After returning to her room, Sonoko flopped onto her bed with a groan.
"My dad found out after all…"
Holy, she had expected this oute.
In their family, moving rge amounts of money required approval from her parents.
She had po keep it under s aiate with her father ter.
But he had caught her off guard, blindsiding her with a trick question.
"Ugh… I o talk to Amamiya first."
She picked up her phone a a message.
[Suzuki Sonoko: Sorry, my dad found out.]
[Amamiya Ren: Not surprising.]
[Amamiya Ren: The financial flow in your family has to be monitored by your parents, after all.]
[Suzuki Sonoko: I was going to iate with him, but he totally tricked me into spilling everything.]
[Amamiya Ren: Be more careful ime.]
[Amamiya Ren: Unlike me, don't expose things casually before you have the means to hahe sequences.]
[Amamiya Ren: Revealing information recklessly is just asking for trouble.]
[Suzuki Sonoko: Got it.]
Setting her phone aside, Sonoko buried her fa her pillow, still sulking.
"Hngh…"
"This m, I was making fun of Kudo, but I ended up making the same mistake…"
After rolling around in frustration for a while, her exhaustion caught up with her.
Her eyelids felt heavier.
"Haah… Whatever. I'll just sleep. School tomorrow…"
Today had been far too eventful.
Between the ued revetions and the emotional rollercoaster, she was pletely drained.
---
Meanwhile, in the Amamiya household, Ren utting away the tarot cards on his table.
"The Suzuki family really has a strong iigative spirit."
"In that regard, father and daughter are practically identical, both drawn to dangerous yet fasating things."
He shook his head slightly.
"Ignorance is bliss."
"No matter what kind of power someone gains, it always es with a price."
"But so far, none of the diary holders have shared their abilities with those around them. The Suzukis will just have to wait."
Exhaling softly, he leaned ba his chair, preparing himself for sleep.
He reflected on the day.
"Dating a girl is a lot harder than I expected…"
"And being fessed to is even more difficult to process."
Despite his struggles in social iions, today had given him a clearer perspective.
Even though he wasn't great at dealing with girls, he could tell when someone had feelings for him.
It was his first time realizing that girls could actually be… cute.
Removing his gsses, Ren gazed up at the ceiling.
"Suzuki… she's pletely different from how she's portrayed iory."
"Just like Ran."
"The accumution of disappoi eventually made her let go."
"Maybe the records about Shinichi in the diary were ushed Ran to make her decision."
"I 't keep treating people like they're just characters from a story."
"Stories are only references."
He knew his own problem.
He had been distang himself from the world, rather than engaging.
bined with his naturally introverted nature, that had only made things worse.
But it wasn't that he disliked people.
He just wasn't good at talking.
Still, he knew he had to take things oep at a time.
Running a hand through his hair, he sighed.
He had never really cared about his hairstyle before.
But now, for some reason, he found himself thinking about it.
As he pondered, drowsiness overtook him.
He was sleepy.
The clock read 8:43 PM—his usual bedtime.
Over the past year, he had developed a strict sleep schedule.
And habits like that weren't easy to break.
After a quick wash, Reo bed.
---
A full night's rest erased all traces of exhaustion.
The m, Ren followed his usual routine.
Waking up, washing up, eating breakfast, and heading off to school.
He assumed it would be another ordinary day.
But apparently, fate had other pns.
Just before the first css, the teacher walked in with two unfamiliar girls.
"Alright, css. We have two raudents joining us today."
Standing beside the teacher were two girls who looked far youhan typical high school students.
They appeared to be around thirteen or fourteen, practically junih or eveary school-aged.
Naturally, someone in the css raised their hand in protest.
"Uh, teacher? Are you sure you have the right ?"
"Sit down. No, I'm not in the wrong pce."
The teacher shot them a gre before tinuing.
"These two are indeed high school students."
In the back row, Re his eyelid twitch.
He reized them.
The blonde girl with twin ponytails—Sanzenin Nagi.
The bck-haired girl with long, straight hair—Saginomiya Isumi.
Very familiar faces.
But what surprised him was that the eldest daughter of the Sanzenin family had actually chosen to attend school.
She was supposed to be a hardcore shut-in.
She shouldn't even like school.
Yet here she was.
And not only that, she hadn't even enrolled in the elite school she was supposed to attend.
Instead, she had transferred to Teitan High School.
Wheeacher mentioned Hakuo Academy, murmurs spread through the css.
Everyone who khe name instantly reacted.
Hakuo Academy restigious institution, a school for the elite.
Almost every student there came from either wealthy or noble families.
There were some exceptions, genius students admitted through schorships.
But those were rare cases.
"Hakuo Academy has a policy allowing students with exceptional grades to skip ahead."
"These ten to be among the students who advanced early, something quite on in Hakuo."
That still didn't sit well with some students.
"Teacher!"
Oudent couldn't hold back.
"Why would students from Hakuo Academy transfer here?!"
The teacher remained firm.
"Transfers are a personal matter."
"Everyone has the right to choose their own school, including these two students."
That expnation was plete nonsense.
But it was clear the teacher had no iion of eborating.
Only the people involved khe real reason.
Still, the teacher remembered the principal's specifistrus.
Do not let anyone cause unnecessary trouble for these two.
"One more thing."
"I expect all of you to respect these udents and not cause any issues."
"Especially the overly enthusiastic boys—"
"And the gossip-hungry girls."
"Am I uood?"
The not-so-subtle hint was loud and clear.
The entire css immediately got the message.
