Ares_00

183. A Hidden Melody (2)

(Haruna POV)

***

"Granny, stop gawking!" Haruna pleaded, trying to pull the old woman along. 

But she was completely ignored as Granny didn't budge, simply looking up at the towering building in front of her in awe. 

They had just arrived at...

182. A Hidden Melody (1)

Once Haruna had left amidst her nervousness, Reiji returned to the study and opened the account page on Scrollz. 

His eyes flickered when he saw that there were 20 views already. 

Which obviously wasn't much, but that's not what he was focusing on. 

He opened up the uploaded video and noticed ...

181. First Recording

(Haruna POV)

***

Haruna picked up a cookie and dipped it in milk, biting into the delicious sweetness almost robotically. 

She was quite distracted. 

How could she not be?

Just a week ago, she had no idea that she could even sing, and ...

Haruna's Alias!

Thanks for all the suggestions! I've included the ones I liked below, as well as ones I personally made. Vote for your favorite one!

180. Preparation

(Riku POV)

***

".....I think it suits you very well!!" 

My smile widened at her reply, and I could feel the genuine sincerity in her words. 

But I paused for a second. 

'...Is that good or bad?'

It somewhat felt lik...

179. My Opportunity

"What trouble did you get into this time?" 

Tadano's deep scowl made no effort to hide his disdain, to the point that Reiji felt like facepalming.

"Nothing yet, don't worry," he shrugged, thinking of teasing him a little. 

"Yet?... YET?? What exactly are you planning to do?" Tadano asked w...

IYKYK

I tried

178. The Black Belt Genius (4)

Reiji was taken aback, but he saw an opportunity. 

If the documents were to be sent in tomorrow, Tadano would likely hide them today or very early in the morning before she came to school. That's how it was in the game, at least. But if he held onto the documents until then, he wouldn't be able to do anything. ...

177. The Black Belt Genius (3)

Reiji sat down on a bench at the edge of the hall, shifting his focus back to the panel of judges and the lone redhead standing in front of them. 

"Candidate Tachibana, are you ready for the First Phase of the Promotion Exam?" the taekwondo coach spoke up, her voice both loud and firm.

"Yes!" 

"Goo...

176. The Black Belt Genius (2)

Nishimura Sensei stepped forward and grabbed Reiji's head, turning it multiple different ways to check for an injury. 

"Strange...Is it internal?" he mumbled under his breath. 

Reiji's mouth twitched with exasperation as he pried himself free. 

"Quit messing around, at least hear me out!" ...

175. The Black Belt Genius (1)

"Dude... What did you do?" Tooro asked, leaping out of his seat as soon as the bell rang to signal the first break. 

For three continuous periods, it looked like he was sitting on a pile of sharp needles, acting completely restless as if he was holding something back. 

It was obviously his curiosity and ...

174. Makeover

"H-Hi..."

"Huh?"

Reiji stared blankly at the girl's receding back, almost losing his grip on his backpack. 

Two days had passed since the incident with Kahawara had concluded, and the old man hadn't come back to school yesterday, even though an official announcement hadn't been made yet. 

But...

173. First Quest Results

(Riku POV)

A few hours prior

***

"How is it? Did he reply?"

Tooro placed his hands on my shoulders and peered over my head from behind me. 

"...Not yet. Maybe he hasn't seen it yet?" I replied. 

It had b...

172. Ten Burly Men

"Now....Let's talk about how you managed to figure out that Kahawara-san was behind all this. Shall we, Yagami-san?" 

".....What do you mean? The poster was the one who revealed all this. Go ask him," Reiji shrugged, brushing off the question. 

"Please, do you really expect me to believe that the student...

171. It Was You!

Kahawara practically had to drag himself out of the office because his legs refused to listen to him.

Not with the fear coursing through his body at this moment. 

He kept his head down, avoiding the burning stares from the colleagues around him and finally breathed a sigh of relief when he closed the door aft...

170. The Second Post

Noa stared intently at her phone for a few seconds before looking up at Reiji with quivering eyes. 

".....How?" she asked. 

But Reiji just smiled, showing no indication that he'd give her a response. 

So Noa could only swallow her confusion and continue reading the post instead. 

**...

169. The Trap (4)

Minato rushed towards the corner of the bottom floor, where the classrooms had been unused for a couple of years and remained pretty much empty. 

The wide grin on his face and the glint in his eyes betrayed his excitement, let alone the fact that his heart was working overtime because of how worked up he was. ...

168. The Trap (3)

"Quiet!!" 

*BANG*

Kahawara Sensei slammed his book onto his desk, silencing the noisy students who still hadn't managed to move on from the assembly and the Principal's speech. 

Seeing that a lot of them were looking at Yagami Reiji with different eyes than before, Kahawar...

167. The Trap (2)

There was complete silence in the assembly hall. 

Not that this was weird, since it was always quiet during official events. 

But the ambience was what stood out. 

The silence was awkward, and Reiji could see the uncomfortable faces around him as the Principal studied them with cold eyes. ...

166. The Trap (1)

"You're j-joking, right? Me?" Minato stuttered in disbelief. 

His face had gone completely pale, and his eyes even darted towards the cafe's exit, as if he was considering making a run for it. 

"If not you, who else? You're the only one who can do this. And don't tell me you thought you could wash your h...

165. The Mastermind

".....When did you get this letter?" Reiji asked. 

"I-I got it on Friday. When I came back from lunch, it was already in my desk drawer!" Minato replied. 

Meanwhile, Arata was next to him, tapping away on the computer within his briefcase after placing it on top of a discarded cardboard box.

The le...

164. The Poster

"Hey, hey! What are you going to do next? Beat him up? Torture him? Throw him in the ocean? Can I come??" 

".....Fuck no."

Reiji rolled his eyes and ignored Arata, who was still vibrating in his massage chair with a smile that was a little too eager. 

"Oh come on! I don't get to come along...

163. Bypassing the Firewall

Reiji stood in front of a large gate, struggling to hold back his laughter to the point that his face was turning red. 

He quickly took out his phone and opened the camera app, aiming it at the large golden statue inside the compound. 

He'd come all the way to Arata's house to ask him to use his hacking ...

162. The Accused President (4)

Noa exhaled sharply, regaining her composure after Reiji's unexpected tease. 

"Please be serious, this matter affects both of us," she said. 

Reiji noticed that despite her calm exterior, her fingers were constantly tapping the chair's handle, a tic he knew she only used when she was truly stressed. ...

Reiji Fanart by LeWhimsira

Isn't this fucking awesome??

Check them out on DeviantArt: https://www.deviantart.com/lewhimsira/gallery

161. The Accused President (3)

Reiji opened the utensil cabinet in the Cooking Club and took out a kettle, planning to make some tea with honey to soothe Haruna's throat as he promised.

 The theoretical class didn't last long today, so he had time to do this while cooking a dish. 

He returned to his station and started to boil some wa...

160. The Accused President (2)

(Noa POV) 

***

Noa read the post on Nozomi's phone with an indifferent expression, and her slightly trembling eyes were the only indication that she had any thoughts about the slanderous contents. 

Tadano was also reading it with her, peering over...

159. The Accused President (1)

(Riku POV)

***

I rubbed my chin in deep thought, my astute mind racing through various possibilities. 

Even though I was sure that Yagami would be responsible for whatever would happen to the President, this creepy guy who just entered didn't seem much...

Morikawa Tooro (The Best Friend)

158. Supervised Study

(Riku POV)

***

Excitement.

That was the only feeling coursing through me at this moment. 

With how much I had prepared, I couldn't wait for classes to finish so that I'd be able to head over to the Student Council for the supervised study. <...