The old, somewhat rusty iron door of the school rooftop was pushed open from the inside, emitting a sharp "creak" that sounded like a pointed object scraping against glass.
The teachers of other subjects were fine; after learning that Ren had transferred into Sobu High with perfect scores in all subjects, they turned a blind eye to his habit of "slacking off" during class. As long as Ren didn't disturb other students, they were quite lenient with him.
The only exception was Shizuka Hiratsuka, the Japanese teacher.
In Hiratsuka-sensei's eyes, Ren was just an ordinary student; regardless of whether his grades were good or bad, he should listen attentively in class. Therefore, during Japanese class, Hiratsuka-sensei frequently called on Ren to answer questions.
Ren couldn't really complain about this, as Shizuka was indeed his teacher. A teacher being dedicated to their students was part of their job, and Ren wouldn't hold a grudge against Hiratsuka-sensei for something like that.
Not holding a grudge was one thing, but slacking off was another. To successfully slack off, Ren chose to skip class directly—specifically, skipping Hiratsuka-sensei's Japanese class. This way, he wouldn't be called on by her to answer questions, and Shizuka had fulfilled her responsibility as a teacher. A total win-win; Ren wins twice.
As he opened the rooftop door, a breeze lightly brushed against Ren's face, bringing a hint of coolness to the hot weather. The sun, hanging high in the sky, had somehow pulled a cloud over to cover most of itself, no longer as scorching as it had been during PE.
Finding a shaded spot sheltered by a wall, Ren began flipping through a newly purchased romance light novel. Since learning that Mahiru had a dream of writing light novels, Ren had also begun to move toward the field of light novel writing, intending to help check Mahiru's work when the time came.
Hearing the sound of the rooftop door opening, Utaha Kasumigaoka—who had run to the rooftop to start coding the second volume of Metronome in Love—glanced sideways, wanting to see who the intruder visiting during class hours was. Kasumigaoka was only able to get the key to the rooftop door because of her excellent grades, which led the teacher to do her a favor.
[Ren?]
Seeing that the newcomer was Ren, Kasumigaoka was somewhat bewildered; she clearly hadn't expected to have a chance encounter with him here. Noticing that Ren had come to the rooftop to read, Kasumigaoka became interested and wanted to see what kind of book he was reading.
When she saw the light novel Ren was flipping through clearly, her beautiful eyes froze. She discovered... the light novel Ren was reading was none other than Metronome in Love, which she had written!
"Senpai, it's very impolite to stare at someone so directly."
Ren flipped a page of the light novel, speaking flatly without even lifting his head.
"Oh? Kouhai, if you weren't looking at me, how would you know I was looking at you?"
Since Ren took the initiative to talk, Kasumigaoka retorted on the spot. It just so happened that Kasumigaoka had no inspiration for the second volume she was writing, and she wanted to see if she could find some inspiration from Ren.
As for the fact that Ren was a reader of her light novel, Kasumigaoka felt a small sense of secret joy in her heart. She intended to ask Ren for his thoughts on Metronome in Love without exposing her "Utako Kasumi" pen name.
"Your gaze is too obvious. One can clearly feel your stare without even looking."
"Is there something you want, staring at me like that, Senpai?"
Closing the light novel in his hand, Ren looked up and stared seriously at Kasumigaoka. Ren still had quite an impression of this Senpai who shared the same hair and eye color as him—the friend of that idiot Eriri, and seemingly also a friend of that Aki-something guy?
"Kouhai, is it possible that you secretly..."
Kasumigaoka instinctively wanted to give Ren a bit of her poisonous tongue, but after noticing Ren's gaze becoming dangerous, she immediately changed her tune: "Actually, it's nothing much. I'm just a bit interested in the light novel in your hand."
"This light novel?"
Tossing Metronome in Love into the air and catching it, Ren raised an eyebrow. "As the top student dominating the third-year rankings, you're also interested in light novels, Senpai?"
"As the Kouhai who can represent the students to give a speech on stage, you're interested in light novels, so it shouldn't be strange for me to be interested too."
"True."
Ren nodded, acknowledging Kasumigaoka's logic. Then, with a playful look in his eyes, he looked at her: "So... Kasumigaoka is the author, Utako Kasumi-sensei?"
Exposed on the spot, Kasumigaoka's expression changed drastically. Some bad memories from a book signing appeared in her mind, causing her to instinctively take two steps back.
Tch...
"What are you being so cautious for? I'm not some loyal reader of yours, and besides, I'm not interested in you, Senpai."
Ren, seeing through Kasumigaoka's little thoughts at a glance, sneered. After speaking, he turned his gaze back to the light novel in his hand.
Whoever wants to be a simp, let them be; either way, Ren had no interest. There are too many girls with good figures in the world; it's not like there aren't any with more voluptuous bodies than Kasumigaoka. With the power behind Ren, those people would likely beg him to let them onto his bed.
The two steps Kasumigaoka took backward seemed ridiculous to Ren.
Hearing Ren's sneer, Kasumigaoka also came to her senses. Back then, Ren hadn't feared Eriri, which showed that his background was no less than that of the Sawamura family. With such a background, how could Ren be like those perverted readers at the book signing who wanted to pounce on her the moment they met?
"Kouhai, sumimasen. That was my fault just now."
Kasumigaoka wasn't a tsundere like Eriri; she could handle things properly. She bowed directly to apologize to Ren.
"Senpai, can we get to the point now?"
This straightforward apology actually made Ren think a bit more highly of her. To think there was a normal person among the group that hung around with Eriri and Tomoya Aki.
"Kouhai, is it convenient for me to sit down and talk?"
Pointing to the empty spot beside Ren, Kasumigaoka put her hands together in a begging gesture. Aside from that idiot Eriri, Ren was the first person from the upper class she had met who also read light novels. Therefore, she wanted to ask Ren what insights he had regarding Metronome in Love.
Kasumigaoka wanted to see how Ren would judge her first light novel.
"You can."
Moving from the center toward the edge, Ren left a spacious spot for Kasumigaoka.
"Thank you."
Having received Ren's permission, Kasumigaoka took the newspaper she had previously placed on the ground to block dust and spread it in the shaded area Ren had left.
The spot Ren left was subtle; if both sat at the extreme edges, there would be space for about one person in between. Ren didn't know if Kasumigaoka did it on purpose, but she specifically leaned toward the middle, leaving only the distance of a fist between her and Ren.
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