The heavy rain continued to fall, but Yusei felt the atmosphere was very wrong.
Kaguya and Asuna had already walked over.
Kaguya waved her hand, and the bodyguards respectfully handed the umbrellas to Kaguya and Asuna before leaving Toyogasaki High School.
Seeing this, Utaha frowned.
Clearly, the newcomers were young ladies of high status. It wasn't just the luxury car and the bodyguards in black… their demeanor alone made it obvious.
'The question was... which of the two was Kouhai-kun's girlfriend?'
'Sigh... formidable rivals have appeared.'
Putting aside her thoughts, Utaha, who had originally planned to leave and return to class, decided not to. She stood quietly by Yusei's side instead.
This scene, in Kaguya's eyes, was nothing short of a provocation.
Kaguya sized up Megumi and Utaha. One was tall and slender, the other petite and cute… both had long, flowing hair and excellent figures.
Most importantly, their looks were undoubtedly top-tier, and one could tell they were first-class beauties.
'Damn it, this Kazami Yusei really knows how to pick them. His taste is so sharp.'
Thinking this, Kaguya couldn't help but glare at Yusei, making him feel utterly confused.
Asuna, being the 'legitimate' one, naturally walked forward with a smile and naturally linked her arm with his.
"Yusei-kun, as promised, take me and Kaguya on a tour of the new campus."
"Okay." Yusei was more than happy to get the four girls separated as soon as possible.
However, Kaguya walked over at that moment with a smile, looking very gentle.
"Kazami-kun, why don't you introduce them to us? These two are...?"
Yusei looked at Asuna, seemingly seeking help, but unfortunately, the latter also showed a smile, still linked her arm with his, and said nothing. Asuna also wanted to know. If it wasn't Kaguya asking, it would have been Asuna's question.
Feeling helpless, Yusei had no choice but to say:
"This is Kasumigaoka Utaha, a friend of mine. This is Kato Megumi, my desk mate."
Then, he turned to Utaha and Megumi, "She is my girlfriend, Yuuki Asuna. And she is my friend, Shinomiya Kaguya."
Just as Yusei breathed a sigh of relief, he heard Kaguya's voice.
"Oh? Classmates and desk mates? It seems Kazami-kun is quite the lucky guy, having such beautiful classmates and a desk mate," Kaguya said with a beaming smile.
"Not at all, Shinomiya-san is also very beautiful. Are you also Kazami-kun's classmate?" Utaha didn't back down, smiling in return.
The meaning of this sentence could roughly be understood as: "You're just his friend too. Why meddle so much?"
At least, that's how Kaguya interpreted it.
She looked coolly at Utaha, 'This woman was clearly not ordinary, and...'
Kaguya's gaze swept over Utaha's chest, finding the two prominent features there particularly noticeable.
She couldn't help but grind her teeth secretly, 'Damn it... just like Asuna, they're both well-endowed.'
Then, she looked unwillingly at Megumi, finding the other girl was similarly blessed.
At this point, Kaguya felt somewhat dejected.
Among the four girls present, she was the only one without mountains.
In the past, she had been proud of this, considering large breasts cumbersome, affecting movement, and hindering speed.
But now... she felt she was really lacking compared to others.
Kaguya's sudden dejection took Utaha by surprise. She hadn't expected her simple remark to crush this young lady who seemed difficult to deal with.
This made Utaha secretly feel a bit smug, 'Hmph, so-called noble ladies are nothing special.'
However... Utaha understood perfectly well that her biggest rival wasn't this Kaguya, but Asuna who was holding onto Yusei's arm.
The awkward atmosphere continued to spread. Kaguya was lost in thoughts of 'how to make my bust bigger', while Asuna was contemplating how to make these two girls back off knowing the difficulty.
As a girl herself, she sharply sensed that her boyfriend was a hot commodity, and other 'vixens' had their eyes on him.
That simply wouldn't do!
Just as everyone was thinking carefully, not daring to act rashly, the school bell suddenly rang outside.
It was time for afternoon classes. Because of the bad, rainy weather, which had been overcast all day, they hadn't realized the time.
They hadn't even noticed it was already time for class.
Seeing this, Yusei said, "Let's all go back to class. Asuna, Kaguya, don't you need to go to the principal's office? I'll take you there."
Utaha and Megumi saw the situation and couldn't very well continue following, since class was starting, and moreover, Asuna was now openly Yusei's girlfriend.
As 'just friends', it wasn't appropriate to get too close.
However, after experiencing the half-year where Yusei was trapped in SAO, their hearts had actually grown much stronger.
Megumi had been Yusei's desk mate since the first year of high school. When she had no friends and no one to talk to, Yusei shared her misery.
As for Utaha, on her path to writing a novel, she had met an interesting boy like Yusei. She really wanted a boyfriend like him to continue pursuing her dreams with her.
In the end, Utaha and Megumi returned to their classroom, while Yusei took Asuna and Kaguya to the principal's office to complete the transfer procedures.
With the influence of the Shinomiya Family behind them, even difficult matters seemed to proceed very smoothly.
And so, Asuna and Kaguya officially became Yusei's classmates, and were in the same class as him.
…
In the forest, there is a winding, upward path of stone steps.
At the top of the steps stands a shrine that doesn't look too small.
An old woman sits inside, sipping tea. But what's surprising is that her whole body is almost transparent and invisible, with only a faint outline of her form visible.
Below her, several men and women are weeping.
"Haruko-sama, if you weren't here, what would we do next year?"
The men and women below cry mournfully.
A look of worry passes over the old woman's face, but it disappears in an instant.
"Do not worry. I have already sensed its appearance in the East. And I have already asked [A]."