Jealousy

As soon as he woke up the next morning, Asaba Kotone used his right eye to suck everything he had prepared for Pochita into the Kamui Dimension.

A sofa, food, things to read and play with... he had even prepared a bed for Pochita.

Then Asaba Kotone sent himself and Pochita into the Kamui Dimension as well.

This was not Pochita's first visit to his Kamui Dimension. Pochita had already learned of its existence when he had taken Pochita along using his long-distance teleportation ability.

Inside the Kamui Dimension, there were nothing but enormous pillars of varying heights, stretching out seemingly without end.

Everything he had just brought in was already arranged, and Asaba Kotone set Pochita down on the sofa.

If he felt like it, he could even build a villa right inside the Kamui Dimension.

Only after getting Pochita settled for the time being did he leave for school.

He had to admit that even in the advanced class, Asaba Kotone found school easier than in his previous life. Calling it much easier would not have been an exaggeration.

Arriving at eight in the morning was already considered early, and school ended shortly after four in the afternoon. There were no evening study sessions, either, and since it was a public high school, there were no classes on weekends.

The only part that might not have been particularly easy was the lunch break of less than an hour, but his high school in his previous life had not given him much time to rest at noon, either.

His daily routine had basically consisted of being kept behind when class ended around noon to retake the English quiz he had failed during morning reading. If he failed again, he would have to copy passages as punishment. By the time he finished, he would rush to the cafeteria and spend ten-odd minutes eating. Then, barely after settling back into his classroom seat, another impromptu English or math quiz would begin.

He had not actually been a bad student in his previous life. His grades had stayed fairly steady in the upper-middle range, but he simply could not be bothered to memorize things for those English quizzes.

There had been four classes in the morning and four in the afternoon. If he was unlucky enough to have math as the last afternoon class, the math teacher would invariably spring a quiz on them, dragging things out until after six in the evening. After dinner, evening study would begin straight away.

Evening study was fine as long as there were no tests. If there was a test, they would have to wait until they returned to the dorms to do their homework. The school had even thoughtfully provided every boarding student with a little wooden desk so they could do homework while sitting on their beds.

By comparison, Asaba Kotone genuinely found life at Chiba Rissei High School incredibly easy, even in the advanced class. With the resilience he had developed in his previous life and his current ability to learn, he was in a completely different league from the other students here.

Before he knew it, the first three classes of the morning were over.

The fourth was PE.

They had to change into their sportswear and athletic shoes before PE began. The girls went to the changing room, while the boys changed right in the classroom. It was not that the boys had no changing room; everyone was simply used to doing it that way.

Asaba Kotone certainly could not be bothered to make a trip to the changing room. Changing right in the classroom was much more convenient.

Although they were all boys, quite a few of his male classmates sneaked looks at his physique because he was new-or, more precisely, because his status was so unusual.

They were curious about what kind of physique their classmate Asaba had, given that he could kill powerful devils.

The result was more or less what they had imagined: he looked slim in clothes but muscular without them. They could tell just by looking that he was physically strong. Add his devil powers to that, and it was no wonder he could kill devils.

Gotō Iwen was also looking at Asaba Kotone's physique. Seeing such a well-built body, he could not help feeling jealous, and his expression twisted into something rather ugly.

"Gotō? What's wrong? You look scary."

The boy beside him immediately asked when he saw Gotō Iwen's expression.

"N-no, nothing."

Only then did Gotō Iwen realize something was off, and he quickly turned his face away.

He pressed a hand to his forehead, his brow furrowing slightly.

What was wrong with me?

Why did just looking at Asaba Kotone's physique make me feel so uncomfortable?

Could it be the Jealousy Devil's influence?

Gotō Iwen felt that was the most reasonable explanation. What he had felt just now was clearly jealousy, so it was probably the Jealousy Devil's influence.

Otherwise, his usual self would not have reacted like that so easily.

Gotō Iwen did not pay it much mind. He simply regarded it as the price of making a contract with the Jealousy Devil and thought it was harmless enough.

He just wanted a devil to appear at school or somewhere else so he could show off his power. Then Asaba Kotone probably would not look down on him anymore.

Asaba Kotone had just finished changing into his sportswear. He had not noticed Gotō Iwen's odd reaction, nor did he have any idea what Gotō Iwen was thinking.

If he had known that Gotō Iwen thought he looked down on him, he would have been utterly speechless.

After changing, the boys left the classroom one after another and headed for the sports field.

PE classes at high schools in Japan were divided into practical activities and theory lessons. Practical activities included sprinting, distance running, basketball, soccer, and various other sports, and took place in the gym or on the sports field. Theory lessons were held right in the classroom.

Today's PE class was a practical lesson, though Asaba Kotone did not yet know which activity they would be doing.

"Ugh, we're running laps again today. Nothing's more boring or tiring."

"I think it's fine. We can just jog along with everyone else."

"Let's hope whoever's in front doesn't run too fast..."

On the way to the sports field, several boys beside Asaba Kotone were chatting about PE.

That was how he learned that today's activity was distance running.

Just then, one of the boys said to him, "Asaba, could you run a little slower later?"

With Asaba's physical abilities, they would never keep up unless he held back. If he threw the whole group's pace off, it would be harder for them to slack off.

"Sure."

Asaba Kotone had no interest in distance running. He was not about to use running as a chance to show off.

Shortly before PE began, the boys and girls had all gathered on the sports field. The girls had come straight over after changing in the changing room.

The PE teacher first led them through a warm-up, then had them start running laps.

Since this was an endurance run rather than a one-thousand-meter test, they would have to run a dozen or so laps, but it would not be too exhausting.

The average high school student in Japan was reasonably fit. Especially in a world where devils could appear at any moment, schools placed greater emphasis on students' physical education.

The boys began running first, while the girls waited beside the sports field.

Meanwhile, Rika Matsumoto went to buy three bottles of water and gave two to Kobeni Higashiyama.

"Thank you! But I only need one bottle."

"It's not like you're supposed to drink both yourself, little Kobeni. Isn't there Asaba, too?"

Rika Matsumoto smiled knowingly.

"Oh... so that's it. But why are you giving me Asaba's?"

Kobeni Higashiyama did not immediately catch what Rika Matsumoto meant.

"So you can take him some water later, of course, little Kobeni!"

"Oh... huh?"

Only then did Kobeni Higashiyama catch on, and a faint blush immediately rose to her face. Though it was nothing particularly special, she still felt a little embarrassed.