A crossover anime/manga story, set in everyday Tokyo, but within a loop of a game.

After saying that, Asuna Yuuki tentatively asked.

"Speaking of which... since the three of us are planning a get-together, shouldn't we invite Kato-kun along too?"

Kotoko Iwanaga looked puzzled. "Who? Who's Kato-kun? Your friend?"

Yuki Asuna: "..."

Seeing her speechless expression, Kotoko Iwanaga covered her mouth and chuckled.

"Just kidding! You should contact her. Anyway, my plan to have a date with Asagiri by myself is ruined, so let's all go together!"

"Sigh, you're still the same as ever..."

Asuna Yuuki sighed helplessly, then took out her phone and dialed Megumi Kato's number. After the call was connected, she smiled and spoke.

"Hey? Kato-kun, it's me, Asagiri, Kotoko, and I. We're planning to go shopping and have dinner together. Are you free? We'd like to invite you to come along."

Kato Megumi replied in her signature delicate and gentle voice, unhurriedly.

"I've already finished school and am about to go home. Shall we go shopping and have dinner together... Hmm, that sounds good. Where should we meet?"

"I'll send you the address directly via email."

"Okay, see you soon."

……

Upon arriving at the shopping street in Shibuya Ward, Asuna Yuuki and Kotoko Iwanaga looked around, both with bewildered expressions.

"Didn't Kato say she arrived...? Why haven't I seen her?"

While the two were feeling lost and searching around, Asagiri walked straight towards a short distance away and then raised her hand to greet them.

"Hui, over here."

“Utsunomiya-kun.”

It wasn't until Kato Megumi walked up to Asagiri that Iwanaga Kotoko and Yuuki Asuna noticed each other's presence.

Strangely enough, even though she was wearing the school uniform of the private Toyonosaki Academy and hadn't dressed up, Kato Megumi, with her fair skin, well-proportioned figure, and delicate features, could still be considered a true beauty.

Logically speaking, it should easily attract attention.

But the truth was quite the opposite. Until Kato Megumi walked up to Asagiri, Iwanaga Kotoko and Yuuki Asuna were completely unaware of each other's presence, as if they had simply become invisible.

This level of presence is ridiculously low!

"Wait, something's not right..."

Just then, Asuna Yuuki noticed a detail, frowned slightly, looked at Asagiri, and said with a hint of jealousy.

"What did you call Kato-san just now? Megumi? You weren't being polite at all."

Kotoko Iwanaga nodded repeatedly in agreement, speaking with righteous indignation.

"Exactly! That's too intimate! No way!"

"Um……"

Kato Megumi looked calmly at Iwanaga Kotoko and Yuuki Asuna, tilted her head, and spoke in an unusually calm tone, as if reading aloud.

"At this moment, should I act shy about being called by my first name? Like covering my face and spinning around, or blushing and secretly glancing at Utsunomiya-kun's profile, and then immediately looking away when he looks at me?"

Upon hearing this, Asuna Yuuki was both amused and exasperated, and retorted.

"Kato-kun, you always manage to be unusually calm at times like this... And there's no point in admitting your shyness beforehand or pretending to be shy, is there?"

90

Chapter 90: The Winner's Composure

"Is that right?"

Kato Megumi remained calm as always, speaking in a gentle and easygoing tone.

"I just think that, given our relationship, even though we haven't known each other for very long, there's nothing wrong with calling each other by our first names, right?"

Upon hearing this, Asuna Yuuki was taken aback for a moment, and tentatively asked.

"But you've always called me Yuuki-kun, so I thought you were the kind of person who didn't like overly familiar terms of address..."

"Not."

Kato Megumi shook her head and said calmly.

"It's because you've always called me Kato-kun. As the last person to join you, it would seem too familiar of me to call you by your names without permission. That's why I'm using the way you address me, calling you by your surname plus 'kun'."

"Is that so?"

After learning Kato Megumi's true thoughts, Yuuki Asuna was somewhat amused and exasperated. It was understandable, as Kato Megumi's facial expressions were not very rich; she always appeared calm and composed, showing no signs of emotional change, making it difficult for people to guess her true thoughts.

"From now on... I'll just call you Megumi, and you can just call me Asuna."

Kotoko Iwanaga, who was standing to the side, also spoke up with a smile.

"And me, just call me Kotoko. Anyway, Asuna has already called me that without my permission."

Asuna Yuuki pouted and said irritably.

"Tch, do I need your permission to call your name?"

Kotoko Iwanaga spoke with an air of self-righteousness, slightly raising her chin in a haughty and boastful manner.

"Of course. To ordinary people like you, I am a god who maintains the order of the world. It's decided that from now on you will call me Goddess Kotoko. Remember to bring me a bento box as an offering every day."

"Hehe, I'll just dig a hole and bury you, then put up a memorial tablet for you. Wouldn't that be easier to worship?"

Watching Asuna Yuuki and Kotoko Iwanaga walking ahead, bickering and arguing as usual, Megumi Kato followed beside Asagiri, walking side by side with her, and suddenly spoke softly.

“Utsunomiya-kun.”

Asagiri replied with a smile.

"What's wrong, Kato-kun?"

Kato Megumi turned her face, stared into Asagiri's eyes, and said softly.

"So, you did it on purpose, didn't you?"

Asagiri feigned ignorance and shook her head with a light laugh.

"I don't understand what you are talking about."

"Are you pretending not to understand?"

