In this crossover anime, Yoshikage Kira longs for a peaceful life.

Kitagawa Kaimu frowned slightly, feeling a little worried for Kira Yoshikage.

"Kitagawa-kun," Yoshikage Kira called out.

"Huh?"

The girl blinked, her bright eyes filled with confusion.

Yoshikage Kira shifted his gaze from the girl's delicate, white hands that were supporting her on the table:

"Could you please try not to talk to me in the future?"

"Huh? Why?"

Kitagawa Kaimu blinked her big eyes, looking somewhat innocent and aggrieved.

Although Yoshikage Kira spoke softly, seemingly not wanting the other students to hear, Kaimu Kitagawa was still somewhat hurt.

Yoshikage Kira did not reply, but calmly glanced at the other students in the classroom.

Kitagawa Kaimu followed his gaze and realized that the entire class was staring at them, their eyes filled with disbelief.

That's for sure.

As one of the most popular girls in the class, Kitagawa Kaimu is not only beautiful, but also very popular. Although it has only been a few days since the start of the semester, she has made friends with everyone.

In contrast, Yoshikage Kira, who was labeled from the beginning as 'aloof,' 'delinquent,' 'unsociable,' and 'difficult to get along with,' was someone that everyone in the class tried their best to avoid.

Now, the most popular person is talking to the least popular person with a gentle smile, and the two seem to be in a very intimate relationship. How can this not attract attention?

Kitagawa Kaimu wasn't lacking in emotional intelligence; noticing the shocked expressions in the others' eyes, she immediately understood why Kira Yoshikage had said that...

"Does Kira-kun hate trouble?"

Kitagawa Kaimu silently made a mental note of it, nodded gently, and whispered, "I will, but only at school, is that alright?"

Yoshikage Kira lowered his head, looked at the girl's palm in silence for a moment, and did not reply.

Kaimu Ecstasy took this as tacit agreement, and with a cheerful and lighthearted air, she turned around, put her hands behind her back, and returned to her position.

"Kitagawa-san~"

A boy at the next table couldn't help but ask, "Are you dating Kira?"

The surrounding students all turned to look, pricking up their ears to eavesdrop.

"Huh?"

Kitagawa Kaimu seemed somewhat surprised: "No, why would you ask that?"

The boy asked cautiously:

"Because Kitagawa-san seems to have a very good relationship with him..."

No, that's not it~

Kitagawa Kaimu explained, "It's just because Kira-kun didn't attend the party last week, right? That's why I asked him why. It's not like we're dating."

At the end, the girl's voice seemed to carry a hint of frustration.

"I see."

The boy immediately breathed a sigh of relief, and the others also looked relieved.

That's more like it. How could Kitagawa-kun associate with such a delinquent?

Even if they were really dating, it must have been under duress!

Miura Yumiko glanced at Kitagawa Kaimu nonchalantly, seemingly unsurprised by her predicament.

Yoshikage Kira no longer receives the attention he deserves, as always.

Everything returned to normal, as if nothing had happened.

Listening to the cheerful laughter of his classmates around him, Yoshikage Kira felt as if he was being ignored and isolated once again. This feeling was just... just so great!

Yoshikage Kira felt very calm inside.

-----------------

"Another peaceful day."

Kitagawa Kaimu and Miura Yumiko, a small group, walked out of the classroom laughing and talking excitedly about the discount they were getting for double scoops of ice cream at the Ministop near the school.

Kira Yoshikage brushed past them, walked straight down the stairs, changed into outdoor shoes, and headed towards the school gate.

Near the school gate was a huge dead lake. The land around it seemed to be covered with all kinds of dark green weeds, and the center of the lake was also full of green aquatic plants, making it look like a muddy swamp.

There wasn't even a single piece of cover around this swamp, making it easy for accidents to happen.

In a typical school, such a large swamp would have been filled in long ago. This is both to avoid wasting land and to prevent students from accidentally falling into the swamp, which would cause significant trouble for the school.

Otherwise, if a student drowns, the entire school will be forced to suspend operations for rectification, or even close down.

But it's different at Shuchiin Academy.

Firstly, as the most famous private school in all of Japan, Shuchiin Academy has a very large campus. It can accommodate more than ten times the number of students as ordinary schools without feeling crowded at all, and it is even larger than a typical university.

In comparison, the swamp's tiny area is utterly insignificant.

Secondly, this swamp has existed since the founding of Shuchiin Academy. For Shuchiin Academy, it has become a kind of landmark.

