Student Council Office.
While Arisu Sakayanagi made her way to the school's surveillance room, brazenly wielding her privilege as the Director's daughter, the upperclassmen were just as busy on their own end.
Thanks to the Student Council's unique standing, even though Nagumo and the others hadn't managed to make contact with Koro Sensei and Gojo Satoru right away, they'd still gotten hold of some intel about the newly arrived teachers through the school's usual channels.
After all, times had changed.
Now that the Black Sphere's presiding god had descended with such absolute power, the Student Council no longer held the authority to meddle in exam content the way it once had.
Of course, in another sense, when it came to the Black Sphere, the Student Council and the school administration were both in the same sinking boat now — pure decoration, nothing more.
But even setting that aside — if some school higher-up or faculty member ever got unlucky enough to be dragged into an exam ground as an Intruder, who would they end up counting on to save them, if not students like Nagumo and Chris, armed with their transcendent gear?
Bound together by that kind of mutual dependency, the administration had no real reason to deliberately keep the Student Council's people from digging up intel.
The only real difference was that Chris and the others, as firsthand witnesses on the scene, simply had access to more complete and detailed information.
Still, for Nagumo and his group, what they'd already gathered was more than enough.
So, at roughly the same time they learned Gojo Satoru had gone to negotiate with the Director, Nagumo and the others in the Student Council Office received word about the new elective courses.
Nagumo tossed the documents in his hand onto the desk and made a decision.
"Senior Tachibana, I'm going to go find these new teachers myself and see what's what."
"You stay here and coordinate intel with Chris and his group later."
At that, Akane Tachibana, who'd been sorting papers, paused for a moment.
After a moment's thought, she couldn't hold back a word of caution.
"Going to scope them out is fine."
"But given how often the Black Sphere schedules its exams... even if the new teachers show up this afternoon..."
"If the presiding god only shifted the class schedule around while the exam's habit of springing up early stays the same... shouldn't we return the items we borrowed to Chris and the others first?"
Nagumo rubbed his chin, mulling over her warning.
Deep down, he didn't really think the Black Sphere would be so impatient as to launch straight into the next exam right on the heels of the Revival Round and the arrival of the new teachers — both huge events in their own right.
But what Tachibana said wasn't baseless either.
Nobody could ever fully predict the Black Sphere's twisted sense of humor. The possibility was real.
So Nagumo reached into his pocket, pulled out the [Pilot-Type Mech] capsule he'd borrowed from Chris earlier, and dropped it straight into Tachibana's hand.
"Hand this back to Chris for me. I don't think I'll have time to run the errand myself."
Nagumo slid his hands into his pockets. "As for a return favor for borrowing their gear... I'll lend them the items dropped from killing Ainz Ooal Gown during yesterday's exam."
"But I only have the [Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown] on me — the [Momonga Orb] is with Kiryuuin. Knowing her, though, she'll probably just hand it over to Chris without any fuss. No need for us to worry about it."
With that, Nagumo turned and headed for the door.
"I'll deliver mine to Ryuuen and the others whenever I get a free moment."
"Convenient enough — I've got a little something to discuss with that delinquent Ryuuen anyway."
Tachibana caught the capsule and nodded. "Fine by me."
Then, watching Nagumo's retreating back as he left...
a strange, inexplicable unease stirred inside her.
Honestly, if you looked at it purely from a convenience standpoint...
Nagumo could easily have handed her the [Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown] capsule too and let her deliver both at once.
After all, Ryuuen's Class C wasn't far from Chris's first-year Class A — practically next door, barely a detour.
Yet Nagumo had gone out of his way to insist on delivering it to Ryuuen in person.
However she looked at it, it seemed like he had some ulterior motive.
Could it be... he'd taken a liking to Ryuuen?
Was he planning to use the [Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown] as some kind of token of affection between them!?
The thought sent a shiver down Tachibana's spine, a wave of cold dread washing through her.
She could hardly believe she'd even come up with such an absurd idea.
But in all fairness, no matter how unorthodox Nagumo could be, during Council President Horikita Manabu's absence from school he'd never once tried to erase his predecessor's legacy. If anything, he'd diligently carried on Horikita Manabu's usual policy of conciliation, doing his best to preserve the upperclassmen's combat strength.
