Arriving at Hakuo Academy.
First-Year Class B was as lively as ever today.
Students naturally broke into small groups by temperament and interests, chatting away.
The most eye-catching circle was the pretty-girl trio centered on Shiina Mahiru, Miura Yumiko, and Gabriel.
Anyone with eyes could tell Class 1-B had an unusually high number of beauties—Yuigahama Yui, Nibutani Shinka, Ebina Hina, and more, all striking in their own ways.
In particular, the generous curves pushing up Yui's and Shinka's tops always drew the boys' furtive glances.
Men—who isn't a little lustful? When faced with beautiful things, they just pour in more enthusiasm.
Today, Shiina Mahiru's figure was especially dazzling—she was even cuter than Gabriel.
Why? Well, for an "angel," Gabriel didn't seem as… developed as Mahiru.
Which was normal enough. After all, Hayashi Maki had been "helping" Angel Mahiru grow—call it daily required coursework, at this point.
Seeing the girl everyone admired already "shaped into his" in private, Hayashi Maki couldn't help feeling secretly pleased.
He'd even squeezed in a "coaching" session with the Akizuki sisters that morning; he still felt fresh as a daisy, not the least bit tired.
To his surprise, deepening bonds with followers seemed to purify his mana—there was a post-event increase.
Which made sense. Planting a mana seed in a follower consumed his own magic, and in the process trained his control; as he spent mana, his capacity slowly grew.
Everything was trending in a good direction.
Thinking of the Akizuki sisters, Hayashi Maki's lips curled. Airi was proactive and uninhibited—a fine example for her older sister, Marina. As for Marina, her shy, reserved side was exactly his type.
Especially that cute look when, out of shame, she clapped a hand over her mouth to keep from making a sound—perfect.
Ahem. Better stop there. Any more and a certain… reaction would get embarrassing.
Contracting two top-tier followers at once had definitely juiced his appetite. How else to explain all these morning thoughts?
Back to business.
The class mood was unusually harmonious today.
Hikigaya Hachiman, dead-fish eyes and all, was quietly observing his classmates—lingering especially on the boy Totsuka Saika.
Hayama Hayato laughed now and then, wearing the expression of a guy amused by his friends, Tobe and Ooka. Look closely, though, and you'd see Tobe and Ooka hardly ever met each other's eyes—they were both Hayato's friends, chatting together only because of him. Privately, they were "a friend's friends," not especially close.
Hayashi Maki didn't have Hayato's easy banter with the guys. After a brief chat with Kato Megumi, he pulled out his phone.
In a mischievous mood, he decided to tease Nibutani Shinka.
He sent her a message:
"Mori Summer—Mori Summer-sama—that's you, isn't it?"
Shinka felt her phone buzz and opened it on reflex.
After reading it, she jolted, then whipped around toward Hayashi Maki—right into his half-smiling gaze.
Panic.
It's over!
From the look of it, Hayashi Maki had only just now realized what "Mori Summer" meant?
"Mori" reads the same as 森, and "Summer" is 夏—together, 森夏. Compare that to her name, Nibutani Shinka, and the connection is obvious.
Seeing Hayashi Maki's smile, Shinka frantically tapped out a reply:
"Hayashi Maki, meet me during the long break. I have something to tell you—alone."
Hayashi Maki: "No problem, Mori Summer-sama the Magician!"
"Ahhh!" Shinka groaned aloud at the message, clutching her head and shaking it. Don't call me that!
What do I do? The dead past is attacking me! Brain trembling!
The more she remembered, the more mortified she felt—like streaking at midnight and having your friends find out the next day. Social death.
What if Hayashi Maki spills it? She'd never be able to show her face at school. If people learned that the model student aiming for student council president had once been a raging chūnibyō who said all that cringe… she'd die.
Okay, not literally. But sometimes social death hurts worse than the real thing—no words for that agony.
After second period, the long break arrived.
Shinka walked up to Hayashi Maki with a smile and, in her cutest voice, said: "Hayashi Maki, come with me. I've got something important to tell you."
That was her strategy: Fight rumor with rumor. If he dared expose her chūnibyō past, she'd cling to him so he couldn't get a girlfriend. Hmph—he seemed close to Shiina-san; let's see if that scares him.
Go nuclear; mutually assured destruction.
…Unless this was exactly what Hayashi Maki wanted?
He hadn't publicly announced a relationship with Angel Mahiru, after all. So having an "official" rumor girlfriend—Shinka—wouldn't be so bad.
No loss for him either way.
In a quiet spot, Shinka dropped the sweet act.
She slapped a palm against the wall beside his ear—kabedon—and locked him in a flat, dead stare.
"What exactly do you know?"
Breathing in her scent, Hayashi Maki found it novel—so Shinka had a queenly streak? This was the first time a girl had kabedon'd him.
Facing the now-cold Shinka, he shrugged with a smile and answered lightly:
"Mori Summer-sama is a bona fide 1,500-year-old mage who survived to the present—before it was 500 years, then suddenly 1,500—and the world is divided into black and white…"
"Ahhh—s-stop! I don't want to hear it!"
"So embarrassing—so embarrassing!"
"Don't read it out loud!"
He'd barely begun when Shinka couldn't take it—she clapped her hands over her ears and rolled on the ground.
After a long bout of floor-rolling, she sprang up, looking pained.
"I'd decided to forget all that—why make me remember!"
Hayashi Maki spread his hands. "Some things don't vanish just because you want them to. Why not accept that version of yourself? Back when you were Mori Summer, you were proud, weren't you?"
"Shut up! I don't want to remember any of it! Listen, Hayashi-san—you absolutely cannot tell anyone that I was chūnibyō in junior high and played Mori Summer. Or else…"
"Or else what?" Hayashi Maki asked, amused.
He was pretty sure she'd heard from Asada Shino that he'd beaten three opponents at once without breaking a sweat.
Shinka's face fell. "Or else… I'll curse you to death!"
"So, you haven't changed that much—you still want to use Mori-sama's Death Curse."
"Ahhhh, stop! I… I even slipped into that old tone without thinking… ugh, and that spell takes 100 repetitions to work… I was going to forget it all!"
Cracked wide open, Shinka kabedon'd him again, glaring daggers.
And in her fiercest face, she spoke the softest words: "Please… don't tell anyone, okay?"
Hayashi Maki couldn't help laughing—she was too cute. Unlike the prickly Second Heiress, Shinka knew when to read the room.
"Alright, I won't. So how will you thank me, Nibutani-san?"
"Eh… I… um—mmph!"
Suddenly kissed, Shinka stared wide-eyed, stunned.
She'd guessed he had naughty thoughts about her after seeing that life-size doll with her image at his place—but she hadn't expected him to be so direct, so bold.
Kissing her right here at school.
That's the difference with Hayashi Maki. While other guys were still polishing their "nice-guy" image and slowly grinding for a pretty girl's favor, he was already taking action.
Dive right in; let the pure, cute girl feel his heat. Straightforward—that's the correct demon approach.
Also— He moved because she kabedon'd him. Who does a kabedon without a kiss?
If Shinka wasn't going to make the next move, he would.
That kabedon pose—he loved it. Perfect.
~~~
200 Powerstone Votes Bonus Chapter!