Chapter 47: Undercurrents

Chapter 47: Undercurrents

Riiiing—!

Afternoon sunlight poured lazily through the classroom windows as the bell signaled the end of class.

Tendou, seated near the back by the window, stretched with a satisfied sigh and was just about to rest his head on his arms for a nap—when the sunlight around him suddenly dimmed.

He blinked. 

A shadow?

Looking up, he froze.

What greeted him was not the sun, but a dozen pairs of glittering eyes staring down at him.

The ones blocking his light weren’t clouds.

They were girls.

A whole group of curious, excited female classmates now surrounded his desk like fans around an idol.

Before Tendou could even react, the barrage began:

“Tendou-kun! I heard you’re only here for a month—can’t you extend your exchange program?”

“Tendou-kun, is your hair naturally that color? It looks so soft!”

“Tendou-kun~!”

Voices overlapped like waves crashing against him.

Even Tendou—someone well-acquainted with being the center of attention—was caught off guard by the intensity of their enthusiasm.

He could take on demons, duel monsters, and argue philosophy with gods, but facing a dozen bubbly girls firing questions faster than bullets? That was a battlefield he’d never trained for.

If it had been the boys from Ember Base crowding him like this, he’d have solved the issue in one punch per head—problem gone, peace restored.

Fortunately, these girls were far gentler. Their questions, while relentless, stayed within polite boundaries.

It was chaos, yes—but a harmless, sparkling kind of chaos.

Behind them, watching everything from his seat, Chen Kong couldn’t help the flicker of envy in his eyes.

Same transfer program.

Same new class.

Same first day.

And yet the difference between him and Tendou… was like heaven and earth.

When Chen Kong had arrived earlier that morning, his classmates had been curious, sure—but that curiosity ended there. No one had bothered to talk to him, much less surround him like a celebrity.

But Tendou?

From the moment he stepped into the classroom, heads had turned. Whispers spread. Even during lessons, some girls kept sneaking glances back at him, trying to hide their smiles.

Compared to that, Chen Kong’s quiet, awkward arrival felt… painfully dull.

Still, Chen Kong didn’t feel bitter.

He knew this pattern.

Since the day he met Tendou, it had always been like this.

Tendou was born to stand in the spotlight—confident, radiant, magnetic.

While he… was simply the shadow standing beside it.

Different places, same story. 

Everything seemed to change—and yet nothing had changed at all.

Just as he was lost in that thought, a familiar voice snapped him back to reality.

“Oi, Kong! Stop zoning out and help me out here—these girls have too many questions! I can’t keep up!”

Before Chen Kong could respond, Tendou grabbed him by the wrist and dragged him straight into the center of the crowd.

Caught completely off guard, Chen Kong could only stumble along—and to his surprise, the same girls who had ignored him all morning suddenly turned to him with bright smiles.

“Kong-kun, you and Tendou-kun seem pretty close, huh?”

For the first time since he’d stepped into this class, the light shining through the window didn’t feel quite so far away.

“Kong-kun, could you maybe… quietly tell us what kind of girls Tendou-kun likes?”

“Yeah, Kong-kun, do you know what Tendou-kun’s hobbies are?”

The barrage of oddly specific questions hit him from all directions.

For someone who had never been surrounded by this many girls before, Chen Kong’s ears instantly turned bright red, the color spreading all the way to his neck. When he finally opened his mouth to answer, his words came out halting, broken, and hesitant.

But rather than laugh at him, the girls only giggled softly among themselves.

“He’s so shy!”

“That’s actually kinda cute~”

Their eyes gleamed with warmth rather than ridicule, and their smiles carried genuine amusement.

The atmosphere was so different from that cold, suffocating indifference of the morning.

It was like stepping from a winter shadow straight into the warmth of spring sunlight.

Chen Kong knew full well why this change had happened.

It wasn’t really about him.

They were only being nice because he happened to know Tendou, and they wanted to learn more about their golden exchange student.

Even so… He couldn’t deny that he liked this feeling.

For once, people weren’t ignoring him.

For once, eyes actually looked at him, not through him.

For the first time in a long while, he felt like he wasn’t invisible—like he wasn’t just air filling a seat, but a person who mattered. Someone real.

Unfortunately, that warm, fragile moment didn’t last long.

The bell rang again. Class break was over.

Everyone returned to their seats, chatting a little as they went.

Chen Kong sat down too, still smiling faintly as he rubbed the back of his head—his face bright with quiet, simple happiness.

