Takeo was still somewhat dazed, lost in the memory of Yusei's tricky angle attack on Taiji.
In his view, that move was cunning and ruthless, definitely not just a lucky shot.
He was inwardly praising the sharpness of Yusei's attack when, the next moment, Yusei started beating Taiji, who was rolling on the ground, like a street thug.
He was the student council president!
Watching this happen right before his eyes would be dereliction of duty, wouldn't it?
"Classmate, stop! Don't hit him anymore!" He hurriedly shouted at Yusei.
Hearing the voice, Yusei stopped his movements and smiled at Takeo.
"Can you accept me now? I've already beaten this wild dog."
"This... alright."
Although Takeo wanted to say that Kendo Tournaments weren't about street brawls, remembering Yusei's stunning sword strike earlier, he still agreed.
"Thanks, then." Yusei smiled, then directly stepped over the groaning Taiji on the ground and prepared to leave.
Joining the Kendo Club was enough, but training was out of the question, after all, it was too boring.
Taiji, stepped on by Yusei, let out another pained cry.
His current state was extremely miserable. Since most of Yusei's strikes had targeted his head with little restraint, he was now truly bloody and bruised, his entire head swollen like a pig's.
Takeo also had a headache. He disliked this school bully who threw his weight around, but he was still the student council president.
Left with no choice, he had to ask someone to help take him to the infirmary.
…
Having joined the Kendo Club and incidentally taught a lesson to the bully who had tormented his predecessor, Yusei was in a great mood.
He wandered over to the cafeteria. He had gone to the Kendo Club right after class and hadn't had time to eat.
Although the cafeteria was crowded now, which was a bit overwhelming, Yusei endured it for the sake of food.
Swipping his meal card, he got a lunch with both meat and vegetables, then carried his tray to an empty seat.
Just then, someone else happened to arrive opposite the seat.
Both placed their trays on the table simultaneously, leading to a brief, awkward silence.
But since there were two seats, sitting together was fine.
After all, it was lunchtime, and since the cafeteria wasn't large, the seats were almost full.
Yusei saw the other person… a petite girl with golden twin tails.
A delicate face, clever features, exceptionally fair skin, slightly rosy cheeks, and especially those seemingly expressive blue eyes made her extremely cute.
The golden hair styled in twin tails added a lot of liveliness and cuteness.
Yusei observed the girl opposite him, and she observed Yusei too, not hiding her curiosity in the slightest.
"Are you Kasumigaoka Utaha's boyfriend?" The golden-haired girl suddenly asked out of the blue.
Yusei, who was eating, choked momentarily at her words.
"Cough, I... am not."
He hesitated but ultimately didn't outright admit it.
Spreading rumors for others to misunderstand was one thing, but if he personally admitted to something that wasn't true, that would be lying.
His relationship with Utaha was progressing steadily, and doing this would definitely disgust her.
Wasn't that damaging someone else's reputation?
Personally admitting and letting others misunderstand were two completely different things.
"I see. I thought that girl had started dating." The golden-haired girl looked at Yusei seriously a few more times, then muttered to herself.
"Are you... Sawamura Eriri?"
Yusei racked his memory and asked somewhat uncertainly.
This girl looked very much like the one in his impression, but to be sure, he wanted to confirm.
"Yes."
Eriri showed no surprise. Although it wasn't something to be particularly proud of, she and Utaha were indeed known as the two school belles of Toyogakasi Academy.
After answering, she showed no intention of continuing the conversation, eating quietly, as if she had no desire to chat with Yusei at all.
Since the other party had no interest in talking, Yusei naturally wouldn't actively press his luck against her cold shoulder.
His main target for now was still Utaha. He hadn't even succeeded with one yet, so how can he be thinking about others?
He couldn't handle the multi-route conquests of a Harem King.
'Sometimes, it was better to take things solo, one at a time.'
'Hmm... But Shiro was the exception!'