Chapter 100: Zaimokuza Yoshiteru!
Luke lightly tapped the desk and looked at the system page.
Recently, he had completed the career missions for both Exorcist and Student, obtaining two strange items.
The Spirit Time Chamber Experience Card, and A Maiden's Prayer.
He had already experienced the Time Chamber, but he still could not figure out A Maiden's Prayer no matter how much he thought about it.
Item function: complete a girl's wish and unlock a trait for her.
What did the system think he was? Shenron from Dragon Ball?
Luke looked speechlessly at the pink gemstone on it.
Most importantly, he did not know when he had completed a girl's wish, nor did he know who that girl was.
However, at present, he leaned toward that Miko-chan.
After all, she had experienced too much. She could run into all sorts of strange things, and he had participated in many incidents around her. It was not impossible that he had completed one of her wishes without noticing.
"Sigh."
But the moment he thought about it, his head hurt a little.
In yesterday's dream, the words Miko had spoken at the end…
He still did not know how to explain them to Mikasa and Annie, nor did he know how to talk about them with Miko.
Although his relationship with the two maids had that identity factor involved, wanting to be completely at ease about it was still a little difficult.
Ring, ring, ring—
Good. His head no longer hurt.
Hearing the sound that represented lunch break, Luke instantly recovered his spirit and slowly tidied his desk. Amid the teacher's reminders, he planned to scatter out of the classroom like the other students.
"Hey, where are you going?"
Yumiko's voice suddenly rang out.
He slowly turned around and looked at Yumiko, who was standing beside her desk while fiddling with her hair and playing with her phone.
"To buy lunch. What's wrong?"
"Lunch…"
Yumiko closed her phone and lightly rested a finger against her chin in thought.
"Then I'll have bread. As for the type… anything sweet enough is fine. Add juice too."
Seeing her speak toward him, Luke asked in confusion, "Are you asking me to buy it?"
"Mm."
Yumiko gave a confirming hum.
Mm. Confirmed.
The top normie figure in school was bullying him.
"Didn't the reward and punishment from the previous match end on Saturday?"
Luke looked at her in confusion.
"You want to extend the booking?"
"Eh? What kind of weird phrase is that…? It's just that everyone eating lunch together at noon and chatting together is something happy, isn't it?"
Yumiko said that as if it were only natural.
Was she asking him to join her social circle?
After guessing that, he directly replied, "I can't. The club has activities at noon. We need to help Totsuka-kun continue practicing tennis, so I'll eat lunch directly at the tennis court."
"Yes, yes."
Yui, who suddenly leaned over, nodded and confirmed it.
"Yumiko, we're helping Sai-chan keep training."
Although they had helped Totsuka Saika with physical training last week, the request this time was to make Saika stronger at tennis. Improving only physical strength was not enough.
"I see…"
Yumiko habitually tugged at the end of her hair again, then raised her head and muttered, "Then next time, when there's a chance."
"Ah, then when there's a chance. When there's a chance."
Although he did not quite know what Yumiko was planning, Luke did not completely refuse.
"Hayato, Hina, what kind do you want?"
Yumiko asked the two of them.
"No, no. We want to pick for ourselves."
Hayama Hayato and Ebina Hina said that directly.
"Okay. Then I'll buy my own."
Yumiko turned around, pushed Luke, then grabbed Yui's arm.
"Okay, let's go."
After leaving the teaching building, Yui followed her appointment with Yukino and went to find her with her lunchbox.
That left only Luke and Yumiko walking along the passage between the classroom building and the special building.
The second floors of the two buildings were connected by a corridor. Looking down at the school building from above, the two buildings and the elevated corridor formed a quadrilateral.
And in the middle of that quadrilateral was the lunch spot most couples would choose.
The courtyard.
Once lunch break began, boys and girls would come to the courtyard together to enjoy lunch and chat about everything under the sun.
It was a scene that would make Hiratsuka Shizuka's face darken with anger the moment she saw it.
Mm. He had once had the honor of witnessing it.
"You actually buy your own lunch?"
With only the two of them left, Luke, who was heading straight toward the school store, asked Yumiko that.
Normally speaking, Yumiko's lunch should have been brought by someone else. Coming out to buy lunch herself could practically be considered an incognito inspection.
"I'm not some little kid who needs people to take care of me. Isn't buying my own lunch completely normal?"
Yumiko immediately said that unhappily, then sharply tossed her golden hair. Under the sunlight, it seemed to shimmer slightly.
"You're not that different from a little kid."
Her straightforward, bulldozing way of doing things, without caring much about how others felt, really was not that different from a child.
