At Saikai Academy, Junior High Division, Third Year, Class A.
At this moment, with only a little time left before lunch break, the teacher who had just finished the last part of the lesson had already left, allowing the entire classroom to be filled with a relaxed atmosphere of dismissal, creating a bit of noise.
The students had already gotten up in small groups, gathering with their acquaintances, chatting and laughing.
However, if one observed carefully, they would notice that during the chatter and laughter, many people's gazes would involuntarily shift toward one spot.
There, a girl as pure as a saint was sitting properly, for some reason, her face carried a trace of melancholy.
Looking at such a girl, the topics of discussion among those around her unknowingly shifted to her.
"Kanase-san is as beautiful as ever today."
"Seriously, it's great to be able to see someone like Kanase-san every day. My friend from the neighboring class is jealous to tears."
"How can someone in this world look so good?"
"I guess… it's just extraordinary talent?"
"I've always thought Kanase-san is the prettiest girl in the whole academy."
"I think so too, but the upperclassmen in high school might have some objections."
"The high school division… ah, you mean second-year Class B's Aiba Asagi-senpai, right?"
"Exactly. A portion of the upperclassmen are fans of that senpai."
"True, Aiba-senpai is also very pretty and mature, has that 'gyaru' vibe. But I still prefer Kanase-san."
"Of course I think Kanase-san is more beautiful. Actually, Kanase-san's popularity in the academy is higher than Aiba-senpai's."
"After all, Kanase-san is just too unfair."
"Just don't know what she's thinking. She seems kind of down…"
This was the topic of nearly every boy, and even some girls were saying nearly the same thing.
The Saint of the Middle School Division—this title was simply too prominent, causing those who shared a class with her to constantly pay attention to her and gaze at her with admiration.
Unfortunately, Kanon Kanase was simply too beautiful, too holy. That kind of pure and flawless sacred aura made most people dare not approach, afraid of disturbing the atmosphere.
Thanks to that, Kanon Kanase had very few opportunities to converse with others in class. Most of the time, she was like this, sitting quietly while being secretly watched, and she herself thought it was because something was wrong with her. Thus, she didn't know just how popular she actually was at Saikai Academy, or how admired she truly was.
If nothing unexpected happened, this scene would likely continue until Kanon Kanase left the classroom.
However, today unfolded differently from usual.
"Um… Kanase-san!"
A female student standing at the classroom door suddenly called out to Kanon Kanase, drawing everyone's attention.
"Ah, yes."
Kanon Kanase didn't seem to expect to be called on either. She was dazed for a moment, then quickly stood up.
While marveling at the fragile beauty of her classmate, the girl at the door hesitated as she spoke.
"Someone's looking for you outside. I don't know if it's someone you know?"
As she spoke, the girl pointed outside the classroom, drawing everyone's gaze there.
The next second, including Kanon Kanase, everyone saw a person standing outside the classroom.
"Kanon, over here."
Kaiser stood at the door of Third Year Class A in the Junior High Division, ignoring the gazes of others, and waved at Kanon Kanase.
"Senpai!"
Kanon Kanase's eyes lit up instantly, and an expression of surprise and joy surfaced on her face.
That gentle and beautiful smile caused everyone present to involuntarily stop breathing, their hearts suddenly speeding up.
When had they ever seen this scene?
Normally, Kanon Kanase always appeared quiet and serene. When had she ever shown such a smile?
With angelic features and known as the academy's saint, this sudden smile made her seem like she was glowing, making many people feel like they had fallen in love.
However, the more they were entranced by Kanon Kanase's smile in that moment, the more they hated the boy standing outside the door in the next.
"You came to see me, Senpai?"
Kanon Kanase walked up to Kaiser, her eyes filled with gratitude as she looked at him.
"Yeah." Kaiser looked at the beautiful, otherworldly girl and nodded with a smile, saying, "I heard from people in class that you came looking for me this morning, right?"
"I'm very sorry." As usual, Kanon Kanase apologized first and said, "I know this might bother you, Senpai, but I really had no other choice."
"It's fine. I didn't feel bothered at all. You don't need to worry." Seeing that Kanon Kanase was about to bow to him, Kaiser instinctively placed his hand on her slender, delicate shoulder to stop her and said, "For you to come to my class to look for me, it must be something urgent, right?"
"Go ahead, what happened?"
Hearing this, Kanon Kanase was just about to speak when she noticed the atmosphere around them was a bit off.
Kaiser naturally noticed too. When he placed his hand on Kanon Kanase's shoulder and made physical contact with her, the people who had been watching them all showed expressions of murderous rage.
That expression, so easy to read, made Kaiser raise an eyebrow and reveal a faintly amused smile.
As for Kanon Kanase, she remained completely unaware.
"Looks like I was too loud and disturbed everyone."
Kanon Kanase lowered her voice, looking apologetic.
"Disturbed?" Kaiser chuckled and said, "I'm afraid I disturbed the pure image they have of you in their minds?"
"Hmm?" Kanon Kanase tilted her head in confusion and asked, "Pure image?"
This girl still hadn't realized what kind of sacred and untouchable presence she was to others.
Kaiser didn't explain either. Ignoring the waves of killing intent around them, he naturally took Kanon Kanase's hand.
"Let's talk outside."
"O-Okay."
Kanon Kanase nodded shyly, not resisting Kaiser's touch, obediently letting him hold her hand.
The two left just like that, completely unaware of the shock their intimate actions caused to those around them.
"I-I didn't see wrong, right?"
"Kanase-san got taken away!"
"H-Holding hands too!"
"Who is that guy?!"
"I'm going to duel him!"
Not long after, a series of wailing cries rang out from the classroom of Third Year Class A, causing quite the uproar.
