The next day, at noon.
He first read a light novel titled Love Meter in class for a while, intending to familiarize himself with the plot, but regrettably found that this light novel didn't suit his taste.
It wasn't that the content of the book was bad.
In fact, as the work of the school's leading talented girl, the writing, emotional rendering, and so on were all excellent.
But his temperament made him feel truly helpless when it came to stomach medicine, stocks, White Album... things like that.
Kitahara Sousuke stretched out a big lazy stretch with a bit of a headache, then dragged his heavy steps, intending to go out and move his body a bit, and also clear his mind.
Going down the stairs and walking straight ahead, he passed through the school atrium. Under one of the trees there, Sousuke saw a familiar figure.
"Katou senpai."
He took the initiative to greet her, then shamelessly sat down beside her, chatting about some inconsequential things while thinking to himself.
"She's actually eating her bento alone... somehow it feels like her school life isn't going too well."
He felt a bit worried in his heart but didn't say these things out loud.
He himself held an indifferent attitude toward this. Or rather, Sousuke thoroughly enjoyed his life without being disturbed by anyone. He didn't need to worry about so-called isolated bullying.
But Katou Megumi's appearance...
For a high school girl of this age, it seemed a bit concerning.
It wasn't that Katou Megumi had no friends, but even her so-called friends easily, unconsciously, and without malice, overlooked her existence in ordinary times.
"It's not intentional, but the result is the same," Sousuke thought to himself.
"Did Kitahara kun forget to bring his bento?"
Katou Megumi had just been taking small bites of rice, but now, a bit curious about Sousuke's uninvited presence, she asked while also putting down her chopsticks.
In response, Kitahara Sousuke took out a handful of different flavored energy bars from his pocket.
"No, I'm having this for lunch."
He tore open the wrapper and finished half of it in one bite. This stuff provided a lot of energy and could fully fill his stomach.
Quickly finishing the remaining half, he took out another one and handed it over.
"Want to try one? The almond flavor is really good. I like it a lot."
"But eating this often probably isn't very healthy."
Katou Megumi didn't refuse, but she still found Sousuke's actions strange. Because his behavior was completely unlike what ordinary Japanese high school students would do.
"Just changing things up occasionally. Besides, not to brag, but my cooking skills are amazing. Especially in the realm of Asian cuisine."
Sousuke quickly finished another two bars, then said with a somewhat proud and boastful tone.
"Ah, is that so..."
From the soft voice beside him, belonging to the background heroine, Sousuke heard something different.
Now able to faintly discern the other person's slight emotional fluctuations, Sousuke read a hint of suspicion from that seemingly expressionless face.
Although it was only a little bit, his "wife" didn't believe him.
In an instant, this dealt Sousuke a considerable blow.
You had to know that during his university days in his previous life, he and his roommates had rented a cheap shop in the university, and the business had done quite well afterward.
Now, it was just for convenience. He simply didn't want to spend time on this.
"You'll see how amazing my skills are..."
Stuffing the rest into his mouth in one bite, Sousuke muttered a little unhappily.
...
Up on the school building.
A boy wearing glasses happened to spot the two of them returning together.
The tall figure in the lead caught his eye, and his attention focused on Kitahara Sousuke, whom he remembered vividly, recognizing the other person's identity from his memory.
Then, he couldn't help but notice the girl beside him, and his whole being became somewhat uncertain.
"That girl... could she be the owner of that hat from that day? No way, they're in the same class!"
"How could I have never noticed?"
Looking at Katou Megumi walking into his classroom, Tomoya Aki's face was full of disbelief.
Leaving Tomoya Aki's affairs aside for the moment, time quickly arrived at the end of the school day in the afternoon. Kitahara Sousuke didn't go straight home today but chose to take a detour.
To get something.
The name of that thing was Meow.
That's right, since he had come to the two dimensional world, how could he not have a cat?
Kitahara Sousuke himself liked the appearance of cats, but in real life, he didn't actually enjoy taking care of animals.
However, Yukinoshita Yukino, Tokisaki Kurumi... his wives were all hardcore cat lovers.
