With an A, Huomu successfully made it into the top ten across the two classes.
Both of them knew perfectly well that they could never have earned such high scores on their own.
The person they owed the most thanks to was undoubtedly Qiji.
Qiji merely waved it off. "What are you thanking me for? You earned those scores yourselves, with your own abilities. But-"
As Qiji spoke, he abruptly changed tack and revealed his true intentions.
"If you really insist on thanking me... then treat me to dinner."
"Huh?" Setsuna froze, then a faint, embarrassed blush appeared on her face.
Given her current finances, treating Qiji to a decent restaurant would be difficult, but if she only treated him to a meal at the cafeteria...
That would be far too cheap and disrespectful!
"Next time... could I treat you next time?" she asked quietly, a little embarrassed.
Huomu, however, had no such concerns.
As he saw it, if someone was willing to eat with him and let him treat them, it meant they considered him a friend.
And since they were friends, there was no need to fuss over the details of a meal!
Even if he had never had a friend before.
That was how he felt when he put himself in the other person's shoes.
So-
"How about ramen?" Huomu suggested.
Setsuna stared at Huomu in disbelief.
What nonsense is this guy spouting?!
Who treats someone to ramen?!
As the former young lady of the Wuma family, Setsuna could never have entertained such an undignified idea.
But the next moment, she heard Qiji agree at once, sounding delighted.
"Ramen? Sure!"
Qiji even slung an arm around Huomu's shoulders and pulled him toward the cafeteria, as if afraid he might change his mind. "Come on, come on! I'm starving!"
Huomu was pleasantly surprised to be treated so affectionately by Qiji!
He had thought Qiji was the aloof type of genius, distant in his dealings with others and equally cold to everyone.
After all, on the rooftop at noon, Qiji had seemed impatient and unapproachable.
But...
Had he misunderstood?
Back then, had Qiji simply been in a bad mood because his nap had been interrupted?
Huomu suddenly felt a little happy, as if he understood Qiji better now!
"..."
Setsuna watched Qiji walk away happily with his arm around Huomu.
She couldn't help freezing for a moment. That works too?
Then should I follow his example and just treat Qiji to ramen?
That would save me quite a bit of money...
Qiji was in a great mood.
He had gotten some time in Huomu's main camera shot and scored a free dinner to boot. It was killing two birds with one stone!
When the two reached the cafeteria, Huomu eagerly went to line up at the counter, only for Qiji to pull him back.
"Wait." Qiji checked the time. "Let's wait another ten minutes."
"Ten minutes?" Huomu was puzzled.
"After seven in the evening, the cafeteria discounts a lot of the dishes they haven't sold."
Qiji lowered his voice and shared his precious life experience.
"Ramen is one of them. It's almost a third cheaper!"
The chat was delighted to witness the scene.
"There it is! Your bro Qiji's money-saving tip!"
"Huomu: Lesson learned!"
Just as the chat said, Huomu really did look excited, as though he had learned something valuable.
"There's a deal like that?" He immediately rubbed his hands together and sat down with Qiji at an empty spot in the corner of the cafeteria, eagerly counting down the time.
If it had been Setsuna, she would never have been able to bring herself to treat someone to discounted food.
But Huomu had no such thoughts. Instead, he admired Qiji even more, feeling that Qiji knew so much!
Being with him made Huomu feel as if he were improving every moment!
As soon as it struck seven, the two rushed to the discount counter and bought the discounted large bowls of ramen they wanted.
As Qiji ate, the lower half of his mask automatically disappeared, revealing thin lips and a handsomely defined jaw.
Huomu stared in a daze, amazed by the wonder of Qiji's mask and shocked by the handsomeness beneath it.
Even catching a glimpse of only half his face, Huomu could clearly sense a beauty that surpassed the ordinary!
The chat also erupted at that moment.
"Wow, wow, wow! He's that handsome?!"
"What did you expect? In all the anime I've watched, there hasn't been a single ugly masked character!"
"I'm dying. If I had a face like that in real life, I'd want to show it off to everyone every day. Wear a mask? Are you kidding me?!"
"Qiji... your face..." Huomu couldn't help speaking up.
"What about it?" Qiji slurped down a mouthful of noodles.
"N-nothing..." Huomu scratched his head, a little embarrassed. "I just... used to think you always wore a mask because you had an injury on your face, or... weren't really fit to be seen."
After all, unlike the Thousand Faces Family, Qiji didn't wear a mask as a family tradition.
A genius who wasn't from the Thousand Faces Family yet always wore a mask was bound to make people wonder-
Whether his appearance was marred and unpleasant to look at.
Chapter 19: I'm Too Handsome
"How could that be?"
When Qiji heard that, he couldn't let it slide!
Was Huomu saying he thought Qiji wore a mask because he was too ugly to be seen?
That was slander! Pure slander!
Qiji put down his chopsticks, no longer caring about his noodles.
"Haven't you heard the rumors about me?"
"I hear them all the time. Like how you beat your teacher into a sorry mess when you were ten, and when you were eleven..."
"Stop, stop, stop! Not those. I mean the rumors about my face."
"Rumors about your face? I haven't really heard any."
"You haven't? No way. Think carefully. You know, rumors like, 'Beneath my handsome mask is an even more handsome face'-haven't you heard anything like that?"
Huomu thought hard, then honestly shook his head.
"All right, then."
Qiji was a little disappointed. Looks like I haven't done enough to spread the word.
That was right. Qiji had spread those rumors himself.
His aim was to build anticipation and create a "handsome masked man" persona for himself.
Unfortunately, they didn't seem to have had much effect.
Then again, it could also be because Huomu didn't have many friends and wasn't very well informed.
In any case, Qiji told him:
"The only reason I wear a mask is-
I'm too handsome.
Girls I don't know stop me in the street to confess their feelings, and the opposite sex is always interrupting me when I cultivate.
Sometimes, I even get stalked by strangers.
It's a hassle, right?
I don't want those unimportant things distracting me, so this is all I can do."
"I see!"
Huomu finally understood, and his admiration for Qiji grew even deeper.
"I understand completely! Qiji, you're incredible!"
Others wore masks to hide their ugliness, but Qiji wore one to hide his good looks.
As expected of Qiji!
Even his troubles were on a different level from those of ordinary people!
Huomu looked at Qiji as though gazing upon an idol.
"Even though you have such outstanding looks, you haven't slacked off in the slightest.
Instead, you chose to wear a mask so you could pursue strength without distractions.
Qiji, I feel like there's so much I can learn from being with you!"
"I'm glad you understand."
Qiji struggled to keep the corners of his mouth from rising and gave him a casual reminder.
"All right, hurry up and eat. The noodles are going to get soggy."
Meanwhile, comments drifted across the chat.
"Can he really be that handsome? Is he for real?"
"Take off the mask! I want to see the evidence!"
"Sigh! Actually, I've always had the same problem as the streamer. Looks like I should buy a mask too."
After devouring their ramen, both of them patted their bellies with satisfied expressions.
Huomu got up to leave, but Qiji asked him to wait and went to the ramen counter to order another bowl to go.
Seeing this, Huomu thought Qiji hadn't had enough to eat and hurried over to pay for it.
But Qiji refused.
"This ramen isn't for me, so you shouldn't have to pay for it."
Huomu couldn't win the argument with Qiji.
Besides, his own finances weren't very good, so he didn't insist.