They silently walked to his second class. Before he could step in, the girl bowed her head.
"I'm sorry I put you in an uncomfortable position," she said. "I…can't stand someone like that. Someone who gets whatever he wants while looking down on others and treating them like dirt."
"It's cool," Clyde said. "I figured that out the moment he strolled through the hall."
"Haarrruuummiiiiii."
Before the duo knew it, a blue-haired girl with glasses, smothered into Harumi's arms. The look, with the small smirk, gave Clyde all the clues he needed. She was the perverted glasses girl trope. She quickly blocked the door before he could get away, grin on her face.
"Oh? And who do we have here?" She gave Harumi a look.
"He's the new transfer," Harumi answered. "I'm showing him around the academy."
"And why you?"
"He's also that new neighbor I told you that moved in."
A gleam sparked into the girl's eyes. She held out a hand.
"I'm Kazumi," she said.
"Clyde," the young man said as he accepted her hand. He activated Analyze just for kicks.
[Your relationship with Kazumi has changed from stranger to friendly. The boost from Harumi contributes.]
Kazumi.
Level 8.
Type: Unpredictable.
Relationship: Friendly. Flirty.
HP: 100%
MP: 100%
Stats: Relationship isn't high enough.
Special abilities: Relationship isn't high enough.
Skills: …. see above. Dumbass.
Magic abilities: see above.
Kazumi moved away from the door.
"If you need help and see me, don't be afraid to ring me. A stupid question is one that isn't asked." She poked Clyde's chest then trotted off.
"Guessing that's a friend of yours," Clyde asked.
"Yep," Harumi said. "Love her to death."
Clyde nodded.
"Well, off to class I go. Don't want to make you late."
[Class in session: Romance Literature 1. If you possessed the Stream-learn skill, you would be able to learn the material without paying attention.]
This class was also taught by a young female professor. She talked about famous romances, spots to take dates, and then assigned a short essay about love.
After class ended, Clyde looked at his schedule. Free time for lunch. As he walked, he thought to himself: just what am I doing here? He needed to find clues about the Viper's whereabouts. Who is the Viper? Why fight it? He didn't have time to be living some stupid anime school life. Someone tapped on his shoulder. He turned to see his Romance professor smiling at him.
"Could you take this to the dean's office please?" she said. "I've got another class to teach."
[Quest: Deliver the professor's letter. Reward: 20 EXP. $20 dollars. Do you accept: yes or no?]
Clyde mentally selected yes.
"Sure, I guess," he told the pretty woman.
"Thanks," she said then hurried off.
He used his mental map to quickly find the office and complete the quest. That's when he felt something amazing.
[QUEST COMPLETED. You have received 20 EXP and $20!]
[Congratulations you have reached level 2! Your stats have increased!]
His phone beeped.
[You have received a text from Harumi? Do you wish to respond?]
Clyde viewed it. An invitation to lunch. Well, it wasn't like he had anything else better to do, so he accepted it. The internal map helped him find the cafeteria with ease. He caught sight of a book on the ground, right in front of the entrance to the cafeteria. He picked it up. No one seemed to be around to claim it, so he mentally made it vanish into his inventory, which appeared as a grid with many items. He'd return it to the Lost and Found later.
Kazumi ended up joining them for the lunch period. Clyde wanted to just sit back without contributing to the conversation, but the overly enthusiastic girl wouldn't give him the chance. She practically drowned him with questions. Eventually, she stopped upon realizing the last of her sweet cakes were gone.
"Nooooooo," she said in a fake dramatic voice. Clyde expected the fake anime tears to come pouring from her face like rivers. No such thing happened. When she looked at him with a sly smile, he immediately knew. Harumi interjected at that moment.
"You don't need any more sugar," she said. "You'll get fat."
That seemed to strike a hidden nerve because her smile dropped.
"Am I fat?" she said, looking at Clyde
"No," Clyde said tiredly, finishing the last of his burger. It cost a measly two dollars. "In fact, you should tell me your secret sometime. Not sure how you can manage to eat copious amounts of sugar and look good at the same time. It's unfair."
