The train arrived at the station.
Walking along the winding path outside the Aoyama-Itchome station platform, one could hear high school students excitedly discussing the legend of the "Phantom Thief."
"Did you hear? That 'Phantom Thief' uprooted the famous 'Kamo Group' in Shinjuku overnight!"
"Yeah, sending out calling cards, then stealing the 'evil' from villains' hearts, making them truly repent... That's too cool!"
"Really? How can there be such supernatural power in the world!"
"But it's true! My house is near the Police Department, and the police sirens outside didn't stop all night yesterday!"
"The TV stations are really something, willing to report on inexplicable bundled software instead of telling everyone more about the 'Phantom Thief' story."
"Maybe those reporters are still writing drafts all night?"
"..."
Iseri Nina seemed to have emerged from the shadow of her "unfavorable start" in the entrance exams, discussing the authenticity of the Phantom Thief legend with Kurusu Akira with some excitement.
Kurusu Akira showed little interest in this. "We'd better get into school quickly; class starts in half an hour."
Though they said they were going to class, Kurusu Akira and Iseri Nina didn't return to their own classrooms but went to the cooking classroom instead.
Today was Wednesday, and the first class in the morning was home economics, held every two weeks, with the content being cooking or sewing.
The cooking classroom was already full of people, with students from 2-D Class and 2-A Class combined.
Kurusu Akira was "lucky" to be grouped with Mishima Yuki, who had a sour face, and Sakamoto Ryuji, who was yawning constantly, plus two girls from different classes.
They were responsible for assisting, with the main work done by the girls.
Kurusu Akira was assigned the task of peeling potatoes and carrots... A Phantom Thief was indeed best at this job.
Having played with all sorts of daggers, dealing with such simple tasks was like using an anti-aircraft gun to swat a mosquito.
Sakamoto Ryuji rinsed the vegetables clean and placed them on a tray on the table.
Then he saw a slender, well-articulated hand pick up a rinsed potato, a fruit knife twirling in the other hand, and thin, cicada-wing-like potato peels spiraling down in beautiful arcs, gently falling onto the tray.
All the potato peels were connected, forming a complete pattern resembling an Ouroboros on the tray.
Mishima Yuki, who was being remotely directed by the girls to mix sauces nearby, noticed the scene, but before he could make a fuss, he saw Kurusu Akira pick up another potato and start doing the same.
Kurusu Akira found peeling vegetables or fruits quite enjoyable.
As thin layers of plant skin peeled off his hands, he could achieve a continuous sense of accomplishment in a focused tranquility.
This was an excellent way to control wrist strength; one couldn't be too hasty or indecisive. A slight mistake would cause the potato peel to break, making it imperfect.
At the same time, one had to maintain a proper posture, calm and solemn. At this point, one would feel their strength exhibiting a feminine beauty, like a stream, lingering and lively, full of vitality.
As the number of smoothly peeled, round potatoes in the dish increased, the few people originally busy at the table began to pay attention to Kurusu Akira's performance.
"Amamiya-san's knife skills are amazing. Have you learned to cook before?" asked a girl named Suzui Shiho.
"No, I haven't learned, but I practiced kendo for a while. Now it's probably a matter of drawing inferences from other cases."
Kurusu Akira placed the last peeled potato into the dish and began to stretch his slightly sore wrist.
Suzui Shiho handed him a cutting board and a kitchen knife. "Could I trouble Amamiya-san to slice the potatoes as well?"
"No problem."
Kurusu Akira took the kitchen knife and cutting board.
"His knife skills are really amazing!"
"Guys who can cook really earn a lot of points with girls!"
The silent, bespectacled girl next to Suzui appropriately asked Sakamoto Ryuji, who was peeling cabbage across from them.
"Speaking of which, Sakamoto-san, do you have a girlfriend?"
"Me?" Sakamoto Ryuji seemed somewhat flattered.
He had short hair, average looks, and a constantly noisy personality, so he had never been asked such a question by a girl before.
"Yes," the girl nodded, slightly reserved.
