— Tuesday Tokyo, Kyousuke Apartment
Hojou Kyousuke woke up peacefully to the vibration of his alarm clock. Glancing at the T-shirt and shorts he was wearing, he smiled with satisfaction.
Finally, she didn't sleep with my school uniform.
After washing up, he sat on the sofa in the living room, enjoying his breakfast while opening the memo app on his phone.
"Snacks? What's wrong with letting her sister eat some snacks? It's just that Miyamizu Mitsuha is broke. Otherwise, I'd love to see Yotsuba munching food away all day long."
As for the rest of Mitsuha note, Kyousuke simply ignored it.
An excellent person can't hide their brilliance.
Miyamizu Mitsuha better deal with it.
Despite acting tough, he felt a bit guilty about what he did yesterday.
Who knows what kind of trouble Mitsuha would face today?
He picked up a piece of paper on the table, which clearly wasn't written in his handwriting.
Since Mitsuha highly recommended this so-called "masterpiece" in the memo, Kyousuke read it carefully.
"Let's see what kind of epic tale the ancient shrine maiden has crafted."
One minute later.
"Is this really me? Is this really her?" Kyousuke was filled with confusion.
In Mitsuha's writing, he had turned into a weakling who loved to pick fights, juggling three part-time jobs but constantly making mistakes.
Meanwhile, Mitsuha was portrayed as the brilliant and talented shrine maiden who guided him to success in love, ultimately making him the winner in life.
In the end, the shrine maiden gracefully retreated to her mountain shrine to continue serving the gods.
Yet, Kyousuke, unable to forget her, broke up with the girlfriend the shrine maiden helped him pursue and spent his life searching for her in vain.
To be honest, the writing was excellent, and the ending was full of emotional depth, fitting the taste of the Japanese audience.
But it definitely didn't suit Kyousuke's preferences.
Putting away her note, Kyousuke checked what "he" had done yesterday.
Fortunately, Mitsuha seemed to only care about food.
Most of the personal log described how delicious the cake was.
Amused, Kyousuke couldn't help but wonder why she recorded such details.
Was she planning to savor the memory later?
Speaking of which, the memories of their body swap seemed clearer today.
Kyousuke could vividly recall the beautiful, vast lake from Mitsuha's hometown.
Arriving at school, Kyousuke go back to his usual routine.
Kisaki Tetta, watching Kyousuke reciting ancient Japanese texts in class, showed a suspicious look.
After some thought, he handed over a geometry problem to him.
"Hojou, how do you solve this?"
Kyousuke glanced at it, drew a straight line on the diagram, and said, "Solve it this way."
Then, he returned to his studies.
Thanks to a certain "shrine maiden," his study time had been further compressed, so he needed to focus on the liberal arts.
Kisaki checked the answer and found that Kyousuke's method was spot on.
Only the big boss could achieve such efficiency.
Kisaki decided to suppress his lingering doubts once again.
During lunch break, Kyousuke didn't nap.
Lying on a recliner and eating fruit brought by one of his subordinates from a farming family, he enjoyed the sunlight.
The money for the fruit would be covered by the Kendo Club's activity funds, courtesy of Makki Hojou, who claimed that keeping the swordsmanship instructor happy was an essential club duty.
With the soothing breeze, Kyousuke pulled out the novel "Love Metronome" that he bought over the weekend.
"Hmm? Where's the promised 'love rhythm'? What kind of story is this?"
It was hard to judge the novel's quality.
Despite being a light novel, it was aimed at a female audience.
The entire story was told from the perspective of the protagonist, Sayuka, whose actions were often difficult to understand.
If not for Kyousuke's intention to expand his otaku knowledge, he wouldn't have been able to grasp the heroine's tragic past hidden in the details.
In summary, Sayuka, burdened by her dark past, fell into an impossible love story with the male lead.
"Ugh... Are modern otakus really into such gloomy novels? Can they even understand this?"
Kyousuke doubted it.
However, since the novel was on the staff recommendation shelf and Eriri also praised it, the sales must be good.
Already feeling drowsy from skipping his nap, the novel only made his head spin.
Massaging his temples to stay awake, he started reading it a second time.
"Yo, Boss! What are you reading?"
It was Eikichi Onizuka, who had seen in the group chat that the boss skipped his nap and rushed over with Danma Ryuji.
"Good afternoon, Boss," Ryuji greeted politely before sitting down.
Meanwhile, Onizuka was already munching on an apple.
"Boss, can you teach us more about love like you did yesterday?" Ryuji asked eagerly.
"Yesterday?"
A dazed Kyousuke recalled the memo entry: "Out of boredom, I casually taught Onizuka and Ryuji some love advice before eating cake."
Casual? Boredom? Yet, the two before him were looking at him with sparkling eyes full of hope and curiosity.
Speechless, Kyousuke waved the book in his hand, signaling them to leave.
"Huh? What's the boss trying to say?"
"Is he telling us to get lost?"
"No way! Boss is too kind for that."
"Then what's with the book gesture?"
"Remember what I asked him earlier?"
"You mean..."
"Exactly! The answer to love lies within this book!"
"Oh! 'Love Metronome'! As expected of the boss, always striving to improve himself. I'm buying two copies right away!"
"Let's go!"
"Boss, we'll take our leave. May you be victorious in battle."
The two idiots bowed deeply and dashed off, tumbling down the stairs in their excitement.
A moment later, hearing the roar of a motorcycle engine, Kyousuke walked to the rooftop edge and saw the duo speeding off.
"I need to ban them from causing noise pollution in the city..."
Shaking his head, he returned to his recliner.
As for their misunderstanding about the book?
Let them buy it. After all, it's a romance light novel.
Maybe it will help their wooden brains finally understand love.
Sipping iced cola to clear his head, Hojou Kyousuke resumed reading "Love Metronome" with the mindset of doing a reading comprehension exercise.