Shinichi returned to class.
Sitting according to their seats last semester, almost all members of Class B of the 2nd year had arrived, and because the homeroom teacher had not arrived, the class was full of noise, and not everyone was sitting in their place.
After not seeing each other during summer vacation, the classmates seemed to have changed a bit.
Some people deliberately exposed traces of the Hawaiian sun, some people shared local Russian specialties, and some people put voodoo dolls on the table, claiming that they were genuine products of the mysterious tribe, and they only cost a few million yen.
No matter what high school you attend, subtle comparisons and overt showing off are commonplace. Shuchi'in Academy is only slightly more expensive than other places. After all, this is a noble school.
As for what changes happened to them... In the past, Shinichi was not interested in idle people, so of course he didn't know.
And now, he had no intention of re-establishing good relations with the young master and madam.
He had just walked into the classroom and returned to his seat with his schoolbag hanging over him.
Then, he clearly realized that he was being watched by a group of classmates.
Even the chatter around him became quieter, and many people looked at him with surprised eyes.
"Is that the Second King..."
"Is it true? It's just summer vacation, the changes are too big..."
"Is it because he started exercising? His temperament has changed completely."
"Wait, he changed his hairstyle? He looks quite handsome…"
"Hmm, before I was a little afraid to approach him. Even though he is very smart, and quiet, and he is the chief executive of the forest school, I always find it difficult to chat with him."
"It's different now, it's a cheerful and handsome guy!"
"Those arm lines, veins after exercise, hehehe~ I have a bold idea..."
"Wait, what are you going to do?"
"It's nothing, I just wanted to buy you a glass of juice."
"Yes, it's the Thorn Club..."
"She's done... She even forgot that our class is the headquarters of the Thorns Club..."
"No! I'm just talking casually! I'm sorry, I actually don't want to compete with the princess...!"
"Sorry, you'd better be quiet and follow us quietly."
A crowd of men in black who didn't know where they came from covered a girl Shinichi didn't recognize with a black hood and took her out the door.
He tried to pretend he didn't hear or see anything.
Still the same as the first semester, with Fuutarou in front and Itsuki behind, the wall on the left, and... Fumino on the right.
"Hm?"
Making eye contact with Fumino, who seemed to have noticed something, Shinichi put the towel and water bottle back into his bag and said hello.
"Good morning."
"Good morning…" Suspicious, Fumino looked up curiously.
"Did you… Debut in the second semester?"
"It was just a change of image."
Shinichi said simply and reached for the drawer out of habit, but found nothing.
Only then did he remember that not only were the extracurricular books he needed to read for school not yet in the drawer, but he also only brought textbooks to show off.
Shinichi took his hand out of the drawer.
"Ah, I brought a copy, do you want to read it?"
But Fumino noticed his movements, she took out a library book from her school bag and handed it to him.
Then she glanced at the cover, her face flushed, and she immediately took the book back from his hands.
"Sorry! I haven't finished reading this book, so I can't lend it to you! You can look for the book yourself!"
"...Okay."
Shinichi averted his gaze, no longer seeing Fumino's embarrassed gaze but still pretending to be calm.
As for the words on the cover, "A surefire way to conquer the best student beside you," he kept it in his mind and thoughtfully didn't say it out loud.
"It's been a long time since I saw you."
"It's been a long time since I saw you."
As men, Fuutarou and Shinichi's greetings should be short and clear.
Just when he thought the conversation was over, Fuutarou turned around and placed the word card in his hand.
"Hey, I remember before summer vacation, we agreed to take you to meet my tutor's students, right?"
Shinichi raised his eyebrows: "Isn't that just a joke?"
"Huh, I'm sorry, I'm not good at joking."
Fuutarou with a gloomy expression, but this was only due to his appearance and temperament, and there was not much dissatisfaction in his tone.
"Just forget it if you don't see it. But I told him something about you during the chat, and now the guy is looking forward to meeting you. I will give him a favor someday when I have time, so as not to bother him all the time."
"Oh~ you really love your students."
Shinichi didn't care about his own affairs being brought up by Fuutarou.
"Besides, I don't like meeting strangers for no reason, and this isn't a fan meeting." He thought, "Your student, I remember he was a freshman in high school?"
