[77] : Shidou Irina

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The short weekend passed in a blink, bringing with it the arrival of Monday.

After a peaceful morning, the bell finally rang, signaling the end of the second afternoon class.

With the teacher closing the textbook and leaving, the classroom atmosphere instantly livened up.

"Umm, Bokue-san, club activities are next. Shall we go to President Rias place?"

The gentle voice of the blonde-haired nun came from beside him. Keikain Bokue yawned into his hand, blinking away the dryness caused by staring blankly with open eyes through two entire lessons.

Turning his head, he saw Asia at the neighboring seat, looking at him expectantly.

Honestly, he had already told her countless times there was no need to use honorifics. Although Asia herself had agreed every time, it seemed as if this habit had already become instinctive. Within days, she'd revert back to her polite speech.

At this point, Bokue felt there was nothing he could do—nor was he inclined to strictly enforce it.

He'd just let her do as she wished.

"Alright, let's go."

Without further ado, Bokue stood up from his seat and began heading towards the rear classroom door.

However, perhaps he was absentmindedly walking slightly faster than usual. Asia, having gotten up a step late, hurriedly sped up her steps behind him.

"Ah, Bokue-san, please wait a mo— Eeek!"

As if her innate clumsiness suddenly kicked in, the blonde nun inadvertently tripped over her own feet, staggering forward abruptly.

In a panic, she instinctively reached out to grab something, barely managing to keep her balance and preventing a face-first crash into the floor.

When she raised her head, she found that the boy walking ahead had already stopped, looking back at her—and her hand was currently holding his wrist.

"Are you okay?"

"Y-Yes, I'm fine."

"That's good."

In return, Bokue gently grasped the girl's delicate hand.

"Be careful and take it slower."

"Mm… Okay!"

Feeling the warmth transmitted through her palm, the blonde nun nodded shyly, cheeks flushed with pink.

In Japanese High schools, teenage relationships weren't particularly discouraged. Rather, only holding hands at this age was already considered somewhat slow. Even if others saw them walking hand in hand, at most they would be lightly teased by close friends.

Of course, that teasing only applied to close acquaintances—strangers attempting it would be blatantly looking for trouble.

Outside the classroom, the corridors were even more crowded.

After all, this moment was exactly when all classes for the day ended. Students with club activities headed towards them, while those without began packing their things to head home. Thus, the whole hallway was bustling with activity.

Yet, as Bokue pulled Asia along and arrived near the staircase, a familiar figure descending from the floor above appeared right before his eyes.

A calm, composed expression, straight and silky purple hair flowing down her back, the trademark sword case she carried, and even wearing Kuoh Academy's uniform—

"Busujima-senpai?"

The name left his lips unconsciously. Though it wasn't especially loud amidst the noisy hallway, it caused the sword-wielding girl to pause slightly as she arrived at the staircase landing.

Following his gaze, their eyes met clearly.

"…Ah, what a coincidence. I was wondering where your classroom might be, Bokue-kun, but I certainly didn't expect to meet you right here."

The three of them stepped aside into a quieter corner near the stairs, where Saeko smiled first in greeting, then looked towards the blonde-haired girl holding Bokue's hand.

"This young lady… is your girlfriend, Bokue-kun?"

"Eh?! N-no, it's not like that. We're just—"

"Classmates?"

"Ah… Yes."

Asia nodded shyly at the senpai's guess, glancing gently toward Bokue.

"Um, Bokue-san, is this senpai someone you know?"

"She's the one I mentioned before—"

Bokue stopped mid-sentence, quickly changing his phrasing after some thought.

"Ah no, I haven't mentioned her before. You hadn't transferred here at that time yet, Asia, but Rias and the others do know her. She's Busujima-senpai from Tokyo Jujutsu High. Due to certain matters, she was the one in charge of liaising with me on behalf of the Jujutsu Association."

"Jujutsu… Association?"

Asia blinked, clearly puzzled.

After all, she hadn't been in Japan for very long, so she wasn't particularly knowledgeable about organizations like the Onmyōji families and Jujutsu Association.

But since Bokue-san knew this girl, she probably wasn't a bad person.

Thinking so, the nun politely bowed slightly.

"Nice to meet you, Busujima-senpai. My name is Asia Argento—I'm Bokue-san's classmate and a member of the same school club."

"…san?"

Saeko seemed slightly surprised at the formality of the title.

Yet, despite the peculiarity, Saeko introduced herself with courtesy:

"Hello, my name is Busujima Saeko. If you don't mind, please call me Saeko directly. It's a pleasure."

"Y-yes! It's nice to meet you."

Seeing Saeko's subtle confusion, Bokue proactively explained:

"Well, some things happened earlier, and when Asia first met me she hadn't transferred to this school yet, so…"

"By 'some things,' you mean a heroic rescue scenario?"

Saeko blinked her eyes, unexpectedly teasing him with a rare joke.

Actually, it wasn't really a joke. To her, Bokue was exactly the type who frequently ended up involved in such scenarios.

Strictly speaking, she herself had also been "saved" by him at some point.

"Something like that."

Bokue shrugged nonchalantly.

"Anyway, Senpai, how come you transferred here too?"

"About that…"

Hearing this question, even the usually calm sword-wielding girl momentarily showed a subtle twitch at the corner of her mouth.

He was seriously asking why she transferred here? Didn't he know clearly enough himself, having personally demolished the previous school building?

After a short consideration, she offered a polite euphemism instead:

"Because Jujutsu High's buildings are undergoing extensive reconstruction and repairs, students temporarily transferred into other Tokyo-area high schools until the renovations are complete."

"Ah… I see."

He clearly understood her point.

Not pressing further, Bokue decisively changed the subject, looking at the sword bag on Saeko's back.

"So, Senpai, did you join our school's Kendo Club?"

"Mm, sort of."

Saeko smiled softly, eyes curving gently.

"My father's dojo isn't in Tokyo, and there's no place spacious enough near my current accommodation for daily practice. So, I figured using the school's Kendo club facilities was the simplest solution… Anyway, it's about time I headed to the club. Today's my first day there, and it wouldn't be good to show up late."

"Alright then, see you around, Senpai."

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"Busujima-senpai was really pretty, wasn't she?"

"You're no slouch yourself, Asia."

With a switch of scenes, the chatting duo had already arrived at the old school building entrance, hand-in-hand.

Stepping inside, they found Rias, Akeno, and Koneko already seated on a couch, three beauties of different styles lined up neatly. Across from them, two more girls sat, one with short blue hair, and another sporting vibrant orange twin-tails.

Huh?

Noticing someone entering, the orange-haired, twin-tailed girl raised her head, then practically launched herself off the couch with rocket-like enthusiasm, arms spread wide as she aimed straight for Bokue who'd just stepped through the doorway.

"Yaaaay~! Bokue! Long time no see!!"

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