Chapter 73: Ryuen Kakeru, Swept Away Like Trash
Ryuen Kakeru walked up to Elsie with a face full of mockery. He didn't know why she was holding a broom, but it didn't matter.
Ryuen had previously noted the interaction between Katsuragi Keima and Elsie; they appeared to be siblings. Even if Keima was unwilling to expose his own strength, could he remain indifferent if his sister fell into a crisis?
Sneering, Ryuen walked in front of Elsie and grabbed the broom, intending to snatch it away directly. But the moment he touched it, he heard a click by his ear—as if a button had been pressed.
BOOM!
A terrifying shockwave suddenly erupted from the tip of the broom!
The several people in front of her were nearly all sent flying several meters away by the shockwave, crashing heavily onto the ground. Ryuen felt as if he had been seized by an invisible giant hand and pinned against the wall, sliding to the ground only a second later. Every single one of them lost consciousness following the blast.
"?"
Keima froze for a moment, then turned to look at the Elsie beside him with a face full of horror. "W-What was that?"
"This broom has been with me for 298 years! Because it's infused with magic, it can clean up all the trash in the blink of an eye!" Elsie wore an innocent smile.
"In a sense, that's not wrong. These people are indeed trash..." Keima looked at the several people lying unconscious on the ground and bit his lip. "However, this person seems to be one of the targets."
Keima pointed to the unconscious Ibuki Mio on the ground.
[Name: Ibuki Mio] [Favorability: 0%]
'Looks like the tomboy type of girl?'
But for now... it seemed there was no way to have further contact with her.
Rather than Ibuki Mio, Keima had something he valued much more at this moment. He rushed to his game console and inspected it carefully. After confirming the machine hadn't sustained any damage, Keima let out a long sigh of relief.
"Regardless, let's leave this place quickly. Luckily there are no cameras here!"
Keima hurriedly prepared to take Elsie away. However, just as the two stepped out of the alleyway, they saw a person sitting on a bench in a slouching, casual posture.
That person sat in a state that was extremely relaxed yet faintly exuded a sense of control. She leaned against the back of the bench, arms spread out along the top, with one long leg draped casually over the other, the tip of her pointed leather shoe tapping lightly.
The afternoon sun filtered through the gaps in the leaves, dancing on her long white hair and making the strands appear to glow with their own light. Most striking were her eyes—red pupils, like rubies submerged in a clear spring. At this moment, they were focused with unmistakable playfulness precisely on Katsuragi Keima, as if she had been waiting here for quite some time.
"You're the first-year, Katsuragi, right? Were you planning to pretend you didn't see me just now?"
A voice drifted over, carrying a trace of lazy laughter.
He instantly recognized her: Kiryuin Fuuka. Her features were distinct, and the resemblance between her real self and her card illustration was incredibly high.
Realizing she seemed to be there for him, Keima told Elsie to take the game console back to the dorms first—even if something happened to him, he absolutely could not let the console be in danger.
After Elsie walked away, Keima approached the woman.
"And you are?" he asked, his voice steady.
"Kiryuin Fuuka, Year 2, Class B."
The curve of Kiryuin Fuuka's lips deepened slightly. She seemed to enjoy the process of introducing herself, or rather, enjoying the other party's reaction. However, Keima's reaction was far too calm.
"Pleased to meet you for the first time—" Keima gave a slight nod.
"First time?" Kiryuin tilted her head slightly, the sense of inquiry in her red eyes growing stronger. "Why do I feel like you... look as if you've seen me before, Katsuragi?"
Her gaze was like a precision scanner, tracing every inch of Keima's facial expression, trying to catch any crack in his facade. An ordinary student, even if they didn't know her, would show some nervousness, curiosity, or awe when faced with her appearance and aura.
"It might be a delusion, Senpai. This is indeed the first time I've met you," Keima replied.
"I see..." Kiryuin responded noncommittally. She didn't press the point further, but shifted the topic. "However, I have seen you before."
"Oh?" Keima showed an appropriate amount of curiosity.
"A while back, I was bored and happened to pass by the swimming pool." Kiryuin shifted into a more comfortable sitting position, lazily propping her chin with one hand, speaking as if reminiscing. "I saw your... well, very unique appearance."
She paused deliberately, seemingly savoring Keima's potential reaction, before continuing at a leisurely pace:
"Everyone else was swimming seriously, or at least pretending to work hard. Only you, while staring at a game screen in your hand, managed to move forward in the water at a speed that wasn't slow at all... especially in the first half, it was as if you had a motor installed. What I found even more interesting was the expression on your face—you were so focused on the game that swimming seemed like a subconscious bodily reflex. That state of extreme split attention is something I've never seen in reality before."
Her red eyes sparkled with the light of someone discovering a novel toy.
"If you just swam fast, that would be at most good athleticism. But like that... Katsuragi, you successfully made me, someone who rarely takes interest in boring things, think: This guy is a bit interesting."
'Was Kiryuin present at the time?' Keima quickly replayed the memory in his mind and then said, "I just didn't want to waste the time during PE class."
"Waste time? Hahaha, what an amusing statement!" Kiryuin let out a light laugh. The laughter was crisp but carried an invisible pressure. "You really are special, Katsuragi."
Her gaze suddenly turned toward the alleyway Keima had just walked out of, the playfulness in her eyes turning into something sharper.
"I occasionally browse the forums, and I've seen some news about you.
While it's obvious those posts were intentionally made by someone targeting you, the fact that you've been noticed only a week after starting school is proof enough that you're special.
