Aegis smiled broadly. In the blink of an eye, he vanished from the girl's view and reappeared right beside her. His hand gently rested on her small, slender shoulder.
"W-What?!"
She recoiled in alarm, but Aegis didn't move. His golden eyes remained fixed on hers.
"My apologies for startling you. I was just playing around a bit. I may have misbehaved."
He bowed in apology—so deeply that his hair completely hid his face.
"Ah… umm…"
She took another step back. Aegis straightened up again, wearing a cheerful smile.
"Really. I just came looking for a friend. Sorry for scaring someone as beautiful as you. Umu. I think I like you. I'd love for us to become good friends."
He kept talking. And every word was accompanied by those pure, sincere eyes that seemed to say: "Look, I'm a harmless guy who just wants to make connections! Please believe me!"
She was speechless. Aegis could tell she hadn't expected this kind of attitude. He had spent a long time studying people. So he knew exactly how to behave to make anyone feel just the right amount of uncomfortable.
"Well, that's all. Thanks for listening. I'll be off now. Gonna see if I can find my new friends."
He turned and began walking toward the classroom door. But before he could leave, he felt a hand grab his wrist.
"Ehh…?"
He turned to face the girl. She was looking at him with an utterly baffled expression.
"Seriously… I don't know if you're a good person or a bad one…"
"Maybe I'm both. But could that really be? I've destroyed a few lives… but I've also created many. Umu… I'm both."
Aegis smiled at her. She let go abruptly and shot him a frustrated glare. She clearly felt like he was mocking her.
She adjusted her glasses over her small nose and said, "Since we don't know each other, I'd like to talk. Would you mind if I invited you for tea?"
She might've been the first girl Aegis met in this new life, and if he had to point out something he liked—it was that she didn't overcomplicate things. Simplicity and honesty always worked.
"Tea… now?"
Wouldn't it be a bad look to be late on his very first day? That'd be tragic.
"It'll just be a short chat. And as for your class schedule… it won't be a problem. The teachers are likely to listen to the words of the Student Council President."
"Tea with the student council president. Now that's a way to start the day, huh?" He scanned her from head to toe, taking in the aura of authority she wore so effortlessly.
'So, she's that character, huh?'
"Sure. Tea sounds great. I accept."
"That sounds…" She paused, as if something important had just occurred to her. "Ah… I mean, I'm the one who suggested it, but I'm not sure if I should feel comfortable having tea with a total stranger."
Aegis raised a brow, placed a hand over his chest, and stumbled dramatically toward the wall. "A stranger? That hurts. But fine, I'll make it easy for you. Yuu. Izumi Yuu. Now we're not strangers anymore."
Once, loving parents had used that name to call their child. But to Aegis, that memory was now just a distant past. So much so that after not using it for so many years, hearing himself say it again sounded… foreign.
The girl looked at his extended hand and, after a puzzled expression—like she was unsure whether or not to reveal something—she took it with a small smile.
"Sona Sitri."
"A pleasure, Sona. I hope we'll be good friends. Ah, though really, you didn't have to introduce yourself. I already know everything about you. Hehe~"
"You really are a weirdo."
Sona didn't take him to a café. Without much fuss, she headed straight to the student council room. Scratching his head, Yuu followed her.
There goes my chance to make friends on day one... Hmm? Maybe Sona wants to be friends? That'd be good too.
The creak of the door snapping open pulled him back to reality. Inside the student council room, a large desk dominated the center. Since Yuu had been a scholar who'd read every book in his universe, he felt tempted to sit there and leaf through the papers and books on the shelves.
A few years of reading should be enough.
"Hey, what are you doing? Put that back." Sona scolded him when she saw him prancing around among her things.
It wasn't Sona's words that stopped his curiosity, but the sound of footsteps approaching. Looking up, he saw someone coming toward them.
Sona pointed at the tall, elegant woman who stopped by the side desk.
"This is Tsubaki Shinra, my vice president."
Tsubaki tilted her head slightly. Her black hair fell in a perfectly aligned cascade down to the middle of her back. A delicate pair of glasses rested on her nose, accentuating her dark eyes. Those sharp eyes, capable of dissecting anyone with a single glance, were exactly the kind Yuu liked.
She studied him for a moment, then with a faint smile on her stoic face;
"Nice to meet you," she said.
"Likewise." Yuu returned the greeting with a wave. It might seem rude, even impolite, but his eyes were already drifting toward the shelves.
Before Sona could protest, Yuu had already stepped toward the books. The neatly lined spines and titles looked far too tempting for a lover of stories. It reminded him of the skill that had taken him to the top.
The Prologue and the Epilogue.
"Got anything classified as light novels here? Asking for a friend."
Sona frowned. "Sit down, please. Tsubaki, prepare the tea."
The vice president nodded and walked toward a small table in the corner where a tea set rested. Meanwhile, Yuu let himself go.
"Oh, this looks interesting." Grinning ear to ear, he pulled a thick book from the shelf. He opened it, flipped through some pages, then put it back just to grab another. "Political strategy stories? Boring... The Art of War... they have that here too? Curious."
"Izumi-kun, I asked you to put things back where they belong." Sona's voice took on an irritated edge.
He raised a hand without looking at her. "Shh... I'm reading something interesting, could you please be quiet?"
"Huh?"
"Shh."
As he said this, his fingers found something sticking out from the piled-up books. Pulling it out, the cover made his surprise obvious. Was this...?
He slowly turned toward Sona.
