The two walked down the stairs and reached the corner leading to the rooftop, only to find a lock hanging on the door at the top.

“Anya, the rooftop door is locked. What should we do?” Lirina had never been here before, so she didn’t know it would be locked. “Maybe we can just eat here in the corner… no one will come by…”

As soon as she said it, she realized it wasn’t a great idea. This was, after all, a stairwell corner—no windows, dim lighting, and nowhere to sit except the steps. Since students weren’t allowed here, it probably wasn’t cleaned often either.

“What are you talking about? It’s just a door—how could that stop us?” Anya smiled and raised her hand, beginning to draw a magic circle in the air.

“Huh?” Lirina watched in confusion as Anya muttered an incantation. With each whispered word, a faint gray glow appeared in her eyes and at her fingertips.

“Ignore Reality.”

As she finished the final syllables, the gray magic circle took shape. Anya nodded in satisfaction and pulled the formation over both herself and Lirina.

“What is this…?” Lirina looked in surprise at the thin gray barrier surrounding her.

“It lets us pass through matter according to our will,” Anya explained. “Come on—let’s hurry… this spell is exhausting.”

“Ah—okay!”

 Lirina hurried after her. As they reached the door, she watched Anya walk straight forward—passing right through it.

“Just think about going through, and walk,” Anya’s voice came from the other side.

“Ah… okay.”

 Lirina bit her lip, closed her eyes, and stepped forward. There was no resistance at all—just like walking normally. When she opened her eyes, she was already standing on the rooftop.

“Release.”

Almost the moment Lirina crossed over, Anya dispelled the spell. She let out a long breath.

“That was… seriously not easy.”

“Anya, what was that spell?” Lirina asked.

“Ah… Mr. Ivak used it once in front of me a few days ago. I memorized it from that.” She wiped the sweat from her forehead. “Honestly, even if he’s kind of shady, that guy is ridiculously strong. I’m already this tired from using it for just a few seconds… but he can turn it into a passive buff that doesn’t even require control…”

“Ah… wow…”

 Lirina didn’t fully understand, but one thing was clear—Anya was exhausted.

“Are you okay? You said it’s tiring…”

Anya waved her hand. “I’m fine. It’s a high-level spell, but using it for just a few seconds won’t cause any real problems. It just drains a lot at once, so I feel a bit weak. Anyway—let’s eat.”

“Okay…”

 Lirina looked around—and noticed something strange. There were benches on the rooftop. Not just one, but several.

This is supposed to be a restricted area… so why are there benches here?

But that question could wait. Having somewhere to sit was more important.

“Anya, let’s sit over there,” Lirina pointed to a nearby bench.

“Yeah, I was thinking the same.”

They walked over together.

“Wait a moment, Anya.”

 Lirina took out a handkerchief and carefully wiped the bench clean. She checked it again and again to make sure there were no stains that might dirty their uniforms before nodding.

“You can sit now.”

“You’re really attentive,” Anya smiled. “You’re such a rule-abiding good girl, but you’re so detailed about things like this… you might actually be pretty skilled at this kind of thing.”

“Are you praising me or teasing me…?” Lirina puffed her cheeks, then laughed.

This building housed only first- and second-year students, and at four stories high, the breeze on the rooftop felt especially pleasant. And more importantly—there was no one to disturb them.

“Ahh—”

 Lirina spread the cloth from her lunchbox over her lap, placed the box on top, and stretched widely.

“…Ahem.”

Anya accidentally glanced at her—and immediately felt her heart pound wildly as Lirina leaned back, her chest pushing forward. It took several deep breaths to calm herself.

After stretching, Lirina’s small horns and tail appeared. The little red heart-shaped tip swayed gently behind her—it was clear she was in a great mood.

“She’s not even trying to hide it anymore…”

Anya’s face warmed again at the sight. She’s just… too cute—and completely unaware of it.

With a soft sigh, she opened her own lunchbox.

“…It’s the same,” Lirina murmured. “The box—and the food.”

“Well, of course. You made both,” Anya replied, then paused. “Ah… yeah, finding a place with no one around was definitely the right call. If those humans saw that our lunchboxes—and even the food—are identical, that’d be troublesome.”

“Anya… calling them ‘humans’ like that is a bit rude. They’re our classmates,” Lirina said with a small frown, though she smiled helplessly. “But you’re right… maybe I should get a different lunchbox next time. And I’ll figure something out for the food too. That way, even if we eat in class someday, no one will suspect… that we live together.”

Seeing her serious yet shy expression, Anya felt a twinge of regret that she couldn’t cook. But there was nothing she could do about it now, so she changed the subject.

“Classmates, huh…? They’re not exactly polite to me, so why should I be polite to them?”

“Ah…”

 Lirina understood why she felt that way. After all, Anya had been constantly “harassed” by the girls in class all morning. From the second period onward, people had even started peeking in from outside just to see the “foreign transfer student.”

At least I don’t look like a foreigner…

What she didn’t know was that the name “Haneda Rina” had already taken the number one spot on the secret school ranking of the “Cute Underclassman Discovery Club.”2

By the way—Motoko was the secret president of that club.

“But even so, Anya… you didn’t get angry at anyone this morning,” Lirina said with a smile. “Thank you—for holding back so I wouldn’t feel troubled.”

“No need to thank me. I can’t exactly start fights on my first day, right?” Anya scratched her head. “Anyway, let’s eat. I’m starving.”

“Ah, okay.”

 Lirina put her hands together. “I humbly receive this meal.”

I’m still not used to this custom… it kind of feels like telling the food, ‘I’m going to eat you now!’

Anya chuckled and did the same. “I humbly receive this meal.”

“Wow… Mr. Ivak is amazing. He managed to arrange all those official documents in just a day or two…”

“Yeah… as much as I hate to admit it, he really is,” Anya said with a wry smile, leaving out the part where she now had to work at his shop to repay both money and favors.

Time slipped by, and soon the preparatory bell rang. They finished their lunches just as it echoed.

“To get back, you’ll have to use that spell again… Are you sure you’ll be okay?” Lirina asked.

“I’ll be fine.” Anya lifted her chin proudly. “I used to be pretty outstanding, you know. My mana capacity isn’t low. Earlier it was only because that cloak Ivak sold me was a prototype… it drained all my mana… so that’s why… ahem. Lirina, your horns and tail are still out.”

“Ah—waaah!”

~~~~~~~~

They returned to the classroom—naturally, one after the other. A few classmates were already back, chatting in small groups.

 Lirina entered first.

“Rina-chan, you didn’t eat in the classroom today?” a girl turned and asked.

“Ah, yeah.” Lirina nodded, walked to her seat, and put her lunchbox into her bag.

“We were going to ask you to eat together, but when we came back from buying drinks, you were gone,” another girl said.

“Hehe…” Lirina scratched her head.

Anya, who had just walked in, overheard the conversation and frowned slightly.

Seeing her expression, Lirina suddenly felt like she’d been caught doing something wrong and lowered her head.

Anya passed by her without saying anything and went straight to her own seat.

“Harts-san, did you eat outside too?” a girl asked.

“Yeah.” Anya replied calmly, with the faintest hint of a smile, as she put her lunchbox away. “You too?”

“Mhm… Harts-san, maybe we can eat together next time?”

Anya forced a polite smile. “We’ll see.”

The girls exchanged glances and decided to keep talking to her—after all, someone like Anya was incredibly rare in their class.

Before she arrived, there had only been two types of people in this class:

Those who were friends with “Haneda Rina.”

And those who wanted to be.

━━━━ ❖ ━━━

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