"One, two, one... one, two, one... one, two, one..."
On the field, a group of boys and girls, already changed into their gym clothes, were jogging in circles, shouting slogans and dripping with the sweat and passion of youth.
On a grassy slope by the field, our dear Sora was lying there with a blade of grass in his mouth, his arms cradling his head as he gazed at the sky, pondering life or who knows what.
Our dear Sora had been excused. The reason was that his body had been frail since childhood, and a couple of laps might actually kill him. This powerful reason terrified the P.E. teacher, who wouldn't dare let him participate in any activities. He begged him to go rest on the side, pleading that he not drop dead during his class.
Although they were all jogging, the students on the field would occasionally glance in Sora's direction. The boys had looks of disdain and sarcasm, while the girls wore expressions of concern.
Though they were far away, Sora could see their expressions clearly. He directly ignored the boys' scorn; they were just a bunch of jealous kids. However, the girls' concern made him feel a little ashamed.
It wasn't that he couldn't jog with them, but he had been incredibly bored these past few days. He was worried that if he couldn't control himself, he would activate his light-speed cosmos and destroy the entire field.
Chewing on the blade of grass and staring at the sky, Sora felt like he was waiting for the stars and the moon. He had been at school for almost half a month, so why hadn't that damn girl Lala shown up yet?!
Although he had never met her in person, he knew from the original story that Lala was an airhead with a one-track mind. Could she have gotten lost in space or had some other accident that prevented her from coming?
He felt he couldn't just wait around anymore. One week. He would wait one more week at most. If Lala still didn't show up, he would personally fly to Planet Deviluke and drag her over!
Just as our great Demon King Sora was wishing for Princess Lala to descend upon Earth, far away on the other side of the galaxy, on Planet Deviluke—
"Lady Lala, shouldn't we wait a little longer? If Lady Sephie catches us, we'll definitely be punished severely."
"No way, no way! I can't stand another day here. Mom keeps forcing me to go on blind dates. I don't want to marry any of those annoying guys!"
"Even so, Lady Lala, we could wait for a safer time to escape, couldn't we?"
"I can feel it. Someone is calling for me, wishing for me to leave this place quickly. Anyway, I can't wait another moment!"
"Hah... Are you having those strange hallucinations again? Lady Lala has been like this a lot recently. It's really worrying..."
"Peke, if you keep dithering, I'm leaving you behind!"
"Waaah... Don't, Lady Lala! Please don't leave me..."
...
Within the heavily guarded royal palace, a girl with pink hair in a dress was carefully making her way past teams of guards. Her head darted left and right, warily scanning her surroundings. Before long, she entered a large warehouse.
"Ha... Found it!"
Seeing the spaceship parked in the middle of the warehouse, the girl's eyes lit up with joy. She quickly ran over, opened the hatch, and entered the ship.
"Um... this way, this way, and then this way..."
The ship's cockpit had dozens, even hundreds of control buttons and holographic keyboards. It was so dazzling that a normal person would get a headache just looking at it. But the girl seemed very familiar with it all. Her ten slender fingers danced swiftly across the controls. In no time, the ship's control system was activated.
"Lady Lala, stop!"
"Hurry! Don't let Lady Lala escape!"
Just then, a young man in a cloak and silver armor burst in with a team of guards. Seeing the already activated spaceship, his expression changed drastically. They all rushed towards the ship, intending to stop the escaping girl.
"Hee hee... Zastin, you're too late! Bye-bye!"
Waving cheerfully at the young man outside, the girl directly issued the launch command. To the utter shock of the young man and his guards, the spaceship shot out two jets of blue flame and soared into the sky...
…
"Pass it to me! Pass it to me!"
"Idiot! Shoot, just shoot!!!"
"Haruna-chan, take this!"
"Ha... haha... As expected of Haruna-chan, we lost again..."
...
Woken up by a clamor of voices, Sora yawned and opened his eyes, only to realize he had dozed off again.
P.E. class was still going on, but it seemed to be free time now. The boys were chasing a soccer ball on the field, while the girls were hitting a tennis ball back and forth on the tennis court, also having a blast.
The group of passionate boys was immediately ignored by Sora. His gaze fell instead on the girls on the tennis court.
He had to admit, the girls, swinging their rackets, looked valiant and full of youthful vitality, exuding a unique charm. Their sweat-soaked clothes were slightly translucent, giving one the urge to rip them open and see what lay beneath.
What surprised Sora a little was that the most dazzling girl on the court was his own deskmate, Haruna. She usually seemed gentle and weak, giving off a quiet and mature vibe. He didn't expect that on the court, she would be so confident and beautiful. Although she wasn't at a professional level, at least among the girls in the class, no one was her match.