"Hmm. I didn't know you were this kind of person, Miss President," he said in such a solemn tone it sounded like he was uncovering a huge secret.
Well, it certainly wasn't on the level of a scandalous secret, but the discovery was surprising enough to throw off an Aeon, no less. It was a collection of illustrated girls in bikinis, posing with mischievous, suggestive smiles. Definitely the kind of material that shouldn't be in the student council room, let alone in the president's possession.
Ah, I forget this world is just a few steps away from hentai.
Sona, who was mid-explanation to Tsubaki about the tea proportions, froze. Her gaze fell on the book, and a faint blush appeared on her cheeks. She hurried over, snatched the book from his hands, and adjusted her glasses with a sharp motion.
"That was confiscated. It's inappropriate material we took from a student," she explained, holding the book by the corners as if it were toxic. She looked at Yuu with disdain.
"Oooh?" Yuu dragged the word out, leaning against the bookshelf with a smile that seemed to say he suspected Sona's intentions. "Confiscated… and stored here? Are you sure it's not just your secret guilty pleasure?"
If he'd been allowed, Yuu would have pointed out that adorable blush on her cold face made her quite suspicious—but she shot him a look that shut him up. She pressed the book to her chest like trying to hide it from the world, adjusted her glasses again—she almost felt she'd use that shield often to fend off embarrassment around this unbearable guy—and sighed.
"Let me explain that I don't have time to read nonsense like this. It's simply evidence of a violation. As student council, we don't allow this kind of material in the academy."
Meanwhile, the adorable miss who'd blushed earlier vanished and the cold Sona returned to life.
"Sure, sure… Very good strategy."
Sona let out a heavy sigh, and Yuu ignored the meaning behind it—I've had enough of this idiot. She opened a drawer in her desk and, without another word, dropped the book inside and slammed it shut firmly.
"Happy now?"
"Moderately." Yuu tilted his head slightly, then lowered his gaze for a moment, his fingers drumming softly on the wood of the desk. "Though I wonder… how many more of these confiscated items do you have hidden here? Should I start looking through the other shelves, or maybe the drawers? It's been a long… long time since I last read about fashion."
"With that distant look, I almost bought your excuse," she said, narrowing her eyes. "But really, you just want to feast your eyes on the girls' bodies, am I right?"
And with a small, satisfied smile, she added, "Perv."
Yuu blinked. A crooked smile appeared on his face. He raised both hands in surrender.
"Alright, young lady. Let's drop it. I don't want my spotless reputation to be ruined."
Sona stared at him a moment longer before nodding. She adjusted her glasses with a deliberate gesture, then turned and walked over to her desk.
"Sit," she said, pointing to the chair in front of her desk.
Yuu slumped into the seat, crossing his legs and resting one arm on the backrest.
The only sound breaking the awkward silence was the ticking of the clock—until Tsubaki appeared with a tray. The aroma of tea filled the room, and for a moment, Yuu felt a pang of nostalgia. The delicious scent of tea from Earth—a different land, but Earth nonetheless.
Tsubaki set the tray down on the table and handed out the cups while keeping a curious eye on the handsome guy their president had suddenly brought along.
Yuu took a cup and sipped lightly, closing his eyes for a moment.
"This is amazing," he said, opening his eyes with a genuine smile. Then he turned to Tsubaki. "Miss Vice President, can I ask you a favor?"
Tsubaki, who rarely showed emotion, blinked, slightly puzzled. "What kind of favor?"
"I know we barely know each other, but I think we could be great friends," Yuu replied, grabbing her hand with a wide, disarming grin. "And as friends, it'd be awesome if you made me tea every day. Like a friendship ritual. What do you say?"
Tsubaki opened her mouth to respond, but no words came out. Her gaze flicked to her hand, then to the boy's face, and a healthy blush spread across her pale cheeks. She quickly pulled her hand back and eyed him suspiciously, searching for an explanation for what had just happened.
Hmm. Potential Pathstrider material.
Yuu, having used that brief touch to gauge everything about her physical aptitude, felt pretty satisfied. Body aptitudes... like discovering a rough gem waiting to be polished.
Pathstrider of the Aeon of Beginning and End. He'd never had one before, but now that he thought about it, the concept intrigued him. Yeah, he liked the sound of it.
His eyes shifted to Sona, who had leaned back in her chair, wearing her usual air of authority.
Hmm. Sona's got more potential...
Both were beautiful, with personalities he didn't mind at all.
But he wasn't the type to judge just by looks. Sure, that mattered, but it wasn't enough. He needed proof. To see how far they could go. How far they were willing to follow if he showed them the way.
If they proved the capabilities he sought, he'd invest his time in them. Then the day would come when their foundations would grow exponentially. And one of them might become an Eternal.
The one he sought to be his traveling companion.
Eternity was a dangerous gift, but also the greatest privilege. Only someone with the strength and will to endure it could handle such a fate.
For now, he just had to wait. Watch. And enjoy.
Sona looked at him with narrowed eyes. She didn't know exactly why, but she felt this guy was scheming something.
She leaned forward slightly, resting her elbows on the desk and intertwining her fingers. "Let's get back to why you're here."
"Oh, yeah? I thought this was just a casual tea meeting."
"Don't play dumb. I want to know what you are."
The question, blunt and straightforward, made Yuu pause. For a moment, every trace of humor vanished from his face. The cup in his hand hung suspended mid-air as his eyes locked with Sona's.
Then he said:
"I'm God."
×××
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