"This clubroom is so spacious... I thought it would be a tiny classroom."
After stepping into the Paranormal Research Club's room, Hitori Gotou couldn't help but exclaim in amazent.
Newly established clubs usually aren't assigned large classrooms, so Hitori Gotou had ntally prepared herself for the possibility that the new room might be more like a storage closet.
Of course, that was just her overly self-deprecating mindset—even for a new club, it wouldn't be assigned a storage closet. There were plenty of available clubrooms.
However, the Paranormal Research Club's room was indeed much larger than what most new clubs would get. Even Eriri, who had just walked in, couldn't help but twitch her mouth:
"This room really doesn't seem like sothing a new club would get. It's almost as big as the art club's space... Shin, are you sure you don't have so connections with the student council?"
Although she wasn't a mber of the Paranormal Research Club, Eriri shalessly joined the lunch group anyway—after all, she had eaten lunch with them yesterday, so she might as well consider herself part of it.
And while she wouldn't say it out loud, Eriri definitely hoped to spend more ti with Shin.
After all, they had already done *that*, yet she had fewer opportunities to interact with Shin compared to the other girls. How could she possibly endure that?
gumi Kato, on the other hand, didn't voice her opinion. She simply handed her lunchbox to Shin in silence.
Although she seed no different from usual, if one looked closely, they might notice that gumi Kato looked slightly tired.
After all, she had just gone through such intense physical activity. Even though she had slept through a class afterward, she still hadn't fully recovered her energy.
However, gumi Kato's expression was always so calm that Hitori Gotou and Eriri didn't notice the subtle change in her deanor.
But Ikuyo Kita was different.
Having already overheard what Shin and gumi Kato had been doing, Ikuyo Kita's eyes darted between their faces as soon as she entered the room.
When her gaze landed on Shin, she blushed for so reason, but she quickly regained her composure.
"Is sothing wrong, Ikuyo Kita? Do I have sothing on my face?" gumi Kato asked.
Although gumi Kato didn't have Shin's ability to sense others' actions through "qi," Ikuyo Kita's staring was too obvious to ignore.
"Ah, no, nothing! I just thought you looked a bit tired, so I was a little worried..." Ikuyo Kita stamred, waving her hands awkwardly with an embarrassed smile.
She couldn't exactly say that she had eavesdropped on Shin and gumi Kato for two whole classes, crouching until her legs went numb, and now every ti she saw them, strange images popped into her head.
What made it even more embarrassing was that the images in her head weren't of Shin and gumi Kato, but of Shin and herself... which made her want to sink into the ground.
Shin watched Ikuyo Kita's flustered self-justification with amusent but didn't say anything. He was content to enjoy the show.
Of course, he knew why Ikuyo Kita was acting so nervous—he had sensed her "qi" outside the door earlier.
Thanks to "Black Bird Requiem," outsiders couldn't approach the room, but Ikuyo Kita wasn't considered an outsider, so she had been able to get close and overhear things she shouldn't have.
Still, Ikuyo Kita's shy reaction was quite entertaining, so Shin didn't stop her.
...
"Are you really sure about this, Fujiwara-san?"
Ai Hayasaka looked sowhat troubled as she stood in front of Chika Fujiwara, who was blocking the classroom door.
As the end of the school day at Shuchi'in Academy approached, Hayasaka had been approached by Chika Fujiwara, who expressed her intention to find Shin.
That's right—Chika Fujiwara had investigated Shin, but the results were less than satisfactory.
According to Fujiwara's investigation, Shin seed like an ordinary high school student with missing parents. Aside from being handso and self-reliant, he didn't seem to match Shinomiya Kaguya's social status.
Yet, the Shinomiya family had explicitly ordered Kaguya to et Shin, even going so far as to issue a strict command.
Confused by the situation, Chika Fujiwara was torn. But for Kaguya's sake, she decided to take matters into her own hands.
She planned to have Hayasaka take her to the school and confront Shin directly to see what kind of person he really was.
If he turned out to be a good person, then even if he wasn't from a prestigious family, Chika Fujiwara could accept him being with Kaguya.
However, Hayasaka saw things differently.
She gave Chika Fujiwara a sowhat complicated look—going to see Shin on her own wasn't a good idea. Hayasaka herself had investigated Shin without permission and ended up being roughly controlled by him.
It had even awakened so strange interests in her.
Although Chika Fujiwara hadn't dug up information like the Kiryū Group, the fact that she was willing to approach Shin directly... Hayasaka didn't think things would end well for her.
Knowing that Chika Fujiwara was Kaguya's best friend, Hayasaka decided to give her one last piece of advice:
"Fujiwara-san, since this is Shinomiya-sama's personal matter, perhaps it's best not to get involved..."
"No way! Kaguya is my best friend. How can I just hand her over to soone I don't even know!?"
Unfortunately, Chika Fujiwara didn't understand Hayasaka's concern—of course, she didn't know about Hayasaka's relationship with Shin, nor the consequences of her actions.
Seeing that Chika Fujiwara couldn't be dissuaded, Hayasaka sighed helplessly.
Well, if it was Chika Fujiwara's own choice, then she wouldn't push further—let go of the savior complex and respect others' decisions.
She was familiar with Shin's, after all—it was where her current master attended school.
Still, out of a final act of kindness, Hayasaka asked one more question:
"Since you're determined to go, I won't stop you... but Fujiwara-san, are you the type who likes to be bullied, or do you prefer normal interactions?"
"Huh?"
Chika Fujiwara looked confused, not understanding what Hayasaka was talking about, but she answered instinctively.
"If it's being treated forcefully... I guess that's fine."
Hayasaka nodded... Good, then at least if Shin did sothing strange to her, Chika Fujiwara probably wouldn't be too scared.
Probably?
To be continued…
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