"Why is there another transfer student?"
"I just passed by the office, the transfer student is a very cute girl."
"Could it be that, like Mutsumi-san and Soyo-san, she came for Kitahara-san too?"
"..."
The spectating classmates whispered among themselves, discussing in low voices while glancing towards Kitahara.
Kitahara looked out the window expressionlessly, not wanting to say a single word.
If you don't want people to know, don't do it in the first place.
Yesterday afternoon he accompanied Soyo to the student council office, and later the two left school together, so it was naturally impossible to avoid everyone's eyes and ears.
Thus, this morning, well-informed classmates started spreading rumors, saying that Soyo had suddenly transferred here also for Kitahara's sake...
...It had to be said, this was a lucky hit that guessed the truth.
Kitahara wanted to explain, but unfortunately, human beings are more interested in bizarre gossip and don't care at all about what the truth actually is.
After realizing that explaining was useless, Kitahara could only give up helplessly.
However, if anyone said the transfer student outside the door was coming for him, Kitahara would only scoff at it.
He wasn't a living incarnation of a succubus, just an ordinary high school student—how could he possibly be that popular?
A cute girl transferring schools just to fight over him, even escalating to a physical brawl and triggering a tragic chaotic rivalry... even in a romantic comedy light novel, such an absurd plot development wouldn't happen, right?
As they were talking.
The classroom door was gently pushed open, and a girl with brilliant blonde hair and a cute appearance walked in with a smile.
"Eeeek, is that Uika-sama?!"
"Is it really Uika, the guitarist of the idol group sumimi?"
"Uika-sama, I love you!"
"..."
Before the girl on the podium could even start introducing herself, exclamations broke out one after another below.
Mutsumi's parents were both celebrity artists, and she had even appeared on variety shows during her childhood, making her somewhat famous. Soyo was just an ordinary high school student, completely unknown to anyone when she transferred here.
But Uika was different.
As the guitarist and lead vocalist of a well-known idol group, she was cool-looking and versatile in talents, enjoying immense popularity among young people, with only a few who didn't recognize her.
For instance, Kitahara.
"The new transfer student seems to be an idol..."
Kitahara looked at the blonde girl on the podium, carefully searching his memory, and finally felt relieved after realizing he had no impression of her at all.
A super popular idol girl and an ordinary, unremarkable self—there definitely wouldn't be any intersection between them, right?
"Quiet."
The female teacher tapped on the podium, quickly suppressing the commotion in the classroom.
When the clamor quieted down, Uika then introduced herself with a smile:
"Hello everyone, I am Misumi Uika. Nice to meet you all, please take good care of me from now on..."
Below the podium, a girl called out curiously:
"Uika-sama, I remember you were studying at the Girls' Academy, why did you suddenly transfer to our school?"
"Just call me Uika." Uika smiled as she looked over, winking her right eye. "If you ask why... it's because there's a very important person at this academy."
Swish—
The spectating classmates turned their heads in unison, all looking towards Kitahara together.
"Wait, why are you all looking at me?"
Becoming the center of attention in the entire class gave Kitahara a headache, feeling utterly speechless.
There were so many students in the school, it was impossible for every transfer student to come for him, right?
Don't start spreading wild gossip!
In the blink of an eye, recess arrived.
"Uika-sama, I'm your loyal fan!"
"Uika-san, who is the very important person you mentioned?"
"Hey hey, is it Kitahara-san?"
"..."
Just as the teacher left, many girls crowded around Uika right after.
"Eh?"
Uika blinked her eyes, her gaze sweeping over Kitahara. Remembering Sakiko's instructions from yesterday, she answered with a smile:
"It's not, Sakiko is my childhood friend, I actually transferred here for Sakiko."
In fact, there was a second half of the sentence left unsaid.
Transferring wasn't just for Sakiko, but also for Kitahara.
During the time they cleared the inner world, only a brief half a month passed in the real world, but a long stretch of time had elapsed in the inner world. In the process of sharing life and death together, Uika's body and soul had both completely taken on Kitahara's shape.
Now, although life had restarted, her overflowing affection hadn't changed at all.
