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Project GB is an official initiative by Re:Library.

The proficiency test after summer break took place over two days, and once it was over…

“Done… It’s all doneeeeee!”

Kasumi cheered loudly while standing up and stretching.

The other students were doing the same, finally able to relax after the stressful test. Kou just watched her from a distance with a wry smile, and when Kasumi noticed that, she quickly turned around.

“Ah, I’m sorry. It probably was far worse for you. Are you okay?”

…Just like Kou had anticipated the day before the test, she ended up doing the first part in the infirmary. When Kasumi recalled that, everyone else also turned to look at Kou with worry, but…

“Mhm, I’m fine. It got way better today.”
“Were you able to focus better on the test?”

Hijiri was the next to ask, and Kou nodded reassuringly.

“Don’t worry… I’m sure I did well enough that I won’t need to blame being sick for my score.”
“Oh? I’ll be looking forward to the results then.”

Then another voice joined the conversation. This time it was Reo, who had only joined their class a few days earlier.

“Alright, you two can keep your academic rivalry going later. But what should we do now?”
“Ah, school ends at noon again, so maybe we can go give Reo and Reinhard a proper welcome party?”
“Oh that sounds good, I’m in!”

Subaru stepped in between Reo and Kou and asked the group. Kasumi was the first to reply, followed by Hijiri’s approval. Kou looked at Reo, wanting to make sure if he was okay with that.

“Ahh, I really appreciate that, but actually I’d like some help finding a certain place before that.”
“A certain place?”

Kou tilted her head as she asked what he meant.

“Yes, it should be somewhere here at school…”

He left it at that, and the place he had in mind was—

◇◇◇

“…Why are we going to the gaming club again?”

Kou and the group had taken Reo to the student center, and Subaru finally asked the question in everyone’s mind.

Reo’s destination had turned out to be the gaming club’s room. One would expect him to fit in better with the sports club, or even the theater club. Maybe he really was an irredeemable gamer, but even then, that clashed with the casual and hobbyist nature of a school club, leaving everyone puzzled.

“It’s just that he has a bit of a connection with someone in there.”
“A connection?”

Reinhard, walking a few steps behind Reo, answered in his stead. But that only confused Kou and the group, as they knew that Reo had not been in Japan for long yet.

“Yes… I heard that the daughter of the younger sister of someone who once helped my father is enrolled here. I thought I’d stop by to greet her.”
“I was expecting a slightly more direct connection…”

Hijiri could not stop herself from retorting when she heard Reo’s reply. Even Kou thought to herself, ‘You’re pretty much strangers at that point…’ but she did not say it aloud.

As they chatted, they reached the club room, which was more of a gathering of like-minded people rather than a full blown club, located in a small room on the third floor of the student center.

Subaru was in the lead, so he knocked on the door and slowly opened it. Inside…

“Huh?”

…was a girl in uniform, her mouth open wide as she was about to stuff her cheeks with a popular chocolate-coated stick snack known for the catchphrase, “Filled with chocolate until the last bite!”

“…Kyahh?! I…I’m so sorry, please come in!”

The girl quickly hid the snack behind her back and tried to smile at the guests, inviting them to enter.

…She’s pretty. That was Kou’s first impression of the girl.

Her face gave off a calming vibe, and her black hair was long and silky smooth. And even though she was just wearing her uniform and school appointed cardigan, it was clear she also had an impeccable sense of fashion.

The colored streaks running along the ribbon tie on her neck were not red like Kou’s, but green. That meant she was studying in a separate department, the public entertainment one, and since there were two streaks, it meant she was a second year student.

As the group entered the room, and Kou came into view, the girl’s eyes locked on her.

“Wait, are you…could you be…”

Kou noticed that immediately, and experience told her what was about to happen, so she tried to turn around and leave but…

“Kyahhh, it’s the real Crim-chan!!”
“Waugh?!”

…The Demon Lord was not allowed to escape.

As the girl was at least a head taller, Kou found herself instantly pressed against the girl’s chest…followed by a suffocating sensation that made her try to desperately break free.

◇◇◇

“Umm…Kou? Are you okay?”
“Hahh…hahh…why does it always end like that…”

Just when she felt like she was about to pass out, Hijiri stepped in to rescue her, and now she was trying to regain her breath.

As a former boy, she felt her masculine pride shattering to pieces after being hugged like that by an older girl, but she somehow managed to keep her cool.

“I’m so sorry…for real! It’s just…you’re so cute that I had to do it.”
“It’s fine, you don’t have to say anything more… In any case, have we met before?”

That girl seemed oddly comfortable around Kou, so she asked that, trying to figure it out, and…

“Ah, I know. Does this make it easier to see?”

Saying that, the girl picked up a set of fox ears from a nearby shelf and held them on her head.

…That did make her look more familiar. If one imagined her with pastel pink hair, and more traditional clothing, she resembled…

“Umm…are you Sakura?”
“Yes, right on! I’m Kirisu Sakura!”

She smiled brightly and clapped lightly as she replied.

“To be precise, I’m the person behind Kirisu Sakura. I’m Kagurazaka Haru, nice to meet you.”

She extended a hand with a friendly smile for everyone to shake. Kou was still flustered from her earlier experience with the older girl, but she still shook the girl’s hand. One by one, the others followed.

“I already thought this in-game, but she has a really pretty voice.”
“Yeah, I noticed too…”

Kirisu Sakura was known as a popular up-and-coming VRtuber. One of her most well-known traits was her singing ability…but as her voice was so beautiful, there were many people claiming she was using a voice changer.

But now that Kou was seeing her in the flesh, Kou thought that her voice was somehow even prettier than on her streams, almost like a finely tuned melodious instrument.

Those thoughts passed through Kou’s mind during the round of handshakes, after which everyone took a seat at the girl’s behest.

“So…I don’t see anyone else here other than you, Kagurazaka. Are you here alone?”
“Yes, for the moment. I created this club on my own, and I haven’t really recruited anyone else. And anyone who takes games seriously tends to go to the eSports club instead.”

Haru explained that while serving black tea to everyone. Everyone listened to her, thanking her in a low voice as she left paper cups with tea in front of them.

“Does that mean you’re the only one using this club room then?”
“Mmm, not really…. There’s one more person. Though he’s more of a member in name only, and only shows up once in a blue moon… But it seems he’s here today.”

Haru grinned, and just then—

“Hey, been a while—”

The door creaked open.

“…Ah.”
“…It’s you.”

Kou and Subaru spoke at the same time, recognizing his face. Meanwhile, he stood there, his body stiff as he stared at Kou and Subaru…but mostly at Kou.

“My bad, got the wrong room.”
“Oh you didn’t, Su-za-ku.”

Just as he was turning around and tried to leave, Haru rushed to put her foot on the door to stop it from closing, snatched his collar and dragged him into the room.

There was little he could do to resist Haru’s almost aggressive assertiveness, and once fully inside, all he could do was glare at Kou with resentment before muttering…

“…Why the hell are you here, Demon Lord.”
“I mean… that is what I ought to be asking of thee… Suzaku.”

His voice was almost quivering as he asked that, and Kou accidentally slipped into her Crim persona as she replied…

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