"Fine. Next time there's a chance to compete, I won't let you off so easily. I'll definitely make you act as my servant for an entire semester."
Yumiko narrowed her eyes slightly and made a bold declaration.
Luke could only look at Yumiko's hair shining under the sun. Between his breaths, he seemed to smell a trace of orange.
Was there shampoo with this kind of scent?
It really smelled fresh.
"A bag-carrying servant? Then… what do you think we should eat next time? We already had yakiniku… I do have coupons for a dessert shop. Mm, I also have some for charcoal barbecue."
"…Are you the Coupon King? Why are you so obsessed with coupons?"
Yumiko said speechlessly.
"I don't know why, but if a coupon expires before I use it, I get really annoyed."
Luke spoke solemnly.
"Weirdo."
Yumiko looked directly at him, and when she noticed his gaze, she tossed her shiny hair again and suddenly turned her face away.
Thankfully, her hairstyle was not twin tails.
Otherwise, from here to the school store, he did not know how many times he would get whipped.
Luke raised his head and looked at the sky, at the clouds hanging between the two buildings as if heading somewhere.
The weather had been clear these past few days, and as Golden Week in May approached, it seemed to become brighter and hotter.
Inside the school, the sunlight glittered like Yumiko's hair. Together with the school's roadside trees, now lush green, and the lively weeds at their roots, the whole place carried a scene of thriving life, as if all things were competing to flourish.
Mm. Therefore, he judged that the current season was precisely the time when girls should wear skirts.
Although they had already been wearing skirts for a long time.
Admiring Yumiko's perfectly shaped legs, Luke gave a slow nod of approval.
He had to admit, she was the definition of a perfect girl, with a flawless upper-to-lower body ratio. Her legs, sculpted by both natural talent and a dedicated exercise routine, were stunningly long and straight, requiring no stockings or embellishments to be beautiful.
Drawing from his experience with Annie and Mikasa's similarly impressive legs, he was confident they would feel just as incredible to the touch.
Seeing his strange gaze, Yumiko quickly poked a finger into his waist.
"What are you doing?! I already told you before not to touch me there."
After his sensitive area was touched, he suddenly jumped.
"You know the reason yourself!"
Yumiko pressed down on her skirt and glared at him. Her finger also hovered near his waist, as if she were only one step away from kicking her exposed leg into his face.
"…"
Unable to argue, he silently entered the school store in front of them.
Yumiko glared at his back and followed closely after him.
After buying lunch…
"Then I'll go to the tennis court."
He said that to Yumiko.
Only then did he discover that Yumiko was holding bread in one hand while grabbing his arm with the other.
"Wait."
"Hm?"
He turned around in confusion.
Yumiko stood face-to-face with him and also seemed a little puzzled. She straightened her body and moved slightly closer.
"What are you doing?"
He looked at Yumiko, who was close at hand, as she straightened her back. She lifted her free hand and flattened it over her fluffy blonde hair, then shifted it horizontally outward.
Her fingers stopped near his chin.
"You seem to have gotten taller."
Yumiko, who had vaguely noticed it while walking, measured the height difference between them and found that reality matched what she had thought.
"Is there anything strange about growing a bit during puberty?"
He said speechlessly to Yumiko.
"It's just a little strange… After all, you're not a mushroom. How can you just grow when you say you will?"
Yumiko muttered.
"So you… what exactly is the matter?"
Realizing they were a bit close, Yumiko lightly stepped back.
"This weekend, I'm going shopping. Come with me. I'll contact you then."
Without waiting for him to react, Yumiko left with her lunch.
"Remember not to forget~"
Eh?
Wasn't the reward and punishment from the tennis war only for last Saturday?
Also… had she not already gone to the shopping center?
Still, after thinking about it, he did not call Yumiko back to refuse.
After all, some of his clothes no longer fit, so he happened to need to go shopping too.
…
At the tennis court Totsuka Saika had borrowed…
After ending the initial stage of physical training, Saika had finally moved on to technical training.
And the plan President Yukinoshita gave was to have Saika desperately hit back one tennis ball after another under Luke's serves.
And so, on the court now…
Luke rapidly served one tennis ball after another toward the corners of the opposite half-court, making Saika run back and forth between each ball.
"Try to hit the ball toward the baseline and sidelines as much as possible. Otherwise, the practice won't be effective."
Yukino, who was reading under the tree, raised her head and looked at the panting Saika, calmly giving instructions.
As for Yui, she was lying nearby.
At first, she had still been interested in helping Saika practice tennis, but before long, she grew bored.
