Chapter 354: A Reconnected Destiny |
"..."
"Riiing—!"
Before Hoshino Gen had the chance to say anything, the class bell rang. Shirayanagi Ayaha smiled, casually brushing past the topic. "Class is starting, let's head back."
...
The second period of the morning was Mathematics, the subject most likely to make people drowsy.
After the first five minutes, a lazy, sleep-inducing atmosphere permeated the entire classroom.
The teacher's lecturing voice sounded like chanting scriptures, an endless drone that was highly hypnotic.
Hoshino Gen propped his cheek up with one hand, his other hand unconsciously sketching talismanic script on a piece of scrap paper.
At that moment, a crumpled ball of paper suddenly flew over from his back right and landed on his school desk. However, before Hoshino Gen could react and grab it, the talismanic script he had sketched on the scrap paper faintly lit up. A spark flashed over the paper ball, and in less than the blink of an eye, it was reduced to a pile of ash.
It seemed that paper ball had been thrown by this idiot.
'A little note?'
Hoshino Gen felt a bit speechless. He withdrew his gaze, planning to ignore her, but a short while later, another small paper ball flew over.
The talismanic script on the scrap paper had already been activated and its divine energy had vanished, so it did not burn this second paper ball to ash.
Hoshino Gen sighed softly. With a hint of helplessness, he opened the paper ball, wanting to see what that girl was in such a rush to say.
"What just happened?"
The note only contained this short sentence. Hoshino Gen frowned and drew a picture of a mobile phone underneath it. Then, with a light tap on the slip of paper, it shot off like a loosed arrow, darting onto Shimizu Yu's school desk at a speed indiscernible to the naked eye.
A moment later, Hoshino Gen unsurprisingly felt a faint vibration from the mobile phone in his pocket.
He took out his mobile phone and glanced at the message Shimizu Yu had sent. It turned out to be the exact same question from before. Hoshino Gen resisted the urge to roll his eyes and, in his helplessness, quickly typed a reply: "Get to the point."
"..."
She paused for a moment before sending a new message: "What's the deal with that transfer student?"
"Is there something wrong with her?"
"A supernatural incident?"
It seemed Shimizu Yu felt that the only explanation for Hoshino Gen's reaction during the break time of the previous class was that there was an issue with the transfer student, likely linked to a supernatural incident.
Hoshino Gen naturally understood what that idiot was trying to express at a single glance. He typed back: "You're overthinking it."
Her reply came in seconds: "No? Then... you haven't actually taken a fancy to her, have you?!"
"She's a friend I already knew." After replying with this final sentence, Hoshino Gen turned off his mobile phone and stuffed it back into his pocket. No matter how much it vibrated afterward, he didn't check it again.
"Shimizu." The middle-aged Obasan Math Teacher suddenly called her name with a stern voice.
Shimizu Yu, whose head was lowered as she held her mobile phone beneath her school desk, immediately panicked. With a start, she shoved the device into her desk cubby and stood up. "Ah... Yes!"
The Obasan Math Teacher pushed up her gold-rimmed glasses. The authority and coldness in her eyes made Shimizu Yu so nervous that her blood almost froze.
But—
"Do not slack off the moment you make a little progress."
"Sit down. Pay attention to the lecture, maintain your exam results, and strive for further improvement."
"Ah?" Shimizu Yu was a bit dazed, clearly not expecting to be let off the hook so easily. But the teacher said no more and simply resumed the lecture. She sat back down in a daze, and then belatedly realized something—
It was highly likely that her exam results this time had saved her hide! She made progress? No—she had improved drastically!
Joy beamed from her face, and her previous baffling gloominess was instantly swept away.
The drowsy atmosphere in the classroom had also been largely dispersed by the Obasan Math Teacher's sudden call-out. The classroom regained its vitality, continuing like this until the end of the period.
During this break time, no one bothered Hoshino Gen. After all, there were only two people in the class who actually spoke to him. Shimizu Yu typically did not interact much with him at school anyway, while Shirayanagi Ayaha was once again surrounded by a group of girls bombarding her with endless questions.
The morning passed peacefully, but during the lunch break, a ripple of excitement finally swept through.
The exam results from the previous two days had been released, and the ranking list was already posted on the wall outside the classroom.
Many students in the class didn't even bother to eat lunch. Scrambling to be first, they poured into the corridor to check their scores. For a moment, only a sparse few were left in the classroom—or to be perfectly accurate, exactly four people remained.
Aside from Hoshino Gen, who truly didn't care about his grades, the other three were all transfer students. It went without saying for Shirayanagi Ayaha and Chiyo Uzuki; both of them had only arrived at the school today and hadn't participated in this exam at all.
Takanashi Chisaki, who had arrived on the very first day of the term, had indeed taken the test. However, looking at her, she seemed just like Hoshino Gen—completely unbothered by her own score or ranking.
Speaking of which, Hoshino Gen actually had private interactions with all three of these transfer students. It went without saying for Shirayanagi Ayaha, whom he had grown up with and only been separated from for a little over a year. He had also met Chiyo Uzuki early on during summer vacation amidst the battle against the Serpent of Kyoto, and they had just gone on a vacation to an island together a few days ago.
Then there was Takanashi Chisaki. Although he had known her for a very short time and had only bumped into her once at a convenience store, her appearance was certainly not the type that could be easily forgotten, so Hoshino Gen remembered her clearly.
At this moment, Takanashi Chisaki was sitting all alone in her seat, eating an onigiri for her bento while propping her cheek up and staring absentmindedly at the sky outside the window.
Chiyo Uzuki, on the other hand, was sprawled across her school desk fast asleep. It seemed her nightlife the previous evening must have kept her up incredibly late.
Finally freed from being surrounded, Shirayanagi Ayaha had dragged her chair and two small fabric-wrapped bundles over to Hoshino Gen's school desk. She handed one of the bundles to him. "Your bento. If your preferences haven't changed, everything inside should be what you love eating~"
As she spoke, she took a seat as well, untying the bundle around her own bento.
Hoshino Gen lowered his eyes, his gaze lingering on the bento placed in front of him. Shirayanagi Ayaha used to frequently bring him a bento—a habit she had formed back in primary school.
Due to Shirayanagi Ayaha's health condition, her diet had to be specially customized. Naturally, she couldn't rely on the school's cafeteria for her lunch. Ever since she discovered in the fourth grade of primary school that truly no one at home was looking after Hoshino Gen, she would always ask her family's cook to make an extra portion tailored to a regular person's palate while preparing her bento, all so she could bring it for him.
This habit had continued all the way until their second year of junior high school, before coming to an abrupt stop.
Looking at this... reconnected destiny, Hoshino Gen couldn't help but chuckle softly. It truly was a fascinating feeling.
He untied the cloth bag and opened the bento box. The various dishes inside, perfectly balancing color, aroma, and taste, were indeed all his absolute favorite foods—
She really knew him so well.