Seeing that expression, Tendou leaned back in his chair until it rested against Chen Kong’s desk. With a lazy grin, he said,

“Oi, Kong. You know what your problem is? You overthink everything.”

He tapped the back of his chair lightly, eyes glinting with amusement.

“Most people aren’t as complicated as you think. When they act cold, it’s not because they hate you—it’s just because they don’t know you yet.”

“So chin up, yeah? Don’t sell yourself short.”

Chen Kong blinked, stunned for a moment by how casually those words cut through his thoughts.

Then, after a pause, he asked quietly, “So, Tendou… is that why you’re always so popular?”

Tendou smirked. “Oh, no. That’s not the reason.”

“Then what is it?”

He thought for a second, then jabbed a thumb at himself.

“When you’re as handsome as I am, Kong, you could be a mute and you’d still be this popular.”

“…”

That’s… a very nice pep talk.

But please—never give one again.

For the first time in his life, Chen Kong truly experienced the meaning of speechless.

And for once, he couldn’t hold it back.

“…Tendou, has Caroline ever told you that you’re actually terrible at comforting people?”

Tendou blinked, clearly offended. “No way! Every time Caroline’s been down, I’ve been the one to cheer her up and pull her out of it!”

“She didn’t get mad?”

Tendou frowned, thinking it over. “…I… think? Probably not?”

That was all Chen Kong needed to hear.

Mystery solved.

Tendou had been born bad at comforting people.

Because of course, how could a genius possibly understand how ordinary people felt?

Before he could say that out loud, the classroom door slid open.

“Alright, class, take your seats.”

The teacher had returned.

Tendou immediately sat up straight, cutting off the conversation as if it had never happened.

“Okay, back to class,” he whispered, pretending to look attentive.

Except… while everyone else focused on the blackboard, Tendou had quietly pulled open a dimensional screen only he could see—and started watching the latest episode of Stellaris: Embers.

At the same time, as the little exchange between Tendou and Chen Kong came to an end, the focus of the episode quietly shifted.

The in-universe camera panned away from the classroom—cutting to another location entirely.

The dormitory.

Specifically, the private single room belonging to Dekora, the arrogant rich kid who’d been absent from class that afternoon.

He sat on the edge of his bed, curtains drawn, the faint glow of his phone screen illuminating his face.

After a moment’s hesitation, he tapped the call icon.

The line rang once. Twice.

Then—click. It connected.

“Father,” Dekora said softly, lowering his voice, “I’ve finished the investigation you asked for. That transfer student named Chen Kong—he’s definitely suspicious.”

He paused, checking that the door was still locked before continuing.

“When I got close to him using the Star Energy Sensor you gave me, it picked up a strong reaction. The readings were stable at over one hundred SE units.”

“In other words… he’s a genuine first-order Starbearer.”

A deep voice answered from the other end. “And the others?”

“The one called Masamune Tendou… I happened to see him briefly this afternoon, but I couldn’t find a chance to approach him directly. So for now, I can’t confirm anything.”

“As for Caroline and Chen Xing.”

He hesitated, frowning slightly.

“They’re not in my class, and I haven’t had any good opportunities to observe them yet.”

There was a brief silence on the line.

Then the man on the other end spoke again, his tone calm and heavy.

“I see. Understood, Dekora. Go back to class for now. Contact me when you have new findings.”

He chuckled darkly, the sound laced with ambition.

“You’ll be glad to know that my push to enter the BluEther Group executive board is going quite well. Soon, I’ll secure additional shares and real authority.”

“But until then…” His voice grew colder, sharper.

“Maintain that arrogant, spoiled act of yours. Keep provoking those transfer students.”

“Your goal is simple—force them to reveal their Star Origin in public. Once their Starbearer identities are confirmed, the city’s Starbearer Association will have every right to intervene.”

“And once that happens…”

A low, humorless laugh filtered through the phone.

“Even if they somehow make it out unscathed, they’ll never again be able to return to Trilan so easily. They’ll be tied down—unable to interfere with our plans.”

“Do well, Dekora. The future of our family depends on your performance.”

Dekora straightened unconsciously, his usual laziness replaced by rigid seriousness.

“Understood, Father.”

“Good. Don’t fail me.”

The call ended with a faint click.

In the silence that followed, Dekora slowly lowered his phone, his reflection flickering on the dark screen.

The arrogant smirk returned to his lips, but this time, it carried a trace of something else—a hint of calculation.

“Heh.”

He looked toward the window, where the fading sunlight bled across the glass.

“Masamune, Chen Kong… enjoy your little school life while it lasts.”

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