Sora couldn't help but sigh. A girl who was excellent in academics, had a gentle personality, and was practically perfect in morals, intelligence, and athletics—it was impossible not to like her. Unlike him, who was looked down on for half the day just for saying his body was weak!
Compared to a "half-cripple" like himself, Haruna-chan was a perfect goddess!
If Haruna in the classroom was a beautiful, fragrant flower that mesmerized people, then the girl on the court now was a dazzling, radiant pearl that drove people wild!
Even the great Demon King Sora felt a fire ignite within him. If he let such a girl go to someone else, he would surely be smitten by divine wrath!
At the edge of the court, other girls were cheering for Haruna and her opponent. Some of the boys who weren't playing soccer were crowded around the outside, watching the girls on the court with infatuated expressions.
Unsurprisingly, Rito was among them, his eyes fixed on Haruna-chan without blinking, as if his soul had been completely captivated.
Well, if it were just that, it would be fine. But what left Sora speechless was, what was with this panting uncle next to him?!!!
A short, stout figure, lying on the grassy slope like a big fat pig. A shiny bald head, with black hair like devil's horns. Who else could it be but that perverted principal?
"Hey, hey... Principal, this is dangerous for you."
Watching the principal panting like a bull, his fat face flushed, clearly in a state of excessive hormone secretion, Sora genuinely worried he might excite himself to death. So, he kindly reminded him.
"So cute... so cute... Haruna-chan!!!"
Steam shot from his nostrils. The principal, already in the zone, couldn't hear Sora's words at all. He let out a loud cry, leaped into the air, and pounced towards Haruna on the court.
Following the perverted principal's figure with his eyes, even Sora was stunned. The short, fat principal leaped a dozen meters into the air like a tiger pouncing on its prey. That height and movement had completely surpassed the limits of a normal human!
"Ah... That perverted principal is here again!"
"Haruna-chan, get out of the way!!!"
Seeing the principal pouncing from the sky, the students by the court cried out in alarm. Haruna, in the middle of the court, was even more horrified, as if terrified to her very core.
"Hey now, Principal-san, as long as I'm here, you won't be taking advantage of Haruna-chan!"
Snapping back to reality, Sora flashed into the air. Although he found the principal rather amusing, he wouldn't let him take advantage of Haruna.
Not just Haruna, but any girl in the school!
He considered whether he should imitate a certain admiral nicknamed "Yellow Monkey" from a world rampant with pirates and say, "Have you ever been kicked at the speed of light?" But feeling it was too cringey, he dismissed the idea. Sora simply delivered a sweeping kick to the perverted principal's big belly.
"Owww..."
With a painful howl, the perverted principal turned into a shooting star and vanished into the sky...
In a flash, Sora was back in his original spot. Because he had moved at the speed of light, to the students, it seemed as though the principal had just mysteriously flown away.
"Phew... I don't know what happened, but it's great that the perverted principal is gone..."
The students all breathed a long sigh of relief. No one cared about the perverted principal's fate. Haruna, who had almost been his "victim," collapsed to the ground, a trace of paleness still on her face.
A group of girls quickly surrounded her, helping her up and comforting her. The girl managed a strained smile, indicating she was fine.
Though it was only for a split second, Haruna was sure she had seen Sora-kun just now. Right as the principal was about to pounce on her, Sora-kun had suddenly appeared in the air and kicked him away.
Haruna was endlessly shocked. She instinctively glanced at Sora, who was still lying on the grassy slope as if nothing had happened. The girl lowered her head, a thoughtful expression on her face...
"Hah..."
Yawning, he wondered if he should continue sleeping. He didn't give a second thought to the fact that he had kicked the perverted principal into a shooting star.
Although the principal was just a gag character for comedic effect, he was a being protected by this world's will. In the original story, the principal had been set on fire, slashed with a sword, hit by a cannon, and even frozen and sealed in Antarctica!
But—
He survived it all!!!!!
In a way, the principal's immortality was a super divine skill on par with Rito's divine pratfall. They were both golden cheats bestowed upon them by the will of this plane!
"Hmm?"
Feeling someone blocking the sunlight on him, Sora opened his eyes. At some point, three girls had appeared before him.
"Risa-san, Mio-san, and Sairenji-san. Is there something I can help you with?"
Sitting up, Sora addressed the three girls with a smile.
"Hehe... Haruna, don't you have something important to ask Sora-kun? Hurry up and say it!"
"My, my, Haruna-chan is blushing again. Don't tell me you want to ask Sora-kun..."
Teased by her two friends until her face turned bright red, Haruna still looked at Sora and, swallowing her immense shyness, slowly spoke:
"Sora-kun, I want... I want..."