Sweep

At 6:10 in the morning, the first light of dawn had just seeped through the anti-glare glass curtain wall of the student dormitory, casting a chilly, pale blue streak across the dark gray cashmere carpet. Yun Lan was already awake—or rather, he had never been a deep sleeper. Years of discipline had trained him to wake naturally at around 6:30, but today, it wasn't just his body clock that had roused him.

His personal phone on the bedside table gave a short, muffled buzz against the wooden surface. Not a call, but a message. There were only a handful of people who would message this number directly at this hour.

He reached for the phone. The screen lit up and unlocked automatically. The message was from "Honami Ichinose." It was so brief it felt almost abrupt: no greeting, no explanation, just one sweet declaration:

"I'll come in and make you breakfast at seven, Lan~"

"??? What does she mean, come into my private space? I'm not useless! I don't need little Honami to come over and make breakfast for me."

Yun Lan grumbled to himself. He might have been complaining, but he didn't stop moving.

After brushing his teeth and washing up, Yun Lan freshened his face with the cleanser provided in the student dormitory. Then he took the groceries he had bought at the supermarket the night before out of the fridge and started preparing them.

"Preparing" them was really just washing them and cutting them into suitable pieces.

At the sound of a knock, Yun Lan set aside what he was doing and went to open the door.

As the door swung open, Honami Ichinose's beautiful face came into view.

"Good morning, Honami."

"Good morning, Lan."

The two exchanged their familiar greetings as if this scene had played out hundreds of times before.

"Lan, you've already prepared the ingredients for me? You're a lifesaver!"

Honami Ichinose deftly heated oil in the pan, then added the ingredients in order, starting with those that took the longest to cook...

Yun Lan stood beside her, hesitating, but in the end he said what was on his mind.

"Honestly, Honami, you don't have to come over and make breakfast for me. I'm not helpless. I can make my own breakfast."

"I'm doing this because I want to. I've always been grateful to you, Lan. You appeared in my life like a ray of light."

"It's okay. You don't have to be so grateful to me over that one little mistake you made back then."

"No, no! One-sided giving isn't allowed. Honestly, Lan, this is your one bad habit. The way you help people without expecting anything in return is just too unfair."

Honami puffed out her cheeks, rose onto her tiptoes, and lightly tapped Yun Lan on the back of the head with her knuckles.

"You think that counts as a flaw, Honami?"

"Of course it does! Why wouldn't it? Any girl who met such a kind Lan would want to keep you all to herself, wouldn't she?"

After hearing that, Yun Lan leaned close to the girl's ear and whispered, "Does that mean you want to keep me all to yourself too, Honami?"

As Yun Lan spoke, his warm breath seemed to brush against Ichinose's ear. It was like a light feather skimming over her skin. His voice was low, carrying a hint of teasing amusement, yet there was an unmistakable seriousness beneath it. The words easily unsettled the calm in her heart—and the steady rhythm she was trying so hard to maintain.

Ichinose's body gave the faintest tremble, and her face flared red. The heat spread quickly from her cheeks down the sides of her neck. She could even smell his clean scent, like plants warmed by the sun, but right now it made her feel a little dizzy. Without thinking, she gripped the spatula in her hand, her fingertips pressing into her palm.

"Lan, I'm making breakfast, okay? Stop messing around."

"The way you say that makes it sound like we're a couple..."

"Idiot! We're not that kind of couple."

After breakfast, Honami Ichinose ran off. Yun Lan didn't stop her. It was Sunday, after all, so he didn't have to go to class in Class B.

That meant Yun Lan could continue his grand campaign of sweeping through the clubs and harvesting personal points from the second- and third-year students.

Club Building, 9:20 a.m.

The sound of bamboo swords cutting through the air came in waves from the dojo. Yun Lan stood outside and watched for a moment. Through the crack in the door, he could see the third-year regulars teaching basic forms to the second-years. Sweat, shouts, the dull thud of feet on the wooden floor—your typical high-energy boys' club.

He pushed the door open.

The training sounds stopped for an instant. Several gazes swept over him, carrying the instinctive scrutiny of upperclassmen faced with an unfamiliar underclassman.

"Sorry to interrupt." Yun Lan bowed slightly, his manners impeccable. "I'm Yun Lan, a first-year student. I'm here to challenge the club."

His words hit the room like a bomb tossed into a pond, and everyone started murmuring.

"You've got to be kidding. A first-year coming here to challenge us? Hahaha!"

"Everyone knows every club at Advanced Nurturing High School is nationally competitive."

"Kid, we're busy. The seniors don't have time to entertain you. We've got training to do."

"In that case..." Yun Lan walked over to the weapon rack and picked up a bamboo sword, his movements as smooth as if he had held one a thousand times. "Allow me to prove it in practice. I'll wager 500,000 personal points."

"I'll take that bet. My name's Tianxia," said a senior who looked exceptionally sturdy.

"He can actually afford 500,000 personal points? This kid's no ordinary student," one of the seniors warned Tianxia.

Five minutes later.

Yun Lan put away his bamboo sword and bowed to Tianxia, who was kneeling on the floor and still looked dazed. "You were a worthy opponent. I was lucky to win against a senior. You have a lot of practical experience."

"I'll take him on. Tianxia, go back and practice properly. You can't even beat a first-year? You're getting worse with age."

A senior spoke up.

"Vice President..."

"So you're the Kendo Club's vice president? My apologies. Then, let's do this."

Ten minutes later...

"I lost to you... You really can't judge a book by its cover. Looks like Sato had no reason to be ashamed of losing to you."

The vice president readily paid Yun Lan 500,000 personal points.

"Anyone else want to challenge me? I'll wager a million personal points."

Everyone exchanged glances, but since even the vice president had lost, no one else stepped forward to embarrass themselves.

Besides, a million personal points was more than any of them could casually afford to wager.

Just when Yun Lan thought that was the end of it...

The door to the club room opened from the outside, and a student walked in, looking thoroughly confused by the scene.

Why was everyone gathered around a stranger?

"President, this first-year just won a million personal points from us..." the vice president said bitterly. He might have paid the points with a flourish, but only he knew how much it hurt.

"What? Looks like your skills have really slipped. You'll have to train harder from now on," the president said disapprovingly.

"Shall we go for a million points, President?" Yun Lan challenged him. If he won this one, he'd walk away with a million personal points. You could never have too many points.

"A million..."

President Sato hesitated for a moment, then gritted his teeth and accepted.

"Let's do it!"

Fifteen minutes later...

"And you still claimed you were just lucky!"

Tianxia, the senior who had fought Yun Lan first, shouted.

Good grief! The strongest one, President Sato, couldn't last even fifteen minutes! So when he'd fought the rest of them, he'd been holding back the whole time, right?