Back row, by the window—the king's domain.
The teacher droned on at the front, blah blah blah, while Satoru gazed out at the blue sky dotted with fluffy clouds.
Below stretched the school field.
A class was in the middle of P.E., and a gaggle of sakura girls had swapped their sailor uniforms for gym clothes—a scene Satoru had only ever seen in anime… or, well, certain doujins. Y'know, the ones with creative uses for gym outfits. Plenty of material there.
Purely pure love doujins, of course!
NTR stuff? Forgotten the second he saw it. Disgusting! Revolting! Utterly vile—blech!
Satoru shook off the stray thoughts, focusing back on the sakura girls basking in their youthful glow. The Japanese boys out there? Completely ignored.
His eyes locked onto a jet-black ponytail.
Tall, slender limbs, skin white as fresh snow.
Yotsumoto Ryoka, mid-warm-up, doing forward bends. Every eye on the field—guy or girl—was glued to her.
She was like a lone flower blooming on the grass, impossible to miss.
"Hm?"
Ryoka, straining to touch her toes, suddenly turned, glancing up toward the school building.
She spotted a boy watching her from a classroom window.
…Kobayashi-kun.
A faint smile curved her lips as she raised a hand, giving a small wave.
"What's up, Ryoka?" a classmate asked, noticing.
"Nothing…" Ryoka chuckled softly.
"Oh? Spotted Matsubara-kun, huh?" The girl smirked mischievously. "You two are so sweet—makes me jealous!"
"N-No, it's not like that!" Ryoka said quickly. "Ayumu and I just grew up together."
Right. Just childhood friends.
That's what she told herself. As for Kobayashi-kun… just a regular classmate.
Nothing more.
Beast-level instincts.
Satoru clicked his tongue. From this distance, looking down from the third floor, and she still zeroed in on him like a hawk? Was this the yoyuu of Shirao High's karate club captain?
He turned back to the lesson, refocusing.
[Host! It's been half a day, and you haven't asked Ai-chan for help once! Beep. Ai-chan's throwing a tantrum to get Host's attention!]
Satoru glanced at his textbook.
Sure, he was acing literature now, but English? Total wash. Wait—no, this was a math book.
High school math had flown out of his head ages ago. Pythagorean theorem? Long gone.
Math was brutally honest—it never lied. If you didn't know it, you didn't know it.
So Satoru gave up and stared out the window again.
The system? What a useless gimmick…
Yesterday, it was all "chasing love's a crematorium!" Now, not even half a day later, it was back, yapping for attention.
Pathetic.
[Hos—]
Cut. Satoru shifted gears, twirling his pen. He was about to ponder some global geopolitics when—
"Kobayashi!" The teacher's voice boomed like a war drum.
"Y-Yes, here!"
"Care to solve this problem?"
Sometimes, actions had consequences. Zone out in class, and you might get called out.
"Uh…" Satoru stared at the blackboard—a mess of English symbols and formulas. Is this even math? If it was multiple-choice, he could've guessed. But this?
A fill-in-the-blank.
Two lives, and his math skills hadn't leveled up one bit. His face, though? Thicker than ever.
He was about to blurt, "Dunno!" when an idea sparked.
(Oi, dumb system! You there?)
[Here here here here here! Beep. Ai-chan's always on standby for Host… but Ai-chan must stress she's no dummy—her IQ's—]
(If you're so smart, tell me how to solve this.)
[Hmph, knew Host would come crawling to Ai-chan eventually. In this era, systems are justice! Beep. Ai-chan proudly puffs out her 36D—]
(Can't do it? Then shut up!)
[Zero.]
"Zero," Satoru answered instantly.
"…Huh, Kobayashi, didn't expect you to be paying attention," the math teacher said, surprised. "Stop daydreaming, though."
"My eyes were just tired, so I was looking into the distance," Satoru said, sitting back down with an elegant flourish.
"What? It's zero?"
"I thought it was one…"
"Kobayashi got it right…"
Classmates started whispering, comparing their answers.
(Not bad.)
[Obviously! Ai-chan's a high-spec system! Beep. Ai-chan spins in glee, though Host's earlier scare was rude. Ai-chan hopes Host will notice and offer sweet words to soothe her…]
(Man, the sky's so blue…)
[Hey, Host, you're burning bridges here! Talk to Ai-chan—]
His thoughts drifted, and the system's voice faded into a distant hum, ending with a faint…
[Scumbag!]
…
The blue sky turned fiery red as the dismissal bell rang.
Satoru sighed, "Man, those clouds are blazing," and joined the flow of students packing up to head home.
"Yo, Kobayashi, let's walk home together!" Anji Seiji called.
"Sure."
"And come with me to get a haircut!" Seiji added.
"Oh, wait, I just remembered I've got stuff to do. You're on your own."
"Hey! You're the one who told me to cut it!"
"Didn't say I'd tag along. A haircut's, what, thirty minutes? Plus waiting? I ain't got that kinda time!"
"Quit whining, you're coming with me!"
Seiji slung an arm around Satoru's shoulder, dragging him along until they reached the school gate.
"Kobayashi-kun…"
Yotsumoto Ryoka, schoolbag in hand, waved at Satoru, then glanced at the stunned Seiji. "And this is…?"
Seiji yanked his arm off Satoru like it was on fire, stumbling back.
"Oh! Aibo! The rest of the journey's mine alone! Catch ya later! Hahahahaha!"
He bolted, laughing maniacally, sprinting in the opposite direction of home.
What the hell?!
Kobayashi's that close with Yotsumoto Ryoka already?! Aibo… you better find happiness!!
"Him…?" Ryoka pointed at Seiji's rapidly vanishing figure, her slender finger lingering.
"He's got issues," Satoru said flatly. "Waiting for Matsubara?"
"Yeah." Ryoka nodded, her eyes dipping shyly. "And you."
"…Huh," Satoru replied, caught off guard.
…
…