The moment he arrived at the classroom, Mamoru was immediately cornered by his classmates, all asking about yesterday’s incident.
When he shared that the teacher had refused to answer any questions, the news spread instantly.
Soon, small groups formed all over the room as everyone began exchanging their own theories and guesses.
While noisy discussions broke out across the classroom, Mamoru and Arisu received the lion’s share of attention—likely because they had stood out so prominently on the very first day.
“Do you think our points are actually going to drop?” “Are class rankings decided by test scores?” “Wait, are you two dating?” Though completely irrelevant questions were tossed into the mix every now and then, the two answered them one by one.
Then, shortly before homeroom began—right when almost all the classmates had gathered—Katsuragi called out to the entire room.
“Everyone, listen up.
I’d like to ask for a bit of your time after school.
I want us to have a class discussion about how we should move forward from here.
Of course, I can’t force anyone, but I’d like as many of you to stay behind as possible.” Perhaps because a formal discussion had been set for later, everyone seemed to decide there was no need to debate further right now.
The intensity of the arguments died down, and the conversations shifted toward friendlier topics, like hobbies or which club to join.
However, even though the topic had changed, the spotlight on Mamoru and Arisu remained as bright as ever.
People continuously approached them, eager to chat.
Even during the short breaks between classes, Mamoru dealt with the endless stream of questions—though he was inwardly exasperated—and before he knew it, time flew by.
Then came lunchtime.
“Hey, Gojo.
Let’s head to the cafeteria together.” The one calling out to Mamoru was Masayoshi Hashimoto, a male student with his blonde hair tied back.
While his appearance gave off a bit of a delinquent vibe at first glance, he seemed highly sociable and remarkably skilled at reading the room.
“Ah, sorry, Hashimoto-kun.
I was thinking of just grabbing a sandwich from the convenience store today.” As someone who wanted to save as many points as possible just in case, Mamoru reasoned that buying bread at the convenience store was far cheaper than dining at the cafeteria.
“Come on, man!
We’ve got this amazing cafeteria and you’re eating convenience store bread on day one?” Despite Hashimoto’s teasing, not every student was heading to the cafeteria.
While over half the class seemed to be making their way there, some brought their own lunches or bento boxes, and a few scattered voices mentioned hitting the convenience store too.
Just then, Arisu—sitting in the adjacent seat—voiced her thoughts as well.
“He’s right, Mamoru-kun.
Since we have the chance, why don’t we dine together at the cafeteria?” Looking at Arisu with an amused expression, Hashimoto rested a hand on Mamoru’s shoulder.
“See that?
An invitation from the Princess herself, Prince Charming.” “Cut that out, would you?” Even during break times, many had speculated wildly about his relationship with Arisu.
Every single time, Mamoru had offered a gentle denial.
Arisu, on the other hand, found the whole situation entertaining and deliberately kept things vague with responses like “My, I wonder?”—which only fueled the suspicions of those around them.
“…Alright.
I’ll go.” After pretending to hesitate for a moment, Mamoru decided to accept, feeling it wouldn’t be right to ruin the mood by digging his heels in too stubbornly.
Brushing the hand off his shoulder, he stood up from his seat.
“Sweet.
Let’s move, then.” With Hashimoto leading the way, Mamoru walked toward the cafeteria alongside the two.
When they arrived, the cafeteria was already bustling with a considerable crowd.
However, thanks to the sheer size of the facility, they easily found open seats.
After purchasing a set meal of grilled fish, Mamoru sat down.
Arisu took the seat right beside him, while Hashimoto settled into the one across from them.
As soon as he sat down, Hashimoto took a big bite of his fried shrimp set meal, his eyes sparkling with delight.
“Oh, man, this is delicious!
Guess top-tier high schools really do hire top-tier chefs, huh?” Taking a bite of his own meal, Mamoru agreed with the assessment.
“Yeah, it really is good.” “Indeed, it is quite delicious.” The three savored their food, yet each of them subtly cast observant glances at their surroundings.
“Man, look at that.
A lot of people are ordering the Wild Greens Set Meal.” Hashimoto was the first to bring it up.
The Wild Greens Set Meal was an item on the cafeteria menu that stood out quite uniquely.
Priced at a grand total of 0 points, it featured no meat or fish whatsoever—hardly the kind of meal a growing high school student would voluntarily choose to eat.
“It appears most of them are upperclassmen.” “Guess point fluctuation really is a certainty, then.” Hashimoto remarked, but for Mamoru and Arisu, that conclusion had already been reached long ago, making it old news.
