Chapter 59 - 59: I’m in Sage Mode Now

Utaha tried to suppress the nervous anticipation bubbling inside her, pretending to focus on her notes. In the quiet room, no one except Haru noticed anything unusual about her. Even Yukino, usually sharp and observant, didn't catch on. She wasn't the type to scrutinize others every second—there were more important matters at hand. The only reason Haru picked up on it was because of his [Auto-Aim] skill. Just a moment ago, when he answered Utaha's question, his skill had locked onto her. Whether it was the subtle shift in her emotions or the way her black-stockinged legs pressed together under the table, he noticed it all. But noticing was one thing—he didn't dwell on it. Utaha seemed to be in a good state of mind today, meaning there wouldn't be any issues with the upcoming shoot. After finishing his explanation to Megumi Kato, he was about to leave when she suddenly asked, "Amamiya-san, do you ever come back to practice after club activities?" Her voice was soft, but in the hushed room, it rang out clearly. Almost everyone turned to look. "Unless I forget something, I don't usually come back… But why do you ask?" Megumi replied casually, "I heard the choir club's president does that often. The other day, a member accidentally caught him." Ah. Haru remembered hearing that rumor earlier today, buried somewhere within the gossip about him and Yukino. From across the room, Yukino averted her gaze. So, the rumors about the choir club were true after all. "I respect his dedication, but that's not something I'd do. I go straight home every day—I don't linger outside much," Haru explained. Megumi seemed to be warming up to the conversation. "I thought that after hearing the rumor, you might not return to the club but would still find time to practice on your own." "Like what?" "For example, everyone can tell that Yukinoshita-san wants this shoot to be perfect. I figured you might be scouting locations to help her." "Not at all." Just as he spoke, he noticed Yukino looking at him. Haru smiled and shook his head, signaling that he truly hadn't meddled. Yukino didn't comment. Although, given Haru's personality, she wouldn't have been surprised if he had. Sensing this unspoken thought, Haru turned back to Megumi. "I already said the shoot depends on you all. I'll only step in when absolutely necessary—no more, no less." Noticing Megumi's lingering gaze, he added, "I probably won't leave my house all week… Oh, except tonight. I need to go buy some things." "I see. Guess I overthought it." With that, Megumi returned to her script. From the corner of his eye, Haru saw a flicker of change in Utaha's expression. Thanks, Kato. Now that neither of the girls was paying attention to him anymore, Haru didn't bother figuring out why. Megumi's sudden question had scattered his thoughts anyway. As he settled back into his seat, he saw that everyone was diligently working. His [Teaching] skill had even gained some experience points, filling him with a sense of accomplishment. It felt just like finally beating a tough boss after countless failed attempts in a game. At this moment, he felt completely content—without desire or distraction. Not even Yukino's slender waist and legs, Utaha's curves and charm, or Megumi's occasional glimpses of cuteness could shake him. This was his own version of [Sage Mode]. A sudden cough snapped him out of his thoughts. Regaining focus, he saw Yukino shooting him a subtle glare. What did I do? He paused for a second, then realized that while zoning out, his gaze had landed squarely on Yukino's stocking-clad legs. No wonder she had coughed to get his attention. Glancing at the focused club members, Haru picked up a notepad and continued his silent exchange with Megumi from earlier. He scribbled: You're overthinking. I'm in [Sage Mode] right now—nothing can stir my interest. Then, he passed the notepad to Yukino. She eyed it curiously. The moment she read it, her beautiful face twisted into a look of sheer exasperation. Seeing that she wasn't taking it, Haru simply shoved the notebook into her hands. Sighing, Yukino gave him a sidelong glance before writing: Should I praise your childishness? I haven't played this 'passing notes' game since elementary school. Haru replied with a dead-serious expression: Focus on what I said. Yukino: "Sage" is supposed to be a noble word, yet when you use it, it sounds incredibly untrustworthy. Haru fell silent. Of course, Yukino wouldn't understand the [Sage Mode] reference. And he wasn't about to dig his own grave by explaining it. After all, he had already made a reckless mistake last night. She still hadn't confronted him about it yet. So, to smooth