"Honestly…" Wu Shen sighed.
Under his steady gaze, Wu Yi hesitated, lowered her head, and whispered,
"…It's true. If you never meet Mom, I'll disappear when the world line changes."
Wu Shen was silent for a moment. "Then why lie just now?"
"…Because I didn't want Dad to worry." Her voice was so soft it was almost lost in the air.
"I'm not that useless." Wu Shen reached out and pinched her cheek, then firmly declared,
"I'll try to build a relationship with Kasumigaoka Utaha."
"Really?!" Wu Yi's eyes lit up like a night sky full of stars.
"Of course. But…" Wu Shen shrugged. "Whether I'll succeed is another story."
In his mind, scenes of Kasumigaoka Utaha at school began to replay.
Top ten in every exam. Talented in sports. Elegant, refined, and beautiful. Her writing skill had been praised ever since her script stole the show at the cultural festival. If the school held a "Most Wanted to Date" poll, she'd easily fight for the top spot.
"The difficulty really is insane," he muttered. "But once I've decided… I have to try."
That was Wu Shen's nature. He might seem lazy, even antisocial, but once he set his mind on something, he'd charge forward no matter how low the odds.
Just as he was plotting possible "Operation: Get Close to Shi Yu" strategies, Wu Yi tilted her head and asked,
"Dad, is today Saturday or Sunday?"
"No… Why?"
"Then… don't you have school?"
…
Wu Shen froze. With all the morning chaos, he'd actually forgotten school existed.
It was almost 9 a.m. He grabbed his bag, rattling off instructions like an overprotective mother hen.
"Stay home, don't run around, don't open the door to strangers, don't mess with the circuit breaker, and be careful with the kettle. I'll be back by three or four."
After a ten-minute sprint, he reached Toyogasaki Academy. Peeking through the back door of Class 2-C, he spotted Japanese class in full swing… with Hiratsuka Shizuka-sensei at the board.
"Of course… it's her first thing in the morning," he groaned.
Checking the clock, he realized there were only minutes left in the period. He decided to hide out in the hallway until the bell rang.
When Hiratsuka-sensei finally left, Wu Shen slipped into the classroom. Most classmates barely noticed his arrival—he didn't exactly stand out. Japanese high schools had their tight social circles, and he never forced his way into them.
Except… for a few exceptions.
"Yo, Wu Shen. Overslept after gaming?" The boy beside him—brown-black hair, easy grin—was Nishimura Hideki, one of his rare friends.
"Not everyone's like you. I just overslept," Wu Shen replied.
"Hey, did you guys see last night's new anime? Total January dark horse!" A boy with black-rimmed glasses swiveled in his seat. This was Aki Tomoya, who treated anime talk like a machine gun barrage.
"Wait—it's already January season?!" Wu Shen groaned. "I forgot to record it."
"Heh. Figured you might, so I recorded it for you. Pick it up at my place Saturday."
"In that case, I'll lend you my doujinshi stash," Wu Shen said without hesitation.
They chatted happily until the next teacher arrived. Then Wu Shen's attention slid to the far side of the room—towards Kasumigaoka Utaha.
He sat in the back-left by the window. She sat in the front-right near the door—the literal diagonal, and farthest possible distance in the classroom.
During breaks, she read light novels; during class, she slept. She kept to herself even more than Wu Shen did. Like a lotus in still water—beautiful, untouchable, admired from afar.
She never disrupted lessons, and her grades were always top-tier, so the teachers never scolded her naps.
That was the part Wu Shen could never figure out.
How can she sleep through class and still score so high?