd been struck by lightning.

The original Seiji's memories flooded into him.

Seiji's body trembled, and he almost reflexively turned around in order to catch a better view of the voice's owner. He barely managed to stop himself at the last moment, instead settling for stiffly twisting his head slowly and peeking at them out of the corner of his eye.

He saw two beautiful girls walking past him at the edge of his vision.

There was no mistaking it.

It was her.

Even though he only saw her out of the corner of his eye, that beautiful figure of hers matched perfectly with the person in his memory!

Seiji covered his mouth with his hand in an attempt to conceal his identity as he once again followed those two girls with his eyes.

Those two girls undoubtedly entered the store where Mika and Chiaki were currently shopping at!

Everything was over.

Seiji's face twitched uncontrollably.

Right now, he wanted to shout loudly at the ceiling.

'Why did she have to come here at this exact time?

'Why did she walk into the exact same store?

'Why… why all these coincidences!?'

Meanwhile, inside the store.

While they were picking out clothes, Chiaki and Mika noticed the atmosphere within the store had suddenly changed.

Following an employee's line of sight, they saw an unimaginably pretty girl.

Even for above-average beauties like the two of them, this girl was pretty to the point where they were left dazed for a short while.

She was wearing the classic pairing of a camisole under a light jacket. Her chest was ample, her silky and shiny black hair cascaded down to her shoulders, while her bangs, eyebrows, and eye color were a mysterious light purple. Her facial features seemed exquisite, and there was a sharp light in her eyes. As well as possessing great beauty, she also seemed to have a strong personality.

Although people might mistakenly assume she was a gentle person, on deeper inspection, it could be seen that there was a fierce, unyielding spirit within her. She was like a sword of the finest craftsmanship that had been slightly pulled out of its scabbard.

Her aura seemed almost contradictory but suited her well, thus creating an unique and memorable impression.

By her side was another girl with curly green hair and a seductive look in her slightly droopy eyes.

Her mouth was arced upwards in a slight smile, and she was wearing a tight one-piece dress with black fishnet stockings. Her curvy body seemed devilishly charming.

If this green-haired girl was unaccompanied, she'd be sure to attract lots of attention, but the black-haired girl beside her completely suppressed her!

These two beauties attracted almost all the customers' and employees' attention.

"So pretty…" Mika couldn't help but mutter to herself.

The black-haired girl caused Mika to recall Natsuya Yoruhana. The black-haired, full-chested president was the only other girl who'd ever given Mika the impression of such an ultimate beauty.

No, wait, there was one other as well—the middle school girl she saw at the drama club; she seemed like a beautiful, untouched snowflake.

Perhaps the two girls were already used to being the center of attention, as they ignored the surrounding stares and began to pick out clothes from the store.

An employee hurriedly went to greet them and respectfully attended to their needs.

"Those two girls are so beautiful, especially the black-haired one! Are they idols?"

"They don't seem like the type… They're probably scions of major families."

"I've seen them before—they seem like regulars here. I've met them quite a few times."

"Even though the green-haired girl is sexier, the black-haired girl is someone you simply can't take your eyes off of."

"If only I had such a beautiful daughter! I'd die happy!"

"Haha, I bet what you truly want isn't such a beautiful 'daughter…'"

The customers discussed the beauties with each other in low voices.

'As expected of a high-class department store—I can even meet these kinds of beauties here…' Mika mentally sighed in amazement.

Suddenly, she discovered Chiaki was gazing at the two girls intently.

"Chiaki…" Mika called out softly to her friend. "Those two are indeed beautiful, but don't just stare at them."

Chiaki finally returned to her senses and retracted her gaze.

"They are rather pretty, but I was staring at them… for another reason."

"Eh?" Mika blinked in surprise.

Chiaki glanced at her good friend.

"You didn't notice? That black-haired girl… strongly resembles Seiji."

Mika widened her eyes in surprise upon hearing this.

Indeed, Chiaki was right—in terms of top-class appearances, other than the president and the girl who visited the drama club, there was still the boy who had just been beside her…

Seiji Haruta.

