Beep beep beep, beep beep beep.

“Mmm, is it morning already?”

The next morning, Jin woke up to the electronic alarm. Due to his fatigue from the previous day, he had gone to bed early and fallen asleep as if collapsing. Though he should have gotten adequate sleep, Jin felt sluggish when getting up.

“Hml, I need to set today’s parameters before I forget.”

Jin crawled out of his bed and immediately turned on the computer in the same room.

“Now, how are the foreign markets doing?”

Jin woke up earlier than the average high school student. This was to check how foreign stock markets were performing.

“Hmm, I see. Well, let me finish the settings and then prepare for school.”

After checking this information and the domestic economic situation, Jin opened a stock trading site and made his trading settings for the day. Jin had started stock trading after entering high school and had made significant profits. Before going to school, he would gather information and based on that information, set up instructions to buy specified stocks or sell owned stocks when they reached designated prices.

“Alright, that should do it.”

After establishing his stock trading settings, Jin began preparing for school. In stock trading, there are methods of holding stocks for medium to long periods to secure profits through sales, dividends, or shareholder benefits, and methods of securing profits by repeatedly buying and selling with short-term holdings. Jin practiced the latter, short-term holding, but rather than watching market trends in real-time and trading at appropriate moments, he had set up automatic trading when stocks reached predetermined prices. This was because if he constantly watched stock prices, he would be driven by the impulse to check stock prices on his smartphone during class. Through this method, Jin steadily made profits and now earned significantly more than his parents’ income.

“Well, preparations are complete, so let’s head to school.”

After finishing his preparations for school, Jin left home.

“Arrived!”

After arriving at school, Jin moved to his classroom and sat in his seat.

(Tsukimizato-san hasn’t arrived yet.)

When Jin looked at Otowa’s seat, it was empty.

(Yesterday’s date was fun.)

Jin recalled yesterday’s date and was unconsciously looking forward to Otowa’s arrival.

(Hmm? I feel like I’m getting glances from the girls, but maybe it’s just my imagination?)

Jin felt like the female classmates were occasionally glancing in his direction. When Jin directed his gaze toward a girl who was looking, she hurriedly averted her eyes.

(Ah, it’s Tsukimizato-san.)

After this happened several times, Otowa entered the classroom. She didn’t seem to have many friends either, and without exchanging greetings with classmates, she moved toward her seat.

“Good morning, Tsukimizato-san.” 

“Huh? Oh, uh, good morning.”

Since Jin felt they had become closer yesterday, he greeted Otowa, who looked surprised for a moment before coldly returning his greeting and taking her seat.

(Huh? Her reaction is like she’s a completely different person from yesterday.)

Jin had expected her to return his greeting in the same manner as yesterday, but contrary to his expectations, her response was curt, which surprised him.

(Come to think of it, I forgot she said not to talk to her at school. Tsukimizato-san is quite shy.)

Jin didn’t realize that the person he had dated yesterday was someone else and simply interpreted Otowa’s attitude as simply being shy.

Chapter 22: Everyday School Life (Part 1)

“Therefore, this kind of thing is…”

Jin was attending the last morning class. The Japanese language teacher had written part of the text from the textbook on the blackboard and was explaining it while breaking it down. For Jin, who wasn’t following the lesson very well, it sounded like the teacher was just speaking incomprehensible words, making it a very boring time.

(Tsukimizato-san is seriously attending the class.)

Jin glanced at the seat in front of him and, though he could only see her back, it seemed like she was diligently copying down what was written on the board.

“Alright, that’s all for today’s lesson.”

Ding-dong, ding-dong…

After the Japanese language teacher announced the end of the lesson, the bell rang signaling the end of the last morning class.

“Stand, bow, sit.”

The day duty student gave the commands, and lunch break began. Lunch at this school was not provided as school lunch, but rather prepared individually. Students were free to choose between bringing a lunch box, buying bread or rice balls at the school store, or using the school cafeteria.

“Ah, she’s gone.”

With the start of lunch break, those with lunch boxes spread them out on their desks, while those heading to the school store or cafeteria left the classroom. Jin didn’t have a lunch box, so he needed to go to the school store or cafeteria, but since he wasn’t in a hurry, he always started moving at a leisurely pace. When he glanced at the seat in front of him, Otowa was no longer there, having already left the classroom.

“Well, I guess I’ll go to the school store and buy some bread.”

Since Jin was a loner, he decided to buy and eat bread alone again today. He stood up and moved towards the school store.

“I don’t want to participate in that battle, so I have no choice.”

When Jin arrived at the school store and looked at the shelf where bread was displayed, there was only a small amount of bread left. The school store handled multiple types of bread, but popular ones sold out quickly. 

Therefore, when lunch break began, students would rush in all at once, creating a battle for bread. It was a harsh situation where only those who won this battle could obtain their desired bread. 

When this battle began, the area around the school store would be so crowded with people that one could hardly move. Jin didn’t have the energy to participate in this battle, so he was fine with the bread that remained unsold.

“Oh, Kaneda-kun, you’ve become quite handsome, haven’t you?” 

“Huh? Really?” 

“Yes, cutting your bangs has made your face more visible. Auntie can’t help but feel a flutter in her heart.” 

“Oh, Auntie, you’re always joking.”

Since Jin always went to buy bread at the school store after the battle was over and students had left, he had become familiar with the store clerk, who he called “Auntie”. 

She was plump, wearing a white apron, a triangular headscarf, and a mask. This outfit was only for when she was selling bread. Usually, she worked without the triangular headscarf and mask. The school store handled many items from stationery to things necessary for school life, in addition to bread. For drinks, vending machines were installed next to the store, where students and faculty staff purchased necessary beverages.

“Now, what should I have today?”

Jin decided to choose his lunch from the unsold bread.