"N-not yet." At this moment, Sakamoto Ryuji had lost the bold and decisive spirit he displayed when sprinting on the track, appearing very shy.
'Could Kamoshida-sensei's advice really be working?'
Sakamoto Ryuji scratched his yellow hair, which he had dyed specifically during spring break.
This was Kamoshida's advice, who was the physical education teacher: "Since your appearance isn't outstanding, you should appropriately pursue individuality. Have you watched 'Naruto'? Go dye your hair yellow, and if you achieve good results in track and field competitions, you might become the 'Yellow Flash' admired by many."
The bespectacled girl's mood seemed to lift a little. "Oh, I see. Sakamoto-san, do you have any plans to find a girlfriend?"
"That kind of thing... I guess so?"
"Hehe, Sakamoto-san is quite interesting."
"I-is that so?" Sakamoto Ryuji felt his hands, which were peeling cabbage, were starting to tingle.
Then he saw the girl turn away without hesitation to ask Kurusu Akira. "Amamiya-san? Do you have a girlfriend?"
"No."
"Huh? Really? People in the grade have been saying you and Iseri are dating."
Suzui Shiho also added in a low voice, "Many people have seen you go to and from school together, and even enter and exit bookstores."
Kurusu Akira pushed the cut potato slices into a large bowl and handed it to them. "We're just neighbors helping each other out."
"Are you really not considering it? Iseri is clearly very cute."
"Though her style is a bit plain," the girl next to her quipped.
Suzui Shiho retorted.
"She'll become very pretty with just a little tidying up!"
Kurusu Akira didn't like girls' gossip, so he just shook his head. "Not considering it for now."
Mishima Yuki, feeling ignored, interjected somewhat sadly, "Why don't you guys discuss topics about love with me?"
Just then, a whistle sounded outside the door, a very piercing sound that quieted the entire cooking classroom.
The second-year head teacher walked in, speaking in a booming voice.
"Students of Second Year Class A, gather in your classroom immediately! Second Year Class D, continue with home economics!"
"Oh no, it's that 'Devil Ito.'"
"Hurry up and go, or he'll give us a good scolding later."
The students of 2-A Class scrambled to leave their seats, the clatter of pots and pans echoing in the classroom.
Mishima Yuki, who had been feeling resentful, watched the girls in his group leave and suddenly felt a chill in his limbs—
Today's home economics assignment had to be completed during class.
The girl who could cook left, so what should they do about the next task?
Mishima Yuki looked at Sakamoto Ryuji.
The ace of the track and field club immediately shook his head in alarm, then he looked at Kurusu Akira.
Kurusu Akira was struggling with a crooked carrot and a kitchen knife. Seeing them both staring at him, he couldn't help but ask them, "Why don't you learn to cook by following online tutorials? The home economics class shouldn't prohibit the use of mobile phones, right?"
Seeing both Sakamoto Ryuji and Mishima Yuki show expressions of sudden realization, Kurusu Akira didn't dare to waste time chopping vegetables anymore. He leaned over and discussed with them how to stuff the huge pile of prepared ingredients on the table into the pot to make an edible dish.
...
They actually managed to make it.
A bowl of chicken curry that didn't look very appetizing.
But after all, it was chicken curry, with various spices mixed together. As long as the cooking process was clean and hygienic, it wouldn't taste bad no matter what.
The only pity was that Mishima Yuki had cooked the potatoes and carrots for too long, and they all became soft and mushy in the end, turning into a messy paste after a few stirs.
"Is this... Indian style?"
The instructor sat on the podium, looking at the mushy curry that the three boys had brought up, with a subtle expression.
Laughter echoed around, but the groups that hadn't finished their work yet saw the little time left on the classroom clock and immediately rushed to continue tinkering with the spatulas in front of them.
After submitting their work, Kurusu Akira, Sakamoto Ryuji, and Mishima Yuki left the cooking classroom.
Today's class ended here. From 10 AM until 3:20 PM when school was dismissed, the time in between was left for students to arrange freely.
Tokyo's school life is so relaxed...
