"See you later, huh…"
Asakura sat in the classroom, feeling a bit troubled.
Yukino's investigation and contact with Togawa Sakiko should also begin after school. However, considering that both requests essentially came from Hiratsuka Shizuka, perhaps her personal request to guide the transfer student Chihaya Anon around the school had a higher priority?
"Ultimately, it shouldn't be that much trouble, right?"
Asakura muttered to himself.
In the original work, Yukino and Big Bro seemed to have spent a lot of time to sort out the girl named Kawasaki. Now, although it might be due to the butterfly effect or changes in the world line, the target has become Togawa Sakiko, whom I've never heard of. However, since she's a part-time warrior, the problem she encounters definitely won't be too different, probably something like not having enough pocket money for tutoring or needing to earn her own university tuition.
—No matter what, she couldn't possibly be worse off than me, who only has a meager three thousand yen for living expenses, right?
This way, I wouldn't need to bother following Yukino through the whole process; I could just directly offer a solution.
"Hey, hey, Asakura-kun, are you listening?"
During the break, when Asakura came back to his senses, he found that Yanami had sat down in front of his seat at some point and was waving her hand in front of him.
"I'm listening, I'm listening—" Asakura replied distractedly, "Yanami's weight is 100kg, right?"
"Not only was he not listening, but he was also shamelessly spreading rumors in public!"
Yanami was completely stunned: "I'm not that heavy!"
"But two Yanamis definitely weigh over 100kg, right?"
Asakura said casually.
"You, what evidence do you have!"
The girl sprang up from her seat, her expression stiff and her tone dazed, her inner turmoil seemingly very obvious.
Asakura thought for a moment, then reached out and pinched the exposed thigh of the other party's absolute territory.
"I have already obtained the evidence."
"Rather than saying you've obtained evidence, it's more like you've mastered the art of annoying people—" Yanami's eye twitched, and she slapped away the other party's demonic hand, "Damn it, I'm even angry at myself for inexplicably getting used to your rude attitude, to the point where I can't even get mad…"
"This is what's called 'the greatest sorrow is a heart that has died'."
Asakura nodded solemnly.
"That's not it at all!"
The girl pounded the table in dissatisfaction, "Sometimes I even doubt the authenticity of Asakura-kun's top-ranking humanities scores."
"Oh? Do you, with your meager abilities, dare to question me, who has mastered the power of Huanggang Haidian 35?"
"I don't understand what you're saying anymore…"
"Stop getting off-topic, let's get to the point."
Asakura said impatiently, resting his chin on his hand.
"Weren't you the one who got off-topic from the beginning!"
The girl said through gritted teeth, her fiery demeanor looking as if she was about to rush over and give Asakura two cream bread punches.
"We were talking about Yanami's weight being 100kg, right?"
"Right, right… Not! We're talking about Yuigahama!"
"You call her Yui-chan in front of her, but Yuigahama behind her back—" Asakura made a tutting sound, looking at Yanami with an 'you're no good' expression, "Sweetie will be angry if she finds out."
"Who's Sweetie! Don't change the subject!"
Yanami said seriously, "The eighteenth is Yu… Yui's birthday, didn't you know?"
"I know."
"You really don't know… Huh?"
The girl looked at Asakura in surprise.
"Why are you so surprised? I know when all the Magic Club members' birthdays are."
Asakura naturally counted on his fingers and replied, "Yours is November 29th, Lemon's is August 1st, Yukino's is January 3rd. Also, for example, I know the birthday of Nukumizu Kazuhiko's sister, who is in the same class, is tomorrow. I know everything clearly, it's just that there's no need to mention it on a daily basis."
"It's one thing to know the birthdays of Magic Club members, but why do you even know the birthday of a classmate's sister?"
Yanami rubbed her arms, looking at Asakura with a slight chill: "It feels a bit scary…"
"Let's continue talking about Mrs. Cow… Oh no, I mean Sweetie's birthday."
Asakura smiled gently and glossed over it.
"So, who is that!"
Yanami sighed, "Anyway, I'm planning a surprise party with lots of delicious food."
"The main point is the surprise, right?"
Asakura nodded.
"The main point is lots of delicious food."
The girl said, staring intently at him.
"Didn't you just eat at the celebration after the Founders' Festival?"
Asakura rested his chin on his hand, looking at her helplessly.
Although the Elf Kitchen provided a free monthly quota of ingredients, Asakura always felt that Yanami alone could finish all of it, and even have room left to snack on some treats in the clubroom…
"Isn't it better to have as many happy things as possible?"
Yanami Anna spoke eloquently, "It's like you ate your fill for dinner yesterday; does that mean you can't eat your fill tonight?"
"Eating too much for dinner is not good for health."
Asakura responded calmly.
"Is Asakura-kun the kind of person who adds goji berries to his tea?"
The girl exclaimed, "That's an evil path!"
"Aren't goji berries tasty?"
"They are tasty!"
"…"
Because the girl was too direct, Asakura momentarily forgot what he was about to say.
However, while preparing a surprise party for Yuigahama Yui was certainly not a problem, if he agreed so easily, then given Yanami's thick-skinned personality, she might find more bizarre excuses to freeload in the future.
"It's not impossible to prepare a surprise party…"
"It's a surprise party with a big feast!"
"Don't push your luck!"
Asakura poked the girl's soft belly with a stern face, and she slapped his hand away in embarrassment and anger.
"You know, although the Magic Club has become an official club, the club funds haven't been allocated yet. If we're going to prepare a party, I'll have to pay out of my own pocket… Of course, you can sponsor it if you want—what? Plain noodles? No, we don't need that—in short, since I'm paying, you'll have to pay a price too."
Asakura sized up Yanami with ill intentions, then, after making her uneasy, he leisurely spoke, "I probably won't have time to follow up on Yukinoshita's request later. You can go with her for me. Besides that, lean your ear closer, and there's also this and that…"