If there was any fault to find in him, it was probably only in his thoroughly unrestrained sexual orientation.
Honestly, given her original role as Horikita Manabu's secretary, Tachibana should have felt relieved, if anything.
Relieved that Nagumo wasn't singularly fixated on Horikita Manabu alone — his tastes had simply shifted toward conquering defiant, high-quality men in general.
But... right now, she felt an unusually strong wave of unease.
If she had to dig for the deeper reason...
Much as she hated to admit it, deep down Tachibana was actually somewhat relieved that "Nagumo liked Council President Horikita."
As Horikita Manabu's longtime rival, Nagumo had gone so far as to imitate him and try to live in his image after he vanished — even planning to pay out of his own pocket, spending an astronomical sum of S Points, to bring him back.
And now, upon learning Horikita Manabu was alive in another world, he'd immediately set out to personally rescue him...
Given that kind of obsession, whether you looked at it emotionally or rationally, there was nothing wrong with Nagumo ultimately "winning the fair maiden's heart," so to speak.
And as the Student Council's secretary, Horikita Manabu's personal assistant, she really ought to be standing by and offering her blessing.
Just quietly being a fujoshi shipping the pairing didn't sound so bad, honestly...
But what if... Nagumo's affections wandered elsewhere?
What if he set his sights on Ryuuen, or even on Ayanokōji... how was she, Akane Tachibana, supposed to face Horikita Manabu, still trapped in that other world?
How could she ever be at peace with that secret, guilty feeling gnawing at her — like she'd somehow betrayed the Council President?
Tachibana took a deep breath, leaned back into the soft office chair, and stared up at the ceiling, lost in thought.
After a long while, her gaze drifted almost by accident to the clock hanging on the Student Council wall.
Realizing how little time was left, she snapped back to herself with a start.
Pushing aside the jumbled mess of thoughts in her head, Tachibana pulled out her phone, intending to ask Chris whether his side had picked up any important intel.
While she was at it, she'd also ask whether he had any free time so she could drop off the mech item.
Naturally, Chris, over on the other side of the school building, had no reason to refuse.
After briefly summarizing what they'd just gathered over Line, he told her to just come by after the first afternoon class.
He also took the opportunity to ask, in the chat, about the school's specific plans for the Assassination Class and Jujutsu Class.
Looking at the question on her screen, Tachibana pressed her lips together and typed back, her feelings a little mixed.
[I'm not too clear on the details myself. Council President Nagumo's still on his way to talk to the Director, trying to hash things out further.]
[Though the enrollment channel should already be open in the school's internal app. Same process as the earlier survival class and marksmanship class the school organized — apparently you can just sign up online...]
In the hallway of the building housing first-year Class A.
Seeing Tachibana's Line message, Chris casually replied with a cat-nodding "mm" sticker and let the screen go dark.
He turned and headed downstairs toward the public notice board.
It was currently their lunch break — right after they'd sorted out their groupings and let everyone know which new elective courses applied to them.
Walking beside him, Suzune Horikita and Nanase Tsubasa noticed Chris wasn't heading toward the cafeteria but had changed direction instead, and couldn't help feeling a little surprised.
Horikita quickened her pace by half a step to walk alongside him and asked.
"Did something come up?"
Chris explained offhandedly.
"Senior Tachibana from the Student Council said the school's opened up enrollment for the afternoon electives. The process is pretty much the same as the survival class before."
"I figured I'd go check it out. See if there's a printed notice posted at the board like last time."
Hearing it was just to check a notice, Horikita raised a hand, pressing a slender knuckle lightly against the corner of her lips, and thought for a moment.
Then she turned to Nanase Tsubasa, who was trailing half a step behind, and spoke.
"Tsubasa, go on ahead with Teacher."
"I need to grab something from the classroom. I'll catch up with you right away."
Nanase Tsubasa nodded obediently, not particularly curious about whatever important thing Horikita had left behind.
She simply set off, her long legs sheathed in over-the-knee socks carrying her in light, quick steps to keep pace with Chris.
