Suzuki Yuu sat in the classroom for the first time in a while.
The reason was that today there was P.E. class. At Aoyama Seijou Academy, it’s common to skip cultural classes, but P.E. is different.
Because this class has extremely strict attendance requirements, and just to get a grade, you have to put in some actual time.
But for some reason, as soon as he entered the classroom, the looks he got from those around him seemed off.
There were all sorts of meanings behind those gazes: curiosity, anger, pity, and above all—a very pure… jealousy.
It seemed that, in addition to that time at the shrine where Jinguu held his hand, the incident where he and Hasegawa Aoi went to set up the venue together had also spread.
As for why it spread, apparently it was the handiwork of the school newspaper club…
At the time, Hase’s performance seemed to have drawn them over, and after that, the scene of the two of them talking had been photographed.
The angle was honestly pretty sneaky, catching the exact moment when he looked up at Hasegawa Aoi, while she happened to lower her head, her face still flushed and excited from her performance.
From the photographer’s perspective, the two looked extremely close. The background was the soft spotlight of the music hall stage, the atmosphere fully charged—almost like a confession scene straight out of a romance drama.
And they even added a very suggestive headline:
“Romance Beneath the Music Hall”
“This really is a pain…” Suzuki Yuu rubbed his forehead, wondering if he should use the Student Council’s power to suppress it.
While he was lost in thought, a hand suddenly landed on his shoulder:
“Hey, Suzuki, you lucky dog, huh?”
The one who said this was Tanaka—one of the few who could speak with him so bluntly.
“No, you’ve got it wrong. I was just there to check out the performance venue.”
“Performance? Isn’t it usually just the two of you in the music club?”
“Yeah, but this time it was a request from the Student Council. I had no choice.”
Suzuki Yuu explained, but clearly, no one believed him.
Tanaka sat down in front of him, with several others beside him whose hearts were overflowing with jealousy.
“Alright, Suzuki, you don’t have to explain. We get it. With your looks, it’s no surprise you have a girlfriend. Honestly, having three or four at once wouldn’t even surprise us.”
“Uh…”
Suzuki Yuu wanted to protest, but before he could say anything, he was interrupted:
“But all the girls you hang out with are so extraordinary! First it was Lady Shiina, then President Jinguu, and now Hase-senpai is added to the mix.”
“Maybe it’s just fate?” Suzuki Yuu replied briefly.
In reality, it was all because he’d gone to find Shiina Chisa in the first place, which led to meeting the other two. You could call it a chain reaction.
But obviously, his reason didn’t persuade his friends in the least—in fact, it just made them angrier.
Still, they tried their best to restrain themselves as they asked,
“Suzuki, we’ve been classmates for so long. Just tell us your secret to picking up girls!”
“There’s no secret. Actually, I’m still single.”
“Are you sure you’re not some kind of sorcerer who can charm people?”
“Could you tone down your chuunibyou a little…”
Seeing how stubborn they were, Suzuki Yuu sighed and decided to hit them where it hurt:
“Of course, if you could be as handsome as me, get good grades, be athletic, know a bit of everything, and even know how to make girls happy, believe me, you’d have plenty of girls interested too.”
As he said this, a few girls nearby giggled, while his group of friends looked like they might pop a vein.
Just then, the P.E. teacher came in, cutting their conversation short.
P.E. started quickly. Since today’s class was tennis, Suzuki Yuu immediately felt the malicious intent of his classmates.
They had given up all hope of scoring points and were now aiming purely to take him out—every ball a killer shot straight at him.
Thankfully, he was quick to react and dodged most of the attacks.
Finally, halftime arrived. Panting, he found a seat and sat down.
He hadn’t been sitting long when a girl came and sat down beside him.
It was Shiina Chisa. Since P.E. class was for all first-years, it wasn’t strange for her to show up here.
But Suzuki Yuu instinctively wanted to get up and leave.
“If you don’t sit and keep me company for a while, I’ll just drag you back with me. Then tonight, we’ll head straight to Hokkaido—doesn’t matter if President Jinguu comes looking for you, it’ll take her a while to find us.”
“Uh…” Suzuki Yuu sat back down.
