His current priority was to get Momo to accept his presence and allow him to stay by her side.
That was going to be difficult.
Because after all these years, not a single person had been able to remain by Momo's side.
Shinomiya Kaguya might have been cold, but at least she had Fujiwara Chika as a friend.
But Momo? She had no one.
Even though they had all come up from Shuchiin Middle School together, Momo had always been alone, isolated, moving through life on her own.
Takashi had no intention of approaching Momo by disguising himself as someone else this time.
That would only bring his demise faster.
Hayasaka Nagi had already warned him.
For people born at the top of the social pyramid, normal tactics didn't work.
They had countless ways to investigate everything about you.
The only reason Maki and Eriri hadn't looked into him was likely because they trusted him.
But not everyone was Maki and Eriri.
Momo's family and the environment she was raised in made it impossible for her to trust strangers.
Using a fake identity wouldn't work.
Using his real identity was a better bet.
At the very least, Momo didn't dislike him.
With that thought, Takashi, now calmer, smiled and said, "Momo-san, thank you."
"No need, I'm just lending it to you. You'll have to pay it back," Momo waved dismissively, assuming he was referring to the money.
"If there's nothing else, I'll get going now."
Takashi knew this was something that required patience. He couldn't rush it.
For today, this was enough.
"I'll go with you. I'll have my driver give you a ride," Momo thought for a moment and decided there was no point in staying here alone.
She had only come tonight to let everyone know that this host club was under Ryuju Group's protection.
If anyone wanted to make a move, they had better think twice.
Now that her goal had been achieved, there was no reason for her to stay.
"Sounds good. I'll take you up on that offer."
"How are things at Aoba?"
"Pretty good. I made a lot of friends. I'll introduce them to you next time, Momo-san."
"No need. I'm not interested."
The two of them chatted as they left the Angel's Staircase.
Takashi was so focused on figuring out how to win over Momo that he completely forgot about Haruno, who had come with him.
Haruno had planned to exchange contact information with him before leaving, so she had waited the entire night.
By the time she realized Takashi had already left, it was three in the morning.
Because of this, her mother gave her a serious scolding.
The train heading toward the school was packed with people.
Takashi was practically floating.
But scenes , so representative of Tokyo's daily life, happened almost every day.
Even though he had already bought a car, his driver's license hadn't arrived yet.
If he rode his motorcycle to school and got caught by the police, he'd be fined, and the bike might even get impounded.
Originally, Takashi had planned to take the driving test before buying a car, but given his current situation, he had no time for that.
As a favor in return for a debt, he had taken a shortcut and asked Narii to handle it for him.
The train swayed as it moved.
Takashi gripped the hanging strap with one hand to avoid stumbling into the girl next to him.
With his looks, even if he did accidentally bump into her, she might not even complain.
But it was better to avoid unnecessary trouble.
He already had enough romantic entanglements. Any more, and he'd truly be in over his head.
The past couple of days of back-to-back dates had made Takashi realize for the first time just how exhausting it was to go out with so many girls.
A person should know their limits.
Chasing after mere points without considering the cost wasn't worth it.
Last night, he had nearly been blinded by the prospect of points and was ready to become a host.
"Ki-Kitahara-kun, good morning."
Hearing someone call his name, Takashi turned his head.
At some point, Kotonoha had moved to stand beside him.
Takashi gave her a polite nod. "Morning."
He wasn't planning to interact with her much, but he wasn't rude enough to ignore a simple greeting.
Seeing Takashi respond, Kotonoha lowered her head, her face flushing as she smiled shyly.
'Why are you blushing like a teapot?'
Takashi really didn't understand this girl.
It was just a greeting. Did she really need to react like that?
"Kitahara-kun, your hairstyle really suits you."
It was just a buzz cut.
Takashi responded perfunctorily, "Thanks."
He was about to put on his headphones.
"Kitahara-kun, I heard you singing yesterday. You have a really nice voice."
Takashi froze and turned to look at her. "You heard it too?"
Was he giving a concert or something?
Why did it feel like so many people had heard him sing?
Yesterday, Maki had messaged him, criticizing his singing and pointing out every flaw.
Then this morning, Nagisa had brought it up.
Shortly after that, he got messages from Watanabe Akari, Kitagawa Marin, and several of his classmates, all talking about his singing.
Even that girl—the one he had accidentally fallen asleep on, the one who rarely spoke and only glared at people—had posted the song Lemon on her social media.
So just how many people had heard him sing that night?
Kotonoha nodded happily.
Takashi felt an overwhelming sense of social death.
He wasn't the type to get embarrassed easily, but imagining how many people were going to tease him at school today made him want to skip class altogether.
For the rest of the ride, Takashi barely spoke to Kotonoha.
Instead, he seriously considered calling in sick and avoiding school for the day.
As the train arrived at his stop, Takashi numbly followed the crowd toward the exit.
"Kitahara-kun, please take this!"
Right before he left, Kotonoha handed him a bottle of homemade lemonade.
Without thinking much, Takashi took it and walked away.
Seeing him accept her handmade lemonade, Kotonoha finally smiled.
As she turned and walked in the opposite direction, she suddenly noticed a truly stunning girl staring at her with wide, doll-like eyes—staring at her as if she were some shameless homewrecker stealing her boyfriend.
Kotonoha immediately lowered her head and hurried away in a panic.
In reality, Komi Shouko was thinking: 'Is she his friend? I should say hi! Ah, she's leaving…'
Walking up the slope to school, surrounded by students in uniforms joking and chatting, Takashi finally felt a sense of returning to his normal routine.
So this was what it felt like for Lubbock after completing a mission and returning to daily life.
Speaking of Lubbock from Akame ga Kill, Takashi suddenly remembered a certain mosquito.
That author had gone on hiatus again.
He might die before ever seeing the ending.
Hopefully, a friend would burn the completed novel for him in the afterlife.
That is, if he lived long enough to see it finished.
Stepping into the school, passing the towering zelkova tree, Takashi switched to his indoor shoes.
Just as he was about to enter the classroom, he heard a group of students howling a painfully off-key rendition of Lemon.
It was the song he had sung that night.
Standing at the classroom door, Takashi suddenly wasn't sure if he should step inside.
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