Nova sat there fiddling with his student ID in his room.
『Well.. What is there to do all day?』[Nova]
He spent all day circulating his mana while doing other things.
The point of it was to try and make his mana circulation subconscious.
『...I want to call Freyana.』[Nova]
『Then, why don't you, kid?』[Reischneid]
『She's working.』[Nova]
『Then, why don't you go see her?』[Reischneid]
『I want to at least be hungry before I go there.』[Nova]
『Nova. You're being blinded by love. Love is a poison in excess.』[Reischneid]
He took a breath.
『..What do you want me to do?』[Nova]
『I want you to continue the guide to survive year 1.』[Reischneid]
『..Then, let's call Andrew, and everyone else.』[Nova]
『Good. Close allies are what you need the most.』[Reischneid]
Nova powered on his student ID, asking everyone he's met thus far to meet in the cafeteria.
『The cafeteria..? Are you an idiot? Go to the training yard, or even the stores outside the school. Are you trying to go see her?』[Reischneid]
Nova realized that he subconsciously did that.
『...Damn.』[Nova]
He changed the plans to meet at the school gate instead.
-----
They began to arrive in waves.
『Hi everyone.』[Nova]
『..Did you seriously survive an encounter with the kitchen spirit?』[Andrew]
『Huh?』[Nova]
Around this time was when Rai and Leo showed up.
『I haven't seen you for a while, Nova!』[Rai]
「..That's because I've been through a roller coaster of emotions..」[Nova]
He kept that to himself.
『What's a "kitchen spirit"?』[Nova]
『That green flash that abducted you.』[Andrew]
『Freyana?』[Nova]
『...It has a name?』[Andrew]
『..It's my girlfriend.』[Nova]
『...What?』[Andrew]
『..I'm sorry, what?』[Leo]
『I think I heard Nova wrong, what did he just say?』[Rai]
『Eh, whatever.』[Nova]
Andrew laughed.
『So, are we going now?』[Andrew]
『Wait.. What did he sa-』[Rai]
『Aaa~! Lady Soryl is the best!』[Girl]
『..You're kidding.』[Leo]
『Anastasia.. Soryl?!』[Andrew]
Coming their way was Oswald's younger sister, with a large posse of girls.
『Out of the way, boys.』[Girl]
The rest of Nova's group got to the side of the gate to make room for them, but Nova stayed where he was.
『Are you bringing them along too, Anastasia?』[Nova]
The flood of girls began to rampage when they heard him say that.
『You dare call her by her first name?!』[Girl A]
『Do you want to die?!』[Girl B]
『I'll rip you apart!』[Girl C]
Anastasia took a few steps until she was closer to him.
『..No. Let's go.』[Anastasia]
The girls were all shocked and quieted down almost instantly.
『..What?!』[Girl B]
Nova and Anastasia walked out of the school before the rest of the group followed them.
When the girls started to follow, Anastasia glanced back at them and said,
『Stay.』[Anastasia]
They froze in their steps, and Nova's group kept walking.
-------
『So, why did you call me out?』[Anastasia]
『I'm bored, let's hang out.』[Nova]
『..Alright.』[Anastasia]
Trailing behind, the group of guys whispered to each other.
『..Should we really be here?』[Leo]
Rai looked like his entire being was being questioned.
『Nova talks to girls..? What…?』[Rai]
『...What's wrong with him?』[Andrew]
『I don't know. Anyways, I'm Leonardo Tsukikaze. You can call me Leo.』[Leo]
『Oh. I'm Andre-』[Andrew]
『Andrew Strife, right? Next-in-line for the title of house head?』[Leo]
Andrew was a little unnerved.
『..Uh. Yeah. What about him?』[Andrew]
『He's Rai.』[Leo]
『The other houseless? I want to fight him...』[Andrew]
Leo looked a bit scared of Andrew.
「...Am I safe?」[Leo]
『More importantly, how is he with her?』[Andrew]
『...Anastasia Soryl. The next head of the Soryl house. They say she's strong enough to lead our entire year, without a Gladiolus.』[Leo]
『..What is a Gladiolus?』[Andrew]
『It's the male equivalent of the Gardenia. Leaders of their year who participate in the end of the year showcase. They say that those who win the showcase end up marrying their partner, that one.』[Leo]
Andrew looked like he just had a revelation pass over him.
『Oh. THAT one. Why didn't you just say so?』[Andrew]
『..Yeah. Sure.』
Up ahead, Anastasia walked side to side with Nova.
『..Where are we going?』[Anastasia]
『Well, we're going to go get some food. I was thinking about ramen, but maybe you'd like something more re-』[Nova]
『I want ramen. Let's go.』[Anastasia]
She began to speed up and walk past Nova.
『Hold up! You don't even know where you're goin-』[Nova]
As he began to run, she stopped and he ran into her.
『Ow.. Why'd you sto-』[Nova]
When he took a look around her, he saw a kitten on the ground looking at him.
『..Oh. Chestnut!』[Nova]
The kitten ran up to Nova for him to pick up.
The kitten snuggled up against Nova's chest.
「...Chestnut kinda reminds me of Freyana..」[Nova]
He wiped that thought from his mind.
『I've missed you, Chestnut!』[Nova]
Anastasia stared at Chestnut.
『...』[Anastasia]
Nova felt uncomfortable with her staring at Chestnut, and was starting to be scared.
『...Uh. Did you want to pet her?』[Nova]
Anastasia looked around for a moment, before reluctantly placing her hand on its head.
『...-ute.』[Anastasia]
『Huh? What did you say?』[Nova]
Anastasia was shook out from her state, turned bright red, then turned around and continued walking.
『..Nothing.』[Anastasia]
『Are you sure? Chestnut is a friendly neighborhood kitten. Don't you want to hold her?』[Nova]
『...If I must.』[Anastasia]
She turned around, and held her hands open for Nova to place Chestnut on.
He gently placed her in Anastasia's hands.
『..Thank you.』[Anastasia]
She began to walk again.
『..She's also cute.』[Nova]
「..Are you cheating on Freyana already?」[Reischneid]
Nova realized what he said, then removed the thought from his head.
「No! I just..」[Nova]
「Haah. Your girl has some rough sailing ahead of her.」[Reischneid]
....
As Freyana was cooking lunch, she sneezed.
「I wonder if Nova is coming in today..」[Freyana]