Houtarou finally met the super cute silver-haired girl who had woken up early and come to the cafeteria today.
Today, Arisu was wearing white stockings, looking exceptionally cute.
Having been at this school for half a year now, he had thoroughly observed all the first-year students. He had also seen many of the second and third-year students.
Among all these students combined, Houtarou hadn't found anyone cuter than this girl.
"How surprising." Arisu noticed his condition immediately. There was a bandage on the left side of his face, "Are you injured? I never thought I'd see you in such a state."
"...It's a bit of punishment." Houtarou said.
"It seems your confrontation with Ryūen and his group left you injured after all." Arisu said.
"??" Houtarou looked over in confusion, "What does this have to do with Ryūen and them?"
As he was saying this, he noticed that the black-haired girl who had previously walked past ignoring him had returned.
She was carrying two books — 1st-Year Physics II and a Physics Reference Book.
She noticed Houtarou talking with Arisu. A normal girl would read the atmosphere, but this girl completely ignored such things. She walked straight up and positioned herself between the two.
"Take these two books back to the library for me." Suzune said, "Then I'll forgive you for kissing me."
"..." Houtarou replied, "Understood."
He took the books.
Suzune then turned and left.
Unlike him, who came to the cafeteria during regular breakfast hours, she had arrived earlier and had already eaten. And so, she coldly departed.
Houtarou took the books and lined up to buy food.
But Arisu remained at the scene. Her left hand gripped her cane as she stood somewhat dazed.
To be precise, during the conversation between those two just now, she not only couldn't join in, but she also felt like she had heard something strange. The words went beyond her understanding.
What did "forgive you for kissing me" mean? Had Houtarou actually kissed Suzune?
Wasn't he currently interested in her?…
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In the cafeteria, you need to line up to get food.
But Arisu didn't need to do such things; she had a dedicated tool for these menial tasks. Soon enough, her tool had brought the food over.
Since it was morning, the meal was relatively simple. But for Masumi, carrying two meals was still quite challenging.
Just as she was about to sit down, she noticed that Arisu seemed a bit off.
"By the way." Arisu looked at her, "Oreki hasn't invited me on a date yet."
"A date? What date? And why are you asking me this kind of question?" Masumi hesitated for a moment.
"Ara…" Arisu had already noticed that her pet seemed to have acquired information she didn't know.
Being stared at like this, Masumi placed both hands on her knees and made a confession.
"Actually, yesterday morning when I went to the shopping district to get food, I met Honami Ichinose. She told me that Oreki was on a date with a girl."
"Oh." Arisu nodded to show she was listening, "And then? Was Oreki on a date with Suzune Horikita? And they even kissed during the date? I never expected her to be so bold."
"Eh?" Masumi was greatly surprised, "He was on a date with Horikita and they kissed?"
Apparently, she had just learned of this news as well.
"You're really useless…" Arisu said.
From then on, the little princess quit being lazy and sleeping in.
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After finishing his meal, Houtarou headed to the library with the two books.
Various facilities in this school required a student ID, but for returning books, you just needed to scan the barcode on the book page. This made the process very convenient.
For him, getting slapped once and having to return two books after a kiss wasn't too bad. After all, he had violated her wishes.
However, his physical condition had been modified, so he wasn't an ordinary person. Injury was impossible for him. Therefore, even though he was wearing a bandage now, it was just for show.
But thinking this way, he suddenly felt a bit worried. If his physical abilities exceeded normal people, would his abilities in that area — or his satisfaction level — also exceed ordinary people?
With this thought in mind, Houtarou walked along the path toward the library.
As he was walking, about 2000 meters from the library, he discovered someone he had met once before. It was a tall girl with orange hair who, like Masumi, used hair clips to hold back her bangs.
She was on the phone.
"Ya, I told you, I can't possibly accept you. Don't think I don't know that you've shown interest in other girls too."
"Student Council Secretary sounds nice, but joining the Student Council — Ya, you're just the accountant now, so you can't make it happen, right?"
"Hmm...? You've already gained control over (Ikuto) Kiriyama?"
Standing behind and listening to her voice, Houtarou quickly searched his mind for information about her.
This was from the previous work permit incident bet with Miyabi.
At that time, that guy brought a female companion with him. Houtarou's companion at that time was Kikyō. And Miyabi's companion was the orange-haired girl in front of him, Nazuna Asahina.