In Uika's heart, Kitahara was a person of the most important level, equal to Sakiko.
Unfortunately, in order not to cause trouble for Kitahara, Uika could only try her best to suppress her feelings, avoiding backfiring like Mutsumi did...
"Makoto-kun, want to eat bento together?"
When the lunch bell rang, Mutsumi pulled out two bento boxes, completely ignoring the gazes of her spectating classmates, and directly invited Kitahara to eat together.
"Thanks, but no need." Kitahara flatly refused, "I'm going to the cafeteria to eat."
Mutsumi held her bento box: "Then I'll accompany Makoto-kun to the cafeteria..."
"No need at all, I prefer eating alone."
Kitahara spoke while quickly leaving the classroom.
Having had no prior interaction, yet coming up to say she liked him right off the bat, Kitahara always felt the transfer student Mutsumi had ulterior motives, so his attitude was naturally to keep a respectful distance.
"Makoto-kun is dodging me..."
Mutsumi bit her lower lip aggrievedly.
"Don't mind it, Mutsumi." Soyo comforted her gently. "Makoto-kun hasn't recovered his memories yet. Don't rush, we can just win him over little by little."
"Speaking of which... how does Uika plan to win over Makoto-kun?"
Soyo's gaze shifted, looking towards Uika.
"Ahem, with Mutsumi's cautionary tale right before us, we definitely can't be impulsive." Uika coughed twice, her pretty face slightly flushing red. "I plan to find an opportunity to raise Makoto-kun's favorability first, and talk about other things later."
Men chasing women is like climbing a mountain; women chasing men is like separating through a layer of gauze.
I'm an band idol after all, Kitahara-kun shouldn't be able to resist my charm, right?
Who knew Soyo gently shook her head:
"That might be a bit difficult."
"Eh?" Uika looked over in confusion, "Why do you say that, Soyo?"
Soyo reached out her delicate hand, counting on her fingers, "Anon, Kita, Tomori, me, Mutsumi, Sakiko... Everyone wants to seize the chance to win over Kitahara-kun first. Even if Uika transfers over, you might not necessarily get a chance to get close to Kitahara-kun."
Everyone wants to bump into him and be alone with Kitahara. In the scramble against each other, someone is bound to come up empty-handed, and over time, a real chaotic rivalry might erupt.
"Then what should we do?"
Uika knitted her slender brows, feeling it was quite troublesome, and couldn't help looking at Sakiko beside her for help:
"Saki-chan, do you have any good ideas?"
"There is one way..." Sakiko pursed her soft lips, her delicate fingers tucking a strand of hair falling over her chest behind her ear, whispering her idea softly, "Just like during the apocalypse, let's share Kitahara-kun among us."
"Eh?"
"By drawing lots, we choose the sequence to win over Kitahara-kun individually. That way, we can avoid time conflicts."
"Great idea." Uika's eyes quickly brightened up, "Should we draw lots after school?"
Soyo pulled out her phone, her voice gentle; this was actually her idea, she just expressed it through Uika:
"I'll send a message to notify everyone..."
A moment later.
Soyo raised her head, a subtle expression on her pretty face.
"Soyo, what's wrong?"
Noticing something unusual, Sakiko couldn't help asking softly.
"Mm..." Soyo crossed her fingers, holding her chin in a standard commander stance, "Kita just replied, saying she and Hitori won't participate in the draw."
Uika looked over curiously: "They gave up on winning over Makoto-kun?"
"Of course not." Soyo gently shook her head, "Kita said Kitahara-kun has been working at the venue these past two days, and joined Kessoku Band last night. He's preparing to participate in the rock festival with Kita and the others, so they have plenty of opportunities to spend time together and don't need to join the draw."
"..."
Hearing the intelligence leaked by Soyo, both Uika and Sakiko fell silent.
Mutsumi, being blunt as usual, said:
"They're stealing a march on us, how mean."
After a moment of silence.
Soyo's eyes flickered, opening her mouth to break the silence:
"Sakiko, should we also participate in the rock festival?"
"Revive our band, ask Kitahara-kun to join, and then we can openly win over Kitahara-kun."
