84. Group Date; Class C's Stalking and Surveillance
The afternoon of May 3.
As soon as the dismissal bell rang, Aragaki Shun was summoned by Shiranami Chihiro and brought over to the group of girls.
Looking at the four girls already gathered together—Ichinose Honami, Ando Sayo, Amikura Mako, and Kobashi Yume—and then at Shiranami, who couldn't hide her smile, Aragaki felt a little speechless, but couldn't help feeling a trace of anticipation, too.
He'd figured it out last night: he was just a normal person with all sorts of desires. There was no need to keep suppressing his instincts with reason. He could just let things happen naturally.
He'd behaved himself for the past decade or so, but that wasn't because he had unusually high moral standards as someone who'd transmigrated. It was simply that he still didn't have enough power to make the whole world turn according to his will!
Otherwise, he would have gone to protect his own world long ago!
"Shiranami brought me over. She said you needed someone to carry your bags. Is that right?"
Aragaki crossed his arms and looked at the girls, who had been whispering among themselves ever since he and Shiranami arrived, clearly unsure what to make of it.
"Hehe~" Shiranami Chihiro said nothing. Under the watchful eyes of her friends, she was already lost in a silly grin.
"Welcome, Aragaki-kun." Ichinose Honami stepped forward with a smile, a teasing glint in her eyes. "Everyone thinks you're really reliable, so we've all been looking forward to this."
"That's right. With a boy to carry our bags, we can buy more things," Amikura Mako chimed in, her eyes sparkling with excitement.
"Class rep, we're counting on you."
"Hehe~ Chihiro's really something. She actually managed to get Aragaki-kun to come along."
Ando Sayo and Kobashi Yume first gave the grinning Shiranami an odd look, then came over and greeted the two of them.
Shiranami Chihiro had been so obvious that the others had all figured it out. They didn't mind helping her along, either, which was why this group date had come about.
"Then let's do that. I'm not very good at this sort of thing, so I'll leave the planning to you."
Aragaki sighed helplessly as he looked at the energetic girls before him. He knew he'd probably be serving as their pack mule today.
"All right, enough standing around. Let's get going!"
With her friends' teasing gazes fixed on her, Shiranami Chihiro couldn't take it anymore. She simply grabbed Aragaki Shun's hand and eagerly led him forward, as if she could hardly wait to enjoy the fun of shopping.
Aragaki was pulled along by the petite girl, his expression caught between speaking and holding his tongue. In the end, he said nothing.
Whatever. It was no big deal.
When Shiranami Chihiro confessed to him later, he'd just explain things clearly.
And if he couldn't make himself clear, then he'd have no choice but to take the loss and sacrifice a little of his good looks to sleep her into submission.
So he treated the shopping trip like an ordinary outing, set aside all his other thoughts, and accompanied the girls from shop to shop. Whenever they found something they wanted, he promptly paid for it with Private Points.
Time passed slowly. Everyone had a great time, and in the end, Shiranami Chihiro didn't forget the tempting invitation she'd made the night before. She actually led him to the swimwear section.
And it wasn't just Shiranami. Ando Sayo and the others were also enthusiastically picking out all sorts of swimsuits. Only Ichinose Honami stayed behind, chatting with him in the waiting area about this and that.
"Are you not going to try anything on with them, Ichinose? I thought girls all liked getting clothes ready for themselves."
"I just bought the swimsuit I picked out last time, so I don't think I need to buy another one yet."
Ichinose Honami smiled. She thought it was better to save more Private Points while they were at this school.
Of course, she didn't want to spoil her friends' fun, either. That was just her own opinion. She would support Shiranami and Ando if they wanted to enjoy themselves.
"That's a bit of a shame." Aragaki put on an exaggeratedly regretful expression. "I was actually looking forward to seeing you in a brand-new swimsuit."
In truth, the person he was most looking forward to seeing was Shiina Hiyori.
Aragaki wasn't the type to lie to himself. After thinking things over last night, he'd realized that as his instincts awakened, he'd indeed developed a desire to possess Shiina. Emotionally, he wanted to keep her by his side for the rest of his life.
And rationally speaking, the two of them were highly compatible. Inviting Shiina to become the first student in Advanced Nurturing's history to transfer classes permanently would also provide him with a good amount of Source Power.
His instincts and reason had reached the same conclusion in this situation, which was what had led to yesterday's events.