As they walked through the relatively quiet stairwell, with no one else around for the moment...
the girl seemed unable to hold back the question nagging at her any longer.
She tilted her head slightly and asked, her tone carrying a hint of idle small talk.
"Senior... I've always been a little curious."
"Why does Senior Horikita sometimes call you 'Teacher' and other times just call you by name?"
Chris's steps faltered slightly. "It's not really that complicated."
"Back when Horikita wasn't strong enough yet, she came to me to learn swordsmanship as a student. Honestly, I don't care much about titles or forms of address — call me whatever."
"But what I taught her was your Neon-style kendo, after all. You people take etiquette pretty seriously over here — respecting your teachers is practically bred into your bones. So the 'Teacher' thing just sort of stuck, half by her insistence, half by my going along with it."
Nanase Tsubasa thought it over for a moment, a mischievous glint flashing through her moist eyes, and asked again.
"But if I remember right... Senior Ichinose was also learning swordsmanship from you, wasn't she?"
"So why doesn't Senior Ichinose call you 'Teacher'?"
Chris shrugged noncommittally. "That's true. But back then I just told her to call me 'Senior' and leave it at that."
"As for the 'Teacher' thing — that was all Horikita's own insistence..."
Chris let out a rueful little laugh.
"Come to think of it, back then Horikita actually thought my academic grades were terrible. Considering she wanted to turn the tables and tutor me herself, calling me 'Teacher' on her own like that was definitely on purpose."
Chris shook his head with a short laugh. "Heh. A little scheming, even."
Nanase Tsubasa listened quietly beside him, a faint smile gradually curving at the corners of her mouth.
During the time she'd spent around Horikita, the other girl had always come across, to nearly everyone, as an aloof, unapproachable ice queen who never cracked a smile.
But as a girl with her own share of delicate sensitivity, Nanatsura Tsubasa knew better.
Beneath that cold, proud shell, Suzune Horikita hid a little girl who desperately craved recognition and love.
That much was clear from what Horikita had told her the night before.
Someone who was genuinely whole inside, who never lacked love, wouldn't push themselves the way Horikita did — punishing effort as a form of self-comfort.
Her senior was simply using that icy shell to disguise her own inner fragility as strength...
Just like she herself did.
As Nanase Tsubasa thought this, her thick, curled lashes fluttered faintly. She stole a quiet glance at Chris walking beside her.
Honestly, she wasn't even sure how to judge the unfamiliar flutter of feeling Chris stirred in her — whether it was a good thing or a bad one.
She couldn't quite tell. Was it simple admiration for his overwhelming strength?
Or gratitude, naturally born from his patient teaching all this time?
Or maybe — setting every other factor aside — it was simply the kind of instinctive attraction any girl might feel toward an exceptional man...?
But there was one thing Nanatsura Tsubasa was absolutely certain of.
Ever since meeting Chris, the vengeful "Eiichiro" persona she'd conjured up through sheer self-suggestion to escape her pain had vanished completely.
No matter how she called out to it deep inside, it never surfaced again.
It was as though something inside her was silently declaring: this place already had the one meant to live there.
But — that was Senior Horikita's beloved!
How could she possibly entertain such a shameless idea, wanting to steal someone else's love!?
Could it be... that once freed from society's constraints, she was, at her core, such a filthy, dark-hearted woman?
Nanase Tsubasa agonized over it, silently loathing herself.
Soon enough, the two of them made their way downstairs to the school's first-floor lobby, in front of the notice board reserved for important announcements.
It seemed the news hadn't fully spread yet, and with it being lunchtime, most students were off eating.
Not many people were clustered around the board at the moment.
Still, among the handful checking it out, Chris spotted familiar faces at a glance.
Hiyori Shiina, with her long deep-blue hair and gentle bearing;
Ichinose Honami, with her striking figure and long pink hair;
and Shiraishi Asuka, standing quietly off to one side...
Aside from Honami Ichinose, who'd gotten a heads-up directly from Tachibana in her role as class rep...
the other two had clearly rushed over after seeing the message Chris had just posted in the "small group chat."
