After ending his call with the old man, Yunyi lay on his bed, sorting through his plans and considering how to change them to better achieve his goal.
As for the Ten Master Clans the old man had warned him about, he had only come into contact with their younger generation so far. Katsuto Jumonji, of course, was an exception. The Jumonji family publicly claimed that Katsuto was the acting family head and heir, but he was already taking over the family's authority. Yunyi didn't yet know when that had started or whether he had gained complete control of the family.
For now, Katsuto Jumonji appeared to be the only member of the Ten Master Clans at First High School who required extra attention. In truth, though, the ones he needed to guard against most were Tatsuya Shiba and Miyuki Shiba.
The siblings had disguised themselves too well. If Yunyi hadn't known what would happen in the future, he would never have readily connected them to the Yotsuba Family based on the information he had gathered.
"The Yotsuba Family, huh."
"If I suddenly called Tatsuya 'Tatsuya Yotsuba,' I wonder if that would force him to attack me? Tsk, tsk. I really want to see whether his Material Burst can break through my Fool's World. But if I did that, he'd probably fight me to the death, wouldn't he? That would make things difficult. The God of Destruction still has his uses."
With that thought, Yunyi put aside the somewhat dangerous idea.
"I'd better get some sleep first. I can't wait to see what school life has in store."
The next day.
On his way to school, Yunyi suddenly felt someone pat his shoulder.
He didn't turn around as the person seemed to expect. Instead, he chuckled and said, "Good morning, Chiba."
"Aah, what a boring reaction," Erika complained.
"But how did you notice me?" Erika was puzzled. She was certain she hadn't given herself away.
"I deduced it," Yunyi explained with a smile. "Someone who'd do that would at least have to be an acquaintance I had some kind of relationship with. Since I ran into them on the way to school, they were probably a classmate. And of the classmates I've gotten to know, you're the only one who'd do something like that, aren't you?"
"Fine, fine. No fun at all." Erika shrugged.
"But since we're friends now, there's no need to be so formal, right? Just call me Erika." Erika Chiba's moods came and went quickly.
Friends? Yunyi thought, though he agreed to Erika Chiba's suggestion.
"Sure. In that case, just call me Yunyi. Actually, I'm not very fond of my surname," Yunyi said.
"What do you mean?" Erika asked, puzzled.
Yunyi shook his head slightly, indicating that he didn't want to talk about it.
"All right, then it's settled! But we'd better pick up the pace, Yunyi."
With that, Erika did indeed quicken her pace, jogging off toward First High School.
Yunyi glanced down at the time displayed on his terminal, chuckled, and quickened his pace too.
By the time they reached the classroom, everyone else in the class had already arrived.
Yunyi's seat was right next to Tatsuya Shiba's. As soon as he sat down, Tatsuya said, "Good morning, Liu Yunyi."
"Good morning, Shiba," Yunyi replied.
"I ran into President Saegusa on my way to school. She invited us to the student council office at noon. It looks like she has something to discuss."
Just as Yunyi thought it was an ordinary greeting, Tatsuya Shiba passed along the message Mayumi Saegusa had asked him to deliver a short while earlier.
"Oh? Is there something else she wants to say about what happened yesterday?" Yunyi asked, putting on a puzzled expression.
"I'm sorry, the president didn't tell me, so I don't know either," Tatsuya Shiba said.
"All right, then let's go together when it's time," Yunyi replied. Then, under Tatsuya Shiba's gaze, he laid his head down on his desk. A moment later, he was snoring softly.
Watching him, Tatsuya Shiba blinked in bewilderment. He really couldn't quite understand someone like Liu Yunyi.
Teachers rarely took part in magic high school classes; most knowledge was conveyed to students through terminals. As a result, basically no one bothered about students sleeping in class.
When Yunyi woke up, the morning classes had just ended.
Seeing him get up at exactly the right time, Tatsuya Shiba even began to wonder whether he was using some method to control precisely how long he slept.
Still, he wouldn't rashly ask about it. He said goodbye to Erika and the others, then headed to the student council office with Yunyi.
On the way, they ran into Miyuki Shiba, who was going there with them as well. When she saw Liu Yunyi, Miyuki Shiba greeted him very politely.
"Um, I don't really like my surname, so you can just call me Yunyi," Yunyi said, scratching his head a little awkwardly.
The siblings exchanged a glance and accepted what he said. They merely guessed that Yunyi might not get along with his family, which was why he disliked his surname. It never occurred to them that he disliked being called that solely because the Liu had been added later!
When the three arrived at the student council office, Mayumi Saegusa was already waiting inside.
"Welcome, Miyuki, Tatsuya, and Liu Yunyi," Mayumi Saegusa said first.
"Although we introduced ourselves at the entrance ceremony, you weren't there, were you, Liu Yunyi? Let me introduce everyone. This is Suzune Ichihara, the student council treasurer. You can call her Rin."
"...President, you're the only one who calls me that." Suzune Ichihara seemed to be complaining, but her tone was flat.
Mayumi paid no attention to her objection and continued, "You should all know her already: Mari Watanabe, chair of the Public Morals Committee. And next is our secretary, Azusa Nakajo. You can just call her Azusa."
"Please, President, don't call me Azusa in front of the younger students. I have my standing as an upperclassman to maintain!"
Azusa Nakajo's reaction was much stronger than Suzune Ichihara's, but as for the force behind it, she seemed to fall short of even Suzune's understated response.
"OK! Hello, Ichihara, Chairwoman Watanabe, and Azusa."
Following Mayumi Saegusa's introductions, Yunyi greeted each of them in turn. When he reached Azusa Nakajo, he deliberately followed Mayumi's introduction and called her Azusa warmly.