If there were one or two cats at home, undoubtedly he would get a relatively high initial favorability rating for the sake of these little cuties.
So he had to get a cat, and this reason couldn't be more sufficient.
"Looking for an owner for a kitten."
"Will be waiting in the park until dark."
"Looking for loving people."
He saw the above information on a certain nonexistent website.
So Kitahara Sousuke specifically took the train and took a detour following the address.
Getting off the train, he turned left and right and arrived at his destination, a park with a pleasant environment.
On a bench near the fountain in the very center of the park sat two high school girls wearing unfamiliar school uniforms.
One had medium long straight black hair, was tall and slender, and had a beautiful appearance with a somewhat gloomy air.
The other was a lively girl with short hair and a plump chest.
Finally, there was a pure white kitten stretching its little paws and crawling around on the short haired girl's skirt and thighs.
The kitten stretched its paws toward an empty space, seemingly playing at catching something, while the gloomy long haired girl looked at the kitten in her companion's arms, seemingly forcibly enduring... fear?
Kitahara Sousuke glanced in the direction of the kitten and didn't notice anything unusual. He felt a bit confused about the long haired girl's reaction.
It was just a kitten. Why would she be afraid?
"White..."
A beautiful scene suddenly appeared before his eyes, flashing past due to the kitten's movements.
Sousuke quickly shook his head, throwing it out of his mind.
Although they were strangers, both girls were above average beautiful girls.
"See, I told you I had to get a cat."
His resolve in his heart became even stronger.
He proactively approached.
"Hello, I'd like to adopt that kitten. I'm... um, I came because I saw this information."
Sousuke said, holding up his phone to show that he wasn't hitting on them, but had come all the way after seeing the information, genuinely wanting to adopt the kitten.
The picture of the white kitten was displayed on his phone, looking exactly like the little one in the girl's arms.
That information was probably posted by the short haired girl.
"You... could you be a student from Toyonosaki?"
The short haired girl recognized Sousuke's identity based on some characteristics, though he didn't know which ones.
So Kitahara Sousuke simply introduced himself.
"Kitahara Sousuke, Class 1 A of Private Toyonosaki Academy. If you're worried, you're welcome to check on the kitten's condition at any time."
"I really want to have it. Please, let me take it."
Kitahara Sousuke showed his goodwill to the greatest extent.
Fortunately, he only looked a bit strong, but his appearance wasn't fierce. Otherwise, it would have been difficult.
And his polite attitude somewhat moved the short haired girl opposite him.
"Um... Miko, what do you think of him?"
The short haired girl asked her companion for her opinion, finding that the other girl was staring at Sousuke, seemingly stunned.
"Miko?"
Not getting a response from her companion, she lightly tugged on the other's sleeve.
Kitahara Sousuke was also a bit curious. From his perspective, he could more keenly notice that this girl didn't seem to be looking at him, but at something beside him.
Somewhat puzzled, he glanced in the direction of the other's gaze, but Sousuke didn't see anything.
"Okay."
The girl called Miko suddenly let out a long breath, looked at the boy opposite her with a strange gaze, and agreed to his adoption request.
"Thank you. Please rest assured, I will definitely treat it well," Sousuke said, taking the white kitten and carefully holding it in his arms.
Then, as if remembering something, he asked,
"By the way, does it have a name?"
"I don't know... we found the kitten in a box by the side of the road."
Hearing this answer, Kitahara Sousuke instantly understood what had happened.
It seemed this was a little one abandoned by its owner. He would need to take it for a checkup and get it vaccinated sometime soon.
In any case, the process was very smooth, and there was an unexpected bonus.
Afterward, the statistics showed that this operation yielded one kitten and the contact information of two beautiful girls.
A cause for celebration.
Sweat poured from his body.
Having finished a 10 kilometer run on the treadmill, Kitahara Sousuke moved to the side to rest for a moment.
He twisted open the cap of his water bottle, carefully replenishing the fluids in his body. After only a short break, he continued with the next set of exercises.
---