The opening ceremony concluded quickly.
Back in the classroom, Tachibana-sensei stood at the podium and announced to Class 1-B:
"Boys, thank you in advance for heading to the library to collect our class textbooks."
"Eh? Just the guys?"
"Tachibana-sensei, we've got less than twenty guys. Carrying books for over fifty people is exhausting."
Hearing the assignment, a few boys in the crowd immediately complained.
"Hey, hey, it's time for the boys to show the girls a little masculinity, right?"
Pointing playfully at the ringleaders, Tachibana-sensei winked.
"Maybe the girls in our class really like guys with that kind of spirit! What are you waiting for? Let's move, boys!"
"Then do you like masculinity, sensei?"
The moment she finished, the boldest guy—the same one who started the complaining—shouted out without a hint of fear.
"Haha..."
The entire Class 1-B burst into laughter.
On stage, Tachibana-sensei, equally amused, didn't get angry. Instead, she played along with a nod, her eyes curving warmly. "Of course! I absolutely love boys with that kind of spirit."
That single sentence instantly pumped up all the boys in the class.
Well... except for one guy sitting absentmindedly in his seat.
"Let's go, Aragaki."
"Hm?" Snapping out of his daze as Ishikawa tapped his shoulder, Miyahito nodded instinctively and stood up.
A large group of boys chattered and laughed as they filed out of the classroom, making a noisy beeline for the library.
Miyahito, trailing at the very back, suddenly stopped at the doorway. His gaze turned uncontrollably backward, landing on the closed door of Class 1-C.
"Aragaki! Hurry up, or we're leaving without you!"
"Yeah, coming."
Hearing Ishikawa's call from ahead, Miyahito quietly retracted his gaze and quickened his pace to catch up with the Class 1-B boys.
...
Unlike Class 1-B, which had a young, vibrant female homeroom teacher, Class 1-C was led by a middle-aged male teacher.
As a result, compared to the lively atmosphere in Class 1-B, the mood in Class 1-C was noticeably duller.
Though this might also be because most Class 1-C students had entered with top exam scores, and the room lacked lively personalities like Ishikawa or Yoshikawa.
Listening to the homeroom teacher droning on about rules and schedules, Kasumigaoka Utaha, who had been sitting at her desk staring out the window, suddenly caught a faint burst of activity from the hallway.
"Aragaki! Hurry up, or we're leaving without you!"
"Coming."
Aragaki... Aragaki-kun is right outside?
An involuntary image of a certain boy's gentle smile surfaced in her mind. A faint blush quietly climbed onto her fair, smooth cheeks.
Lowering her eyelashes, her small, unobtrusive canine tooth lightly bit her lower lip.
Taking a few quiet breaths to steady herself, Utaha finally calmed her racing heart and lifted her head.
But this time, her gaze didn't drift to the blue sky outside.
Instead, it fell uncontrollably onto the closed front door of the classroom.
She hadn't been unaware of the fact that "Aragaki Miyahito is incredibly good-looking. Both his figure and his face would easily top the charts among his peers."
Just like the first time she saw him, his simple, unremarkable outfit had somehow managed to draw her eyes all on its own.
But Utaha never expected...
Even though every boy wore the exact same uniform, the moment she stepped onto the stage, her eyes instantly locked onto Aragaki Miyahito in the crowd.
She couldn't look away.
No one knew how much effort it took for Kasumigaoka Utaha, standing on that stage, to barely force her attention back to the speech in front of her.
'Why... why can't I look away?'
Biting her lip slightly, Utaha angrily questioned her own useless heart.
So what if he's a little good-looking?
So what if his smile is sunny and handsome?
So what if he stands up straight and has a great build?
What's so special about him? He's just... just a normal high school boy who happens to be a bit handsome, speaks nicely, and has a bright vibe.
What's so great about that?
Her hand beneath the desk pressed lightly against her chest, feeling her steadily accelerating heartbeat. Again and again, her mind replayed the image of Aragaki Miyahito laughing and joking with his classmates.
'This heart-pounding feeling... I really hate it.'
While silently repeating to herself that "he's just a normal high school book fan," Utaha forced herself to take deep, steadying breaths.
Once she buried her restless emotions back into the depths of her heart,
the homeroom teacher on stage, just like in Class 1-B, announced that the boys should head to the library to fetch everyone's textbooks.
Unlike the lively Class 1-B, the boys of Class 1-C didn't say a word. They simply stood up in orderly silence, obediently walking out of the classroom toward the library.
Scanning the room, now half-empty, Utaha withdrew her gaze.
Maybe this is just the price every outstanding person has to pay.
Already overshadowing the other girls with her looks, now further isolated by her top-tier grades and being chosen as the freshman representative right out of the gate...
Being subtly excluded by her classmates was a result Utaha had already anticipated.
Without saying a word, she slightly raised her left hand. Catching the teacher's attention, she spoke in a calm, flat tone.
"Sensei, may I go to the restroom?"
"Yes, you may, Kasumigaoka-san."
"Thank you."
After a brief thanks, Utaha stood up from her chair and calmly exited through the back door.
A few minutes later.
Expression calm, she tucked her handkerchief back into her skirt pocket, turned away from the restroom, and walked straight back toward Class 1-C.
But just as she rounded the corner of the hallway, a group of boys, arms full of books and chatting cheerfully, approached from the opposite end of the corridor.
Ah, the Class 1-B boys. They're already back with the textbooks?
Her first thought was just that. But the very next second, her eyes cut through the playful crowd and instantly found the smiling face that had been lingering in her mind.
Maybe it was just a coincidence.
But the moment her gaze landed on that smile, the boy who had been laughing with his classmates naturally turned his head.
In that single second, her eyes and his met perfectly.
It's... it's Aragaki-kun.
Feeling her cheeks grow slightly warm, Utaha hurriedly averted her gaze, putting on a cold expression before the blush could fully spread.
Then, with a stiff face and without a word, she pulled open the back door and quickly stepped into the classroom.
What she didn't know was, after she returned to her class, the boy who had briefly met her eyes let a faint, almost imperceptible trace of disappointment flash through his gaze.
"These textbooks are so heavy. Stop blocking me, Miyahito."
"Sorry, sorry."
90 Power Stone = 1 Bonus Chapter
1 Review = 1 Bonus Chapter