What Kaguya hadn't anticipated was that the moment she stood up, before she could even take a step toward the back door, Asagiri suddenly quickened his pace and strode out ahead.
The boy waiting by the door spotted Asagiri approaching and timed it perfectly. Keeping his head down, he pretended to walk forward, aiming to collide with Asagiri and "accidentally" pour the entire cup of water over him.
*Bang*
But the scene Kaguya expected didn't unfold.
Asagiri bumped into the boy, who immediately let out a cry of pain and stumbled backward. Meanwhile, Asagiri looked genuinely surprised but quickly reached out to help, grabbing the boy's wrist holding the water cup.
In one smooth motion, Asagiri twisted the boy's arm, redirecting the water to spill all over him instead.
Then, without hesitation, Asagiri released the boy's wrist and watched as the drenched student lost his balance and collapsed to the floor, soaked from head to toe, looking utterly miserable.
With a serious tone, Asagiri said:
"Oh dear, student, you really should be more careful. Why aren't you watching where you're going? And you didn't even tighten the lid on your water cup. It's lucky you bumped into me—if you'd spilled water on anyone else, you'd owe an apology. But now you don't have to. So, why don't you thank me?"
Hearing Asagiri's words, even Kaguya—usually so skilled at masking her emotions—could barely hold back a laugh.
She clearly remembered how, just before leaving the classroom, Asagiri had deliberately crouched like a sprinter at the starting line, gathering every ounce of strength. That was no accident. Otherwise, how else could he have sent a fully grown boy sprawling to the ground with a single bump?
And the water spilling from the cup? That was clearly intentional, too—an exact mirror of the boy's own plan.
It was obvious Asagiri had spotted the trap long ago and had simply chosen to play along.
But… this wasn't something anyone could pull off without sharp instincts.
The speed and agility the boy had shown in that brief moment surprised even Kaguya.
So there really is a formidable player among this year's new students…
"You... you..."
The boy struggled to find words, frustration tightening his jaw.
"Not even a single word of thanks?"
Asagiri smiled, taking two calm steps forward and speaking softly.
"How rude."
Just then, Ashikaga-sensei, the homeroom teacher of Class A, approached.
She glanced down at the drenched boy sitting on the floor, then fixed her emotionless gaze on Asagiri.
Her voice was flat and measured as she said,
"Utsunomiya. Come with me to the office."
"Okay."
Asagiri nodded with a relaxed expression, then followed Ashikaga-Sensei towards the far end of the corridor, leaving behind the students who were watching the spectacle, and the boy with a somewhat grim expression who had tried to outsmart others but ended up suffering for it.
"Damned guy... Next time, next time I'll definitely—"
The boy, humiliated and furious, was about to snap back.
"I advise you, it's best not to entertain such thoughts."
He abruptly froze as a pair of cold, emotionless red eyes locked onto him.
"Kaguya... Shinomiya..." he muttered under his breath.
Kaguya stepped forward, her voice calm but icy.
"I don't care about your so-called pride as a specialized course student or any other petty excuses. This is my classroom. Don't do anything here that disrupts me. Understand?"
"I... I understand," the boy stammered, subdued.
Among all the students at Shuchiin Private Academy, Kaguya Shinomiya—the eldest daughter of the influential Shinomiya family—stood near the very top of the social pyramid. The current chairman of the academy was none other than Kouguang Shinomiya, head of the Shinomiya clan.
"Good. It's good that you understand."
Kaguya gave a faint, knowing smile and nodded once before turning to walk alone toward the far end of the corridor.
Her fingers brushed the smartphone in her pocket, and a flicker of complexity clouded her beautiful red eyes. In a voice so low it was almost a whisper, she murmured,
"Right now, I don't have time to waste on such trivial matters..."
......
On the other side, when Asagiri left with Ashikaga-Sensei, he happened to meet Asuna, who had come out of Class B and was planning to find him.
Seeing him walking with the teacher, Asuna couldn't help but be stunned and hesitated.
"Asagiri....um, is now a good time?"
"It's not a matter of whether it's convenient or not, Ashikaga-sensei wants to talk to me about some things."
Asagiri first replied with a smile, then looked at Ashikaga-Sensei.
"Ashikaga-sensei, this is someone I know. Is it okay for her to come to the office with me?"
Ashikaga-Sensei said lightly, "Yes, just do as you wish."
"Alright, then Asuna, you can come along."
Asuna felt a bit bewildered. She had only intended to talk to Asagiri about that dungeon, so why was she suddenly being called to the teacher's office alongside him—for a lecture, no less?
Why was he being reprimanded in the first place?
During the break, Asuna had already heard the buzz—it wasn't just her. By midday, word had spread throughout both the high school and junior high divisions of Shuchiin Private Academy: among this year's new high school Class A students was one who, despite his outstanding looks, was outrageously bold and had an uncanny talent for playing the kazoo.
Becoming the talk of the school on the very first day filled Asuna with a mix of awe and curiosity. But what intrigued her even more was something else:
Asagiri, like her, was a mixed-school student who had just enrolled today.
A mixed-school student making it into Class A? That was genuinely hard to believe.
After following Ashikaga-Sensei into the office, Asuna found that it was not the kind of office she had imagined, with many desks put together and shared by several teachers, but a room furnished with a black leather sofa and a solid wood desk, more like the room of a president of a large company than a teacher's office.
So this Ashikaga-sensei isn't as ordinary as she seems... she actually gets to enjoy an office this big all to herself...
As Asuna was thinking this, Ashikaga-Sensei had already sat behind the large desk and pointed to the black wide leather sofa.
"Please, have a seat. Would you like something to drink? Black tea, coffee, or maybe a soft drink?"
Asagiri waved her off casually and plopped down on the sofa, showing no sign of formal politeness toward Ashikaga-sensei.
"No thanks. I've got other things to do later, so let's keep this quick. I don't want my time wasted."
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