"Mm." Long Aotian squeezed her cheeks into a pout. When she heard his words, a blush gradually spread across them. She wanted to lower her head, but Long Aotian held her face so she couldn't. Their eyes met, and she replied, "O-okay..."
The moment their eyes met, the sounds around them seemed to pause. Everything in their eyes was blurred, except for that one face, which was crystal clear. It belonged to her.
The mood was already here. Why not steal a kiss?
"Oh, right." Long Aotian let go of her and thought for a moment. There was one more thing he needed to say. "Of course, I'm not saying this so you'll try to change anything about the current situation. It's already beyond anyone's control, and things are what they are. You just need to focus on your studies."
"How about this? Starting tomorrow, I'll hold study sessions with you and help you catch up on your schoolwork."
"Mhm." Sakura Airi nodded. Thinking of the camera, she murmured, "Long, about the camera... the photos..."
Oh~
"Photos, huh? If there's anywhere you want to go, just get in touch and we can go together. After all, I'd like to see the Shizuku idol taking photos in person," Long Aotian teased.
"Ah!" Sakura Airi tried to run, but Long Aotian caught her by the wrist and pulled her back, bringing her against his shoulder.
Sakura Airi lowered her head shyly. "Y-you knew?"
"Obviously. I'm not an idiot." Remembering how he'd seen a wallpaper of Sakura the idol on some sleazy middle-aged guy's computer at the electronics store, he added, "You look pretty good. If you could give me a few photos of the idol, I'd definitely set one as my phone wallpaper. Too bad I don't have a single one. What a shame~"
"Then..." Sakura Airi hesitated for a moment, but still handed him the camera. "T-there are some... in there."
"Huh?" Long Aotian took the camera, confused. "In the camera?"
"Yeah." Sakura Airi seemed to summon up her courage. "P-pick a few and I'll send them to you."
Oh~ Now that was nice.
"Okay." Long Aotian looked through the camera. They were all pretty good, but he still picked out a few of the more revealing ones and pointed. "This one, and this one. Mm, just these."
Seeing Long Aotian choose several breezy, swimsuit-like shots, Sakura Airi's face turned bright red from the teasing, like a ripe apple. Ah, she looked so cute when she was embarrassed.
"Is that okay?"
"O-okay." Sakura Airi's face still red, she spoke softly. "I'll send them to you later."
He kind of wanted to laugh. He didn't know why. He couldn't keep this up, or Sakura Airi would be completely overwhelmed.
He patted Sakura Airi on the head, then stood up. It was time to leave.
"Airi, I'm going to head out." Long Aotian stood and added, "Remember, I'll tutor you tomorrow. Get ready today."
"I'm off~ Bye-bye." Long Aotian walked out and waved.
"Bye-bye." Sakura Airi waved back, but then remembered she needed to send Long Aotian the photos and quickly shut the door.
That girl... Oh, well.
There was something important to do today. To make things easier later, he would head back to his dorm first.
After returning to his dorm, Long Aotian took a large, hand-drawn sheet of paper from under his pillow.
It was a map of the area around the school. What did Long Aotian need it for? He was preparing to escape! That's right, escape.
Looking at the map, hacking the school system to get his hands on a computer was a must.
What did you think he'd been doing for the past half month? Slacking off and flirting with girls?
Wrong, wrong, completely wrong.
Of course, he'd been finding time to avoid the security cameras, observe the school grounds, and plan how to get out.
As for anyone wondering why he didn't just buy a laptop at school—
How silly~ Any computer or electronic device bought at school would be registered. If they got serious and checked everyone's computer records one by one, then started asking questions based on those records, wouldn't they still end up suspecting him?
Just then, his phone chimed.
He picked it up and took a look. Sakura Airi had sent him the photos. No rush; first, he'd set one as his wallpaper.
Ahem, ahem~
A is our current dorm building, and B, C, and D are the destinations.
The map image is posted above↑. Someone commented with the link.
Since there might be cameras outside the dorm building, he decided to use Flying Thunder God to teleport to the unmonitored spot beside the vending machine from last time (where Horikita Suzune and Horikita Manabu had met).
Then he'd run from tree 1, using the foliage to cover the cameras, to tree 2. With [Speed: S+], it would take about ten minutes.
Once he reached point 2, there would be two possible routes. One was to cross the bridge to point 4; the other was to continue through the trees and head for point 5.
The only way out from the B-C intersection was across the bridge. There was no doubt that the bridge was completely exposed. There might be people or cameras there, and school staff could even be waiting at the intersection. It was all a gamble.
Point 5 was different. There were no cameras there. There might still be people around, but he could avoid them. He'd have to swim from point 5 to the D Intersection, but that wasn't a concern. After all, with [Swimming] and [Stamina: SS+], he had nothing to worry about.