Fuutarou took the word card again and answered.
"Yes. He attends a high school in Chiba with a good acceptance rate, but his grades are only lower middle, so he needs to find a tutor."
"So that's how it is," Shinichi nodded, then let out a deliberate sigh.
"You are very polite to five beautiful girls, very gentle to men, and even went to great lengths to ask me to meet him…"
"This is truly a worthwhile change for men, Fuutarou-kun. "
He smiled, his teasing intentions evident.
With his back facing him, the corners of Futaro Fuutarou's mouth twitched, and the hand holding the word card trembled slightly.
He had originally planned to suppress his anger and ignore it, but suddenly an idea struck him, and Fuutarou's mood stabilized, and he returned his teasing.
"Huh, you don't know? Even if he is a boy, my student looks better than ordinary girls… No, he is much cuter than all the girls you have ever seen!"
"If you really meet him, if you don't doubt his gender at first glance, I will lose. If you don't believe me, let's bet and have lunch!"
Hearing the deliberately exaggerated words, Shinichi felt curious even though he knew it was a provocation.
"Nonsense. Do you have a photo?"
Fuutarou said firmly: "No! My cell phone camera function is broken."
The high-definition cell phone given by a kind person had been given to his little sister. The original cell phone was accidentally submerged in water, so now he really couldn't take pictures.
Fuutarou spread his arms and laughed.
"If you are curious, come with me to look for it. It was just meeting and chatting. It is nothing. It's rare for men to be prettier than women."
"Tsk..." Shinichi couldn't hold back his curiosity about the existence of transvestites in the real world, so he reluctantly agreed.
"Okay, but I've been very busy lately. I'll let you know when I'm done."
"As promised, don't let you go."
"Once a word is spoken, it is difficult to follow."
"Good." Fuutarou smiled, twisted his stiff neck, and said casually.
"Sure enough, even you can't resist the temptation of cute boys."
"Don't talk nonsense, I just want to know..." Before he finished speaking, Shinichi felt someone poke his back.
Turning around, he saw Itsuki with her eyes wide open and a look of disbelief on her face, asking with trembling lips.
"Asada-kun, is that true...?"
Shinichi could barely control himself and it took him a long time to say something.
"What is right..."
Itsuki's tone was almost desperate: "You like cute boys more than girls..."
"…"
Now, Shinichi really wanted to go back and kill the man in front of him who was lying on the table laughing.
And Fumino, why is she laughing? She dared to laugh while eavesdropping, how shameless?
Shinichi stabilized the emotions in his heart, and with a zombie face, he was about to explain to Itsuki.
But he discovered that Itsuki, and then looked down at the two balls of meat wrapped under her uniform. His expression seemed to convey a sense of self-sacrifice.
"I like girls, I really do!"
Shinichi quickly explained before Itsuki could speak surprising the others.
"That's Uesugi Fuutarou's sexual orientation. He just wanted to pull me into his fold. Only she likes cute boys!"
"Don't worry, I've liked girls since I was born."
Fuutarou: "Huh?!"
Itsuki blinked her eyes.
"Listening to what you said, I must have misunderstood something just now?"
"Initially, your bad habit was being too direct and not thinking carefully enough. You are easily influenced by first impressions."
Taking advantage of the victory, Shinichi looked at her seriously.
"And, do you believe me or what Fuutarou said?"
"Of course it's you!" Itsuki answered without hesitation, and she smiled apologetically at Shinichi.
Then, she gave a very dissatisfied look at Fuutarou in front of her.
"Uesugi-kun! No one cares about your sexual orientation, but please don't drag our family in... Ahem!"
Itsuki blushed, tried hard to maintain a serious expression, and closed her notebook quickly.
For some reason, Shinichi didn't want to see it now, what bad things were written there.
"Please don't drag Asada-kun, a normal boy into the water. What should I do if others misunderstand?"
"Even if you don't need reputation, at least consider it for your friends."
"…"
Fuutarou fell silent.
However, Itsuki didn't give him any room to defend himself. When the official school bell rang, he said in a serious voice.
"Okay, the class meeting is about to start, please come back."
At the same time, Mafuyu opened the classroom door and entered.