In the days that followed, Sora officially began his high school life once again. He would sleep during class, chat with girls during breaks, and walk home with Rito after school. The days passed by in a peaceful, uneventful manner.
After a few days, he had become thoroughly familiar with Sainan High. The overly enthusiastic girls would bring him all the latest gossip and entertainment news. Things like the perverted principal pouncing on female students again, the school nurse Mikado-sensei being a sexy bombshell, a few hopeless idiots deliberately injuring themselves to get close to her, or some guy being happily trampled by Saki-senpai from the second year with a blissful look on his face... all sorts of topics and gossip.
Although Sora himself felt it was all rather pointless and wasn't very interested, he couldn't bring himself to spoil the girls' fun. He would act surprised, smile, and play along, making him a qualified listener.
As the end of the semester approached, there were frequent tests. To ensure he could sleep comfortably in class without any teachers bothering him, Sora put in a tiny bit of effort and basically scored full marks on everything.
The girls gasped in admiration, the boys seethed with resentment, and the teachers were completely blinded by his brilliance, giving up any thought of disciplining him. As long as he didn't disturb the other students in class, he was a little ancestor who could do whatever he wanted.
As an excellent student, Haruna's grades were also very good, consistently ranking among the top in the entire school. In contrast, Rito, the original male protagonist of this world, had mediocre grades—not the best, but not the worst, barely average.
What surprised Sora a little was that Rito's best friend, Saruyama, actually had pretty good grades, completely unlike his somewhat goofy appearance. After a few interactions, Sora realized this guy was a certified wolf, and had even secretly asked him for tips on how to attract girls several times.
When he was in a good mood, Sora would give him a pointer or two, but he took no responsibility for whether they worked. Given his looks, the chances were probably slim...
In short, because this Sora was handsome, had god-tier grades, and even a personality that charmed the girls, he was adored and pursued by them, despite being shunned and ostracized by the boys.
He heard from a few girls that he had become quite famous among the female students in other classes and even throughout the whole school, but Sora just smiled faintly, not paying it much mind.
During these days, Sora's relationship with Haruna hadn't progressed much beyond becoming more familiar faces. Apart from a polite greeting when arriving at and leaving school, they rarely spoke. Not just the boys and girls in the class, but even Haruna herself was confused and puzzled by this.
As a beautiful girl with excellent grades, Haruna was extremely popular with both boys and girls. For someone like her, the fact that the seat next to her had been empty before Sora's arrival was already unusual.
After a little analysis and gathering some intel from the girls in class, Sora more or less figured out what was going on.
Among the boys, it wasn't just Rito who had a crush on Haruna; there were plenty of them!
Almost every boy who had sat next to Haruna before couldn't last more than three days before shyly confessing to her, only to be politely rejected every time. After this happened repeatedly, the heartbroken boys no longer dared to sit next to her. Sitting there was practically a label that read, "Guaranteed to be rejected by Sairenji-san!"
Rito had once thought about sitting next to Haruna-chan, but had apparently given up the idea for this very reason. Thinking of all the boys who had been rejected, he felt he was already very lucky. Although every time he tried to confess to Haruna-chan, he was interrupted by bizarre events like a falling flowerpot or a suddenly charging car, at least he had never been rejected by her directly, which meant there was still hope, right?
The boys didn't sit next to Haruna out of fear of rejection, and the girls' reason was even simpler. Although Haruna-chan was a nice person and they all liked her, she was too outstanding. None of them wanted to sit next to her and become the plain green leaves that made the beautiful flower stand out even more!
Thus, for various reasons, the seat next to Haruna had always been empty, until Sora's arrival changed everything.
He wasn't overly friendly, nor was he overly cold. Sora had always maintained a certain distance from Haruna, seemingly paying no extra attention to such an outstanding girl. In class, he would either be sleeping or playing games on his phone. During breaks, he was busy chatting with the other girls. Despite having the convenient position of being her deskmate, he had almost no interaction with Haruna-chan at all.
On one hand, the boys felt a small sense of relief, fearing that this inhumanly handsome bAstarrd would corrupt their goddess, Haruna-chan. But on the other hand, they were extremely annoyed.
The boys believed that Sora definitely had designs on Haruna-chan, but he was just acting aloof to get her attention. What an unforgivable, shameless bAstarrd!
The girls' reaction was, naturally, completely different. Sora-kun was able to resist Haruna-chan's allure! He wasn't like the other boys who shamelessly tried to stick to her all day. What incredible willpower! What nobility! What...
