Chapter 108: A New Student Is Coming to the Class

Knowing what the task reward was gave Haruhi Haruno a bit of a headache.

If someone were to discover it later, wouldn't he be unable to clear his name even if he jumped into Tokyo Bay?

Then again, Tokyo Bay is probably filthy by now; who knows how many protagonists are tossed in there every year.

Leaving the school, he saw scattered groups of students in National High School uniforms along the roadside, laughing, joking, and discussing the upcoming winter camping trip next month.

Under normal circumstances, Yuriko Ogata would have been impatiently clinging to Haruno’s arm by now.

But the little girl currently felt a draft around her lower body, a sense of being exposed, and her small hands nervously clutched the hem of her bloomers.

Haruno noticed this, and though he knew exactly why it was happening, he didn't say a word.

"By the way, I haven't asked yet—where do you live, Yuriko?" Haruno asked.

Having just promised to see her home, he naturally intended to follow through.

"Ah?!" Hearing the handsome boy call out, Yuriko Ogata quickly turned her head, her face flushed red, looking quite nervous.

Afraid that Haruno might discover her secret, she gripped her bloomers even tighter.

"I said, where is your house? I’m supposed to see you home, aren't I?" Haruno repeated his question.

"W-well..." Yuriko stammered, unable to answer.

It would certainly be a happy thing to have Haruno take her home, but what if he realized on the way that she wasn't wearing anything underneath?

She distinctly remembered putting them on, so how did it end up like this? T﹏T.

Yuriko felt as if she had no secrets left, and she hated that feeling.

"I... um... let’s have Haruno-kun take me home next time!"

Suddenly, the little girl spotted a familiar luxury Bentley parked nearby. A beautiful woman in a kimono was standing in front of it, looking curiously in their direction.

She hastily bid Haruno farewell and scurried off on her short legs, as if she had some urgent business to attend to.

Haruno was left alone.

Watching the small figure climb into the Bentley, he scratched his head. Another wealthy heiress; no wonder she always dropped "gold coins" for him.

Rich as can be~

With no princess to escort home, the handsome boy had nothing left to do. He shrugged his shoulders and began walking toward his own home under the glow of the setting sun.

Inside the car, Yuriko pressed her face against the window, watching the handsome figure fade into the distance, her eyes growing moist.

It was so hard to finally have a chance to be alone with Haruno-kun without Seiryo-san around, so why did something like this have to happen?

She clearly remembered wearing them...

T﹏T

"Is that your dream lover, little Yuri? He does seem quite impressive." The beautiful woman in the kimono sat back in the car, smiling with pursed lips.

"It seems our little Yuri is truly smitten!"

"Onee-san, please, don't tease me."

Yuriko slumped back into the premium leather seat, feeling defeated.

"What’s wrong? It seems your romantic path isn't going very smoothly?"

The woman in the kimono continued to smile, her polite, aristocratic temperament radiating naturally.

"I don't think anyone could refuse our adorable little Yuri, could they?"

If she hadn't said that, it would have been fine, but hearing it made Yuriko want to cry.

She wanted to complain to her sister that Haruno had a girlfriend, but she was afraid her sister would think he was a scumbag.

How could someone as excellent as Haruno-kun be considered a scumbag?

She had no one to tell, and her troubles had to be borne by herself alone.

......

On the way, Haruno boarded the train.

At this hour, the train wasn't as terrifyingly crowded as in the morning. After waiting one stop, a group of people got off, and he managed to snag a seat.

The handsome boy rested one hand on the window frame and propped his chin on the other, quietly admiring the scenery outside.

Dusk, a gentle breeze, and busy people bustling through the streets—though the salarymen in suits and ties were rare, clearly still working overtime.

Haruno admired the human drama outside, while the few young girls inside the carriage admired him.

His left pocket still felt bulky; the reward from his first encounter with the task actually gave him quite a headache.

Although it was a pleasant surprise, he had countless thoughts of tossing it into a trash can along the way.

But every time he reached out to pull it out, his hand would lose its nerve and let go.

After going back and forth with the trash can for a long time, he eventually lacked the heart to do it and decided to observe and see how things developed.

Because of this, he missed the first train, which didn't care at all about the boy chasing after his ride home. This was the second one he had waited for, just ten meters from the station.

Back home, Haruno opened the door with his usual practiced composure.

"I'm home."

He called out toward the kitchen.

After glancing at the little cook preparing dinner, Haruno retreated to his bedroom, closed the door, and took the "sacred object" out of his pocket.

The triangle was exposed to the air, and there seemed to be some moisture on it—though he wasn't sure if it was just sweat from his own palm.

Yuriko Ogata’s choice was just like a little girl's, with cute cartoon characters printed on it, and the size was tiny.

"Hmm, very cute, just not as big as Seiryo-san's, and certainly not comparable to Mrs. Uehara's."

Haruno gave his objective assessment, and after admiring it for a while, he gingerly lifted the mattress and tucked it away neatly.

After doing all this, the handsome boy couldn't help but inwardly criticize himself.

What an unreasonable Haruno Haruno!!

......

The daily life heading toward winter was mundane; nothing special happened, and life seemed to have stabilized. Haruno gradually adapted to this plain, simple routine.

Compared to two months ago, his life had truly undergone a world-shaking change.

Because of Seiryo-san’s presence, he could smell the fragrant aroma of home-cooked meals every time he returned to his apartment after school.

He no longer had to toil over cleaning, and he didn't have to let dirty laundry pile up for days before doing a massive wash.

Everything was handled perfectly by the housekeeper, Seiryo Miryu. Every time he saw this, Haruno felt like a prodigal son returning home to a virtuous wife.

