The morning sunlight had just begun to spill across the grounds of Advanced Nurturing High School when Sakayanagi Arisu woke early. She rose with practiced ease, leaning on her cane, and immediately turned her gaze to the system interface only she could see.
[Morning check-in: Stay on the athletic field for half an hour.] [Noon check-in: Drink a cup of coffee.] [Evening check-in: Solve ten math problems.]
After looking over the day's tasks, Sakayanagi Arisu left her bedroom. She took the elevator to the first floor, then slowly walked out of the dormitory lobby and headed toward the athletic field.
Sakayanagi Arisu had always harbored a peculiar sense of anticipation toward her system.
The main reason was that after checking in, the system gave her all sorts of strange but extremely useful items. For example, candy that instantly increased her grip strength by ten kilograms, or incense that instantly dispelled drowsiness and left her feeling energized.
As someone with difficulty walking, no matter how composed and graceful she seemed in her everyday life, her desire to stand again and walk freely was beyond compare.
After seeing a glimmer of hope, Sakayanagi Arisu had taken the system's tasks especially seriously and had never slacked off.
However, when Sakayanagi Arisu arrived at the athletic field, leaning on her cane, she unexpectedly spotted several familiar figures: Ayanokoji Kiyoha, and... Ichinose Honami and that Wu Qiao.
Sakayanagi Arisu narrowed her eyes slightly, weighing the situation in her mind. Ichinose Honami was a kindhearted Class B student with an excellent reputation, but in Sakayanagi's view, that sort of personality was ultimately no cause for concern at this school.
As for Wu Qiao, Sakayanagi Arisu's expression turned a little strange. According to Kamuro Masumi's earlier investigation, he seemed to be an exceptionally gifted student who kept his abilities hidden. After a sheet of scratch paper he'd picked up was shown to a teacher, it was confirmed that the calculations on it were differential equations.
And it seemed he was being taught by Ayanokoji Kiyoha? Watching Wu Qiao train under Ayanokoji's guidance in the distance, Sakayanagi Arisu couldn't help wondering: So, was he Ayanokoji Kiyoha's protégé?
If so, things were getting interesting.
Had that hypocritical genius, Ayanokoji Kiyoha, started building her own faction, too?
Sakayanagi Arisu tightened her grip on her cane, a sharp glint flashing in her eyes.
It seemed she would need to reassess the importance of this boy named Wu Qiao.
Ichinose Honami was actually in quite good shape for a girl. She usually excelled in PE class, too. But her two training partners were simply beyond the bounds of ordinary reason, so all she could do was grit her teeth and struggle to keep up.
Watching Wu Qiao voluntarily add five more laps with weights, Ichinose Honami simply couldn't understand it. How could someone's stamina be that good? Could pushing yourself really draw out that much potential? Why couldn't she feel that kind of steady improvement, no matter how hard she pushed herself?
Ayanokoji Kiyoha had finished her planned run. Her expression was calm, and her breathing was barely disturbed. She picked up a bottle of water and casually drank from it.
Based on her observations during their morning training over the past few days, Ayanokoji Kiyoha had silently confirmed one thing: Wu Qiao's stamina was improving at a steady, incremental rate.
Every day, he seemed to get just a tiny bit stronger. The change was so subtle that she would never have noticed it if she hadn't deliberately recorded the data each day.
Yet even becoming a little stronger required ordinary people to train consistently and methodically over a long period. They might even hit a plateau. It was impossible for them to improve steadily like Wu Qiao.
And this was happening on a daily basis. His growth curve defied the laws of physiology, almost as if he were some kind of precision machine running on a preprogrammed routine.
"Wu Qiao, have you... noticed anything unusual about your body lately?" Ayanokoji Kiyoha screwed the cap back on her bottle and asked as if making idle conversation.
Wu Qiao picked up a towel and wiped away his sweat. Looking puzzled, he scratched his head. "Unusual? No. I just feel like I've had a bigger appetite lately, and I recover really quickly after a run. I wake up after a night's sleep feeling completely recharged. Why?"
Watching him remain completely unaware, Ayanokoji Kiyoha said nothing more, though her eyes flickered slightly. This kind of unconscious, steady, continuous improvement was what made him most troublesome.
Just then, Ichinose Honami finally finished her last lap. She collapsed onto the ground, panting heavily, her face filled with despair. Looking at the two monsters before her, she secretly vowed: Tomorrow. Tomorrow, she'd make it another half a lap!
During their break, Wu Qiao, who had been catching his breath, suddenly and discreetly pointed toward the petite figure standing beneath the trees in the distance. In a lowered voice, he spoke in Chinese: "That girl's watching you."