There was nothing he could do—she really would go that far.
“Are you dating Hasegawa Aoi?”
“No.”
“Did you two sign an agreement?”
“No.”
Hearing his answer, the tense atmosphere around Shiina Chisa eased quite a bit.
“Aren’t you afraid I might be lying to you?” Suzuki Yuu asked.
“You rarely lie to me. I choose to believe you.”
Shiina Chisa answered simply, then looked out at the tennis courts, and said in a straightforward tone:
“I remember the first time I ever interacted with you was on a tennis court too.”
She was referring to their first conversation during a class friendship match—a match Suzuki Yuu had planned well in advance.
He’d heard ahead of time that Shiina Chisa would be asked to play, so he got right to work preparing.
During that time, he’d beaten everyone in Class A, and the last one left was Chisa.
Then, despite running on empty from back-to-back matches, Suzuki Yuu managed to grit his teeth and win 2:1.
Mm, back then, he really did go all out to get Shiina Chisa’s attention.
“Yeah, I almost lost that time.”
“But in the end, I lost. And then you went out of your way to talk to me, telling me I was strong and wanted to learn from me, then asked for my contact info.”
As she spoke, a little sparkle lit up in Shiina Chisa’s eyes.
Suzuki Yuu’s mind also drifted back to that time—he remembered a lot of people thought he was crazy back then.
But in the end, she still gave him her contact info. Things had gone pretty smoothly.
“I must have been confused back then too. I figured it wouldn’t hurt to get to know you, so I added you. And then everything that followed just happened.”
“That makes it sound like knowing me was a bad thing. That hurts, you know?”
“Shouldn’t I be the one saying that to you?” Shiina Chisa shot him a glance. “After all this time together, do you regret it?”
“Not at all.”
What surprised her was that Suzuki Yuu replied without any hesitation.
“Spending six months with such a beautiful, outstanding girl—how could I possibly regret it?”
His words made the atmosphere turn just a little ambiguous.
“But, my requirements for you were pretty high back then.”
“Learning more is never a bad thing. I was just giving it a try. If you hadn’t signed the agreement, I might’ve just gone to find someone else right away.”
“Scumbag.”
“Hey, hey, you can’t say that! I put a lot of effort in too, you know!”
As the two talked, Shiina Chisa’s lips curled up slightly. She looked at Suzuki Yuu:
“To tell the truth, I’ve been trying to find out what you’re hiding from me all this time.”
Suzuki Yuu’s mind flashed to that recent declaration she’d made about wanting to have him for the rest of her life.
But she’d never find out his real secret—no one would ever think of something like a system.
At most, someone like Hasegawa Aoi might think he’s just ridiculously talented.
“You’d be better off spending your time on something more meaningful…”
Suzuki Yuu couldn’t help but retort.
“I don’t care. Thanks to you, I can’t stand being alone anymore…” Shiina Chisa’s voice dropped to a murmur.
“What?” Obviously, Suzuki Yuu only caught the first part.
“Nothing. Anyway, there’s something else I’m curious about. You seem to get along with everyone.”
Shiina Chisa changed the topic, her eyes drifting toward Suzuki Yuu’s class, where they were currently chanting, “Crush Suzuki!”
“Not bad. At least for now, nobody really hates me,” Suzuki Yuu replied.
Just then, someone shouted over to him:
“Suzuki, where’d you go? Get over here!”
“Coming! Let’s see if I can teach you all a lesson!”
He got up and ran toward the voice.
Shiina Chisa sat where she was, propping her face up with one hand, her other cheek puffed out slightly.
“This is getting more and more troublesome… Yuu, being this dazzling, aren’t you tired?” she muttered, then got up and left as well.
At that moment, dark clouds suddenly gathered overhead, as if to disrupt the students’ good mood.
“Beeeeep—”
A sharp whistle sounded. The P.E. teacher’s voice echoed from the center of the court, announcing an early end to class.
A chorus of mixed complaints and excitement erupted from the students as they scattered, making a beeline for the locker rooms and school building.
Very soon, big, heavy raindrops began to fall, quickly growing denser and faster, accompanied by rolling thunder.
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