Chapter 126: Sakurai Saki Wants to Be Hated
Monday.
The sky was overcast. Lately, the temperature had started rising.
It was mid-May, almost summer, and next week would be the Sports Festival.
During his morning jog, Sakurai Saki tested today's superpower — measuring favorability levels.
It was simple: he could see how much others liked him. This number fluctuated constantly, since "favorability" was ultimately a subjective thing.
A girl might be in love with him one second, with her favorability surging, only to hate him the next, with it plummeting — maybe just because of a single comment.
However, in the park he often visited, the favorability levels of random passersby all stayed above 65.
This wasn't the first time Sakurai Saki had randomly drawn this ability.
He already had a rough idea of how to interpret the values:
0–40: Hostile. Dislike at first sight.
40–60: Strangers. Won't even glance at each other when passing by.
60–70: Casual acquaintances. Might not even say hello at school.
70–80: Close friends. Will greet you, might offer help if you're in trouble.
80–90: Best friends / Lovers. No explanation needed—this was the level of Shirogane Miyuki and Fujiwara Chika, and both had very high scores. This was from the last time Sakurai Saki used the ability, which was nearly half a year ago—before he joined the student council.
90–100: Ride-or-die friends / Deep romantic love. The former is self-explanatory; the latter means [love without reason], [passionate love]. At this level, Sakurai Saki felt only his mom qualified.
Today, the student on disciplinary duty from the Shuchiin Academy's Disciplinary Committee wasn't Miko-chan, which left Sakurai Saki rather disappointed.
He had practically turned into a lifeless creature if he didn't get to see Iino Miko every day.
Mainly because now he didn't dare tease Chika anymore.
Back when he didn't like her, he could treat her like a toy. But now that he liked her, he couldn't bring himself to do it. Maybe this was the compassion of a person with superpowers?
Sakurai Saki pushed his bike as he entered the school grounds.
He glanced behind him — the girl with glasses looked like Osaragi Kobachi, the one who always followed Miko-chan around, practically like her guardian mommy.
Sakurai Saki looked at her facial features — very pretty, but the glasses ruined her aura.
A beauty hiding among the common crowd? Remove the glasses and she'd be a stunning knockout? What era was this? Still using that tired trope? Isn't that cheesy as hell?
He tried checking her favorability level.
Even if they barely talked, surely it wouldn't be lower than 60, right? Sakurai Saki was fairly confident in that. This confidence came from the past half-year he'd spent building up his public image.
[Favorability Level: 41?]
Sakurai: (⊙ _ ⊙ ) ?!
Huh?
Why?
Sakurai Saki couldn't understand. That level was barely above hostility. The kind where if he tripped and fell, she'd probably just stand there and laugh.
He had no idea why she hated him that much, but Sakurai Saki didn't care.
¯\_(- > -)_/¯
He only cared about how people he liked felt about him. As for weeds on the roadside like her, he didn't have the energy to pay attention.
On the way, students kept greeting him.
Sakurai Saki decided to turn off his ability entirely—today's power had no side effects anyway.
He changed into his indoor shoes and walked toward the classroom door.
"Morning, Sakurai! You look pretty refreshed. Had a good rest over the weekend, huh?"
Kazamatsuri Gou, his classmate, with [Favorability Level: 75] floating above his head, patted him on the shoulder.
"…I did get some rest." Sakurai Saki had slept very well on Saturday night.
"Looks like they'll be dividing teams for the Sports Festival later. As long as enough people want to join, the teachers will let you sign up," Kazamatsuri said as he slung an arm over Sakurai Saki's shoulder and dragged him into the classroom.
"What event do you want to join? Soccer?"
"Volleyball," Sakurai Saki answered immediately. He had already decided.
"Shirogane said he wants to play volleyball too…"
Kazamatsuri had a strange expression on his face as he finished speaking.
"Well… how should I put it… Shirogane's volleyball skills still have a lot of room for growth. Just don't be too shocked when the time comes." Kazamatsuri laughed heartily and returned to his seat.
Sakurai Saki, face full of question marks, walked over to the window.
"Toyosaki, good morning."
[Favorability Level: 76]
"Good morning, Sakurai."
"Sakurai-san, good morning!" A girl greeted him cheerfully.
[Favorability Level: 70?]
"Good morning."
Sakurai Saki sat down and glanced around the classroom.
Most favorability levels were in the 65–80 range. That seemed reasonable. It looked like he was pretty well-liked in class.
Sakurai Saki looked down and started organizing the things in his desk.
And then he saw—
[Favorability Level: 96?]
Sakurai: (っ º - º ς)!!
...Too intense.
This love is way too heavy! Shinobu!
Sakurai Saki pretended he didn't see it.
All he could say was, the bond between a vampire and her blood kin really wasn't something ordinary people could understand. Now the two of them were practically tied together by life itself, so a favorability level like this was… reasonable.
But still, it was just too intense. This kind of love that weighed someone else's entire life onto yours—Sakurai Saki really didn't think he could handle it.
He only saved her in the first place to gain another helper, not… this!
Sakurai Saki took out the textbooks he needed for later.
Then he spaced out, staring out the window — another cloudy day, his favorite kind of weather.
A while later, a cheerful voice rang out in his ears.
It was Hayasaka Ai, using her gyaru mode to greet her friends.
Turning his head, Sakurai Saki glanced at the top of Ai-chan's head.
[Favorability Level: 88]
That was still within the normal range.
The kind of level normal couples could reach — like, if he got run over by Truck-kun right in front of her, she'd probably carry that grudge for the rest of her life.
"Good morning, Ai-chan~"
ヾ(•ω•`)o
Sakurai Saki called out in a familiar tone.
Last week, because he'd doubted whether they were truly dating, he had been a bit awkward.
Now that misunderstanding had been cleared up, he could go back to using that form of address.
"Sakurai-chan~ Good morning to you too!"
ヾ(๑╹ꇴ◠๑)ﾉ"
Hayasaka Ai, in gyaru mode, was bold as ever. The moment she spoke, she immediately stuck close to Sakurai Saki like always.
The class's drama-chasers seemed totally fine with it.
Eating dog food like this had become routine. They were almost immune to emotional damage at this point.
Faced with Ai-chan's affectionate hug, Sakurai Saki helplessly glanced toward the classroom door.
Class was about to start.
"Come on, let go. Class is starting soon," Sakurai Saki gently patted her back.
Hayasaka Ai looked a bit reluctant, but still let go.
Hayasaka: ( ｡ • ᴖ • ｡)
She whispered, "Let's eat lunch together today?"
Sakurai Saki nodded, "Sure."
It was just changing the lunch spot from the student council room to the classroom.
While the two were chatting, Sakurai Saki saw Shinomiya Kaguya walk in through the classroom door.
And then he froze — like a stone statue.
[Favorability Level: 80?]
Sakurai: ( ◉ _ ◉ ) !!!!!!!!!
This was a number stuck between friendship and love…
"What's wrong?" Hayasaka Ai noticed his expression was a little off.
Then she followed his gaze — and saw Kaguya-sama.
'It's probably about the last exam…'
Hayasaka Ai still remembered: during that midterm, she had been on the phone with Sakurai Saki until nearly 1 a.m.
The fact that Sakurai didn't do well on the exam — she felt mostly responsible.
But what Hayasaka Ai didn't know was — right now, what Sakurai Saki was thinking:
'I need to find a way to lower her favorability level!'
This couldn't wait!
It was urgent—like a fire licking at his heels!
Best to act today!