Watanabe Tetsu leaned back against the train door, letting out a long yawn.
After finishing the prediction worksheets for Tamamo Emi last night, he had switched over to studying advanced English. For someone with only three stamina points, that was no small burden.
But he didn't feel tired.
Ever since saying out loud in the office that he wanted to become a "Tokyo Hunk," and realizing he had to go to sleep every night better than he had been the night before, he suddenly found the act of absorbing knowledge… strangely beautiful.
Doing what he was supposed to do wasn't bad at all.
"Next stop, Yotsuya. Yotsuya Station."
He perked up slightly, blended into the crowd, exited the station, and started up the slope toward Kamikawa Preparatory School.
After Golden Week, the sunlight had grown a little warmer; the beech leaves lining the slope glowed translucent under the light.Every now and then, a soft cool breeze rushed by.It was early May, but it felt more like an early summer afternoon.
After paying serious attention in his morning classes and finishing lunch faster than usual, he turned to Kunii Osamu and Saitō Keisuke and said:
"I'm heading to the clubroom for a bit. You two take your time."
"Oh, sure," they replied casually.
During the morning break, the two had already learned about the task Koizumi Aona had entrusted to him.
After grabbing the prediction worksheets from his classroom, Watanabe Tetsu walked across the corridor connecting the main building and the club wing, arriving at the Human Observation Club.
Inside, Seino Rin was eating lunch alone.
He greeted her politely; she simply nodded, continuing to savor her very expensive-looking meal at the same pace.
When she was finished and had neatly packed away her bento box, Watanabe finally asked:
"I'm planning to improve my English reading skills. Do you have any novels to recommend?"
"For the sake of becoming a Tokyo Hunk?"
"For the sake of becoming a Tokyo Hunk."
Seino Rin took a white handkerchief from the hidden pocket inside her pleated skirt and lightly dabbed her lips.She folded it perfectly, returned it to her pocket, and not a single corner bulged.
Watanabe's gaze followed that handkerchief the whole time.
The habit some Japanese had of carrying handkerchiefs always struck him as interesting.
Then Seino Rin picked up the hardcover book beside her, lowered her eyes, and resumed reading with quiet concentration.
The early-summer sunlight streamed over her head; her charcoal-black hair fell over her shoulders, catching a faint sheen.
Conversation over?Is that it?No follow-up?
…Fine.
Watanabe looked over at the clock on the wall. Twenty minutes of lunch break had passed.Why wasn't Tamamo Emi here yet?
He hated people who didn't show up on time.Just as irritation and mild anger were rising in him, he suddenly realized:
He had only said she needed to complete four worksheets today.He never actually told her to come during lunch.
He had simply assumed she would try to use her break time efficiently.
The irritation vanished instantly.
Instead, he felt a wave of self-reflection.
If she had walked in just now, he wouldn't have snapped at her, but he would have sounded annoyed.And if she had opened that door expecting praise for giving up her lunch break to study, but received dissatisfaction instead…
That would crush her motivation.
From now on, he needed to explain things clearly.No assumptions.And before getting angry, he needed to make absolutely sure he wasn't the one at fault.
Determined to punish himself so he'd remember this lesson, Watanabe sat in the clubroom in silence and mentally completed all four prediction worksheets laid out on the table.
When the bell signaling the end of lunch break rang, snapping him back to reality, Watanabe Tetsu gathered the worksheets with satisfaction.
I am better at this bell than I was at the last bell. I'm only fifteen and eight months old now—there's still so much time before I'm twenty-five. I can't even imagine how incredible I'll be by then. I'll definitely be a perfect Tokyo Hunk, right?
"Wipe that disgusting smile off your face."
Watanabe shot Rin a look of irritation."I wasn't smiling."
"You were."
"This is my default expression. Not to brag, but I've never cried in my life."
"Have you finally gone insane? My family owns a psychiatric hospital. The environment is great, and we even have small animals. Since you're a member of my club, I could let you stay for free."
"Thanks for the offer—why don't you check yourself in first."
Watanabe stood up to leave.
"Here."
"Huh? What's this?"
"Just return it when you're done reading."
Watanabe watched Seino Rin leave the clubroom, then looked down at the hardcover book in his hand.
He opened it randomly to the middle—entirely in English.He closed it again.
The cover read: The Great Gatsby.
"The Great Gatsby…" he murmured.
So this was her follow-up to his question earlier about improving his English?
Well, well—looks like she's already developed feelings for me. What a shame. I still dislike you. But since you lent me a book, even if I get those convenient items next month, I'll let you off the hook.
Satisfied, Watanabe weighed the book in his hand. Hardcover books were heavy.
That afternoon, he had the cursed PE class again—combined with Class 2—and the activity was a fifteen-minute timed run around the track.
Three minutes into the run, the girl and the boy crossed paths.
"You're so weak," she said.
"You're not bad yourself," he replied, generously offering praise.
"Just so we're clear—" she took a deep breath, "it's not that I can't do it. If I wanted to, taking first place at the entire school's marathon competition—" she took another deep breath, "would be no problem at all."
"Tokyo Hunk Rule #4: 'You must have the confidence to accomplish anything.'" He swallowed."You think something like taking first place at the school marathon—" he swallowed again, "is beyond me?"
"Liar."
"I, Watanabe, never lie."
"Heh."
After that, both of them fell silent, pushing themselves forward.Sometimes she ran ahead.Sometimes he did.Most of the time, they jogged side by side, half-dead.
Fifteen minutes later, Watanabe collapsed on the bright green lawn, staring at the blue sky, and decided he would start building stamina tomorrow.
"Watanabe, you're unbelievably weak!" Kunii Osamu mocked from above.
"Want to go to the water fountain?" Saitō Keisuke asked.
Watanabe draped an arm over his eyes. "Just leave me here."
After the two walked off, he waited until his body could move, then pushed himself upright.
"Ughhh…" he groaned, twisting his waist and neck.
When he turned around, he spotted Seino Rin in the distance, stretching alone.A group of girls approached her, said something, and she coldly shook her head.They soon left.
After returning to the classroom, changing out of his gym uniform, and finishing the last period, Watanabe supervised Tamamo Emi through all four worksheets in the clubroom.
She was fully cooperative—deeply intoxicated by the fantasy of "prediction worksheets"—and thanks to that, Watanabe ended up skipping his part-time job again.
Of course, he wasn't doing this for Tamamo Emi.
He was doing it for his beloved Koizumi-sensei.
That night, after showering, he sat at the low table in his small rental room and opened the hardcover book Rin had lent him.
The preface began with a short English excerpt.He looked up the words himself, translated it, and then checked the published translation on his phone, comparing the two.
The general meaning was:
[Then put on the golden hat, if it will win her over;][If you can bounce high, then bounce for her too;][Until she cries out: "Lover, the one with the golden hat, bouncing so high—I must have you!"]
"So it's saying… to win a woman over—no, to accomplish anything—you must first perfect yourself. And once you do, everything naturally becomes easier?"
Watanabe nodded thoughtfully, feeling himself grow wiser.
Both in terms of attracting women—and in English vocabulary.
"This is just the preface. At this rate, even without the system, I'm destined to be amazing," he said smugly.
[You have one new email.]