Curious as she was, Yūki Asuna didn't press for more information. Although she and Asagiri had cleared an instance together, they had only just met today. Prying into private matters wasn't appropriate.
"Shall we... go in together then?"
"Alright, let's go in together."
Asagiri didn't decline and walked directly into Shuchiin Academy with Yūki Asuna. At the same time, he took a deep breath and exclaimed sentimentally.
"This refreshing, intoxicating scent... it truly is the youthful aura emanating from the start of high school in early spring... Oh wait, I think that's just you."
Hearing this, Yūki Asuna, who had been hesitating about how to discuss serious matters with Asagiri, was caught off guard and instinctively let out a confused sound.
"Ah?"
Only then did she grasp the meaning of his words. Her fair cheeks instantly flushed, but she tried to maintain a calm composure.
"I... I took a shower after that. Didn't you?"
"Yūki-chan."
Asagiri glanced around, then said flatly.
"Your voice is too loud, and what you just said is far too easy to misunderstand."
Yūki Asuna realized that the surrounding students were all looking shocked after she had spoken that sentence.
She immediately realized that what she said sounded rather improper.
After that, shower. And the crucial point was that in her attempt to hide her embarrassment, she had instinctively asked Asagiri, Didn't you take a shower?
This made it sound like the two of them had engaged in some... activity that required a shower...
"Well... let's walk a bit faster."
Yūki Asuna's pretty face was bright red. She lowered her head, whispered this, and then quickened her pace, walking with Asagiri toward the Shuchiin academic building.
They didn't get a chance to discuss the instance matters along the way, as there were simply too many students around.
Both Yūki Asuna and Asagiri were very clear that their identity as a "Player" must never be revealed.
"We can talk during lunch break."
Hearing Asagiri's words, Yūki Asuna nodded and entered the 1st Year B Class classroom.
Asagiri's 1st Year A Class classroom was right next door. He walked in confidently, ignoring the curious gazes of the students already seated, and headed straight for the window-side corner seat at the very back of the classroom—famously known as the "Throne of the King." He pulled out the chair and sat down.
The attention on him didn't last long. A few minutes later, a slight, bustling noise suddenly came from the corridor outside the classroom, followed by complete silence.
In the ensuing silence, a beautiful girl, dressed in the Shuchiin Academy uniform with black knee-high socks and delicate leather shoes, with long, straight black hair, a beautiful face, and a tall, slender figure, slowly stepped into the A Class classroom.
All the students in the classroom instinctively turned their gazes toward the girl. However, after getting a clear look at her face, they immediately looked away, seemingly both curious and eager to avoid her.
Noticing the reactions of her classmates, Shinomiya Kaguya's expression and eyes remained unchanged, as if she had long anticipated this situation.
It had always been like this since she was a child.
As the eldest daughter of the Shinomiya family, she was like an exquisite yet chilling Japanese doll, which subconsciously caused people around her to distance themselves.
Shuchiin Academy had a junior high division, and Shinomiya Kaguya was promoted from there. She only had to glance around to realize that nearly everyone in the classroom was a familiar face. A few were even in her class during junior high.
Yet... no one came up to greet her.
Everyone's eyes avoided her.
Just like in junior high...
"Hmm?"
As Shinomiya Kaguya was thinking this, she noticed a boy sitting in the corner of the classroom watching her. Unlike the other students, his gaze was completely open and undisguised. Even when she looked over and made eye contact with him, he didn't avoid her gaze like a normal person would.
She had no recollection of this very handsome boy, which meant he hadn't been promoted from the Shuchiin junior high division.
Could it be that...
He doesn't recognize me?
Shinomiya Kaguya thought this to herself, but outwardly, she maintained the etiquette of the eldest daughter of the Shinomiya family, giving Asagiri a slight nod where he sat. There was no trace of the shyness or awkwardness of an ordinary girl, only the dignified demeanor expected of the Shinomiya heiress.
But that was the extent of it.
As the eldest daughter of the Shinomiya family, Shinomiya Kaguya could not actively greet a boy on the first day of school.
Seeing Shinomiya Kaguya sit down in the center of the classroom, Asagiri turned his head to look out the window, with only one thing on his mind.
Is Shinomiya Kaguya a Player?
He had to consider this question. On one hand, Shinomiya Kaguya's abilities were ridiculously overpowered: a genius intellect, self-imposed psychological cues for forced calm reasoning, and national-level champion skills in both Kyudo (Japanese archery) and Kendo (Japanese fencing). Compared to most characters in slice-of-life anime, she was practically a superwoman.
And the more crucial reason...
Shinomiya Kaguya was his classmate.
If she was also a Player, he would need to be extremely cautious.
After obtaining Noguchi Kazuomi's phone in the instance and learning that a non-Player could be registered as a new Player by clicking the icon, Asagiri had actually considered whether he should try to turn Shinomiya Kaguya into a Player. After all, given her abilities, she would undoubtedly be an excellent asset.
However, the moment this thought arose, he dismissed it.
Turning Shinomiya Kaguya into an asset?
That was simply unrealistic.
The current Shinomiya Kaguya was in her "Ice Kaguya" phase, full of the cold philosophies of Imperial Education (Teiōgaku), skilled at using people, and possessing a stubborn pride bordering on obsession as the Shinomiya heiress. Asagiri simply could not believe that she would meekly serve as his subordinate after becoming a Player.
Besides, he couldn't so easily reveal his Player identity to someone with absolutely no basis for trust, someone he didn't even know.
So, could Shinomiya Kaguya, like him and Yūki Asuna, have already been selected as a Player?
Asagiri wasn't sure, primarily because he remembered...
Shinomiya Kaguya... didn't own her own smartphone.