rii Hizuki was stunned for quite a while before asking in disbelief, "R-Really? You really want to handle both composition and vocals?"
"Of course~ Though I don't have many connections in the music industry and I'm still a complete newcor, so about the album side of things…" Kotomi Izumi intentionally trailed off.
"No problem! Don't worry! If you're also doing the vocals, Kotomi-sensei, then Anno and I will give our full support for the album! I heard he's even considering releasing a vinyl record of the music for the finale, as part of the official rchandise. Just thinking about it already makes excited for your new song and voice."
"Then I'll leave the ssage to you, Miss Hizuki—please tell Anno-sensei that I've accepted the offer."
"Absolutely! I'll contact him right away."
After they exchanged goodbyes and hung up, Kotomi opened her system panel. Skill Slot #7 was still locked.
She tapped the large floating question mark, and a pop-up quickly appeared:
[Insufficient Fa Points. Unlock new skill with paynt of 990,000 Fa Points.]
"Nine hundred ninety thousand, huh…" Kotomi sighed, checking her Fa Point balance. Although she still had 1.32 million points left, there was no guarantee that the seventh skill would be music-related.
"If I unlock the seventh skill, I'll be down to 330,000. If it turns out to be music level, it'll be totally worth it. Since I've already accepted the job to compose and sing for the EVA finale, what I need most now is a music level. But this feels like pulling a gacha—you never know what you'll get until you pay. In other words, I won't know what the seventh skill is until after I spend the points."
Regardless of what the seventh skill might be, once it's unlocked, the 990,000 Fa Points are spent.
That's not a small amount. Even after earning 1.32 million points, Kotomi didn't dare to splurge. At most, she had only leveled up her writing and drawing skills by two levels each.
Unlocking costs Fa Points. Leveling up also costs Fa Points.
As unreliable as the God-Level Heroine System was—constantly crashing and full of bugs—the paynt system was the one feature that never failed. Even the last ti a bug happened, it was only after the points were deducted.
Kotomi even began to suspect that the server's pitiful performance was because 90% of its capacity was used for the paynt system.
The more she thought about it, the more it made sense. It really did feel like sothing Kazumi would design.
After a brief hesitation, Kotomi took a deep breath and muttered, "Angry Kazumi grants miracles!" and confird the paynt of 990,000 Fa Points.
The points vanished instantly, and a pink-blue glow reappeared.
Kotomi couldn't even rember the last ti she saw this glow.
The question mark covering Skill Slot #7 shattered into fragnts and disappeared. The long-mysterious seventh skill finally revealed its true form.
Music Level: 1 (10,000 Fa Points required to reach the next level)
"Yes! It's music level! I love you, Kazumi!" Kotomi jumped excitedly on her bed.
But as soon as she saw the cost to upgrade to level 2, her expression changed.
"Damn! It takes 10,000 points just to hit level 2?! Kazumi, you damn scamr! I'm definitely going to give you a piece of my mind!"
anwhile, inside Kotomi's body, Kazumi—who had been napping—perked up the mont she heard the pleasant sound of Fa Points being added.
Just waking up, she then heard Kotomi shouting, "Kazumi, I love you!"
It made Kazumi blush—had she won just by sleeping? Kotomi confessed to her!
She was about to change into a cute outfit to go et Kotomi, when less than a minute later, she heard Kotomi's follow-up:
"Kazumi, you damn scamr!"
The sudden shift—from shouting "I love you, Kazumi!" to cursing her as a scamr—left Kazumi montarily stunned. What just happened? How could Kotomi go from love to fury in seconds?
Then she checked the 990,000 Fa Points that had just been deducted and looked at Kotomi's current system panel. Kazumi instantly understood what was going on.
Kotomi was angry about how expensive it was to level up to 2.
Kazumi dared not make a sound. After all, the upgrade costs for different skill levels had been set by her—randomly and purely based on her mood at the ti.
Back then, she had almost given up on ever binding Kotomi as a host. Feeling hopeless and lazy, Kazumi had just randomly entered values for all the skill upgrade costs while crying.
By the ti she snapped out of it, those jumbled numbers were saved permanently—no way to edit them.
