Miko walked with her head down in embarrassment, but her steps gradually became lighter and more cheerful.

  Even though the whole "hero saving the damsel in distress" trope was old-fashioned, it definitely worked especially on a teenage girl.

  Miko hadn't slept at all the previous night, but just walking beside Ryuji Hoshino now, she felt pletely safe.

  ...

  "Miko!"

  After entering the school, a voice called out from behind Ryuji and Miko.

  A girl with bright e hair and an air of wealth and privilege was running toward them.

  "Hana!"

  Miko smiled and waved back. The girl was her than her best friend, Yurikawa Hana.

  "Ah, who's this?"

  Yurikawa Hana happily hooked her arm around Yotsuya Miko's, but her eyes were full of curiosity as she g Ryuji.

  She had never seen Miko walking so close to a boy before.

  "This is Ryuji-kun, he's... uh, he's..."

  Miko stumbled over her words. She could introduce him as a friend, but they'd only known each other for less than two days. If she said they were close, it would feel a little... awkward.

  "Hello, my name is Ryuji Hoshino, and I'm a friend of Miko's," Ryuji said, resg her from her awkwardness with a friendly smile.

  "o meet you! I'm Yurikawa Hana, Miko's best friend!" Hana introduced herself cheerfully before leaning close to Miko with a teasing glint in her eye.

  "He called you Miko!"

  Yurikawa Hana, while a bit na?ve, wasn't stupid. Ryuji calling Miko by her first name, and Miko not correg him, hi something special between them.

  "Hana!"

  Miko's cheeks flushed red. It was just a joke between girls, but Ryuji didn't mind. His attention briefly drifted to Yurikawa Hana's family wealth was it really appropriate for a high school student to be that rich?

  "Ahem, well, I should head to ow. See you ter!"

  Ryuji decided it was best to leave before the versatio any further. After all, he would see them after school anyway. o stick around and plicate things.

  With that, Ryuji walked off, leaving Miko staring at his back. She only turned away after he had pletely disappeared from view.

  But Yurikawa Hana could no longer hold back her curiosity. The moment Ryuji was out of sight, she bombarded Yotsuya Miko with questions.

  "Miko, are you in love? Is he your boyfriend? He's also quite handsome. Have you guys held hands? Have you kissed yet? Or maybe you've already"

  "Hana!"

  Seeing how eous the questions were being, Yotsuya Miko quickly covered Hana's mouth, her face turning an even deeper shade of red.

  "We're just friends!"

  She retorted, embarrassed.

  What oh is she thinking? We just met this is way too fast!

  Wait, no. Why am I even thinking about something like that?! It's all Hana's fault for putting weird ideas in my head.

  The more she thought about it, the redder her face became.

  "Oh~"

  Seeing Miko's rea, Yurikawa Hana nodded meaningfully.

  "So it's a secret love, then!"

  "Hana!!!"

  Realizing her friend was about to explode, Yurikawa Hana decided to back off before things got serious. But in her heart, she couldn't help but feel genuinely curious about this Ryuji Hoshino.

  ...

  Ryuji's was on the sed floor. By the time he arrived, many students were already in their seats. Without drawing any attention, he quietly found his pce using the memories from his new body.

  Unfortunately, it wasn't in the back row or by the window.

  Not ideal… Ryuji thought with mild disappoi.

  He had beey much a nobody in the css before, and nothing had ged, so naturally, no one came to greet him now.

  That was fih him. It saved him the trouble of wasting time on small talk.

  "Good m, Yumiko!"

  "M, Yui!"

  "You're here early, Hayato!"

  Csses hadn't started yet, and various small groups had already formed, chattering away.

  Ryuji reized many of the characters from the anime he used to watch before crossing into this world.

  He couldn't help but wonder could he extract talents from them too?

  While he pohis, the versation around him tinued.

  "Did you guys hear? We're getting a new homeroom teacher!"

  Tobe Kakeru, part of one of the more boisterous groups, blurted out the test gossip he had heard.

  Immediately, the css was abuzz, especially the girls.

  "Really?"

  "But we're already so far into the school year why ge the homeroom teacher now?"

  Some students were curious, some were worried, while others didn't care at all.

  "I heard the old homeroom teacher gnant, so they're repg her!"

  At that, many of the boys perked up, ied in the new information.

  Tobe tinued, clearly enjoying the attention.

  "I also heard the eacher is a woman and she's hot!"

  Instantly, the boys' versation turned into wild specution about how attractive the eacher might be. The more they talked, the more exaggerated their fantasies became.

  They didn't notice the girls in the css rolling their eyes, clearly thinking the boys were a bunch of perverts.

  Ryuji, resting his on one hand, listened absentmindedly. His thoughts were elsewhere.

  The feeling of fullness is go's pletely digested.

  After dev the spirit this m, Ryuji could feel that his body had pletely processed it. As expected, the stronger he became, the faster he could digest souls, and the more he could devour.

  If only there were more spirits in this school... that would be perfect.

  ...

  Ding-ding-ding!

  The bell rang, signaling the start of css. Suddenly, the door to the opened, and the lively chatter immediately died down.

  In a pce like Sobu High, students had an instinctive fear of teachers. Even Tobe, who had been the loudest, fell silent wheeacher entered.

  A woman in a white coat walked up to the bckboard and wrote her h bold strokes.

  "My name is Shizuka Hiratsuka, and I'll be your new homeroom teacher. If you ever have any problems in css, feel free to e to me."

  Shizuka Hiratsuka?

  Hearing the name, Ryuji's i piqued, and he g the woman standing at the podium.

  No way… It's really her.

  He couldn't help but smile. As expected of this world Shizuka Hiratsuka was here.