"Ow, ow, ow! Ah! I'm sorry, I'm so sorry! I shouldn't have been running in the hallway."
The girl looked a bit spacey, with a stray hair on top of her head—a classic ahoge—bopping back and forth.
"It's fine. I was thinking about something and wasn't looking where I was going either."
Cao Shuang waved his hand to show he was okay, but why did the girl in front of him look so familiar?
"Eh? What's this? An application for the Light Music Club President?"
The girl caught sight of the paper and looked it over. She hadn't expected someone to actually apply for the presidency of the Light Music Club.
Wait, wait—that didn't really have anything to do with her, did it?
"Oh right! I have to go find Nodoka! Sorry for bumping into you, I'm Yui Hirasawa!"
Handing the paper back to Cao Shuang, Yui Hirasawa dashed off in a panic.
Ah—so it's "Aho-Yui," the famous single-core processor girl with the younger sister everyone envies.
"I knew she looked familiar."
Dusting off his pants, Cao Shuang headed back to his classroom.
During the lunch break, Shizuka Hiratsuka found Cao Shuang and handed him the keys to the Light Music Club room.
The members from the previous year had all graduated or quit. The few remaining members, seeing that the "pillars" of the club were gone, saw no point in staying and submitted their resignation forms one after another. This left the Light Music Club as a ghost club, which coincidentally gave Cao Shuang the perfect opportunity to swoop in.
He arrived at the clubroom door. This was the old school building, right? Looking at the door next to his, he saw the words SERVICE CLUB hanging in large letters.
Tsk... He didn't end up joining the Service Club, but he ended up as their neighbor. The world is truly full of surprises.
He pushed open the door to the Light Music Club. Since it hadn't been cleaned in a long time, there was quite a lot of dust; it was going to take some time to clear it out.
With that thought, Cao Shuang immediately closed the door. He decided to find somewhere else to eat—spending his precious lunch break doing manual labor was just too extravagant.
Speaking of which, Cao Shuang wasn't just talented at cooking; his music skills were also decent. The primary motivation for that? He figured a handsome guy who could play an instrument would have a much easier time picking up girls.
As it turns out, an otaku is still an otaku. Even with a good-looking face and talent, if you don't know how to talk to people, you'll still be considered boring.
Japanese bento boxes really aren't that great. They fall into the category of cold food, and once heated, the taste becomes very strange. Probably only Japanese people can stomach them daily.
Cao Shuang shoveled a few bites of his leftover bento and forced them down.
"Once those royalties hit, I'm buying groceries and cooking for myself. I also need to buy a high-quality insulated lunch box. This bento is seriously awful."
He tossed the trash into the bin with disgust and chugged some sweet tea. Then, before the lunch break ended, he decided to get some typing done! Soon, he'd be a great author! Making tons of money!
"Sigh, when will I finally be rich?! I hope some rich lady notices my fragile heart and decides to take care of me!"
"Pfft."
A soft giggle sounded right by his ear.
The rooftop was quite large, and many students came here to eat. Of course, if you wanted to do anything "strange" up here, you just had to think about the price Makoto Itou paid.
He hadn't expected another student to be up here; it was a bad habit he'd carried over from his past life. He couldn't eat without staring at his phone for entertainment, especially when the food was this bad.
"My, my... Junior, you're quite a comedian."
A white headband held back her silky long black hair. She had a mature figure that shouldn't belong to a girl her age, and her long legs were encased in black pantyhose that would make anyone want to... well, admire them.
Her wine-red eyes looked at Cao Shuang with amusement.
Oh—it's Utaha "Kasumifat" (Kasumigaoka).
How embarrassing. His inner thoughts had accidentally slipped out and been overheard by this woman. Any man would be mortified.
Utaha Kasumigaoka, who usually came to the rooftop to catch the breeze, eat, and read light novels, hadn't expected her "territory" to be occupied today. However, she didn't mind; other students came here often, and she could just move.
But seeing this somewhat handsome junior suddenly start mumbling to himself and then shout for a "rich lady" was enough to make Utaha burst out laughing. This junior was actually quite interesting.
But what interested her even more was seeing him typing on his phone. Utaha didn't have a habit of peeking, but she recognized the writing software he was using—it was the same one she used. She realized instantly that the boy in front of her might be a fellow creator. That software was mostly popular within the light novel author circles.
Of course, that was just for mobile; for her PC, Utaha preferred using Word.
"Oh ho? Junior... I'm sure you wouldn't want anyone else to find out about what happened today, right?"
What? What are you planning? Wait, this development... you aren't actually lusting after my body, are you?
The expression on Cao Shuang's face was one of pure horror. He didn't remember Utaha having such a "yandere" side.
"In that case... let me see the novel on your phone."
It was clear she was teasing him; Utaha was naturally a bit black-bellied. While she was sharp-tongued with people she knew well, her attitude toward strangers or casual friends was actually quite pleasant.
Her request to see his work was driven by a desire to act as a senior and offer some "guidance" to a junior. At the end of the day, she was still a student who hadn't entered the real world; even with her success, she still had a bit of a childish streak.
"I trust a senior's small request won't be rejected? Despite how I look, I'm a light novel author too, you know."
Finding a fellow creator at school was rare, and Utaha's interest was thoroughly piqued. As a die-hard light novel fanatic, she naturally wanted to see what kind of level this junior's writing was at.
Hmm... Cao Shuang thought about it. Letting Utaha take a look was fine; after all, as peers, exchange was inevitable. He wasn't so arrogant about his "reincarnated" status that he thought he couldn't learn anything. You're never too old to learn, and being self-isolated was a bad move.
"Fine. Then I'll let you take a look, Senpai."
With that, Cao Shuang pulled up the draft and handed the phone to Utaha.
The first volume of Your Lie in April was about sixty thousand words in—the result of his intense overtime work lately. If she was a fast reader, she should be able to finish it soon.
Taking the phone, Utaha's playful demeanor vanished instantly. She began to read his work with total seriousness.