My love index is at its maximum.

"I'm busy."

"I don't care, I'm in a really bad mood right now, you have to come and keep me company."

"what's up?"

“I just had a fight with my dad. He threatened to cut my monthly allowance of 20 yuan in half.”

Tazaki Tsukasa hung up the phone immediately and then blacklisted his number.

After finishing work at 5 p.m. and receiving his wages, Tsukasa Tazaki walked out of the store. The sky was overcast, and it felt like rain was about to fall at any moment. He squeezed onto the crowded train back to Yotsuya.

While the train was swaying from side to side, I received a private message from Hoshino Hanami in the class group chat.

[Tsukasa Tazaki, tell me honestly, did you cheat on the exam?]

Tsukasa Tazaki smiled faintly, indicating that he had read the message but would not reply.

Not long after he exited Yotsuya Station, it started raining, and he took shelter in front of a coffee shop. The shop was crowded, with many people passing the time. The uniform shirts of the part-time girls working there and the coffees held by customers all smelled of rain.

Through the rain, streetlights lit up one by one, and buses darted about on the crowded streets like salmon. A middle-aged woman walked past a coffee shop leading a black German Shepherd, while several elementary school students ran wildly in the wind and rain without umbrellas or raincoats.

Yeah, those elementary school kids will definitely get a beating when they get home.

After the rain subsided a bit, Tsukasa Tazaki ran all the way to the convenience store where he worked. As he leaned against the door, panting, Sachiko Tono snorted at him and swaggered away.

I wonder how long it will take for the landlady to calm down.

At 10 p.m., I returned to Higashi Shinjuku. After a long day of work, my legs were terribly numb, and my feet felt like they had blisters.

Tazaki Tsukasa heated the free bento box he got from the convenience store in the microwave for a set timer, took a shower, filled a glass with water from the tap, and started eating the bento.

A faint musty smell lingered in the air, and it wouldn't go away once it rained. The rainy season is just a month away, and it will only get worse then.

He sat at the dining table, gazing at the calendar on the wall, silently eating his bento. The calendar, which he'd picked up from a convenience store, featured a picture of Mount Fuji.

Tsukasa Tazaki had never climbed Mount Fuji, nor Tokyo Tower, nor even the top floor of a skyscraper. The highest place he had ever stood was the rooftop of his school building.

I turned off the lights at 11:30 and lay in bed with my eyes closed.

Wouldn't this kind of life be too laid-back?

I feel like a corporate slave who has been beaten down by society and has chosen to give up. Should I live a more youthful and proactive life?

But how can we be more proactive?

Are you trying to woo a teacher?

Before I could think deeply about how to implement the plan, my eyelids grew heavy and drowsiness overcame me.

Thursday, May 6th, overcast, with a damp smell in the air.

On the first day back at school, walking on the slope in front of the school gate, both teachers and students looked exhausted.

As I walked into the school gate, "Sardine" happened to walk past me. The big fat cat turned its head and meowed at Tsukasa Tazaki.

Since Tsukasa Tazaki wasn't in a hurry to check her grades, she simply replied with a "meow."

The sardine paused for a moment, then wagged its tail and meowed.

"Meow!" Tsukasa Tazaki retorted, not to be outdone.

The person and the cat kept meowing, and the sounds gradually became more complex.

Tsukasa Tazaki tried his best to mimic the "sardine's" tone of voice to talk to it. The "sardine," on the other hand, gradually arched its back and walked towards him while meowing.

When the two were less than ten centimeters apart, the fat cat stretched out a paw and tore a small hole in Tsukasa Tazaki's trouser leg before fleeing.

?

We were communicating perfectly, so why did it suddenly start hitting me?

What are you two talking about?

Kuriyama Sakura's curious voice came from behind. Tazaki Tsukasa stared at the fat cat without testicles and replied, "To be honest, I don't know what it said or what I said back. But I guess its first 'meow' was probably a swear word, and my 'meow' was probably a swear word too."

"You two... are both pretty stupid."

Tsukasa Tazaki turned around and glared at her, conveying a silent protest.

Kuriyama Sakura turned her face away, her shoulders swaying slightly, as if... no, she was smiling.

"I'll let it slide since your black stockings look really good..." Tazaki Tsukasa said coldly as she walked toward the school building.

"Tasaki-san, where do you think you rank?" Kuriyama Sakura caught up and asked.

"It doesn't matter what rank I am, as long as I'm higher than Kuriyama-kun."

"I think this is very difficult."

"You are very confident in yourself?"

"I have the same confidence in my appearance as I do."

The two chatted as they walked toward the bulletin board in front of the teaching building. Many students were gathered there, making it difficult to squeeze in. However, the names at the front of the list were at the top and clearly visible even from the outside.

First; Name: Yui Kichikawa

Ok.

He really is that freak who's always been number one since childhood.