Strangely enough, the day after she randomly finished setting the values, the system finally succeeded in binding with Kotomi.
That detail, Kazumi would never dare tell Kotomi. She feared that if Kotomi ever found out, she'd be pinned to the bed and beaten up.
Kazumi peeked at Kotomi, who was still cursing and muttering while upgrading her music level, and wisely decided not to show herself for the next few days. With a whoosh, she dove back under the covers to continue her nap.
The day of the sports festival arrived.
Kotomi got up early. Since it was the festival day, the teachers had cooperated by assigning no howork the previous night, encouraging students to rest well.
Shizuka Hiratsuka had been especially attentive toward Kotomi. Last night, while Kotomi was still lying in bed gaming, Shizuka called to remind her to sleep early, since she had the 800-ter run the next day.
Kotomi kept replying, "Yeah, yeah, okay," but ended up chatting with Shizuka until past ten.
Most of their talk revolved around next month's "et the parents" visit.
November was drawing near. Even though it was just pretend girlfriend business, Kotomi still felt nervous about eting Shizuka's mom.
If it weren't for the benefit of getting unrestrained leave permissions in the future, Kotomi might have already chickened out.
Shizuka also gave her a detailed rundown: what her mom liked, her personality, favorite dishes, and even what kind of clothes Kotomi should wear when they visit.
They talked until after ten, and thankfully, Shizuka eventually noticed the ti and cut the conversation short, urging Kotomi to get so rest.
Kotomi then mischievously asked Shizuka to sing her a lullaby over the phone to help her fall asleep.
Of course, Shizuka didn't know how to do that—but since Kotomi was her little princess now, she had no choice. Doing her best to soften her tone, she awkwardly sang a lullaby.
Originally just trying to tease Shizuka, Kotomi hadn't expected her voice to actually lull her to sleep. That song seed to transcend years of ti, reawakening sothing faint and familiar in her mory.
It was familiar—but so hazy that she couldn't recall it clearly.
It was like she had heard Shizuka softly sing to her a long, long ti ago.
With those thoughts swirling in her mind, Kotomi drifted into a peaceful dream—a beautiful one that made her feel safe.
In it, she seed to reunite with the older girl she t long ago at a sumr fireworks festival.
Even though she didn't know that girl's na—and had been too young to rember her face clearly—she still recalled how the girl gently comforted her when she got lost, bought her treats, and stayed by her side until they were found.
The fleeting ti they spent together… the fireworks blooming in the sky… the matching pendants they treated as a promise—those mories remained deep in Kotomi's heart.
Upon arriving at school, everyone had to gather in their classrooms first. The horoom teacher was in charge of distributing sportswear and number tags to the students participating in the sports festival.
Nas were called one by one to collect uniforms and tags, a process that would take at least half an hour. Since it wasn't her turn yet, Kotomi stayed seated and chatted with gumi Kato and the others.
"Hehe, let show you sothing good—tada!" Yui Yuigahama said mysteriously, pulling her backpack onto the desk and unzipping it to reveal a stash of sweets hidden inside.
Everything was neatly packaged—aside from the cake in a cardboard box, the rest were in paper bags, so they didn't take up too much space.
Doughnuts, red bean bread, cheesecake, white peach bread, cream puffs—just one glance at Yui's collection of sweets was enough to dazzle the eyes and fill the heart with happiness.
Sweets truly bring happiness.
"Yui, you brought so much."
Mashiro Shiina gulped as she spoke. Even though she had eaten ran and a at bun for breakfast, just seeing the sweets in Yui's bag made her stomach growl again.
"Did you make all these yourself? That's amazing!"
Upon learning the treats were handmade by Yui Yuigahama, Yukino Yukinoshita couldn't help but exclaim in admiration. She herself couldn't even make the simplest desserts, yet Yui had already mastered so many.
"Yui, let treat you to lunch today as thanks," gumi Kato offered graciously.
Kotomi Izumi, watching the whole scene, chid in, "No need to say more—Yui's sweets are the best in the world! Hehe, Yui is exactly the kind of girl you can't help but want to marry on the spot. Yui, marry ! Ouch!"