Although the "virtuous wife" was still quite hot-tempered outside and would occasionally give him a thumping in public, so what?

He loved his tsundere little Seiryo...

Beyond his daily classes, the biggest change was Mrs. Uehara.

Now, the Uehara convenience store would often hang a "Closed" sign halfway through the day, and about an hour later, a handsome boy would walk out to take the sign down.

Sometimes, they would go back and forth like that three or four times in an afternoon.

His school life had also changed significantly. If nothing else, Haruno’s popularity among the girls was exceptionally high.

There were plenty of handsome guys these days, but someone so breathtakingly handsome and charismatic was truly a rarity.

However, rumors that he had hooked up with the eldest daughter of the Seiryo family were growing stronger and stronger.

It was even rumored that there was a group in school dedicated to researching how the two met and what methods Haruno used to pluck that fiery flower.

They called themselves the "Soft Rice King" society.

Don't doubt the level of boredom of Japanese students; this was the reality. The open and free environment allowed students to identify and study any topic they were interested in.

If they had results, the school would even fund them.

Haruno had even heard when he first enrolled that some second-year seniors had secretly established a society called "The Untold Secrets of the School Board."

Unfortunately, it was shut down by the Disciplinary Committee the day after it was founded, which was quite a pity.

"Excuse me, Haruno-kun, how do you think you managed to win over the eldest daughter of the Seiryo family?"

Yoiji Hiraike shoved a makeshift microphone toward Haruno’s mouth.

It was fashioned from an English workbook, while Ichinaka Kunita stood behind him, holding his soccer bag like a camera.

Such crude equipment couldn't dampen the determination of these two chunibyo students to conduct an interview.

"Come on, point the camera at me," Haruno grinned.

Ichinaka Kunita immediately brought the "camera" close to Haruno’s face, looking very professional.

"Heh heh, the reason I succeeded is simple—it’s just one word!"

Haruno coughed twice, building suspense to get their interest to the peak.

Hiraike’s "microphone" was almost poking into his mouth.

Even the surrounding students, who had been busy with their own things, put down their tasks to listen.

"It’s just one word! 'Handsome'!"

Haruno said without a shred of shame.

Miryu Seiryo, sitting in the front row, couldn't help but roll her eyes. This guy, he was always like this.

"Ooooooh! A brilliant answer!!!" Hiraike and Kunita responded with exaggerated enthusiasm, as if they had received some profound revelation.

"Thank you, Haruno-kun, for taking the time out of your busy schedule to participate in our interview and share!" Hiraike suddenly stood up straight and said seriously.

Kunita rushed to turn the "camera" toward the host.

"It’s my pleasure, my pleasure," Haruno waved his hand, grinning broadly.

The trio’s dramatic performance left the entire class speechless.

Yuriko Ogata, sitting in the front row, felt a bit aggrieved and slumped on her desk. She had liked Haruno back when he hadn't started working out and wasn't so thin yet, so how did things turn out like this...

In short, Haruno had become an object of both admiration and jealousy among the boys.

Perhaps in five or ten years, he would become a school legend.

A grassroots kid who, relying on his face, transformed from a black chick into an eagle, climbing up to the daughter of the most influential family in the country.

It was truly enviable~

......

Time passed day by day. It felt like something had happened, yet nothing had changed; it felt like something had changed, yet nothing had.

"Alright, that’s the end of this class. The exams are coming up soon, so everyone needs to study hard and not let your teacher down."

Kae Yasukawa stood on the podium, and after saying this, she gathered her books and walked out of the classroom.

Watching her graceful, mature figure leave, the class immediately became lively.

"Hey! Did you hear? A new transfer student is coming to our class!"

"Really? Is it a boy or a girl?"

"I hope it’s a girl, preferably a pretty girl!"

The boys were all saying this.

"You guys are always like this. I hope it’s a boy! Preferably someone different from you lot!" the girls retorted with disdain.

"Different? Surely different! Can he be as handsome as Haruno?" The boys weren't about to back down.

Haruno, sitting in the "King's Seat," was a bit bewildered.

A new student?

He shook his head randomly; whether it was a boy or a girl had nothing to do with him.

If it were a boy, he wouldn't care. If it were a girl, even if she were beautiful, he didn't have the energy to get involved.

Having Yuriko Ogata and Seiryo-san in the class was already enough of a headache; if he provoked another girl, the head teacher would probably want a word with him.

Ignoring Hiraike and Kunita, who were discussing it heatedly in front of his desk, Haruno took out a piece of white paper and began to doodle.

Living a second life, especially in the high school life he had only seen in anime before, he no longer had to worry about money. He was considering whether to join a club and have a passionate youth of his own.

He doodled with a pencil on the paper.

Basketball Club? He thought of those 1.9-meter, 2-meter tall giants and dismissed it.

Orchestra? Pass. He never did that stuff; he was tone-deaf.

He only had four temporary "God-tier Vocalist" experience cards; maybe he could be a pinch-hitter, since sometimes symphonies needed someone to belt out a line.

Archery Club? Join the same club as Seiryo-san?

Manga Club, a bunch of old otaku.

Volleyball...

One by one, the clubs were written on the paper, only to be marked with a "?" or an "X".

After calculating the options, Haruno suddenly realized he seemed to know how to do nothing at all.

Did he have to start learning from scratch?

He thought about it, and in the end, the handsome boy's plan to create a passionate youth by joining a club fell through.

Even though he hadn't even managed to take the first step...

He’d just have to wait and see if the system could provide permanent skill rewards in the future.

Just then, the head teacher walked through the door and stood on the podium.

As if to confirm the rumors from the morning, the class suddenly fell silent.

Everyone looked at the podium with curiosity.