Second; Name: Kuriyama Sakura

Kuriyama Sakura chuckled softly: "Tazaki-san, keep up the good work!"

As soon as she finished speaking, she looked down and saw that the ranking was still second.

Second; Name: Tsukasa Tazaki

Fourth; Name: Junichi Yamauchi

The girl's beautiful smile froze on her face; her small mouth, which she couldn't close in time, and her wide eyes all conveyed a sense of shock.

Tazaki Tsukasa glanced at her sideways and mimicked her cold tone, saying, "Next time, you'll definitely be left behind by me."

Chapter Twenty-Seven: Please refrain from displaying an odd laugh that could be easily misunderstood in class.

While bending down to change her shoes, Kuriyama Sakura kept thinking about a question—are there really geniuses in this world who can accomplish in just ten days what others might not be able to do even after more than ten years of effort?

As Tazaki Tsukasa passed the shoe cabinet, he glanced at her spotless white flats. Kuriyama Sakura called out, "Wait a minute," and the two of them walked up the stairs, keeping a half-body distance between them.

"How did you do that?"

"Of course, with your hands."

"what?"

"In addition, we need a brain that is even smarter than Kuriyama's."

Kuriyama Sakura's small, soft lips moved slightly, but in the end she couldn't help but say, "Being cheeky and being humorous are two different things."

"Being too curious isn't a good thing either."

"I am only curious about things that I am curious about."

It felt like she'd said something pointless... Tazaki Tsukasa suddenly turned to look at her: "Kuriyama-san, have you noticed anything different about me today?"

Kuriyama Sakura gave him a serious look: "You've become even more lewd."

"what?"

"Did you peek at me when I was changing my shoes at the shoe cabinet?"

"I glanced at it by chance as I passed by, does that count as peeking?"

"So you actually read it."

"You're fishing?"

"Is there a problem?" Kuriyama Sakura glared at him like he was looking at some kind of insect, and said disdainfully, "Stockings, uniform, long legs, this is the answer you wrote yourself."

"Let's have some tea sometime!"

Tsukasa Tazaki quickened his pace, widening the distance between them.

There was no way around it; walking with her felt just too awkward. Even though there were many students in the same uniforms walking up and down the stairs, it was as if the camera was only focused on me and her, with some meaningful gazes brazenly directed at us.

Walking up to the fourth floor, Tsukasa Tazaki turned into the corridor. The tallest oak tree in the courtyard was exactly four stories high. He saw a raven with a flat head perched on the canopy, staring at him with its dark, unremarkable eyes.

Classes A, B, and C are on the fifth floor, and classes E, D, and F are on the fourth floor. Kuriyama Sakura stopped in front of the stairs and called out, "Want to sit in Class A for a while?"

"I'll definitely do it next time."

"It's a deal, okay? That blonde girl hasn't seen you in ages."

The crow cawed twice.

Tsukasa Tazaki glared at her angrily and said silently, "You're just as annoying as a crow."

Brilliant rays of sunlight pierced through the thick clouds, and the sky seemed to be clearing up.

The two sides stood in silent confrontation in the corridor. Students from all three EDF classes peeked out from the classroom doors and corridor windows, curiously observing the situation. A gentle breeze blew by, ruffling the hem of the girl's pleated skirt and the strands of hair that just reached her ears.

Kuriyama Sakura suddenly smiled softly, as if she had seen through something, and Tazaki Tsukasa's gaze sharpened as a result.

"See you at the club this afternoon..." She paused, then continued, "If you're scared, you don't have to come."

Her long ponytail twirled gracefully and disappeared around the corner of the stairs.

Back in the classroom, Tsukasa Tazaki took out a mechanical pencil from his pencil case, twirled it between his fingers, and gazed idly out the window at the equally boring sky.

Several girls secretly glanced in his direction, but he remained motionless, maintaining a posture that seemed to suggest he was "as bored as the heavens."

Tazaki Tsukasa felt that he should get used to this kind of attention as soon as possible, because before long, he would become the man standing at the top of Kitagawa.

"Holy crap... what the hell...!"

Murakami Mizuiro, who arrived late, burst into the classroom and threw out a curse that could be heard from a great distance.

Although he was the one being scolded, Tsukasa Tazaki still felt a sense of kinship, and he didn't know if this was a sign of a masochist.

"Second in the grade... I saw it." Murakami Mizuiro ran up to him, hands on the table. "How did you do that? Tell me, I want to be in the top ten of the grade too!"

"No way, give up. Being a bad student is no trouble at all." Tsukasa Tazaki bluntly delivered a three-part rejection speech.

"Are you still my brother..." Murakami Mizuiro began, but his expression suddenly turned a little strange. He took a step back, pinched his chin, and scanned Tazaki Tsukasa from head to toe several times, saying in a puzzled tone, "Why do I feel... like you've gotten more handsome?"