things over, he finished with a compliment: Oh gracious and lovely Lady Yukinoshita, please forgive my impertinence. The moment she read it, Yukino instantly understood he was referring to last night. She let out a dry chuckle but didn't give him a definitive response. Haru had a bad feeling about this. Luckily, Yukino was too focused on club matters to bring it up, and even after they went home, she didn't seek him out for payback. Meanwhile, after dinner, Haru lounged in the living room, petting his cat and waiting for news. By the time the clock hit 7 PM, neither the police nor any unexpected visitors had shown up. Just as he was wondering about it, his phone rang—it was his father. Over the call, his father mentioned that a soon-to-be-promoted police inspector, Yuto Yuki, had contacted them. Apparently, Yuki had initially reached out through the Yukinoshita family, and this afternoon, he had called again, all of it relating to Haru. Haru quickly pieced it together. No wonder the inspector hadn't interfered in his previous incident—he had been waiting for the right opportunity to advance his career. Haru didn't hide anything and gave his father a brief rundown of the situation. "I see. His name is Yuto Yuki. He probably learned about your 'heroic deeds' and decided to step in. He'll likely smooth things over again this time." After the call ended, Haru sighed in admiration. Talented people really don't let opportunities slip by. All he had done was get into an altercation on the street, yet the inspector had used it as a stepping stone for his promotion. At least this saved Haru a trip to the police station. Originally, he had planned to cooperate with their investigation, but now he didn't need to. "I'm heading out." "Meow~" After greeting his orange tabby, Haru grabbed his phone and stepped outside. They were running low on tea and fruit at home. If Yukino came over and found nothing, she would definitely nag him about it. On his way back from the store, Haru noticed a crowd gathered in front of a convenience store. He had no intention of getting involved but glanced over anyway. A motorcycle lay overturned, a man was on the ground, and a woman was frantically making a phone call. Just a regular traffic accident. He was about to walk away when, out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a familiar figure standing at the edge of the crowd. Tall and curvy, dressed in her usual impeccable uniform, with sleek black hair cascading over her shoulders—stunning to the point of being unreal. It was Utaha. She was craning her neck to see what was going on. After seemingly satisfying her curiosity, she turned her head—only to lock eyes with Haru. For a brief second, she froze. Then, a delighted smile spread across her youthful face. "What a coincidence! What are you doing here?" Before he could answer, she was already walking toward him. Haru greeted her with a smile while glancing at the small bag in her hand. The bag wasn't tied shut, making it easy to see the neatly packaged charger inside. Utaha also noticed his gaze and lifted the bag slightly as if to show him. "My spare charger broke, and since I just finished revising the opening of my new book, I thought I'd come out and buy a new one... What about you? Here to buy some fruit?" She had seen the apples and pears in Haru's bag. "Yeah, we ran out at home." Haru nodded. "So, are you walking with me, or staying to watch the commotion?" "I'll walk with you. Nothing worth seeing there." "True." They avoided the crowd and continued on their way. Given that Haru was now dating Yukino, the atmosphere between them felt somewhat awkward. Even the topics they could talk about seemed limited. Yet, for some inexplicable reason, Utaha enjoyed this moment. Even if they had nothing to talk about, she still liked it. And she savored it. Nothing else really mattered. Just like how she would never tell him that she actually knew the general area where he lived and had been waiting on this path for two and a half hours. Nor would she tell him how hard she had to suppress the excitement in her heart when she finally saw him appear, pretending instead to be part of the crowd watching the commotion. Buying a charger was both an excuse and not. She had known for a while that her spare charger was broken but had never been in a rush to replace it. Today, however, the excuse came in handy. Half true, half false—this was the best way to avoid suspicion. If Katou Megumi were here, she would probably say, "Senpai, you're being impatient again." Utaha knew it too. But some emotions were beyond her control. Whenever she felt uneasy, she wanted to see Haru, even though he was already someone