Sakiko pursed her lips and said softly:
"Kitahara-kun has already joined Kita's band, can he still join another one?"
Mutsumi blurted out something startling: "Snatched Makoto-kun over."
"No need to go to such extremes, joining multiple bands isn't an issue." Uika hurriedly waved her hand, her voice sweet and pleasant, "Umiri is an example, she's joined so many bands."
Sakiko let out a soft breath, having made up her mind:
"We still need to ask Tomori and Taki for their thoughts first."
"Leave it to me." Seeing that the band was about to revive, Soyo's eyes shone brightly with excitement as she hurriedly pulled out her phone, "Tomori-chan and Taki definitely won't refuse."
A moment later.
Soyo held up her phone, a sweet smile appearing on her pretty face:
"Sakiko, look~ Tomori-chan and Taki both agreed."
Sakiko nodded gently:
"Then next, we just need to find a way to get Kitahara-kun to join us."
"Leave it to me." Mutsumi clenched her little fists, "I'll 'sleep-suade' Makoto-kun."
"Wait..." Soyo hurriedly looked over, "Did Mutsumi just say 'sleep-suade'?"
"That's right, 'sleep-suade'." Mutsumi looked as calm as usual, not feeling shy at all, "After getting naughty with Makoto-kun, he'll definitely agree to join the band."
"Mutsumi, don't be impulsive." Uika hurriedly stopped her in embarrassment, "That kind of thing definitely won't do!"
"Why? Don't you guys want to get naughty with Makoto-kun too?"
Mutsumi tilted her head in confusion.
"..."
Soyo, Sakiko, and Uika—the three girls exchanged glances, their pretty faces quickly flushing red as their eyes darted elsewhere.
It had to be said that although Mutsumi didn't speak much, she could hit right at people's souls most of the time—no wonder she didn't have friends.
"This topic ends here; girls shouldn't keep talking about naughty stuff." Soyo raised her arms, crossing them in front of her chest in a stop gesture, then softly changed the subject, "The pressing issue right now is what method to use to get Kitahara-kun to join the band."
"Makoto-kun has already joined the band with Hitori and the others; asking him to join our band as well is indeed a bit tricky." Uika held her chin, murmuring softly, "If we invite him directly, Makoto-kun will most likely refuse, right?"
"That's right." Sakiko nodded gently. "We need to find a way that Makoto-kun cannot refuse the invitation."
The overall plan had been outlined—revive the band, sign up for the rock music festival, and naturally win over Kitahara during this time under the guise of training.
Currently, the most important step was finding a way to get Kitahara to join the band.
"Everyone, don't rush; let's brainstorm together," Soyo said in a gentle voice. "We'll definitely come up with a good idea."
Mutsumi raised her hand: "Lewd stuff..."
"Mutsumi, put your hand down."
"..."
On the other side.
The school cafeteria.
Kitahara ordered a pork cutlet bowl plus a glass of iced cola, then carried his tray to sit down in a corner.
Just as he started eating, a girl's crisp and bright voice suddenly reached his ears:
"Kitahara-kun, what a coincidence."
A pink-haired girl walked over holding a tray and sat down generously across from Kitahara. When she smiled, her little tiger tooth was faintly visible, looking extraordinarily cute.
Kitahara looked up and greeted briefly:
"Anon-san, good afternoon."
"Eh, Kitahara-kun is eating pork cutlet bowl for lunch?" Anon's eyes sparkled, her pretty face filled with expectation. "It looks super delicious!"
Hey, hey, what's with that face that says 'feed me quickly'?
If you want to eat it, go buy a portion yourself!
Crunch.
Kitahara picked up a piece of fried pork cutlet and decisively took a bite.
It had to be said, the fried pork cutlet indeed tasted quite good.
"Let's eat pork cutlet again tomorrow noon; eating too much will make me gain weight." Anon reluctantly withdrew her gaze and looked at the cola glass at the corner of the table. "Speaking of which, I haven't had cola in a long time. It's said that there's super much sugar in it—one glass makes you gain three kilos."
Gaining three kilos is too exaggerated! A beverage company that powerful should quickly switch industries to animal husbandry, and all mankind would never lack meat again!