Currently, Seiji was seated in a bathroom stall in the department store. He seemed to be in deep thought.

No, he wasn't actually using the bathroom.

Even though he would have liked to do so in order to waste some more time, his body didn't feel the need, so all he could do was sit there helplessly and waste time.

As he anticipated, his cell phone started ringing.

Seiji answered it.

"I'm currently contemplating about life. Please don't bother me, thank you very much."

"What the hell's with that greeting!?" Chiaki retorted forcefully.

"How could you possibly go from the bathroom to thinking about life!? Hurry up and get back here!

Or… is there a reason that you can't come back?"

Upon hearing Chiaki ask the last question so calmly, Seiji knew Chiaki must have realized it as well.

"You probably should have confirmed it as well. When I said I was just contemplating life… I wasn't entirely joking. The girl that's currently inside the same store as you is most definitely the person who made me restart my life all over again."

After a period of silence.

"She… she's really a family member of yours? Older or younger sister?" Chiaki asked cautiously.

Seiji heaved a deep sigh.

"That's right—she's my family. Her name is Yui Haruta. She's my… older sister. The one who exiled me from the family."

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Chapter 63: I Didn't Think You Were Such a Rich Young Master!

Translator: imperfectluck Editor: vb24

If Seiji attempted to, he could probably devise some excuse to fool them, but he preferred to tell the truth.

Telling the truth simplified everything. Chiaki and Mika left the store and met up with Seiji outside the entrance before they all left the Grand Spring department store together.

"My apologies…"

"You don't have to apologize for anything. I only feel awkward about not purchasing anything after trying on so many clothes. I feel bad for the store." Chiaki shrugged as she glanced at Seiji.

"Are you alright, Seiji?" Mika sent him a concerned look.

Seiji smiled at the duo reassuringly.

"I'm fine. I was just slightly shocked at seeing her so unexpectedly. Fortunately, I happened to be outside the store at the time, so she didn't notice me. Otherwise, that could've turned bad, haha…"

Chiaki and Mika stared at him silently.

Seiji slowly retracted his smile as a complex emotion appeared in his eyes.

"I still haven't… prepared myself mentally to face her. It hasn't been long since I changed myself, nor have I accomplished anything of note. I'll continue working hard and face her properly when I feel like I'm ready."

Seiji looked off into the distance with a contemplative expression.

A hand slowly rose up and heartily slapped him on his back.

"Honestly, you were hiding such a beautiful older sister! When you return, and you reconcile with her and your younger sister, you have to introduce us!" Chiaki grinned as she spoke. "Don't you agree, Mika?"

Mika hurriedly nodded.

"Seiji… You'll definitely be able to repair your relationship with them, so be more spirited!" The pigtailed girl raised her fist in a cheering motion in an attempt to uplift Seiji's mood.

Seiji smiled gratefully at the pair. "Thank you, guys."

They walked down the street wordlessly for a minute.

"By the way, Seiji…" Chiaki broke the silence.

"Hm?"

"Who was the girl by your sister's side?"

"I don't know her. Perhaps she was her… friend?" Midway through his sentence, Seiji suddenly recalled the fact that the green-haired girl had addressed his sister as "Milady."

"What's with that uncertain tone of yours?"

"It's also possible that she could be my sister's subordinate."

"Subordinate!?" Chiaki and Mika widened their eyes in amazement.

"Hey, hey, your sister's status seems to be rather special?" Chiaki recalled the discussions she had overheard from the other customers in the store. "Is your sister a true scion!? Then… are you actually a rich young master!?"

Seiji blinked in response.

"Yep, it would seem so," he answered affirmatively.

Chiaki and Mika both froze over. The duo were dumbstruck and simply stood there in astonishment, staring at him blankly.

"What's up with you guys?"

"What did you say…? Think about what you just said!!"

"What I said? All I did was answer your question."

"That's the problem!" Chiaki retorted forcefully. "You… you just acknowledged being a rich young master!?"

"Hmm… Probably."

"What's with that 'probably!?' Explain in more detail!"

