Chisato stayed up late before finally going to bed. The expression Kazusa showed when she bumped into him in the washroom had stirred all sorts of thoughts in his mind.
She had clearly misunderstood something at the time, but even so, her reaction seemed to lean more toward embarrassment rather than anger.
Did that mean… he could subtly try something?
For example, he could use the excuse of replacing her forehead cooling patch to test just how much she was willing to accept from him now.
It wasn't much different from yesterday at the hotel—just the two of them alone in a huge house, with no one around to disturb them.
It wasn't surprising that such thoughts crossed Chisato's mind.
He was a young man, after all.
Being alone with someone he liked, how could he not want to get closer?
Not to mention that the night before he left, Utaha, in full-on teasing mode and with a very specific agenda, had completely overwhelmed him.
But after considering that Kazusa was still recovering from her illness, Chisato let out a soft sigh and restrained himself.
In the end, that night, he opened the replay function on his emulator and had his overpowered in-game little brother thoroughly beat down Utaha in his dreams.
The next morning, Utaha was once again troubled, staring at her damp flyers and trying to come up with an excuse to explain the situation to her mother.
Meanwhile, at the Touma residence, Kazusa's housekeeper arrived early.
Carrying a bag of groceries, she walked into the kitchen—only to freeze at the sight of an unfamiliar man busying himself there.
That was odd. Wasn't Lady Youko already out? Why was there a man in the house?
Hearing footsteps, Chisato turned around and proactively explained, clearing up the misunderstanding.
He also entrusted Kazusa's care to the housekeeper.
The IV drip from yesterday had done its job, and her fever had gone down, but her body was still weak, so she needed another day of rest at home.
After bidding farewell to his girlfriend, Chisato headed to school alone.
At the bulletin board in the courtyard hallway, the rankings for last week's monthly exams were prominently posted, attracting a large crowd of students checking their scores.
Chisato merely glanced at it from afar before walking away, uninterested.
He had already been informed by his homeroom teacher last week—he had placed first in the entire grade. It was nothing surprising.
Even so, people who recognized him couldn't help but look his way, their gazes filled with astonishment.
Being stared at like that… honestly, wasn't a bad feeling.
The morning classes went by as usual. In the afternoon, there was PE, and today's activity was doubles badminton practice.
Chisato was paired with Fukube Satoshi.
Satoshi, being on the skinnier side, quickly became exhausted, and by the latter half of the match, Chisato was essentially running all over the court by himself, executing powerful smashes and leaving his opponents utterly stunned.
The shuttlecock would hit the ground in a flash before they even had time to react.
Eventually, the bear-like PE teacher, who had been watching from the sidelines, couldn't resist the itch in his hands and stepped onto the court, racket in hand, to challenge Chisato.
The two were evenly matched, trading fierce shots back and forth.
The other two players had enough self-awareness to step aside, giving way to their one-on-one showdown.
The male students watching from the sidelines were left dumbfounded.
What the hell? This guy's cheating, right?
Didn't you get lapped in the last long-distance run?
We were fine with you being the top student in academics.
We could even accept that you were good-looking.
At least in terms of physical ability, you were a weakling—that gave us some sense of balance.
But what the hell is this now?
You're going toe-to-toe with the "black bear" coach? Are you some kind of hexagonal warrior?!
This outcome wasn't surprising. The bonus points Chisato had received earlier were originally meant to be saved for emergencies.
But after thinking it over, he realized there was no need to hold onto them. It was better to apply them to himself as soon as possible to maximize the benefits.
Without much thought, he had allocated the points to his physical stats. And the advantages that came with that were overwhelming.
For example, let's talk about Eriri's seven rounds—without the boost in physique, there was no way he would've managed.
His willpower alone wouldn't have been enough.
Compared to that, the athletic prowess he was displaying now was merely a side effect.
Too bad Kazusa wasn't here to see it today. Otherwise, he could have taken this opportunity to prove his physical capabilities to her—and maybe even make her like him a little more.
"Chisato, are you sure you don't want to join the badminton club?"
"You've got real talent. It's not too late to start now. If you follow my training plan, you'll definitely place in the prefectural tournaments."
The PE teacher, who also served as the badminton club's advisor, had developed a strong interest in Chisato's abilities.
This was already the second time he had tried recruiting him.
"No thanks, Sensei. I want to focus on my studies and not get distracted by other things."
Like hell he'd join. He was already struggling to handle the girls around him—why would he go looking for more trouble?
Did the teacher think he was some kind of master of time management?
The PE teacher didn't press the issue and simply patted Chisato's shoulder in understanding.
…
The final class of the day was homeroom.
Yukino-sensei handed back the graded exam papers.
Some students were delighted, others were dejected. Amid this atmosphere, she gently called out Chisato's name, offering him praise before encouraging the rest of the class.
Afterward, she handed the floor over to class president Fukube Satoshi to lead the meeting while she sat quietly on a windowside stool, watching with a warm smile.
The class quickly became lively as they began discussing plans for the upcoming school festival.
Having finished their exams, the students were thrilled to finally have a chance to cut loose.
A girl eagerly raised her hand.
"Astrology is really popular these days, right? How about we do a horoscope fortune-telling booth for our class?"
"Yes! That sounds great!"
Several of her friends chimed in agreement.
But soon, a group of boys voiced their opposition.
"That's way too girly. I feel like only you girls would be into that. If you ask me, we should hold a 'Yakyuken' tournament instead!"
"We can even use part of our class funds as the prize pool. The atmosphere on the festival day would be insane!"
"Hell yeah!!"
The boys' enthusiasm skyrocketed.
"You idiots! Who the hell wants to do a 'Yakyuken' tournament with you?!"
"But it would be so much fun! It'd definitely attract a ton of people! We could even charge admission fees and let visitors participate—maybe even make some money out of it!"
"That's disgusting. I can't believe you're shameless enough to say that out loud!"
"..."
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50 advanced chapters on p@t re on (.) com/SenatusTheta
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