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The girl in wooden clogs brushed past them, and Yanami's gaze lingered on her kimono—an almost imperceptible flicker of envy.
Actually, she had wanted to wear a kimono too, but…
Like most couples, the two of them slowly walked up the shrine steps.
On both sides of the snow-dusted path, century-old cedar trees hung with red ropes; beneath the vermilion eaves, a miko in a red-and-white robe held a paulownia branch, sprinkling purifying water.
"It feels like this year went by so fast," Yanami said, unconsciously slowing her steps.
"It does."
"When will Kiyono start school?"
"In about two months. I'll be busy with the third volume and the anime adaptation for a while."
They crossed the last step and entered the shrine's domain.
Visiting a shrine has a specific, strict procedure, though most people just go through the motions: washing their hands at the temizuya, walking to the front of the shrine, tossing in a five-yen coin, and ringing the bell to pray.
The two stood side by side in front of the offering box.
Yanami took a five-yen coin from her pocket and subtly placed it diagonally above Kiyono's coin.
"What will Kiyono wish for?" she asked, tilting her head.
"I won't tell you yet," Kiyono said with a smile.
"Hmm… I'll wish that next year—and in the future—I can still come to the shrine with Kiyono like this.
If we come every year, the gods will surely grant my wish, right?"
The girl smiled, her eyes as picturesque as a painting.
"Isn't there a saying here that if you speak your wish aloud, it won't come true?"
Kiyono coughed and dropped his coin.
At that very instant, Yanami tossed her five-yen coin.
It arced perfectly through the air, striking his coin precisely, and the two coins clinked together as they fell.
Kiyono turned his head in confusion, wondering what the girl was up to—especially since she had seemed so devout earlier!
Then Yanami leaned closer, gently rising on her tiptoes.
A soft fragrance and a moist, gentle voice reached his ear at the same time.
"This way, the gods will tie our wishes together."
Beneath the majestic vermilion eaves, the girl's red lips—lightly coated with lip balm—looked especially rosy, and even her breath carried a faint sweetness, causing the boy's ears to slowly redden.
The crisp tremor of the bell was like a heartbeat.
Next, he presented Yanami's parents with the New Year's gifts he had prepared in advance—no longer the cheap stuff from last time, but genuinely good items.
After telling a little white lie to ensure the family accepted them, he returned home, lay on the sofa, and started scrolling on his phone.
"Happy New Year, Fuyutsuki-sensei."
His phone held many congratulatory messages from editors, fans, and Big Sister.
He replied to each one.
One particular message caught his interest.
[Bright and Cheerful Girl: Fuyutsuki-sensei, I-I've finished my first volume.
Would you be willing to take a look at it for me?
It's perfectly fine if you don't—after all, it's just garbage written by a novice like me…]
This was the fan who was initially suspected to be Komari… or rather, 90% likely to be Komari.
Over the past two or three months, this girl had finally mustered the courage to submit her work to his affiliated publishing house.
He didn't dislike such reckless actions born from admiration.
Kiyono replied with only two words:
"Send it."
He made a cup of coffee and read her work intently.
The result exceeded his expectations—the reading experience was surprisingly good.
The story followed a dark, reclusive high school boy who gradually becomes attracted to a passionate, sunny, beautiful girl in his class; the two slowly improve themselves, saving each other in the process.
The overall style leaned toward depicting ordinary daily life with a uniquely feminine sensibility, then translating it into delicate language—perfectly matching Komari's meticulous thoughts.
"She's improving so fast…" Kiyono mumbled.
The initial draft of the light novel she first sent him had actually been a generic another-world harem story, filled with all the fantasies a high-schooler might have.
At best, the writing and emotional descriptions were decent; but after a few discussions, she quickly changed her style.
She was serious.
Kiyono confirmed this again.
[Pure Love Warrior: Rather than judging good or bad, I'd say this is precisely the kind of novel you should be writing.
Would you like me to help you contact an editor?
I quite like it.]
Because chatting on the website was too troublesome, Kiyono simply added her on LINE, not even bothering to hide it.
[Bright and Cheerful Girl: No, no… I want to catch up to you on my own.
If I get rejected, I-I'll write it again.]
…A little embarrassing.
Komari is surprisingly bold online.
—Early April.
The sky was azure, the city tinged with cherry blossoms, and the girls' black hair and skirts swayed with the falling petals.
Cherry blossoms drifted lightly past the classroom window.
Students in brand-new uniforms sat in the classroom—unfamiliar with each other, they tentatively exchanged greetings, while those who already knew one another cheerfully called out—after all, with the new school year, every class had been reallocated.
"That's great, Anna—we're in the same class again this year," the pink-haired girl gently hugged Yanami.
"This is fate's arrangement, Karen!"
Yanami's pretty face was full of joy—not the look of a fake friend—though her eyes uncontrollably drifted to the other girl's chest.
Just then, the female teacher pulled open the door, walked to the podium, and gently coughed twice.
"Everyone, please return to your seats.
I have something to announce."
The classroom gradually fell silent.
"Today, our class will be welcoming a new transfer student," the beautiful teacher said slowly.
The atmosphere instantly grew lively.
Transfer students are a timeless trope—whether a blonde foreign beauty or a long-lost childhood friend—so everyone was excited.
Under the nervous yet expectant gazes of many students, a boy walked to the podium.
"Hello, everyone. My name is Kiyono.
Please take care of me from now on."
The girls' eyes widened slightly—a subconscious reaction to something beautiful entering their sight.
The gentle sunlight outside the window cast a soft glow on the boy's face.
His prominent nose and the faint smile at the corner of his lips exuded a gentle, refined air.
