Published at 17th of August 2019 7:54 am

Volume 11, Chapter 5: The Admitted Student, Higashihongan Sanae

This chapter is updated by NovelFree.ml

Part 1

April 5, Monday

The student called Higashihongan Sanae was originally registered in class 1A along with Koutarou and the others. But before she could attend the entrance ceremony, her condition turned for the worse and it became clear that she would be unable to go to Kitsushouharukaze high school. As a result, her name was removed from the attendance record, and only the teachers knew of her existence.

But as of late, she had begun recovering and is now able to attend the school. She was given a test to determine her knowledge, and it was determined that she had to capability to keep up with the first years. Because of that, she was able to merge into the same class as Koutarou and the others as was originally planned, instead of repeating a year.

“...And like that, Sanae-san was able to safely return to my class. Everyone, get along now.”

The classroom was wrapped in a whirlpool of excitement after the class teacher finished her explanation.

“Uooooooooooo!! Another cute girl has comeeeeeeeeeee!!”

The excitement was mostly due to the boys. Because the girl known as Higashihongan Sanae had spent a long time in the hospital, she was small, thin and gave off a fragile impression. Since there hadn't been a girl like this in class before, the boys got really excited.

“U-Uhm, I'm Higashihongan Sanae, take good care of me.”

While bewildered by the boys’ reaction, Sanae politely bowed her head. The Higashihongan family was a distinguished family that had been protecting a shrine since the days of old. Naturally, Sanae had naturally learned proper etiquette because of this.

“S-So cute!”

“She's a different type from our girls!”

“I can't keep my expectations from rising!”

Sanae's moderate and calm appearance only gave further rise to the boys’ excitement. Seeing the boys’ reactions, the girls were sending them cold glances.

“How rude!”

“Really, transfer student or admitted student, this is always the reaction we get.”

“Any new girl is fine. It's just like the Maki-chan fever from a little while ago.”

Because of Sanae's appearance it seemed like a large rift had opened between the male and female students.

“Oka~y, everyone calm down!”

Waiting for Sanae's self-introduction to end, the female class teacher clapped her hands together in an attempt to quiet down the class. And waiting for her students eyes to turn back to her, she once again began speaking.

“Like I just said, Sanae-san just left the hospital. She is probably unused to this school, and her endurance might be a problem. That's why I want to choose a boy and girl to support her.”

Having been hospitalized all this time, Sanae didn't know a thing about Kitsushouharukaze high school. She hadn't even heard the explanation all first years were given, nor did she know where the classrooms were or what the rules of the school are.

Having spent a large amount of time lying on a bed, her stamina was a problem as well. Since so little time had passed since she was released, her strength hadn't recovered yet. Her breathing would get a little rough just from climbing the stairs.

Because of these, the female class teacher believed that Sanae would need supporters to carry out her normal school life.

“Let's see, who to choose...”

The teacher looked over her students. That was when a few of the boys began their intense appeal.

“Me me me! I will be the male supporter!”

“You idiot, I'll be the one helping Sanae-chan!”

“I will help her change or go to the toilet!!”

But the female teacher easily ignored their desperate appeals.

“Let's see... okay, Satomi-kun, could you do it?”

“Me?”

Having suddenly been called out, Koutarou answered with his eyes wide open. In response, the teacher nodded with a smile.

“Yes. From here I can tell very well. Amongst the strong children, you are the calmest one. Would you rather not?”

Amongst the class that was more or less shaken up, Koutarou looked to be the same as always. And with Koutarou's great strength, the female teacher believed he was the perfect pick.

“No way!!”

“Why is it the traitor, Koutarou!?”

“Can't you give us a chance for once!?”

Of course, the boys were very unhappy.

“The 'Leave it to me' Blue Knight-sama, huh...”

“Hmm, well, it'll be okay if it's Satomi-kun.”

“Even if he's also an idiot, leaving it to him would be 100 times better than to those other boys.”

The girls’ reactions were mostly positive.

Koutarou himself had no real objections to supporting Sanae.

“Okay, I will do it.”

Koutarou nodded and agreed to the female teacher's request.