“Still, Gojo, it’s crazy you picked up on that just from the teacher’s speech.” “I just happened to notice it, that’s all.
Honestly, Arisu-san had figured it out too.” “Yes, though I must admit my deductions weren’t nearly as sharp or direct as yours, Mamoru-kun.” “You two are amazing, seriously.
I didn’t even consider a possibility like that.” ‘He’s flattering us quite a bit, isn’t he?’ From Mamoru’s perspective, he had simply pointed out the obvious, yet it had escalated into such a huge deal that people were looking at him with admiration—a level of attention that made him feel rather uncomfortable.
“So, bottom line—are you two actually dating or what?” “Again with that?” Slightly annoyed by the question he had heard countless times today, Mamoru gave Hashimoto an exasperated look.
“We’re not dating.
Why does everyone care so much about this?” “Can’t be helped, man.
It’s high school romance!
Plus, both you and Sakayanagi stand out just on good looks alone.” Glancing sideways at Arisu, who was casually continuing her meal with an innocent facade, Mamoru voiced his complaint.
“Arisu-san, could you stop enjoying this and actually help me deny it?” “My, Mamoru-kun, does being rumored with me bother you that much?” “Oho!
So Sakayanagi isn’t entirely against the idea?” “Fufu, my, I wonder.” “There you go saying things like that again…” Mamoru honestly couldn’t read what was going through Arisu’s mind.
When they first met, she had practically exuded an aura of wanting him as a convenient pawn.
But ever since the cafe incident, that vibe had vanished without a trace.
It was hard to imagine she had actually fallen for him, leaving Mamoru struggling to gauge her true intentions.
‘The safest guess is that she’s publicly flaunting a close relationship with me to keep the people around us—especially Katsuragi—in check.’ If he believed what she said this morning, Arisu was seeking a position as his friend.
But if she simply wanted to get closer, her current method of closing the distance felt far too blunt and sloppy.
‘No…
is she actually measuring the distance between us?’ Every now and then, he felt a testing gaze from Arisu.
It wasn’t an evaluation of his worth, but rather an observation of how Mamoru would react.
‘…She probably doesn’t have many friends, after all.’ Or perhaps Arisu herself didn’t know what kind of boundaries to maintain when interacting with others, and was still feeling her way through.
Thinking about it that way stripped away her eerie aura, making her seem almost endearing in a sense.
“…My.
For some reason, I feel as though you are thinking something exceedingly rude about me, Mamoru-kun.” She really was sharp.
She had apparently picked up on his thoughts just from his gaze.
“No, not really.
Anyway, please spare me the romance talk.
I’m really bad with those kinds of topics.” “Come on, man!
Acting like a stubborn old-school guy isn’t in style these days.” “Regrettably, I have no interest in chasing trends.” Just as they reached that point in their conversation, music suddenly chimed through the overhead speakers.
『Attention, all students.
Today at 5:00 PM, a club orientation will be held in Gymnasium No.
1.
Students interested in joining a club, please gather at Gymnasium No.
1.
To repeat—』 Hearing the announcement, Hashimoto completely wiped the previous conversation from his mind and immediately switched topics.
“5:00 PM, huh?
The class meeting shouldn’t take that long, so we can probably make it.
What about you two?” “I’ll pass.
I have no intention of joining a club.” “In that case, I shall pass as well.
I am not particularly fond of large crowds.” Indeed, given Arisu’s physical condition, placing herself in a densely packed crowd carried significant risk.
However, the wording she used caught Mamoru’s attention.
“…The way you said that makes it sound like you’d go if I went.” “Well, yes.
I would certainly feel much safer if you were with me, Mamoru-kun.” ‘Now that’s a cheap trick.’ Depending on how one interpreted it, it sounded like she really wanted to go, but was holding herself back simply because Mamoru wasn’t going.
As Mamoru frowned at her guilt-inducing phrasing, Arisu let out an amused giggle.
“Fufu, I am only joking.
At present, I have no interest in club activities either.” “Ah, right.” Even though he knew she was teasing him, Mamoru didn’t particularly enjoy feeling like her plaything.
Watching the back-and-forth between the two, Hashimoto let out an exasperated sigh.
“…Seriously, are you guys sure you aren’t dating?” “We are not.” Wondering what part of their interaction could possibly look like that to an outsider, Mamoru bluntly denied it while taking another bite of his food.