It was quite some time that I trailed in my world of thoughts and the voice of Tsumen pulled me out of it.

"Hey… earth to Saishi?" Tsūmen snapped his fingers in front of me.

​​

"Yeah, I just dozed off a bit." Looking at him, I replied in a lazy tone.

"You alright?" He narrowed his eyes.

"Yeah man." I nodded, but my answer didn't seem to satisfy him as it looked like he was anticipating something else.

"I was just thinking about some unnecessary things…" Instead of my previous vague reply, I replied a bit indirectly this time.

"Hmm… unnecessary thing?" He looked at me with a smirk and nodded, like he understood what I was thinking about.

"Nevermind, how's your club doing lately?" Looking at the flow of conversation going towards me, I decided to change the topic.

"Oh... they have been hyperactive." His eyebrows raised, as I could tell that talking about his club made him a bit excited.

"Eh?" Knowing the members of his club, being overly active and obnoxious wasn't their thing.

"Yeah… you won't believe that Kotojina Senpai has been up my butt recently." He let out a sigh and chuckled.

"Your club president?" I remembered him talking about someone named Kotojina, but wasn't sure of them being the president.

"He might be like that… but in all honesty, he helped me a lot during my training." He nodded, crossing his arms on his chest and leaned his back on his chair.

"Yeah, he is stressed… you know what happened last year, right?" A sad smile appeared on his face as he recalled the events of the last year.

"Yeah… makes sense." Looking at that expression, I decided not to pry on that.

But he wasn't that kind of a guy to sink in despair as the frown on his face changed into a cheeky smile and he said with a wink, "And I will absolutely do my best this year."

"Well, the way you have improved in a year, you might as well rank first." Looking at his archery skills for the past one year, it really enhanced. I was being honest when I said that he might rank first.

"Hah… that's quite the statement." He laughed and nudged me with his elbow.

"Well what about you? Are you going to take part in anything... this year?" He asked with a bit of excitement in his voice.

"I'm not really good at sports…" I said in a boring tone that killed the mood of the conversation.

"That's a lie." He narrowed his eyes and said with a cheeky smile. I don't remember doing anything athletic around him, but the tone in which he said that was pretty certain.

"Huh?" I tilted my head in confusion.

"I have seen your reflexes. You definitely are athletic." He said casually.

"My reflexes being fast have nothing to do with whether or not I'm athletic." Looking at the certain expression on his face, I was a bit confused.

"Is that so?" Coming from an athlete like him, I think it was easy for him to tell whether or not a person is athletic.

Looking at him, no one can tell at first glance that he does archery. It's when he exposes his arms, one can tell by the defined muscles and the rough edges on his fingertips.

"Then you sure did mar…" He was about to say something but a really familiar voice interrupted our conversation.

"Oi Tsumen…" It was Kana as she rested her arm on his desk and called out his name.

"Huh? Oh.. Matsushita-san… what's up?" He turned his head towards her and looked up at her.

"Hey Kana" I waved to her.

"Yo Sakamaki!" She looked at me and greeted me. She was still the same as she was 2 months ago. The same girl with the same fiery persona and charm.

"Tsumen, can you come with me for a second? I need a bit of help." She asked in an authoritative tone.

"I refuse." Tsūmen looked at her a few seconds before denying her request with a smug.

"Oh… what a shame…" Kana nodded slowly as she began to slowly walk away.

"I thought I would treat you in the cafeteria, but it seems like you won't need it anymore." She glanced over her shoulder and said that loud enough for us to hear it.

"Treat?" Seems like the word intrigued him.

"Huh… well it seems like I'll have to eat all that alone." She again turned towards him and shook her head from left to right.

"Oi… what treat?" Tsūmen was locked on that treat. Kana definitely knew what she was doing.

"It doesn't matter anymore... Yuki-kun" She said, emphasizing on the last part.

"Heh? Yuki? What?" Tsūmen was confused as he looked at me for a second and looked back at her.

"Oi… Matsushita? I was kidding? What do you need help with?" Seems like Tsūmen definitely needed that treat.

"Well Saishi can help too." Kana looked at me with a very cute smile.

"Hey…no! I'm helping." Tsūmen shook his hand in front of her as he stood up from his seat and walked towards her.

"Aww thanks Tsūmen, you're such a nice guy." She slapped him on the shoulder playfully.

"Nice?... I'm doing it for the treat… Well, I'm kind of nice too." Tsūmen shrugged and laughed.

"Let's get moving now!" She ordered him. Tsūmen looked at her with a dumbfounded face and she again repeated herself.

"Come on, Scram!"

"Oh my… what a change in tone… you double-faced…" Tsūmen was about to say something, but Kana's glare was enough to make him stop dead in his tracks.

"Huh!?"

"Nevermind… I'm coming." Tsūmen chuckled awkwardly and went with him.

Now that they were gone, it was probably time for Lilith to contact me about the new target. She usually contacts me around this time and briefs me about the targets.

I looked towards the doorway and caught Kizhashi glancing at me again. She was way too aware of me than before. Pretty soon, I'll help her with that Uyeno matter too.