Kato Megumi tucked a strand of black hair behind her ear, having already seen through everything... No, in the end, it was she who was seen through.

When Kato Megumi received a call from Yuuki Asuna inviting her to hang out, she felt a little nervous and uneasy. After all, this was the first time she had met the three of them since joining the team, not to discuss game strategies, but simply to relax like ordinary high school friends.

For some reason, Asagiri seemed to sense her inner unease, and that she wanted to become closer to Yuuki Asuna and Iwanaga Kotoko, but hesitated and didn't know how to act.

Therefore, when Asagiri first met her, he addressed her by her name, which naturally led to the conversation and allowed Kato Megumi to express her true feelings. This allowed her to reach a stage where she, Yuuki Asuna, and Iwanaga Kotoko were friends who addressed each other by their first names without being too formal.

“Utsunomiya-kun…”

Kato Megumi stared at Asagiri's profile and spoke softly.

"Although you usually speak and act like a madman, you are actually a very mature person."

Are you criticizing me?

Asagiri shrugged and retorted with highly aggressive remarks.

"Your face looks like your muscles have atrophied, you can't even make an expression, and you're still attacking me?"

Kato Megumi said calmly, "I can make expressions, like this..."

At this point, Kato Megumi stopped, walked up to Asagiri, looked up, and made a face with slightly furrowed brows and a very serious expression.

"This is what I look like when I'm angry or unhappy."

After making that expression, Kato Megumi returned to her usual calm and collected demeanor, and simply said...

“Utsunomiya-kun, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you angry… No, I’ve only ever seen you smiling, looking interested and eager to try. Apart from that, you never seem to show any negative emotions like anger, fear, or dissatisfaction. You’re practically a saint.”

"Of course I'm scared, after all, I'm only human."

What are you afraid of?

Faced with Kato Megumi's curious question, Asagiri answered in a serious tone.

"Sixteen years old, a male high school student at Shuchiin High School, afraid that the world is not violent enough."

……

The following morning, in the corridor of the private Shuchiin Academy.

There were many more students arriving at school early today than usual, and the first thing they did upon arrival was to gather in the corridor outside Class A. The reason was simple: after the exam results were released, the school would publish the students' rankings and post them there.

Kaguya Shinomiya, who is very concerned about her exam results, is no exception.

She stepped into the corridor of the teaching building and walked calmly toward her classroom. But before she even got close to the crowd of students, she could already hear their exclamations and chatter.

"real or fake……"

"Holy crap, is this even human?"

Has anyone like this ever appeared in the history of Shuchiin?

"No way... My father used to be a student at Xiuzhiyuan Academy, and he's never heard of any student who could get such a high score. The exams at Xiuzhiyuan Academy are harder than those at other schools; it's not easy to even pass, let alone..."

Listening to the students' discussion, Kaguya Shinomiya's red eyes flickered, and an ominous premonition rose in her heart.

"Shinomiya-kun is here."

Someone reminded her, and all the students' eyes turned to Kaguya Shinomiya as she walked slowly towards them. The crowd automatically parted to make way for her to reach the grade sheet posted on the wall.

Kaguya Shinomiya slowly stepped forward, her gaze falling on the report card on the wall.

Unlike in junior high, she didn't go straight to the first place at the top. Instead, she slowly scanned the list from bottom to top.

This subtle action has already proven one thing.

Kaguya Shinomiya wasn't as confident as she claimed. At this moment, she felt fear and tension because she had no chance of winning this time.

[Second Place in Grade: Class A, Kaguya Shinomiya, Score in Three Subjects: 438]

The Shuchiin Academy's exams consist of three subjects: humanities, science, and foreign language. Each subject has a maximum score of 150 points, so the total maximum score for the exam is 450 points.

In an exam as difficult as Shuchiin Academy, Kaguya Shinomiya's score of 438 is already considered genius level. Keep in mind that the third place only scored 412, a difference of 26 points, which is a significant lead.

Kaguya Shinomiya realized it as soon as she saw her name appear in second place.

She lost.

As her gaze gradually rose, what came into Kaguya's view was that familiar name, followed by an astonishing number that made her pupils shrink in disbelief.

[First Place in Grade: Class A, Asagiri Utsunomiya, Score in Three Subjects: 450]

"Four hundred and fifty points...a perfect score..."

Kaguya Shinomiya could hardly believe the numbers she was seeing.

Getting full marks in science subjects is within her comprehension, but how can she also get full marks in humanities and foreign languages, which include writing questions and don't have an absolutely correct answer?

What level of monster is this?

Has anyone in the history of Shuchiin ever achieved a perfect score on an exam?

It seems like Kaguya Shinomiya only lost by twelve points, but those twelve points...

For the first time in her life, she experienced a strong sense of frustration and even began to doubt her own abilities.

Such a monster-level powerhouse...

Is it really possible for her to catch up?

Kaguya Shinomiya raised her right hand and gently touched her left cheek. Then, under the watchful eyes of the other students, she turned around with a normal expression and entered Class A's classroom.

A few minutes later, when the students' chatter in the corridor suddenly quieted down, Kaguya Shinomiya knew that the person had arrived.

Footsteps came from the back of the classroom, followed by the sound of Asagiri and Kotoko Iwanaga chatting casually.

"Is it coming..."

Kaguya Shinomiya sat in her seat with a calm expression, mentally prepared for Asagiri to come to her and subject her to humiliation and ridicule.