39: The Sidekick

"... Little Black, you can already fly."

When Chisato woke up, he found Dark Wing standing on the edge of his bed, looking down at him.

Such rapid growth could only be attributed to the system's unique quality. It was truly beyond normal expectations.

For breakfast, Chisato had simple toast and milk, and he prepared a small portion for Little Black as well. They enjoyed their meal together harmoniously.

As he was about to leave, Little Black awkwardly flew down to Chisato's shoulder.

"You want to come with me?"

Cheep-cheep~

"Can you promise not to fly around or make noise?"

Cheep-cheep~

"Alright then, let's go."

They left together.

At the station, while waiting for the train, Chisato unbuttoned his jacket, and Little Black wisely left his shoulder to snuggle into his inner pocket.

To him, this was perfectly normal, but it amazed the nearby schoolgirls, who stared with their mouths agape, repeatedly exclaiming 'Amazing' and similar phrases.

This was just a small incident in daily life. 

Hearing their reactions, Chisato gave them a friendly smile.

The girls, who had been discussing him in whispers, shivered as if touched by an electric shock when they made eye contact with him, then shyly looked away.

By the time they gathered the courage to look again, unfortunately, Chisato had already disappeared.

Once at school, Chisato sat in his seat. It was only five minutes before the class started that he saw his neighbor, Touma Kazusa, arriving late.

As usual, she ignored everyone's gaze, sat in her seat, stretched lazily, then took a book from her bag and used it as a cushion on her desk, lying down and closing her eyes.

It seemed like she planned to sleep through the day as usual.

Seriously, does she think the classroom desk is a cradle? Just comes in and falls asleep.

[Ding! Temporary Mission Activated.]

[Love Starts with Communication: The aloof girl named Touma Kazusa still reacts to you as usual, but you know she hides a burning heart beneath her cold exterior.]

[Mission Objective: Get her to invite you to lunch or to her secret hideout at school where no one else is allowed.]

[Mission Time: One week.]

[Mission Reward: 1 free attribute point, random quirky item box.]

Ah, the awkward reality love game is starting to make its presence known.

With this indifferent thought, Chisato read the mission details carefully.

After reading, he quietly observed Touma Kazusa on his left, still comfortably sleeping.

From her reaction yesterday, it seemed this task would be quite challenging.

Kazusa's personality might not be the traditional tsundere but rather more aloof.

She seemed indifferent to everything and would mask any concern with a cold and detached demeanor.

For example, when he offered her milk and bread, although she was internally excited, she maintained an attitude that made it clear she didn't want him involved in her matters.

Overall, from the initial interactions, the sleepy girl sitting next to Chisato gives the impression of being aloof and awkward.

Adding to that, her simple, nonchalant gesture of just waving off the class rep when it was time to collect homework could also suggest a tag of a delinquent girl.

It's odd, but suddenly, an image of an abandoned puppy in the rain popped into his mind.

Chisato shook his head, dismissing the inexplicable sense of déjà vu.

Reflecting on his previous life's memories of her from anime, he concluded that her personality traits were quite consistent.

Having a slight advantage in foresight and a whole week to complete the task made it seem less daunting.

The only thing left to figure out was how to make her主动 invite him once their relationship improved.

Chisato looked at Touma Kazusa with a troubled expression.

As she lay on the desk, her face turned slightly toward him, with her eyes peeking out from beneath her hair.

During the last class of the morning, the teacher was discussing a fascinating part of the text in Japanese, so he opened the roll call book and read out Touma Kazusa's name.

"Hey, the teacher's calling you."

Touma Kazusa was awakened by a girl from the front row, opened her eyes groggily, and saw everyone in the class staring at her.

The teacher repeated his request,

"Touma Kazusa, please read the next part of the text."

"…" Touma Kazusa silently stood up, the screeching sound of her chair scraping against the floor.

A few students at the other side of the classroom, who usually didn't like her, let out unmasked giggles.

Annoyed, Touma Kazusa looked at the teacher and was about to coldly say "I don't know" when a clear and gentle voice was heard by her ears

"It's the textbook you're resting your head on, the second large paragraph on page thirteen."

"…"

Hearing that voice, she initially intended to ignore it and stick to her original plan. 

But her hands opened the textbook, and after finding the relevant content, her mouth started reading it involuntarily.

"Very well, sit down."

After class, during lunch break, Chisato hurried out the back door of the classroom. 

He wasn't in a rush, but the bird in his pocket had been restless for ten minutes, likely needing to address a physiological issue. 

He hoped it could hold on and not resolve it in his pocket.

Once he left, Touma Kazusa slowly sat up from her desk. She glanced at the empty seat on her right, got up, and walked out of the classroom, heading in another direction.

…

Private Toyogasaki Academy

Since this morning, Eriri Sawamura had been in a state of deep concern and distraction.

It wasn't how she usually behaved. 

She even tripped and fall in the school's shoe-changing area, making quite a spectacle for those around her.

This was all due to the strange dream she had last night.

The dream was highly explicit, with only two characters involved: a male and herself as the female lead.

The intensity of the dream was even more extreme and intense than the provocative content she drew.

So, even though it was just a dream, her legs still ached from the journey to school, with an uncomfortably unnatural tremor in her thighs.

Despite knowing it was just a dream and that her body's reaction was a mere illusion, she still experienced occasional shivering.

Why? 

The dream was so vivid that, despite knowing it wasn't real, it evoked such a shameful and frustrating physiological response.

___

20+ advanced chapters on patreon.com/SenatusTheta