After taking two days off at home to rest and work, the long-awaited first day of the new school term finally arrived.
After breakfast, Ichin and Utaha left the house together.
As they walked towards the bus stop, Utaha looked up at the bright blue sky, squinted slightly, and said, "It's already September, but it's still so hot."
"Give it another ten days or so, and it should cool down," Ichin replied while holding her hand. After thinking for a moment, he added, "But it's already cooler than it was two weeks ago."
The bus arrived quickly, and they got on. Along the way, several students from Toyogasaki Academy also boarded the same bus.
As well-known figures at school, most students recognized Ichin and Utaha—including those on this bus. However, upon seeing the two of them together, many immediately turned their heads away.
There was nothing they could do. For single students, scenes like this were always a heavy blow.
Ichin and Utaha, however, were already used to it. They sat calmly in their seats, snuggled up together without a care.
Utaha leaned her head on Ichin's shoulder, holding onto his arm as she gazed out the window. In a soft voice, she mused, "Only six months left in our second year. By this time next year, we'll probably be thinking about college applications, won't we?"
"I don't think there's much to worry about," Ichin said with a smile. "As long as our grades are good, even if we don't get in on our own, the school might recommend us for admission. The chances are pretty high."
"The University of Tokyo?"
"Yeah. Or do you want to go somewhere else?"
Utaha shook her head and thought for a moment before saying, "For university, I'll definitely be studying literature. I've already decided to go down this path. What about you, Ichin? Computer science? Or economics? Since your family runs a company, you'll probably have to take over someday, right?"
"Not necessarily."
Ichin had never actually discussed this with his father before. He guessed, "But my dad's business is completely different from my interests. There's no way I'd give up what I'm doing now. If I don't take over, I don't think my dad would force me. He'd probably just sell the company, keep some shares, and live off the dividends. Besides, my parents have already made plenty of money over the years. They don't need to keep working hard, and I'll be making money myself too."
"That's not bad. Since you're already financially independent, they don't have to worry too much about you."
When the bus reached their stop, Ichin and Utaha got off leisurely and walked towards the school.
As they arrived at the school gate, they happened to run into Yukino and Eriri, who had also just arrived.
"Good morning," Ichin greeted them. He glanced at the two girls and asked, "Did you plan to come together?"
Eriri smiled and nodded. "Yeah, we did. It's the first day back, after all."
As they entered the school, Yukino glanced at the disciplinary teacher standing at the gate, then at Ichin and Utaha, who were still openly holding hands.
"…"
Seeing that the teacher seemingly turned a blind eye to them, Yukino finally couldn't hold back.
"Senpai, Senpai… isn't it a bit too bold to be like this at school? If I remember correctly, Miss Hiratsuka talked to you about this before, didn't she?"
"Oh, that?" Ichin chuckled. "Don't worry about it. It's the first day back, so we're in a good mood. We'll tone it down later. Besides, remember when we went on vacation? Miss Hiratsuka mentioned that she'd be going to China for an academic exchange. The disciplinary teacher went too and even met my parents there. So now, he probably cares even less about me and Utaha than before."
"I see."
Yukino suddenly remembered—Ichin's parents had attended the academic exchange as parent representatives.
On top of that, both Ichin and Utaha were top students in their second year, ranking first and second in their grade. No matter what the disciplinary teacher personally thought, he wouldn't openly reprimand them at the school gate.
Then, from behind them, they suddenly heard the disciplinary teacher's roar.
"Akiyama! This is a school! You actually dared to dye your hair?! Go and dye it back immediately, or you're not stepping through this gate! And you two—what's with all the pushing and pulling? Behave yourselves!"
"…"
Yukino turned her head and noticed that many students were sneaking glances at Ichin and Utaha with envious expressions.
There were plenty of couples at Toyogasaki Academy, but Ichin and Utaha were probably the only ones bold enough to walk through the school gates hand in hand like this.
After changing into their indoor shoes, they split up from Yukino and Eriri and headed to the second-year classrooms.
The moment they stepped into their class, all eyes turned to them.
However, unlike last semester, most of the gazes this time were coming from the boys—and they were all focused on Ichin.
The two exchanged a confused look but went ahead and sat down.
As soon as Ichin put his bag down, a group of male classmates immediately surrounded him.
They usually got along well, but Ichin couldn't understand why they were all looking at him so strangely today.
Finally, Fujii, who sat behind Ichin, spoke first.
"Ichin, you're developing a game?! That's seriously impressive!"
"Huh?"
Ichin was stunned for a second. They all knew?
He glanced at the guys surrounding him and asked in confusion, "How did you find out?"
Although he often talked with them about games and anime, he had never mentioned that he had formed a studio and was actively developing a game.
Could it have been the members of the school's gaming club? That seemed unlikely—he had specifically asked them to keep it a secret.
A bespectacled classmate provided the answer.
"Over the summer, you did a livestream on a Chinese website. Someone uploaded the recording to YouTube, and we happened to come across it on a forum."
"Ichin, you're seriously amazing! I love Slay the Spire! I can't believe you're the one who developed it!"
"That aside… why is your studio full of girls?"
"That's way too enviable!"
So that's what they were really focused on, huh?
Scratching his head, Ichin looked at them and said, "Calm down, guys. It's really not a big deal."
"Now that's just humblebragging, Ichin!" a chubby classmate said, clenching his fists in jealousy. "A studio full of girls? That work environment is just too enviable! Ichin, can I work at your studio in the future? I'll learn programming!"
"I can learn programming too! My cousin works in the industry—I can get him to teach me!"
"I'm good at drawing!"
"I can sweep the floors!"
Everyone turned to look at the guy who said he could sweep the floors.
The energy was so high… and then he just brought it crashing down.
...