“Thank you, Satomi-kun.”

Seeing Koutarou agree, the class teacher smiled and began looking over the class once more.

“Alright then, as for the girl... yes, Aika-san, can I leave it to you?”

The female teacher's eyes stopped on Aika Maki.

“Aika-san, you were a transfer student yourself, so you should be able to imagine what kind of difficulties Sanae-san might have. Could you do it?”

Her decision wasn't just because Maki was a transfer student, but because she also got along well with Koutarou. The teacher believed that the supporters’ teamwork would play a big role in ensuring a smooth school life for Sanae.

“I don't mind. I probably would have ended up helping anyways.”

Maki smiled and agreed. Like the female teacher suspected, Maki got along well with Koutarou. Even if she hadn't asked, Maki probably would have helped Koutarou. But her motive wasn't just out of goodwill.

Alright... With this I might be able to understand Satomi-kun's situation a little bit...

Maki had noticed that a change had occurred in room 106. And the ghost that had always been next to Koutarou had now appeared inside of a living body. It was a situation that an officer of Darkness Rainbow who sought to steal the power of room 106 couldn't afford to overlook.

“Thanks, you're a big help, Aika-san.”

Koutarou simply believed that Maki was helping out and he carefreely smiled at her without suspecting a thing. He felt it reassuring to have Maki, a former transfer student, helping him out.

“My help costs a lot, Satomi-kun.”

“I wasn't the one who asked though.”

“Fufu, I'll put on your tab this time.”

Maki answered with a smile. Actually, by this time, she had already pushed away the convenience of Darkness Rainbow somewhere deep inside her mind. Right now, Darkness Rainbow was just an excuse for her. Maki simply didn't want to accept that her motive was 100% goodwill.

“Okay, could you take your seat, Sanae-san? Your seat will be between those two.”

With the selecting of Sanae's support, this matter was settled for now. The female class teacher was going to leave the rest to the students.

“Yes.”

Sanae nodded and started walking towards Koutarou and Maki.

Sanae...

The way Sanae had nodded was just the way Koutarou remembered, and he felt nostalgic of it. But the Sanae approaching him wasn’t the Sanae he knew.

“Uhm, nice to meet you. Satomi-san, Aika-san, I look forward to working with you.”

In the end, Sanae's memories didn't return.

Part 2

Roughly two weeks had passed since the two Sanaes returned to one. During that time, Koutarou and the girls waited for Sanae to return to room 106. But in the end, Sanae hadn't appeared until the new school term started.

According to the ghost hunters that had been tasked with investigating, after Sanae had awakened, she showed no traces of having the ghost Sanae's memories, and she had awoken as just the other Sanae.

The residents of room 106 knew that Sanae would lose her memories, but there was the hope that maybe, just maybe, she would remember them. They hoped that they might be able to catch a small glimpse of Sanae that had existed in room 106.

But they had been let down by that hope.

Sanae lost all of her memories of room 106 and appeared in front of Koutarou and the others like a normal girl.

During the break, Maki guided Sanae towards the women's toilet.

“This is the girl's toilets. It's in the same location on all floors.”

“Thank you. I'll remember that.”

In order for Sanae to lead a normal school life, the toilet will be the place she will find herself needing in most emergencies. She could take her time looking for the other places, but not with the toilets. Guiding Sanae here first was a considerate move from Maki who had been a transfer student herself.

And there was one more reason for why Maki had taken Sanae to the toilet first. That was because Koutarou would soon return. At their age, having a boy by their side while going to the toilet was uncomfortable, both for the guide and the guided. That's why Maki wanted to take Sanae here while Koutarou wasn't around.

Next, Maki took Sanae to drinking fountains, facilities and classrooms near the 2A classroom. Since they didn't have much time during their break, Maki decided to leave it at that for now.

“Hey, I've gotten it.”

After Maki had finished her tour for now, Koutarou appeared in the hallway carrying a cardboard box in both hands. He had climbed the stairs from the floor below and smiled when he spotted the two.

“Good job, Satomi-kun.”

“Thank you, Satomi-san.”

