“Oh, Nishimiya-san.”
Hojo Yoru repeated her name first, then looked up at Nishimiya Shoko with a warm smile.
“Hello, Nishimiya-san.”
A faint blush crept across Nishimiya Shoko’s cheeks.
Seeing that he’d responded to her written words, a small, hesitant smile tugged at the corners of her lips.
She quickly wrote another sentence in her notebook and held it out.
[Sorry, I have a congenital hearing impairment.
I wear hearing aids, so I can hear people talking, but I’m not very good at speaking.
That’s why I have to communicate this way.
Could we…
be friends?]
Hojo Yoru didn’t answer directly.
Instead, he took her pen and wrote his name neatly in her notebook, then handed it back with a smile.
“This is how my name is written.
As a friend, you should remember it properly.”
“Mm…”
Nishimiya Shoko made a soft sound of agreement, nodding joyfully.
She didn’t say anything more—just turned around and carefully closed the notebook, as if it held something precious, and tucked it into her shoulder bag.
From behind the podium, Hiratsuka Shizuka had witnessed the entire exchange.
She rested her chin on her hand, a thoughtful look crossing her face.
Even though this Hojo-san’s personality is a bit casual and eccentric, his emotional intelligence is high.
He’s good at communicating with others too.
Nishimiya Shoko was one of the few students in Class 1-A that Hiratsuka Shizuka had flagged as a priority.
Not because there was anything wrong with her personality—but as the homeroom teacher, she’d known before the term started about the girl’s hearing impairment, her difficulty with communication, and her timid, introverted nature.
And Hojo Yoru seemed to have noticed all of that instinctively.
He hadn’t acted overly enthusiastic or pushy.
When Nishimiya Shoko first approached him, he didn’t ask why she had to write her greeting in a notebook.
He just accepted it, naturally and without comment.
This kid is more mature than most high schoolers…
A flicker of appreciation crossed Hiratsuka Shizuka’s eyes.
She’d initially pegged Hojo Yoru as the type of problem student who was arrogant because of his talent—but apparently, she’d been wrong.
Then her gaze swept to the other two figures in the back row, and she couldn’t help but sigh.
Both were black-haired beauties, but their temperaments couldn’t have been more different.
The girl sitting to Hojo Yoru’s right had an impeccably upright posture and a face so cute it was almost unfair.
She held a novel in one hand, reading with an elegant, aristocratic air that made her seem out of place among the ordinary students.
She was already slumped across her desk, sleeping peacefully like a baby.
Her face was completely hidden, only her long, waterfall-like black hair visible, along with glimpses of snowy white skin peeking through the dark strands.
Even seated, her tall, slender figure—like something out of a magazine—was unmistakable.
Yukinoshita Yukino…
Touma Kazusa…
Hiratsuka Shizuka felt a headache coming on just looking at them.
Yukinoshita Yukino was her friend’s younger sister—a girl with a personality too complex to easily read.
Touma Kazusa was the only daughter of a world-class pianist.
Her mother, Touma Youko, had donated a substantial sum to the school, and combined with Kazusa’s own outstanding piano talent, the administration had essentially given her a free pass.
As long as she wasn’t murdering anyone or setting fires, she could do whatever she wanted.
And she certainly took advantage of it.
She’d been late and missed the opening ceremony, then hadn’t even bothered to greet her homeroom teacher before collapsing onto her desk to sleep.
So many eccentrics in Class A.
As Shizuka-chan would say.
She sighed, feeling that her future as a teacher—
Was going to be very, very heavy.
The morning classes passed in a blur.
Yuuki Asuna barely paid attention.
The moment the bell rang, she didn’t even wait for Hojo Yoru to get up.
She politely declined several girls’ invitations to eat lunch together and hurried straight to his corner window seat, tentatively asking.
“Hojo-san, would you like to have lunch together?”
“Sure, let’s go.”
Hojo Yoru didn’t hesitate.
He rose immediately and left the classroom with her—but instead of heading to some quiet corner of the campus, he made a beeline for the iron door leading to the rooftop.
The one that was normally locked to students for safety reasons.
“Watch this.”
Yuuki Asuna blinked, confused.
“Watch what—”
Before she could finish, Hojo Yoru pulled a thin metal wire from his pocket.
In the span of a breath, he deftly picked the lock.
The door clicked open.
He turned around and grinned at her.
“How was that?
My lockpicking skills?”
She’d received an elite upbringing—she’d never broken a single school rule in her life.
At this moment, she couldn’t help but feel nervous.
She glanced around furtively before whispering.
“It’s…
impressive, yes.
But this is against school rules, isn’t it?
Since you’re the Freshman Representative, wouldn’t it have been better to just ask Hiratsuka-sensei for the rooftop key?”
“Then she’d know we were coming up here.” Hojo Yoru pushed the door open, his tone matter-of-fact.
“That over-the-hill single woman with the heart of a middle-aged man already has the wrong idea about our relationship.
I don’t want to give her any more ammunition.”
He paused, then added with a faint smirk.
“Besides, covering your tracks is a mandatory course for Devil Hunters.”
Yuuki Asuna nodded solemnly, thinking to herself that this was the mark of a true professional.
Even though he was just a freshman, and his surface personality seemed eccentric and abstract, he was actually quite mature.
He never overlooked details.
He always maintained vigilance—
“Of course,” Hojo Yoru added casually, “the main reason was just to show off in front of you.”
Yuuki Asuna’s expression flattened.
The three words she wanted to say were practically written on her face.
Too lazy to retort.
They stepped onto the rooftop, and Hojo Yoru closed the door behind them.
He settled against the railing, pulling a pre-packaged bento from his bag.
Yuuki Asuna watched him for a moment, then took a deep breath, steadying herself.
“Hojo-san.”
“Hm?”
“If I signed a contract with that demon…” She paused, her voice growing firmer.
“Would I be able to gain the power to eliminate demons?”
Hojo Yoru looked up at her, his expression unreadable.
“You want power?”
“Mm…”
Yuuki Asuna exhaled slowly.
Her mind drifted back to this morning—the screams, the blood, the helplessness.
Her hands clenched at her sides.
“If I had power back then…” Her voice was quiet, but resolute.
“I could have stopped the Bat Devil.
I could have saved those people—the ones who were suffering, who were terrified, who died in despair.”