Chapter 343: The Great Detective Sakurai Saki
Inside the student council room.
Shinomiya Kaguya entered through the door — she was on cleaning duty today, so she arrived a bit late.
"What are you talking about?"
"About the transfer student." Sakurai Saki replied.
Their conversation had shifted to Shijo Mikado.
"Shijo Mikado?"
"Yes." Sakurai Saki nodded.
Kaguya set her bag down, then went to make tea.
"Sakurai-san, let me tell you something interesting — I knew him when we were little." Shinomiya Kaguya said seriously.
"Childhood friends?"
Or rather, childhood friends sent by the plot itself? What kind of monster is this guy? His character attributes are way too strong!
"Umu, back then he said he would take me away from the Shinomiya household and give me freedom."
"..." Sakurai Saki fell silent.
The other party's intention was obvious — she just wanted to make him jealous.
But was he that easy to fool?
"Today he even called me 'Hime-sama.'"
Kaguya: (˵ ¬ᴗ¬˵)
"Oh." That single word squeezed out between Sakurai Saki's teeth was enough to show what he thought.
"But I already refused."
Hearing he slightly sulky tone, the corners of Shinomiya Kaguya's lips lifted into a faint smile.
The smell of jealousy was thick.
Sakurai Saki like this was actually quite cute.
"Now that you mention it, does the President have some sort of grudge with Shijo Mikado? I saw you two talking for quite a while today." Shinomiya Kaguya asked Shirogane Miyuki, who was working at his desk.
Shirogane Miyuki put his pen down and answered, "Didn't I tell you? Two years ago, I took a comprehensive aptitude test — and Shijo Mikado beat me by 20 points."
"20 points?!" The hand holding Kaguya-sama's teapot trembled slightly.
"Wasn't that embarrassing?" Sakurai Saki laughed gleefully.
Seeing that, Shirogane Miyuki wasn't amused. "Hey! Aren't we on the same side? How can you still laugh at me?"
"Did you get back at him after that? You managed to stay at the top of the social studies division for quite a while."
"I completely stopped taking that exam after that!" Shirogane Miyuki corrected, "But Shijo Mikado's a decent guy. We get along pretty well now."
"Turning an enemy into a friend? Sounds like a shounen manga plotline." Sakurai Saki rested his right hand under his chin, thinking. "Just now I was still planning to destroy his personality, Shirogane — now you're making me confused."
"Why is it that every time you say something like that, I always feel like you might actually do it?" Shirogane Miyuki asked.
"I don't like lying, Shirogane." Sakurai Saki said with a serious face.
"So you really are an Esper?" Shirogane Miyuki asked casually.
Sakurai Saki: "..."
These days, no one believes the truth anymore.
At that moment, Shinomiya Kaguya had finished brewing the tea. She set a cup on the President's desk, then sat down next to Sakurai Saki.
She whispered, "Are you jealous?"
Sakurai Saki glanced at Shirogane Miyuki, who was still busy reviewing documents, then leaned close to Kaguya's ear and whispered, "Isn't this the result you wanted?"
Sakurai: (≖⩊≖)
Kaguya: (⸝⸝0⸝⸝0⸝⸝)
Kaguya felt a ticklish sensation in her ear. "Don't do that."
This was the student council room — what if someone saw them?
"Shirogane's busy with paperwork, don't worry."
"Mm~" Kaguya's face turned bright red as she gently pushed him away, her voice faint, "Don't touch me."
"Alright then."
Having successfully gotten back at her, Sakurai Saki lifted his teacup and took a small sip.
...
Leaving the student council room,
Sakurai Saki prepared to head home. Today, Hayasaka Ai had said she'd go buy some cooking ingredients, so she'd left early.
With no other choice, Sakurai Saki had to go home alone.
Just as he stepped out of the school gate,
Sakurai Saki stopped walking.
"Yami? What are you doing here?"
"Investigating all your actions." The blonde girl — Yami — stood by the gate, holding a book in her hands, reading as she spoke.
Yami: ( ,,⩌'︿'⩌,,)
"To kill me?"
"No. Keeping you alive is the better option."
Sakurai Saki ignored her and was about to head back.
Seeing that, Yami immediately followed behind him.
The two of them — one in front, one behind.
They walked like that for over ten minutes. Nearing Mita Station, Sakurai Saki finally lost his patience: "How long are you planning to keep following me?"
Even though the girl claimed to be his sister, the two of them shared no blood relation whatsoever.
Back then, Sakurai Saki once said he wanted a little sister — but the kind he had in mind was a gentle and cute one, like Shirogane Kei, for example.
As for Yami, when it came to being a little sister... other than being cute, everything else failed miserably!
"Until you agree to return to the organization."
"Then let me tell you this — you'll be waiting for a long time." Sakurai Saki glanced toward a store in front of him.
Taiyaki. He remembered Hayasaka Ai once saying that this place's Taiyaki was delicious — quite famous around here.
Thinking that, Sakurai Saki stepped forward to line up.
Yami followed behind him.
At this point, she looked just like a newborn chick following its mother bird around.
More than ten minutes later, the two of them sat down on a bench in the nearby park.
"Here." Sakurai Saki handed her a Taiyaki.
"Thank you." Yami accepted it, taking small bites.
This girl was actually pretty well-mannered.
"Don't follow me home later."
"Mn."
Using Taiyaki to bribe this "cheap little sister," he finally got her to give up on following him home — at least for now.
Mainly because… her apartment was in the next building over, less than a hundred meters away.
...
When he got home,
Hayasaka Ai was cooking.
"Saki-chan~ Where's Yami? You didn't bring her home? I thought you'd invite her over to play."
"Huh?" Sakurai Saki thought he'd misheard.
Logically speaking, his girlfriend should only know the name "Eve," and with a codename like "Golden Darkness," there's no way she should have known that.
"Your chuunibyou little sister — she looks just like your younger brother, Zero-One." Ai-chan poked her head out of the kitchen. "Does everyone in your family like calling each other by code names or something?"
"Wait a second, I don't get it. When did you even meet Eve?"
"That day, when I came back from Kyoto with Kaguya. I ran into her by chance on the flight."
After that, Hayasaka Ai recounted how the three of them met.
All Sakurai Saki could do was sigh in disbelief — this planet really was small.
————
After the new term began, life didn't change much.
Still peaceful as always.
Except for one small issue — his powers were unstable this time.
On the first Sunday after the start of term, Sakurai Saki woke up to find that he'd shrunk — this was the first time he'd experienced something like this.
[Today's Superpower: Time Jump]
[Effect: Random time travel]
[Side effect: Body shrinks, other effects unknown]
Today he was supposed to visit Nakano Itsuki's house to help her with her make-up lessons.
Now what? Cancel?
But Sakurai Saki wasn't the type to break a promise. In short, if he said he'd do something for someone, he would see it through to the end.
If an Esper couldn't even handle something this small, then he'd never make it through real hardships.
Curse Chef once said: "Aim for the highest and you'll reach the average; aim for the average and you'll only reach the lowest; but if you aim for the lowest, you won't reach anything at all."
Curse Chef: （￣へ￣）
Standing before the bathroom sink, Sakurai Saki looked into the mirror.
"One meter thirty — so this is what Miko-chan feels like every day?"
To be honest, it felt pretty refreshing.
Having his field of vision drop by fifty centimeters all of a sudden was actually kind of interesting.