Maki and Sanae smiled back at Koutarou. There was a reason why the two were giving him their gratitude. Actually, Koutarou had gone to get the course material for Sanae in her place.

Sanae didn't have the course material she should have gotten during her first year at school. This included things such as a map of the world and musical instruments. Because there was quite a bit of course material that continued seeing use after the first year, Koutarou ended up getting it for Sanae.

“What were the two of you doing?”

“I was giving her a quick tour.”

“I still don't know left from right yet after all.”

“Of course, it's only free because it's the first time.”

“Hey, keep it free for Sanae-san.”

“Sure thing. But in return you'll have to pay, Satomi-kun.”

“As if I would!”

“Like I said, I'll put it in your tab.”

While Koutarou and Maki were arguing about paying, Koutarou pulled out a badminton racket and a dictionary sticking out from the box. The racket was getting in his way and the dictionary was poorly balanced and about to fall out.

“You greedy bastard.”

“Fufu, a bond with money is never cut, that's why I love it.”

“...Could it be that the two of you are going out?”

Because of Sanae's unexpected words, both Koutarou and Maki's eyes opened wide at the same time. And they denied what she said at the same time as well.

“Me!? And Aika-san!?”

“Me!? And Satomi-kun!?”

““No way, that would never happen.””

Though they had used different names, they spoke in harmony.

“Is that... so?”

Sanae tilted her head in confusion. Looking at the two argue, Sanae couldn't imagine them being anything but lovers.

While the two threw bitter comments at one another, they showed a casual kind of consideration. And the two were in perfect sync. They didn't look like normal classmates at all.

On top of that, there was one more reason for why they looked like a couple to Sanae. And that was the mysterious power she had recently developed.

That's strange, normally people like this are lovers...

About half a month ago, she had suddenly overcome the unknown disease that had plagued her for many years. And at the same time, she began seeing strange things. She could see a glowing white haze surrounding people.

At first, Sanae assumed that it was an aftereffect of her disease. When she consulted a doctor, she was told it could be an effect because of her long-term disease and was told to watch its progress for a while. That's why she had assumed it was an aftereffect. But after a few days, she realized that she could control whether she saw the haze or not.

After that, Sanae had observed many people using that power. It was the perfect way to kill time for someone who had just recovered from her sickness and was still weakened. As a result, Sanae realized that the haze she was seeing was related to life and mind.

The haze was thicker around young people and grew weaker as they aged. It also grew thicker the more intense their emotions got and vice versa. She also noticed that the haze had a tendency to gather around the area a person was paying attention to. This was particularly noticeable in sports and martial arts, as a kick or punch would come flying where the haze was gathered.

The property of the haze gathering where people are focusing indirectly taught Sanae about human relationships. For instance, when it came to lovers or parents and children, their haze was always densely surrounding the other party. And since Koutarou and Maki had been the same, Sanae assumed that they were lovers.

It's only been a few days since I've become able to see the haze, maybe something is different...

Sanae didn't think of it any further than that.

The ability to see the haze was an odd power to begin with, and there was still a lot she didn't know about it. For example, she would sometimes see haze gather where no one was around. She didn't understand her power well enough to pass a clear conclusion.

And right now, there was something that worried Sanae more than her power.

“Having Aika-san as my girlfriend would cost me an arm and a leg.”

“There's no girl that doesn't take money, geez...”

“I can take my time to find one.”

“...Satomi-kun, you could just say that you'll earn a ton of money in the future... I keep saying you can put it on your tab... geez...”

“Hmm? Did you say something?”

“Nope, nothing at all♪”

While joking around, Koutarou and Maki walked side by side. While staring at them from behind, Sanae found herself unable to take her eyes off Koutarou's back.

Why does it bother me so much...?

And as she stared at his back, she was overcome with an urge to embrace it, to the point where if she let her guard down she might really do it.

I've never heard of love at first glance with a back...

Just before, Koutarou had said that Maki wasn't his girlfriend. Then, it might not be too bad if she became his girlfriend instead. While Sanae thought like that, her heart throbbed as she imagined herself hugging Koutarou's back.

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