When the lunch bell rang, the classroom quickly fractured into loud, shifting groups. Saki, predictably, slipped out almost immediately—probably heading somewhere isolated so she could secretly talk to Terriermon.
Perfect.
Kenji stayed at his desk. He politely waved off a small group of girls and two guys who had awkwardly hovered near him to ask if he wanted to eat with them. "Sorry, I have something I need to take care of," he said, flashing a faint, easy smile that left them flushed but backing away without argument.
Once the room was mostly clear, he pulled a crisp, unlined sheet of paper from his bag.
He didn't need to write a massive, poetic essay. It just needed to be direct, confident, and impossible to misunderstand. He clicked his pen and let his handwriting flow—sharp, elegant, and intentional.
*Saki,*
*I know this is sudden, but my eyes have been drawn to you since I walked into the classroom this morning. Please meet me behind the old gymnasium after school. There's something important I want to tell you.*
*— Kenji Sato.*
He folded it cleanly. Walking past Saki's desk, he slipped the note right on top of her pencil case where she absolutely couldn't miss it when she returned.
*Phase one, complete,* he thought, sitting back down with a quiet sense of satisfaction.
The rest of the school day felt agonizingly slow, but the second the final bell rang, Kenji grabbed his bag and headed straight for the rendezvous point.
The area behind the old gym was a classic trope for a reason. It was quiet, out of the way, and shaded by a line of tall trees that blocked the view from the main courtyard. It was the perfect stage to make Saki feel like she was the main character for once.
Kenji leaned back against the weathered brick wall, shoved one hand casually into his pocket, and waited.
Five minutes passed. Then ten.
He stared up at the leaves, feeling a brief flicker of doubt. Saki was incredibly timid. It was entirely possible that getting a letter from the guy the whole class was currently obsessing over had completely terrified her. What if she just grabbed her bag and bolted home? If she ghosted him, he'd have to figure out a new angle to build up her confidence.
But then, he heard the faint, hesitant crunch of gravel.
Kenji turned his head.
Saki peeked around the corner of the gym building. Her posture was stiff, her shoulders hunched up near her ears as if she expected someone to jump out and laugh at her. But there, clutched tightly in both of her hands against her chest, was his folded letter.
Kenji pushed himself off the wall, standing tall and letting his posture settle into that effortless, commanding charm he knew he had. It was time to give this girl the biggest confidence boost of her life.
He looked right at her, holding her gaze.
Before he could say a word, Saki took a tiny half-step forward. Her knuckles were practically white from gripping the paper so tightly.
"Um..." Her voice was barely above a whisper, trembling slightly. She looked down at the letter, then back up at him, her eyes wide with sudden realization. "Sato-kun... your name. Are you... Kenji? From the group chat?"
Kenji dropped the intimidatingly cool aura for just a second, offering a small, genuine smile. "I am."
Saki let out a breath she looked like she'd been holding since lunch. Her shoulders instantly dropped an inch. "I... I thought so. But I wasn't sure. You just look so..." She trailed off, flushing slightly.
Kenji stepped a little closer, lowering his voice so only she could hear. "I wrote the letter for a couple of reasons, Saki. But the main one was to get you alone so I could assure you that you aren't doing this by yourself. We're here."
She blinked, confused. "We?"
"Check your system," Kenji instructed quietly.
Saki's eyes unfocused for a second as she pulled up her interface. He watched her expression shift from confusion to absolute shock, her lips parting as she read the prompt.
[Mission: Protect Saki Yoshida.]
"Subaru is here too," Kenji whispered. "He's a year above us."
His eyes flicked briefly toward the corner of the gym building.
He had already heard the faint crunch of gravel a minute ago. He could see the very edge of a shadow stretching across the dirt, and hear the hushed, frantic breathing of at least three girls from their class who had absolutely followed the handsome new transfer student to see who he was meeting.
The audience was in position.
It was time for the second reason he wrote the letter.
He took a step back, giving Saki her personal space, and instantly shifted his posture. He stood tall, his expression melting into one of absolute, unwavering devotion. It was the kind of look that would make anyone's heart stop.
When he spoke this time, his voice was louder. Clear, resonant, and carrying perfectly around the corner of the building for the eavesdroppers to hear every single syllable.
"Saki," Kenji said, letting his voice carry a heavy, earnest weight.
Saki flinched, startled by the sudden volume and the intense look in his eyes. "H-Huh?"
"I know I just transferred here today, and I know this might seem incredibly fast," Kenji declared boldly, looking her right in the eyes. "But from the exact moment I walked into that classroom and saw you, I couldn't look away. You're the only person I see."
Behind the wall, someone let out a completely unrestrained, muffled squeak of shock. Saki's face turned the color of a stop sign, her brain completely short-circuiting as she stared up at him.
Kenji didn't break character for a second. He gave her a breathtaking, entirely sincere-looking smile.
"I've fallen completely in love with you," he said, the words echoing cleanly off the brick walls. "Please, Saki. Be my girlfriend."
"W-Wait!" Saki squeaked, her face completely flushed as she clutched the letter to her chest. "Kenji, we... we've only been talking in the chat for a single day! And this is our very first time actually meeting in person! You can't just say things like that!"