Now, most of the time, she slept beside Yukino like a dog taken out for a walk that had gotten tired and collapsed near the drinking area in a park.
Looking at Yui's appearance, Luke thought that idly, then shifted his gaze back to Saika opposite him.
"Can you keep going?"
Looking at the sweating Saika, Luke asked him.
So far, fifteen minutes had passed since training began. With his current attributes, this amount of exercise could only be called a warm-up.
But for Saika, it was already equivalent to a major battle.
"I… I… can still… keep going."
After Yukino's special training, Saika now also had some spirit, constantly pushing forward for the tennis he loved.
"Let's stop here for now. You two should rest for a bit. Totsuka-kun, adjust your breathing and rhythm properly, or the chances of injury will increase."
Yukino spoke from the side.
"Okay."
Luke stopped his serving rhythm and glanced at the now-empty bottles nearby. He asked them, "I'm going to buy drinks. Do you need anything?"
"N-no."
"No need."
The two who were awake answered.
The half-asleep Yui continued her nap.
After leaving the tennis court and heading toward the school store, Luke saw Hikigaya Hachiman sitting in front of the special building, eating lunch with a look of impatience.
There was also a very strange guy beside him.
"Hachiman?"
He curiously walked over and shifted his gaze to the guy beside Hachiman.
Even though Luke already felt that the weather, close to early summer, had become quite warm, this strange guy was still wearing a coat and a pair of fingerless gloves.
It was a very distinctive and special style.
"Yo."
Hachiman answered unclearly.
"Hm? Who's this?"
Luke cast a puzzled gaze toward the chubby, strange guy beside him.
"Someone I don't know."
Hachiman said that directly.
"Y-you actually say you don't know me, your comrade! …You wound me deeply, Hachiman!"
The strange guy immediately shouted.
"We clearly once passed through those hellish days together…"
"We were just put into the same group in PE class!"
Seeing Luke's strange gaze, Hachiman could not help retorting to explain.
"Hmph! Is that not hell? Finding friends to form groups by yourself? Heh, heh, heh… I know not when I shall perish, fated never to let my heart love."
The strange person looked into the distance with deep emotion.
"So?"
Luke was still somewhat confused.
"In short, his name is Zaimokuza Yoshiteru."
Hachiman also said that with a headache.
"Hachiman, have you finally recalled the sealed memories? Yes. My name is Zaimokuza Yoshiteru—Swordmaster General, Zaimokuza Yoshiteru!"
The problem boy named Zaimokuza Yoshiteru shook his gray hair and coat, announcing his name to Luke.
"Uh… Are you really not hot in that coat?"
Luke asked the question he had wanted to ask most after walking over.
"How could I be hot? This is one of my twelve divine artifacts. After I reincarnated into this world, I deliberately transformed it into the form best suited for this body."
Yoshiteru said that while sweating.
"Oh. Chuunibyou."
Luke completely reached his conclusion about this guy.
An incredibly correct conclusion.
Chuunibyou: treating the special abilities and mysterious energies that exist in anime, novels, and games as real, pretending in reality that one possesses such powers, and even adding all sorts of strange settings to oneself, society, or even the entire world.
Zaimokuza Yoshiteru was precisely that kind of person.
Having been bluntly exposed, Yoshiteru trembled and said, "Ughaa—! I-I am not some… some chuunibyou. This world truly does have dark powers, and they are attempting to destroy the entire world. I am protecting this world."
Mm. Luke did agree with that.
"Then you… keep it up."
Luke said.
"So, did you need something?"
Hachiman asked him.
"Oh. I was curious… and also came over to ask why you didn't go help Saika."
"This guy insisted on taking up my lunch break."
Hachiman glanced at Yoshiteru, who had lowered his head in gloom even though someone had clearly agreed with him, then asked, "So, what did you call me here for?"
"Ah, ah!"
Yoshiteru instantly recovered and hurriedly rummaged through his clothes, pulling out a stack of papers.
"I received enlightenment from a god in my dream and completed this epic masterpiece. I was just about to invite you to appreciate it."
"Not reading it."
Hachiman answered directly.
"Ugh—! Don't reject me so quickly! You are about to become the first person besides me to witness its birth!"
Yoshiteru hurriedly said.
"You couldn't find anyone else to read it, could you?"
Hachiman also bluntly rejected him again.
"H-how could that be! Hiratsuka-sensei told me that within this school, there is a club capable of granting students' wishes. I-I only let you read it first because of the bond between us."
Luke, who was standing beside them and glancing at the novel manuscript in Yoshiteru's hands, froze.
Granting wishes?
That damn adult!
…
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