Kitahara picked up the drink, bit the straw, and took a sip of cola:
"Having a glass occasionally won't matter, just moderation is fine."
"Better not, I'm worried that once I drink cola I won't be able to stop." Anon shook her head. "I'll stick to my ramen... This is the volcanic ramen newly launched by the cafeteria. It looks super spicy. Does Kitahara-san want to try a bit?"
"Thanks, no need, Anon-san can eat it yourself."
Kitahara decisively refused three times.
Actually inviting a boy to eat from the same bowl of ramen, this pink-haired girl is actually a dummy, right?
"Ehehe, then I'll dig in."
Anon put her hands together and began eating the ramen.
"Mmm—!!"
Taking a mouthful of ramen into her mouth, Anon quickly opened her eyes wide, as if she were under a petrification curse, freezing on the spot.
"What's wrong?"
Kitahara looked over in confusion.
"So spicy, so spicy, so spicy..."
Anon opened her mouth, panting continuously, then quickly reached out, snatched the cup of cola in front of Kitahara, and drank it down with a gulping sound.
Kitahara: "..."
Even if it's really spicy, you could totally go to the restroom! Don't drink beverages that someone else has already drunk from!
"I... I survived..."
Anon let out a long breath with tears in her eyes, and then, 'belatedly' reacting, hurriedly put the cola cup back in front of Kitahara:
"Sorry, I drank it out of an impulse. I didn't drink it all, I left a little less than half for Kitahara-san."
"..."
Kitahara looked silently at the moist straw left with the girl's tooth marks.
Drinking half of it and giving it back, you really are a particular person!
"The three-second rule!"
Anon suddenly extended three fingers.
"What?"
Kitahara looked over in confusion.
"If food falls on the ground, as long as it doesn't exceed three seconds, it's not considered dirty," Anon argued authoritatively. "By the same token, as long as it doesn't exceed three seconds, it's not considered an indirect kiss!"
Kitahara really couldn't hold back the urge to retort:
"Even if there really is a three-second rule in the world, you drank more than half a glass of cola in one breath just now, it had long passed three seconds, right?"
"Is... is it past?"
Anon blinked her eyes, her pretty face quickly flushing red:
"My... my most important first kiss was actually taken away by Kitahara-kun..."
Taken away my ass! You clearly snatched the drink over yourself! And at most it can only be counted as an indirect kiss, your first kiss is still there!
Anon quickly stood up:
"I'll go buy another drink for Kitahara-san as an apology."
"No need..."
"Wait for me, wait for me."
Anon scampered far away.
In a place out of Kitahara's line of sight, the corners of this pink-haired girl's lips curved up happily, her face filled with the clever smile of a fox that succeeded in a chicken dinner.
Operation great success!
The ramen wasn't actually super spicy, nor did she lose her mind. As for drinking Kitahara's beverage... it was all filled with little schemes.
Coming up to the counter, Anon bought a glass of cola, whispered a few words with the auntie behind the window, and only then walked back holding the cola.
"Kitahara-san, the cola is bought back."
Anon put down the drink and looked over happily, as if she had forgotten about the indirect kiss just now:
"I just received a mysterious big gift, guess what it is, Kitahara-kun?"
Kitahara ate his meal calmly:
"Can't guess."
"Alright, the auntie told me just now that I'm the nine hundred ninety-ninth window customer this semester, so she gave me a mysterious gift." Anon's eyes sparkled as she took out two tickets from behind her back, "Ta-da~ It's a one-day pass to the aquarium."
Kitahara casually said:
"Congratulations."
"Here, one for each person." Anon handed one of the tickets over, "For you."
Kitahara shook his head and refused: "The mysterious gift Anon-san got, no need to give it to me."
"No way, you must take one." Anon puffed out her cheeks. "Although I bought the drink, I bought it for Kitahara-kun to drink. Neither can be dispensed with, so one aquarium ticket must be given to Kitahara-san."
Seeing Anon's firm attitude, Kitahara could only reach out to take an aquarium ticket, though feeling a bit suspicious in his heart.
"...Isn't this a bit too much of a coincidence?"