After Eriri declined to further introduce herself, although Kanami Okazaki felt it was a bit of a pity, she didn't press the matter.
She then proceeded to assign Eriri a seat.
"Sawamura-san, please take the seat to the right of Wakaba-san."
Okazaki Kanami pointed toward the empty seat in the second column by the window, in the last row, smiling as she spoke to Eriri.
In truth, that seat was originally occupied, but just seconds ago, Eriri had used a small trick to relocate the student who sat there to another spot, freeing it up.
Naturally, no one could detect her little trick—not even Wakaba Hiiro, a dominator of the underworld and one of the highest-ranking gods in the universe with Level 8, Stage 1 strength.
From Wakaba's perspective, the seat beside her had always been empty, so assigning the new transfer student there seemed completely reasonable.
Eriri nodded politely to Kanami Okazaki, then walked lightly toward the last row of the classroom.
After sitting down, she turned to her side and calmly greeted the girl seated barely a meter away.
"Hello there. Looks like we'll be desk neighbors from now on. May I know your name?"
Hearing Eriri's voice, Wakaba Hiiro, who had been resting her face nearly flat against her desk, slowly raised her head. Her eyes, partially obscured by bangs, fell on Eriri and stayed there for several seconds.
Then she finally opened her mouth and responded tersely: "Wakaba Hiiro."
Having given her name, Wakaba withdrew her gaze and returned to her earlier state, as if nothing around her had anything to do with her.
Though Wakaba didn't show any particular emotion, Eriri could still detect a hint of surprise deep in her eyes.
She was clearly astonished that a human could possess beauty surpassing even that of gods.
Even though Wakaba no longer paid her any attention, Eriri had no intention of dropping the conversation.
"Wakaba-san, would you mind sharing your textbook with me? I didn't get a chance to pick mine up yet."
Eriri maintained her gentle smile as she looked at Wakaba Hiiro. Her tone and demeanor were graceful and refined—the very picture of an elegant young lady.
But before Wakaba could respond, a girl seated to Eriri's right eagerly stood up.
"Sawamura-san, I can share mine with you!"
The girl with short brown hair looked at Eriri with hopeful eyes, her pretty face flushed with excitement.
Hearing this, Eriri turned her gaze from Wakaba to the short-haired girl.
Seeing Eriri looking at her, the girl quickly introduced herself without waiting for a response.
"Hello, Sawamura-san, my name is Mirei Shinohara."
"So you're Shinohara-san. Thank you for the offer, but I'd really prefer to share with Wakaba-san."
Eriri declined Mirei Shinohara's invitation with a smile, then without hesitation pushed her desk over to join with Wakaba Kisairo's, turning their desks from neighbors into one.
She then picked up her chair and boldly sat right next to Wakaba.
"I'm sure Wakaba-san won't mind, right?"
With her chin resting on her hands, Eriri beamed at the girl now just inches away.
This blatantly clingy attitude prompted Wakaba to raise her head again, casting another look at Eriri.
Their arms were already touching. As Wakaba lifted her head, their faces nearly met.
Although there were still about twenty centimeters between them, their breaths were already clearly audible to each other.
The sudden close-up of an exquisitely alluring face, combined with the captivating scent wafting from Eriri's body, left the usually unflappable Wakaba Hiiro feeling a bit awkward.
"Whatever."
With a casual remark, Wakaba pretended nothing had happened and averted her gaze.
Two meters to their right, Mirei Shinohara looked at the two seated girls with a face full of resentment.
Just like the students at Toyogasaki Academy, this poor girl had inevitably succumbed to Eriri's charm. The upperclassman she once had a crush on had already begun to fade from her heart.
At this rate, that upperclassman might vanish from her mind altogether.
She had never liked Wakaba Hiiro's aloof and unsociable demeanor to begin with, and she was also extremely jealous of Wakaba's stunning looks.
Now, she couldn't help but resent her even more, blaming her for stealing the chance to share a textbook with Eriri.
...
Just like that, the morning classes came to an end, and Eriri spent the whole time nestled close to Wakaba Hiiro, sharing her textbook.
During the breaks, a few students tried to approach Eriri for a chat, but seeing that she only focused her attention on Wakaba and completely ignored them, they gradually backed off.
As a result, it wasn't just the girls who were jealous of Wakaba Hiiro—even some of the boys subconsciously developed envy toward her. Though in truth, most were simply filled with admiration.
In the eyes of the male student body, Wakaba Hiiro was extremely popular. In the beginning, she frequently received confessions, but every single one was rejected.
Although many still admired her, none dared to confess anymore.
Her beauty had been unmatched in the academy.
That is, until Eriri transferred in.
Now, Wakaba had been demoted to second place.
However, neither Eriri nor Wakaba Hiiro had any interest in such matters to begin with.
Once the teacher left the classroom, Mirei Shinohara seized the opportunity and quickly walked over to Eriri.
"Sawamura-san, I noticed you didn't bring a lunch box, and since you probably don't know where the school store or cafeteria are, would you like me to take you there?"
Mirei looked at Eriri earnestly, just like when she had offered to share her textbook.
Though Eriri's earlier rejection had disappointed her, she had long since bounced back and still had hopes of building a friendship.
