41 New Friend and The Gif (2/2)

”Well that's too bad. Even if I wanted to go, I have not the time to spare for such things. Exams are close, the nationals are after and a lot of other things I have to deal with at home”

”I'm not in a hurry. I'll wait when you're free but you have to give me your word that you'll go if you are”

”I doubt I'll be free but I'll give you that much” Kazuya really didn't have time because of everything he needed to accomplish. Just the addition of his new plan to make a company already overlapped with other plans so he needed to sacrifice a little time of his own development.

”Great! I'll take your word for it. Let's exchange contact numbers” The two exchanged contact information.

”…” Tomoyo stared at the development. She remembered she also was an owner of a cellphone but it was collecting dust in her bag. She wanted to exchange contact information with Kazuya as well. Kazuya noticed her stare and understood the look she was giving.

”You want to exchange contact information as well?” he didn't know that this girl had a cellphone until recently. With her acting as intermediary, he can send messages to Jirou via her. He didn't find anything wrong with giving him his number since she wouldn't be able to talk on the phone anyway.

”Whoa… you're really good at communicating with her Kazuya” Takaya gave him a look of admiration. Other people have tried communicating with her but a nod was as far as all those who tried got.

”Stop with the flattery. I won't respond to useless messages. I may not look like it but I'm pretty busy most of the time so if you don't have the patience to wait for a response, then don't bother sending me a message because I will immediately block you if you spam me with messages” he warned.

”Haha…” Takaya gave a dry laugh. He was definitely seen through.

The three continued to hang out until lunch break was over. Kazuya noticed a few people paying attention to him but he couldn't tell if they were observing them because of the attention grabbing S class member or if it was the usual observers. He figured that whoever commanded the Zako group now under his control had gotten wind of him going to school today.

The three returned to the classroom where Kazuya persuaded Tomoyo to let Takaya take his seat because he needed to study important books quietly. She stared at the boy sitting next to Kazuya as if wanting to let the poor boy vacate his seat.

”Go back to your seat” Kazuya told her but she ignored him. ”I was supposed to give you the present I promised but since you won't even let me study in peace…” he stopped saying anything after he got her full attention.

”…” Tomoyo put out both of her hands and started at him with expectant eyes.

”Do you promise to let me study in peace?” he asked with a mischievous grin.

*nod nod*

”Alright then, turn around and close your eyes. If you open them without me telling you to then I won't be giving it to you today” he felt proud that he finally got her to listen without instilling fear.

*nod* Tomoyo turned around. She felt a little nervous especially after sensing him touching her ponytail.

Kazuya smiled and removed the bandage looking thing she used to tie up her hair. He took a shiny white ribbon from his bag and proceeded to tie her hair with it. The cloth itself was normal but it was inscribed with a spell to increase the wearer's concentration. He figured that this would help Tomoyo in her training so that she can quickly get used to activating her potential.

”Alright. You can open your eyes now”

”Here Shiroyuki-san I have a mirror with me” Takaya followed up and gave her a mirror. A cute white ribbon was now round on her hair and it suited her quite well.

”…” Tomoyo used her hand to touch the white ribbon on her head to make sure that it really was there. She didn't expect to be given this kind of present because Kazuya always referred to her as a robot. She turned towards Kazuya to thank him but he was immediately startled.

”So you can do it after all” Tomoyo was clearly showing a smile. Takaya and anyone who was facing her was taken off guard as well. This was the very first time they had seen this girl smile and it did not seem unnatural at all.

”?” Tomoyo tilted her head and wondered what he was talking about. Unfortunately, the smile had already gone and no one knew if they were going to see it again. Everyone who witnessed this came to the same conclusion though, the key to all this was Kazuya.

Because of the effectiveness of his present, Kazuya was able to peacefully study until school was over. Due to the upcoming exams, club activities have been banned. Kazuya was also taken home early because of this so he trained at home peacefully.

It was at night that he proceeded to his study to participate in the release of the game where the future of his upcoming company depended on. He remade the character he used in his previous life and felt quite nostalgic. He couldn't wait to meet his old friends again. This time he wouldn't start out as one of the people they helped but as a peer.

”It really is a different experience if you have a suitable machine” he sighed. He was able to quickly complete the tutorial and was now standing in the starter village where various people who also just started out.

He scanned the names of every player he saw as he went to complete the quests. He even went as far as taking the secret quests that even beta players failed to discover to improve his progress speed. This way, he can help the people he was indebted to by helping them in this lifetime. It was still early in the evening so a lot of people were playing. In order to not let his level get too high, Kazuya remained in town and started increasing his crafting proficiency.

[FriedKandule: Proficiency leveling? What a scrub] Kazuya noticed a person talking in general chat. His eyes narrowed as soon as he saw the name. This was the very first name he discovered that he knew. He had not met this person before but he heard a certain story about his friend's first day of logging on.

Kazuya had mixed feelings. He was glad that he had run into this person but worried that his presence may have changed what was supposed to happen so he quickly stopped and used a skill to hide himself. The class he picked was a quiet rogue that reflected his own reserved personality in his previous life. He then turned the character into a ninja for its second class but he had other plans this time around.

[Fried Kadule: Hmph! What a coward] the bulky swordsman character laughed and left the area. He didn't know that he was already being followed by the person he just insulted.

Kazuya didn't know when the people he was looking for would eventually play the game. The only reason he logged on now was because he heard of this story several times before. The first game his friend ever tried made her almost give up on it because of the bitter experience. It was only after a while that she decided to give the game another try.

He didn't want to miss the opportunity to meet today. The person may be an anonymous person playing an online character but he treated her as a real friend. He considered himself lucky even though the first character he was familiar with was repulsive. After watching the person and following him quietly, his perseverance finally paid off. He found the nostalgic name of the friend he looked forward to seeing.

”I finally found you, [Autumn Mist]”

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