During lunchtime, the sky was covered with dark clouds, looking as if it was about to rain.
No, or rather, it had already started to rain—scattered raindrops were falling on the ground, and the students who had been preparing to eat lunch near the playground began running towards the school building.
"It's raining... Looks like we can't have lunch on the rooftop anymore."
Megumi Kato, holding her lunchbox, glanced out the window. Her seat and Shin's were by the window, one in front of the other, so she could easily see the playground with just a turn of her head.
Clearly, in this rainy weather, they couldn't have lunch on the rooftop either—the rooftop had no shelter, and it wouldn't be pleasant to eat in the rain, right?
Actually, Shin could use the power of "Black Bird: Requiem" to alter the weather, dispersing the dark clouds and turning the rainy sky clear in an instant.
But even if the sky cleared up immediately, the chairs on the rooftop would have already been soaked by the rain, making them unusable.
Although Shin, with his myriad of abilities, could easily dry the chairs, the lunch group wasn't aware of the existence of his Stand abilities, and he wasn't planning to reveal them just yet.
He figured he would tell them once they had grown closer.
"Then let's find another place to eat. Any recommendations?"
Shin took out his phone and sent a message in the lunch group chat, informing everyone that it was raining and they couldn't have lunch on the rooftop.
The feeling of discussing where to have lunch with classmates felt quite mundane, but Shin didn't dislike the atmosphere—especially since the ones chatting with him were all cute girls.
After he sent the message, someone quickly replied—Hitori Gotou, who sent a brief message along with a photo:
"How about here? [Photo]"
The photo showed a storage room filled with unused desks and chairs, and even some dust was visible.
Clearly, before Shin had dragged Hitori Gotou out to have lunch together, she had been eating her lunch in such a place—it seemed she had done the same in the original story.
Only someone like Hitori Gotou, or perhaps a bullied outcast, would choose such a place to have lunch.
"Rejected! How can we eat lunch in a place like this!?"
The reply came from Ikuyo Kita. The place Hitori Gotou suggested was too remote and gloomy, which suited her personality, but Ikuyo Kita obviously wouldn't agree.
As the "teacher" who had taught her guitar, Ikuyo Kita was doing her best to help Hitori Gotou break out of her socially awkward shell and become a bit more outgoing.
After all, Kessoku Band was a rock band! How could a member be so socially anxious!?
Rock band members were supposed to be outgoing!
Admittedly, this was a stereotype people had about rock bands. Although Ikuyo Kita had joined Kessoku Band, her understanding of rock music wasn't much different from that of a casual listener.
"How about we eat in a club room?"
Megumi Kato suggested in the group chat.
"Since Shin-kun seems to have keys to many places, he probably has keys to some club rooms too, right?"
Shin broke into a cold sweat as he read the message—Megumi Kato had learned to be mischievous too, casually suggesting something that violated school rules.
Of course, entering someone else's club room without permission wasn't allowed, but since Shin had already broken the rules by opening the rooftop door before, Megumi Kato naturally proposed this idea.
"True, if it's a club room, it wouldn't be dirty, and usually no one would disturb us there."
Ikuyo Kita seemed to have been influenced as well, completely ignoring the fact that this was against the rules, and enthusiastically agreed in the group chat.
After all, club activities usually took place after school, so no one would be in the club rooms during lunchtime.
And of course, most people didn't have keys to the club rooms.
Hitori Gotou sent a sweating emoji, probably feeling speechless at how blatantly Megumi Kato and Ikuyo Kita were disregarding the rules.
But as someone with social anxiety, she couldn't bring herself to argue and could only let their opinions dominate.
Shin thought for a moment and then sent a message:
"Alright, since you all suggested it, I do know a good place. Let's meet there today."
...
"The Art Club?"
At the location Shin specified, Ikuyo Kita and Hitori Gotou met up with Shin and Megumi Kato.
However, as they looked at the club room's sign on the door, they all exchanged glances and then turned to Shin.
"Shin-kun, do you know someone from the Art Club?"
Megumi Kato's tone was full of suspicion. Although the Art Club had both male and female members, for some reason, she instinctively felt that if Shin knew anyone from the Art Club, it would definitely be a girl.
"Yeah, I know Eriri from the Art Club, so it's fine to borrow her club room."
Shin put on a calm expression and used the ability of his Stand to manipulate the lock and create a key that matched its internal structure.
*Click.*
With a gentle twist, Shin unlocked the Art Club's door and then casually slipped his hand back into his pocket, pretending he had actually used a key to open it.
"Eriri... Could it be that ace member of the Art Club, the daughter of the diplomat family?"
Ikuyo Kita, who was good at communication, immediately realized who Eriri was and exclaimed in surprise.
"So Shin knows Eriri too?"
Meanwhile, Hitori Gotou looked completely lost—compared to Ikuyo Kita, she barely knew her own classmates, let alone students from other grades.
"Yep, that's her. We're on good terms, so even if someone finds out we used the club room, we can just blame it on her... heh."
Shin said shamelessly as he pushed open the door.
Although it sounded terrible, the truth was that there was no chance of anyone finding out.
When they arrived, Shin had already used "Black Bird: Requiem" to fix the outcome of "not being disturbed by outsiders," so there was no need to worry about making excuses.
Saying they could blame Eriri was just a joke.
However, when Shin opened the door, he saw someone already sitting inside.
"...Huh?"
Eriri, sitting on a chair in the Art Club room and eating her lunch, was stunned as she saw Shin suddenly open the door and walk in, followed by three girls.
Clearly, although Shin had fixed the outcome of "not being disturbed by outsiders," Eriri didn't count as an outsider to him.
To be continued…
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