Unfortunately, Eriri's response let her down once again.
"Thank you for the kind offer, Shinohara-san, but I've already decided to go to the cafeteria with Wakaba-san."
Same smile, same tone—Eriri had once again turned her down because of Wakaba Hiiro.
Disappointment returned to Mirei's face, and this time, she couldn't help but grit her teeth and glare at Wakaba Hiiro beside Eriri, her eyes brimming with jealousy.
Seeing her reaction, Eriri gave a subtle shake of her head.
She didn't hold any malice toward Mirei Shinohara.
Although in the original story Mirei had led a group to bully Wakaba Hiiro, at the very least, she had shown remorse after being reincarnated and even wanted to apologize for the bullying.
That alone made her better than those who never felt regret.
Of course, that didn't mean Eriri had any positive feelings toward her either. No matter how one spun it, bullying was bullying. Feeling regret afterward didn't erase the harm done.
Even if Wakaba Hiiro herself didn't care about the bullying and might have even found it childish and laughable.
But how the victim feels has nothing to do with it—Eriri judged the behavior itself.
At this point in time, though Mirei Shinohara was clearly jealous of Wakaba Hiiro's looks, she had yet to start bullying her.
In the original story, her bullying stemmed largely from the fact that the upperclassman she liked rejected her, saying he liked Wakaba instead. That was what triggered her deliberate targeting of Wakaba.
Now, however, she hadn't even confessed to that upperclassman, and with Eriri's appearance, it was obvious she'd never confess to him at all.
But that also meant that the new reason she might bully Wakaba would be Eriri herself.
If Eriri left things alone, then Mirei Shinohara could very well begin bullying Wakaba starting this very afternoon.
Although Eriri would enjoy seeing Wakaba being picked on—and such events could provide her more chances to get involved with Wakaba, like stepping in to defend her—she refused to let bullying be part of her plans.
Even if the bullied party didn't care at all, Eriri wouldn't use such means.
So she dismissed that idea outright.
Rather than that, it would be better to correct Mirei Shinohara's bad habits now, so she wouldn't only come to her senses after being reincarnated.
"Shinohara-san, I don't like the way you're looking at Wakaba-san."
Startled by Eriri's words, Mirei quickly lowered her head, avoiding Wakaba Hiiro's direction entirely—the last thing she wanted was for Eriri to dislike her.
She also no longer had the heart to remain by Eriri's side, so she returned to her seat in disappointment.
Of course, a single sentence wasn't enough to erase her jealousy. Changing a person's flaws wasn't so easy—unless special methods were used.
Naturally, Eriri wouldn't use any such special method. That would make the process feel far too unrewarding.
Eriri withdrew her gaze from Mirei and turned back to Wakaba Hiiro, her face once again graced with an elegant smile.
"Wakaba-san, let's head to the cafeteria now. If we wait too long, there might not be any seats left~"
But Wakaba had no intention of getting up.
"I'm not hungry. Go on without me."
She spoke calmly, picking up the novel she had left on her desk, flipping to the bookmarked page, and immersing herself in reading.
Though she was somewhat curious about Eriri, she didn't want to get involved.
She knew that forming ties with Eriri would only bring unnecessary trouble to her high school life simulation.
Using Eriri to stir up drama might be fun, but such low-level amusement wasn't worth her time.
However, Eriri had no intention of letting Wakaba's wishes get in her way. Even though Wakaba said she wasn't hungry, Eriri firmly grabbed the hand holding the book and pulled her up from her seat.
"Alright, alright. They say food is the iron of the body. You can't just skip lunch. Come on~ No need to be shy, I'll take care of you."
Saying this, Eriri dragged Wakaba Hiiro toward the back door of the classroom. Wakaba followed like a frail invalid, powerless to resist.
As they passed by Mirei Shinohara, Eriri suddenly stopped, causing Wakaba to bump into her back.
Just as Wakaba was about to fall, Eriri smoothly caught her by the waist.
"Wakaba-san, how careless~ Good thing I reacted quickly or you would've hit the floor!"
"...Isn't that because you dragged me?"
Resting in Eriri's arms, Wakaba gave her an exasperated look. Even she couldn't resist a retort.
"Alright, I'm steady now. You can let go."
Though she didn't dislike the feeling, Wakaba still reminded Eriri to release her.
"No problem."
Eriri complied without hesitation, loosening her grip on Wakaba's waist.
But in the very next second, she took Wakaba's right hand in her left.
"You seem so delicate and frail—I should keep holding your hand, just in case something happens again."
She spoke as if it were the most natural thing in the world, her expression filled with sincerity. Anyone watching would think she was just a caring classmate.
To the side, Mirei Shinohara silently watched their performance. Though her face was expressionless, her clenched right fist behind her back betrayed her inner turmoil.
If she weren't within Eriri's line of sight, she might have already started grinding her teeth at Wakaba Hiiro.
Out of sight, out of mind—so she decided to leave the classroom and grab a yakisoba bun from the school store.
But just as she was about to move, Eriri's voice rang out again.
"Shinohara-san, weren't you headed to the cafeteria for lunch too? Want to come with us?"
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