Upon hearing Izumi Kotomi call her, Hibiki Naegi quickly placed her phone face down on the desk, trying to appear composed. She raised her head, forcing herself to remain calm as she replied, "Ko-Kotomi, is there sothing you need?"
The slight tension on her face gave away her nervousness.
That was close. Naegi thought to herself, relieved she had reacted quickly. She had been chatting sweetly with Seiko Kirigiri, and Kotomi's voice had suddenly appeared right next to her. Thankfully, she'd managed to close her ssages in ti before anyone could see their conversation.
Noticing Naegi's unusual reaction, Kotomi found it a bit strange, but she decided not to press the issue and went straight to the point. "The transfer student in our class arrived today. Her na is Mashiro Shiina, and she's also joining the art club."
With that, Kotomi introduced Mashiro to Naegi. "Mashiro, this is our art club president, Naegi-senpai."
"Hello, President Naegi," Mashiro thought for a mont before deciding on what she considered an appropriate title.
Naegi smiled warmly when she saw the new mber, her voice soft as she said, "So, you're Shiina-san? Nice to et you. I heard about you from Sengoku-sensei last week. That's when I learned Sengoku-sensei had a cousin. Welco to the art club. You don't need to call president, though. You can just call Naegi-senpai."
Naegi offered her hand, which Mashiro shook.
As the president, Naegi was naturally pleased to have a new mber join the club. She had already heard from Chihiro Sengoku that Mashiro was incredibly skilled at painting. Whether it was curiosity or competitiveness, Naegi had been eager to et this so-called world-class genius.
Now that she had t her, Naegi thought, Hmm… How should I describe her?
Mashiro was undeniably beautiful and cute, her movents as graceful as a mountain cat. Yet, there was little expression on her face.
Why did she seem a bit… aloof? And maybe just a tiny bit… airheaded?
So, this is the world-class genius artist that Sengoku-sensei was talking about? Naegi wondered.
"Hello, Naegi-senpai," Mashiro responded again in her usual calm tone.
"When did you arrive in Japan?" Naegi asked.
"Two days ago. I spent a day moving my things into my cousin's place and then another day resting."
"Have you prepared all your art supplies?" Naegi continued. "Although the art club has everything mbers need, most artists prefer using their own tools."
Mashiro nodded. "My cousin said the club has easels, so I brought my own paints and brushes."
"Good, good. The club's activities are held every day after the second period in the afternoon, usually for about an hour. Since the art club is an official club, it's a bit stricter compared to hobby clubs, so mbers are required to attend at least four tis a week. If sothing cos up, just let or Sengoku-sensei know in advance," Naegi explained.
Mashiro nodded again, her expressionless face making it hard to tell if she truly understood or not.
Satisfied, Naegi went on, "There's also a requirent to submit a progress report after midterms and before finals each sester. Every ti I have to write one, it's a headache, but we can't skip it. To avoid last-minute cramming, try to take notes throughout the sester. That way, when it's ti to hand them in, we can breeze through the reports and push all the hard work onto Sengoku-sensei."
Naegi didn't hold back when it ca to passing off work to Chihiro Sengoku. As the president, she had no qualms about pushing as much as she could onto their "ghost advisor," even hoping to make Chihiro experience the joy of overti.
Since you want to be an absentee advisor, you can at least help us out when we need you! Naegi thought with a mischievous grin.
Back in the teacher's office, Chihiro Sengoku suddenly shivered.
"Strange… It's not even autumn yet, but why do I feel a chill? Must be because I watched that horror movie last night," Chihiro mumbled to herself, pulling her jacket closer.
Naegi pulled out the layout of the art clubroom from her bag and pointed to a specific spot with her pencil. "We've arranged the seats like this. Mashiro, your spot will be right behind Kotomi. If you want to change it later, feel free."
