Chapter 5: Unraveling Ties

Chapter 5

"That seems to be... Arisu Sakayanagi from Class A?"

Miraculously, Yukinoshita Haruno was the one to say the name. Kure Ragna blinked, surprised, before glancing at her.

"Huh? You know her?"

"Not exactly…"

Haruno shook her head slightly. Then, as if switching personas, she turned back to the group with her usual smile.

"It's just that someone in her class yelled out her name during the entrance ceremony. She gave off a peculiar aura, so I made a note of it."

"Hey~ Yukinoshita-san is really sharp," Kei Karuizawa said in genuine surprise.

"Speaking of which, did you notice that she glanced at us and smiled?"

When Yamauchi brought this up, there was an inexplicable excitement in his voice.

"Tell me—what if she has a crush on someone here? Maybe on me? Hahaha! I mean, if she really fell for me, you guys better not get jealous! Though, if I'm being honest, she's not my type… her chest is a little—"

"Yamauchi-san."

Hirata Yosuke sighed, clearly exasperated.

"It's rude to make such comments about other girls."

"Ah, sorry, sorry…" Yamauchi apologized, though it was clear he wasn't truly reflecting on his words.

"But if I remember correctly," Kushida Kikyo interjected, "the chairman of our school is named Sakayanagi."

"That means she's the chairman's daughter?" Karuizawa Kei looked surprised.

"I'm not entirely—"

"She is not wrong~"

Kure Ragna interrupted without hesitation.

The certainty in his voice drew the attention of everyone at the table. Their expressions all carried the same unspoken question:

—How do you know that?

"Could it be…"

"Kure Ragna…"

"Do you know Sakayanagi-san?"

One by one, they built up the question, effectively putting Kure Ragna on trial.

To someone who wanted to keep secrets, being exposed might be troublesome. But to Kure Ragna, who had no intention of hiding it in the first place, it was meaningless.

"So—"

"That must be impossible!"

Before Kure Ragna could answer, a loud voice interrupted him.

It was Haruki Yamauchi again.

He seemed to enjoy inserting himself into conversations, regardless of whether he had thought his words through.

"There aren't many people in Japan with the surname Sakayanagi. If it were just a coincidence, the odds would be too low. Kure Ragna, am I right?"

A silence fell over the group.

Kure Ragna slowly turned his head, giving Yamauchi a look that clearly said, How did you even reach that conclusion?

Despite only knowing each other for less than a day, Yamauchi had already managed to make everyone at the table unwilling to respond to him. A talent in its own right.

A few seconds later, as the tension at the table approached freezing point, Kushida Kikyo stepped in to smooth things over.

"Well, we can't rule out the possibility."

"Hah, I knew it!"

"Heh…hehe…"

While Class D's conversation was filled with awkwardness, the atmosphere at Class A's table was much more relaxed.

"Miss, did you see someone you know?"

A boy with blond hair and blue eyes, styled into a mohawk, sat down opposite a silver-haired girl, following her gaze toward Class D's table.

Two others joined him—a tall boy with long black wavy hair and a face that looked almost monstrous, and a tall girl with a purple side ponytail who looked thoroughly unimpressed.

"Yes, you could say that~"

Sakayanagi Arisu turned back to her food, elegantly unwrapping her chopsticks.

"I'm meeting someone tonight. Hashimoto-kun, Kamuro-san, and Kitou-san don't need to come along. I want to meet him alone."

Him?

Masayoshi Hashimoto instinctively brushed the back of his short ponytail, feeling like he had just heard something important.

Not only did she specify it was a male, but she also wanted to meet at night—alone.

"Hmm~ could it be—"

Masayoshi deliberately dragged out his words, implying something.

"Unfortunately, it's not what you're thinking, Hashimoto-kun," Sakayanagi responded with a smile.

"If I had to define it… the relationship would be closer to that of siblings or childhood friends."

"Childhood…?"

Hashimoto almost choked.

He wanted to point out the obvious—her physical condition would have made it impossible for her to have a normal childhood friend. But before he could speak, he realized that would be impolite and quickly coughed to cover it up.

"To be honest, my condition back then was even worse than it is now," Sakayanagi said, as if reminiscing.

Her jewel-like purple eyes softened with nostalgia.

"It's been seven years and 212 days."

Masayoshi didn't dare say a word at this point. Instead, he focused on shoveling rice into his mouth, thinking to himself:

—If this still counts as a childhood friend, then the laws of probability don't exist.

Meanwhile, at Class D's table, lunch had just finished.

"Then, we'll head out first~"

In front of the cafeteria, Haruki Yamauchi draped an arm over Kanji Ike's shoulder as they bid farewell to Yukinoshita Haruno and the others.

"Yamauchi-san, Ike-san, tell us if you see anything interesting," Kushida said with a bright smile.

"Of course!"

"See you tomorrow!"

With their spirits lifted by Kushida's kindness, Yamauchi and Ike turned and left. They had made plans to meet up with Hideo Sotomura to spend the last of their points on digital gadgets.

They're definitely going to regret it later.

Kure Ragna had no intention of spending his points recklessly. For now, there was nothing he needed. The 100,000 points per month would barely be enough for a comfortable lifestyle. At least 30,000 to 40,000 of that would go to food alone.

But more than anything, his priority was finding a place suitable for long-term training.

If he got too comfortable, he would rust.

---

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's Perspective

The cafeteria was noisy.

I focused on eating my food, while listening to the conversations happening around me. Though, given the volume at which some of my classmates were talking, ignoring them was wasn't an option either.

Sakayanagi Arisu.

That was the name they mentioned.

From the discussion, she appeared to be someone noteworthy. Class A, the chairman's daughter, and seemingly acquainted with Kure Ragna.

Not that it mattered to me.

Still, it was worth noting that she wanted to meet him alone.

Despite sitting at a distance, I could make out parts of their conversation by observing their lip movements. It wasn't a particularly difficult skill, but, few people ever considered the possibility.

I remained silent—not because I needed to keep up any pretense, but because speaking would only draw unnecessary attention to myself. The less I interacted, the easier it was to observe without anyone realizing.

Yamauchi's loud personality was proving useful. His constant interruptions shifted the focus away from me, allowing me to take in every detail unnoticed.

I glanced at Kure Ragna.

His reaction to being questioned was calm—too calm. Either he was accustomed to scrutiny, or he genuinely didn't care.

Interesting.

I returned to my meal.

Whatever was happening with them had nothing to do with me anyway.