When Kanjuro's gaze met Takashiro Hiroko's in the air, she suddenly felt an inexplicable sense of unease and dread... This man was definitely not as simple as he seemed.
Those deep eyes seemed able to pierce through her soul, making her involuntarily recall that eerie night in the Library—she had accidentally discovered a string of peculiar symbols in the ancient books section, those twisted lines appearing to writhe on the pages as if they were alive.
Out of curiosity for the occult, she had possessedly traced the symbol with her finger;
The next moment, the entire Library was swallowed by a sudden fire.
Even more terrifyingly, amidst the raging flames, she clearly saw crimson tentacles waving across the sky, and images of books consumed by the fire turning into ash.
"Classmate Ye, where would you like to sit?" The teacher's inquiry pulled his attention back to reality.
Kanjuro calmly surveyed the classroom, his gaze lingering on several girls with outstanding looks.
In his eyes, these people were nothing more than lambs waiting to be slaughtered.
At the other end of the classroom, a young girl dressed in a pale pink kimono was quietly sizing him up, whispering to herself, "Is he from the China?"
She sat exceptionally elegantly, the sleeves of her kimono embroidered with exquisite cherry blossom patterns.
"Classmate Yukinoshita, do you know Classmate Ye?" Yui, sitting beside her, asked curiously.
This girl with a pink ponytail blinked her large eyes, her tone lively and cute.
The girl called Yukinoshita shook her head slightly, the hem of her kimono sleeves swaying gently with the movement.
She came from a traditional family with a long heritage and usually presented a gentle image, but in reality, she was proud and had an extreme obsession with cleanliness.
At this moment, although she maintained a proper smile on the surface, her eyes held a sense of distance.
Watching these two girls with such different styles, Kanjuro couldn't help but think of Yukinoshita Yukino and Yui Yuigahama from 'Oregairu'.
But he quickly realized this was impossible; looking down at the data in the student handbook, the year was clearly wrong—it was now the end of the 20th century. These two before him were likely the mother's generation of those two classic characters.
"Teacher," Kanjuro raised his hand, pointing to the empty seat next to Takashiro Hiroko, "I want to sit there."
The teacher nodded: "Then sit next to Classmate Takashiro; you'll be desk mates."
Kanjuro walked through the classroom aisle and took his seat beside Takashiro Hiroko.
He discreetly glanced at her open notebook, which was filled with strange symbols.
Takashiro Hiroko kept her head down, deliberately avoiding his gaze.
"Kanjuro-kun! I'm over here, do you still remember me?" Reika Kitami waved happily from the other side of the classroom.
Kanjuro returned a gentle smile. Kitami's face turned slightly red, feeling that their meeting this morning was simply an arrangement of fate.
However, this heartwarming scene made Takashiro Hiroko furrow her brows.
Recalling the President's previous warning, she couldn't help but wonder: why would a woman the President specifically told her to watch out for be acquainted with this transfer student? Just who was he?
Throughout the entire lesson, Kanjuro stared out the window with his chin in his hand, showing no intention of interacting with the campus goddess beside him.
All the words Takashiro Hiroko had prepared were useless; this feeling of being ignored made her both confused and somewhat indignant.
The lunch break bell finally rang.
Just as Kanjuro was about to get up, Takashiro Hiroko blocked his path.
"Kanjuro-kun." Her voice carried a hint of scrutiny.
The two were very close; Kanjuro could smell the faint floral fragrance on her.
He deliberately took a deep breath, a frivolous action that made Takashiro Hiroko frown slightly.
"What is it, Classmate Takashiro?"
"Who exactly are you?" she asked coldly.
"Just an ordinary transfer student."
"Is that so?" She raised an eyebrow. "Then why is the teacher so obedient to you?"
"Maybe because I'm quite charming?" Kanjuro chuckled, suddenly reaching out to tilt her chin up.
Taking advantage of the moment she was stunned, his other hand brushed over the notebook on her desk.
"Hebrew? It seems to be some kind of special incantation."
Kanjuro thoughtfully memorized the text on the paper. "Script from the West Asian region of Israel... Is this the interest of your Occult Research Society?"
Takashiro Hiroko snapped back to her senses, hugged her notebook to her chest, glared at him with gloomy eyes, and turned to walk away quickly.
"Kanjuro-kun, what happened?" Reika Kitami walked over at the right time and asked gently.
Kanjuro gave a harmless smile: "Nothing, it just seems Classmate Takashiro is very mysterious."
"She's the vice-president of the Occult Research Society,"
Kitami tilted her head and explained, "She's always sensitive to supernatural phenomena; don't take it to heart."
As she spoke, she unconsciously tightened her grip on her lunch box.
"Want to go have lunch together?" Kanjuro issued an invitation at the opportune moment.
A joyful smile blossomed on Kitami's face, but she immediately noticed the jealous gazes from the girls around them.
'—Seducing men again,' 'How disgusting'—the whispers made her instinctively shrink her shoulders.
Kanjuro naturally took her hand: "Let's go, I really want to try Classmate Kitami's bento."
"Okay!" Kitami followed with a beet-red face, a surge of warmth rising in her heart.
When everyone else rejected her, only Kanjuro was willing to get close.
At the other end of the classroom, Yuihama Yoko leaned into Yukinoshita Seiga's ear: "Everyone hates Kitami, but Kanjuro-kun is so good to her; he's truly a gentle person."
Yukinoshita Seiga shook her head slightly, her kimono sleeves swaying: "This transfer student isn't simple. Takashiro Hiroko was already acting weird, and now she's involved with him... Yuigahama, we need to keep a close eye on them."
Her gaze followed Kanjuro's departing back.
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