Chris shot Nanatsura Tsubasa beside him a look of mock confusion, then strode forward toward the girls.
"Find anything useful?"
he asked quietly.
At that achingly familiar voice, the girls all turned at once.
The moment Honami Ichinose saw Chris, a bright smile bloomed across her face, and she spoke first.
"Pretty much what Senior Tachibana said in the internal notice. It really is a bulletin the school just put out — mostly about the new classes we've been keeping an eye on."
As she spoke, Ichinose thoughtfully shifted to the side, opening up a spot for him to see.
Chris gave a small nod and thanked her.
Honestly, he didn't even need to get closer — with his extraordinary eyesight, he could take in the entire notice at a glance.
It's just that... Honami Ichinose's figure got in the way.
Like Kushida Kikyo, Ichinose belonged to that especially well-endowed crowd.
Standing right in front of him, she happened to block off a good chunk of the notice from his line of sight...
Naturally, Chris had no intention of pointing this out and asking her to move.
It wasn't like Ichinose was doing it on purpose.
Besides, he had clairvoyant eyes, honed through the superpower training box.
What harm was there in "suffering" a little on the visual front now and then, taking in a girl's graceful curves along the way?
Even gods needed a little daily variety, after all.
Chris pulled his wandering gaze back and, looking at the bold text on the board, found himself reading it out loud without meaning to.
"Per GANTZ's new regulations, going forward, barring special circumstances, special exams for first-years and second- and third-years alike will be uniformly rescheduled to start at 4 PM every Saturday and Sunday."
"In addition, as a clear reward for the Revival Round phase, GANTZ has specially engaged three professional teachers to serve as instructors for this stage."
"Class times are set for after school, 4 PM Monday through Friday."
Chris's brow lifted slightly as he kept reading.
"Special note required..."
"To fully experience and unleash the power of the Ninjutsu Class and Jujutsu Class, students must additionally redeem a 'Chakra Seed' and a 'Cursed Energy Seed.'"
"These can currently be redeemed at the GANTZ Watch's shop for a cost of 10 S Points and 500 Class Points?"
Hearing that last, brutal condition...
Nanatsura Tsubasa, who'd only just managed to settle her feelings and push down those dark thoughts, froze for a second.
"Five hundred Class Points?!"
she gasped, clicking her tongue.
"Isn't that basically paying the equivalent of a full 50 S Points just for an ordinary person's right to train?"
"That's so expensive..."
Chris shook his head, unbothered.
"It's really not that bad."
"Class evaluation points were already just a byproduct of the life-or-death exams we go through anyway. It's a lot better than before, when the only thing they were good for was handing out next month's spending points and nothing else."
Honami Ichinose nodded in deep agreement, a note of helplessness in her voice.
"Looks like there's just no way to get the Jujutsu Class and Ninjutsu Class widely adopted among average students, then."
"Anyone without enough S Points is stuck taking Koro Sensei's free Assassination Class."
"Good thing most of us who took part in the earlier tests and exams still have some S Points left over as a safety net."
Just then, a flurry of hurried footsteps sounded.
Suzune Horikita, having grabbed whatever she needed from the classroom, arrived carrying a small package, just in time to join them.
With everyone gathered now, Chris did as Ichinose had before, stepping aside so Horikita could see the notice board clearly.
Unlike Ichinose and Nanatsura Tsubasa, who tended to lead with a stronger sense of justice and put the broader student body first...
it wasn't that Suzune Horikita was some cold, heartless person.
But after being tempered through repeated brushes with death and having her tsundere shell cracked open by Chris, her first concern genuinely wasn't the marginal students who couldn't even scrape together 10 S Points.
After all, spending precious Class Points to awaken this so-called training qualification struck Horikita as more than a little extravagant.
After all, if you used those 500 Class Points to send someone to train in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, that would buy a full fifty days of time!
Factor in the no-rest buff on top of that, and it added up to the equivalent of at least seventy-five days or more of intensive seclusion training in the outside world!
Even a completely untalented dolt, given seventy-five days of intensive training in the Time Chamber, could master the Black Sphere's basic equipment to perfection.