Seiji rubbed his chin.

"It's like this… My family seems to be quite powerful with an ancient history. However, this was just something I recently heard from someone else. Before that, I was oblivious of my family's prestigious identity. After all, the original me was nothing but a NEET. I only knew how to ask my family for money, and I had little interest in their affairs."

Chiaki and Mika were rendered speechless as they listened to his explanation.

What the hell!?

'There's actually this type of person in real life! He had no knowledge regarding his own family's identity!?'

'He only became aware of his family's status after being exiled and hearing it from somebody else…? Heavens! How could such an abnormal person exist!!?'

The two girls failed to halt the unending stream of mental comments that rushed into their minds.

Seiji awkwardly scratched his face upon seeing the strange expressions on the girls' faces.

"This isn't really a big deal. Why are you making a mountain out of a molehill?"

"It's a really big deal!!!" Mika and Chiaki exclaimed together.

"Mika… Chiaki…"

"I really want to beat this guy up right now! How about you?"

"What a coincidence! Me too~"

Chiaki and Mika cackled maliciously in unison after exchanging glances. Seiji noticed some dark emotions that he'd never previously witnessed were glittering in their eyes as they rushed at him!

"You… idiot!!!"

The girls vented all their frustration on him.

A minute later.

"Are your hands okay?" Seiji calmly asked the two girls.

"Damn it, it still hurts… Just why is your body so ridiculously strong, you idiot!"

Chiaki rubbed her hand as she complained. Beside her, Mika also massaged her hand as she nodded in agreement.

"You guys were the ones who suddenly attacked me! Why is it my fault?"

Seiji mentally sighed. He felt as if it was impossible to reason with them sometimes.

"Why is the nature of my background important? Why do you guys care about it?"

Chiaki and Mika exchanged glances again before sighing together.

"Mika, Seiji is still a boy in the end."

"Chiaki, boys are definitely all idiots."

"You guys are suddenly looking down on all boys because of me…" Seiji was in a state of disbelief.

"That's because you're definitely an idiot. Hmph, you failed to comprehend the basic fact that rich young masters are the modern-day version of princes for us girls."

Chiaki sighed deeply and took a melancholic pose as if she was the main character of a shoujo manga.

"Just the words 'rich young master' can cause endless fantasies to sprout in a girl's heart. As well as being a descendant of a well-known family, they're handsome and cool, young and rich, gentlemanly, forceful yet gentle, and spoil us yet toy with other girls' hearts, making us love and hate them at the same time."

"We'll become filled with indecision; we'll be unable to discard them or figure out the proper relationship to have with them, knowing it's difficult to make him commit and settle down. However, even after considering this, we still can't make up our minds to leave him… and so on. At any rate, it's a fantasy for us girls similar to how you guys might dream about princesses or ladies from proper families. However, girls are more emotional than boys are, so we're more imaginative than boys, and our fantasies will be deeper and more complex."

Mika's face was tinged with a hint of red as she nodded in understanding while listening to Chiaki's explanation.

"I'm sorry, but I still don't completely understand." Seiji rubbed his chin: "I now realize that you have unrealistic fantasies towards this concept, but what else?"

"You still don't understand!?" Chiaki placed her arms on her hips, now taking a frustrated pose. "You've been hanging out with us up until now. Apart from being slightly too handsome and rather outlandishly strong, you've always been just like a commoner in your eating and dressing habits. You're also an otaku, so it's too much for us to cope with when you suddenly proclaim that you're a rich young master! It's too difficult to believe that you're a fantasy so many girls wholeheartedly believe in! It's just as if me or Mika suddenly told you that we were princesses from another country or even alien princesses that have fled to this planet in order to escape our marriages! Wouldn't you be shocked!? Wouldn't you care!?"

"Well… of course I'd be shocked and I would care, if that was the case." Seiji looked directly into their eyes. "But I don't know whether it's your analogy, which doesn't work too well on an otaku like me, or perhaps my way of thinking is just too abnormal to begin with, I still feel… Even if that was the case, our friendship with each other wouldn't change, would it?"

