Inside the competition hall, Hakuto sat beside Ginko after her match, looking like a complete fanboy.
"Ginko, you were amazing! That was such a cool victory!"
"Why did you come so late?"
"Huh?"
Hakuto originally planned to brush it off, but when he felt the small foot pressing against his leg, he knew he had no choice but to shamelessly lie with a straight face.
"Ginko, I became an exchange student."
"And?"
"I just arrived at my new school today, and there were a lot of procedures to take care of, so I was late. But I did my best to get here as fast as I could."
The first half? A complete lie.
He hadn't even glanced at any paperwork—Tomori Nao had handled everything for him.
The second half? Absolutely true. Hakuto had rushed here at full speed, even using his ability.
Ginko glanced at the faint sweat on Hakuto's forehead, thought for a moment, and decided he wasn't lying. She then moved her foot away.
"I thought you got caught up with some girl."
Hakuto almost spat out the soda he was drinking.
Because Ginko wasn't wrong—he had indeed been delayed because of a girl. And that girl wasn't much different in age from Ginko.
"Cough, cough…"
"That reaction… don't tell me I was right?!"
"No… I just ran too fast and got a little nauseous."
Hakuto lied without a single change in expression or heartbeat—after all, it was practically second nature to him by now.
Still, he hadn't expected to have to lie to two girls of the same age in such a short period of time.
The guilt was real.
"By the way, Ginko, is there anything you want to do?"
"Don't you need to hurry back to school?"
"I still have an hour or two left on my leave, so I can spend some time with you."
Hearing this, Ginko tapped her folded fan against her palm and gazed up at the sky at a 45-degree angle, seemingly deep in thought.
After a while, her eyes lit up as she looked at the vacant shogi boards in the hall. She turned to Hakuto and said,
"Let's play a match."
"Huh?"
Hakuto sighed internally, wondering why the female shogi players nowadays were so weak. Not a single one could give Ginko a proper challenge.
In the end, it was up to him to fill that gap.
But Hakuto didn't refuse. Instead, he proactively grabbed an empty shogi board from the competition area.
"Give it your all."
"Haha… my all…"
Hearing Ginko's words, Hakuto forced an awkward smile.
Because if he really played at full power, then even if the entire shogi world joined forces, they wouldn't be able to beat him.
After all, no matter what kind of chess it was, in the end, it all came down to computing power.
And once Hakuto activated his ability, he could rival a supercomputer. In terms of calculation speed, he could wipe the floor with AlphaGo.
…
Who knew how long they played?
Hakuto's hands were starting to go numb.
Meanwhile, Ginko was still completely absorbed in the game, even showing signs of not having had enough.
Hakuto was starting to wonder—did Ginko have some kind of masochistic tendencies? Was she actually into this?
Because for the past few hours, she had been on the losing end the entire time.
And on the rare occasions when Hakuto let her win, she would immediately whack him on the head with her folded fan, scolding him for getting distracted.
What was this? Losing so much that her adrenaline spiked, sending her into a red-hot state? Was she actually enjoying this?
Just as Hakuto was wondering how much longer this would go on, his phone suddenly rang.
"Hello…"
"Hakuto, get back here now! Something's up!"
"Oh! Oh! Oh!"
Hakuto had never found Nao's voice to be this beautiful, this melodious!
At the same time, Ginko put down her shogi piece and looked at Hakuto, silently opening her fan.
"Is it a teacher calling you back?"
"Something like that. Sorry, Ginko, I have to go."
Ginko nodded. She wasn't unreasonable—if Hakuto had something important to take care of, their match could be postponed.
"I'll be waiting for you on Saturday."
"Mm."
Seeing Hakuto's gentle smile, Ginko remained expressionless on the surface, but only she knew how unsettled she truly felt inside.
Half an hour later.
"Why did you take so long?!"
"Come on, this is already really fast!"
Hakuto stood next to Nao, hands on the wall for support. He felt like he had spent half of his energy today just rushing around.
"Did you find anything?"
"Class, more class, receiving love letters from girls, rejecting confessions…"
Nao recounted everything recorded on the camera, detailing Otosaka Yuu's activities throughout the day.
"Even though you used your supercomputing ability to track him and saw what happened to him in the past, we still don't have any proof of him using his power."
"So what now? Didn't you say something was happening?"
"There is something happening…"
Saying that, Nao shoved the camera screen right in front of Hakuto's face.
On the screen appeared a girl with long black hair and purple eyes, exuding the image of a perfect honor student.
"???"
"You want me to use my ability again? Or are you setting me up with a girlfriend?"
"Oh, neither. I just want you to take a look at this girl."
"What's up with her?"
"Her name is Shirayanagi Yumi, one of the most beautiful girls in this school."
"And?"
"Otosaka Yuu seems to have some unusual emotions towards her."
"And then?"
"That's it."
Hearing this, Hakuto rolled his eyes.
"This is what you meant by 'something's happening' and rushed me back for?"
"Aren't we just following Otosaka Yuu around like his shadow at this point?"
Hakuto complained, considering it was right after school, and most students were heading home while he was stuck here doing overtime with Nao.
Sure, he was getting paid, but overtime should come with extra charges!
"This kind of thing should be a separate—"
"Wait, stop talking."
Hakuto was about to say his usual catchphrase when Nao suddenly interrupted him, grabbing his sleeve.
"What now?"
"Look quickly, I think he's about to use his power."
Hakuto followed her gaze.
Not far away, Otosaka Yuu was following behind Yumi, keeping a certain distance while constantly glancing around as if searching for something.
"...How did you even tell that he's about to use his ability?"
"Instinct."
Hakuto started doubting himself a little. Sometimes, women's intuition was more useful than his supercomputing ability.
So who's the one with supercomputing powers here, you or me?
Just then, Hakuto suddenly realized what Otosaka Yuu was about to do.
"Your instincts… are actually pretty accurate."
Just as Hakuto spoke, Otosaka Yuu came to a sudden stop, glancing between Yumi, who had just left the school gate, and a large truck driving down the street.
"Wait… this guy isn't planning to use his ability on the truck driver, is he?"
Nao, holding the camera, immediately straightened up.
From what she had learned about Otosaka Yuu's ability from Hakuto, combined with the current situation, she instantly figured out what Otosaka Yuu was trying to do.
"He's really going this far just to impress a girl…"
Saying that, Nao prepared to rush out and stop Otosaka Yuu, but Hakuto grabbed her by the arm.
"What are you doing?"
"If you go out now, you won't be able to stop him. Besides, that's an out-of-control truck we're talking about."
Hakuto was right. Even if Nao ran out now, she wouldn't be able to prevent Otosaka Yuu from acting.
The distance was too great, and she would be putting herself in danger.
"But…"
"I'm here, so what are you panicking for?"
Hakuto couldn't help but complain.
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Check out the other translations too: [Mash-Up: I'm Not A Substitute]
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