The next afternoon, at the entrance of Toyogasaki Private Academy.
"Hey, hey, did you hear? There was a huge commotion at Tokyo Station yesterday! So people wearing masks fought a group of mysterious guys, and I heard there were even gunshots!"
"What's so strange about gunshots? I saw a post online saying one of those mysterious people had a blade that could suddenly extend!"
"Huh? Magic? That's hilarious."
"But Tokyo Station really is closed today. They say it's under maintenance. Could it be... was it really a fight between people with superpowers?"
"How could sothing like that exist? It's probably just a rumor."
"But I heard from my parents that mobile units were deployed in Chiba and Saitama too. I don't know what happened. Could it really be terrorists or sothing?"
"By the way, who's that boy standing at the school gate? Is he waiting for soone?"
"He looks like he's wearing Shuchiin Academy's uniform... Is he a Shuchiin student?"
"Why would a Shuchiin student co here?"
"He's so handso..."
Hearing the students whispering around him, Asagiri remained completely unmoved. He simply stood quietly at the entrance of Toyogasaki Private Academy.
When he saw the slender figure with long black hair slowly walking toward him, he raised his hand and smiled.
"gumi."
"Asagiri..."
Kato gumi walked up to him, tucked a strand of long hair behind her ear, and gave him a faint smile.
"Let's go. Help study."
"I can help tutor you, but..."
Just as Asagiri was about to say sothing outrageous, Kato gumi gently pressed a fair index finger against his lips.
"You don't need to say it out loud."
Kato gumi pursed her lips, her smile carrying a hint of shyness.
"I want to do more intimate things with you too, but we have to finish the important matter first."
...
Half an hour later, inside a cafe near Toyogasaki Private Academy.
"Your math score is average. Completely diocre..."
Asagiri looked through Kato gumi's previous exam papers, his expression thoughtful.
"Your humanities scores are also average. To put it simply, you're very ordinary. Still, being able to rank in the middle at Toyogasaki Private Academy would count as excellent in an ordinary high school. But do you have so strange passive ability, like 'no matter what you do, your results will always be ordinary'?"
Kato gumi tilted her head and seriously thought about it for a mont.
"Now that you ntion it, that does seem true. Ever since I was little, no matter what I did, it was always very ordinary, and the results were always neither good nor bad. The only exception is being a Player... No, rather than being a Player, it's more like..."
At this point, Kato gumi smiled gently. She lightly placed her hand over Asagiri's and looked straight at his face, her eyes filled with soft affection.
"Ever since I t you, I don't seem to be ordinary anymore. Thinking about it carefully, that must be thanks to you, right?"
"I've said it many tis. You're not ordinary at all."
Asagiri picked up the iced cola on the table and took a sip. Just as he was about to continue, a girl's voice rang out from nearby.
"Kato-san! Are you having coffee here too?"
Asagiri looked toward the voice and saw a girl with long brown hair and a bright smile. She was also wearing the Toyogasaki Private Academy uniform, and she was waving at Kato gumi.
"Yamanouchi."
After greeting Kato gumi, the girl looked at Asagiri sitting across from her. Then she gave Kato gumi an "I see" kind of look and covered her mouth with a chuckle.
"I was going to ask you to sit with us, but since you're on a date with your boyfriend, I won't bother you."
With that, the girl took a seat with several other girls at a table farther away in the cafe.
"She is..."
"Yamanouchi Sakura. My classmate. She's very lively and popular in class. She's also very cute."
"Yamanouchi Sakura..."
Asagiri withdrew his gaze and looked back at Kato gumi.
"Judging from the way she greeted you just now, is she close to you?"
"Close... Not really, but she does greet often at school."
Kato gumi answered softly, then added in a calm voice.
"I don't know whether it's because my presence has grown stronger, or because her perception is naturally sharper than ordinary people, but even when I'm not using my exclusive talent, she can still notice . Are you suspecting that she's..."
"We'll know after testing her."
Asagiri smiled, then took out his phone and dialed Iwanaga Kotoko's number.
The mont the call connected, Iwanaga Kotoko's sweet and lovely voice rang out.
"My handso and adorable boyfriend~ We've only been apart for less than an hour, and you already miss ? Oh dear, this is truly troubling. Well, if that's the case, you are warmly welco to co to my house and find ..."
"Stop being crazy."
Asagiri interrupted Iwanaga Kotoko's spellcasting, then replied with a smile.
"I do miss you, but I called because there's sothing serious. I'll text you the details."
