Chapter 4: The Smile that Launched a Thousand Rumors

"Is that really Matsuoka-san?"

"Wow, he completely changed just by dyeing and cutting his hair a bit."

"Besides, he arrived early today."

"Mm..."

Reiji, who had improved his physical ability and consequently better hearing than normal, heard what they were saying but just ignored it while resting his elbow on the desk and his hand supporting his head, looking out the window.

Seconds later, Kanade entered the classroom.

"Good morning, Amakawa-san."

Several students began to greet her little by little. She greeted them back with a gentle smile.

And then, to everyone's surprise, unlike her usual routine of arriving and sitting in her place or joining her group of friends, Kanade walked to the back of the room.

"What's gotten into her?" A certain boy murmured, feeling a bit nervous for no apparent reason.

'I knew it, it was him I saw before.' She thought as she approached Reiji.

With an even happier and kinder smile, she placed both hands on top of his desk, calling his attention and said upon seeing him look at her: "Good morning, Matsuoka-kun."

Reiji, who hadn't been paying attention to the room but rather outside the window, looked at her a bit surprised for her to come over to greet him, especially displaying a smile that could make any other boy misunderstand.

"Good morning." Reiji greeted back.

Still smiling, she took her hand off his desk and said, "Thank you for your help yesterday. And I'm sorry I couldn't properly thank you..."

"No problem." Reiji replied with a light smile. "Now, I think you'd better go back, the teacher has arrived."

She smiled and nodded, then returned to her place.

Although their interaction was brief, it took many in the classroom by surprise, especially Nishida, who had murmured before and attended the same club as her and... Well, let's just say he harbored a platonic love for her.

However, the situation was different with the current Kanade; she didn't seem to have feelings for Nishida; she had just greeted him earlier as she would with any other classmate. In the end, in this timeline, she still hadn't developed feelings for him.

Of course, this didn't stop Nishida from feeling jealous seeing Kanade go greet and talk to Reiji on her own. He thought, 'Didn't she seem to dislike him before? What's happening? Don't tell me...'

Somehow, his heart beat faster, feeling a sense of urgency.

Meanwhile, the class had already started.

Reiji, who has been improving his stats, felt that studying was much easier compared to his previous life.

In his previous life, he was still striving to get into a good university; he was 19 years old and about to take the National University Entrance Exam.

However, maybe he studied too much, as he died when he went to sleep and, upon waking up, found himself in his current situation.

With a sigh, he chose no longer to dwell on the past, having already decided earlier to move forward, like turning the first page of a new book.

Although he didn't hate his previous life, with the system he dubbed 'DS System', he had the possibility of having an enviable life he had always dreamed of.

Regarding Ex-Reiji, his memories were almost entirely useless, except for basic academic knowledge, laws, and norms of this world; the rest was practically disposable.

Moreover, in the classroom, he noticed the presence of the beautiful redhead Rias and Sona. There were also other girls who appeared frequently in High School DxD; like Tsubasa Yura and Akeno Himejima.

Before he realized it, the bell for the break rang.

Going to the cafeteria, he bought his lunch and sat down to eat.

"Matsuoka-kun, may I sit with you?"

Looking up, he saw Kanade in front of him.

Seeing no reason to refuse, he nodded affirmatively: "Sure, sit down."

'As I suspected, he seems to have changed a lot...' She reflected.

Kanade felt a bit restless sitting in front of him, noticing mainly the looks from other girls towards Reiji.

It wasn't that he was previously unnoticed by girls, but now she observed a different look in them, perhaps previously they saw him as someone to spend a few days with without serious commitments, at most, a love affair, but now, their looks were more possessive, like those of someone interested in starting a serious relationship, not just for fun...

This somehow made her uncomfortable, but she didn't dwell much on that thought.

Casting some discreet glances towards Reiji, she began to eat slowly.

Up until then, she didn't know how to start a conversation with him. She didn't even know what he liked or what they could talk about... 'Mm, if I don't know anything about him, just ask, right?'

Smiling a bit shyly, she asked: "By the way, Matsuoka-kun, can you tell me a little about yourself? Do you have any hobbies?"

After she asked this question, options appeared for him to choose—

[A: It's none of your business!]

[B: Yes, I do.]

[C: If I answer, will you give me a kiss in return, yes?]

Interrupting the movement of his chopsticks in the lunch box, he looked at her with his deep blue eyes and smiled slightly: "Well, I like various things and, if we're talking about hobbies, it can be said that it's physical training, reading, and I like movies."

"Really?" She seemed enchanted, clasping her hands with a radiant smile: "Those are wonderful hobbies!"

*Ding!* [Your favorability rating has increased.]

Her smile was so dazzling it seemed to break the rules.

Even those who weren't involved in the conversation felt affected by seeing her smile.

Seeing her smile like that, Reiji's interest was ignited a bit. He was also happy to see that another 10 points of favorability were increased. He returned the smile with one of his own.

Noticing her actions, she blushed a bit, lowering her head, almost hiding it between her ample breasts. However, she gathered courage, and looking up again, she saw Reiji smiling at her. She blushed even more, but still asked, "Matsuoka-kun, have you seen the latest movie by Director Steven Covity?"

"The one about the human boy who became a vampire after being bitten by fifty vampires and ended up becoming the most powerful vampire in the end?" He questioned, "Fifty Bites to Eternity?"

"Yes, that one!" Her purple eyes sparkled like stars in the sky: "What did you think of the movie, Matsuoka-kun?"

It was precisely the pirate movie he watched last night...

"I admit I didn't expect much, but..." He chuckled a bit: "The movie's plot surprised me. I liked it more than I expected."

She also laughed, covering her mouth with her hand: "Yeah, I thought Director Covity had missed the mark this time, but I ended up being pleasantly surprised and really liked it. It caught me off guard when the Protagonist who was bitten 50 times was left to just bones, then thrown into a pile of corpses, only to then come back to life..."

"Yes, that part was cool." Reiji agreed, smiling: "Him recovering by simply touching the corpses, gradually healing as the piles of corpses melted until they turned into dust..."

"That part was a bit gross, but I still found it kinda cool." She made a gesture with her hand the size of a one-dollar coin: "Just a little bit..."

"Hahaha." Reiji laughed.

Seeing him laugh at her, Kanade pouted but soon began to laugh along.

The two continued talking and laughing about the movie.

As they chatted animatedly, some people felt extremely uncomfortable. After all, Kanade had many admirers, and the same could be said about Reiji, especially after his recent change. Seeing them talking so joyfully made several people uncomfortable.

However, Kanade and Reiji seemed not to notice this, or if they did, they didn't care and continued their lively conversation until they finished eating and the end-of-break bell rang.

Reiji smiled at her: "Time flies when you're having fun."

Kanade seemed a bit surprised by his words, blushed a little, but agreed with a sigh: "Yes, I really enjoyed talking with you, Matsuoka-kun."

"You can call me Reiji if you want," he said as he stood up: "If you don't mind, I'd like to call you by your name, is that okay?"

"...Sure." She blushed again.

"Thank you, Kanade-chan." He smiled at her.

Just hearing him call her name and seeing him smile made her cheeks warm up again. It momentarily made her forget that, just a short while ago, they were chatting happily.

Seeing her reaction, Reiji chuckled discreetly, finding her reactions adorable.

One moment she was smiling happily, speaking full of enthusiasm about what she liked, in another, she blushed timidly, yet still looked at him with courage... Haha, she was truly adorable.

||- Note -||

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