"Is that so?"
gumi's expression didn't change. Her voice stayed gentle, casual, almost as if she were talking about the weather.
"I just think that, given our relationship, calling each other by our first nas isn't a big deal. Even if we haven't known each other for long."
Asuna blinked, caught off guard.
"But you've always called Asuna Yuuki. I thought you were the type who didn't like getting too familiar…"
"No." gumi shook her head, calm as ever. "It's because you've always called Kato."
Asuna didn't know whether to laugh or sigh. She really couldn't be blad. gumi's expressions were subtle, and her tone rarely shifted. Reading her was like trying to read a blank page in dim light.
"Then from now on," Asuna said, deciding quickly, "I'll call you gumi, and you can call Asuna."
Kotoko chid in with a bright smile. "And too. Just call Kotoko. Asuna already started doing it without asking anyway."
Asuna puffed her cheeks. "Tch. I need your permission just to say your na?"
Kotoko lifted her chin, righteous and smug.
"Of course. To ordinary people like you, I am the god who maintains order in the present world. I've decided. From now on you'll call God Kotoko. And rember to offer lunch boxes as tribute every day."
Asuna's smile turned sharp.
"Heh. If you want tribute, wouldn't it be easier if I dug a hole, buried you, and set up a morial tablet?"
Ahead of them, Asuna and Kotoko kept bickering like always, loud enough to turn heads and shaless enough not to care.
Behind them, gumi walked beside Asagiri, shoulder to shoulder. After a brief silence, she spoke softly.
"Utsunomiya."
Asagiri answered with an easy smile. "What is it, Kato?"
gumi turned her face toward him and looked straight into his eyes.
"As expected, you did it on purpose."
Asagiri blinked, then gave an innocent chuckle. "Did what? I don't know what you an."
"You're pretending not to understand," gumi said, not accusing, just stating it.
She tucked a strand of black hair behind her ear, as composed as ever. But beneath that composure, her thoughts were clearer than she let on.
When Asuna had called to invite her, gumi had been nervous. It was the first ti since she joined that they were eting up for sothing normal, not to talk tactics, not to plan for a Dungeon, not to asure survival odds. Just… hanging out like ordinary high school friends.
And sohow, Asagiri had seen through it.
He'd seen her awkwardness. Her quiet desire to be closer to Asuna and Kotoko, and her hesitation about how to do it. That was why he'd called her Kato the mont they t. One simple word, and the conversation flowed naturally into the exact place it needed to go.
gumi's voice softened.
"Utsunomiya… you usually talk and act like a lunatic, but you're actually very mature."
Asagiri shrugged, eyes amused. "Are you roasting ?"
Then he fired back without rcy.
"Your face looks like muscle atrophy. You barely make expressions. You're a flat faced person, and you're attacking ?"
gumi didn't flinch. "I can make expressions."
She stepped in front of him, lifted her chin slightly, and furrowed her brows. Her eyes turned serious, almost stern.
"This is what I look like when I'm angry or unhappy."
After a beat, she returned to her usual calm, like nothing had happened.
"Utsunomiya… I don't think I've ever seen you angry. No, I've only ever seen you smiling, looking interested, or eager to try sothing. I've never seen fear, dissatisfaction, or real frustration."
She studied his profile.
"You're almost like a saint."
"Of course I get scared," Asagiri said, serious enough to sound convincing. "I'm human too."
gumi's curiosity flickered. "What are you afraid of?"
Asagiri answered with full sincerity.
"A sixteen year old male student at Shuchiin Academy, terrified the world isn't violent enough."
…
The next morning, in the hallway of Private Shuchiin Academy.
More students had arrived early than usual. The first thing they did was crowd the corridor outside Class A.
The reason was simple. Once the results were out, the grade rankings would be posted there.
Kaguya was no exception.
She stepped into the hallway, expression calm, and walked toward her classroom. Before she even reached the crowd, she could already hear the noise.
"Is that real…?"
"No way. Is that even human?"
"Has Shuchiin ever had soone like this?"
"I don't think so. My father went here too, and he's never heard of a score like that. Our exams are already harder than other schools. Passing is hard enough, let alone…"
Kaguya's ruby eyes flickered. A cold premonition crawled up her spine.
"Shinomiya is here."
At the reminder, students turned. The crowd parted automatically, leaving a path straight to the posted sheet.
Kaguya walked forward slowly.
She didn't look at the top, the way she always had in middle school. Instead, her eyes moved from the bottom upward.
That single choice revealed everything.
She wasn't as confident as she'd claid. Not this ti. She was afraid.
[Grade Second Place: Class A, Kaguya Shinomiya, Total Score: 438]
Shuchiin's exam had three subjects: Humanities Composite, Science Composite, and Foreign Language. Each subject was out of 150 points, for a total of 450.
In an exam this difficult, 438 was genius level. The third place score was only 412, a gap of 26 points. That was an overwhelming lead.
And yet the mont she saw her na in second place, Kaguya already understood.
She had lost.
Her gaze drifted upward.
Then the familiar na appeared, paired with a number that made her pupils tighten in disbelief.
[Grade First Place: Class A, Utsunomiya Asagiri, Total Score: 450]
"Four hundred and fifty… perfect."
Kaguya couldn't accept what her eyes were telling her.
A perfect in Science, she could understand. But a perfect in Humanities and Foreign Language, where there were writing sections and no single absolute standard?
What kind of monster was this?
Had Shuchiin ever had a perfect score in its history?
On paper, she'd only lost by twelve points.
In reality, those twelve points felt like a wall.
For the first ti in her life, frustration hit so hard it shook her sense of self.
Could she really catch up to him?
Kaguya raised her right hand and lightly touched her left cheek. Then, under the stares of the crowd, she turned with a perfectly normal expression and walked into Class A.
A few minutes later, the hallway outside suddenly went quiet.
Kaguya didn't need anyone to tell her. That ant he had arrived.
Footsteps sounded from the back of the classroom, followed by Asagiri chatting casually with Kotoko.
Is he coming?
Kaguya sat at her desk, face calm, already braced for the inevitable. She'd prepared herself for him to walk up and humiliate her, to mock her the way a victor was supposed to.
But he didn't.
Even when Ashikaga walked in to start class, Asagiri still hadn't co over.
…
By the ti morning classes ended, Kaguya couldn't endure it anymore.
She stood and walked to the corner of the room, where Asagiri sat.
She hadn't heard a single word from the lessons. Her mind had been stuck on one thing.
"You…"
Kaguya looked down at him and spoke slowly.
"Why didn't you co to mock ?"
"…Are you okay?"
For once, even Asagiri looked genuinely stunned. Then he stared at her the way one might stare at sothing profoundly confusing.
"Are you a hardcore masochist? Why are you begging to get roasted?"
"Because I lost."
"Lost… and then?"
Kaguya's brows drew together.
"Don't you hate the pure course students? You beat , completely. Don't you want to press your advantage?"
"When did I ever hate pure course students?"
"Then on the first day of school…"
Asagiri lifted a hand and cut her off, chuckling lightly.
"What I detest is the division itself, that whole pure and mixed split."
His voice stayed calm, matter of fact.
"Because I detest it, I'd never treat you as an enemy from so opposing faction."
He looked at her directly.
"You're just Kaguya Shinomiya, my classmate. Nothing more."
.....
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