Once she heard that it was serious, Iwanaga Kotoko imdiately put away her playful attitude and answered seriously.
"Okay."
After hanging up, Asagiri sent Iwanaga Kotoko a ssage containing the cafe's na, their current location, and what he wanted her to do. Then he put down his phone and looked at Kato gumi as if nothing had happened.
"Alright, let's return to the main topic. How much do you want your grades to improve?"
"Hmm..."
Kato gumi gently bit her straw, tilted her head slightly, and looked at Asagiri with a faintly calculating cuteness.
"First in the grade?"
"That's impossible."
Asagiri directly rejected Kato gumi's naive idea without the slightest hesitation.
"If you're talking about improving your grades through hard work, that's achievable. But if you're talking about entering the top ten, or even taking first place in the grade, even at Toyogasaki Private Academy, that still requires talent."
"What do you an, 'even at Toyogasaki Private Academy'..."
Kato gumi muttered softly, sounding a little annoyed.
"Our Toyogasaki isn't worse than your Shuchiin Academy."
"What!?"
Asagiri looked shocked. He reached out in disbelief and gently touched Kato gumi's forehead. Seeing this, Kato gumi beca even more puffed up.
"What?"
"I'm checking whether you're feeling unwell. Why else would you suddenly start talking nonsense?"
Looking at the angrily cute Kato gumi, Asagiri shook his head and spoke frankly.
"So those fake rankings I had Ashikaga-sensei prepare actually fooled you? Don't joke around. Toyogasaki and Shuchiin aren't even a matter of which school is better. They're not on the sa level at all. In all of Sakura Province, there isn't a single high school on the sa level as Shuchiin Academy. Wake up, gumi."
Kato gumi retorted, sowhat unconvinced.
"In any case, in less than a month, your school will have a joint final exam with ours. Don't lose to our school when the ti cos."
Asagiri asked back with interest.
"Think carefully. During the joint final exam, your first-year students will have to face . Do you think I'll lose?"
Kato gumi answered firmly.
"No."
"Then..."
"Okay."
After thinking seriously for a mont, Kato gumi's attitude made a complete turn. She nodded in agreent.
"You're right. Our Toyogasaki really isn't as good as Shuchiin."
Asagiri could not help smiling when he heard this.
"What's with that? Your attitude changed way too quickly."
Kato gumi rested her cheek on one hand. Although her expression was still calm and indifferent, her eyes carried a gentle smile.
"No matter what I face, I'll believe you. You are my undisputed first priority."
"You too."
" too?"
Kato gumi smiled, but there seed to be no smile in her eyes.
"Am I tied for first?"
"It's already great to be tied for first, okay?"
Asagiri did not show any weakness. Instead, he replied with complete righteousness.
"To be able to occupy the most important place in Utsunomiya Asagiri's heart is already enough to prove Student Kato gumi's value. Being tied for first is the true first. After all, being tied for first ans you have both love and friendship. If you were the only one in first place, wouldn't that feel a little lonely? You wouldn't be able to accept that in your heart either. Am I right?"
"I already said..."
Kato gumi looked as if she had seen through everything, yet her smile remained gentle and obedient.
"You are my first priority, so I'll listen to you."
Asagiri smiled back and said softly,
"As expected of Saint gumi. A direct attack really is terrifying."
Kato gumi made a playful little face.
"Perhaps this is what they call eting one's match?"
Just as Kato gumi finished speaking, a crisp sound suddenly rang out nearby.
Crash!
Every custor in the cafe instinctively looked over. Yamanouchi Sakura, who was sitting with her friends, seed to have accidentally broken a ceramic cup. White shards scattered around her feet.
"Sakura, you didn't get cut, did you?"
Hearing her friend's concerned question, Yamanouchi Sakura smiled and waved her hand.
"I'm fine. I'll just have to pay the shop for the cup."
Seeing that Yamanouchi Sakura was unhard, her friend breathed a sigh of relief, then said helplessly,
"Seriously, why did you look like you suddenly got startled by sothing?"
"I..."
Just as Yamanouchi Sakura was about to make up an excuse, she felt soone watching her.
When she turned her head, her gaze t Asagiri's from across the cafe.
It was only a brief mont of eye contact, yet Yamanouchi Sakura felt an unprecedented fear.
"Let's go, gumi."
Asagiri withdrew his gaze, stood up, and walked out of the cafe with Kato gumi.
After they reached the street, he spoke in a calm, quiet voice.
"She is definitely a Player."
.....
[If you don't want to wait for the next update, read 50 chapters ahead on P@treon.]
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