Chapter 100: A New Pink Hair Has Appeared
After fulfilling the promise with Futari, Ren first released a new song and waited until the band participated in another live performance before taking the girls to the beach under the guise of celebration.
Diving, surfing, jet skiing, beach volleyball, and an evening barbecue party—they spent three full days enjoying themselves by the sea.
After Nijika and the others returned, Ren remained at the beach with Hitori and the rest, making up for things they couldn't do while friends were around.
While admiring their swimsuits, he engaged in emotional exchanges with them. During this time, Ren also delved into Confucianism, inspired uniquely by Hitori and Karen.
Though Yuno and Satou barely qualified for such discussions, they were far less exceptional than Hitori and Karen.
As for Anon, she was the least likely candidate, yet Ren found interest in exchanging ideas with her. The final conclusion was that friction still stings, which nearly made Anon bite him with her canine teeth in frustration.
After returning from the beach, daily life resumed. Ren didn't seek new encounters but focused on accompanying Hitori and the others.
Though they could spend most of their time together, private moments couldn't become too scarce, making Ren's schedule quite tight.
He often moved from one companion to the next, and after spending time with all of them, Hitori and the others would come up with new ideas within a day or two of rest—for them, it felt like nearly a week had passed.
Thus, Ren's daily life was busy yet happy, albeit with a touch of helplessness in that happiness.
However, this yielded rewards; at least his bonds with Hitori and the others grew stronger. Over several months, they reached a stage of comfortable familiarity akin to an old married couple.
When the second semester began in September, Ram and Rem transferred to Toyosaki and were placed in Ren's class, achieved with just a little monetary persuasion to gain the school's approval.
With Ram's arrival, Ren's class successfully boasted four pink-haired students, or five including Mafuyu, far surpassing the total in any other grade or class.
Various legends about the "Pink-Haired Household" emerged, though they didn't affect Ren and the others.
Sports day, Christmas, New Year's—life continued steadily until the following spring in April, when Ren and the others became second-year high school students.
Class reassignments didn't separate them; instead, they ended up in the same class as Karen and Ikuyo, truly forming the Pink-Haired Household. All second-year pink-haired students were in Ren's class, and Mafuyu remained their homeroom teacher.
Unlike their initial entry into high school requiring new social connections, advancing to the second year didn't disrupt Ren and Hitori's friend circle—only their seating arrangements changed.
Now, Karen sat beside Ren, while Hitori and the others were placed either in the front rows or to the right, with Ren still occupying a window seat in the back row.
The entrance ceremony proceeded as usual, with speeches from the principal and the top student. For the second years, Ren was the one to take the stage. Having recently purchased and mastered a leaked celestial-tier technique, high school academics were no challenge for him, leading him to accidentally secure the top grade.
Moreover, after exams were over, he couldn't slack off too much—otherwise Mafuyu would come to have a "heart-to-heart" talk with him about focusing on his studies. So he had no choice but to remain firmly seated in the top academic position of his grade.
Anyway, as long as you weren't aiming for the national top spot, things were generally fine—except for having to go on stage during the opening ceremony.
When Ren arrived backstage, both the third-year and first-year student representatives were already there. The former was a quiet senior with glasses, while the latter was a tall, beautiful girl with golden hair and blue eyes—exceptionally tall for a high school girl, even taller than the third-year senior.
But compared to Ren, she was still much shorter. Ren had just measured his height this year and was already 181 cm tall. The girl seemed to be around 170 cm, but she still had to look up to meet Ren's gaze.
Her hairstyle was the same hime-cut as Karen's, and combined with her golden hair, blue eyes, and delicate features, she truly looked like a foreign princess.
"Hello, senior."
Though she didn't introduce herself, she politely greeted Ren, who responded with a nod. Since her hair color wasn't to his liking, he gave her the cold shoulder.
Noticing this, Oozuka Mai glanced at Ren a few more times—it was hard not to pay attention.
