"Man... what an incredible view..."
Takeru murmured the words under his breath, completely mesmerized. Standing beside him, Suzuki silently had to agree.
The girl hanging upside down from the thick branches of the courtyard tree wasn't particularly overly endowed, but her proportions were wonderfully compact. Her skirt had slipped dangerously low due to gravity, and the way her knee-high stockings gripped her lithe legs was simply a work of art.
Zettai Ryouiki.
The Absolute Domain. If Suzuki remembered his pop-culture terminology correctly, that was the sacred title given to that specific, pristine sliver of bare thigh exposed between a short skirt and high stockings. It was a visual domain that commanded worship from a very specific type of man.
Then again, Suzuki wasn't a drooling pervert, so he kept his mouth firmly shut.
Still, if this petite young woman were standing upright instead of dangling from a tree branch like a resting bat, her Zettai Ryouiki would be displayed with absolute, devastating perfection.
Unfortunately... or perhaps fortunately, depending on how you looked at it... he was currently forced to stare at the cute cotton panties she was unwittingly flashing to the entire world.
"Ehehehe..."
"Why are you laughing?" Suzuki asked, giving his friend a side-eye.
"Because I saw where you were looking!" Takeru grinned, elbowing him in the ribs. "As expected, you're a cultured pervert too, Suzuki~!"
"...I am just a healthy, normal young man," Suzuki replied evenly, adjusting his collar. "I never claimed to be blind or uninterested, did I?"
"Hahaha! That's right! That's right! We are definitely going to be best friends for life!"
Takeru laughed happily, practically vibrating with excitement. Meanwhile, Suzuki just sighed helplessly, seriously wondering if associating with this guy was going to get him killed before the semester even started.
"So... should we remind her?" Takeru asked, though his eyes remained completely glued to the girl hanging in the tree.
"Hmm... if you do it while staring at her like that, I'm fairly certain she will drop down and beat the living hell out of you."
Suzuki couldn't help but make the pragmatic observation. He looked at the blonde-haired heroine again. It seemed everyone in this academy was incredibly high-level in terms of aesthetics. Sure, there were bound to be a few plain students in the background, but the sheer concentration of 'flowers' in this world was staggering. And this particular girl dangling from the tree, despite her slender and petite frame, was undeniably top-tier.
"Why do you think she'd beat me up?" Takeru asked, genuinely offended.
"Call it a gut feeling," Suzuki deadpanned. "But I get the distinct impression that all the women in this academy enjoy beating people up. Especially considering your childhood friend was about to stab you with a kunai just ten minutes ago."
"...."
Takeru blinked, his face paling as a nervous sweat broke out on his forehead. "Hmm... if you put it that way, isn't it much safer for our health to just stand here and observe her quietly?"
After all, sometimes a beautiful flower was best appreciated from a safe distance, right?
"...Has the thought of actually leaving this place so we aren't late for the entrance ceremony ever crossed your mind?"
"...." Takeru looked away, whistling innocently.
Suzuki sighed, officially giving up. He knew Takeru was a bona fide, hopeless pervert driven purely by protagonist hormones. "Fine. I will remind her."
"Are you insane?! What if she attacks you?!"
"It will be fine. I'm not like you," Suzuki said, stepping forward. "I'm not stupid enough to actively project a perverted aura while talking to a girl."
"....." Takeru clutched his chest as if he had just been shot. "Best friend... your words cut so deep!"
"Shut up and wait here."
Suzuki approached the tree. The girl was undeniably cute, with long, vibrant blonde hair tied into twin-tails that dangled toward the grass. Yet, as he narrowed his eyes and stepped into her immediate vicinity, his senses flared.
He could feel several strange, miniature presences hovering invisibly around her.
What is that?
He decided to ignore the magical anomalies for now. He couldn't, however, ignore the fact that this young woman was basically putting on a free exhibition for anyone walking down the path.
"Excuse me."
"Hmm?"
The girl looked down, her twin-tails swaying as she noticed Suzuki standing below. She blinked in confusion. "A guy?" She paused, her face lighting up with sudden realization. "Oh, right! The academy went co-ed this year..."
As she muttered to herself, she took a closer look at Suzuki's face. He was actually quite good-looking. A confident smirk quickly spread across her lips.
"What's wrong? Are you lost, freshman?"
"No, I am not lost."
"Then? Why did you approach me?" She tapped her chin thoughtfully, her grin widening playfully. "Don't tell me... did you fall for me at first sight? Well, I suppose it's completely normal. I am incredibly cute, after all."
Geez, she doesn't lack confidence, Suzuki thought.
She knew she was cute, but she honestly hadn't expected to attract a handsome guy's attention the very minute the gates opened. Still, she wasn't going to be an easy catch! If someone wanted to date her, they were going to have to work incredibly hard for it, okay~?
