Chapter 27: Transfer Student Yuno
The next day, after Ren woke up, the bike he bought was already parked in his garage. The system had even prepared a parking space near the school, so he didn't have to worry about finding a place to park or drawing too much attention by driving to the school gate.
For Anon, however, the situation felt utterly surreal. How could she not know Ren's family circumstances?
"Ren, you haven't... fallen into corruption, have you?"
Staring at Ren's handsome features, Anon's face was full of concern. She didn't know much about cars, but suddenly being able to afford one clearly meant he had come into money. Yet Ren was still a high school student—where could he have gotten that kind of money?
The only explanation Anon could think of was that he'd been taken in by a wealthy older woman. With Ren's looks, that was entirely possible.
"What nonsense are you thinking? One of the songs I released got picked up by a TV drama. They want to buy it as the theme song—for 50 million yen."
Ren offered the excuse he had prepared long ago. The video of his "Lemon" cover was already approaching 20 million views, and it had only been a few days.
Moreover, since the system had started distributing it on streaming platforms, you could hear it playing on the streets. It had reached an unbelievable level of popularity.
"Really?"
Anon was a bit skeptical. She knew "Lemon" was a great song and incredibly popular, but for the money to come in so quickly seemed too good to be true.
"Would I lie to you? Take a look for yourself."
Ren held up his phone and showed Anon his bank balance.
Seeing the figure of one billion yen, Anon felt her legs go weak. It was as if she'd been hypnotized—she had never seen such a large number before, and it felt unreal. Was that really over a hundred million? Maybe her eyes were playing tricks on her.
"See? I wasn't lying to you."
This was the advantage of having a plausible main source of income. As long as Anon knew he had money now, that was enough—the exact amount could be left to her imagination. From now on, for convenience, he wouldn't disclose the precise figure. In short, it was more than he could ever spend.
"This is just unbelievable..."
"But Ren, what about your driver's license? You're not eighteen yet—even if you bought a car, you can't drive it, right?"
Even after realizing Ren had truly struck it rich, Anon was still worried. What was the point of buying a car if he couldn't drive it? Wouldn't he just be torturing himself?
"A new policy was announced. I already got my license."
Ren produced his driver's license, leaving Anon feeling dizzy. Did this mean her childhood friend had now become a handsome, wealthy high school boy?
"So, how about it? Want me to give you a ride to school? Surely it's better than walking, right? And isn't it cool to have a personal chauffeur to and from school?"
Ren grinned and waved his hand in front of Anon's face, appealing to her vanity to soften the shock of the situation.
"Really?"
The moment she heard that, Anon's confusion vanished. The thought of being driven to school by her childhood friend—she couldn't even imagine how much admiration she would receive once they arrived.
"Of course. But I'd like you to keep this a secret for me. You can tell your parents, but no one else."
"Mm-hmm. But Ren, now that you're rich, you can't let it change you for the worse. I've heard that men tend to get carried away when they have money."
"And you? If you had money, wouldn't you get carried away too?"
"That does make sense. If I were that wealthy, I'd have maids, a butler, luxury cars all arranged, and I'd even rent an airship to plaster my portrait on it so everyone could admire my peerless beauty!"
As they chatted, Ren and Anon got into the car together. Ren liked big headlights, and he didn't dislike real cars either. After picking up Hitori, Ren dropped Anon off at the school gate before returning to the vicinity of Toyosaki.
As for the car, Hitori wasn't particularly concerned. As long as it was Ren's, she was fine with it and could accept anything.
When Ren entered the classroom, he noticed a new desk and textbooks placed at the empty seat behind him, though there had been no one sitting there until today.
The first lesson of the day was Kirisu Mafuyu's class. Before starting, she quieted the students and then said calmly, "Come in, Yuno."
Following her words, a pink-haired girl with a single ponytail gracefully walked into the classroom. She was the new transfer student.
It's her?
Ren still remembered their previous chance encounter and, with Anon's help, had recalled some middle school memories. However, since they had almost no interaction back then, he didn't pay it much mind.
After Yuno Gasai introduced herself, she was assigned to the seat behind Ren.
"Ren, it's been a long time. I've never forgotten about you."
After sitting down, Yuno gave Ren a friendly smile.
"Yuno, same to you. Have you been doing well since transferring?"
Ren responded politely. Having hardly interacted with Yuno before, he now found her seemingly quite gentle and kind?
"Everything's been great. This is Hitori, right? I'm Yuno Gasai, nice to meet you."
Yuno wore a smile on her face, her expression soft and her tone gentle, even taking the initiative to greet Hitori.
"H-hello..."
For some reason, Hitori felt a chill run down her spine. Even though Yuno's smile was warm, she sensed a murderous intent. Is this the kind of aura a high school girl gives off??
And did they know each other before? Yuno just transferred, right?
"No need to be nervous. I won't do anything to you."
Yuno's smile remained gentle, but Hitori grew even more frightened. Her intuition was far more sensitive than most people's. While Yuno seemed to hold goodwill toward her, it was mixed with deep malice—a feeling that sent shivers down her spine. It was terrifying!!
"Quiet. Save the socializing for after class."
Mafuyu interrupted their conversation at this point, so Ren quietly held back his doubts. He couldn't shake the feeling that there was something odd about Yuno.
Yet her gentleness didn't seem fake. If he remembered correctly, she had been naive and innocent when bullied in middle school. After three years apart, it seemed like she had just grown kinder, while everything else remained unchanged, as if the bullying incident hadn't affected her at all.
But there was an indescribable awkwardness. What exactly was it?
Ren was quite puzzled. His relationship with Yuno was rather distant, so it wasn't appropriate to ask directly. It wasn't until he made eye contact with Yuno while chatting with Hitori that he finally pinpointed the source of his unease.
That was Yuno's gaze towards him, which felt quite off.
Hitori's gaze was shy and evasive, every movement filled with a maiden's bashfulness.
Whereas Yuno's gaze was obsessive; when caught, she would conceal it, her every gesture restrained, yet the emotions occasionally revealed ran deeper than Hitori's.
Was it because the help he had offered back then left too profound an impression on her?
Ren couldn't yet discern whether that emotion was gratitude or admiration, because whenever Yuno noticed him looking, she would hide it and simply respond with a gentle smile, leaving him no opportunity to ask.
If left alone, it probably wouldn't cause any issues, right?
Ren's thoughts weren't focused on Yuno. After pondering for a while, he decided it would be best to treat her just like any other classmate.