Seeing the gleam of gold in Saya's eyes, Rei immediately became alert. The two strands of ahoge hair on top of her head trembled.
Although she knew her best friend had taken an interest in Ryuji, she still introduced him, "This is Ryuji Ken from Class A of the second year, an exchange student. It was thanks to Ryuji-kun's help just now that I'm okay."
"An exchange student?" Saya looked completely surprised.
She had thought he was a senior who already knew Rei. If Rei hadn't introduced him, she would have almost called him "senpai".
"Something wrong with that?" Seeing her expression, Ryuji looked displeased.
What's wrong with it!?
Faced with his displeasure, Saya immediately crossed her arms over her chest and huffed, "Hmph, since you just helped Rei-chan, I'll allow you to call me Saya-san."
"Mm, mm, Saya-chan."
"You!" Saya showed her little canine teeth as she glared at Ryuji, radiating tsundere vibes.
Watching her put on the airs of a tsundere young lady bestowing favor, Rei suddenly felt her earlier vigilance had been unnecessary.
Although the Miyamoto family and the Takagi family had no particular connection, their mothers were extremely close. This led to the two girls playing together since childhood and eventually becoming best friends.
Rei knew Saya's personality well — simply put, she was a rational tsundere.
Thinking of this, Rei felt relieved. There was no way this girl could get ahead of her.
Meanwhile, Hisashi and Takashi, who had been treated like background characters, suddenly felt awkward. Watching the three chat happily, both felt somewhat jealous. But since there were still students nearby, they didn't have the guts to cause trouble and obediently left.
Ring ring ring ring!
The three exchanged contact information and parted ways as the bell for the last class rang.
When exchanging phone numbers, Saya wore a completely unwilling expression, yet her hands moved without hesitation. She was the very definition of saying one thing but doing another.
With a soft laugh, Ryuji walked through the school building's hallway as if no one else was around. He had no interest in sitting idle in a classroom for dozens of minutes.
The passing teachers headed to their respective classes, and none of them paid attention to him walking alone in the hallway.
That is, until he encountered a female teacher who called out to him.
"Student, which class are you in? Class has already started. Why are you still in the hallway?"
Words tinged with reproach and severity came from behind him.
Ryuji turned around and saw a female teacher wearing a conservative white Lolita uniform, with long dark brown hair and frameless glasses.
What surprised him was that although the teacher's appearance didn't quite match the female leads like Saeko and Rei, it wasn't bad either. Her stern temperament and mature figure — second only to Shizuka's — marked her as a fully ripened woman.
Kyoko Hayashi was secretly surprised when she saw the male student's appearance.
After all, throughout the entire country, handsome guys weren't tall, and tall guys weren't handsome. Those who were both were far too rare.
The male student before her had the best physique and appearance of any she had ever seen, so her voice unconsciously became gentler.
"Student, it's class time now. You need to return to class."
Realizing her tone was too gentle, Kyoko's cheeks turned slightly red.
A touch of bashfulness is most alluring. Although the teacher's looks didn't match the female leads, that mature temperament and shy demeanor like a young girl still made Ryuji's heart flutter.
He immediately decided that when the apocalypse broke out tomorrow, he would take this teacher with him.
Ryuji nodded to her, randomly pulled open the back door of a classroom, and walked in under the surprised gazes of the teacher and students. Seeing an empty seat in the back row by the window, he went over and sat down.
The students around him looked completely bewildered.
"Who is this? I don't remember him being in our class, and he's sitting in Tanaka-san's seat — the one who's out sick." A girl with long black hair tied in braids and a pretty face looked at Ryuji by the window with confusion.
"I don't know either. Maybe he's a new transfer student? But he's really handsome." Sitting next to the black-haired girl, a girl with short dark brown hair in a bun gazed at Ryuji with an infatuated expression.
"Ichijou-san, I thought you and Niki-san were a couple? How are you interested in a guy?"
"Of course I love Toshimi the most, but that doesn't stop me from looking at handsome guys, right Toshimi?"
Called out by her classmate, Misuzu immediately explained, then looked toward Toshimi — who had spoken first — as if seeking approval.
"Y-yes…"
Seeing Misuzu's explanation, the classmate still had some doubts.
Ryuji glanced at the chatting group and took a while to recognize them.
"So it's the plastic best friends who only had one scene in the anime."
These two girls, though their looks didn't match the female leads, were still beauties. He immediately counted them among the personnel for the world special mission.
If he could find two suitable candidates just by randomly entering one classroom, what about the others? He immediately decided to check every classroom.
"I hope this school alone can provide enough people for the world special mission."