Moreover... I just saw several other first-years—they were from Class C, right? They went looking for you earlier with quite the aggressive momentum, looking like they were up to no good. You were 'invited' into that alley by them."
She turned her gaze back, locking onto Keima.
"As far as I know, that alley is a dead end with no other exits." Kiryuin paused intentionally. "And now—"
Kiryuin spoke each word slowly, as if deconstructing a riddle. "Only you and that cute girl from just now have walked out of there. And they... still haven't shown their faces. Katsuragi, can you tell me what happened in there? Or rather," she leaned forward, closing the invisible distance as a sense of pressure quietly spread, "what did you do to them?"
The air seemed to freeze for a few seconds. Keima could clearly feel the scrutiny and expectation in her gaze. This wasn't a standard interrogation; it was more like an examiner checking the answer to an interesting puzzle.
Keima looked at her, his mind frantically analyzing the girl before him.
'Kiryuin Fuuka... similar to Sakayanagi Arisu, she's the high-IQ type with unpredictable actions, but her core is different.'
Sakayanagi sought to defeat the strong within the rules, enjoying strategic games. But Kiryuin... she sought the interesting and the special. She was more like an observer or collector chasing novel experiences. Her vibe was very close to Koenji Rokusuke; rules likely had very little binding power over her.
Being targeted by her would likely lead to a lot of trouble. However, for Keima, this was also a good thing—after all, she was the first mission target to proactively seek him out.
'Is Kiryuin the proactive-strike type of girl?
Characters of this type aren't rare. Most are like queens or experts, possessing very similar attributes. Kiryuin in front of me is likely the same.'
He pushed up his glasses, the gaze behind the lenses calm and ripple-free, his voice equally devoid of emotion. "I didn't do anything, Senpai."
He paused, and under Kiryuin's slightly raised eyebrow, continued. "Furthermore, Senpai, you clearly saw them coming with ill intent, yet you didn't choose to help or notify a teacher?"
"Help?" Kiryuin looked as if she had heard something hilarious. Her smile grew brighter, yet even more inscrutable. "That's because I believed in you, Katsuragi-kun. If the ones walking out of the alley were Ryuen and his group, it would only prove you're just another unremarkable person among the masses, and my previous 'special' impression was just a delusion. Then this observation would have ended there. But the result is—the one who walked out was you."
She stood up. Her tall stature, over 1.7 meters, immediately brought a more direct sense of pressure, her long white hair swaying slightly with her movement. "This proves my eye was correct; you really are special. As for why they haven't come out..." She shrugged, looking indifferent.
"Perhaps as you said, 'nothing happened,' and they just collectively decided to take a nap in the alley?"
This was obviously a joke, but she didn't seem intended to dig deeper. What happened to Ryuen didn't matter to Kiryuin. The only one she cared about was Katsuragi Keima.
"An interesting answer, Katsuragi." Kiryuin took a step and slowly walked half a circle around Keima, as if inspecting a refined collectible. "In this school, most people try their best to prove
their strength. Yet you seem to not care at all, even trying to package yourself as an 'ordinary person who did nothing.' This reverse operation makes you stand out even more."
She stopped in front of Keima again and leaned down slightly, bringing that beautiful yet dangerous face closer. Her red eyes looked directly into Keima's eyes behind his lenses. "What a... cute kouhai. I really just came by today to say hello and get acquainted. After all, I always like to observe things of interest from a close distance first."
She straightened up and brushed off non-existent dust, returning to her lazy, casual demeanor. "Well then, that's it for today. I look forward to our next chance encounter, Katsuragi Keima. By then, I hope you'll let me see more... interesting things."
After speaking, she gave Keima a casual wave as if she had just finished a light street greeting, then turned around, walking away with a composed stride.
But at that moment, Keima spoke again: "Wait a moment, Senpai."
"What is it?"
"Senpai, why don't we exchange contact information?" Keima took the initiative to ask.
"Oh? This is the first time someone has proactively asked for my contact information~"
"Senpai is so beautiful; has no one ever asked for it?"
"You have a sweet tongue. But as far as I know, the students around me avoid me like the plague."
"Senpai... did you do something?"
"Quite the opposite, it's because I haven't done anything. We were originally Class A, but then dropped to Class B, so some students seem to have opinions about me." As Kiryuin spoke, she leaned forward slightly, her gentle breath lightly brushing against Keima's face. "Speaking of which, Katsuragi, is your desire for class promotion high?"
"I have no such desire at all." Keima shook his head. "I just want to play games. As for where I play them, it makes no difference to me."
"What a unique answer. You're the first student I've met who answered like that. Aside from myself, the first person so indifferent to class promotion. Hahahaha, fascinating!" Kiryuin revealed a smile. Despite being an incredibly exquisite face, her smile didn't give a "cute" feeling, but rather made it impossible to guess what she was thinking. "As a reward for my kouhai, I'll give you my contact info."
The two then pulled out their terminals and exchanged contacts.
"Well then, I should be going too, Senpai. Please take care of me from now on."
"Take care. However, Katsuragi, there are two things I should tell you~"
"What?"
"Since I met you here, other second-years might notice your existence too~" Kiryuin narrowed her eyes slightly. "Furthermore, I wasn't the only one observing you just now—that's all. See you next time."
Kiryuin waved and left immediately.
At a corner further away, a pair of amber eyes cast a shocked gaze.
Karuizawa Kei.
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