Pair that with the vampire bloodline everyone had gotten for free courtesy of the Stone Mask,
and in a special exam environment without sunlight, that person would absolutely count as core combat strength for the class!
So what Horikita was actually worried about right now was more about the scheduling conflict.
"If the Black Sphere exams are all being shifted to the weekend..."
"and we're taking Koro Sensei's and the others' extra classes after school on weekdays — will one or two short hours really be enough?"
"Or does the time flow in these special classes work like the Time Chamber, completely different from the real world?"
Horikita crossed her arms and let out a cold huff.
"But... would the Black Sphere really be kind enough to just hand us a cheat code like that, out of nowhere?"
Horikita had always reserved judgment on the Black Sphere's supposed mercy.
Hearing this, Ichinose gave a helpless nod of agreement.
"There's really no way to tell for sure, not from this handful of bare-bones information on the board."
"We'll only know once we actually show up at four this afternoon and see for ourselves."
Ichinose sighed, not wanting to burn herself out fretting over a question with no answer.
She turned her head, a gentle smile back on her face, trying to lighten the slightly heavy mood.
"So, does everyone have Senior Tachibana added on Line?"
"I mean... I was honestly a little worried her mental state might've taken a hit because of everything with Council President Horikita. But judging by her tone just now, it looks like she's doing really well!"
But at Ichinose's words, Horikita arched one sharp, striking eyebrow.
her voice carrying obvious confusion.
"Senior Tachibana?"
"I never added her on Line..."
Ichinose smiled, not particularly surprised.
Given how single-mindedly Horikita threw herself at getting stronger — nothing but training and grinding points, like some relentless overachiever —
any upperclassman intel usually reached her secondhand, through Chris or Kei Karuizawa and the others.
It made perfect sense that Horikita had never had a reason to go add Tachibana as a friend herself.
But it wasn't long before Ichinose noticed the atmosphere around her sink into an oddly heavy silence, and she immediately sensed something was off.
She turned her head, sweeping her gaze over Nanase Tsubasa, Hiyori Shiina, and Shiraishi Asuka standing nearby.
"Wait... don't tell me none of you added Senior Tachibana either?" Ichinose asked, puzzled.
Nanase Tsubasa shook her head obediently and explained.
"I haven't added her. I just came along with Senior..."
Hiyori Shiina and Shiraishi Asuka shook their heads too.
Hiyori Shiina answered in her soft, gentle voice.
"We... found out from a message Chris posted in a group chat. That's why we came."
"A message in a group chat?"
At that answer, Ichinose's fine brows knit together.
She quickly pulled out her phone and scanned through the main group chats everyone usually used, looking confused.
"But I don't see this message in any of the group chats I'm in..."
Standing off to the side, Chris scratched his head at that.
Realizing there was no point hiding it any longer, he explained without any evasion.
"Oh, right, so here's the thing."
"We only just settled on who's going to which of the three afternoon classes not long ago. I saw Ryuuen and Sakayanagi and the others were all busy with their own things, so I didn't tag everyone in the big group chat."
"I just went ahead and posted it in a smaller group instead, figuring I'd get the ones who were free to come check it out first. Same effect either way, really."
"Them... a smaller group?"
Ichinose murmured the words back, somewhat blankly.
Then, as if she'd suddenly realized something, she jerked her head up.
Her clear blue eyes narrowed slightly as she stared at Chris with dead seriousness.
"Senior... this small group you're talking about..."
she asked, enunciating each word.
"Am I... in it?"
For a moment, the air in front of the notice board turned distinctly awkward.
Nanase Tsubasa tilted her pale neck slightly.
her big eyes darting back and forth between Chris and Ichinose.
As the newcomer, she had no idea what was going on, or what tangled web of feelings lay behind it.
Shiraishi Asuka and Horikita, on the other hand, had a vague sense of exactly what "small group" Ichinose was talking about.
Unfortunately, neither Shiraishi Asuka, who understood but never said, nor Horikita, aloof and prickly by nature, were the type to step in and smooth things over unless absolutely necessary.
Clearly, as far as they were concerned, the current love-triangle standoff was nowhere near dire enough to warrant intervention.