Instead of filling it in, the academy organizes first-year students to clean up the swamp every year, which seems to have become a kind of customary 'entrance ceremony'.

Meanwhile, students with various tools were gathered around the swamp, cleaning it up.

The students wore black school uniforms with a simple yet elegant style, except for the white collars and cuffs.

In the distance, many students dressed in the same clothes were looking at them with envy.

Because they were students of the same college, even though they wore the same school uniform, everyone knew that they were different.

Even seemingly thankless tasks like clearing swamps are part of the 'entrance ceremony' unique to students of the Pure Land Academy.

"Kira-kun!"

Kira Yoshikage heard a girl's clear and familiar voice calling out beside him.

Just as he was about to turn around, a series of screams came from the crowd in the distance.

"Someone fell into the water!"

"Help! Is anyone coming to my rescue?!"

"Ah! There seems to be something in the lake!"

Chapter 20 Kaguya Shinomiya went up and then gave herself away.

"There's a dark shadow in the swamp!"

"Ah—! What the hell is that thing? Senior Zi'an is being entangled by it!"

"Help! Someone, please help!"

"I...I can't swim..."

"I don't know either..."

The students in black school uniforms, gathered around the edge of the swamp, looked on in panic as they helplessly watched the girl who had fallen into the lake from the edge but was sinking toward the center in an unusual way. Not one of them offered a helping hand; they just watched in shock.

Although they all claimed they couldn't swim, it was impossible for not a single one of these students to be able to swim. But whenever they wanted to go down to rescue someone, a nameless fear would well up from the bottom of their hearts, making them too afraid to approach the lake with its huge shadows.

The girl with long black hair, tied into a loop with a red ribbon, took two steps back, took a deep breath, and jumped into the swamp that glowed green and was covered with the corpses of countless tiny creatures without hesitation.

"Shinomiya-kun!"

The surrounding students exclaimed and called out the girl's name, watching with a hint of hope as she struggled to swim towards the center of the lake.

"Go for it, Shinomiya-kun!"

The girls clenched their fists, eagerly hoping that Kaguya Shinomiya could successfully rescue Tsubame Koyasu from the water.

Kaguya Shinomiya lived up to expectations, swimming to the center of the stinking lake with her strong mental fortitude. She held her breath and dived to the surface, intending to untangle the seaweed from Tsubame Koyasu's legs.

Senior Zi'an can swim; she must have gotten tangled in the seaweed, which is why she couldn't get free.

That's what Kaguya Shinomiya was thinking.

But when she dived down to Tsuneo's feet, enduring the danger of foreign objects getting into her eyes, and prepared to untangle the seaweed binding Tsuneo's feet, she was shocked to find that there was nothing there.

Zian Yan was clearly struggling, but it wasn't like the futile struggle of a drowning person; it was more like something was grabbing her feet and pulling her down.

But there was nothing there.

Just as she was stunned, Kaguya Shinomiya felt her feet sink, as if she had been grabbed by something.

She looked down in horror; there was nothing on her feet.

Snapped!

Fear surged through her at that moment, and she instinctively wanted to surface.

But what should have been a very easy task has become exceptionally difficult at this moment.

Meanwhile, the students on the shore saw Kaguya Shinomiya, who had been swimming smoothly to the middle of the lake, suddenly struggle frantically like a drowning person!

"Ah! Shinomiya-kun is drowning too!"

"How could this happen? We were so close to succeeding..."

"Help! Is anyone coming to my rescue?!"

Now, everyone panicked.

After all, that's Kaguya Shinomiya!

If something happens to her here, none of them will escape responsibility.

The students who could swim finally couldn't sit still any longer; they all took off their shirts and prepared to go into the water.

But when they finally mustered the courage to reach the edge of the swamp, they seemed to see a huge shadow flash across the bottom of the lake. Human beings' instinctive fear of the unknown easily robbed them of their courage, as if what stood before them was not a lake, but a terrifying monster with its gaping maw waiting for them to deliver themselves into its clutches...

thump!

Just as they were paralyzed with fear, they heard two consecutive splashes of water.

The sound attracted the attention of the students who had gathered around. They saw one of the girls who had gone into the water was a girl with short black hair and wearing a pure black school uniform. However, they couldn't see the other person clearly; they only saw a boy with short blond hair swimming vigorously towards the two girls who had fallen into the water.

"Ah! It's Kashiwagi-san! That's great, she's a very good swimmer!"