Getting from point 2 to point 5 would take about ten to fifteen minutes.
Departure time: sometime after three in the morning. Plan name: "Long Aotian's Redemption."
[Long Aotian's Redemption]
1 → 2 (rest for 5 minutes) → 5 (rest for about 10 minutes) → D Intersection → buy a laptop → dorm (use Flying Thunder God to teleport back)
With a punch, Long Aotian settled the plan. He took a set of black clothes from the wardrobe in case he couldn't wear his school uniform. He couldn't bring his phone, either. Who knew if it had GPS tracking? He also grabbed a mask.
Long Aotian put the black clothes away. As for whether he had enough money to buy a laptop, there was no need to worry.
He could steal a phone and log into his accounts. The money he'd earned while working outside for a year was in there. At worst, he could just buy a replacement and return it afterward.
Everything was in order. Long Aotian decided to head out for a stroll. With so many points, shouldn't he enjoy himself a little?
[Points: 11.75 million points (I won't show this again later; too lazy to keep calculating)]
Long Aotian sat leisurely in a café, sipping coffee and watching people come and go. He had to admit, the girls at the school were pretty cute.
He'd been at this school for half a month, and life had been peaceful. In anime, a month could pass in the blink of an eye after you opened your eyes. Was my life going to be the same?
After reflecting on that, Long Aotian took another sip of coffee.
So bitter... Someone like me really didn't like coffee. Tea was better; it was more calming.
Just then, a boy with short orange hair and a girl with black hair walked into the shop, catching Long Aotian's eye.
It was Ayanokoji Kiyotaka and Horikita Suzune.
Holy crap, had I stumbled into a plot scene? I remember this part being pretty interesting. Hahahaha! No rush; I'll record a bit first.
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka glanced at Horikita Suzune, his expression blank. "Horikita, is this your first time coming somewhere like this too? Oh, right. You're alone."
"Are you trying to mock me? How childish," Horikita Suzune replied.
Seeing two empty seats in front of them, the pair went over and sat down.
After looking around, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka turned to Horikita Suzune. "Like, to other people, the two of us look like a couple..."
Horikita Suzune stared at Ayanokoji Kiyotaka with a blank expression, looking a little exasperated.
"No one would think that..." Ayanokoji Kiyotaka shook his head and thought, Just thinking about what comes next gives me a stomachache...
"Horikita, what a coincidence." Just then, a blonde girl walked over. She turned and smiled. "Ayanokoji, you're here too."
It's the two-faced Kushida Kikyo. This scene looked like a coincidence, but it was actually something Kushida Kikyo and Ayanokoji Kiyotaka had planned. Still, it was bound to fail.
Kushida Kikyo sat down beside Horikita Suzune, then asked curiously, "Do you two come here often?"
"Today was just a coincidence," Ayanokoji Kiyotaka quickly played along.
"Oh, I see. I always come here alone..." Kushida Kikyo hadn't finished speaking when—
"I'm going back," Horikita Suzune said, standing up.
"Didn't we just get here?"
"If Kushida's here, you don't need me."
"No, look, Kushida and I are just classmates."
"My relationship with you is the same." Horikita Suzune looked at Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, then turned to Kushida Kikyo. "Besides, you annoy me. What exactly are you after?"
Kushida Kikyo blinked and protested, "D-don't say that. It really was just a coincidence."
Well, saying that pretty much gave the whole thing away.
As expected, Horikita Suzune left, and Long Aotian didn't plan to keep watching.
The coffee didn't seem so bitter anymore. Hahahaha! What would happen if I sent this video to Sakayanagi Arisu? It was time to get going. This trip out had been worth it. Let's go, let's go.
Long Aotian left the café and walked for a while.
A short distance away, several girls were gathered around a beautiful girl with long blonde hair, chatting.
Long Aotian glanced over. Ichinose Honami, huh? He had to admit, her class seemed pretty harmonious. They all looked up to Ichinose Honami as their leader.
That girl was pretty easy to fool early on. Come to think of it, her family situation was pretty difficult too. Otherwise, those rumors wouldn't have come up.
After graduation, if he could give her a hand, he would. It would be a way to make up for one of his regrets about anime from his previous life.
Long Aotian glanced at her a few times, then looked away and kept walking, planning to go browse the mall.
"Hmm?" Ichinose Honami seemed to notice his gaze. She turned slightly and looked over, but only saw someone walking away. That figure seemed strangely familiar. She murmured softly, "Was it... my imagination?"
"Is something wrong, Ichinose?" a girl asked, looking at Ichinose Honami as she turned her head in confusion.
"It's nothing."
Before you continue