Come to think of it, what would the situation be like now if he'd been more forceful yesterday and directly compelled Shiina to accept his arrangement?
"L-l-l-looking forward to it...?"
Ichinose Honami's stammering suddenly broke into his thoughts.
The boy looked over with interest. Ichinose's face had abruptly turned red, and a trace of panic showed in her eyes, as if he'd touched on a sensitive subject.
"Aragaki-kun, you're still so blunt," she said softly. Her voice carried a hint of embarrassment and helplessness, and the blush on her cheeks made her look especially cute. "But you should say that sort of thing to Chihiro. She'd be over the moon to hear it."
"So you all assume Shiranami and I are a couple?" Aragaki rolled his eyes. "Doesn't anyone care whether I agree?"
"You knew, Aragaki-kun?"
Ichinose Honami looked up, seeming a little surprised.
"You're all being so obvious. If I still pretended not to know, wouldn't I be one of those 'nice' light-novel protagonists?"
"Since you know, then, Aragaki-kun..."
"What, just because I know Shiranami likes me, I have to say yes? I think Ichinose is really beautiful, too. If I confessed to you, would you say yes?"
"Ah..."
Aragaki Shun's sudden remark left Ichinose stunned, panic flashing in her eyes.
What was going on? Her best friend had finally gotten the boy she liked to come out with her, and now he was confessing to me?
Th-this... This was just too strange. Even if he was going to confess, this wasn't the right place. Chihiro would definitely cry and break off our friendship.
"Don't 'ah' me. I was just giving an example. Don't make such a guilty-looking face."
Seeing that Ichinose Honami looked ready to short-circuit, Aragaki waved his hand in front of her to bring her back from her wild imaginings.
"Phew~ So it wasn't real."
Ichinose breathed a sigh of relief. She looked at Aragaki Shun with a hint of reproach, though there was more embarrassment and unease in her eyes. "Aragaki-kun, please don't say things like that to girls so casually in the future. People might get the wrong idea."
"Then you and Ando, Amikura, and Kobashi invited me out, but it was really to set me up with Shiranami. Wouldn't that give people the wrong idea, too?"
"...We really were in the wrong there." Ichinose Honami was a well-behaved girl. She couldn't bring herself to say something like, "A girl's throwing herself at you, so you should just be happy about it." All she could do was apologize softly. "But if you really didn't want to come, there's no way the four of us could have changed your mind."
As she said this, Ichinose Honami gazed at Aragaki Shun with sparkling eyes. "So you're enjoying this shopping trip, too, aren't you?"
"It's all right. It's nice to go out and have some fun every now and then."
Aragaki Shun didn't deny that he was a vulgar person, too.
If he had nothing else to do, why not take the chance to go on a date with five pretty girls from his class?
"But next time, remember to invite Himeno Yuki. My desk mate in front, my desk mate beside me, and even the one behind me are here. If she's the only one left out and finds out, she might think we're bullying her."
Ichinose Honami: "..."
The pink-haired girl wasn't sure how to respond to the boy's suggestion.
As the girl in class who was best at socializing, she certainly wouldn't have made that kind of oversight.
The problem was, this outing was really meant to set Aragaki Shun up with Chihiro. Whatever the four of them might feel themselves, they were at least willing to act as wingwomen.
But if they brought Himeno Yuki along, Ichinose couldn't even imagine how this group date would turn out.
So all she could do was force a smile and say, "Yuki... Yuki probably doesn't like this kind of social activity, does she?"
"Whether she likes it is up to her, but whether you invite her is up to you." Aragaki Shun put on a slightly mischievous expression. "So, Ichinose, are you worried that the people sitting in front of and behind me will start fighting? Then why aren't you, my desk mate, reacting at all?"
Aragaki Shun didn't think he and Ichinose Honami were particularly compatible. After all, she was the type of saintly girl who treated everyone equally, while he was fundamentally more self-centered.
But that didn't change the fact that she was beautiful, had a slender figure, and carried herself with exceptional grace.
If the person pursuing him were Ichinose Honami instead of Shiranami Chihiro, Aragaki thought he'd be ready to throw reason to the wind and start wondering where to book a room for the night.
As for the fact that their personalities might not mesh all that well, he could work on that over time.
"Aragaki-kun!" Ichinose Honami pouted, her cheeks puffing out. "Stop teasing me. If you keep doing this, even I'm going to get angry."
