After hanging up, Rojin stayed on the rooftop for a moment.
Although he longed for a carefree slacker life, something inside him still stirred, wanting to act.
If the Institute's members were facing a dangerous contained anomaly while he stayed peacefully at school doing nothing, he felt he'd be unable to accept it.
"What am I thinking? I'm not some big hero."
He patted his cheeks, tucked the phone in his pocket, and left the rooftop.
Originally he thought he'd already skipped the next class, but in the end he still returned obediently.
At the stairs, a girl with a white headband was about to go up to the rooftop.
From Rojin's angle, he clearly saw the surprise on her face.
He has the rooftop key too?
Kasumigaoka Utaha's mood darkened slightly.
Not because of Rojin specifically, but because her secret little hideout had been discovered.
The rooftop was usually locked. She'd happened to acquire a key by coincidence.
Whenever she didn't feel like staying in class, she came here for inspiration.
The wide view, the cool breeze—
The rooftop's quiet atmosphere always sparked new ideas for her.
"Hello."
Rojin nodded and stepped past Utaha.
As always, he felt nothing special toward these anime heroines.
"Hello."
Seeing that Rojin had no intention of starting a conversation, Utaha simply nodded back.
She wasn't the type to throw sarcasm at strangers.
People like that weren't "sharp-tongued"—they were just annoying.
The two brushed past each other without any further interaction.
But Utaha suddenly gained inspiration.
The male and female leads meet on the way to the rooftop.
As they pass by, the heroine slips. Just as she's about to fall down the stairs, the agile hero catches her.
Because of the position, the atmosphere becomes subtly intimate.
In just two seconds, Utaha already had tonight's writing material planned.
She hurriedly pulled out her phone to jot it down.
If she didn't, she'd forget it all by evening.
She'd experienced plenty of nights where she wrote for hours only to produce something completely unsatisfying.
While typing, Utaha glanced at Rojin's retreating back.
He really wasn't paying attention to her at all, simply walking away.
What a weirdo.
Utaha pursed her lips. As one of Sobu High's famous beauties, she was used to being looked at.
Shaking her head hard, she laughed at herself.
She always said she disliked being stared at, yet when someone didn't pay attention to her she felt uncomfortable.
Closing the rooftop door, she quickly put the matter aside.
There weren't many boys who didn't react to her, but the school still had some.
She wasn't going to become curious about a guy because of this.
In the end, she didn't think of herself as some kind of extraordinary super-beauty—just someone with a slight advantage in appearance.
Well, that was in school.
Outside, she was the genius light novel author of the Fujikawa Fantastic Bunko.
Even if some of that reputation came from marketing, she believed she had real talent.
Back in the classroom, Rojin dropped into his seat.
Sobu High might not be exceptional in one area, but every part of it operated at a first-class level.
Including the facilities.
"All good?" Sakamoto turned around to ask.
He had some guesses about Rojin's reaction.
"All good."
Rojin shook his head, clearly unwilling to discuss it.
He casually brushed the topic aside and changed to something else.
Sakamoto didn't ask further, simply following the new subject into small talk.
Since Rojin didn't want to talk, he wouldn't force him.
Behind them, Sakura watched the two and thought:
Rojin and Sakamoto sure get along well.
Wait… what's Sakamoto's first name again?
Suddenly she realized something.
Up to now, no one in the class knew Sakamoto's name.
Everyone simply called him Sakamoto.
Even Rojin did.
Logically, shouldn't Rojin know?
Surely it's not Sakamoto Sakamoto, right?
A bizarre thought popped into her head.
No, no. This isn't some oregairu names!
She shook her head hard to erase it.
It was like discovering your favorite idol's real name was something like Brandy.
Even though she wasn't Sakamoto's fan, his image as the graceful male god was already etched into everyone's mind.
The more she tried to forget the name, the deeper "Sakamoto Sakamoto" engraved itself in her brain.
For example—
If I told you the two dots on Chibi Maruko-chan's face weren't eyes but nostrils…
You'd never unsee it.
"Pfft!"
Now, every time Sakura looked at Sakamoto, she thought of that name.
Finally, she couldn't help laughing out loud.
"What's up with her?"
"No idea."
Rojin and Sakamoto whispered while watching Sakura.
They had already noticed her acting strange.
Looking at Sakamoto, shaking her head…
Someone might think she had an issue with him.
"Right, I saw a girl on the rooftop earlier."
As they chatted, Rojin mentioned Utaha.
At that time, was she planning to skip class?
He had only meant to complain, but Sakamoto unexpectedly confirmed it.
"Yeah, Kasumigaoka-san is probably doing just that."
"Huh?"
Rojin slowly showed a question-mark expression.
Sakamoto explained the situation.
Basically, because she excelled academically, she was allowed the occasional skipped class.
"I see."
Scratching his head, Rojin had some ideas.
Now he had two paths.
One was to imitate Utaha—study hard and gain teachers' approval.
Second, directly contact the branch director of the Chiba division of the agency and become a glorious person-with-connections.
After thinking for just a fraction of a second, Rojin decisively chose…
To become a glorious person-with-connections.
He got into school by using connections in the first place, so doing it once more was nothing.
If he chose the first option, he'd at least have to wait until the semester finals were over.
Hiratsuka would never allow her students to skip class freely.
Unless it was a special case and someone higher up had given advance notice, that would count as an exception.