else's boyfriend and might not have any feelings for her at all. Yet, just walking beside him now, exchanging occasional words about school, she felt inexplicably content. Like a hamster that failed to store enough food for winter, secretly nibbling on a rare treat in the cold. It wasn't overwhelming joy, but it was enough for now. She probably hadn't even realized that because the person she liked was so dazzling, the once-proud Utaha had started doing things she would never have done before, all because of the creeping feeling of inferiority. "I just remembered something. Why don't you go ahead?" Haru stopped at the intersection. Utaha deliberately teased, "Now that you have a girlfriend, are you planning to keep your distance from all other girls?" "Where did that come from? I just remembered Koji and the others… You've met them before—the group of young guys trying their best to stream. I haven't checked in on them for a while, so I thought I'd stop by." "Oh, them." For some reason, as she said that, her expression became rather strange. A subtle, indescribable kind of strange. And then she gave him the answer. "I was a little curious about what you taught them, so I looked up their channel and watched them stream for two days." As she spoke, her gaze toward him became even more peculiar. Haru cleared his throat. "And? What did you think?" "Ridiculous." Utaha gave a single-word response. Then, rubbing her temples as if in mild pain, she added, "Maybe 'ridiculous' isn't quite the right word, but I can't think of anything better. It's just… bizarre. And yet, their streams are insanely popular. I started questioning my own perception." "In Chinese, we call that 'abstract content.'" Haru chuckled awkwardly. After all, even he found it hard to describe abstract culture. If something looks abstract, then it is abstract. The idea had been his, and Utaha and Katou Megumi had been there to witness the whole thing. Now he was curious—had Megumi also checked out the streams? And what did she think of them? "Abstract?" Utaha repeated the word with an odd pronunciation. Then, quite naturally, she added, "I haven't learned that part yet." "Learned what?" Haru was confused. "Chinese." She said it like it was no big deal. "Oh, I see." Haru nodded, choosing not to press further. His instincts told him that she was learning Chinese most likely because of Yukino. As they walked toward the street filled with amateur streamers, Utaha brought up a topic. "Did you see the news today?" "No." Haru had a hunch about what she was going to say. "That hooded vigilante who went viral in short videos last time is in the news again today." As expected, she brought it up. Haru played along. "I think I've heard of him, but sudden viral news like this isn't uncommon. It's happened before." Utaha, however, said, "I feel like this time is different. He's made the news twice now for helping to catch criminals. The police even confirmed that he's been acting as a vigilante…" She paused briefly before chuckling. "Just hearing about it, you'd probably think he's some young guy burning with chuunibyou spirit. But he really is doing good things." Haru was slightly surprised. If even Utaha was taking an interest in this, then the gossip-loving masses must be paying even closer attention. He figured the media's frenzy was likely because the police had confirmed the vigilante's actions, making it safer for them to report. That, in turn, fueled public enthusiasm. But what does this hooded guy have to do with me? Before long, they found Koji and his friends. Compared to the early days when no one paid them any attention, their popularity had skyrocketed. Now, a crowd of young people surrounded them, streaming their performances live. Haru didn't go over to greet them. For one, he didn't want to interrupt their work or appear on camera. The other reason? He recognized all of their outfits. He could keep a straight face from a distance, but if he got too close and started talking, he knew he'd crack up. From game characters to real-life celebrities, their cosplay lineup was wild. Standing beside Haru, Utaha watched for a while before frowning slightly. She really couldn't handle this kind of streaming culture. To her, it was pure chaos. Haru's voice pulled her out of her thoughts. "If you're not comfortable, we can head back." Utaha turned to see his calm expression. "You're leaving already? If you want to say hi, don't worry about me." She wanted to show that she was understanding. Haru gave her a complicated look. "You really think I can just go up and talk to them? What if I accidentally end up on their livestream?" Utaha smirked. "Then by tomorrow, you'll be the latest