Ten thousand yen!!
Sure, it was pooled, but for these high school boys, that was serious pocket money!
Some planned to use it to take girls out!
No one wanted to lose it.
"Gimme that! Let me try!" one guy shoved Yamamoto aside, reaching for the paper.
Satoru shot Anji a look.
Anji, quick on the uptake, snatched the paper back.
"What gives?" the guy snapped.
"First, that ten grand was Yamamoto's bet with me. Want a shot? Up the stakes," Satoru said with a sly smile.
"But my money's in that ten grand!" the guy roared.
Satoru gave him a pitying look. "That's between you and Yamamoto. What's it got to do with me?"
"Urgh…" The guy choked.
Logical. Convincing.
Satoru cleared the desk of scattered pens and coins, returning Anji's ten grand, tossing in an extra thousand—then another after a pause.
"Sweet!" Anji jumped. "New manga time!!"
"What manga?" Satoru asked casually.
"My Sister-in-Law Loves Me Tonight! It's trending! New volume's out," Anji said.
Satoru instantly regretted asking. "Give it back."
"No way!" Anji drawled, stuffing the cash in his pocket. "But seriously, Kobayashi, what's with this paper? It's freaky."
"Oh, my aunt sent it from Hawaii. Latest tech," Satoru said offhand.
Maybe "Hawaii" held some mystic allure for Japanese kids, because Anji nodded gravely. "America's tech is wild!"
Satoru turned to Yamamoto.
Having borrowed money and lost, Yamamoto was now the class pariah. The gossip group that trashed Satoru earlier crumbled. Yamamoto's face cycled through red and green—quite the show.
"Yamamoto-kun," Satoru said, pouring oil on the fire. "I warned you. You said no regrets…"
"You—!"
Yamamoto spun, grabbing for Satoru's collar.
Ten grand stung, but the real pain was the humiliation!
"Yamamoto, can't handle losing? Wanna fight? Come at me!" Anji rolled up his sleeves.
"…"
Then, Yamamoto's crew and Anji fell into an eerie silence.
They ignored Yamamoto.
Ignored Satoru.
All eyes turned to the classroom window, to the hallway beyond.
A girl walked by.
Maybe Class F's commotion caught her ear, because her pale green eyes flicked inside, followed by a mocking smirk.
She said something to the two girls trailing her, and they all laughed.
One pointed at Satoru, whispering to the leader.
The girl, surprised, tucked a strand behind her ear and glanced at Satoru.
Satoru, noticing the class's stares, looked out.
Black eyes met pale green.
She was slender, with Eastern European-pale skin. Her light blonde hair suggested foreigner, but her delicate face and refined features screamed Japanese.
Her brows were sculpted, her green-tinted eyes likely from contacts. Small studs adorned her ears, and her thin lips shimmered with peach gloss.
She raised a hand, bracelets jangling, fingers adorned with rings, nails painted with flashy designs.
Makeup was standard for Japanese high school girls—going bare-faced was rude—but hers was next-level vibrant.
Gyaru. Total gyaru.
She squinted, lips curling, then turned away, ignoring Satoru, chatting with her friends as if nothing happened.
Satoru, with his vast source material knowledge, instantly recalled her name.
Kurashiki Rena.
The Hypnosis Series had multiple arcs.
Miyajima Sakura was the heroine of the third. Kurashiki Rena… if memory served, was the second.
"Wow, Kurashiki!"
"So gorgeous!!"
"Man, if I could score a girlfriend like that!"
"Dream on, she's a rich girl. You're not her type."
"She's a magazine model, Rena-chan."
"'-chan'? She'd break your nose for that!"
"I'd let her step on me… Queen, heh, queens are the best!"
The boys forgot their lost cash, rushing to the door to ogle Rena's swaying figure.
"Damn, that hip sway…"
"She saw us! She glared!"
"Glare harder! Violate me with those eyes! Ahhh~~~"
They let out perverse cheers.
Satoru had no plans to tangle with Rena. As a series heroine, neutralizing Tanaka Hajime would solve everything.
Unlike Sakura, whose charm was her refined fall into chaos, Rena's was her haughty descent into submission. Her queenly aura screamed incompatibility with Satoru.
"Why aren't you out there? Changed your ways?" Satoru asked.
Normally, Anji would lead the charge—this "charge" open to interpretation. But today, he stayed calm by Satoru's side.
Anji stomped irritably. "I'm not that guy."
"Meaning?"
"Isn't Kurashiki your girl?"
"Huh?"
"…Wait, you don't like her anymore? You were head over heels before. Though, yeah, you got brutally rejected recently," Anji said, shocked. "Kobayashi… you finally moved on from that heartbreak!"
Satoru inherited the original Kobayashi Satoru's memories, but seventeen years was a lot to unpack, so he hadn't fully sorted them. Anji's words triggered a keyword search, and memories of Kurashiki Rena flooded back.
…
…