Before Kotomi could finish her dramatic proposal, gumi Kato, seated next to her, gave her a sharp kick to the shin, making her yelp in pain.
"Eh? Kotomi, are you okay?"
Yui, blushing and flustered from Kotomi's sudden proposal, had just reached out to grab her hands and say yes—only to be interrupted by Kotomi's sudden cry. Concerned, she imdiately asked what was wrong.
gumi quickly cut in: "Haha, should I say Kotomi was clumsy, or just a little glutton? She got so excited by the sweets that she bumped her leg on the desk."
She spoke sweetly and softly, not at all like the culprit.
Kotomi gave gumi a pitiful look but could only force a smile and nod under Yui and the others' concerned gazes.
"Let's sit in the back row on the field later, okay?"
That decision—originally born out of a heated love triangle mont—was ultimately made by gumi and approved by Kotomi.
Kotomi still didn't realize that gumi's suggestion was a clever strategy to outmaneuver the others. She just thought it was nice for everyone to sit together and agreed.
"But won't Miss Hiratsuka also be sitting in the last row?" Yukino pointed out. During sports festivals, horoom teachers usually sit in the back to keep an eye on the class and maintain discipline.
Kotomi didn't mind at all—after all, they were all on the sa side. What was there to worry about? From her second-life experience, she knew well how to maintain good relations with teachers, even if her grades weren't top-notch.
Once you've built a good relationship, it's easier to earn a bit of leniency within the rules.
That kind of advantage only grows more useful in college.
"Don't worry, just take out the snacks freely when the ti cos. But save a few for Miss Shizuka to try."
"Kotomi, you read my mind! I rember Miss Hiratsuka once said she loves matcha cake, so I brought extra matcha cakes and other matcha-flavored sweets."
Yui smiled brightly, her eyes gleaming as she looked at Kotomi. For her, sharing the sa thoughts as Kotomi was a source of genuine joy.
After locking eyes with Yui Yuigahama, Kotomi froze for a mont and then quickly averted her gaze. Was it just her imagination?
It felt like Yui's gaze was unusually soft—like she was looking at soone she loved.
gumi Kato wasn't paying attention to Yui's expression at that mont. Instead, she was fixated on sothing else—why did everyone call Shizuka Hiratsuka "Miss Hiratsuka," while Kotomi always called her "Shizuka-sensei"?
The difference in their manner of address stood out. Kotomi's way of calling her sounded unusually intimate.
It bothered gumi, but she didn't feel comfortable asking Kotomi about it directly.
Just then, Shizuka Hiratsuka began reading off the girls' event participation list.
"Long Jump, Seiko Kirigiri, number tag 16."
Seiko Kirigiri was known for excelling in long jump. Back on the first day of PE, she'd already displayed her talent. Everyone in the class knew this, so it was no surprise she'd signed up. Her elegant jumping form had undoubtedly captured the hearts of many boys—and girls.
She regularly received love letters from student-athletes.
"Girls' 800-ter run, Kotomi Izumi, number tag 28, lane 8. Everyone should really learn from Koto—er, Izumi-san. No other girls signed up for the 800 ters, but Izumi-san volunteered herself!"
Shizuka had to struggle not to call her Kotomi in front of the class. That would've sounded far too familiar. Though she wanted to grow closer to Kotomi—who wouldn't want to be close to such a beautiful girl?—as a teacher, she had to maintain proper boundaries.
So several tis, just as the na Kotomi was about to slip out, she forcibly swallowed it and corrected to "Izumi-san."
The mont her words ended, the classroom erupted in applause.
Most students thought Kotomi was bad at sports since she always jogged slowly at the back during PE.
So when a supposedly unathletic student volunteered for the 800-ter run, it moved them. It was admirable!
Kotomi stood up, scratching her cheek with a shy smile. Amid the applause, she walked to the front to receive her sportswear and number tag.
As she passed by, she muttered to Shizuka, "Who said I volunteered? You totally pressured into it."
Just thinking about that day made her frown—she'd totally fallen into Shizuka's word trap!
"Ehehe~" Shizuka replied playfully, pretending she hadn't heard the complaint.
Once students received their sportswear and tags, they didn't return to their seats. Instead, they headed straight for the locker rooms to change.
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