Me - Time and Quest - time... (EDITED)

~ The next day, Ayano's Pov ~

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Alright... If I stop at least a 80 - 100 guys a day, at least for the next month starting today... I should be able to complete the quest within this month, but fighting 80 -100 guys a day is an absurd number of people; but it would give me some well needed fighting experience when dealing with sheer numbers....

"Ah? Keiji-san... You ok?" Renji asked me.

"I'm... fine, just thinking about some, stuff..." Not only do I need to complete this quest, I had to study for the exams coming up, and it wasn't easy when I've gotten a quest like this. Though, I don't think I'm particularly a bad student, I'm still very mediocre... Having an average score of 50% isn't really high enough in this world, but rather' I'd need something like a 70% to land me in a decent life. 

Just in case if things went south...

When I turned to put my head on the desk, I saw Katsura again. We spoke to each other just yesterday, ending it off on a pretty decent note if I do say so, but other than that, I don't really know the gal.

Based on what I see alone, she's pretty much seems perfect, a stereotypical model student. Yet, when I actually see her, she doesn't look like she has anyone to talk to, does she...

"Hmm..."

"Something on your mind?" Renji asked me, and for once, I think I needed to hear from him.

"Yeah, actually... What do you know about Katsura-san?"

Renji blinked at my question, tilting his head slightly. "Katsura-san?" He glanced over at her, then back at me. "Well... she's a pretty well-known student. Kind, polite, and always seems to be on top of her studies. I guess you could say she's what most people would call the ideal class representative type."

He scratched his cheek, thinking for a moment before continuing, "But, uh... I've noticed she keeps to herself a lot. She's friendly, but she doesn't seem to have many close friends. It's not like people make it their mission to avoid her or anything, though… just that she's kind of quiet outside and inside of class... So, nobody really takes the time to approach her."

I nodded, processing his words, but I still found them a bit surprising... So I definitely wasn't imagining things—she really did seem a little isolated. Not in an obvious way, but enough that someone paying attention would probably notice or pick up on...

"I think I know what to do…" I glanced at her again.

"What? Actually, why did you even ask?" Renji smirked at me. "Thinking of making a move?"

I rolled my eyes. I kind of did, honestly... "Nah, just curious."

Renji chuckled, leaning back in his seat. "Well, be careful. Some guys might get jealous if you get too close. She's got a lot of admirers, you know."

I got up out me seat and made my way towards her, "Hey Katsura-san." I called out to her, and she turned to me quickly, yet shyly though, "Yes...?"

"I just wanted to ask, would you mind having lunch with me and my friend Renji?"

Katsura blinked in surprise, her fingers tightening slightly around the book she was holding. "Lunch... with you?"

I nodded, keeping my expression relaxed. "Yeah, figured it'd be nice to chat. No pressure, though."

She hesitated, glancing briefly at Renji, who offered a small wave from his seat. Then, after a moment, she gave a soft nod. "...Alright. I don't mind." For some reason, it felt as if she was seriously thinking about it, but I got the impression that it wasn't in a bad way.

"Great," I said with a small smile. "We'll be on top of the roof then, see you during break."

As I walked back to my seat, I could see Renji's eyebrow raised at me, smirking. "So much for 'just curious.' Since when were you that bold?"

"Aight, dude..." I just ignored him, resting my chin on my hand. I was thinking back as to why she drew my attention in the first place. Sure, I thought she was beautiful, objectively so. But when I saw her, I think... I also saw a little bit of myself. I remember back in my old school life, I was pretty much isolated from most people, heck, I didn't even have anyone to really call a friend either...

For a half decent kid like her, I don't think it's right to just ignore, but.. Maybe that's just my personal and biased take on the whole situation. Regardless of all this, I'd like to think of myself as a semi-decent person, not good, just, decent.

I still had my flaws of course, the typical flaws that most guys in general have too, but there are certain lines I wouldn't dream of crossing either, but it's not like I'm special because of it either way...

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It was finally break time already. Time sure flies fast... I got up, unpacking my lunch from my bag.

"Woah... That smells really good... What did you cook up today man?"

I held it up, "Nothing too crazy today, just some fried rice with chicken and a bit of spice on the side. Figured I'd put in a little effort."

Renji whistled. "Man, if you ever get tired of school, you could open up a restaurant, seriously."

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, sure. That'll be the dream."

"Alright, let's see if she actually shows up, betting 500 Yen she wont..." he wagered, amusement in his voice.

But the moment we stepped out of the classroom, there she was—standing just outside the door, hands neatly folded in front of her. She looked up at us, blinking before offering a small nod.

"You both took your time." she said softly.

Renji raised an eyebrow, nudging me slightly. "Well, looks like she was the one waiting on us."

I ignored him, giving Katsura a slight smile. "Oh~ I didn't expect you to be this early."

She nodded, politely. "I said I didn't mind, so I figured, why not wait."

I nodded at that. "Alright then, let's go guys." With that, the three of us started making our way to the rooftop...

