Isshiki Iroha departed on a mission.
Not the sort from a master to a servant, of course—but rather, she left to strive hard for the Soccer Club, to secure a friendly match to test their real strength.
Even though Shirase didn't have the slightest confidence she'd succeed.
"Shirase, wanna go grab dinner together?" Hayama Hayato stood up, rested enough to head home. Before leaving, he still offered an invitation.
Shirase shook his head. "Nope, gotta get home and cook dinner for Kana-nee. If not, she'll definitely start whining about starving to death."
"Haha, rejected again."
Hayama seemed to have expected this and smiled back. "Honestly, hanging out with friends once in a while isn't a bad thing for people our age."
"Makes sense. Spiritually, I fully support your suggestion," Shirase replied.
"Uh...and physically?"
"Nope."
"…"
With an indescribable expression, Hayama Hayato left.
As soon as Shirase stepped out of the school gate, he received a message from Kojima Kana.
[Your big sister's not coming home for dinner today~ Remember how you kept teasing me about my personality being too unfriendly to make any friends? Haha, bet you never imagined this! Kirisu-sensei invited me out for dinner. So now your onee-san is also someone who has friends!]
At the end of the message was a smug panda emoji, clearly revealing Kojima Kana's immense pride.
"You've got the mental age of a kid, and yet you still shamelessly call yourself my older sister?"
Shirase chuckled. Since he didn't have to hurry home to cook, he could go to the ramen shop instead.
The last time he went there was about ten days ago. Though the shop was small, it was clean and tidy, and the taste wasn't bad either.
On his way there, Shirase idly wondered whether he'd run into Hiratsuka Shizuka again.
Because last time he went there, he'd encountered the woman jokingly referred to by netizens in his previous life as "Ironclad Hiratsuka Shizuka."
Of course, ironclad or flowing, whatever nickname she had didn't really matter. He was just there to eat ramen. Even if he did meet her, he'd only have to say a quick hello.
After all, they weren't exactly close.
"Boss, one large tonkotsu ramen, please."
After ordering, Shirase took a bottle of juice from the refrigerator and sat down.
With Kojima Kana out tonight, he'd be alone at home.
He could finally activate [Free Hosting].
"I just hope the dumb system won't give me another batch of ridiculous lottery prizes this time."
Shirase curled his fingers around the straw, recalling the last prize he'd drawn. If it hadn't been Nakano Itsuki's meat bun, but instead a Hell-tendo gaming console, wouldn't the dumb system have directly robbed the company?
Criminal. Way too criminal!
He'd originally assumed the dumb system was full of positive energy—but it turned out it could even pull off something like that.
If the dumb system ever controlled him to openly rob a gaming company, he'd have no choice but to imitate that uncle facing the Mongolian top laner, intentionally selling an opening (stand) and running away.
"Boss, two tonkotsu ramen!"
A lively voice from not far behind interrupted Shirase's thoughts.
His hand froze briefly, then he couldn't help but smile.
Well, speak of the devil and the devil appears.
"Yo, you're eating ramen here too today?"
A fragrant breeze accompanied the gentle tap on Shirase's shoulder. He turned around and saw Hiratsuka Shizuka's smiling face.
But what surprised Shirase was the figure standing behind this slightly older young woman—
It was the expressionless Yukinoshita Yukino.
"What a coincidence, Hiratsuka-sensei," Shirase nodded at both as a greeting.
Hiratsuka Shizuka pulled out the chair beside him and sat down, laughing, "Earlier I even told Yukino that you might also be eating here today. Didn't expect I'd really get it right..."
She gestured for Yukinoshita Yukino to sit as well. "By the way, you two are classmates, so why aren't you greeting each other?"
"Because we aren't acquainted," Yukinoshita Yukino stated flatly after sitting down.
Shirase agreed, "Exactly, we've never spoken even once in class."
"Seriously?" Hiratsuka was startled.
Yukinoshita looked over helplessly, "Hiratsuka-sensei, there's no rule stating classmates must become friends. Besides, you know my personality—I don't like making friends."
Hiratsuka blinked and turned to Shirase, who calmly added, "I also don't like making friends."
"Oh~"
Hiratsuka deliberately stretched out the sound, her eyes immediately sparkling as if she'd found something interesting.
"Hiratsuka-sensei, please mind your expression," Yukinoshita Yukino instantly detected her intentions.
"That's right. The way you're acting right now really damages your image. I recommend you become more serious," Shirase chimed in.
Hiratsuka Shizuka suddenly found herself caught between laughter and tears. "Are you two really strangers? Why do I feel you're suddenly in perfect harmony targeting me?"
Yukinoshita raised an eyebrow slightly, "I was just about to say that. What do you think, Shirase-kun?"
"My opinion is that studying is better than making more friends," Shirase answered.
Yukinoshita Yukino seemed to gain some interest, "Is that why you're always reading during breaks?"
Shirase suddenly turned, meeting her gaze directly. "No, I do it because I want to become number one in the whole school."
The atmosphere suddenly quieted down.
Hiratsuka Shizuka instinctively leaned back tactically, opening up space between the two.
Yet even noticing this abruptly strange atmosphere, she wasn't worried at all. Instead, she watched the two with cheerful anticipation.
Keep arguing! Good! Young people should have some vitality. Being lifeless is way too dull!
In her view, both Shirase Haruto and Yukinoshita Yukino were famous figures at school, and coincidentally, their classmates described both as similarly "cold and solitary."
A few days ago, she'd even thought about asking her colleague Kirisu Mafuyu for help, trying to see if the two loners could be matched up and encouraged to interact.
If they could become friends, even better.
As a teacher, wasn't correcting students' bad habits a natural responsibility?
"Shirase-kun, you just said you wanted to become first in the entire school?" Yukinoshita Yukino finally spoke, her eyes flickering briefly with another emotion—like a proud plum blossom quietly blooming in the snow, facing him with intoxicating beauty and unwavering pride.
She was the current first, and second was Hayama Hayato.
"Right, that's my goal," Shirase frankly admitted.
"So Shirase is treating Yukino as a goal to surpass?" Hiratsuka Shizuka's comment at this point clearly felt like adding fuel to the fire.
Yukinoshita Yukino instantly shot her an unfriendly look.
Hiratsuka laughed and waved her hands. "Well, I'll stay out of it, just chat among yourselves."
Only then did Yukinoshita turn back toward Shirase, "From what I know, although your entrance exam scores weren't bad, you still have a long way to go before reaching the top of the school rankings."
"Exactly why it's motivating to set it as a goal," Shirase replied calmly.
The corners of Yukinoshita Yukino's lips curved faintly upward, outlining a charming and proud smile. "Everyone knows that a person halfway up the mountain will face numerous hardships if he wishes to reach the summit."
"That's true. But if the one halfway up keeps climbing steadily forward, even slowly—even if fate puts obstacles in the way—one day he'll still glimpse the view from the mountaintop."
"Is that a declaration of challenge?"
"Nope. I just said all that to satisfy Hiratsuka-sensei, the Master of Eating Melons."
Shirase abruptly shifted targets, his gaze landing directly on Hiratsuka Shizuka.
Caught in the middle of enthusiastically watching the drama, the slightly older young woman's mouth slowly opened in confusion:
"Eh?"
Just because I glanced over a bit more, am I now being targeted?