Kasumigaoka Utaha fixed her gaze tightly on the two figures in the corner of the cafeteria.
That's right, it was Suzumiya Haruhi and Kato Megumi.
The two of them were currently sitting at the same table, eating.
Although it seemed like a coincidence, Kasumigaoka Utaha felt it was a bit too "coincidental."
She needed to figure out exactly what was going on.
She looked at Sawamura Spencer Eriri beside her.
She knocked Eriri on the head directly, startling her.
"Why is it you?" After turning around and seeing that the person standing behind her was Kasumigaoka Utaha, Eriri's guilty conscience immediately turned into dissatisfaction.
This was just her personality.
In front of ordinary classmates, she always presented herself as an elegant, wealthy young lady, but she would only reveal her terrible true nature in front of those she was familiar with.
If she were facing someone she liked, she would add a layer of textbook tsundere behavior on top of that.
Because of the mysterious person who made fun of her and doxxed her hidden identity, Kasumigaoka Utaha counted as a familiar "comrade-in-arms" to her. Naturally, Eriri appeared much more relaxed in front of this woman.
"I suggest that even if you want to create chances for a chance encounter, don't look so guilty. If you go on like this, you really will become that kind of golden-haired losing heroine," Kasumigaoka Utaha poked mercilessly at Eriri's sore spot.
"How could I become some golden-haired losing heroine? That's just something that bastard fabricated," Eriri retorted at Kasumigaoka Utaha in exasperation.
However, Kasumigaoka Utaha was in no mood to continue bickering with this loser right now. She stated her plan directly.
"Anyway, interrupt your 'chance encounter' bridge with your childhood friend for a moment. Do me a favor today."
Eriri immediately showed a suspicious expression: "What scheme do you have now?"
This woman, Kasumigaoka Utaha, always acted dominantly. Since they had known each other, she had always been the one taking the initiative. Why did she suddenly have something to ask for help with today?
Could it be related to that guy?
Eriri immediately thought of a certain blue-haired boy.
In today's Toyogasaki, there were five people discussed the most.
The three school beauties—her, Kasumigaoka Utaha, and Shiina Mashiro—followed by Sakakibara Kouichi, who became an internet celebrity shortly after enrollment, and Miyauchi Hikage, who worked as the cameraman.
Although Miyauchi Hikage had never shown his face in those videos, he was popular in school because he was over 1.8 meters tall at 16, had impeccable looks and figure, and had an ambiguous relationship with the transfer student Shiina Mashiro.
Coupled with his mysterious financial luck and rumors that he was the behind-the-scenes boss of Asahigaoka Media and had bought a large Western-style house in Tokyo with full payment at 16, Miyauchi Hikage's popularity in school was quite high.
Moreover, he had picked up her wallet. Although it was returned to her by Miyauchi Hikage's twin sister, Eriri herself had a good impression of Miyauchi Hikage.
She could even sense Kasumigaoka Utaha's somewhat abnormal attention toward Miyauchi Hikage starting from the week before Golden Week.
Did Kasumigaoka Utaha also develop feelings for Miyauchi Hikage and want to have a vigorous love triangle with that Shiina Mashiro?
But she didn't see Miyauchi Hikage and Shiina Mashiro in the cafeteria. She heard that both of them brought their own bentos to school.
Looking at Eriri's gossipy expression, Kasumigaoka Utaha knew this guy must be letting her imagination run wild.
She and Miyauchi Hikage were innocent; so far, they were just in a pure senior-junior relationship.
"A very pretty transfer student came to the school today. I'm slightly curious about her, so I'm planning to go over and get to know her."
Dragging Eriri along was her way of finding someone to share the aggro.
After all, she didn't have a solid grasp on what Suzumiya Haruhi's divine power of "wishes coming true" was really about. Having the equally conspicuous Eriri beside her gave her some peace of mind.
Eriri could clearly hear the caution in Kasumigaoka Utaha's tone.
