Early the next morning, the alarm-like cry of a brown-eared bulbul rang out from the grove beside the dormitory, awakening those in deep slumber.
In a dim room, a few rays of sunlight slipped through the gaps in the curtains, falling upon a lump in the middle of the bed. A hand struggled out from under the blanket, fumbled twice on the bedside table, and dragged a phone back under the covers.
The next mont.
Fuyuji Mikage shot upright, the blanket flying into the air.
Crap! I'm about to be late!
Pulling himself together at lightning speed in five minutes, Fuyuji Mikage grabbed his schoolbag, slamd the door shut, and sprinted toward the school building.
Question: The most delightful thing you can run into when you're almost late?
Answer: Another student who is also almost late!
On the school path, Fuyuji Mikage, running for his life, screeched to a halt. Seeing Morishita Ai walking normally with two braids swaying at her chest, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
He steadied his breathing and walked past Morishita Ai's left side casually, as if nothing had happened.
Morishita Ai shot him a sidelong glance but ignored him.
After putting so distance between them, Fuyuji Mikage smirked smugly and quietly quickened his pace.
Before long, the click-clack of small leather shoes ca from behind.
Fuyuji Mikage cursed inwardly but kept walking forward with an unchanged expression, raising his stride frequency in an attempt to pull away.
But this move did not increase the distance at all; instead, the footsteps grew closer and closer.
His intention had been discovered!
Realizing this, Fuyuji Mikage knew that if things continued like this, she would soon overtake him.
He couldn't just sit around and wait to lose!
Taking a deep breath, Fuyuji Mikage secured his schoolbag, his thighs suddenly bursting with power, and he ran outright on the school path, trying to open up a gap all at once and toss the honor of being the last one to reach the classroom onto Morishita Ai.
However, before he could celebrate, he sensed the figure behind him breaking into a sprint as well.
At this point, Fuyuji Mikage no longer bothered to hide it. Facing into the wind, he shouted at the person behind him, "Give it up, Morishita! The last one to the classroom is definitely going to be you."
"Those words should be returned to you, unaltered. Morishita Ai, who carries the bloodline of a grandfather who was a long-distance runner, cannot possibly lose to you. Please face reality and properly accept the tragic fate of being the last to arrive in the classroom."
"Wait, wasn't your grandfather the Pirate King? How did he turn into a long-distance runner?"
"None of your concern..."
On the school path from the Advanced Nurturing dormitory to the school building, the students bustling along stared in bewildernt at the boy and girl sprinting along the path.
...
Outside the calm Class A classroom, a chaotic and rapid series of footsteps suddenly rang out.
Under the watchful eyes of the entire class, Morishita Ai crossed the finish line first. Ignoring the fine sweat on her forehead, she raised her hand and declared, "The first-place gold dalist, Morishita Ai!"
Right behind her, Fuyuji Mikage staggered and collapsed to the floor, gasping for breath, his face full of frustration. "To think... I lost to a re Morishita..."
"Fuyuji Mikage, so weak," Morishita Ai held down her skirt as she crouched, watching the winded Fuyuji Mikage, covering her mouth in ridicule. "Didn't expect you'd be such a physical weakling..."
If it weren't for the fact that my body was wrecked so badly by that senpai yesterday, leaving aching all over when I woke up and struggling to move my legs, you definitely wouldn't have outrun !
Of course, such a sore-loser excuse was not sothing Fuyuji Mikage would voice out loud. If he did, Morishita Ai would only redouble her mockery.
"While there's still ti, please go buy a bottle of water."
Morishita Ai raised her chin slightly, wielding the privilege called the winner's right, pointing one hand toward the door, righteously ordering the defeated Fuyuji Mikage around.
"Won't you have any pity for ?" Fuyuji Mikage struggled up and walked toward the vending machine.
"Sorry, my mother told to take advantage of any bargain I see," Morishita Ai said confidently. "Hurry back, I want it iced!"
"Don't drink iced beverages after exercise. What are you, a little kid?"
By the ti Fuyuji Mikage plonked a bottle of Pocari Sweat onto Morishita Ai's desk, the class bell rang right on cue.
The first period was an unknown, ordinary Japanese literature teacher teaching from the textbook.
As soone reincarnated into this world, Fuyuji Mikage's Japanese literature grades were not ideal.
For Fuyuji Mikage, this kind of curriculum that jumped directly to high school level without any foundation was like listening to gibberish, the kind where you drift off into a drowsy haze as you listen.
Things like "the twelve uses of auxiliary verbs"...
Are you trying to pick a fight?!
The other subjects were okay, though. Even if what was taught in the textbooks differed sowhat, the essence was the sa. A little effort and he could keep up with the pace.
Three periods passed in a flash, and the next was Tomonari Mashima's English class.
As the bell rang, Tomonari Mashima entered the classroom with his usual stern face. Strangely, he carried no teaching materials in his hands.
As if reading the students' doubts, Tomonari Mashima explained.
"This class, at Katsuragi-kun's request, will temporarily be changed to a horoom period." After saying this, he looked toward Katsuragi Kohei's direction.
Katsuragi Kohei nodded at him and walked onto the podium with steady steps.
The Class A students suddenly understood. The intelligence they had purchased last night had all arrived, and Katsuragi Kohei was going to announce it to the class during this period.
