A Somewhat Special Gift

As Leo and Utaha Kasumigaoka spoke, the entire Class 3-C grew quiet with a very obvious trend.

The students present, whether boys or girls, couldn't help but prick up their ears, beginning to pay attention to the content of their conversation.

It couldn't be helped; the two people before them were celebrities in Sobu High School, no matter which angle you looked at them from.

Relying on his outstanding appearance and temperament, Leo had been rated as the most popular boy at Sobu High School since his first year. He had won first place for three consecutive years on the "Most Wanted Boyfriend" ranking created by the girls. Hayato Hayama, who was currently in second place, had half as many votes as him; it could be said that Leo was leading by a wide margin.

As for Utaha Kasumigaoka, she was one of the four most eye-catching girls in all of Sobu High School.

At Sobu High School, there were four high mountain flowers recognized by all the teachers and students.

These four high mountain flowers were referred to by the teachers and students of the entire school using the names of the "four seasons."

The first high mountain flower was a girl currently enrolled in Class 1-A named Mahiru Shiina. Due to her exquisite appearance and gentle, virtuous temperament, she caused a huge sensation on the very first day of school, becoming a celebrity at Sobu High School. Known by the entire school as the Angel, she was the "spring flower" of Sobu High.

The second high mountain flower was a girl currently enrolled in Class 2-G named Eriri Spencer Sawamura. She possessed great artistic talent and was the ace of the school's art club. Her usual speech and behavior were as delicate as a young lady of high status, and she was kind to others, making her very popular throughout the school. She was the "summer flower" of Sobu High.

The third high mountain flower was Utaha Kasumigaoka, currently in Class 3-C. She was a literary girl with rare talent who could write scripts for the drama club, and she was also an up-and-coming light novel author. Quiet and elegant, both her temperament and appearance were extremely refined. She was the "autumn flower" of Sobu High.

And the fourth high mountain flower was, naturally, Yukino Yukinoshita, currently enrolled in Class 2-J. An honor student who had maintained the top grades since entering school, she was a beautiful girl possessing both looks and intelligence. Because her attitude toward people and things was too cold, she was the "ice flower" of Sobu High.

These four school beauties were all individuals with impeccable looks, temperament, grades, talent, and even family backgrounds. They were true high mountain flowers—to be admired from afar, but never touched.

Support groups for these four high mountain flowers had been established within Sobu High, and among them, the support group for Utaha Kasumigaoka was the largest.

The reason was simple: Utaha Kasumigaoka was a third-year senior, while the other three high mountain flowers were underclassmen. Some senior boys wouldn't "lower their status" to become fans of underclassmen—at least, they felt it would be a bit embarrassing—which was why those who supported Utaha Kasumigaoka were the most numerous in the school.

Incidentally, the support group for Yukino Yukinoshita was the smallest in scale because she always had a cold expression, was extremely unskilled at interpersonal communication, often treated others with a sharp tongue, and was bold enough to speak her mind and correct mistakes regarding people or things around her. This scared off quite a few people; only those who had a taste for that sort of thing would choose to join her support group and become her fanatical fans.

At this moment, the boy most popular with girls in the entire school and the girl most popular with boys in the entire school were chatting together. Naturally, it was eye-catching in every sense, making people pay attention involuntarily.

Leo and Utaha Kasumigaoka both noticed this situation, but they were both used to it, so they continued their conversation as if no one else was around.

"I'm here to urge you to update, Utaha," Leo said with a serious face. "When exactly is the second volume of Koi no Metronome coming out? I've been waiting for several months. If you don't update soon, I'm going to mail razor blades to your house."

Hearing this, Utaha Kasumigaoka rolled her eyes without a trace.

"Are you really reading novels lately?" Utaha Kasumigaoka said with a half-smile. "How come I heard that someone has been paying attention to the service club recently, and even ran to their activity room at noon? I wonder what you were talking about in there?"

"So you knew?" Leo smiled and said, "It seems I still have the senior's attention."

"After all, you were the culprit who first saw through my identity as a light novel author in the entire school and spread it everywhere, causing me to be pestered by fans for a long time, devil-kun," Utaha Kasumigaoka said lightly. "Also, how many times do I have to say it? We are in the same grade, and I am not your senior. Why do you always like to call me that?"

"Don't mind it, it's just a habit that shouldn't be spoken of to outsiders that I accidentally brought here," Leo waved his hand and said. "Don't you always call me devil-kun, too?"

"Who is to blame for that?" Utaha Kasumigaoka turned her gaze back to the book in her hand and said without looking up, "Wasn't it some narcissist with nowhere to put his charm who ran up to me on his own accord and claimed to be a devil?"

That's right, Leo had once confessed his identity to Utaha Kasumigaoka.

The conversation between the two at the time went like this...

"Senpai, I want to read the second volume of Koi no Metronome."

