Should he go?
Yes.
After only a moment's hesitation, Lucien decided to attend the match with Sonoko and the others tomorrow.
From what I remember, Ran won that fight. The reason seemed to be that Shinichi Kudo suddenly left midway, causing Ran's rage meter to skyrocket. She practically powered up like a super saiyan and defeated her opponent with a massive surge in combat strength.
...
During the lunch break, Lucien went to eat at the school cafeteria.
Although Teitan High wasn't some elite private school, that didn't mean it was subpar.
In fact;
As an educational institution spanning from kindergarten to university, Teitan had produced numerous notable alumni.
Many high-ranking government officials were graduates of Teitan University.
International superstars like Yukiko Kudo, who once had considerable fame worldwide, and legal queens like Eri Kisaki—all emerged from this school.
Therefore;
With very few exceptions, most Teitan University graduates fared quite well in society.
On one hand, Teitan University's education standards were sufficiently high. Its graduates rarely turned out to be half-baked; they were mostly elite members of society.
On the other hand, this was also due to the existence of the Teitan Alumni Association.
Many senior alumni who had achieved success in society were very willing to help their junior schoolmates.
A casual word from them could save ordinary people decades of struggle.
Thus, many families without connections but with some spare money would go to great lengths, even selling their pots and pans, to enroll their children in the Teitan school system.
Of course!
Attending Teitan High didn't guarantee direct admission to Teitan University. It merely meant lower admission standards and priority consideration—not the complete absence of requirements.
Otherwise, Teitan University wouldn't enjoy its current stellar reputation in society.
In the cafeteria;
Lucien picked some of his favorite dishes, grabbed a bowl of rice, and sat down at an empty table.
He had only taken a couple of bites when someone sat across from him.
"Excuse me, is this seat taken?"
Lucien looked up at the person, his pupils contracting slightly, then shook his head.
"No, it's free. Feel free to sit, Yotsuya-san and Yurikawa-san."
The two who had sat down were none other than Miko Yotsuya and Hana Yurikawa, whom he'd met briefly the day before.
"Sorry to bother you, Lucien!" Hana greeted him with a sweet smile.
"No problem, I'm alone too," Lucien replied.
Hana was a rather carefree, somewhat airheaded girl. Lucien actually quite liked this personality type, and given her... prominent advantages, it was hard to feel anything but goodwill toward her.
However, compared to Hana, Lucien was more curious about why Miko had sought him out.
Yes, Lucien felt Miko had deliberately chosen to sit with him. This wasn't vanity—there were plenty of empty tables in the cafeteria, so sharing wasn't necessary.
Moreover;
Lucien still remembered the expression on Miko's face when she saw him yesterday.
Could that thing still be following him?
The thought made Lucien feel a chill run down his neck.
Damn it~!
Am I really a ghost magnet?
"Lucien, are you feeling unwell?"
Miko, who had just sat down, took a couple of bites of her lunch before suddenly asking.
"No, why do you ask?" Lucien replied, looking at her curiously.
"Well, when I saw you yesterday, you seemed a bit listless." Miko offered an excuse.
In truth, the reason she had approached Lucien was because, after observing him over the past two days, she had noticed something unsettling—among all the students at Teitan High, at least in their sophomore year, Lucien was the only one with that "thing" lingering around him.
So, Miko couldn't help but wonder—was there something special about Lucien?
For instance... could he actually see them too?
"I had trouble sleeping the night before, but I'm fine now," Lucien said, while silently speculating about Miko's real intentions.
First, he ruled out the possibility that she was interested in him romantically. After all, Miko wasn't the type to be infatuated easily.
So... was it related to that thing following him?
"I see," Miko nodded, then casually added, "Speaking of insomnia, people say that if you see something... unclean, you might have trouble sleeping at night. Do you think that's true?"
Bingo.
Lucien thought to himself.
"Maybe, but the kind of things you're talking about don't actually exist. We should trust science," he replied.
"Mhm, you're right, Lucien. We should believe in science," Miko said with a smile—though it looked slightly forced.
She wanted to believe in science too, but the things she saw made it really hard to do so!
None of this was even remotely scientific!
Meanwhile, Hana Yurikawa was busy devouring her lunch, completely uninterested in the conversation between her best friend and Lucien. Only the food in front of her seemed to hold her attention.
After lunch, Lucien bid farewell to Miko and Hana and returned to his classroom, Class 2-B.
The afternoon classes passed quickly.
Before long, it was time to leave school again.
"Lucien, don't forget tomorrow! See you then!" Sonoko winked at him playfully before grabbing Ran and dashing off.
"Girls are such a hassle," muttered Shinichi Kudo, who had appeared beside Lucien out of nowhere. "You think so too, right?"
"They can be a bit troublesome, but sometimes they're kind of cute, don't you think?" Lucien chuckled, picking up his bag and standing.
"See you tomorrow, Shinichi."
As Lucien walked away, Shinichi scoffed.
"Cute? More like annoying."
But then, as if remembering something, he suddenly broke into an inexplicable grin.
The nearby students gave him odd looks.
Clearing his throat awkwardly, Shinichi mumbled something about the nice weather and quickly left the classroom.
That night, Lucien lay in bed and closed his eyes.
Within minutes, he was asleep.
When he woke again, he found himself back in the Man of Steel world, inside the hotel room. The time was exactly 6:00 AM.
"Time to go out and explore. Might as well enjoy the sights of a foreign world."
Lucien got out of bed, dressed, washed up, then opened the door and left the room.
He spent the entire day wandering around Smallville, even visiting the high school Clark used to attend.
Soon enough, the day passed, and Lucien returned to his hotel room.
"Time to sleep. Hopefully, I'll get to see Clark tomorrow."
Lying in bed, Lucien closed his eyes and quickly fell asleep.