Although Ren was just a high school student, he was already a music creator with millions of fans. Despite releasing only one song per month, every one of his songs became a massive hit. Both TV dramas and movies had purchased the rights to his songs, and countless companies were lining up to secure him as a brand ambassador.
While not many people had seen him in person, nearly half of Japan had heard his name—he was incredibly famous.
Running into such a genius in real life made Mai feel inexplicably pressured.
At the same time, she felt a little happy. As a fan of Ren's, it was hard not to feel excited upon meeting her idol. Unfortunately, Ren was always cold toward strangers—keeping a stern expression indeed helped avoid unnecessary conversations and saved a lot of trouble.
So, Mai didn't dare initiate a conversation and simply watched Ren quietly.
Ren was already immune to the adoring gazes of fangirls like her, so he paid no mind to it.
Later, after the principal's speech ended, each student representative took the stage, and that was how Ren learned Mai's name.
Once the opening ceremony concluded and all grades exited in an orderly manner, some students went to collect textbooks while others stayed to clean—after all, no classes were held on the first day. After finishing their tasks, they could engage in social activities.
Of course, this only applied to the first-year students. The wiser seniors had already slipped away and gone home, leaving only the clueless first-years lingering at school.
Ren and the others also planned to go home but were waiting for one more person. A year had passed, and Hitori was now able to go with her classmates to collect textbooks and clean the classroom together. She could even chat with them without being terrified to the point of distortion.
To others, this might seem as easy as breathing, but for Hitori, it was an unprecedented and monumental step forward.
However, when Hitori returned, she brought a junior student with her. The school uniforms at Toyosaki differed by grade, so it was easy to tell which grade someone was in at a glance.
"New friend?"
"Eek!?"
"Yeah, I met her on the way. She said she wanted to be friends, so I brought her over to introduce her to everyone."
Ren casually asked while looking at the pink-haired underclassman, who seemed startled upon seeing him and suddenly became too nervous to speak.
Hitori nodded gently and cast a soft glance toward the underclassman.
Similar personalities can either repel or attract each other. Though this underclassman had greeted her brightly and boldly declared her desire to be friends, Hitori could easily see through the introverted nature hidden beneath her sunny exterior.
She recognized traces of her past self in the other girl, which was why she accepted the friendship request and brought her over to introduce her to Ren and the others.
Everyone here was kind-hearted. If this underclassman could befriend them, it might help her break free from her act and become her true self.
Most importantly, she was also a pink-haired beauty. Whether Ren would like her was another matter, but at least Hitori felt inclined to look out for a girl who shared her hair color—after all, they were both pink-haired.
"I see. Hello, I'm Ren Watanabe. And you are?"
Upon hearing this, Ren showed an understanding expression. What Hitori had noticed, he naturally recognized too—this underclassman was different from Oozuka Mai, whom he'd met during the opening ceremony.
Mai had merely avoided disturbing him out of social etiquette; otherwise, she would have confidently and naturally struck up a conversation.
But this underclassman was different. She was genuinely afraid, much like Hitori had been in the past.
"H-hello, senpai! I'm Amaori Renako! Nice to meet you!!"
When Ren spoke to her, Renako, already too nervous to talk, stiffened even further. After a brief daze, she managed to gather her wits and successfully introduced herself, though sweat was already beading on her forehead.
"No need to be so nervous. I'm not some monster, and didn't you want to make friends? From now on, we're friends—and of course, Bocchi-chan and the others are too."
After learning her name, Ren handed the conversation over to Hitori and Ikuyo, as his presence would only make her more anxious.
Renako seemed both flustered and cautious as she began talking with Hitori and the others. Yuno narrowed her eyes, exchanged a look with Satou, and they both nodded in silent agreement.
Ram sighed inwardly, thinking another pink-haired beauty was about to fall under Ren's spell. After holding back for over half a year, was Ren finally expanding his harem?