Kurusu Akira turned to look at Sakamoto Ryuji and Mishima Yuki, "You two should both have your own clubs by now, right?"
"I'm in the track and field club, he's in the volleyball club."
Sakamoto Ryuji's eyes darted around. "Oh, right, Amamiya probably hasn't joined a club yet, has he? Do you want to join our track and field club?"
"Hey, it definitely has to be our volleyball club!"
"How dare you, a kangaroo who can only hop around the court, speak to Ryuji-sama, the ace of the track and field club, like that?!" Sakamoto Ryuji glared at Mishima Yuki with a sneer.
"Track and field club? Just an ostrich club that can't get any achievements. How dare you speak to us, the ace club that represented Shujin and won multiple gold medals in the National Youth Volleyball Tournament, like that?"
"You kangaroo who borrows a tiger's prestige!" Sakamoto Ryuji gritted his teeth and glared at Mishima Yuki.
"You ostrich who has high aspirations but limited abilities!" Mishima Yuki glared back, unwilling to be outdone.
By the time they finished arguing, Kurusu Akira had long since disappeared.
----------------
Kurusu Akira arrived at the empty club activity room, carrying his guitar case.
He put down his guitar, then went to the logistics office next door to apply for items like tables and chairs.
Anyway, it was still early, so he treated it as exercise.
With this thought, Kurusu Akira politely declined the logistics teacher's offer to help move the desks and slowly carried the items one by one into the Psychological Health Education Department activity room.
Until his shoulders began to ache faintly, the originally empty, prison-like music classroom finally had a bit of a campus atmosphere.
It took him half an hour, but he finally finished.
Kurusu Akira looked at the tables and chairs arranged in a semicircle in front of him, then wiped sweat from his brow with his sleeve.
He took out his phone and started urging Iseri Nina, who had already finished class, to quickly submit the club application form.
After urging her, he found a chair and sat down, starting to play on his phone.
He continued to play "MasterDuel"; his rank had been stuck at Platinum recently and he couldn't climb any higher.
His poor Masked Heroes were utterly trampled and powerless against the beautiful, powerful, immortal Tearlaments.
After reflecting on his shortcomings, Kurusu Akira decided to add Tearlaments components to his Hero deck, specifically including:
The full Tearlaments family and their spell/trap cards, a small number of Herald of Orange Light, a small number of Shaddoll, and the Quick-Play Spell "Mask Change II," finally bringing Dark Law, Anki, and Acid in the Extra Deck.
Confirmed deck save.
Masked Heroes, having gained new power from "Primeval Planet Perlereino," were returning to the field!
But the heroes, aided by mermaids, hadn't had a chance to show their skills in ranked play when the classroom door opened.
"Sorry! I'm late!"
Iseri Nina burst into the overly spacious music classroom, panting.
It was a sunny day, with sunlight spread across the clouds, shining on Kurusu Akira's expressionless face, casting the shadow of the window onto the walnut desk, and a faint rosy hue filled the entire classroom.
The girl holding the club application form froze in place, unable to move.
She really wanted to take out her phone and capture such a scene.
'How could this guy be so handsome...?' She blinked her eyes, and only when Kurusu Akira waved at her did she reluctantly approach.
"I brought the application form. All the necessary parts are filled out, except for the club name and your signature, President."
"Psychological Health Education Department." Kurusu Akira instructed Iseri Nina to write down the club's name on the application form.
"Psycological Health...? Didn't we say our main focus would be extracurricular activities?"
"Do you feel happy when you skip class?" Kurusu Akira suddenly asked her in return.
"...Yes."
"When you're happy, you stay away from all sorts of psychological illnesses, and your mental health improves."
"So the main activity of our club is... skipping, skipping class?!" Iseri Nina recoiled in disbelief.
"Yes, skipping class." Kurusu Akira nodded, confirming her guess.
"That's too absurd!" Iseri Nina seemed about to run away.
But Kurusu Akira used just one sentence to make shame and sorrow instantly pierce through her, leaving her frozen in place, not daring to move.
"Iseri, just now, your lips seemed to be curving upwards."
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