The sudden unfamiliar language left Ichinose Honami stunned. She couldn't understand exactly what he meant, but she could tell from Wu Qiao's tone that he was teasing.
Ayanokoji Kiyoha followed the direction of Wu Qiao's finger and discreetly glanced over. Then she replied in a similarly low voice, also in Chinese: "What about it?"
A faint smile tugged at Wu Qiao's lips as he continued in Chinese. "She met you before and still holds a grudge against you. She's always wanted to beat you, though you might not remember her. Want to go say hello?"
Ayanokoji Kiyoha took a moment to process the rapid string of Chinese. Her gaze swept over the petite girl in the distance, leaning on a cane with skin as pale as porcelain. She quickly searched through the fragments of her memories, then nodded slightly. "I understand. I'll take care of it."
With that, Ayanokoji Kiyoha casually set the half-finished bottle of water on the bench and turned toward Sakayanagi Arisu.
Watching her walk away, Ichinose Honami finally moved closer to Wu Qiao and asked curiously, "What were you two talking about just now? The atmosphere suddenly felt a little different."
Wu Qiao shrugged and switched back to Japanese, speaking easily. "Nothing important. An old friend of Ayanokoji's came to see her. I was just giving her a friendly heads-up."
Ichinose Honami curiously followed their gaze. "Classmate Sakayanagi? Does she know Kiyoha? I remember Classmate Sakayanagi is in Class A..."
Wu Qiao thought for a moment, as if weighing his words, then gave a vague answer. "You could say they haven't seen each other in a long time. As for how close they are... not very."
Nearby, the morning sunlight filtered through the leaves, casting dappled patterns over the two girls. Ayanokoji Kiyoha stopped three steps in front of Sakayanagi Arisu and greeted her politely but distantly. "Morning, Sakayanagi."
Sakayanagi Arisu lifted her chin slightly. A hint of excitement flickered in her eyes, which seemed to hold unfathomable wisdom. She lightly tapped the ground with her cane and said gently, "Good morning, Ayanokoji. What a coincidence. I didn't expect to run into you here."
Their conversation sounded polite and casual, like two ordinary classmates exchanging pleasantries after running into each other on campus.
"It's no coincidence." Ayanokoji Kiyoha's expression was calm, as if she'd already seen through Sakayanagi's intentions. "You've been standing here for a while, haven't you? What is it?"
Sakayanagi Arisu covered her lips with a light laugh, showing no embarrassment at being found out. "Oh dear, you noticed. I've always been very interested in what you're up to, Ayanokoji. Besides, I didn't expect to see you hanging out with Ichinose from Class B and that boy named Wu Qiao. Especially Wu Qiao... I've heard he's quite an interesting person."
"We're just ordinary classmates." Ayanokoji Kiyoha replied calmly. "Sakayanagi, you didn't come all this way just to gossip about things that don't matter, did you?"
The smile faded from Sakayanagi Arisu's lips, and her gaze gradually sharpened. She took a small step forward and lowered her voice. "Ayanokoji, I heard you've been 'teaching' Wu Qiao lately. What, are you planning to make him your proxy? Or have you finally decided to stop hiding and face my challenge directly?"
"You're overthinking it." Ayanokoji Kiyoha didn't change expression. "I'm just fulfilling a classmate's duty. As for the challenge you mentioned, I've never accepted it, so there's nothing for me to respond to."
"Hehe, what a cold answer." Sakayanagi Arisu sighed softly, then changed the subject. "But that's all right, Ayanokoji. No matter how much you try to avoid it, our game has only just begun. I'll be keeping an eye on you, and on the people around you. I hope you won't disappoint me. After all... I've been waiting for eight years."
After saying that, Sakayanagi Arisu gave Ayanokoji Kiyoha a long look, then turned and walked away, leaning on her cane with a graceful yet slightly labored gait.
Ayanokoji Kiyoha stayed where she was, watching the petite figure disappear around the corner. Then she turned and walked back to the bench, picking up her water bottle again.
"All taken care of?" Wu Qiao watched her with a faintly amused expression.
"Yeah. She just wanted to make sure I knew she was here." Ayanokoji Kiyoha unscrewed the cap, took a sip of water, and said flatly.
Watching the subtle, taut atmosphere between the two, Ichinose Honami hadn't understood what they'd said to each other in Chinese, but she sensed that some unknown history seemed to lie between Ayanokoji Kiyoha and Sakayanagi Arisu.
"Um... Classmate Sakayanagi seems really interested in you, Kiyoha," Ichinose Honami said after hesitating for a moment.
Ayanokoji Kiyoha glanced at her, her expression returning to its usual calm. "Don't worry about it."
Watching Ayanokoji Kiyoha begin her stretches, Ichinose Honami was full of questions, but she could only keep them to herself for the time being.