The Vortex is Forming

"Hmm? Tell me first."

Toru Hasegawa knew that Ran Morishita was trying to get something for nothing, fishing for extra information from him, but Toru Hasegawa also had his own confidence.

"Class D's Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, you will definitely be interested in him."

"Someone from another class? You aren't lying to me, are you?" Ran Morishita cast a suspicious glance his way.

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, a name that hadn't circulated widely through the girls' or boys' information networks at all...

No, he seemed to have seen the name in the handsome guy rankings and the gloomy guy rankings, but that was the extent of it.

Toru Hasegawa said solemnly, "How could I dare to lie to you? I can say that as long as you have contact with that guy, you will have the same doubts as I do, because it seems like he has no human emotions at all. Even if he does, it must just be something he's faking."

He had learned this fact from a different perspective, but he couldn't tell Ran Morishita the reason, so he could only let her investigate it herself.

"If you're lying to me, I'll spread the word that you're a liar throughout the girls' circle." Ran Morishita made a threat.

Toru Hasegawa retorted directly, "You can't just consider yourself a girl when doing things like this, and are you really even in the girls' circle? I have my doubts about that."

Generally, even for the sake of information, no one would get that close, not to mention that Ran Morishita had absolutely no intention of using her looks to get ahead.

The inexplicably appearing keywords caused Toru Hasegawa's gaze to shift slightly.

Hmm, black stockings... Just from a visual perspective, they really did have a greater aesthetic appeal than bare legs.

"Where are you looking?" Ran Morishita took a step back.

"Did you catch me?" Toru Hasegawa looked away nonchalantly. "Anyway, that's that. I'm heading back now."

Ran Morishita was a little unhappy, because no matter which angle she looked at it from, she was lagging too far behind him.

While she continued her interest in observing all sorts of things, Toru Hasegawa, who was in the same class, had already seen so much and had extended his tentacles deep into Class D.

Although Arisu Sakayanagi still held absolute authority in the class, the capable students in the shadows were already harboring their own ulterior motives, just waiting to see if Arisu Sakayanagi could deliver concrete results in the time to come.

As the days passed, aside from a significant increase in expenditures for various supplies, Toru Hasegawa's life didn't change much.

Miyabi Nagumo, Ran Morishita, and the others stopped bothering him, and Suzune Horikita seemed to have gone silent, not even sending him a single text message. Only Airi Sakura would occasionally act with him, though naturally, the number of times Kikyo Kushida appeared had increased significantly.

Toru Hasegawa didn't know if Airi Sakura had actually taken what he said to heart, but it was a fact that the relationship between them all looked better and better on the surface.

Then, the end-of-month quiz arrived.

"This test will not be reflected on your report cards, so rest assured."

As for how many students in Class A noticed the metaphorical meaning behind Teacher Mashima's words, it was hard to say.

Therefore, Toru Hasegawa raised his hand.

"Do you have a question?"

It was considered permission for a student to speak; after all, the atmosphere in Class A was surprisingly quiet during class, and no one dared to speak without authorization.

"It won't be reflected on the report card, but that doesn't mean it won't be reflected in other aspects. I should be able to interpret it that way, right?"

"Yes."

To the straightforward inquiry, Teacher Mashima gave an affirmative reply.

Subsequently, the atmosphere in the classroom naturally became tense.

Taking the test paper from the student in front, Toru Hasegawa scanned it roughly. Aside from the last three questions, the other problems were surprisingly simple.

A test?

Toru Hasegawa fell into deep thought.

After the quiz ended, Masumi Kamuro at the neighboring desk couldn't wait to speak up:

"What exactly do you mean? Honestly, I don't understand your actions up to this point at all."

"Can I take that as you wanting to get to know me better?"

"...It's just concern as a friend, that's all." Masumi Kamuro felt embarrassed and turned her face away, but quickly turned it back.

Toru Hasegawa was silent for a moment before saying, "If you want to seek a way from me to break free from Classmate Sakayanagi's control, it's not like I don't have a way."

"No, that kind of thing isn't important to me anymore. I've basically understood your intentions." Masumi Kamuro retorted flatly. "She has been treating me more like a human being lately."

"Is that so? Congratulations, Classmate Kamuro, for becoming human once again." Toru Hasegawa smiled slightly.

Masumi Kamuro's expression stalled for a moment, then she asked, "If I had agreed to your request back then, would you not have..."

"A forced melon is not sweet; you don't need to say that." Toru Hasegawa shook his head slightly. What he needed was sincerity, not anything else.

But at the same time, he discovered a problem.

If one looked at it solely from a physical perspective, most of the girls in this school were to his taste, with the exception of Arisu Sakayanagi, who was pretending to be a high school student.

But from other perspectives—take Airi Sakura, for example—he seemed to have no affection for her beyond the physical.

Although she was practically showing her cards that she liked him, and the changes in his own body could reflect that.

But he knew that if he really dated her, only regret would remain. Abandoning the entire garden for the sake of one flower was unrealistic in the present.

Toru Hasegawa had been pondering the deeper reasons why he needed a girlfriend, because if he were willing, Airi Sakura could easily become his first, and she would likely agree. Yet, he had chosen to abandon that option for now.

Why exactly was that?

Even he couldn't quite explain it; in short, the challenges brought about by his physical changes had successfully prevented him from investing too much energy into such things.

When a person finds it a luxury just to be well-fed, spiritual fulfillment becomes an unnecessary indulgence.

Right now, it took a massive amount of energy for Toru Hasegawa just to get used to this body that felt as if it had been possessed, all to avoid any more strange accidents.

For instance, accidentally shattering a table or something similar...

"Anyway, you don't have any plans tomorrow, right?"

"Huh? Can I take that as you asking me out?" Toru Hasegawa stopped his subconscious habit of scratching his head; after all, going bald at such a young age was no laughing matter.

Masumi Kamuro rose from her seat: "Interpret it however you like, I've said what I needed to say."

With that, she left with her friends. It seemed she really had a lot of free time lately, to the point where she even had things like friends.

Without a moment's rest, the next person to appear by Toru Hasegawa's side was—

Masayoshi Hashimoto.

"Let's go grab lunch together." He extended an invitation.

Toru Hasegawa nodded: "Sure."

He, too, had his own circle just like any ordinary high school student, even if it was filled with people who orbited around Arisu Sakayanagi.

"Your question before the exam today was quite good."

In the Student Cafeteria, Arisu Sakayanagi brought up the topic.

"I judged by intuition that no one else wanted to ask, so I took the liberty of acting," Toru Hasegawa replied casually while eating his delicious set meal. "What about you? Do you not need Kamuro-san anymore?"

"Hmm... I have to shift my strategy a little, too. Are you satisfied now, Hasegawa-kun?"

"I don't understand what you're talking about."

"Hehe."

Arisu Sakayanagi didn't commit to an answer, simply chuckling softly before saying nothing more.

Masayoshi Hashimoto was completely bewildered. He glanced at Arisu Sakayanagi, then at Toru Hasegawa, and ultimately decided to take out his phone to record something.

Despite having a very bad feeling about this, he decided to just pretend he hadn't seen anything for now.

Toru Hasegawa welcomed the last holiday of April with a light heart.