Unlike a typical classroom, the art room had no desks, only movable stools. The spacious layout allowed students to find their perfect angles and positions, as different artists had their own preferences for where they liked to work. So spots felt wrong and hindered inspiration, while others felt ideal, as if they could channel all the energy they needed from that specific position to create their masterpiece.
While it was a little exaggerated, every artist did have their ideal workspace, and the school had taken this into account when designing the art room.
When Mashiro heard that her seat was behind Kotomi, her eyes imdiately lit up. "Behind Kotomi? Sure, that's perfect."
Naegi was a little surprised by how quickly Mashiro agreed. She had expected the girl to take her ti picking a spot.
That's it? Less than a minute, and she's already decided?
Naegi couldn't help but recall how long it had taken her to choose her spot—over an hour spent moving chairs and easels.
At that mont, a voice chid in. "Hmm? These two don't look like they're from our class. Are they new?"
Utaha Kasumigaoka had walked into the classroom and imdiately noticed Kotomi, with her distinctive white hair drawing attention.
"Oh, Utaha. These two are my underclassn," Naegi explained. "Mashiro here just transferred to Sobu High School today and is joining the art club. I'm helping them get settled."
"Oh, so these are your kouhai. You're acting so much like a senpai today. Who's this white-haired girl?" Utaha Kasumigaoka asked, her eyes naturally drawn to Kotomi.
Naegi answered, "This is Izumi Kotomi."
"Nice to et you, Kasumigaoka-senpai. My na is Izumi Kotomi," Kotomi said politely, surprised but keeping her cool.
Upon hearing Kotomi's na, Utaha's eyes lit up with surprise, as if eting soone she had long wanted to see. "So you're Izumi Kotomi? Wow, you're even cuter in person."
Utaha's gaze unabashedly traveled downward from Kotomi's face, stopping sowhere lower, as she comnted, "And… well-endowed, too."
Kotomi followed Utaha's gaze downwards, imdiately understanding what she ant. Her cheeks flushed slightly, but she didn't back down. "If we're talking about size, Kasumigaoka-senpai, I think you more than hold your own."
Utaha blinked in surprise, then her wine-colored eyes twinkled with a sly amusent. Her thin fingers tucked a strand of long black hair behind her ear, revealing her delicate white earlobe. Her tall, curvy figure and her playful lips gave off an alluring, almost dangerous vibe—a mix of innocence and seduction.
"Kotomi-kouhai, you're quite an interesting person," Utaha remarked with a smirk.
"You're interesting too, Kasumigaoka-senpai. I love reading the works of Kasumi Utako-sensei," Kotomi said, inwardly regretting that she hadn't brought her copy of Love trono for an autograph.
"Oh my, you're a fan of mine? That makes happy," Utaha replied, her smile widening. "You can call Utaha-senpai, Kotomi."
"Got it, Utaha-senpai," Kotomi agreed, thinking to herself, Why does everyone like calling little Kotomi? I'm not small in any sense!
Naegi chid in, "I didn't know you were into Utaha's novels, Kotomi."
Kotomi smiled. "Yeah, I enjoy them a lot."
Naegi shrugged. "I bought every volu, but I still haven't finished the first one."
"Are you saying my writing isn't interesting enough?" Utaha teased. "Leave a book unread for too long, and you'll make it cry, you know."
"It's not that! I just prefer reading about… well, certain relationships," Naegi mumbled, her voice trailing off, making it hard to hear the last part.
Before Kotomi could ask what Naegi ant, the bell signaling the end of lunch rang.
"Looks like lunch break is over," Utaha said, glancing at her phone.
"We'll leave you to it, then. See you later, Naegi-senpai, Utaha-senpai," Kotomi said, taking Mashiro's hand and preparing to leave.
"See you, Naegi-senpai, Utaha-senpai," Mashiro echoed.
"See you in art club later," Naegi called after them.
"Bye-bye~" Utaha waved.
Once Kotomi and Mashiro had left, Utaha returned to her seat and said to Naegi, "That Kotomi kouhai… she's quite the character."
