Lately, things hadn't been great between Nanami Akane and Katase Shoya.
She'd even noticed Katase Shoya hanging around Coach Higashi Tsuyoshi a lot more.
And that creepy coach had been eyeing her with those disgusting stares again lately.
It had Nanami Akane fired up first thing in the morning—she wanted to run it by Rai Hikaru and get his take.
After all, he'd told her before: if anything popped off with Coach Higashi, just come to him.
But the second she reached the doorway of Rai Hikaru's class...
She caught the whole scene of Rai Hikaru getting forcibly kissed by Hamaqi Reina and the other two hotties.
At first, Nanami Akane reacted like Kuinami Chizuru and the other girls—slapping a hand over her eyes in shy embarrassment.
But that quickly twisted into a deep, gut-wrenching envy.
"Why can Rai-kun just kiss them like that, right out in the open, while Shoya and I can't even call each other by our first names?"
"Does this 'relationship' with Shoya even matter anymore?"
"Even if we made it official someday, he probably wouldn't dare hold my hand in front of Coach Higashi."
"And Coach Higashi—the guy getting all buddy-buddy with Shoya—is the exact creep threatening to force himself on me!"
The thought hit Nanami Akane like a punch, stirring up waves of heartache.
She couldn't help imagining: what if it was Rai Hikaru instead?
She could kiss him right in front of Coach Higashi's face, and that bastard wouldn't dare fart out a single protest!
With that in her head, Nanami Akane spun on her heel and bolted.
She couldn't stick around to watch or think on it any longer—tears were already prickling at her eyes.
...
...
Meanwhile, Rai Hikaru himself had just arrived at the school's club recruitment plaza.
All around, every club in the academy had booths set up, with recruiters handing out flyers to passing students and aggressively pulling them in.
The moment Rai Hikaru showed up, countless recruiters' eyes lit up.
Especially the female ones.
"Handsome! Hey, handsome! Join the music club? We've got tons of hot babes!"
"Come to judo! We'll bend into any pose you want!"
"Tea ceremony club! Our tea skills are top-tier!"
Maybe it was the killer looks, but the second Rai Hikaru hit the plaza, clubs went feral trying to snag him. Hordes of recruiter girls grabbed at him, begging him to sign up.
"Fine, fine—I'll join them all."
Since he was casting a wide net to hunt for netori targets in the clubs, Rai Hikaru welcomed every offer.
He filled out forms on the spot for any that pulled him in.
Whether he actually showed up later? That was his call.
He made a point to check out a few specific clubs too.
Spotting a familiar figure at the kendo club's booth, Rai Hikaru headed over.
The recruiter jumped up the second he approached, beaming at him. "Hello! I'm Miyajima Kei, president of the kendo club. Interested in joining, classmate?"
Rai Hikaru sized up the side-ponytail beauty with her sweet face and killer figure—the kendo club president herself. He paused for a beat.
Then nodded. "Yeah, I am."
Miyajima Kei lit up—the Rai Hikaru, Mr. Popular, signing up for her club? She grinned wide. "We practice every day after school. Swing by the dojo whenever—I'll coach you personally."
Rai Hikaru nodded. "Sounds good. Thanks, President Miyajima."
Gazing at her flower-like smile, Rai Hikaru knew he'd hit the jackpot coming here.
No ping from his Aura Sight or Pure Love Radar yet—President Miyajima Kei probably wouldn't have any drama anytime soon.
But that face? Rai Hikaru knew it well.
He tossed out a casual question. "President, your mom—is her name Miyajima Rei?"
Miyajima Kei blinked in surprise. "Huh? How'd you know my mom's name, Rai-kun?"
Rai Hikaru chuckled. "My adoptive mom seems to be good friends with her. Met her once—y'all look just alike."
Miyajima Kei snapped her fingers. "Ah, gotcha! Yeah, people always say I take after Mom."
"Though I dunno when I'll ever be as gorgeous and charismatic as her." She touched her cheek wistfully.
"You're plenty gorgeous already, President," Rai Hikaru said with a smile.
After chatting a bit more, he moved on to the next booth.
At the literature club's table, he found a petite girl passed out, drooling on the signup sheet. Rai Hikaru rapped the table lightly.
"Mmm... who is it? Interrupting my beauty sleep..." Noki Yu rubbed her sleepy eyes and sat up.
Rai Hikaru eyed the doll-like blue-haired loli with her tiny frame and impossibly cute face. Another familiar face, he thought.
"Noki Yu-senpai, I'd like to join the literature club." He slid the application over smooth as silk.
Noki Yu snatched it lazily. "Yeah, yeah, whatever. You're in. Now scram."
She flopped right back down to nap.
Rai Hikaru knew the blue-haired lolita's deal—lazy as hell, aka "Sleeping Beauty." He shrugged it off and hit the next booth.
At the archery club's table sat a pair of stunning sisters—one with long black straight hair, the other a blonde single ponytail. They were way too close, sharing an ice cream cone, licking it one after the other like it was no big deal.
They barely glanced up as Rai Hikaru approached. The black-haired one pointed lazily at the forms. "Wanna join archery? Fill it out yourself."
Rai Hikaru filled it, set it down, and eyed the overly intimate duo. "Name's Rai Hikaru. And you two are...?"
The black-haired girl muttered offhand. "I'm Eimiya Saya. This is my little sis, Eimiya Hina. Nice to meetcha."
That was that—they glued back together.
Rai Hikaru didn't sweat it and walked off.
He knew the sisters' type: hardcore yuri, head over heels for each other.
Once he was gone, Eimiya Saya turned to her sister. "Hina, you were eyeing Rai Hikaru a bunch. What, you into him?"
Eimiya Hina giggled. "Sis, what're you talking about? You know the only one I like is you."
Eimiya Saya smiled. "Same here—I only have eyes for Hina. Guys? Zero interest."
Eimiya Hina nodded. "Yep, just us sisters forever. Men? Never gonna happen."
Their eyes burned with heat—if the crowd wasn't there, they'd probably be making out already.
...
Drawing on memories from his past life, Rai Hikaru signed up for karate club, film studies, and a bunch more.
Worth noting: the film studies club was a ghost town, barely any members. The recruiter girl, Amakawa Hanaka, practically squealed when he joined.
But staring at Amakawa Hanaka, Rai Hikaru couldn't shake the vibe—she was the airheaded type.
The kind you could strong-kiss, snap a pic, and trick straight into bed...
Rai Hikaru was very intrigued.
Don't get it twisted—he wasn't plotting to bed her. Nah, girls this ditzy probably swam in netori bait.
Rai "Pure Love War God, Netori Slayer" Hikaru? He was all over prime fishing spots like this.
He straight-up bound a paper crane to Amakawa Hanaka on the spot.
...
Clubs sorted, Rai Hikaru headed back to class.
Morning lessons flew by in a blink.
Rai Hikaru spent most of it glued to his phone, chatting.
Too many clubs, too many girls hitting him up thanks to his looks—he hadn't even finished filling out all the forms.
As he hammered away at the club info on his phone, an unknown number rang through.
"Hello, is this Rai Hikaru?"
The voice that hit his ear was pure icy noble big-sis allure, dripping from the speaker.