160: Help, Brother!

Ginko seemed to have anticipated that Hakuto would say this, and a faint blush instantly crept up her face.

Hakuto's words just now were like a successful entrepreneur claiming that his goal wasn't money, but rather using money to marry his girlfriend.

Even though Ginko had heard this kind of thing many times before, it never failed to make her feel a little happy inside.

"Hakuto... I'll take you back to school..."

"Hmm? Ginko, you don't want to walk around a bit more?"

"No need, there's no rush. There will be plenty of time in the future."

Ginko knew about Toyosaki Academy, but she didn't know that Hakuto had gone to Hoshinoumi Academy as an exchange student.

Since he was only staying for about three months, Hakuto hadn't mentioned it to Ginko—not because he was deliberately keeping it from her, but simply because he didn't think it was necessary.

Besides, his reason for going to Hoshinoumi Academy wasn't exactly straightforward, so he didn't want to bring it up with others.

If Rikka or the Nakano quintuplets hadn't been from Toyosaki Academy, they probably wouldn't have known about his exchange program either.

But it didn't matter—Hakuto still had some authority at Toyosaki Academy, so if Ginko took him back there, it wouldn't seem strange.

Just as Hakuto was about to agree to Ginko's request, she spoke again.

"Hakuto, I remember your school allows visitors, right...?"

"Huh?"

The smile on Hakuto's face froze in an instant. He stood there, completely stunned.

Visitors?!

Hakuto wondered if he had misheard, because this was basically a death sentence!

Yes, Toyosaki Academy had an extremely high university acceptance rate, so it didn't refuse visitors from other schools.

That was how Nao had been able to gather information about Hakuto while on campus.

But precisely because of this, Hakuto was panicking!

Sure, people called it "visiting," but what if someone picked up on something suspicious? He was done for!

"Why do you suddenly want to visit my school?" Hakuto asked with a calm expression. Despite the storm raging inside him, he couldn't let Ginko notice anything amiss.

"I just want to see what your school environment is like..." Ginko showed no emotion on her face, as if she really just wanted to take a look around.

Then, seeing Hakuto's troubled expression, she twirled the folding fan in her hand and asked,

"What's wrong? Is that a problem?"

"It's not that it's a problem, it's just that... It's class time right now. I don't know if the school allows visitors..."

Lies! Hakuto lied without even blinking!

As long as visitors didn't disturb classes or wander into restricted areas, Toyosaki Academy allowed them to look around freely.

"Didn't you say that as the top student in your grade, you have some privileges?"

The words Hakuto had once boasted about had come back to smack him right in the face!

Hakuto sighed in frustration. He swore he would never show off again—especially not by flaunting his rank!

And judging by Ginko's attitude, unless the school's security outright forbade entry, this visit was pretty much inevitable.

Hakuto did remember the school's security guards, but not well enough to contact them directly. This was a no-win situation!

"Buddha, please have mercy..."

Since there was no way to avoid it, he had no choice but to face it head-on!

Hakuto decided to stay close to Ginko at all times—if anything suspicious happened, he would step in immediately!

"Don't worry, no matter what, I'll make sure Ginko gets to visit our school."

"Okay."

Now that he had accepted the reality of the situation, Hakuto figured he should at least say a few good words about the school. 

That way, if something unexpected happened, he'd have an explanation ready.

This kind of thing was Hakuto's specialty...

And so, Hakuto and Ginko boarded the train, their destination: Toyosaki Academy.

The whole ride, Hakuto was on edge, glancing out the window or checking his phone every now and then.

Even though he had some countermeasures in mind, it was impossible not to be nervous about this...

Ginko noticed Hakuto's unease, but she didn't think much of it, assuming he was just worried about some embarrassing school memories coming to light.

Meanwhile, where Ginko couldn't see, Hakuto had already taken out his phone to ask for help.

At the same time, in the middle of a class, Oreki Houtarou suddenly received a text from Hakuto.

"Help, help, help!! Bro, save me!!"

Seeing the message, Houtarou glanced at Hachiman, who was sitting in front of him.

Since it was Shizuka's class, Hachiman didn't dare to check his phone, so he hadn't seen Hakuto's message.

Houtarou didn't say anything right away—he first replied to Hakuto.

"What happened?"

"Bro! You answered! Thank god!" Hakuto was practically in tears.

"Scam text?"

"No! Ugh, never mind. Just remember this—I'm bringing my childhood friend to visit the school. You and Hachiman need to cover for me!"

Reading Hakuto's message, Houtarou's pupils dilated slightly, and his face filled with confusion.

"Childhood friend?"

Houtarou started going through his memories. He hadn't known Hakuto for very long, so he wasn't familiar with this, but Hachiman might know.

"Sounds like a hassle..."

"Forget the hassle! This is life or death! What's more important—saving energy or saving a brother?!"

"(;一_一) ...Fine. I'll talk to Hachiman after class."

At that moment, the bell rang. Sticking to the bro code, Houtarou tapped Hachiman on the shoulder.

"Hmm? You didn't sleep through class?"

"Hakuto needs us."

Saying that, Houtarou handed his phone to Hachiman.

Hachiman, skeptical, glanced at Houtarou before looking at the message.

"Childhood friend?" Hachiman muttered as he read through the chat. His already lifeless, dead-fish eyes somehow looked even deader.

Damn it!!

Why?! Why did Hakuto get to have a childhood friend?!

Wasn't he supposed to be a fellow loner?! 

And yet, somehow, he still had a childhood friend?!

As expected... normies will always be normies!

Even if they become pathetic simps, they're still normies!

"You didn't know either?"

"Wait... I think Hakuto might have mentioned something to me before..." Hachiman, who always acted like he didn't care about anything, had forgotten a lot of what Hakuto had told him.

But now that he thought about it, he did vaguely remember something about Hakuto's childhood friend being related to shogi.

"I need to think..." Hachiman muttered, pulling out his phone.

Somewhere in the back of his mind, a memory stirred—one about Hakuto's childhood friend and a certain game of strategy.

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