“It is exactly 10:14 and twenty-three seconds.” The sudden, airy voice of Arisu Sakayanagi drifted up from beside him, accompanied by a soft smile.
Akira paused, his hand stalling in his pocket.
For a fleeting, surreal moment, it felt as though he were being attended to by a highly sophisticated, incredibly beautiful human alarm clock.
Pulling the device free, he tapped the screen awake.
10:14.
Not a single second off.
“You truly doubt me over something so trivial?
My, you are quite the suspicious one.” Arisu shook her head, her silvery-white hair swaying gently with the elegant motion.
“You are clearly much more enthusiastic when speaking to that black-haired girl.” “You noticed that?” Akira took an instinctual half-step backward, putting a deliberate margin of space between himself and the cane-wielding girl.
Arisu blinked, momentarily stunned.
Was such blatant revulsion truly necessary?
She ground her teeth in secret.
In terms of both appearance and refined temperament, she was absolutely certain she did not lose to that aloof girl.
“My hair is a pristine silvery-white, you know.” She twirled a delicate strand around her index finger, a hint of unconvinced defiance in her tone.
“Is this not the very aesthetic that Asian men yearn for the most?
Does it hold no attraction for you whatsoever?
Why are you always treating me like a plague to be avoided?” Ever since their first encounter, she simply could not fathom it.
Why did this boy look at her as though he had stumbled across a terrifying monster, radiating an aura that screamed he wanted to flee the premises immediately?
“Your hair color is indeed stunning.
I genuinely want to reach out and touch it,” Akira admitted with dry frankness, smoothly pivoting the conversation.
“But I am far more concerned about being secretly recorded by you one day, or finding myself dragged into one of your complex schemes as an unwitting pawn, only to end up buried in unnecessary trouble.” The girl standing before him possessed a face as delicate as porcelain, but behind those seemingly innocent, crescent-moon eyes lay an abyss of calculation.
When dealing with this specific breed of cunning, no matter how cute the packaging, Akira firmly believed in maintaining a strictly safe distance.
Arisu let out a sudden, airy chuckle, though a flash of genuine seriousness anchored her gaze.
“So that is how it is…
You are afraid of such underhanded tactics.” Her voice softened, losing a fraction of its usual theatricality.
“Please rest assured, Shimizu-kun.
I would never stoop to using despicable means like secret recordings to threaten you.” She looked straight into his eyes, articulating every syllable with deliberate weight.
“To employ such crude methods against a respectable opponent would be far too rude.” Recognizing the sincerity in her posture, Akira gave a slight nod.
“Since you have put it that way, I will take your word for it this once.” “However—” Arisu pivoted, the playful lilt returning to her tone.
“Judging by your preferences, that black-haired girl must be the innocent, naive type?
Is that why you converse with her without raising your guard?” “Innocent and naive?” Akira let out a quiet laugh, shaking his head.
“She is not stupid by any metric.
Just…
a bit too rigidly persistent at times.” The smile gracing Arisu’s lips deepened.
“I understand~” She intentionally drew out the final syllable, her tone dripping with aristocratic teasing.
“Boys are all cut from the same cloth, after all.
You prefer the company of simple, cute girls!” Akira shrugged, his expression perfectly placid.
“I will not deny it.
And now you should perfectly understand why I keep you at arm’s length.” Interacting with girls who possessed too much intellect was a constant drain on his stamina.
The perpetual need to remain on guard was simply exhausting.
Arisu’s thoughts fractured subtly at his response.
She instantly caught the dual layer beneath his words—it was a definitive acknowledgment of her formidable intelligence, yet simultaneously a blunt declaration of his desire to stay away from her.
The realization stirred a complicated knot in her chest.
The corners of her lips twitched upward by reflex, only to press into a thin, straight line a second later.
She certainly harbored no special romantic inclinations toward the boy standing beside her.
It was merely…
It felt akin to standing before a high-end boutique window, spotting a uniquely fascinating accessory that caught her eye.
But before she could decide whether to purchase it, she had to watch someone else walk away with it.
It left a faint, lingering trace of regret, mixed with a bitter drop of unwillingness.
From a purely objective standpoint, the selection criteria for both men and women were surprisingly symmetrical.
Just as the vast majority of women instinctively gravitated toward strong, capable, and wealthy men, men naturally defaulted to simple, endearing partners who provided uncomplicated emotional value.
This cold, logical deduction made her purse her lips.
If she did not recognize Akira’s extraordinary capabilities, why would she have ever taken the initiative to propose this wager in the first place?
In her eyes, the list of candidates truly worthy of her attention was pitifully short.
Her train of thought was abruptly derailed as her gaze locked onto a figure standing a short distance away.
Kamuro Masumi.