She said she was getting angry, but the girl's slightly flustered expression was so cute that it had no intimidating effect at all. If anything, it made people want to tease her more.
Clearly, the girl had grown used to Aragaki Shun's overly blunt way of speaking, so she simply dismissed his remarks as jokes.
Or perhaps, whether or not he was joking, Ichinose Honami would only ever take his words as banter between classmates.
After coming to this school, she'd already decided to devote all her energy to helping her classmates. Only then could her life, stripped of its value by a crime, find new meaning.
As for love, an extravagance like that was surely beyond the reach of a sinner like her.
Aragaki Shun thoughtfully studied Ichinose, who seemed to be suppressing something deep inside. His instincts told him there was probably some secret buried beneath the surface.
He'd long suspected that, given Ichinose's consistently perfect image, there had to be a special reason she'd been placed in Class B instead of Class A at the start of the school year.
But everyone had their own secrets. As long as it didn't affect the class competition, he couldn't be bothered to dig into it.
Just as Aragaki Shun was idly thinking about teasing Ichinose some more, a commotion suddenly came from the changing rooms. A soft, sweet call immediately drew his attention over.
"Aragaki-kun~"
Aragaki Shun turned to look and saw that Shiranami Chihiro had changed into a pure white dress-style swimsuit patterned with lilies. She gazed at him shyly, seeming to look forward to his opinion.
A trace of bashful red colored the girl's face, and her eyes held a mixture of anticipation and nervousness.
She slowly walked up to Aragaki Shun, then turned around lightly to show him the swimsuit from every angle.
"Aragaki-kun, does it look good?" Shiranami Chihiro asked softly, her voice trembling slightly.
Seeing Shiranami nervously pinching the hem of her skirt between her fingers, Aragaki nodded lightly. "It looks pretty good. It suits you."
A hint of delight appeared on Shiranami Chihiro's face when she heard that. "Then I'll buy it. That way, if you want to see me in it later, you can..."
Her voice grew quieter and quieter until the last part was almost inaudible. It seemed she'd used up all her courage.
Aragaki Shun thought for a moment, then shifted his gaze to the other three girls, who had come out of the changing rooms still wearing their original outfits. "Ando, Amikura, Kobashi, did you pick out the ones you're going to buy, too?"
"We've already picked ours out. It's just that we're not as bold as Chihiro, so we're not going to ask you to judge them, class rep. Are you disappointed?"
Amikura Mako twirled a lock of hair and teased him with a giggle.
But Aragaki Shun didn't give her the reaction she wanted. The boy simply nodded calmly. "A little disappointed, sure. But since you picked out swimsuits, I'll have a chance to see them during swimming lessons."
Amikura Mako immediately looked disheartened. "Class rep, that's a bit dull of you."
"Then I'm sorry. Now that you've bought your swimsuits, is there anywhere else you want to go?"
"Aw~ I can't hear an ounce of sincerity in that. But never mind. We've been walking for a long time, so how about we go rest at a café?"
"What do you think, Chihiro?"
"Let's do what Mako says."
Shiranami Chihiro was a little disappointed that Aragaki Shun had shifted his attention away so quickly, but she still agreed with Amikura Mako's suggestion.
The group walked out of the swimwear section.
But the moment he stepped out of the clothing store, Aragaki Shun's instincts warned him. He turned his gaze toward a nearby street corner.
Three girls with a somewhat gyaru-like vibe were standing there. One of them had her phone raised toward the clothing store, as if she were filming something.
Class C?
Aragaki Shun recognized their class at a glance.
That guy Ryuen was making his move?
85. [Spirit: 10 → 11]; The Change That Surpassed Human Limits
Aragaki Shun saw the three gyaru girls from Class C at the street corner. After a moment's thought, he gave Ichinose Honami and the others beside him an instruction.
"It looks like Ryuen has sent people from Class C to follow us. Ask the others in the Class A group chat if they've run into anything similar. I'll go talk to those bold girls."
When Ichinose and the others heard this shocking news, they hurriedly followed Aragaki Shun's gaze. Sure enough, they spotted the three Class C girls, who seemed to have realized they'd been spotted and were now pretending to be ordinary customers as they tried to leave.
"Using something like stalking..." Ichinose Honami's expression darkened. "Does Ryuen from Class C have no common sense at all?"
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