Oho, what kind of transfer student could make a super beautiful girl like Kasumigaoka Utaha feel such an insecure sense of urgency?
In that case, she really had to go and see.
Immediately, the matter of Aki Tomoya was thrown to the back of her mind.
Anyway, they were childhood friends, and their relationship had eased up a lot recently. High school lasted three years; there was no need to rush this moment.
So, she openly followed Kasumigaoka Utaha into the cafeteria.
Two school beauties who had rumors about them right after enrollment and had only quieted down recently appearing together in the cafeteria was a scene that attracted a lot of attention.
However, the two, accustomed to being pointed at, ignored these gazes directly. After finding an empty window to buy two bowls of noodles, Kasumigaoka Utaha walked straight toward Kato Megumi's location with a clear goal.
"Kato-san, do you mind if we share the table?" Kasumigaoka Utaha smiled and greeted Kato Megumi, who was eating her meal in small bites.
Kato Megumi looked at the two school celebrities standing in front of her, paused for a moment, and then nodded.
She had always been easygoing about such things.
She was just a little unaccustomed to the gazes directed at her from the people around them.
After all, from childhood to adulthood, she had never been the center of attention.
Being able to become friends with the good-natured Miyauchi Hikari and the ridiculously beautiful Shiina Mashiro was already something she had never imagined before.
Usually at noon, she would bring a bento and gather in the classroom with Miyauchi Hikari and Shiina Mashiro.
It was just that on the first day after the holiday, she acted like an ordinary student and slept in a little, failing to wake up early enough to make a bento.
Shiina Mashiro was dragged to the rooftop by Miyauchi Hikage, and Miyauchi Hikari was on her period these past few days and went to the infirmary to slack off and sleep at noon, so she rarely came to the cafeteria to eat.
Then it was the same as in the past.
The school cafeteria wasn't big, and there weren't enough tables and chairs. It was almost full by noon.
Many people simply bought bread or sandwiches to eat outside the school building.
But the place where she sat, just like her inconspicuous presence, was subconsciously ignored by people.
She should have been used to this feeling of not standing out.
But for some reason, she felt a long-lost sense of loneliness, making her wonder if she had been relying too much on Hikari-san these days.
No, that shouldn't be considered reliance, right?
Given Miyauchi Hikari's careless appearance, it should be her taking care of both Miyauchi Hikari and Shiina Mashiro simultaneously.
It was just that she didn't dislike this feeling.
After all, for an inconspicuous girl like her, just being noticed by someone immediately was already something to be happy about.
It was just that the people who noticed her now were basically girls; among boys, only Miyauchi Hikage was special.
Thinking that she would go to the infirmary to check on Miyauchi Hikari's condition after eating, Kato Megumi sensed a stranger approaching her with a meal.
"Isn't there an empty seat here?"
Kato Megumi looked up and saw an exceptionally beautiful and dazzling long-haired girl.
She wasn't wearing the Toyogasaki uniform. Was she a new transfer student?
Kato Megumi's deductive ability was quite good.
Then she saw the girl looking her up and down with unreserved eyes.
"I thought it was some incredibly ugly girl that made everyone ignore this spot. Looking closely, aren't you quite pretty?"
"So, are you being isolated by the whole school?"
Such direct words. It felt like a girl even more direct than Miyauchi Hikari.
As Kato Megumi had this thought, Suzumiya Haruhi, not receiving an answer, sat down directly.
"I am Suzumiya Haruhi, transferred here today. What is your name?"
"Kato Megumi."
Kato Megumi softly said her name, and then after a few seconds, she explained emphatically, "I'm not being isolated, I'm just usually not very conspicuous."
Faced with someone who could notice her, Kato Megumi was still willing to say a few words.
Unexpectedly, her explanation made Suzumiya Haruhi's expression suddenly become enthusiastic.
"Not conspicuous? Why?"
Kato Megumi frowned slightly: "If you ask why, actually I don't know either. Anyway, I always tend to be ignored when standing in a crowd. Even my relatives at home occasionally ignore my existence."
