After finishing breakfast, Lin and his group returned to Earth's main world.
Lin changed into his school uniform.
Once dressed, he headed to school.
Before leaving, Lin asked Tohru and the others to teach Kanna about common sense in this world to avoid any unnecessary trouble.
After arriving at the classroom.
Lin greeted his classmates.
People like Kotegawa Yui, and Yumiko Miura's trio.
He also took the initiative to say hello to Haruna Sairenji.
After all, it seemed there was some kind of story between them.
Her Codex entry had been unlocked long ago.
At 9:20, after class ended.
After the exceptionally brilliant math teacher left, Lin gently poked the waist of Megumi Katō, who sat in front of him, with the end of his pen.
"Ah!"
Megumi Katō suddenly sat bolt upright, letting out a soft cry.
She quickly turned to look at Lin.
A ripple appeared in her eyes, and her fair cheeks seemed to flush slightly.
"Lin-san, what are you doing?"
The expression on her face was still more or less the same as usual.
Although it was just for a fleeting moment.
Lin still noticed something slightly different about Megumi Katō's face.
He smiled at her and said:
"Sorry, Katō. I didn't take notes during class just now, so I was hoping to borrow your math notes for a look."
"Let me borrow yesterday's notes, too."
"Didn't take notes..."
Megumi Katō's eyes flickered upon hearing this.
She stared intently at Lin, a hint of disbelief on her face.
Lin met her gaze.
His eyes were deep, his expression composed.
He really hadn't taken notes.
And it had been on purpose.
"Okay..."
After a moment of eye contact, Megumi Katō spoke softly, turned to get her notebook, and then handed it to Lin.
"Thanks, Katō."
Lin took the notebook with a smile.
"You're welcome."
Megumi Katō said calmly, her gaze flickering slightly.
"I'm stepping out for a bit."
Looking at Lin, she stood up and left through the back door of the classroom.
"Okay..."
Lin watched Megumi Katō's retreating figure, then looked down at the notebook.
He opened her notebook.
Hmm, her handwriting is neat and elegant.
And her summaries are good.
A curve formed at the corner of his mouth. Taking his own notebook from his desk, Lin began to copy quickly.
Since he'd borrowed it, of course he was going to copy it.
He hadn't taken notes precisely so he could borrow them from Megumi Katō, thereby closing the distance between them little by little.
Megumi Katō must have noticed.
But it was obvious.
She didn't mind him doing this.
Noon arrived.
Lin headed toward the school cafeteria.
He hadn't asked Tohru to prepare a bento for him today.
After arriving at the cafeteria, he browsed around.
In the end, he ordered a large unagi don.
After a leisurely lunch, Lin went and bought two drinks.
One orange juice.
One peach-flavored.
Back in the classroom, under the watchful eyes of some classmates (like Yumiko Miura), Lin called out to Megumi Katō.
"Katō, turn around for a sec~ˇ ."
Megumi Katō, who was looking at her phone, stirred at his words. She turned off her screen and turned to face Lin with a calm expression:
"Is something wrong?"
Her gaze flickered over to the drinks.
A ripple seemed to pass through her eyes.
Lin smiled slightly. "As a thank you for borrowing your notes this morning, pick one of these two drinks, Katō."
Megumi Katō's eyes flickered, but her expression remained calm. "That's not necessary. You already thanked me, Lin-san."
"I only lent you my notes."
Lin chuckled. "There's a saying that knowledge is priceless. Besides, I think your notes are really well done, Katō."
"Who knows, maybe because you lent me your notes, I'll end up taking first place on the midterms."
"That's an exaggeration."
Hearing this, Megumi Katō blinked, and the corners of her mouth lifted imperceptibly.
Because Lin wasn't the freshman representative.
So right now, besides Kotegawa Yui, none of the other classmates knew he was actually the one who'd scored first on the entrance exams.
The school hadn't published the rankings either.
Therefore, aside from using the well-known "freshman representative" title to judge who was number one...
...almost no one knew the actual situation.
Although she could guess from his questions during breaks that Lin's grades were probably excellent, she hadn't guessed he was first.
Anyone who could get into the top 100 of their year at Private United High School was already a super-achiever.
She guessed Lin was probably in the top 100, but his specific rank was unknown.
Now, hearing Lin say he might take first place on the midterms because of her notes made her a little happy.
Even if it was just a joke.
It still conveyed that Lin considered her notes important.
"Not at all, it's no exaggeration."
Lin winked with a smile. "With your notes, Katō, I'm confident I can take first place on these midterms."
"So please, take it."
"Besides, I might have to trouble you again in the future, Katō."
"...Alright."
After a moment of silence, Megumi Katō said this and took the peach-flavored one.
She had clearly accepted it by default.
She didn't reject the idea that Lin would trouble her again in the future.
"Is there anything else?"
She asked softly, looking at Lin.
"Yes, there is."
Lin nodded.
"What is it?"
Megumi Katō blinked, a faint trace of confusion appearing in her eyes.
Lin took out his phone. "To exchange contact info, of course. We don't have each other's yet."
"If I need to find you for something in the future, Katō, I won't be able to if I don't have your contact info."
"` ¨Eh..."
Megumi Katō instantly grasped the key point, her eyes narrowing slightly.
Her heart couldn't help but beat a little faster.
She understood the nearly explicit implication in Lin's words.
He clearly wanted to take their relationship a step further.
He wanted to be able to contact her not just at school, but outside of it as well.
After all, as classmates, he could always find her at school when he needed to, even without contact info.
There was a bit of hesitation in her heart.
It wasn't that she didn't want to get closer, but for other reasons.
She met Lin's gaze.
Gazing into those deep, captivating, sapphire-blue starry eyes, Megumi Katō was momentarily lost in a daze. When she came to her senses, she said softly:
"Okay."
"Let's exchange then."
Seeing that Megumi Katō was willing to take another step, Lin's smile grew bright.
And so, the two exchanged contact information.
Email addresses, LINE contacts, and even their phone numbers.
After they were done, Megumi Katō turned back around and took a sip of her peach-flavored drink.
Mmm, it's a little sweet.
The second period in the afternoon was P.E.
After everyone finished their warm-up exercises led by the teacher, it was time for semi-free activity.
They could choose their own sport to play.
Yumiko Miura approached with Yui Yuigahama and Hina Ebina, an expectant look on her face as she extended an invitation:
"Lin, want to play tennis with us?"
"Sure."
Lin nodded with a smile.
And so, the four of them walked and chatted.
Lin: "I noticed before that you're really good at tennis, Yumiko. You must have been in the tennis club, right?"
Yumiko Miura said with a smile, "You guessed right, Lin. I was indeed in the tennis club in middle school."
Hina Ebina pushed up her glasses and said, "Yumiko was even the prefectural tournament representative for the tennis club."
"Is that so? That's really impressive."
Lin looked at Yumiko Miura with feigned surprise, though he vaguely remembered that this was indeed the case.
In the Japanese administrative system, a prefecture is equivalent to a province in China. Being a prefectural representative showed her skill level.
Lin's group of four headed to the tennis court.
Not far away, Haruna Sairenji glanced at Lin and his group, her eyes flickering, before she also headed toward the tennis court with her friends.
She was a member of the girls' tennis club.
________________________________________
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