The Promise of Tomorrow

I have no idea if Sudo Ken actually took what Makoto said to heart.

Regardless, Honami was already leaning into Makoto's arms with stars in her eyes, looking completely blissful.

Makoto just now was so cool~

She couldn't even imagine what she would have ended up like without him.

The golden-pink angel thought to herself.

After Sudo Ken drew everyone's attention back, the shock brought about by Ryuen Kakeru dissipated, and the meal proceeded as usual.

As it ended, Makoto said this:

"If any students from Class C engage in verbal harassment, we can use the recording function on our phones to document it."

"Would that actually be useful?"

Kushida Kikyo asked curiously, feeling that Makoto was like an encyclopedia; he could provide a great answer to almost any question.

"A single recording might not prove much, but if the quantity piles up, the school will surely have to take it seriously."

Kushida Kikyo had extremely high emotional intelligence, but it felt like her IQ wasn't quite as high; perhaps she had put all her stat points into the other side.

"As expected of Makoto!"

Ike Kanji and Yamauchi Haruki were jealous.

When would they ever reach the point where they could address Kushida Kikyo by her first name?

On the way back to the dorms, Makoto noticed a blue-green figure not far away.

Who else could it be but Ibuki Mio, who had popped up before?

"I thought you would come out and invite me in for a meal; I waited here for you for so long for nothing."

Ibuki Mio's gaze was cold, as if she had been gutting fish at a supermarket for ten years.

"A normal person would have left on their own once they realized the other party had no such intention, right? So, what do you want with me?"

Ibuki Mio glanced at Honami beside Makoto and said:

"Do you really have the intention of living in peace like this?"

"Or would you rather be beaten into submission and end up kneeling on the ground, begging for scraps?"

Makoto wore a look of bewilderment.

"You guy! You talk as if you're guaranteed to win!"

Unlike Sudo Ken, Ibuki Mio could control her temper to a certain extent, especially since the area was filled with security cameras.

"Actually, I am. Do you want me to prove it to you in Class C?"

Makoto didn't mind giving Ibuki Mio and her peers a little taste of his foresight.

"Forget it, you'd better keep your dignity intact."

Ibuki Mio made a tactical retreat; she still took the threat posed by this man very seriously.

"In that case, help me arrange a meeting with your class's dictator tomorrow—that is, the guy named Ryuen from today."

"How did you figure out he's the dictator of our class?"

Ibuki Mio looked full of curiosity.

"You see him walking around with a bunch of lackeys; it's really easy to imagine the methods he uses within the class."

Makoto stopped teasing her now, as he didn't have any particular feelings for Ibuki Mio.

There was no need to keep piquing her curiosity.

Thinking of Ryuen Kakeru's arrogant demeanor, Ibuki Mio couldn't help but sigh and rub her forehead.

"That's true."

"By the way, my name is Miyano Makoto. What's yours?"

Makoto felt that names were a major taboo—they were too easy to reveal one's true colors—so he had to ask for it quickly.

"Ibuki Mio."

"That's a very nice name."

Makoto said it casually; after all, complimenting people didn't cost anything.

"Let's add each other as friends, otherwise how will I notify you tomorrow?"

Ibuki Mio looked reluctant, yet her hand proactively opened the friend code on her phone.

"I got it."

The two exchanged contact information just like that, and the ratio of men to women in Makoto's contact list fell into an extreme state of imbalance once again.

If only he had had such happy troubles in his previous life.

He thought, without a shred of nostalgia.

"I am happy here, I do not think of Shu."

"While there's still time, hurry up and go eat."

"Mind your own business!"

Ibuki Mio shot Makoto a glare before walking away on her own.

"What is Makoto planning to do by meeting Ryuen?"

"I'm going to try and negotiate with him, though I suspect it will end in failure."

Makoto linked his arm with Honami's and headed toward the dorms.

Due to the approaching midterm exams, most students had consciously stopped their various evening activities, choosing instead to dedicate that time to studying.

Therefore, Honami was also heading straight back to her dorm for the night; perhaps there would even be a unique study session in her room?

Makoto had no information regarding that, so he knew nothing about it.

Because boys were not allowed to enter the girls' dormitory area after 8:00 PM.

A blatant double standard, one that Makoto still despised in his heart.

"Then why does Makoto still want to meet with him?"

"It allows me to plant a seed in his mind; it might prove useful in the future."

"Mm, as expected of Makoto!"

Honami did not hold back her praise; she could never get tired of praising Makoto.

Returning to the cold and empty Room 301, Kei had originally wanted to come over for tutoring, but Makoto and Honami had both agreed that there had been enough tutoring during the day, and that she needed to properly digest the material at night rather than blindly cramming.

Kei had no choice but to give up.

Makoto opened his phone to see if there were any noteworthy messages, and upon checking, he actually found one.

It was a message from the swimming instructor.

The general gist was that there would be a competition outside of school after the midterms, and he had already signed Makoto up for it, hoping he would perform well and bring glory to the school.

Seeing this, Makoto recalled a detail from the original work that the author seemed to have forgotten.

Club activities also affect the class.

The specific claim was: those who perform exceptionally well might be rewarded with points by the school.

However, it was mostly personal points rather than class points.

It was indeed harmless information.

The original work used this as the reason to save Sudo Ken.

Looking at the message, Makoto estimated the time and decided he would go and get some good practice in tomorrow!

If it were for something like this, the school wouldn't really be able to say anything even if he took a day off.

What's more, Hoshinomiya was on his side.

As the infirmary doctor, she held the magical power to grant leave slips.

If she says you're sick, then you're sick; she can definitely get you leave.

What? You say you're sick but you're full of energy swimming in the pool?

So what? I like to go swimming when I'm sick.

No problem there~

Makoto let his thoughts wander aimlessly; this was also a good way to exercise the mind, which could effectively prevent rigid thinking.

After taking a quick look at the official school forum, he would head downstairs to buy some hot milk and go to sleep.

Two hours later, Makoto drifted off into dreamland.

The above statement is purely the author talking nonsense; I don't even know if it's actually useful.