Sakayanagi's Choice

Class A classroom.

Only Sakayanagi and Kamuro were in the room.

Kamuro was eating simple fried noodles.

Meanwhile, Sakayanagi's spread could only be described as a full banquet.

All kinds of lavish food filled the entire desk to the brim.

The moment Suzuki Tsubame walked in, he saw Kamuro eating with reckless abandon, completely unladylike.

"Princess, enjoying your meal?"

By the way, didn't anyone else think Sakayanagi resembled the Little Grass God? Both were lolis, both had white hair, and both were very 'clever.'

"Ara~ what a rare guest."

Sakayanagi elegantly swallowed the food in her mouth, a faint smile curling at the corners of her lips.

"Would you like to join me, Suzuki?"

Suzuki Tsubame really did want to try it—Sakayanagi's meals were definitely the best in the entire Youkoso Jitsuryoku Shijou Shugi no Kyoushitsu e.

But...

"You've only got one pair of chopsticks here. How am I supposed to eat?"

Such a simple problem was no trouble for her at all.

Sakayanagi smiled.

"Kamuro can go buy some."

But clearly, this solution didn't satisfy everyone.

Kamuro slammed her fried noodles onto the table and shouted impatiently:

"Sakayanagi, that's enough!"

Kamuro's resistance only made Sakayanagi smile wider.

"Ara ara~ Is the little puppy being disobedient again?"

"You!"

Kamuro's expression showed slight anger, but she didn't seem truly upset.

Suzuki Tsubame could even sense that Kamuro seemed to be enjoying it too.

Their dynamic left him deeply impressed.

What was this called? It was something like S&M.

"Well, no need to go through all that trouble."

Interrupting their master-servant interaction, Suzuki Tsubame suggested:

"Later, whoever finishes first, just pass me the chopsticks. I don't mind."

His suggestion immediately won Sakayanagi's approval.

"Suzuki's idea is excellent. It saves Kamuro time and effort, and it's very eco-friendly."

"If we ignore the matter of gender differences, it's undoubtedly a good method."

"Right? You think so too, don't you?"

The two exchanged a knowing smile and turned their gazes to Kamuro in unison.

Kamuro's hand holding the fried noodles trembled.

She sighed helplessly.

"Fine, I'll go."

Once Kamuro had left, their eyes met again.

Sakayanagi Arisu, like Horikita, was a rather contradictory person.

On the surface, she seemed composed and aggressive.

But inside, she was quite fragile, more like a little girl.

It wasn't until Kamuro left that she seemed to realize something.

"Suzuki, did you deliberately send Kamuro away because you have something to say to me?"

Sakayanagi had a strange intuition that he understood her very well.

Even though that was their first meeting, he had accurately guessed her preferences.

"Didn't you say to let Kamuro go buy them first?"

When it came to playing dumb, Suzuki Tsubame was a master.

"Heh, let's not discuss that for now. What did you come to see me about?"

Suzuki Tsubame had come to find her for a reason, of course.

A long-term quest: Heaven-Jealoused Talent.

The completion condition should be to nurse her body back to health.

But Suzuki Tsubame hesitated again—a Human Enhancement Serum with no side effects was far too earth-shattering.

The Sakayanagi family had searched for over a decade and still found her congenital heart disease incurable.

In the end, the cure came from a nobody with no background.

Would he become a guest of honor at the Sakayanagi household, or a prisoner? The outcome was still unknown.

"Ara~ Is Suzuki-kun trying to confess to me?"

A flicker of cunning flashed in Sakayanagi's eyes, the curve of her lips rising higher.

"I'm in a good mood right now, so I'd probably say yes."

This girl... Suzuki Tsubame's mouth twitched.

Sakayanagi's petite frame made him always treat her like a child.

But he forgot that Sakayanagi was already an adult, just like him.

If he confessed now, he'd most likely be mocked.

A small chance he'd be toyed with and turned into a simp.

A bigger chance was that he could slowly warm her heart.

Forget it. Your fate is in your own hands.

Having thought it through, Suzuki Tsubame said seriously:

"Sakayanagi, tell me... if someone gave you a new lease on life, held infinite wealth in their hands, and yet had no background and was completely powerless—"

"Would you choose to betray them for more gain? Or treat them as a benefactor?"

Suzuki Tsubame's grave expression made Sakayanagi pause.

She hadn't expected that the first time he called her by name, he'd throw out a question like this.

Slowly, she withdrew her smile and analyzed his words carefully.

A new lease on life... infinite wealth... more gain...

From any angle, betrayal seemed better, but the answer clearly shouldn't be that.

After a long pause, Sakayanagi replied with equal seriousness:

"If someone really gave me a new lease on life and had no background... I think I'd first see what their wealth was."

"If the profit was enough, cooperation would be best."

"If not, or if our interests clashed, I'd choose to betray them without hesitation."

Mm... A very realistic answer.

Very Sakayanagi.

Same with Kamuro—she had enough points to save her.

But because Kamuro's worth didn't measure up to those two million points, she chose to abandon her in the end.

Yet why did you end up regretting it?

The night Kamuro left, Sakayanagi probably hid under her covers and cried for a long time.

"A very good answer, mm..."

After a moment's thought, Suzuki Tsubame pulled a small vial from his school uniform pocket.

This motion was just to fool her.

In reality, the serum came from Suzuki Tsubame's System Space.

The whole vial was only about a finger long, pinched between two of his fingers, held out before Sakayanagi.

Beneath the clear glass, it was filled with an emerald-green liquid.

Light danced unusually around it.

The green was crystalline, shimmering like flowing brilliance.

Sakayanagi's eyes went wide.

So beautiful!

The kind of beauty that words couldn't describe.

She turned to Suzuki Tsubame, pointing at the vial, and asked curiously:

"What is this?"

"This is the blood of the Five Elements Successor. Drink it and you can transform into an Armor Warrior."

Sakayanagi choked on his answer.

She pouted, her face showing displeasure as she said:

"So Suzuki-kun thinks I didn't watch Armor Warrior when I was a kid?"

"My father has actually been quite good to me; he hasn't overly restricted my freedom."

Indeed, compared to Ayanokoji's father, yours is practically an angel.

"Well, you don't really need to know what it is. Just know that drinking it will make you healthy and full of energy."

Suzuki Tsubame had drunk the Enhancement Serum once before; it had no irritating smell.

He opened the bottle and brought it to Sakayanagi's lips.

Sakayanagi stared at the green-glowing liquid before her, her expression suspicious as she said:

"Suzuki-kun, are you sure this isn't fluorescent dye?"

Suzuki Tsubame understood the girl's hesitation.

He patiently explained:

"Relax, relax—I've drunk it once myself."

Her concerns faded considerably, or perhaps it was a case of treating a dead horse as if it were still alive.

Sakayanagi hesitated no longer.

She picked up the Enhancement Serum and downed it all in one go.

"How do you feel?"

Suzuki Tsubame was curious whether the serum would have a stronger effect on someone with a frail constitution.

Sakayanagi wanted to move her limbs a bit and truly feel the change.

But unexpectedly, just as she was about to pick up her cane, she stood straight up.

"Th-this is...?"

Her breathing seemed to become much easier.

Her limbs grew stronger.

Even her thoughts became sharper.

[Ding! Long-term quest: Heaven-Jealoused Talent, completion: 50%, reward: Mysterious Oriental Power. Note: It turns out... the host's identity is not that of an ordinary student. The host's original identity is named Oto Yan, the sole young master of the Oriental Family.]