Of course, the personnel for this mission would be exclusively female.
Ryuji stood up and left the classroom under the surprised gazes of the teacher and students.
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"Shizuka, Saeko, Rei, Saya, Kyoko (the female teacher from earlier — also a dean of students, according to the staff display board), Misuzu, Toshimi…"
After wandering the school building, activity rooms filled with students, and the playground, Ryuji discovered something troubling. Aside from the individuals he had to recruit, only about ten suitable candidates remained — seventy short of the hundred needed for the world special mission.
The number was disappointingly low. Fujimi Academy was the top private high school in Tokonosu City, attended by countless children of the powerful and wealthy. He'd expected more options.
As for Takashi, Hisashi, and Kōta Hirano — rescuing them and keeping them alive for seven days would earn 1,500 Reincarnation Points, but Ryuji had no intention of claiming that reward.
He planned to establish a shelter afterward, and aside from himself, would not allow any male creatures to join.
"This damned possessiveness of mine…" Grumbling to himself, Ryuji leaned against the wall and considered how to gather this group of beautiful girls tomorrow.
In the original story, the main characters had gathered without anyone being in danger. But from his earlier interactions with Rei and the others, he could tell the story wasn't following the original plot.
Rei had become best friends with Saya and treated Takashi and Hisashi as ordinary classmates. Perhaps Saya's comfort had shielded Rei's fragile heart from Hisashi's courtship.
Did that mean the childhood promise between Rei and Takashi no longer existed?
"Whatever. I just need to do things my way." Shaking off the thoughts, Ryuji continued searching for a solution.
Suddenly, he remembered the broadcasting room — just a few steps past the principal's office. He could use it to summon the girls to meet him there.
"The principal's away for a few days, so that'll work."
If that didn't work, he could ask Saeko for help. She could go to the teachers and have them call the girls to gather at the Kendō Club.
"Getting Saeko-senpai's help would be more reliable."
After all, Saeko had quite a reputation at this school. With the fame of the Busujima Dōjō, even the powerful and wealthy of this city showed her respect — let alone at Fujimi Academy, where the elite were enrolled.
Saya was the young lady of the Takagi family, and he could ask her for help. But her reputation at school wasn't as strong as Saeko's, and her family's influence couldn't match the Busujima family, which was renowned throughout Japan. She might not be able to mobilize everyone.
Plus, their relationship wasn't close enough yet for this kind of scheme, so Ryuji dismissed the idea of asking Saya for help.
If she knew he thought their relationship wasn't that good, she'd probably puff out her cheeks and stomp her feet in anger.
In Saya's phone, there were only her mother's number, her home number, and Rei's number. Among males, Ryuji was the only one. As for her father, she'd barely seen him since she could remember and had long stopped regarding that man as a father.
Saya sat blankly by the window in the classroom, Ryuji's face appearing in her mind from time to time, her thoughts drifting.
As for the lesson — being a genius, she had long since memorized all the textbooks for the three years of high school. Coming to class was merely a requirement from her family.
In a corner of the classroom, a short, chubby guy with glasses secretly observed her, thinking to himself, 'If only I could become Takagi-san's boyfriend, how wonderful that would be.'
He had no idea that the object of his secret crush was spacing out while thinking about the handsome student she'd just met today.
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Ryuji checked the time — 2:30 in the afternoon. Still half an hour until school let out.
"Where should I go? I wonder if Saeko-senpai is still at the Kendō Club."
When he arrived at the Kendō Club, he found Saeko still inside. She had switched back to her own wooden sword and was swinging it in place.
"Looks like she's digesting the earlier match. I'd better not disturb her."
Once Saeko finished absorbing the experience, her 5-dan Kendō level would definitely advance — possibly even reaching 7-dan.
Ryuji's arrival made no sound. Even after he left, Saeko hadn't noticed.
Since there was nowhere to kill time, he decided to leave the school. The main gate would get him stopped, so he chose to climb over the wall instead.
The two-meter-high iron fence couldn't stop him — he leaped over it lightly.
After landing, Ryuji realized that Fujimi Academy was built on a hilltop. The straight-line distance to the city center was only one kilometer, but the road down the mountain would take three to four kilometers.
Still, with his current speed and stamina, it would only take a few minutes.
Passing by a convenience store, Ryuji suddenly remembered the most important thing for the apocalypse — food.
He turned to look at the convenience store and slowly walked over.
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T/N: Comment, give me Power Stones, like and favorite, it all supports me and makes me go foward with this. Appreciate my other stories as well, I guarantee the good work!
That's it and happy reading! (-‿◦)