However, she had to admit, this guy clearly had great taste in women. He was paying attention to her instead of immediately flocking to the gigantically-boobed upperclassmen that usually dominated the school's hierarchy.
"....."
Suzuki was at a loss for words for a fraction of a second before his pragmatic nature recovered. "No. That isn't why I approached you."
"Aww, don't be shy, okay? Being a timid boy isn't going to get you anywhere here."
"...Your panties are showing," Suzuki stated bluntly, letting out an exhausted sigh as he casually covered his eyes with one hand. "I couldn't help but remind you. You really shouldn't hang upside down like that in a skirt. If other people walk by—especially the new male students—it's not exactly going to leave the most dignified first impression, is it?"
"....."
The girl froze. She blinked once. Twice.
Then, she looked up toward her own waist and realized her skirt had completely flipped inside out, exposing her pristine white panties!
"W-W-WHAT?!"
She shrieked, her face instantly turning the color of a boiled tomato. In sheer, blind panic, she violently flailed her arms to pull her skirt up. It might be a strange act, but her position was like a resting bat on the branch of the tree, and naturally, in doing so, she completely lost her grip and fell.
"Kyaaa!"
She plummeted toward the ground.
"Watch out!"
Now, if this had been Takeru, the universe's protagonist luck would have undoubtedly triggered a "lucky pervert" incident. They would have crashed into a tangled, compromising heap on the ground, or their lips would have magically collided.
But this was Suzuki.
With his newly evolved stats and flawless physical coordination, there was absolutely zero chance of a clumsy accident. He stepped forward with perfect balance, extending his arms. He caught the falling girl cleanly out of the air, absorbing the momentum with ease, cradling her safely against his chest without a single improper touch.
Kodama Himeragi squeezed her eyes shut, bracing for the agonizing impact of the hard dirt. But instead of pain, she felt a pair of powerful, incredibly stable arms wrap gently around her back and beneath her knees.
"Are you okay?"
She slowly opened her eyes. She was instantly greeted by Suzuki's calm, handsome face, just inches away from hers.
"Ah... um... yes. I am fine," she stammered, her heart suddenly performing a violent drum solo against her ribs. "T-Thank you."
"It's no problem at all. Just be a little more careful next time, okay? Er..."
"Kodama Himeragi!" she blurted out quickly. "I am in my second year. You can call me Himeragi-senpai!"
"Himeragi-senpai." Suzuki nodded politely, his voice smooth. "My name is Suzuki Tanaka."
"Your name is so common!" she blurted out again, instantly regretting her lack of a mental filter.
"It is, isn't it? Well, at least it's easy to remember," Suzuki chuckled softly.
He knew his name was the epitome of a background character, but he didn't care. What determined a man's life wasn't his name, but his actions. Still, holding her up close, he had to admit that Kodama was incredibly cute. It was genuinely hard to believe that this easily-flustered girl was technically a being over a thousand years old.
Maken-Ki...
When he first reincarnated into this universe, Suzuki had assumed it was just a standard, logic-defying ecchi world where girls constantly exposed their bodies to the protagonist. But beneath the lewd surface, this world possessed a highly intricate, unique power system. The 'Elements', the magical weapons, the spiritual entities—if he could crack the code of Maken-Ki and reverse-engineer its mechanics through the Manager, it would provide an astronomical benefit to the multiversal network of Suzukis.
"I should probably go now. I can't be late for the entrance ceremony," Suzuki said, gently lowering Kodama until her feet touched the ground. He stepped back, offering another polite bow. "I will see you around, Himeragi-senpai."
"Y-Yes! See you later, Tanaka-kun!" She paused, her tsundere instincts flaring up. "Wait, no! I'll just call you Suzuki! It feels way too weird to call you by such a boring, common name!"
Suzuki only offered an amused smile as he turned around and walked away, rejoining Takeru, who was staring at him with absolute, jaw-dropped awe.
Yet, Kodama didn't move from her spot under the tree. She stood perfectly still, watching his back as he walked away.
While ordinary humans couldn't see them, several miniature, floating figures suddenly materialized in the air around her.
"Are you okay, Ojou-sama?" one of the tiny spirits squeaked.
"Y-Yeah. I'm completely fine."
"That guy was actually quite handsome and reliable, Ojou! Are you interested in him?" another spirit teased, flying in loops around her head.
"D-Don't be stupid!" Kodama yelled, her face instantly flushing bright red again as she swatted at the air. "I don't have absolutely any interest in a freshman! Hmph!"
Even as she loudly denied it, she hugged her arms tightly across her chest. Even though Suzuki had already walked away, she could still vividly feel the phantom warmth of his strong arms wrapped gently around her small body. He had held her so securely, yet so carefully, as if he were afraid of breaking her.
Damn it!
With a furiously red face, she sighed into the morning air. She needed to forcefully forget about this and get to the ceremony. She was a proud upperclassman, and her focus needed to be on significantly more important things than a handsome underclassman's surprisingly strong arms!