The purple-haired girl was currently hovering near the convenience store’s refrigerated section, her hand stealthily inching toward a shelf stocked with canned beer.
“Should I call out to her now?” Akira asked, his voice dropping to a low murmur.
“Do not be hasty…” Arisu shook her head gently, her silver hair swaying like liquid moonlight under the fluorescent bulbs.
“Her hand is already reaching inside the cooler, you know.” “Shimizu-kun.” Arisu turned her head slightly, her profile sharp and composed.
“Please do not interfere with my judgment.” Akira simply raised an eyebrow.
Crossing his arms over his chest, he leaned his shoulder against the nearby wall, settling in to observe this silent, high-stakes game with genuine interest.
A heavy silence stretched between them for several minutes.
The ambient hum of the refrigerators seemed to amplify the tension.
Then, Arisu spoke, her voice ringing with absolute, crystalline certainty.
“Kamuro Masumi will steal that can of beer between 10:29:30 and 10:30:30.” It was not a guess.
She delivered the statement with the terrifying authority of someone reading from a script of established fate.
Right on cue, Kamuro’s fingers seemed to freeze under an invisible spell, hovering mere millimeters from the cold aluminum of the can.
From his vantage point, Akira could see the subtle, violent tremor in the purple-haired girl’s hand.
She was drowning in an intense, agonizing internal struggle.
“Twenty-eight seconds…
twenty-nine seconds…” Arisu murmured the countdown, her tone steeped in the supreme composure of a victor already claiming her prize.
The exact millisecond she breathed the words “thirty seconds,” Kamuro’s hand snapped forward.
With lightning-fast precision, she snatched the beer and shoved it deep into the folds of her school uniform jacket.
Arisu executed an elegant pivot, turning to face Akira.
“Well?
My deduction was flawlessly correct, was it not~” Her voice practically vibrated with undisguised delight.
Akira silently verified the floating text that had already manifested in his mind’s eye.
[Information One: (Today 10:30 sharp) After the entrance ceremony ends…
Kamuro Masumi will “pilfer” a can of beer at the school convenience store.] Every single variable was perfectly aligned.
He looked down at the petite, silver-haired girl.
A complex wave of genuine admiration washed over him.
She had not merely predicted the act of theft; she had calculated the psychological breaking point of her target down to the exact second.
“Brilliant.” Akira offered a slow, sincere round of applause.
“Sakayanagi, I must admit, you are the smartest girl I have ever had the pleasure of meeting.” His gaze swept over her delicate features, the striking silver hair, and that ever-present aura of aristocratic arrogance.
She treated the masses with high-and-mighty disdain, yet she offered unexpected, raw sincerity to the few she deemed worthy of acknowledging.
It was a deeply contradictory nature.
And yet, it only served to make her presence all the more magnetic.
Arisu raised a slender finger, resting it daintily against her chin.
“To receive such high praise from you, Shimizu-kun, I am truly flattered.” Akira held her gaze, his expression entirely unreadable as he calmly spread his hands.
“However…
I had already made the decision to gift that exact can of beer to Kamuro at 9:55.” He let the silence stretch for a heartbeat, his dark eyes locking onto hers.
“Therefore, strictly speaking, the act of theft was never committed.
It appears your judgment was flawed this time, Sakayanagi.” “What?!” Arisu’s smug composure shattered, her pupils contracting into pinpricks of shock before she forcibly reassembled her polite smile.
“How interesting…
Would you care to show me the evidence of this claim?” Without a hint of urgency, Akira retrieved his phone and angled the glowing screen toward her.
Displayed clearly was a brief LINE exchange: [Today 9:55] Shimizu Akira: Chabashira-sensei, could I ask you to purchase all the loose beer at the convenience store on my behalf?
Chabashira Sae: Asking a teacher to buy alcohol for a minor?
You had better have a spectacular explanation for this.
Shimizu Akira: It is not for consumption.
I just discovered a female student planning to steal, and I need you to purchase the inventory first, then temporarily return it to the shelf.
Chabashira Sae: And the reason for this absurd theatricality is?
Shimizu Akira: A wager with someone regarding the legal definition of a crime.
Chabashira Sae:…In other words, the beer was legally purchased by me, an adult, acting as your proxy.
Whether that girl’s action constitutes theft now depends entirely on your personal judgment?
Arisu stared at the screen.
For a long, unmatched moment, the silver-haired genius was reduced to absolute silence.
“So that is how it is…
At 9:55, you had already set the entire board in motion?” She let out a sudden, breathy chuckle, the sound laced with a dizzying cocktail of defeat, intrigue, and deep exhilaration.
[Inorin’s Note: Hey guys, hope you’re enjoying the novel!
Hate waiting for updates and cliffhangers?