"Don't call me senpai, and the second volume hasn't even been released yet."

"Then please write it for me right now, otherwise I'm going to curse you."

"You? Curse me?"

"That's right, because I'm a devil."

"...If you want to be funny, could you please choose a different time and place?"

Just like that, pestering her for updates became the standard opening for Leo's conversations with Utaha Kasumigaoka, and ever since then, Utaha Kasumigaoka had referred to him as devil-kun.

Leo knew that this nickname was just a tease she had deliberately come up with to retaliate against his constant pestering. She hadn't taken his self-exposure seriously at all.

How could the famous autumn flower of Sobu High School ever imagine that this self-exposure—which she found somewhat embarrassing, like something out of a chuunibyou phase, and which she used to tease him about his dark history—was actually the truth?

One could only say that the truth is often hidden in words and actions revealed inadvertently, yet people never notice it.

"Anyway, I want to read the second volume of Koi no Metronome. I really can't wait anymore." Leo said, acting somewhat unreasonable: "Could it be that the rumors online are true? Is your Koi no Metronome really about to be axed because the second volume is stuck in development hell?"

Utaha Kasumigaoka fell silent immediately.

"No way, right? Seriously?" Leo said with an exaggerated expression: "Is it really getting axed? My youth is over!"

"You're so annoying, devil-kun." Utaha Kasumigaoka said displeased: "I will write the second volume. I will absolutely not let Koi no Metronome get axed."

Though she said that, Utaha Kasumigaoka's state of mind had actually been quite low lately.

She had written the content for the second volume several times already, but every time it failed to pass her editor's standards, leading to a state of creative paralysis.

When the first volume of Koi no Metronome was first released, the sales were very impressive. This resulted in the second volume being repeatedly rejected by her editor for not being as brilliant as the first. Now, there were no signs of a reprint, which led to rumors of it being axed to start circulating.

This made Utaha Kasumigaoka very troubled, and even irritable.

Naturally, Utaha Kasumigaoka would not say these things in front of Leo.

She did not want to be looked down upon by this "fan" who had always been pestering her for updates, and deep down, she was even more reluctant to see disappointment in his eyes.

Although she hadn't said it directly, deep down, Utaha Kasumigaoka felt quite proud that the most popular boy at Sobu High School was so obsessed with her work.

That was why she didn't want to see Leo disappointed.

"Then I'll wait for your good news."

Leo looked at Utaha Kasumigaoka, as if he could see through the worry and irritation in her heart, and suddenly smiled.

"In light of how hard you've been working, senpai, I'll give you a rather special gift."

Leo pulled a piece of vintage parchment the size of his palm from his pocket.

"This is a very effective charm. When you're feeling troubled, it might be able to offer you some help."

With that, Leo shoved the parchment into Utaha Kasumigaoka's hand, then stood up and walked back to his own seat.

"A charm?"

Although Utaha Kasumigaoka was a bit stunned, she looked at the parchment in her hand, which had a magic circle drawn on it. After pursing her lips, she tucked it away.

Leo, who had been secretly observing this scene, smiled slightly, turned his gaze away, and looked toward the podium.

As the school bell rang, the teacher walked in and began the lesson...

Before he knew it, the day's classes had ended.

As the sun set and the evening glow appeared, the crowds at Sobu High School gradually thinned, causing the entire campus to slowly fall into silence.

On the rooftop of the school building, Leo was lying down, his hands pillowed behind his head and his legs crossed, basking in the sunset with a devil-may-care attitude.

"Hm?"

Suddenly, Leo opened his eyes, a sharp glint that was impossible to look at directly flashing through them.

"This is...?"

He stood up and walked to the railing, his gaze shooting out like a torch as he looked toward the school gate.

No, he was looking at somewhere much further away.

"They're actually making a move directly?"

As if he knew something, a cold arc curled onto the corners of Leo's mouth.

The next second, Leo vanished from where he stood, disappearing without a trace.

Time, returning to a few minutes ago...

At a train station some distance from Sobu High School, Yukino Yukinoshita walked out slowly, heading in the direction of an apartment building.

As the second daughter of the Yukinoshita family, Yukino Yukinoshita should have been living in a mansion and being chauffeured to and from school. However, due to her family, she was currently living alone in a rented apartment, and her mode of transportation had changed from a private car to the train. It was hard to imagine this was the life of the second daughter of the Yukinoshita family, a prestigious local family in Chiba Prefecture.

At this moment, yukino yukinoshita was still brooding over the events of the day.

"What kind of help could something like this possibly provide me?"

Holding the parchment with the magic circle drawn on it, the displeasure in yukino yukinoshita's heart had reached its limit.

A charlatan playing god, she thought. I don't need the help of something like this.

Without hesitation, yukino yukinoshita prepared to throw the parchment away.

"Tap..."

Just then, the sound of overly deliberate footsteps reached her ears.