Chapter 32 - 32: This is cheating!

After dealing with the group of young people, as they all fell into deep thought, Haru picked up the menu and handed it to them. Treating them to a meal was necessary. However, before that, he needed to send Utaha and Kato Megumi on their way. Both girls were heading home for dinner, so it wasn't convenient for them to stay. The three of them walked to the entrance. The rain wasn't heavy at the moment, but they still needed an umbrella. Haru made a call to the company's driver. The driver had been arranged by his mother. Haru's mother, in her effort to pamper her son, not only arranged for a driver but also wanted to hire someone to take care of his daily life. haru had rejected the offer to have someone watch over him, as he didn't like having strangers around. But the driver was a different story—he had no real use for him, but his home was quite close to school, so he accepted. After he finishing the call, Utaha asked, "When does the experimental short film for the club begin filming?" "If everything goes well, we should start this weekend." "Then I'll be looking forward to it," Utaha said with some anticipation. Suddenly, Kato Megumi's voice chimed in, "Did you also join the photography club, Senior?" "Yes, I just joined today..." As Utaha spoke, she felt something was off. The next moment, her guess was confirmed. "Amamiya-kun, is the photography club still looking for members? I'd like to join as well." There wasn't much expression on Kato Megumi's fair face. Before Haru could respond, Utaha asked first, "Kato Megumi, you haven't joined a club yet?" Kato Megumi shook her head. She didn't have a club, and her friends were scarce. Haru, of course, welcomed the new experience points. While the two girls conversed, Utaha discreetly sized up Kato Megumi. At first glance, Kato Megumi seemed quite ordinary, with no standout features. But upon a closer look, Utaha thought her face was fine, her figure was good, and her personality was decent too. With so many "decent" qualities combined, she couldn't just call her "ordinary." The driver arrived soon, and the two girls got in, waving goodbye. Just before the car started, Kato Megumi stole another glance at Haru. She hadn't told him, but she wasn't the type to easily start a conversation. The reason she'd spoken to him that day was because the impression he'd left on her as a child had been so strong. After sending the two girls off, Haru returned to the restaurant for his meal. The meal didn't take long; the young people were eager to chase their dreams, and Haru was eager to get home to test out his new skills. On the way home, he specifically bought a telescope. After taking a quick shower at home, he didn't even pet his orange cat but immediately grabbed the telescope and went out to the balcony. [You are aiming at a distant target. (Auto-aim) Experience +13.] [You are aiming at a distant target. (Auto-aim) Experience +17.] Experience kept rising, and when the "Auto-aim" skill hit level 2, Harucould feel a subtle change. While practicing with the telescope, he had inadvertently noticed someone else on a nearby balcony holding a telescope as well. Their gazes met. It was like a direct duel through the lens. But it wasn't anything inappropriate. Haru saw that the person had a sketchpad beside them, with half-drawn skyscrapers on it. With "Auto-aim" reaching level 2, he observed the distance again and could vaguely feel an intuition guiding him to where there were people or where a bird might be hopping on a rooftop. The sensation was faint, so faint that without his full concentration, it would have been hard to notice. It felt different from the usual way his eyes naturally scanned the surroundings; it was more like an automatic identification of targets, like in a first-person shooter game where enemies were outlined on the screen. "This really is starting to feel like a cheat," Haru muttered, rubbing his eyes. The skill panel wasn't as simple as it seemed. Every skill took exponentially more experience to level up after level 5, and the boosts he could feel were much more significant. At this point, he was very eager to find out what would happen at level 10. Without hesitation, he pulled out his phone and messaged Oyama from the Karate Club: "Hey, do you have time tonight? I'm feeling the urge to spar again. How about we find a place to continue?" It took about five minutes for Oyama to reply: "Of course, I'm always up for a spar with someone as skilled as you. I'll get better faster." They agreed to meet at 6:30. The next day after school, Yukino and the others were surprised to find that Haru wasn't heading to his usual training. "What's going on?" Yukino asked, unable to hide her confusion. She knew Haru too well—once he decided to do something, unless something unexpected happened, he wouldn't change his mind. Haru felt a little awkward under their curious gazes. "I called senior out last night. We ended up sparring again." "And then?" "Then senior probably wasn't prepared enough, didn't manage his energy well, and while we were sparring, he ended up throwing up." Everyone: "..." Yukino looked at him with a sense of helplessness. "I've known for a while that your stamina is impressive, but you managed to make a karate club ace puke—you're really something." "Will you still go for sparring in the future?" Utaha was more concerned about that. Haru nodded. Although his senior had gotten sick, he felt a bit bad about it, but his senior was very eager to improve. He'd immediately said that throwing up was nothing, and they could try again another day. Haru planned to invite his senior out for a meal sometime to make up for it, or he'd feel guilty. At that moment, a female voice came from the direction of the door: "Excuse me, I'm Kato Megumi. I've come to apply to join the photography club, Amamiya-kun." Kato Megumi? Yukino immediately turned her head. What met her eyes was Kato Megumi's face, which seemed rather ordinary at first glance. Haru stood up and explained, "This is Kato-san I mentioned to you. Something happened yesterday, and she decided to join the club." Yukino's expression remained unchanged, her eyes never leaving the girl. It wasn't until Kato Megumi finished filling out the form and greeted everyone kindly that Yukino still couldn't find anything particularly threatening about her. Very ordinary. Doesn't seem to have anything worth paying attention to. Yukino had thought that, at first. That was, until Haru finished going over the basics with the new members, and without me noticing, Kato Megumi had somehow ended up sitting right behind me. When Yukino realized this, she saw Kato Megumi politely asking, "Are you Yukinoshita-san? I ran into a few issues. When Amamiya-kun was explaining things to Yuigahama-san, he said if there's anything we don't understand, we can come ask you." "Is this how you always are?" Yukino asked the question suddenly. Kato Megumi tilted her head slightly, looking confused, as if she didn't quite understand. "What do you mean?" "It's nothing... What is it you don't understand?" Yukino rubbed her brow. When did she even sit behind me? If we were to use the terms from Haru's favorite video games, could this be considered "maxing out stealth skills and using flash to sneak in"? Yukino became intrigued by this seemingly ordinary girl. Not far away, Utaha was watching everything unfold. So it's not just me who finds Kato Megumi a bit unpredictable—Yukinoshita feels the same way too. For some reason, Utaha immediately felt a sense of balance within herself. Haru was also observing. However, his emotional reaction was a bit stronger. Because he realized that thanks to his "Auto-Aim" reaching level 2, as long as he stayed focused, he could lock onto Kato Megumi as easily as if he were playing a shooting game with an auto-targeting system. This is cheating! Now, there was no turning back. He had to play with this skill.