She was his childhood friend and classmate.
However, Houtarou's familiarity with this senpai went beyond that initial meeting. After enrolling, he had gotten to know her while gathering information about the second-year students.
He actually had this senpai's contact information in his phone. She would occasionally message him with flattering words — like congratulating their Class A on maintaining stability after returning from the island exam.
And now.
"In the end, it's all your fault, Ya. Confronting the first-year Oreki-kōhai, then losing complete control over the entire grade. If you had initially—"
Beep Beep—
Her phone suddenly made a busy tone.
It seemed that "Ya" on the other end had hung up. This Ya was probably Miyabi.
Clearly, Miyabi's tolerance was lacking.
Houtarou didn't approach Nazuna.
After the call disconnected, this senpai muttered to herself: "In the end, because of Oreki-kōhai's appearance, Ya couldn't completely control the second year, and I don't know if my Class A can hold on until graduation... What a hassle. If only Oreki-kōhai hadn't enrolled."
Saying this, Nazuna walked straight ahead.
Houtarou: "..."
See, girls are like this.
After dating Maya, Houtarou reassured himself that he'd been taught a lesson — understanding that girls might not be so easy to control.
And this Nazuna was the same. Usually speaking pretty words, but when it came to her own interests, she became very realistic.
However, she was a Class A student now, and her concern for her future interests was understandable.
After all, the Class A students in Houtarou's class also valued their class position considerably.
As he pondered this, Nazuna had already reached the fork in the road and was heading in another direction.
Suddenly, Houtarou stopped walking. His left foot had stepped on something.
Looking down, he found an amulet — the kind that people typically carried on their person. When he picked it up, he could feel a slight warmth from human contact.
Since only Nazuna had been on this small path just now, this must be hers.
Amulets weren't generic; they were divided into love-related, safety-seeking, and wish-fulfilling types. This one was for seeking love.
Houtarou was familiar with this type of amulet.
After the New Year, his sister would take him to the temple to make wishes. One of the styles was exactly like this — for obtaining a new love.
This meant that despite having Miyabi as her childhood friend and appearing as his companion, this senpai actually didn't consider him as a potential romantic interest at all. Instead, she wanted a new romance.
Otherwise, why would she still be carrying such an amulet?
Poor Miyabi.
With this interesting discovery, Houtarou continued to the library.
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Beep!
Houtarou arrived at the library and scanned his card as usual.
It was vacation time, but some students remained disciplined. Several were entering the library early, taking the elevator to the third or fourth floor to study in the reading rooms.
Beep!
At the first-floor book return counter, Houtarou handed over the two textbooks Suzune had borrowed. The staff scanned them and quickly took the books back.
The book return task was now complete.
And since Suzune is the type of person who follows rules, once her task was completed, she would no longer remember the kiss incident as she promised.
Therefore, in a couple of days when he sees her again, the previous requirement of holding hands once a day might resume.
Thinking this, however, Houtarou didn't leave. He walked toward a corner.
He had visited the library several times and remembered that Hiyori from Class D often sat in a corner on the first floor.
And now, she was indeed here today.
Houtarou arrived at Hiyori's usual seat and found a book on the table, along with a thermos. The lid was open, with some rose tea cooling off. This indicated that the owner of the thermos hadn't gone far.
Houtarou searched quickly. He soon spotted a pair of gray stockings — no, a girl wearing gray stockings near one of the inner bookshelves.
She seemed to be troubled because she was facing the same problem as when he first met her. She wanted to reach a book on the top shelf.
This time there was a footstool nearby. However, it wasn't convenient to use.
At the adjacent bookshelf to her D-shelf, a boy was sitting. That boy had taken a book from the shelf and was now reading it while remaining seated.
If Hiyori stood on the footstool while wearing the school skirt — well, not that the boy was a bad person who would peek under her skirt or anything, but Hiyori still didn't want anything awkward to happen.
So she hesitated as she stood there, looking longingly at the book on the shelf.
Just then, Hiyori noticed a hand appear beside her. More precisely, someone had come to her side.
"Are you trying to get Theodore Dreiser's 'The Genius'?"
"Umm... yes." Hiyori quickly responded.
The person had already taken the heavy book down from the shelf, held it in his hands, and then handed it to her.
"Thank you, Oreki-kun."
So Hiyori followed Houtarou back to her seat outside.
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