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"Good morning, Senpai."
"Good morning, Takamiya-san."
I was at the school's entrance, going through greetings as usual, when Takamiya-san passed through. I'd about to greet her, but she beat me to it.
"You're quite early, Senpai. Have you been here for a while?"
"Good morning. Yeah, you can say that. Since club members often drop by earlier, I try to arrive before them to cover as much base. Well, now I am sleeping, and waking up early."
"That's a nice change. After all, the early bird gets the worm."
"Good morning. It would've been great if my body at least get the memo to not wake up early on weekends."
"Ah, that I absolutely agree with. Alright, I will make my way then, lest I get in your way."
"Good morning. 'Kay, see you later."
After exchanging a few words, Takamiya-san took her leave, seemingly not wanting to bother me during my greeting. …Still, she really was this school's student huh.
I might have been greeting everyone possible, but it wasn't like I was trying to become their acquaintance. So I honestly never recognised her for that reason.
"Hey, Souta......"
"Good morning. What's up, Daiki?"
"Don't give me 'what's up'! Since when did you befriend Happiness-chan?!"
"Good morning. Happiness-chan?"
"It's the girl you're chatting with a moment ago."
Wasn't Takamiya-san's first name Noa? Maybe a nickname? But it's barely been two months since the entrance ceremony. Perhaps she was someone popular?
"Good morning. You know Takamiya-san, Daiki?"
"Heck, I'd question anyone who doesn't know?!"
Huh, I never knew she was that popular.
"Daiki, you're being in the way of Souta. Arguing here would only draw eyes, so keep it for later."
"Huh, why sho—woah, when the heck did you arrive, Akihito? Also, get away from me, release me...!"
"Yes, you can do that later. We're going to the classroom."
Akihito grabbed Daiki by his arm, and dragged him away. Thank goodness, he was really getting in the way. Though knowing him, he would definitely hound me the moment I returned to class.
◆◆◆
"Come on now, time to 'fess up!"
And just as I had expected.
"About what?"
"Don't play dumb. Happiness-chan has never approached any boy by herself, so how come she was chatting with you so happily?!"
"A lot happened yesterday, but I can't tell you the exact details unless Takamiya-san allows it. The least I can tell you is I just happened to save her from a dicey situation in the dungeon."
"That's so freaking lucky. So she's also an adventurer, huh? Hmm... perhaps I should visit the dungeon more often."
Man, you're already doing that five days a week though.
"But never mind that for now, Souta. Bet you'd have a great time yesterday, no? C'mon, tell me more about it! Just what happened yesterday?!"
Daiki enthusiastically pressed over, clearly it wasn't a new day, new energy thing. That was a bit troubling, I just told him I couldn't talk about it.
"Stop breathing on his neck, Daiki. Souta just said he can't talk about it. It's not good to force him."
"Argh, but. But I really want to know what happened between him and Happiness-chan?!"
Mhm? Was it just me, or was there something strange about the way he pronounced 'between.'
"Anyway, how did Takamiya-san even come to get that Happiness-chan nickname?"
"Oh my god, I'd said that back at the entrance, but how in the world you don't know that? There's no boy at this school that hasn’t heard about those rumours."
"Why boys—ah, wait, you don't mean......"
Must be her demerit skill.
"Ooh, your expression tells me something definitely happened yesterday. Man, I am so jealous of you."
"I don't think Takamiya-san appreciates any of this though. So, what kind of rumours are you talking about?"
"That boy near Happiness-chan often ends up in a lucky pervert situation."
…Figured.
"In the first month of her enrollment, there would not pass a day where she didn't get caught up in a lucky pervert situation with boys, regardless of her will. The other boys come to revere her as «One who graces boys with lucky incidents», and started calling her Happiness-chan. "
"Definitely something she wouldn't expect."
If anything, I could already see her crying and wanting to disappear into some god forsaken place if she heard that.
Inwardly, I paid my condolences to her for the awful nickname. After that, I started thinking about my dungeon progress while ignoring Daiki's pestering.
Recently, time in the school had begun to pass by in the blink of an eye, perhaps because most of my time was spent on dungeon strategy.
Soon, the classes were over. I sorted my textbooks, put those that were required for tomorrow's class inside the desk, and got up from my seat, contemplating if I should visit the dungeon.
"Haa... haa... Kashima-senp—ack, kyaa!"
I was about to leave when I heard Takamiya-san’s voice.
"Hmm? What are you doing here, Takami—gah!"
She must've come sprinting the way she rushed. Though seemingly not able to keep her balance, she stumbled, and that built up momentum caused her to fall over me. I was still on my chair, so before I could've acted, her chest, too big for her petite frame, smothered my face.
"I-I'm really sorry, Senpai!"
"It's fine. I get it, so don't worry about it."
"U-um, thank you. It keeps happening so I always make sure to pay attention, but..."
Does it happen so frequently?"
"So far, it happened thrice yesterday."
Ah... her eyes turned lifeless when she said that.
"It must be tough."
"It really is. Well, strange enough, it didn't happen today at all, so I let my guard down."
But if it happens thrice a day, I could see the desperation to do something about it as early as possible.
"Anyway, what is so urgent you even come to senior's class?"
"Senpai, let's go to the dungeon together!"
"Do you mean a party?"
"Yes!"
She replied while pulling her face closer to mine. There was an intense resolve in them, as if saying she'd definitely get me on board.
"Our compatibility with each other (skill) is just so much better, Senpai! You'd me so excited yesterday I completely forgot everything about other things (※about contact information, and also party invitation), so I couldn't wait and decided to come here."
"Hey, Souta. I think I just heard something I can't ignore. Care giving an explanation, will ya?"
"Would you believe me if I said you misunderstand?"
"Hahaha. Rest assured, I am going to make sure you puke out every detail."
Daiki glared at me with a scary glint in his eyes.
"We're leaving, Takamiya-san!"
"Huh, wha—Senpai?!"
"You aren't going anywhere, Souta! We're going after him, everyone!!"
" " "After him! Punishment for the traitor!!" " "
It was obvious trying to reason with them was a fool's errand. I grabbed Takamiya-san's hand, and sprinted out of the class before Daiki or other classmates could jump over me.