She paused, then revealed a faint smile: "However, after entering high school, the situation has improved a lot. I have met quite a few friends who notice me now."
Then, she was slightly stunned to see the transfer student's eyes suddenly emitting a faint light: "So, are you an esper?"
In fact, Suzumiya Haruhi's movement was even more exaggerated. She directly took out the diary in her hand to confirm if Kato Megumi could see its existence: "Can you see this diary?"
Kato Megumi blinked, then shook her head as a matter of course: "No, how could there be espers in the world? I'm just simply inconspicuous."
However, while saying this, Kato Megumi inexplicably recalled the scene when she first met Miyauchi Hikage, which was like seeing the sun.
Although that special feeling gradually disappeared after Miyauchi Hikage met Shiina Mashiro, if there really were espers in the world, she felt that Miyauchi Hikage was more like a so-called esper than herself.
Of course, these things were secrets. Kato Megumi wouldn't casually tell these words to someone she met for the first time.
After confirming that she didn't notice the existence of the diary just like others, Suzumiya Haruhi felt somewhat regretful, but she was still very interested in Kato Megumi's situation.
She examined Kato Megumi from head to toe more carefully.
"No, no one understands better than me what goes on in the heads of adolescent boys."
"You look good, your skin is nice, and your figure is not bad. Your personality seems okay so far."
"A girl like you should clearly be the type most likely to be confessed to in class. How could you be inconspicuous? This must be because you have some superpower that confuses others' cognition, causing everyone to ignore your presence!"
"Not everyone, and I'm not as low-key as you say, Suzumiya-san." Kato Megumi answered peacefully.
Although she was easily ignored in class, at least a small half of the classmates could call out her name a month after school started.
Suzumiya Haruhi rubbed her chin.
Miyauchi Hikage was already her deskmate. When the time came, she would just lean in. If a beautiful girl like herself took the initiative to attack, he definitely wouldn't be able to refuse her.
So her current focus was to figure out what was going on with this girl whose presence was mysteriously thin.
Just as she was thinking about what method to use to further verify that the other party had superpowers without knowing it, the arrival of Kasumigaoka Utaha and Eriri interrupted her train of thought.
She followed the voice and immediately recalled the glance exchanged during the break after the first class in the morning.
It was that upperclassman Kasumigaoka Utaha, who had a better figure than herself and was suspected of having an ambiguous relationship with her deskmate Miyauchi Hikage.
Could she also detect Kato Megumi's presence?
Or did she notice Kato Megumi because of herself?
No, even if she noticed Kato Megumi because of herself, she called out Kato Megumi's name directly just now.
In other words, they knew each other before this.
Then under what circumstances did they meet?
Thinking this, she cast her gaze on the blonde twintail beauty behind Kasumigaoka Utaha.
One morning was enough for her to figure out the current situation of this school.
This beauty, no less attractive than Kasumigaoka Utaha, should be that Japanese-British mixed-blood Sawamura Spencer Eriri.
It was just that she kept hovering her gaze between her and Kato Megumi.
Even when looking at Kato Megumi, Suzumiya Haruhi sensed a wariness from her, as if she were looking at a love rival.
Although she had always been uninterested in the messy affairs of hormonal explosions between underage boys and girls, Suzumiya Haruhi really wanted to know how Kato Megumi became this girl's love rival.
After Kato Megumi briefly introduced the names of both parties, Kasumigaoka Utaha sat down with Eriri, whose fur was slightly bristling.
So a losing heroine is a losing heroine.
The plot was already messed up like this, yet when facing the imaginary enemy Kato Megumi, she would still subconsciously show this food-guarding appearance.
But now Eriri had definitely attracted Suzumiya Haruhi's firepower.
Kasumigaoka Utaha pondered.
Although it was unkind to use you as a test subject, this could be considered dedicating yourself to science.
I will compensate you well after this.