The anime girl gave a gasping blush, causing Clyde to give her a blank stare. He didn't mean anything by the remark, except that some people had the ability to eat whatever they wanted and not gain even an inch.
[Your relationship with Kazumi has changed from friendly to curious.]
Clyde did not like where this was going, so he gathered his things.
"Anyway, I'm off," he said then left before Harumi had the chance throw away more of her time. The girl was too nice, but at least not nice enough to let that rich guy get close to her.
Clyde's last two classes flew by nearly instantly. Sciences and Crafting wouldn't get hands on until they met Wednesday.
Now was the moment of truth. Could he dodge the walk home with Harumi? There was no way in hell she knew of his location—he didn't show her the schedule. A buzzing in his pocket caught his attention. To his surprise, it was Chika wanting to meet in the library right away. She had plans in the evening. Clyde tried to get her to accept his offer to just forget the tutoring session, but she refused.
For some reason, no one was in the library except a girl, presumably the student aide. She paid them no attention, preferring to vigorously tap at her phone.
Chika led him to some private study room, shut the door, then placed the history textbook in front of him. She taught him the unit, but in a very distracting way. The boobs over the shoulder way. In fact, it almost seemed like she was either enjoying the tease or completely oblivious. Clyde had a textbook on his lap, but when Chika noticed, she swiped it.
"I'm only teaching this once, so no distractions."
He shot her a blank look. She either pretended not to notice or once again was completely oblivious to the torture she emitted. Suddenly, she blew on his neck, causing him to tense.
[Your relationship with Chika has changed from classmate to curious.]
"Is that a banana under the table or is someone happy to see me?"
He glared at her.
"So, you are doing that on purpose," he said.
The girl shrugged.
"Doing what?" she said innocently then pointed at the book. "Read the last paragraph and you'll be caught up."
He sighed then turned back to the book. Chika boldly leaned against his back enabling him to feel full softness.
"A pleasant distraction, but are you expecting me to finish this paragraph or not?" Clyde said.
"I don't care really," she said. "I'm bored, you're handsome and fun to tease." She surprised him by grabbing his horn. "No one's around. Want my virginity?"
His eyes widened. "I'm just kidding." She let go and sat next to him. "It's wrong to cheat on someone from an arranged marriage, right? Don't answer that. It's not like my stupid father's going to change his mind anyway. I'm just something he can sell off to seal a deal between companies." Clyde said nothing. Chika wiped tears from her eyes. "Sorry."
"It's okay," Clyde said then closed the book. He almost added it to his inventory when he realized the text belonged to Chika. And the last thing he needed was to explain how he made objects disappear. The magician excuse wouldn't work.
Chika stood up.
"Don't tell anyone. I don't need anyone giving me pointless looks of pity. It's bad enough that I'd rather give myself to someone I barely know than that jerk." She banged a fist on the table. "Thinks he can just do whatever he wants with me—I don't enjoy his touch." She sighed. "Maybe this is the pot calling out the kettle. I touched you without your consent with a dumb reason called revenge."
Clyde knew he could invoke a silver tongue. He could take advantage of the poor girl in her momentary weakness just for pleasure, but he wasn't that kind of person. He didn't want to get into anyone's affairs but a few wise words could change a weak heart. That's what his grandmamma taught him.
"Uhm, well shit," he said, "don't do this to anyone else. I'm letting it go because I was caught off guard." And she was attractive. "Why not just talk with your father, don't put up with his shit. Tell him how that jackass persistently violates you.
"If you just stand around and pout, rather than actually doing something, the jackass may push until it's rape. If your father truly cares for you, he'll listen. If he doesn't, tell another relative, a mother or someone to see if they could help. If that doesn't work, then grab some things and move in with a friend. Let your father know you're not some bargaining object for his company.
"Hell, if you have no friends, you could live with me. I don't care. Don't just take your fate lying down. You don't want to be at the point where you're doing…you know, just to get back at them."
Chika stared at him for a while, eyes intense, then nodded. While he totally didn't mean the part about her living with him, it sounded kind of cool nonetheless. And hey, if she may even become a better person... Something about that thought gave him chills.