Chapter 31

Pushing open the door of the apartment, Kitagawa Kako was, as usual, sweeping the courtyard.

It seemed that even after drinking a lot of alcohol last night, this habit of hers had not changed.

"Kako, good morning!" Aoba greeted her first.

"Aoba-kun, good morning!" Kitagawa Kako stopped sweeping and said, then a mischievous smile appeared on her face as she looked outside the courtyard, "But there's a cute junior who arrived even earlier than you!"

Aoba followed her gaze and saw Chihana Haruka, who hadn't appeared for a long time.

The current Chihana Haruka was like a completely different person compared to before. Her original ponytail had been changed to a more suitable hairstyle, which made her already cute appearance even more stunning.

Although she was still wearing the school uniform, it was clearly modified by a professional, making the ordinary uniform fit her body perfectly, accentuating her figure just right.

All of this was clearly the work of the idol agency that signed Chihana Haruka. Even Aoba had to admit, it was indeed a professional idol agency.

Despite the significant change in appearance, what remained unchanged was the genuine joy in her eyes when she saw Aoba.

"Senpai, it's been a long time." Chihana Haruka hopped over to Aoba and said, while secretly glancing at Kitagawa Kako, clearly feeling embarrassed with someone else present.

"Oh, it seems I'm the third wheel! I'll disappear for a while then." Kitagawa Kako said with a mischievous smile, teasing the two of them before turning to walk into the apartment.

"It's been a long time, Haruka." Aoba greeted Chihana Haruka.

"Senpai, the agency has been very busy lately, so I didn't have time to prepare a bento for you! Here, I made this one especially for you today." Chihana Haruka handed the bento box to Aoba with a smile.

"Thank you, I'll eat it all." Aoba took the bento and replied with a smile.

"Hehe!" Chihana Haruka blushed slightly and smiled, "There are still many things to do at the agency, so I'll be going now, Senpai."

Chihana Haruka then said goodbye and left.

"Okay, work hard." Aoba raised the bento in his hand to encourage her.

"I will, see you later, Senpai." The energetic girl waved to Aoba and ran off.

When Aoba entered the classroom with the bento box in hand, just as the bell rang, the first thing he saw was the homeroom teacher, Mizuki Yuka, standing at the podium, ready to take attendance.

"Good morning, Yuka-chan." Aoba greeted Mizuki Yuka, and he was probably the only one in the class who called her that.

"Uesugi-kun, how can you call a teacher by her first name! And with a 'chan' at the end!" Mizuki Yuka countered sternly, but Aoba always ignored her.

"Got it, Yuka-chan." Aoba replied and walked to his seat.

Mizuki Yuka couldn't do anything about him and could only look at him helplessly, finally saying, "Uesugi-kun, can you please come to school a bit earlier next time? Don't always arrive just as the bell rings."

"Sure, Yuka-chan." Aoba said as he sat down.

One of the benefits of having a divine spirit was that his comprehension and memory far exceeded that of ordinary people. He could recite anything he read once, and understand it with just a bit of thought.

For the knowledge in the textbooks, Aoba only needed to read them once to basically master them, so during class, he always let things go in one ear and out the other, not paying attention to what was being taught. However, if you called on him to answer a question, he would definitely be able to answer.

So, gradually, the teachers who used to call on him to answer questions to deliberately make things difficult for him because he wasn't paying attention stopped doing so, and Aoba became even more at ease.

At the end of a class, during the break, Ishihara Yuma, Aoba's best friend at school, came over and they started chatting.

"Aoba, you usually don't bring Shiro Oni with you, right?" Ishihara Yuma asked curiously in a low voice, looking around to make sure no one was listening.

"Why would I bring her? Shiro Oni usually stays at home." Aoba replied.

"But if you suddenly encounter a situation where you need to fight, wouldn't it be troublesome without a familiar?" Ishihara Yuma continued.

"Do you think this is a shonen manga? Where do you get so many fights in real life!" Aoba rolled his eyes at Ishihara Yuma, showing his disdain for applying manga logic to reality.

"Is it not like that? Well, maybe it's because in manga, the protagonist often gets careless and doesn't bring their weapons, and then gets ambushed by the enemy, so I just thought that way." Ishihara Yuma scratched his head, embarrassed.

"Moreover, you got the most crucial part wrong." Aoba pointed out, emphasizing with a finger.

"What part?" Ishihara Yuma asked, his attention drawn to the finger.

"The strong one isn't Shiro Oni, it's me! If I really encounter an enemy I can't handle, having more Shiro Oni wouldn't help." Aoba pointed at himself with the finger.

"Huh? But in manga, isn't the familiar always stronger than the master?" Ishihara Yuma automatically applied the manga worldview again.

"You said it yourself, it's a manga! And if you think about it seriously, Shiro Oni isn't a familiar at all! At least, not like the so-called familiars in Japan!" Aoba shook his head.

"Not a familiar? Then what is she?" Ishihara Yuma asked.

"This? Forget it, just think of her as a familiar!" Aoba patted Ishihara Yuma's shoulder and looked at him firmly.

"Hey, I feel like you're just brushing me off!" Ishihara Yuma said with a raised eyebrow.

"Exactly, because explaining it would be too much trouble, so just think of Shiro Oni as a familiar! It's not that different anyway." Aoba nodded and said sternly.

"You, explain it clearly!" Ishihara Yuma stood up and leaned in towards Aoba.

"Ah, look, it's a beautiful girl!" Aoba pretended to be surprised and looked out the window towards the corridor.

"Don't change the subject." Ishihara Yuma was unmoved.

"Huh? There really is a beautiful girl." Aoba, who had intended to change the subject, actually saw a beautiful girl this time.

Not just him, but all the boys in the class looked out the window.

So, listening to the low whispers of the boys in the class, Ishihara Yuma finally believed what Aoba said and turned to look at the corridor outside the window.