Only sweet-hearted little angel Hiyori, watching the scene unfold, parted her cherry lips slightly.
hesitating, wondering whether to work up the nerve to explain something on Chris's behalf and smooth over Ichinose's feelings.
But Hiyori Shiina worried her own clumsy tongue might make things worse — if she said the wrong thing and pushed Ichinose, who was only jealous to begin with, past her breaking point, it would spiral out of control.
Fortunately, as the one who'd started all this in the first place,
Chris had no intention of playing dead and dodging the moment at this critical juncture.
As Ichinose's words hung in the air, his gaze settled somewhere in the middle distance for a moment of silent thought.
Then, as though it had just dawned on him, he smacked his forehead.
"Huh... yeah, looks like I really didn't add you."
At that confirmation...
Ichinose instantly puffed out her rosy cheeks like a pufferfish nursing the world's greatest grievance.
For once dropping her usual sweetness, she huffed in irritation.
"This group — it's the one you made back when you took me and Yotsuya out on that 'amusement park date,' isn't it..."
"Because other girls at school were worried about you and you couldn't be bothered replying to everyone one by one, so you just made a group to save yourself the trouble..."
As she spoke, Ichinose seemed to realize that in her agitation she'd let something slip — a word or two that might invite the wrong kind of imagining.
Words like "date," for instance.
Not wanting the girls eavesdropping beside her to pick up on anything more,
she abruptly cut herself off, switching instead to a pitiful, near-tearful expression, and pressed her accusation.
"Whatever else you want to say, I've fought alongside you through life and death more times than I can count..."
"And you're telling me I don't even qualify to be in your private little group chat?"
Listening to Ichinose's sour tone, practically wearing "I'm jealous" across her face,
Chris shot an almost imperceptible glance to the side.
Sure enough, Horikita had visibly reacted to the words "amusement park date" too, a ripple of surprise passing through her cool, distant eyes.
Chris pressed a fingertip lightly to his chin, a faint smile tugging at his lips, and mused, half seriously and half in jest.
"Honestly, it's been ages since I even said anything in that group..."
"It was actually just now, chatting with Senior Tachibana and Kiryuuin-senpai, that it flashed into my mind for a second and I remembered the group even existed."
"But you do have a point, Ichinose."
He looked at her, his tone suddenly turning completely natural and matter-of-fact.
"As one of my potential harem members, how could you possibly be left out of a core group chat like that!"
"Eh?"
Ichinose's eyes flew wide, her pale pink lips parting.
Her entire body froze as if hit by a paralysis spell, her gaze blanking out completely, her mind wiped clean of any capacity for thought.
O-one of his harem members?!
Did he have any idea what kind of outrageous thing he'd just said, right in front of everyone!?
After a brief mental crash, the sulky irritation from her earlier jealousy was instantly replaced by overwhelming, mortified embarrassment.
A blush crept visibly up from her neck all the way to the tips of her ears.
"Senior...!"
Ichinose stamped her foot in a fluster. "Even if you're joking, that's not the kind of joke you make! That's way too much!"
Chris just spread his hands and asked back, grinning.
"How do you know I'm joking?"
"And not being serious?"
At that, standing off to the side, Horikita couldn't help but be reminded of something from before.
That wild scene in the Time Chamber, when Kei Karuizawa had dragged her along to confess to Chris in person, even offering to become his "property" outright.
She lowered her eyes and began, quietly, to turn it over in her mind.
Maybe — probably — perhaps... Chris really hadn't been lying?
After all, from what she knew of him,
he was exactly as he presented himself — the type who never bothered lying about small things.
He said what he meant, and meant what he said.
If he'd called Ichinose one of his harem... then what about her? What did that make her?
Horikita's gaze went still, and for a moment she genuinely didn't know what to do with herself.
A secret joy at feeling recognized tangled together with a flicker of resentment at having to share him with someone else, leaving her utterly unable to decide whether to feel happy or angry.
As for Ichinose, in her overwhelming embarrassment, she chose to believe Chris was simply deflecting her earlier jealous complaint with an outrageous joke.
To hide her own inner panic, she refused to take the remark seriously.