After confirming that all students were present, Katsuragi Kohei looked toward the door.
A green-haired boy was already standing guard in the hallway outside, apparently to ensure no students from other classes passed by. If he rembered correctly, his na was Totsuka Yahiko. It seed he had been acting together with Katsuragi frequently these past few days.
For Fuyuji Mikage, however, who already knew the answers, this was a period for slacking off.
He took a book out of his schoolbag. Titled "The Long Goodbye," written by the Arican author Raymond Chandler, Fuyuji Mikage had borrowed it from the school library to kill ti.
anwhile, Katsuragi Kohei began his performance.
"The main content of this horoom period is regarding..."
With Katsuragi's words, the initially relaxed atmosphere in the class grew serious and heavy. Quite a few students unconsciously furrowed their brows. A hush fell over the Class A classroom.
In contrast to that...
The tips of Fuyuji Mikage's fingers steadily slid along the slightly rough edge of the paper page, producing an extrely faint, rhythmic rustling sound.
Then a small, pale hand pressed down on the page he was about to turn. "Please wait, I haven't finished reading yet."
Morishita Ai kept her eyes glued to the small text on the page while firmly pressing down on its edge.
"Morishita-san, don't you have your own things to do?" Fuyuji Mikage asked, eyes half-narrowed.
"I originally planned to use spare pens to make a pen-gun. Halfway through, I discovered Fuyuji Mikage reading a book and felt your side was more interesting, so I decided to share in your joy." Morishita Ai stared at the page without looking back.
"..."
Fine, he had no way to deal with this woman.
"Let's read together. I'll only turn the page when you say so, alright?" Removing Morishita Ai's hand, Fuyuji Mikage said, exasperated.
Sneaking a backward glance at the fully absorbed Morishita Ai, though she clearly looked aloof in bearing, her personality turned out to be a bit childish. Her palm was fair and tender, small and slight.
After a mont, Fuyuji Mikage looked back at the page.
The story was simple. Detective Marlowe t the discarded drunk Terry at a bar, took him ho, and the two beca friends because of this.
Only...
Fuyuji Mikage flipped back to the cover to look. Wasn't this supposed to be a detective novel?
Where's the deduction? How did the culprit die?
Unfortunately, before Fuyuji Mikage could arrive at an answer, he felt a sensation as if soone was pulling his hair.
No, it wasn't just a sensation. Soone really was tugging his hair!
Morishita Ai!
"Called you..." Morishita Ai lowered her voice.
Fuyuji Mikage ca back to his senses and realized the whole class was staring at him.
"Ahem," Fuyuji Mikage closed the novel, cleared his throat, and faced the class with an unchanged expression. "Is there a problem?"
"Katsuragi-kun has finished explaining the rules and made so arrangents based on them. Does Fuyuji-san have anything to add?" asked Hashimoto Masayoshi from the other side of the classroom.
"They think that Fuyuji-kun, who was the first to notice sothing off about the school, might have so unique insight on this." Shiraishi Asuka beside him quietly reminded.
On the podium, Katsuragi Kohei also looked toward Fuyuji Mikage amicably, awaiting his statent.
Fuyuji Mikage put down the novel, nodded earnestly as if he had truly listened to Katsuragi Kohei's entire speech, and said, "I believe Katsuragi-san's arrangents are already quite specific. I have nothing special to add."
After receiving Fuyuji Mikage's reply, the students in the class withdrew their gazes and began discussing freely.
"Then let's follow Katsuragi-kun's plan."
"I'll pay attention and observe the intelligence from other classes."
"I've added that Ichinose from Class B as a friend. Should be able to find out quite a bit."
"I'd advise against it. That woman is quite capable. It would be bad if she caught wind of sothing. Incidentally, I have her added as a friend too."
"That Kushida Kikyo from Class D seems relatively easy to fool. I'll give it a try."
...
"Compared to Katsuragi-kun, it seems the classmates trust Fuyuji-kun more." Shiraishi Asuka next to him chid in with a chuckle. "Does Fuyuji-kun not intend to lead this class?"
Earlier, when Katsuragi Kohei proposed his plan, so students were entirely unmoved. Only after seeing Fuyuji Mikage nod did they formally mobilize.
"Katsuragi is quite good, far better than I, at least. Leaving the class to him is the best choice," Fuyuji Mikage shook his head.
"I'm glad Fuyuji-kun approves."
A soft voice ca. Shiraishi Asuka clasped her hands together, leaning forward slightly. "How did Fuyuji-kun discover the school's rules? I'm a bit curious. Can you bring along next ti?"
"It was just a coincidence. The next ti will probably be a long wait. I don't even know if there will be a next ti."
"Then... I will always wait for Fuyuji-kun's news."
"Okay—"
"Fuyuji Mikage, hurry up, hurry up!"
Morishita Ai tugged Fuyuji Mikage by the back collar, pulling him in front of her own desk.
"I know, hold on. Why are you so impatient?"
"I bet that Reit is definitely faking his death. We didn't even see a corpse!"
"Could it be suicide?"
"How could that be? Soone like him couldn't possibly commit suicide."
...
Seeing this scene, a glint flashed through Shiraishi Asuka's eyes.
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