Chapter 129: Peculiar Behavior of Fujiwara Chika
A few minutes later, on the court inside the indoor basketball gym.
"Hold my jacket."
Yuuki Asuna took the jacket Asagiri handed her. She folded it neatly out of habit, then noticed Fujiwara Chika's meaningful look and that auntie like smile. Her cheeks warmed.
She lifted a hand, tucking her flaxen hair behind her ear, then looked up at Asagiri and spoke softly.
"Be careful."
"Okay."
Asagiri understood what she meant.
Asuna was not worried about him getting hurt. She was warning him to control himself. His physical abilities had long since surpassed normal human limits. If he went too far, he might injure the basketball club members, or reveal something absurd enough to make Shinomiya and Fujiwara suspicious.
However, Asuna did not know she was overthinking it.
"Aren't you changing into sports clothes or shoes?"
The basketball captain's voice was low and heavy.
Asagiri shook his head, smiling.
"No need. It'll be over fast."
"How arrogant."
The captain said it plainly, then tossed the ball to Asagiri.
"But fine. I just want to face someone like you on the court. Twenty one points, continuous possession. You go first."
"Continuous possession, and I go first?"
Asagiri lowered his stance slightly, eyes on the captain as the other boy dropped his center of gravity, arms spread, sliding into a defensive posture.
Then Asagiri spoke calmly.
"Then you won't even touch the ball."
The moment the words landed, Asagiri made a sharp shooting feint.
Even though the captain was prepared, his instincts betrayed him and his center of gravity rose a fraction.
That was enough.
Asagiri dropped low and burst left.
The captain slid with him instantly. Despite his size, his footwork was quick, heavy body forming a wall to cut off the lane.
But before his weight fully settled, Asagiri changed direction.
He blew past the right side like a gust.
Swish.
The captain did not even have time to turn around. The clean sound from the rim behind him, followed by the ball hitting the floor, told him everything.
"Whew…"
Asagiri landed from a one handed dunk. He rubbed the back of his neck with his left hand and chuckled lightly.
"It's been a while since I exercised. Feels like my body's a little stiff."
He picked up the ball, dribbled it back, then bounced it to the captain.
"Two to zero."
The captain stared at him.
His brows tightened at first, then relaxed. A bright, almost delighted grin spread across his face.
"Just like the footage. Your speed and explosiveness aren't just above middle school level. They're above ordinary players like us entirely. You're over 1.8 meters and you dunk like it's nothing. Your physical talent is ridiculous, and your handle is clean too, but this time…"
He bounced the ball back to Asagiri and dropped into defense again, subconsciously taking two steps back, wary of the drive.
"I won't let you score so easi…"
Asagiri shot immediately.
A three pointer. Clean. Straight through.
"Stop spouting hot blooded lines," Asagiri said, tone lazy. "Go pick up the ball."
…
Half an hour later, outside the indoor basketball gym.
"Utsunomiya."
Dozens of basketball club members looked at Asagiri with open admiration. The captain, still grinning, patted Asagiri's shoulder.
"Anytime you want to join, the basketball club welcomes you. And we'll all support Shinomiya's election."
"Good," Asagiri replied. "If you can, gather votes too."
"Don't worry. Since you asked, we'll help."
Once they turned to leave, Fujiwara Chika immediately drifted close to Asagiri, eyes sparkling as she praised him.
"Utsunomiya, you looked so cool out there, and you got the basketball club to agree too. That was amazing!"
Neither Fujiwara nor Shinomiya understood basketball deeply, but even they could tell Asagiri was operating on an entirely different level.
In the past half hour, he had played one on one to twenty one points against five starting members, including the captain.
He won every game.
He shut all of them out.
His shooting was perfect.
Seeing Fujiwara's excitement, Asuna felt a sharp flicker of jealousy. She moved as if it were casual, stepping from Asagiri's left to his right, placing herself between her boyfriend and her friend. Then she coughed lightly twice.
"Um. Which club are we going to next?"
"Oh?"
Fujiwara bumped Asuna's shoulder gently, covering her mouth as she giggled.
"Are you jealous? So cute, Asuna."
Asuna pursed her lips, too shy to explain. Instead, she hugged Asagiri's arm, openly staking her claim.
"Eh?"
Fujiwara blinked, clearly surprised.
"Asuna, you're a meat eater? I didn't expect that."
"Chika."
At that moment, Kaguya Shinomiya walked over at an unhurried pace.
Her gaze swept across the arm Asuna was holding. She said nothing about it, but her eyes lingered for a beat before she looked at Asagiri and spoke in a calm tone.
"For efficiency, we should split up. You and Asuna Yuuki go to the Badminton Club and the Tennis Club. Chika and I will go to the Archery Club. Chika is also in the Board Game Club, so we'll handle that side as well."
She paused.
"Let's stop there for today. Agreed?"
"Okay."
Before they separated, Fujiwara Chika suddenly seemed to remember something. She pulled out her phone and smiled at Asagiri.
"Oh right, Utsunomiya. Kaguya finds it inconvenient to save male numbers, for certain reasons, so how about we exchange email addresses instead? That way it's easier to contact each other if something comes up. What do you think?"
"Sure."
Asagiri smiled and exchanged email addresses with Fujiwara.
After they parted ways, Asuna lowered her voice.
"Want to send Chika an email? You can use any excuse. She probably won't suspect anything. If you use Crazy Mita's ability, you might get useful information from her phone. At the very least, you could see her Player status panel."
"Hm…"
Asagiri considered it, then shook his head.
"Not yet. We don't know what Fujiwara and Shinomiya can do. We also can't be sure they won't detect Crazy Mita's hack. If they notice, they'll turn into enemies immediately, and our Player identities will be exposed."
He glanced at her.
"While they aren't enemies, there's no need to risk it just to probe them."
"Mm. That's true."
"Let's go."
Asagiri looked at her hand still hooked around his arm and smiled.
"You're going to keep holding on like that? There's no need at school. You can hold on as much as you want after we get home."
Asuna's face turned bright red. She let go instantly, then fiddled with her long hair in embarrassment and irritation.
"Tch. I wasn't that eager to hold you. I just wanted to keep you away from Chika. Don't be so narcissistic."
Even as she said it, she reached out and took his hand on her own.
Her voice dropped to a whisper, cheeks still red.
"But since you brought it up… come with me to my place to grab a change of clothes, and then… we'll go to your place."
…
A little later, inside Yuuki Asuna's apartment in Ginza, Tokyo.
"I'm changed. Let's go."
She was no longer in her Shuchiin Academy uniform. Instead, she wore a white lace short sleeved blouse with a long red skirt and a pair of delicate leather shoes. The outfit was not flashy, but it carried a calm, gentle aura.
Almost like a married woman.
Asagiri did not answer right away.
He stood from the sofa and looked her over with quiet focus.
Asuna noticed his gaze and grew shy. She twirled a lock of flaxen hair around her finger and asked carefully.
"What is it…? Does it look bad?"
"That's not it."
Asagiri stepped closer. He kissed her forehead lightly, then looked straight into her flushed face with a smile.
"I just think you look exactly like a newlywed wife."
"Newlywed wife…"
Asuna's lips tightened. She whispered, embarrassed.
"Are you making some weird dirty joke?"
Asagiri answered with righteous seriousness.
"If you think I'm making a dirty joke, that just means you imagined something inappropriate first."
"You…!"
Asuna was about to fire back when her phone suddenly rang.
She pulled it out, and the moment she saw the caller name, she froze.
A rare panic flickered across her face.
"It's my mom," she whispered. "What do I do?"
.....
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