Face flushed, she thrust her small, pale hand out toward Chris and demanded, in a tone that was somehow both petulant and firm.
"Senior, give me your phone!"
"I want to see for myself exactly what other little groups you've got going behind my back besides this one..."
"I absolutely will not allow myself to be shut out of the inner circle!"
Watching Ichinose act like such a fussy little housekeeper about it,
Chris couldn't help clicking his tongue in amusement.
"You know, Ichinose,"
"back where I'm from, behavior like this already qualifies as showing a hint of that helicopter-mom streak."
"Wanting to check everything, control everything... you're basically a worrywart housewife."
Of course, even as he needled her with his mouth,
his hands didn't hesitate for a second.
He unlocked his phone without the slightest reluctance and placed it right into Ichinose's outstretched hand.
showing no sign of wanting to refuse or hide anything.
Taking the phone, Ichinose pressed her lips together and huffed, muttering a soft retort.
"That's your fault too, you know..."
Who told you to be so amazing all the time, and to keep attracting so many girls' affections?
If I don't keep a close eye on you, who knows what sneaky little tomcat might snatch you away someday!
With that, Ichinose bent her head down.
her pale fingertips flicking quickly through Chris's Line interface.
Finding his contact list genuinely spotless,
with nothing beyond the small group of just a few girls Chris had mentioned, and no other hidden secondary accounts or clandestine chats,
Ichinose's heart, which had been suspended somewhere in midair, finally settled back into place.
Letting out a quiet, private sigh of relief, she smoothly added her own account to the small group chat.
And without asking Chris's permission at all,
she slipped in a little extra of her own, quietly setting her own Line profile to "special favorite" status in his contact list.
Only once all this was done did Ichinose feel truly satisfied.
The whole process — checking and adjusting everything — took her almost no time at all, hands moving with practiced speed.
By the time Chris leaned over to check how his little housekeeper's inspection was going, Ichinose had already finished and was handing the phone back to him.
"There you go, Senior."
Ichinose pushed the phone back into his hand and tipped her head up, a note of warning in her eyes.
"From now on, no more casually joking about a 'harem' in front of girls, got it!"
"A girl's heart is like a night-blooming cactus flower."
"It blooms for that one fleeting moment, just to catch the eye of the one person it loves."
"Wouldn't it be such a shame if a careless joke like that made someone miss their chance — wasted someone else's sincere feelings?"
Listening to Ichinose's heartfelt little speech,
Chris nodded.
though privately, he only agreed with about half of what she'd said.
After all, as the hidden hand standing above this world's very rules,
he held not just the supreme power to take responsibility for another person's entire life,
but, if he so chose,
he could invoke time-stop or reality-alteration itself to freeze that fleeting, beautiful bloom into an eternal, unfading moment.
It wouldn't even be difficult.
A god's greed had room enough to embrace every beautiful thing.
But just as Chris was about to open his mouth and tease the easily flustered pink-haired girl a little more,
the warning bell for class, with all the romance of a brick, chose that exact moment to ring out over the hallway.
Chris had no choice but to swallow the words already on his tongue.
He raised the phone in his hand and grinned.
"Alright, alright, Mom Ichinose."
"Class is about to start. Let me snap a photo of this notice board first and send it to the group so Ryuuen, Sakayanagi, and the others who didn't come can see what's up."
At that teasing nickname,
Ichinose's face flushed instantly, caught somewhere between laughter and tears as she protested.
"D-don't call me that! It's such a weird nickname..."
She wasn't anybody's mom!
She was clearly trying to be Senior's... mmph!
— End of Chapter —
[Author's Note: Taking tomorrow off. I wasn't planning to, but my sister reminded me it's my mom's birthday.]
[Author's Note: You all know how it is — I can't even remember my own birthday, and yet my mom still sent me a red packet on hers.]
[Author's Note: Since she happens to be off this weekend, I'll go with my sister to celebrate her birthday...]
[Author's Note: It's two to three hours round trip, plus picking out a cake — kind of exhausting, and I don't think I'll be able to keep up with writing, so I'll just take the whole day off. I guess this counts as my first time ever taking a leave.]
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