The walk to the rooftop was mostly quiet, though Renji occasionally threw in a comment here and there, trying to keep things light. Katsura followed along without much complaint, her steps were graceful yet reserved... Almost like a princess

When we finally reached the rooftop, a gentle breeze greeted us. The open space was mostly empty, save for a few other students scattered around the very corners. We found a decent spot near the railing and settled down there. Renji wasted no time digging into his lunch. "Man, the weather's perfect today," he said between bites. "Good food, good company—what more could a guy even ask for?"

Katsura sat beside me quietly, carefully unwrapping her own lunch. She had a very neatly packed bento, and from the looks of it, she either made it herself, or had someone make it for her...

I opened my own lunch, the aroma immediately making Renji glance over. "Seriously, you gotta start cooking for me too, Keiji."

I rolled my eyes. "Not happening."

Katsura, who had been quiet, finally spoke up. "Hmm? You, cook...?"

I nodded, wondering if this sort of thing was really that surprising. "Yeah. It's just something I picked up over time... What about you? Did you make that yourself?"

She blushed for a moment before shyly replying, "No... I've never been much of a cook you see... It's my mother that prepared this for me."

Renji chuckled. "Well, at least you've got someone making sure you eat well. Meanwhile, this guy over here—" he jabbed a thumb at me, "—has probably been cooking for himself since birth."

I rolled my eyes. "It's not that dramatic man, but close enough I guess."

Katsura gave a small laugh, barely audible, but it was there. It was the first time I saw her genuinely react to something...

"Regardless, cooking's not that hard, trust me..." I said, taking another bite out of my food. "You just need a lot of practice."

She tilted her head slightly. "Even so… I don't think I'd be particularly good at it."

Renji smirked. "Never know until you try. right?"

She didn't respond right away, her gaze drifting for a moment before she returned to her food. The conversation quieted down after that and I wondered if I had done something wrong, but fortunately, it wasn't an awkward kind of silence. More like a comfortable pause if anything.

I wasn't sure what exactly I was trying to do by inviting her here, but… I didn't mind times like this. It was, nice.

Katsura seemed a bit more at ease now, her posture looked a little less stiff, though she still had an air of caution about her. I couldn't help but notice the way she glanced around, as if trying to get comfortable in the moment. Maybe it wasn't just me—she just truly wasn't used to hanging out with people like this.

Renji on the other hand was enjoying the food, of course, as always. He finished his meal a bit faster than the rest of us and leaned back, stretching with a satisfied grin. "So, Keiji, what's the plan after this? Got any more grand schemes up your sleeve?"

I raised an eyebrow at him. "Schemes? What schemes?"

"Come on," Renji said, gesturing vaguely. "You always have some sort of crazy plan going on in that head of yours."

I couldn't help but laugh at that. Worse since he was technically right. "I don't know about crazy, but I do have a few things I'm trying to figure out. No need to make it sound like I'm plotting world domination or anything."

Katsura, who had been quietly listening, finally looked up at me. "What sort of things are you figuring out?" she asked, her voice soft but, I could tell she was genuinely curious. It's not like I could tell her my story though... Can I?

But I paused, not sure how to answer. There were a lot of things on my mind—things that weren't exactly easy to explain, especially to someone I didn't know well. But it felt like an odd opportunity. I had a reason to be honest, for once.

"Life, I guess," I replied, a little too bluntly, but it was the truth. "I've got stuff to figure out, like school and... some personal things. It's not easy to balance everything."

Renji shot me a look, as if saying I was being too vague, but Katsura didn't press for more. She just nodded, as if she understood. "I get that..." she said quietly, her gaze softening a little. "Balancing school and... everything else can be tough."

The way she said it made me think there was more to her than just the model student everyone saw... Maybe we weren't so different after all. But before I could think more on that, the bell rang, signaling the end of break...

"It looks like that's our cue," I said, standing up and then stretching. "We better get back before we're late."

Katsura stood with us, offering a polite smile. "Thanks for inviting me... it was, nice."

I gave her a nod, a small smile on my face. "Anytime, we can even do it tomorrow too if you wanna join us of course."

And just like that, we parted ways—Renji heading one way, me the other, and Katsura walking in the direction of her class. But she disappeared into the hallway corner...

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'Since I've gotten some alone time...' I opened my quest panel, using the silver key I had gotten as a reward yesterday. I used it, and after some time, I finally got a new passive ability, called Critical Hit. Apparently, I've essentially gotten a 1% chance to deal a critical hit while ignoring the enemy's defense in the process completely. I wish I had gotten an idea of how much this actually boosted my base strength, but it's a shame it didn't tell me.

Regardless, ignoring enemy's defense while dealing more damage seems a little scary on paper, and It's not like I could control when it triggered either, which means if I'm not careful, I could actually kill a man in the right circumstances with my level of strength.

I sighed, 'I guess I'll need to be a little more cautious then...' But, no use in dwelling on it. I looked at my quest bar, seeing 8 / 2844 henchmen defeated on my list of who to take down... Looks daunting, but, I'll make it my mission to take down 100 of those guys today, plus... How hard can it be with my level of skill?

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END