"Eh?" Chiaki and Mika were stunned for the umpteenth time today.

"Whether it's me that's a rich young master, or if you two were rich young ladies or alien princesses or whatever, it's still all the same to me: our friendship wouldn't change, right?"

Chiaki and Mika were lost for words as they mutely stared Seiji's calm, forthright expression.

"At least for me, I wouldn't believe I differed from you even if I was a rich young master. I've always treated you two as important to me—both before I discovered my identity, and after I discovered my identity as well."

A gentle smile suffused across Seiji's face.

"So that's why something like that… isn't important—don't you agree?"

In conjunction with his brilliant smile, Seiji's heartfelt words, spoken under the brightly lit night sky, left a deep, lasting impression in the two girls' hearts.

'Ahh—honestly.'

'This person, he really is…'

After regaining their senses, Chiaki and Mika exchanged glances once more, and they instantly knew that their thoughts were exactly the same!

'He's an idiot!'

'But he really is a modern-day prince as well…'

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Chapter 64: Writing

Translator: imperfectluck Editor: vb24

In the end, the three of them went to another store in order to purchase a set of suitable clothes for Seiji.

Although Chiaki seemed dissatisfied, time didn't allow for her to continue picking clothes for Seiji, so she could only compromise.

Seiji and Mika both felt that the clothes Chiaki had picked out were pretty good.

After buying herself and Seiji a matching set of clothes, Chiaki also bought some clothes for Mika—despite the latter's vehement protests—and forced Mika to accept them.

After returning home.

Seiji opened the [gifts] option in the system and discovered that he had received 8 points from the clothes Chiaki bought for him in addition to an item card!

[Full recovery card—Encouraging Heart].

According to his system's explanation, this card contained the feelings of beautiful girls who had encouraged him to return to his spirited and energized state again. After using this one-time item card, his physical energy and mental state would be instantly restored to its peak!

'Wow, isn't this the full-recovery medicine… the ultimate potion, Elixir!?'

Seiji widened his eyes in surprise.

Upon closer inspection, it seemed that it wouldn't cure any external injuries he had. Instead, it would restore his physical energy and mental state… but even so, this was still quite powerful!

It was akin to a divine medicine—if he used it at a critical junction!

Seiji considered why this item had appeared. Upon mulling over the matter, he concluded it was probably related to seeing Yui Haruta.

After he saw his sister, both Chiaki and Mika were quite worried about him and even encouraged him. That was why this item had appeared in his [gifts] menu.

'Thank you so much, Chiaki. Mika, you as well… this card must also contain your feelings.'

Seiji truly felt grateful towards the two girls.

In addition to this, 8 points was quite a considerable sum to him. He had now stockpiled 35 points.

[Academics—writing activation card] only required 30 points, and he was now able to exchange for it.

He unhesitatingly made the purchase!

After making the exchange, as usual, a new card flashed into existence. It depicted a moving shadow, which was swiftly writing something while sitting at a desk. The shadow's movements seemed to flow smoothly and beautifully; it flourished its pen majestically with each stroke.

Seiji lay on his bed and observed the card for a little while longer before taking a deep breath. He was bursting with anticipation as he finally used the card.

The card turned into a flash of white light as it pierced into his brain.

Once again, Seiji steeled himself for the uncomfortable learning process…

After an indeterminate length of time, he finally regained consciousness.

'It's still a little painful, but I'm getting used to it.' He rubbed his aching temple as he leaned up from his reclining position and rose from his bed.

Seiji then walked to his desk and took out the thick notebook he used for writing his diary. He seated himself on the chair before he began writing.

The moment his pen touched the paper, a wondrous sensation poured out from within him.

He was able to visualize a scenario in his mind.

A crimson full moon hung overhead while a young man in extravagant white clothing rested on the edge of a skyscraper's roof. He clutched a broken sword in as he gazed thoughtfully at the night sky…

Seiji's right hand started writing at a furious pace; it almost seemed as if he wasn't the one controlling it.