In short, the girls were beyond satisfied with Sora's performance and became even more infatuated with and devoted to him. If they ever heard any of the boys speaking ill of Sora-kun behind his back, a girl would definitely stomp over angrily and kick them a few times.
The resentful boys had practically made Sora their mortal enemy, while the girls had almost all become his loyal, die-hard fans. The relationship between the boys and girls in the class deteriorated rapidly, turning them into two opposing factions. Sora, who saw all of this, couldn't help but feel his eye twitch and his mouth grimace. He hadn't done anything! He really hadn't done a thing!
Well, for now, let's ignore these overly energetic teens. Over the past few days, Haruna had secretly breathed a sigh of relief and let down her guard.
The truth was, Haruna-chan was also quite troubled. Being excellent in both appearance and character, she had been confessed to by boys since she was little, and she was tired of it. With her kind heart, she always felt bad seeing the sad and disappointed faces of the boys she rejected. But she couldn't accept their confessions because she simply didn't like them!
The only one she was even slightly interested in, Rito-kun, was always so indecisive. Many times she thought he was about to confess, only for him to back down at the last moment.
Although she was a little disappointed in Rito-kun, when she thought about how he had quietly taken care of the class's plants and flowers since middle school, his gentle persistence even when misunderstood, he was already so much better than the other boys who were full of themselves but had never done anything.
Haruna sometimes wondered if Rito-kun ever worked up the courage to confess to her, perhaps she would actually say yes...
When Sora had just transferred and become her deskmate, although Haruna had a good impression of the handsome and brilliant Sora, she was actually quite wary, fearing that he too would confess to her within a couple of days and be annoyingly persistent.
To Haruna's relief, Sora-kun was different from all the other boys. He hadn't bothered her at all. It was wonderful...
Of course, while relieved, the girl couldn't help but feel a little frustrated.
While it was a good thing that Sora-kun wasn't bothering her, wasn't he being a little too cold? Apart from greeting her when they arrived at and left school, he spent his time either sleeping or chatting with the other girls. He barely even spoke to her. She hadn't done anything to make Sora-kun dislike her, had she?
Haruna knew she was partly to blame, as she hadn't been very proactive in talking to him either. Sora-kun was actually very nice. He was handsome, smart, and had a great personality, which was easy to see from how all the girls in class adored him.
However, she was a girl, after all. Couldn't Sora-kun, as the boy, be a little more proactive? He was so friendly and easygoing with the other girls, but he kept such a distance from her, his own deskmate. Just two days ago, Risa and Mio had even teased her about it on the way home.
A girl's heart is simple yet complex. Looking at Sora, who was once again slumped over his desk and fast asleep, a trace of resentment flashed in her watery eyes...
…
"Sora-san, the two afternoon periods are P.E. class. Let's go to the field together."
It was Rito's voice. He walked up to Sora's desk, habitually keeping an eye on Haruna as he spoke.
"Rito-kun, are you sure about that? If you're seen too close to me at school, you'll be ostracized by the other boys in class, you know!"
Stretching, Sora stood up and said to Rito with a grin.
"Ha... haha... I'm sure it'll be fine..."
Dark lines appeared on Rito's forehead as he laughed awkwardly. But when he saw the other boys in class giving him warning glares, he couldn't help but shrink back.
Hesitating slightly, Rito was actually quite afraid of being ostracized by the other boys like Sora was. However, when he remembered that his only chance to get closer to Haruna-chan was through Sora, he grit his teeth and his expression became firm.
Seeing Rito, who was usually so useless but could still be reliable and make a decision at a critical moment, Sora couldn't help but nod. For the first time, he saw him in a new light.
"Let's go, Rito-kun. To the field."
Smiling, he patted Rito's shoulder, and the two of them headed towards the field.
"Sora-kun, Rito-kun..."
Watching the backs of Sora and Rito as they left the classroom, for some reason, a complex expression appeared in the girl's eyes.
"Hehehe... Haruna, is it hard to choose between Rito and Sora-kun?"
"Ah!!! Risa, wh-what are you talking about? I'm not!"
"My, my... Haruna-chan is blushing! How cute!"
"Ugh... Mio, you too! Let go of me, everyone's watching..."
"Haruna, Haruna, didn't you used to like that Rito guy? Be a dear and give Sora-kun to us. We'll be grateful to you for the rest of our lives!"
"Yeah, yeah, me too, me too! Haruna-chan has that pure and gentle little loser Rito, that's enough. You should leave Sora-kun to us."
"Hmph... I'm not talking to you guys anymore..."
"Hahaha... So cute! Haruna actually ran away!"
"Haruna, wait up, you forgot your racket..."
Amidst playful laughter, the girls also headed towards the field...