...
Saikai Academy, courtyard.
On a bench next to a vending machine, Kaiser handed a can of drink he had just bought to the neatly seated girl.
"Here, hope it's a flavor you like."
Kaiser bought a bottle of cola and a bottle of yuzu tea. What he handed to Kanon Kanase was the yuzu tea.
"Thank you, Senpai."
Kanon Kanase carefully accepted it, holding it in her hands, but didn't open it to drink.
Clearly, the girl was still a little shy and reserved.
Well, that was natural. This was only their second meeting. Facing a senior, unless she was a naturally outgoing type, of course she'd be reserved.
Rather, Kaiser had already acted a bit too familiar earlier, placing his hand on her shoulder and holding her hand. But Kanon Kanase didn't seem to mind, which made Kaiser wonder if this girl might just be too defenseless.
"Honestly, I didn't expect you to come find me in my class." Kaiser took a sip of his cola and smiled at Kanon Kanase. "I thought it'd be a while before we met again."
"I'm really sorry." Kanon Kanase apologized instinctively. "If I disturbed you, Senpai, please do tell me. I'll be more mindful."
"I already told you, I didn't feel disturbed at all." Kaiser looked helpless seeing her apologize again and said, "Don't keep apologizing. You didn't do anything wrong. Actually, being approached by such a beautiful girl—most people would feel happy, not bothered."
"Beautiful…?" Kanon Kanase tilted her head, looking incredulous. "Is that so?"
This girl seriously had no awareness of her own outstanding appearance, huh?
"No wonder people at the academy call you 'saint.' It's not just your looks—your heart is unbelievably pure too."
Kaiser sighed and didn't dwell on the topic, instead getting back to the point.
"So, what did you come to find me for? Is it about the cat from yesterday?"
That was the only thing he could think of.
After all, their only interaction yesterday was over the kitten Kanon Kanase took in.
So if she came all the way to the high school building to look for him, it could only be because of that cat.
Sure enough...
"It's all my fault." Kanon Kanase lowered her head, looking a bit down. "I couldn't take good care of that child."
"What happened?" Seeing Kanon Kanase's low spirits, Kaiser immediately asked, "Did something happen to the little one?"
"Yeah." Kanon Kanase looked helpless. "I clearly took it to the mountain behind the school yesterday, but when I went there this morning, it was gone."
"Gone?" Kaiser frowned and said, "You couldn't find it?"
"Yes." Kanon Kanase said gloomily, "I've searched almost the entire mountain and even looked around the school during breaks, but I haven't found it."
This was Kanon Kanase's first time encountering something like this.
She had raised quite a few cats on the mountain behind the school. In fact, she had raised many. But those cats were all well-behaved, rarely showing themselves unless she was around, let alone running off. At least, she had never experienced this before.
But this time, the one that ran off was the kitten Kaiser entrusted to her yesterday.
That made Kanon Kanase not only anxious but also very guilty, feeling like she had betrayed Kaiser's trust.
"I see. Don't worry too much." After understanding what happened, Kaiser didn't say much. He simply patted Kanon Kanase's shoulder and comforted her. "That little guy is still young and wild. Otherwise, it wouldn't have snuck into the school, climbed a tree, and gotten stuck up there."
"This isn't your fault. That little guy just loves to run around."
"Hold on, I'll try searching now."
As he said this, Kaiser stood up and moved to the front of the bench.
"Senpai?"
Kanon Kanase didn't know what Kaiser intended to do and softly called out.
Kaiser didn't reply. He crouched down and extended two fingers, spiritual energy pulsing at his fingertips.
"Heart of the south, pupil of the north, fingertip of the west, toe of the east."
With a soft chant, Kaiser began drawing a mysterious pattern on the ground with his fingers.
"Gather with the wind, scatter with the rain."
This was a Kido spell used to sense spiritual pressure and track the target's location.
After Kaiser had written it into his Grimoire, this Kido could be used to sense energy beyond just spiritual pressure—just like how Kaiser could activate it with the spiritual energy of this world.
Now, what he was trying to track was the spiritual energy he had left on the kitten yesterday.
Because he had lightly used his Authority on the kitten, some of his energy remained on it, so Kaiser thought of using this method to locate it.
"Bakudō #58: Kakushitsuijaku."
As the incantation ended, Kaiser finished the drawing, pressed a single hand on the pattern, and infused it with spiritual energy.
In the next instant, the circle lit up from within, flashing like a liquid crystal screen.
An invisible wave of spiritual energy spread out, reverberating throughout the Saikai Academy.
"Eh?"
Seeing this, Kanon Kanase's eyes widened in surprise.
Kaiser looked at the pattern on the ground and read out a coordinate from the flashing screen.
"This place is…?"
He checked the map, then froze.
"What's wrong?"
Kanon Kanase couldn't care less about what just happened. Seeing Kaiser's odd expression, she hurriedly asked.
"...Nothing." Kaiser raised his head and said with a strange look, "It's just… that little guy ran somewhere really unexpected."
"Unexpected? Where is it?" Kanon Kanase asked in confusion.
Kaiser deactivated the spell and stood up, muttering with a wry smile.
"My classroom."
...
High School Division, First Year, Class B.
By the time Kaiser and Kanon Kanase arrived here, only a few students remained. The rest had gone out during the lunch break.
And rather coincidentally, the only three people Kaiser was familiar with in this class were all present.
"So, this little one came looking for you?"
Aiba Asagi, along with Kojou Akatsuki and Motoki Yaze, gathered around Kaiser's seat, looking at him teasingly as he entered.
On the seat the three surrounded, a kitten lazily let out a meow.
"Meow~~~"
That look—utterly content.