Every stroke was swift and precise—his writing speed was top-notch, and each word flowed smoothly out of him onto the page!

Seiji continued working his imagination. A girl in a red gothic dress appeared on the roof of the skyscraper directly opposite the boy and slowly unsheathed a pair of twisted longswords—seemingly carved out of bone—from her dress…

Words unceasingly appeared on the page as Seiji wrote in his preferred style, breathing life into the concept in his mind.

Writing swiftly… Finished!

Seiji flicked the pen exaggeratedly as he finished writing the final word.

'That was… wonderful!'

He inwardly praised his newfound ability as he reread his own words.

Amazing…

The words he had written in his notebook perfectly described the image in his mind in just the right style he desired—mysterious yet romantic in addition to containing a hot-blooded yet cruel fight scene.

This [writing] ability that he'd activated was too powerful!

If a normal person had tried to write this scene, it would probably turn out to be at only the embarrassing level of a middle schooler's fantasy.

But after Seiji gained the [writing] ability from his system, this scene would make a reader feel passionate as if their blood was boiling; it was like the words on the paper could come to life, assisting the reader in visualizing such a moving, interesting story!

Thanks to his otaku experience from his past life, Seiji was certain that his current writing level already reached that of a story like "5 Centimeters per Second" from his previous life. Even a normal slice-of-life story would give readers the feeling of that type of moving story!

Cough cough.* Perhaps he was exaggerating a little too much?

But ever since he activated the [fighting] card, he'd obtained martial arts capabilities which seemed to be at the peak of what a human body could achieve, so it only seemed natural that activating the [writing] card would give him such amazing writing skills… right?

After all, Seiji's [academics] stat had already surpassed 50 points thanks to his incessant grinding in school!

In summation, his current writing level was more than adequate to write something like a light novel.

The only obstacle that remained was the limits of Seiji's own imagination.

Since [writing] only improved his writing ability and not his imagination… To clarify, it only helped him write down whatever was in his mind, but it didn't have the power to create the entire story and its characters for him.

He would need to come up with his own story, world-building, character settings, background, and so on. Only after organizing his thoughts was he able to write them down and create a final product.

That was how it worked.

Seiji could feel his blood beginning to boil already. In fact, he could barely restrain the urge to begin writing his own original story; but first, he still needed to check his system.

As he expected, new options appeared in his system, just like when he'd previously activated the [fighting] card.

The [writing] subsection was a new addition to his [academics] menu, and it contained options such as [self-creation, [imitate another author, [studying writing techniques]… and so on.

His [actions] now included [write an essay, [write a poem, [write a story, [write a song]… and so on, with various prerequisite stats.

New [items] appeared as well, including [speed writing card—writing with a pen in each hand, [cryptography—encryption techniques, [writing on the computer—typing]… and so on.

Seiji browsed his new options.

'[Writing on the computer—typing] is the next one I need to aim for, or it's going to be inconvenient if I can only write on a notebook.'

Although his newly acquired writing skills were undisputedly amazing, there was still something strange about it—he had to put pen to paper in order to utilize his newfound skill.

System, why were you so inflexible?

In this day and age, leaving aside other types of stories, light novels would always be typed on a computer, and publishers also used digital editions.

Of course, the most popular method right now was to post your story on the internet, hoping to get published after gaining popularity and being chosen by a publisher.

Even though using a pen to write seemed romantic as well as unique, Seiji would prefer to directly type out his story as it seemed like a waste of time to write a story on paper then type it out again.

However, the [writing on the computer—typing] card required 55 points.

Hey, wasn't this was more expensive than the ability cards under the [fighting] tree!?

Seiji subtly felt as if he'd fallen into his own system's ploy…

55 points seemed like a lot, but with his [gifts] and additional [actions] now available to him, it should be easier to grind than before, right?

So let's test out the new [actions]!

Seiji mulled it over before he ultimately decided to pick [write a story] from his actions menu, which had a prerequisite of 40 academics and 25 communication, and began writing the story in his mind.

'Yep, let's make the story's title "I'll die if I don't become handsome!"'

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