"Good morning, Kazuto."
"Good morning!"
Kirigaya Kazuto seemed unexpectedly gloomy, looking at Sato as if he wanted to say something but hesitated.
Sato glanced at him strangely, set down his commuting bag, and asked, "What is it? You look a little strange today..."
Unexpectedly, the look in Kirigaya Kazuto's eyes became even stranger.
"Didn't anyone come looking for you?"
"Huh?"
Sato looked at him in confusion.
Kirigaya Kazuto frowned and muttered, "That's not right. How could no one have come looking for you..."
"Alright, stop speaking in riddles and just say it already."
Sato rolled his eyes. Honestly, he could not stand it. Whatever it was, just say it.
Kirigaya Kazuto still looked conflicted.
He glanced to both sides. Seeing that there were not many people in the classroom yet, he finally made up his mind.
"On the way to school today, I ran into a group of men in black."
"Yakuza?"
The Yakuza were those underworld organizations.
"No. They said they were staff from some kind of association. They asked me to sign a confidentiality agreement and told me not to reveal anything about the game. I thought you must have received it too..."
"Oh, that."
Sato finally understood why Kirigaya Kazuto had been so conflicted. He reassured him, "I already signed one before."
"You already signed one?!"
Kirigaya Kazuto froze for a moment, then muttered, "So the signing time isn't the same for everyone."
Sato did not respond. He had indeed signed a confidentiality agreement, but not because of this game. He had signed one during the incident when he met Tohru before Golden Week.
The main contents of the agreement were that ordinary people could not be allowed to know about these matters, that abilities could not be revealed in front of ordinary people, and that abilities could not be used to commit illegal acts.
In short, it all came down to one sentence. Never disrupt the order and stability of modern society.
After learning that Sato had also signed the agreement, Kirigaya Kazuto visibly relaxed. His spirits even improved, and the topic inevitably shifted to the game.
"That game is incredible!"
No matter whether he was praising the setting, the realism, or the extremely realistic combat system, that was the sentence Kirigaya Kazuto kept repeating.
Sato maintained a smile and listened quietly.
Although he also played games often, he was not particularly passionate about them. Most of his energy went into light novels and anime.
Kazuto aka Kirito, on the other hand, was a true game addict.
"What are you two talking about?"
Saiki Kusuo's voice suddenly reached their ears. His face was expressionless, but there was a hint of curiosity in his eyes.
Kazuto's voice stopped abruptly. He looked at Kusuo awkwardly, stammering without managing to say anything.
He really wanted to tell Kusuo, but the scene of signing the confidentiality agreement that morning was still vivid in his mind.
More than a dozen men in black suits and sunglasses had suddenly rushed out of a car and surrounded him. The leader had pinned him against the wall with one hand while the other reached into his coat.
At that moment he thought he had somehow gotten caught up in some gang conflict. He never expected that what he would face in the end was a confidentiality agreement.
But then again, for a game to require a confidentiality agreement, no matter how you thought about it, there had to be something going on behind the scenes.
Seeing the situation, Sato smiled and said, "We were talking about a game."
"A game?"
Saiki Kusuo lost interest. His face was rather expressionless, so it was hard to see any change on the surface, but one could still sense that he had lost interest in the matter.
Nicely done.
Kazuto's eyes lit up. He had forgotten that Kusuo had little interest in games. Sato had given a vague answer that neither deceived Saiki nor revealed the matter.
He silently shot Sato a look that said nicely done.
Sato looked at Kazuto with a somewhat complicated gaze.
Foolish child. Saiki is not a half-awakened amateur like you.
According to Sato's guess, Saiki Kusuo was probably a registered ability user and might even know about the game.
"Cough, cough. Class is starting, everyone. Please return to your seats!"
"And an announcement. There will be an exam this week, so please get settled and prepare early!"
"Ehhhh?!"
"No way!"
"Owari da..."
The classroom erupted in wails.
...
"Sigh..."
The clubroom was also filled with wailing.
Tainaka Ritsu lay sprawled on the table with a lifeless expression. Across from her was Hirasawa Yui, who looked exactly the same.
"Yui..."
"Yeah..."
The two of them spoke in the same weak tone. Their laziness was so infectious that it made people want to fall asleep.
"There's going to be an exam..."
"Yeah..."
"What do you think?"
"My head is full of fingerings and sheet music. What about you, Ritsu?"
"After the holiday, I've already forgotten everything."
The two academically hopeless girls raised their heads and looked at each other with teary eyes. The atmosphere suddenly turned strangely sentimental.
"Yui!"
"Ritsu!"
The two hugged each other and buried their heads while sobbing.
Suddenly, Tainaka Ritsu pushed Hirasawa Yui away and raised her head dramatically.
"Oh heavens, why does something like exams exist in this world?"
Hirasawa Yui immediately dropped to her knees with a thump. She placed both hands on the ground and said emotionally, "Oh earth, why does something like exams exist in this world?"
"Yui! Ritsu!"
"Can you two stop embarrassing yourselves!"
Akiyama Mio had been writing her homework seriously. The hand holding her pen tightened again and again as she tried to calm herself down, telling herself not to get angry. But watching the two become more and more exaggerated, she finally could not hold back.
She stood up and glared at them.
Her beautiful face was flushed red, and the rise and fall of her chest clearly showed how angry she was.
"Sato, can't you control them?!"
"Huh?"
Sato, who had been reading the latest manuscript from Gokou Ruri, looked up at Akiyama Mio with a confused expression.
Akiyama Mio glared at him coldly.
"You're the only boy in our club!"
Sato was speechless.
What does that have to do with whether I'm a boy or not?
Sato stared blankly at Akiyama Mio.
"Cough, cough."
At some point Tainaka Ritsu had sprung back up. With a flattering smile toward Akiyama Mio, she leaned toward Sato and whispered, "Well, Mio's just really angry right now. She's in indiscriminate attack mode. Just endure it..."
Sato's mouth twitched.
Alright, sometimes women really are this unreasonable.