Naegi paused for a mont before giving Utaha a knowing smile. "Oh~ Utaha, don't tell you've got a thing for Kotomi kouhai? So that's why you haven't dated anyone—you were waiting for soone like Kotomi to show up. Learning new things every day, huh?"
Utaha, deadpan, replied, "You're overthinking it. How could I fall for soone at first sight? That's absurd. I just find her intriguing, that's all."
"Oh, is that it?" Naegi teased but let it go.
A few seconds later, though, Naegi rembered sothing and added, "But Utaha, you write romance novels. Why don't you believe in love at first sight?"
Utaha's expression turned serious. "Because love at first sight is too shallow. How can you fall in love after just one glance? Love needs ti to grow. Even in my stories, the feelings between the characters aren't based on love at first sight."
"I see~ So, you're a romance author who's never been in love herself," Naegi teased again, smirking.
Utaha winced, as if she'd just been hit. Naegi had struck a nerve.
"You always so sharp with your sister?" Utaha quipped, trying to brush it off.
"Of course not. I'm only like this with friends," Naegi replied cheerfully, making it impossible to argue with her.
Such a wonderful friend.
Back in Class 1-F, the afternoon lessons had started. Most of the students were only thinking about one thing.
Only two more classes, and we can go ho!
Kotomi, always forward-thinking, was already anticipating the weekend. It's Wednesday, only two more days till the weekend! Aweso!
Because the teachers were in etings during the second period, the last class of the day had turned into a self-study session.
Students loved self-study periods. It was the perfect ti to chat, play on their phones, or read manga. Although these activities happened during regular classes too, doing them during self-study felt different—there was the thrill of goofing off in class but without the pressure of getting caught.
Others took the opportunity to finish their howork early, so they could relax at ho.
Kotomi, planning to spend her evening writing novels (and maybe playing a ga or two), quickly finished her howork. Afterward, she passed her completed work to Yui Yuigahama.
She'll end up copying it tomorrow anyway, so she might as well do it now.
"Thank you, Kotomi! You're an angel!" Yui exclaid, taking the howork gratefully, looking like she was about to cry from joy.
Kotomi smiled, telling her to finish up and return the work once she was done.
While Yui was busy "borrowing" her answers, Kotomi discreetly opened her system interface.
Since the system had a special visual treatnt, there was no need to worry about anyone noticing anything unusual. At worst, soone might think she was zoning out if she stared too long.
Her points had been steadily increasing, and she had already leveled up several skills:
Writing Level: 7 (32,000 Fa Points needed to upgrade to the next level)
Drawing Level: 6 (20,000 Fa Points needed to upgrade to the next level)
Kendo Level: 4 (9,000 Fa Points needed to upgrade to the next level)
Cooking Level: 3 (6,000 Fa Points needed to upgrade to the next level)
Calligraphy Level: 5 (27,000 Fa Points needed to upgrade to the next level)
Fa Points: 320,000
Kotomi had allocated points to all her unlocked skills, except for cooking. There was no real need to level it up since she wasn't aiming to beco a professional chef, and most als were prepared by her aunt. Plus, she hadn't done any cooking herself since she'd been reincarnated, aside from making instant noodles.
For now, level 3 cooking was enough.
Then her attention was drawn to the mysterious question mark floating in the sixth skill slot. She had yet to unlock this skill.
Her fingertip lightly tapped the question mark, and a prompt appeared, just like when she had unlocked the fifth skill:
[Insufficient points. 500,000 points are required to unlock a new skill.]
500,000 points… still short by 180,000.
Though earning points wasn't too difficult, it wasn't easy to earn such a large amount in a short ti.
Still, Kotomi wasn't too worried. Once Sword Art Online's volu was released next month, it would not only generate inco but also boost her popularity.
Once that popularity converted into points, hitting the 500,000 mark would be a breeze. Who knows, she might even have points to spare afterward.
I wonder what the sixth skill will be? Kotomi thought excitedly.
User Comments
0 comments from readers