school gossip—'Streamer Amamiya Haru, Live 1v10.'" "…Did you really just say that?" "Well, I did spend two days watching their chat. I saw the comments too." "Impressive. No wonder you're the top student in our year. Your learning ability is terrifying." "Thank you for the compliment." They turned and walked away together. The two started walking back. As they moved along the street, Haru noticed three high school boys gathered on the sidewalk, watching something. Two of them looked familiar. One was the blond guy who had warned him about the broken water faucet at the park. The other was the wannabe literary youth who had dramatically mused about "the wind being restless" on the grass. "See, Tadakuni? I told you the Hooded Hero is blowing up! Look at how many streamers are copying his look." "This is ridiculous. The way they joke around on camera doesn't match the righteous image the Hooded Hero has in the news." "Exactly. I feel the same way." The three chatted for a bit, seemingly unimpressed with what they were watching. Then, they happened to cross paths with Haru and Utaha. The boy with glasses froze. "It's you?" His voice immediately became awkward. The blond guy, however, remained composed. "Oh, I remember you. We met at the park that day." Haru hadn't planned to say anything, but since they greeted him first, he smiled and nodded. "Yeah, thanks for the heads-up back then." "Ah, that was just a small thing…" The blond boy trailed off mid-sentence, his expression suddenly growing serious. The boy with glasses also seemed tense. Only the third boy, with delicate features, looked confused. Haru was baffled. "What's wrong?" The blond boy spoke in a grave tone. "…You're a normie." The glasses-wearing boy nodded in agreement. "I suspected it the moment I saw you. You're definitely a normie. How infuriating." The third boy let out a sigh. "Hey, you two, don't just throw around rude accusations like that." Haru chuckled, just about to clarify—when Utaha suddenly smiled and spoke first. "You've got it wrong. I'm not his girlfriend." Huh? Haru blinked. So, it looks like Senpai is back to her usual self? That's a relief. "Yoshitake, do you believe that?" "Nope. Tadakuni, what about you?" "I… I don't believe it either." The three boys walked off, their voices filled with envy and frustration. "The last time I saw him, he was with another girl. And she was really beautiful." "What?! There's another one?!" As they left, a metaphorical dark cloud seemed to hover over their heads. Utaha withdrew her gaze and asked curiously, "Are they people you know?" "Sort of. I just didn't expect to run into them here." Haru thought to himself—so many coincidences today. Then he recalled something. In the scene he had glimpsed before his transmigration, those three seemed to spend their days in the same dull routine. So, running into them like this wasn't all that surprising. Turning to the girl beside him, Haru said, "Since you don't like places like this, I'll walk you home first." Utaha blinked, her clear eyes reflecting his face. She wasn't used to this kind of atmosphere, that much was true. But she also knew Haru got along well with those streamers. She had originally planned to just keep him company, figuring that even if she didn't enjoy it, she could endure it for a while. What she hadn't expected was for Haru to notice her discomfort right away—and then, without hesitation, repeat his offer. To have someone who understands your warmth and your sorrow… If only she could walk through life with such a person by her side. As she followed him, Utaha found herself longing for a summer love story that belonged to her alone. But unfortunately, he already had a girlfriend. Utaha quietly watched his face. Just then, a group of streamers and their excited fans approached from behind. Haru reached out and gently pulled her back. "Step aside." Once the lively crowd had passed, he teased, "Spacing out in the middle of the street is dangerous. If I hadn't reacted fast enough, you might've been swept away." "Thanks." Surprisingly, Utaha didn't say anything else—just a simple word of gratitude. She rubbed her knee; a girl had bumped into her earlier, and it still hurt a little. But when she straightened up again, she didn't mention it. Instead, she simply said, "Let's go. I should head home." Haru watched her quietly. He remembered—she could be stubborn sometimes, holding on even when she was struggling. They walked for a while, but soon, her steps grew uneven. Still, she refused to show any sign of weakness. "…Stop." Haru sighed, exasperated. When Utaha turned to him with a questioning look, he asked, "Is it really that hard for you to ask me for help?"