Meanwhile, a bored Alistair slowly made his way towards the back hill, following the route Hikari Matsuda had taken. He climbed the rock garden, scaled the school wall, and headed towards the nearest major commercial center.
Thinking back, the last time he went there, it was with Rie Waseda. He had ridden the motorcycle he stole from that biker gang leader, and he'd since forgotten where the motorcycle was dumped. That trip was just a simple visit to the arcade.
Thinking about how he mimicked anime moves to look cool while fighting back then was truly embarrassing. He even tried a spinning kick. It was only thanks to the power of the Ox Talisman that he managed to pull it off; otherwise, just executing the movement would have been exhausting, let alone using it for fighting.
However, according to the rules of the streets, the territory belongs to the winner. So, the protection money from the arcade owner would now go to Alistair, not the gang the sunglasses guy belonged to.
"Huh? Is that... Rimono Momoki? I thought she was a student, too? It should still be class time. And she's here... Is she a truant as well?"
Alistair was idly scanning the surrounding shops when he spotted a familiar figure inside a seemingly upscale dessert shop. Although she wasn't wearing the blue dress with white patterns anymore but a pink short-sleeved shirt, her medium-length blue hair tied into twin tails and the highly recognizable pair of melons resting on the table made Alistair instantly recognize her as Rimono Momoki, the girl who previously asked him to teach her about "intense physical exercises for male-female cooperation."
Of course, the main reason was that Alistair could clearly see her face. She was alone, though. Was her boyfriend a straight-A student? Or were they still having relationship issues? Alistair vaguely remembered seeing on LINE that their relationship was supposed to be quite good.
Since Alistair had nothing else to do, he changed direction and headed toward the dessert shop.
Ding-a-ling~
"Welcome! What would you like to order, customer?"
Alistair pushed the door open, and along with the sound of the bell came the polite inquiry from the server.
"I'll take a strawberry daifuku."
Although he wasn't particularly hungry, there was no harm in having some dessert since he was here. So, Alistair ordered a standard strawberry daifuku.
Most dessert shops carried this item, and it was simple to make. Aside from the slightly high price, the taste was excellent. Since it used strawberries, the price wouldn't be as cheap as some other wagashi (Japanese sweets). Alistair liked pastries with fruit, and since he wasn't short on money, he could eat whatever he wanted.
"Hello there, Momoki. It's been a few days."
Alistair walked up to Rimono Momoki's table, sat down across from her, and greeted her with a smile.
"Hmm? Alistair... uh... Senpai?"
Rimono Momoki had half a cake and a few empty plates in front of her. She was typing on her phone, perhaps writing a review of the desserts. Being greeted by Alistair, she recognized him immediately. Then, noticing Alistair's school uniform jacket, she suddenly remembered that she had told Alistair during their LINE conversation that she was also a first-year student at Sakura Public Academy, and since it was currently class time, she instantly felt guilty.
"No need to call me senpai. I'm only a first-year myself. You can just call me Alistair or Naoto."
Alistair leaned back against the bench's backrest and said casually.
"Oh? Alistair-senpai is also a first-year at Sakura Public Academy? Well, the most experienced should lead the way, and Alistair-senpai is already quite experienced... Wait, why isn't Alistair-senpai in class? It's class time right now."
Rimono Momoki explained seriously, then suddenly realized that since Alistair was also a student, he should normally be in class right now. How could he have time to be out shopping and end up here?
"Why? Same as you, isn't it? You're not in class either." Alistair looked at Rimono Momoki, saying with a smile.
"Ah~ Well, I just can't keep up with those lessons! I don't feel anything for that stuff at all. Instead of spacing out or sleeping there, I'd rather come out and write some reviews... And Alistair-senpai is the same..." Rimono Momoki looked a bit embarrassed, explaining her reason for skipping class with a slightly guilty tone.
"I'm out because I already understand everything. My academic deviation value has been in the top ten of the entire grade since middle school. So, don't lump me in with those who skip out just to play."
Alistair rolled his eyes, making up a story without batting an eyelid or blushing. It wouldn't hurt him. Even if what Alistair said wasn't true, Rimono Momoki wasn't going to go to his middle school to verify it, right?
"Alistair-senpai is that amazing? Sugoi ne (That's incredible)!" Rimono Momoki opened her mouth in surprise.
