Please Await My Triumphant Return

The benefits were tempting, but the price was far too high. Joining a hardcore sports club, especially at this school, would be no child's play; the demands were bound to be high. There would be countless daily training sessions and club duties, every day ruled by intense training and plagued by hassles, with all his carefree leisure time gone for good. Sacrificing three years of an easy life for an unknown ability simply wasn't worth it.

"Forget it. Count me out." Kazami Saku decisively waved a hand, dismissing the idea. "Too much hassle. A laid-back club would suit me better, something artsy, for instance."

Beside him, Kiyotaka Ayanokoji also refused. "In short, we'd join just to get thoroughly worked over by the upperclassmen, right?"

He lowered his eyes slightly, his tone relaxed and knowing. "I'll pass. I believe in staying out of things. A peaceful life is enough for me."

Without consulting each other, both chose to slack off and refuse.

Suzune Horikita looked at her two utterly unambitious classmates. What a shame.

The bell rang to signal the end of class, and noise instantly filled the Class D classroom. Quite a few students left their seats to chat with others, with magazines and game consoles scattered across desks in a scene of complete disorder.

After Kazami Saku stepped out of the classroom, a gentle voice called out to him.

Kikyo Kushida wore her usual bright, sweet smile. "Kazami, there's something I'd like your help with."

Kazami Saku raised his head and looked at her in puzzlement. What could he possibly do to help Kushida?

"I'd like you to help me become friends with Horikita."

Kazami Saku understood. He knew all too well about the tangled, ill-fated connection between Kikyo Kushida and Suzune Horikita.

Kushida's goal was simple: she wanted to get along with everyone in the school, and she really had managed it. In just the few days since starting school, she had already made loads of friends, not only within Class D but in other classes as well. Everywhere she went, people greeted her. She treated others kindly and would generally help whenever anyone asked, so almost everyone had a good impression of her.

Suzune Horikita was the sole exception.

Kushida had approached her with friendly overtures more than once, only to hit a wall every time. Most people would have given up after several cold rejections in a row, but Kushida seemed determined to see this through. Whenever she had time, she would approach Suzune Horikita and strike up a conversation, trying every possible way to grow closer to her.

Kazami Saku really couldn't understand that persistence. If they were a boy and a girl, he could explain it as romantic interest, but Kushida and Horikita... Could Kushida be... Ahem, he shouldn't get the wrong idea. It was also possible that Kushida was a perfectionist.

Still, Kushida treated him pretty well. He would have helped with other things, but when it came to Horikita, he really couldn't do it.

"Ah, even if you come to me, there's nothing I can do." Kazami Saku spread his hands, looking helpless. "We're talking about Suzune Horikita. You've experienced her personality yourself."

"But you're the only one in class besides Ayanokoji who can have a normal conversation with her." Kushida blinked, her tone earnest.

Kazami Saku couldn't help giving a wry laugh. "If trading assessments full of scathing jabs counts as conversation, then yes, we've certainly talked a lot."

Horikita was like his own strict mother, except she also had a father's capacity to get physical. Of course, so far only Ayanokoji had experienced Horikita's fatherly love, but that guy had brought it on himself by saying something he shouldn't have.

Kazami Saku didn't want to get involved in the entanglement between these two. On one side was Kushida, determined to make friends; on the other was Suzune Horikita, who fiercely rejected social interaction. Caught in the middle, he would please neither, and things might go wrong on both ends. So Kazami Saku simply shook his head, intending to turn down the request again.

"I really can't help with this. You'll have to find another way, Kushida."

"You really can't?"

Kushida didn't give up. She reached out and took Kazami Saku's hand, leaning slightly closer and closing the distance between them. She raised her clear eyes to him, gazing at him without blinking, her expression earnest as she softly pleaded.

Kazami Saku let out an inward wail.

Aaah-don't use that move on me!

The girl's pretty eyes were right in front of him, her soft breath brushing his face. Who could withstand that? His reason was frantically screaming at him not to agree, but his body's defenses were rapidly crumbling.

"No..."

The assault of her adorable gaze continued, and Kazami Saku caught a lovely scent as well. In less than half a minute, the boy was defeated.

"...All right." Kazami Saku sighed, inwardly mocking himself. In the end, he hadn't withstood the test of beauty.

"Kushida, that's way too sneaky. Who could say no to that?"

Kushida smiled very gently. "Not at all. You only agreed to help because you're so kind, Kazami."

Just then.

"Hey! You!"

Two shouts suddenly erupted from the side.

At some point, Kanji Ike and Haruki Yamauchi had appeared behind them. Both had their eyes wide open, their gazes fixed on the two clasped hands, their faces filled with shock and jealousy.

Yamauchi gritted his teeth. "You bastard... How dare you!"

In a moment of hotheadedness, Kazami Saku's hand moved before his brain could catch up, turning to clasp Kikyo Kushida's hand tightly in return.

Kikyo Kushida said, "Huh?"

Her pupils widened slightly. She had never expected things to take this turn.

"Ah, no, this is..." Kazami Saku instantly came to his senses. Realizing how rude his action was, he immediately loosened his grip.

Ike's and Yamauchi's emotions exploded.

"Big Brain! Let go already!"

System notifications popped up one after another.

Emotion Points from Kanji Ike +18.

Emotion Points from Haruki Yamauchi +20.

Kazami Saku inwardly marveled at the rather generous haul of Emotion Points. They were clearly very angry.

But the copying effect triggered by [Big Brain] yielded two useless abilities. He would still have to rely on Ayanokoji as his main source.

Still, with these two shouting their heads off... Oh, he had an idea.

Going with the flow, Kazami Saku dropped to one knee on the classroom floor. Lightly supporting Kushida's hand with one of his own, he struck a thoroughly theatrical pose, bowing his head slightly as though about to kiss the back of her hand.

"Beautiful lady, please await my triumphant return."

The entire surrounding area fell silent for a second.

The next second.

Veins bulged at Kanji Ike's temples, his clenched fists cracking. "I'll kill you!"

Haruki Yamauchi yelled so loudly that his voice cracked. "Big Brain!!!"

The enormous commotion made quite a few nearby classmates turn to look, their gazes all converging on the scene.

Emotion Points from Kikyo Kushida +8.

Emotion Points from Ike and Yamauchi +5, +4, +6...

Kikyo Kushida stared blankly at Kazami Saku kneeling on one knee, momentarily stunned.

Seeing the decent haul on his panel, Kazami Saku concluded that no one was truly useless after all.