His delicate eyebrows—a blend of masculinity and feminine softness—and his clear eyes perfectly matched their image of a shoujo manga protagonist.
They looked for only a moment and already felt their hearts flutter.
For some inexplicable reason, their hearts—no, their donkeys; no, their rhinos—were stampeding.
They unconsciously straightened their uniforms.
Even Yanami, seeing him in this attire for the first time, fell briefly into a daze—is this the legendary power of the uniform?
The destructive force is a bit astonishing!
Wait, wait!
That's not what's important right now!
The important question is where Kiyono will sit next!
Judging by the other girls' expressions, they had clearly set their sights on him already!
Yanami, who had already made a plan, took a deep breath and slowly raised her hand, prepared to sacrifice herself and "take in" this new transfer student.
"Hmm, since you're a transfer student, Kiyono, you can sit next to Karen.
She also transferred from England before, so she should be able to teach you how to integrate into the class quickly."
The teacher's words froze Yanami's movement.
Huh?
Ka… Karen?
Karen and Kiyono are sitting together?
The blue-haired girl stiffly turned her head and saw Kiyono walk to the seat on Karen's right and sit down.
The two of them chatted with friendly smiles, as if they were old friends—and as Karen spoke, those indecent things of hers subtly swayed. That cow girl!
At this moment, Yanami Anna felt a strong sense of unease.
In the second-to-last row by the window, Kiyono put down his backpack and looked around with fresh curiosity.
After being a transmigrator and a homeless man, he had finally unlocked the final bond—a Japanese high-school student!
At this moment, he had become a dual god and a single demon, a supreme being in a trinity, capable of slaying gods with one hand and annihilating saints with a fingertip!
"Kiyono, we're deskmates now.
Let's study hard together."
A voice as clear and moving as cherry blossoms sounded.
Kiyono turned his head and saw the pink-haired girl smiling at him.
This was his first time observing Himemiya Karen up close.
The pink-haired girl lightly propped her face with one hand, facing him.
Her long pink hair cascaded like a waterfall, and a brilliant yet gentle smile graced her delicate, exquisite face.
That unique, budding charm of a high-school girl was fully displayed on her.
Kiyono had once fantasized about what his school life would be like.
Influenced by numerous romance works, the first images that came to mind were mostly—
A twin-tailed girl covering her short skirt on the stairs, turning back in embarrassment; an unexpected encounter with a blonde, aristocratic student-council president; a shy, short-haired literary girl hidden in the library.
Later, those figures shattered like glass, leaving only the image of a certain blue-haired girl handing him a bento with a smile beneath a low, clouded sky—
And the scene of a certain girl reading alone in an abandoned classroom.
But now, it felt as if fantasy and romance had descended into reality.
Simply put, a true heroine was right before his eyes!
…Actually, he had met quite a few heroines so far—like Lemon, and like Anna—but the one before him was a naturally perfect heroine!
Even the beautiful music a GalGame player hears upon first encountering a heroine seemed to play faintly in his ears.
Is this the power of stats?
Kiyono suppressed his inner emotion and nodded with a smile.
Just then, the class bell rang, and the two paused their conversation and took out their textbooks.
The first class was history—currently covering who killed whom and who was killed during the Heian period—leaving Kiyono completely bewildered. He was already far behind his classmates; he had only skimmed a few history books, so he was essentially starting from scratch.
Tap, tap, tap.
The desktop was lightly tapped twice.
It was Himemiya Karen.
When his gaze turned to her, the pink-haired girl subtly raised her notebook to him, tiny words written upon it—Want to see my previous notes?
Without waiting for Kiyono to answer, Karen naturally pushed their desks together.
As the distance closed, he could even catch the faint, orchid-like fragrance of the girl.
It was the same for me when I first transferred. I couldn't understand anything in class, so Kiyono doesn't need to worry.
I, your "senior," will take good care of you until you can fully understand!
Perhaps afraid of disturbing the teacher's lecture, she didn't speak, but continued to write softly in her notebook and then showed it to him—her smile like the morning sun in spring.
So warm…
"Thank you, Himemiya-san."
His heart wavered for a moment, and Kiyono silently accepted her notes and guidance—he really did need someone to teach him history.
Karen's notes—like his impression of her—were perfect and elegant, with beautiful handwriting.
And everything happening here had already fallen into Yanami's eyes from not far away.
Her gaze instantly sharpened.
Her pearly teeth clenched at once.
—This, this is the shared-textbook incident! And it's Kiyono's first one since coming to school!
Sitting relatively close by, Yanami's clear, azure eyes fixed on the two of them.
Her pretty face was expressionless, and her fingers gripped a pencil so tightly it was about to snap.
She hadn't paid attention before, but looking closely now, Karen was truly a formidable girl.
Why is her chest so big?
Why are her legs so long?
Why is her smile so cute?
Why can she so naturally close the distance with a boy?
In comparison, she herself…
Just then, she faintly overheard their exchange.
"By the way, Kiyono, you can just call me Karen.
Anna often talks about you, you know—I've always been super interested in you!"
"We just met. Isn't that a bit much?"
"It's fine, it's fine.
All the other classmates call me that."
Snap!
The pencil broke.
After being tutored one-on-one by Karen-sensei all morning, although his academic ability couldn't improve dramatically in such a short time, at least he'd found a direction forward.
At lunchtime, Kiyono put away his textbook, sighing inwardly at how terrifying a heaven-sent character could be.
He stood up, preparing to call Yanami to the cafeteria to see what was on offer, but, strangely, the blue-haired girl just sat glumly in her seat, staring at a textbook in her hands, her pretty face unreadable.
Even when her friend beside her called out, she didn't get up.
What's wrong with Yanami?
Kiyono raised an eyebrow and walked over to the girl's side.