"By the way, I remember you saying on LINE that you reconciled with your boyfriend. Why isn't he out with you?" Alistair asked, turning his head to scan the surroundings, confirming there were no other guests who knew them, and since Alistair had been sitting there for a while, it was unlikely Rimono Momoki's boyfriend had just temporarily stepped away.
"Ah~ Haha~ This... Actually, Masaki-kun is struggling a bit with his studies, though he's not terrible, so he has to study hard at school. I just can't keep up, so I... "
Rimono Momoki lightly tugged at her ponytail, her eyes looking a bit dim. Although she said this, Alistair didn't fully believe it.
Perhaps what Rimono Momoki said was true, but it was likely that the two of them hadn't fully resolved the conflict between them, resulting in a bit of the silent treatment. Although they still had feelings for each other, they refused to compromise in a certain area.
"Hmph, I'll take your word for it," Alistair teased with a light laugh.
"What do you mean, 'take your word for it'? Does what I said sound fake?" Rimono Momoki pouted.
"Do you think, based on your tone and expression, you believe it?" Alistair rolled his eyes and said grumpily.
"Uh, well, ahaha..." Rimono Momoki tried to laugh it off, hoping to pass through awkwardly.
"Heh, never mind. By the way, about the guidance you mentioned before regarding intense male-female physical exercise—do you still need it?" Alistair shook his head, then brought it up as if in passing.
"That... Of course! I heard that all guys like that, but I don't know anything, and I'm afraid I can't give Masaki-kun a good experience, so... so, I was hoping Alistair-senpai could give me detailed and thorough guidance."
Rimono Momoki twisted in her seat as she spoke, her eyes darting around, clearly not calm inside.
"Alright then. When are you free? Preferably within the next two days. I don't have much going on then, but after that, I'll start getting busy."
Alistair, though fully aware of her intentions, pretended to calculate his schedule in front of Rimono Momoki.
"What will Alistair-senpai be busy with recently? Is it a lot of work?"
Rimono Momoki's curiosity was piqued, and she asked about Alistair's plans before mentioning her own availability.
"Student Council matters. I joined the Student Council, and in the coming days, I have to participate in the club activity evaluations. So, I'll be quite busy for a while, and I'll have to write reports about the Student Council evaluations when I get home, so I won't have much free time."
Alistair lightly traced patterns on the table with his index finger, casually making up a story about the club evaluations for Rimono Momoki.
Alistair's words were half-truths. The club evaluations were indeed a reason for him to be busy, but it wasn't true that he had to write reports or would be completely out of time. Alistair planned to treat the evaluations as purely a form of entertainment. Someone else would write the reports; Alistair absolutely did not want to write that stuff.
Having been thoroughly "cleansed" by the impossibly heavy workload in school before transmigrating, Alistair could effortlessly churn out pages of that kind of material, but just because he could didn't mean he was willing to. That kind of thing was already annoying enough before transmigrating, and if he hadn't lacked power and background then, he wouldn't have done it; he would have tossed it right in the teacher's face.
Now, with both power and background, Alistair didn't want to create unnecessary trouble, so he could just delegate it. He wouldn't do it personally; it was too torturous. However, Alistair knew that Rimono Momoki was unaware of the internal workings, and since part of what he said was true, Alistair wasn't afraid of Rimono Momoki trying to verify it. A half-truth is the hardest lie to detect.
"Is that so? Then, how about today?"
Rimono Momoki mentally calculated the risks, looked at Alistair, and seeing his indifferent expression, felt that what he said was probably true. She stated her proposal directly and quickly.
"Today? Hmm... I don't really have anything going on today, so I guess I'm free. Let me think."
Alistair rubbed his chin, pretending to consider for a moment. Rimono Momoki's expression tightened. If he wasn't free today or tomorrow, and the evaluation activities started, she wouldn't be able to receive Alistair's guidance.
"Oh, I'm basically free today, so I have quite a bit of spare time. So, when today do you want to receive the guidance? You can also choose the location."
Alistair sat up straight, leaned slightly forward, and stared at Rimono Momoki as he asked.
"Well, how about noon?" Rimono Momoki suggested.
"Noon? That works. Where?" Alistair took a bite of the strawberry daifuku that had just arrived.
"At my place, I guess."
Rimono Momoki's face flushed, and her voice dropped slightly.
"Hmm? Where?" Alistair thought he had misheard and asked again.
"At my place..." Rimono Momoki's face turned even redder.