Takamatsu Tomori felt a little uncomfortable under his gaze, her heart inexplicably speeding up.
She had only ever collected inanimate objects before; she really hadn't figured out how to 'collect' a living thing.
In any case, Takamatsu Tomori first announced her name: "Takamatsu Tomori! Remember this name!"
"Takamatsu... Tomori." Kanzaki Saku repeated. "A very nice name."
Hearing Kanzaki Saku's praise, Takamatsu Tomori lifted her head high: "Of course it is!"
After speaking, as if struck by a good idea, she showed Kanzaki Saku the stone in her palm again.
"The stone is very tough, but you still scared it. As compensation, you... give me your contact information."
Kanzaki Saku could see that Takamatsu Tomori was forcing an excuse just to get his contact information.
In his past life, if a guy had hit on a girl like this, he would have been blasted on social media for being cringey and overconfident.
But Kanzaki Saku himself was a bit intrigued by Takamatsu Tomori's domineering vibe, so he naturally went along with her and exchanged contact info.
"Alright, here's my contact information." Kanzaki Saku said with a hint of obedient compliance, but he wasn't satisfied with just that.
After they exchanged contact information, he took it a step further, upping the ante by providing a reason for future contact that she couldn't refuse.
"But this alone isn't enough to express my apology," he said with a self-reproachful expression.
"How about this? In the future, if I happen to come across other oddly shaped stones that might catch your eye, I can share them with you. Consider it a small, insignificant compensation."
Takamatsu Tomori, who had been worrying about how to establish a stable connection with Kanzaki Saku, was secretly delighted by this proposal, but she maintained her composure on the surface.
She nodded slightly, replying in a tone as if she were bestowing a great favor: "Since you insist... I suppose I'll agree."
Her objective achieved, Takamatsu Tomori felt that she had handled the matter cleanly and with considerable style.
She gave Kanzaki Saku one last deep look, as if confirming her new acquisition. Then, she turned sharply and strode away with what she believed was a cool and domineering gait, but what looked to Kanzaki Saku like a cheerful, slightly splay-footed penguin waddle.
Kanzaki Saku watched her leave, noticing that she was heading in the same direction as his sister Sagiri's middle school.
'This direction...' he mused, stroking his chin. 'Could it be that Tomori and Sagiri are classmates?'
Does that mean Takamatsu Tomori is just a middle schooler?
In that case, MyGO!!!!! definitely hasn't been formed yet. It's uncertain if Crychic even exists right now.
But given Tomori's personality as Kanzaki Saku had seen it, whether Crychic could even be formed in the end was a real question.
That won't do. If there's no band, how am I supposed to build my bonds?
Kanzaki Saku silently noted down the plan to help establish the C-band in his mental notebook.
After making the note, Kanzaki Saku continued towards the train station. The encounter with Takamatsu Tomori was just an interlude on his way to school; the main event was still Miura Yumiko.
From a distance, he saw a familiar figure.
Miura Yumiko was standing at the designated spot with her back perfectly straight, like a security guard on duty. Only her slightly pursed lips and the way her eyes darted around from time to time revealed the slight turmoil within her.
When her gaze caught sight of Kanzaki Saku, she visibly relaxed, but then, as if remembering something, a complex emotion flashed through her eyes. She greeted him respectfully, "Kanzaki-san, you're here."
"Have you been waiting long, Yumiko?" Kanzaki Saku approached, his tone gentle, as if the secret 'loyalty test' on the train yesterday had never happened.
"No, I just arrived a little while ago." Yumiko answered meticulously, maintaining a distance in an attempt to hide her inner turmoil.
After the greeting, the two walked side-by-side into the station, blending into the morning commuter crowd.
The train hadn't arrived yet, and the platform was slightly crowded. Kanzaki Saku seemed to sway unintentionally with the crowd and was 'coincidentally' jostled by someone next to him, causing his body to press against Yumiko's.
Feeling the warm contact from being pressed against Kanzaki Saku, Yumiko's body stiffened.
She could clearly smell the scent coming from Kanzaki Saku, which intertwined with the flustering memories from yesterday, making her heart race uncontrollably.
In fact, after she returned home last night and escaped the ambiguous atmosphere Kanzaki Saku had created, her deep-rooted LOYAL-TY! to Boss Yukino had flared up again and taken over.
Miura Yumiko had originally planned to uphold her loyalty, regardless of the consequences for herself, and expose Kanzaki Saku's true nature to her boss.
To reveal how this seemingly pure and innocent man had actively made an indecent move on her, his subordinate, on the train!
But after the initial impulse, she calmed down and thought it over, forced to face a harsh reality: why would Boss Yukino believe her?
On one side was a subordinate who had only been recruited last year; on the other was a childhood friend of many years, upon whom countless affections had been lavished. The difference in importance was obvious.
Moreover, when she tried to imagine herself telling Boss Yukino about a horny Kanzaki Saku proactively helping her reach climax on a crowded train...
Forget Boss Yukino, even she herself couldn't believe such a 'good thing' could happen.
Such a ridiculously absurd plot would normally only exist in late-night literature.
After all, the idea of Kanzaki Saku, instead of being Boss Yukino's man, coming on to a junior underling like her was just unthinkable.
She couldn't even keep a straight face thinking about it. If she really reported it so directly, she'd be lucky if Boss Yukino didn't mince her on the spot.
Believing her story and thinking that Kanzaki Saku was just a pervert looking for thrills with his own girlfriend's underling—that would be pure fantasy.
So, after weighing the pros and cons, Miura Yumiko decided to endure the humiliation for a greater purpose.
She decided to endure all the 'humiliation' Kanzaki Saku inflicted upon her body, silently gathering evidence and waiting for the right moment to report him to Boss Yukino.
By then, with both a witness (herself) and physical evidence (she would try to preserve some of Kanzaki Saku's 'fluid'), Boss Yukino would have no choice but to believe her!
'Come at me, Kanzaki Saku!' Yumiko screamed silently in her heart, filled with the tragic resolve of a martyr.
'Go ahead and 'humiliate' me with your filthy methods! Every bit of 'humiliation' you inflict will become the flame that forges my loyalty, the most powerful medal to prove my LOYAL-TY! to Boss Yukino!'
'The more cruelly you humiliate me, the more it proves my LOYAL-TY! to Boss Yukino!'
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