Kenji didn't break eye contact. He poured every ounce of earnest, unwavering emotion he could muster into his voice, making sure it carried perfectly. "Time doesn't matter to me, Saki. The moment I saw you sitting there today, everything just clicked. I want to protect you. I want you by my side."
Saki's breath hitched. Her eyes went wide, swimming with a mix of shock and overwhelming relief. He was so handsome, so intense, and he had come across worlds just for her.
"I..." Saki swallowed hard, her voice trembling but yielding. "If you really mean it.."
Kenji immediately stepped into her space and leaned down. "Stop," he breathed, cutting her off completely.
Saki froze, her lips still parted. "Huh?"
His lovesick expression didn't change at all, but his voice dropped to a barely audible whisper. "Don't actually answer. I'm not asking you out."
"W-What?" she whispered back, completely bewildered.
"There are three girls from our class hiding around the corner listening right now," Kenji murmured gently. "If the new transfer student is passionately obsessed with you the other girls will want to know why. They'll approach you. It'll force you out of your comfort zone, help you make real friends, and make you too visible for Hayato to isolate."
Saki just stared up at him. The romantic tension that had just possessed her completely popped like a balloon.
Kenji leaned back slightly, raising his voice again for the audience. "You don't have to give me an answer right away, Saki! I know I surprised you. Just... please think about it!"
Behind the brick wall, there was a sharp, collective gasp, followed by the frantic crunch of gravel as the eavesdroppers sprinted off to spread the news.
Kenji dropped the act, looking satisfied. "Perfect. They bought it completely."
He looked back at Saki, expecting her to be relieved. Instead, she was looking down at her shoes, her cheeks puffed out in a very obvious, very grumpy pout.
Kenji blinked, genuinely confused. "What's wrong? The plan worked."
"You're a jerk," Saki mumbled, refusing to meet his eyes. "You just made my heart feel like it was going to explode out of my chest... and it was just a strategy."
"I..." Kenji faltered, completely caught off guard by her reaction. "It protects you."
Saki just pouted harder, kicking a small pebble with the toe of her shoe.
Kenji rubbed the back of his neck, feeling a strange twinge of guilt. He stepped closer, his voice softening into something entirely genuine this time. "Hey. I didn't mean to upset you. I'm just trying to make sure you're safe here, okay? I'm sorry if I startled you."
Saki peeked up at him through her bangs. The pout lessened just a fraction. "...Fine."
Kenji let out a small breath of relief. Without overthinking it, he reached out and gently took her hand, lacing his fingers through hers. her blush once faded, began returning in full force.
"Come on," Kenji said, giving her hand a reassuring squeeze. "Let's head back to class."
The walk back to the classroom was entirely silent, though She was still a little pouty, refusing to look at him, but she didn't try to pull her hand away either.
Kenji didn't let go until they reached the sliding door of their classroom.
The moment they walked in, the atmosphere hit them like a physical wall. The three girls who had been eavesdropping had clearly done their work, and they had worked fast.
Half the class instantly snapped their heads toward the door. Hushed whispers erupted like wildfire, with eyes darting between the incredibly handsome transfer student and the usually invisible Saki.
Saki shrank under the sudden, heavy spotlight, her pout completely replaced by wide-eyed panic. Kenji just offered her one last, painfully gentle smile for the audience, nodded, and walked calmly to his seat.
Saki hurried to hers, burying her face in her arms just as the bell rang and the teacher walked in to start the afternoon block.
———
[Subaru POV]
Meanwhile, one floor up, Natsuki Subaru was bored out of his mind.
He rested his chin on his hand, lazily spinning a pencil between his fingers as the second-year math teacher droned on about equations he didn't care about.
Nobody was talking to him. He was the new transfer student up here, but unlike Kenji, he hadn't bothered doing anything flashy to draw attention. He was just sitting there, completely ignored. Not that he minded. With everything he had been through, reading a room and forcing his way into conversations was practically second nature now; he could easily become the center of attention if he actually wanted to.
But right now, he had zero interest in high school politics. He was entirely focused on the blue, translucent screen hovering in his peripheral vision.
[Protect Saki Yoshida]
[Target of Intervention: Hayato ____]
[Threat Level: non-existing / Escalating]
Subaru stopped spinning his pencil. His eyes traced over the glowing text for what felt like the hundredth time today.
Kenji was handling the ground floor, keeping a direct eye on Saki. They had agreed earlier that raising Saki's self-confidence was the best way to make sure she didn't just fold the second Hayato pressured her. If she had a spine and an actual social circle, a bully couldn't isolate her.
But it was the bottom line of the system prompt that was bothering him.
Threat Level: non-existing / Escalating.
Subaru glanced out the window, staring at the completely ordinary school courtyard below. This world was exactly like his original one before he got isekaied. No magic. Just normal buildings, normal cars, and normal, fragile people.
So how could a regular guy become so dangerous that a multidimensional system had to summon people from other worlds to stop him?
Subaru's brow furrowed, a cold, unsettling feeling washing over him. a threat "escalating" usually meant something much darker, much more grounded in reality. Stalking. Violence. Something that couldn't just be talked away.
If this Hayato guy really was going to push things past the point of no return in a mundane world without healing magic or respawns... what were their actual rules of engagement?
Subaru's eyes narrowed slightly as he stared blankly at his desk.
Will we have to kill him?