The rest of the week becomes very standard of it, and Touko OKs my commission, so I send some reference to her what I want it to consist of, though I might do some modifications to it considering what I will be doing...

Ugh, why should I be a part of this UAA shit?!

"You seem very uneasy of you, Stephan."

"Oh, sorry, just have some thoughts on mind, but I will probably jog them off later on."

"Alright, but you can always talk with me about them!"

"Come on now, Rui..."

"What, classmates should stick together, no?"

"True, true. Well, thanks man, I will keep it in mind."

Later I soon move towards CiRCLE, before I stop for a moment.

Because I begin thinking, how much will this part time job mean if me taking part in the UAA rankings will yield me greater things?

While this might be much more shadier of it, I still feel that slight part of me thinking that if the payment is good from the UAA, I might as well resign...

Damn it, so many thoughts, what's the matter with me this week?!

Shaking my head, I decide to instead message Marina that I am not coming today, before I turn around and start heading home.

I decide to take the same route I took with Tsukushi the other day, as the scenery on this route was pretty great.

But as I pass by Arisugawa, I see a pink haired girl stand in front of the school gate, and she soon spots me.

"Greetings!"

"...Wait, me?"

"Oh sorry, I just always greet anyone that passes by, whether they go in Arisugawa or not."

"Well, then greetings to you too. How come you are in front of the gates of your school? Waiting for someone?"

"Oh yes, I am actually! I am waiting for my friends, we wanted to visit and try out a new drink at Café Vinyl that was heavily recommended by TOKO."

Wait a minute, did she say..?

"TOKO, who's that?"

"She is a very popular gal on all sort of social media, and she actually goes at Tsukinomori."

Oh so it really is Touko, but hey, I don't feel surprised, considering how beautiful she is...

"Ahem, I see, anyway, nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too-"

But before she manages to say it back, someone calls out.

"Miyuuu, here we come!"

Over there, I see three other girls approach, one with dark red hair, another blonde and the middle girl, that to me stands out to the most, has platinum hair with several white ribbons tied in to her hair that has been tied into what seems to be twintails.

The three girls approach me and pink hair, before they notice me and almost come to a halt.

"...M-Miyu, this boy isn't hurting you, right?!"

"Oh no, he just passed by, he's really kind!"

"I wouldn't say kind-"

"So you were planning to hurt Miyu!"

"No??"

"You are always so concerned about Miyu, chairwoman!"

"I AM NOT THE CHAIRWOMAN!"

"What is going on-"

"Oh yeah, who exactly are you, haven't seen you around before!" The platinum haired girl asks me while actually invading a bit on my personal space, but somehow, I don't really mind it, huh...

"I'm just some guy, Stephan Karlsson's the name."

"A foreigner, I knew it! You speak very good Japanese though."

"Yeah, surprisingly."

"I'm Kurumi Shiratori by the way, nice to meet you, Stephan!"

Hmm, when I actually do get a good look at her, she is really damn cute, though I had never expected someone like her to be called Kurumi.

"If Kurumi introduces herself to Karlsson, I want to as well! I'm Miyu Sakurada!"

"M-Miyu, why are you..." But the red haired girl sighs before she introduces herself to me as Haruna Kasuga, while the blonde girl is Miiko Takeshita.

"Oh, Miyu, what about bringing Stephan with us to Café Vinyl?"

"Huh? Wait a minute, I am on my way home currently-"

"It would be very fun if you joined us though, the more the merrier!"

I sigh before just shrugging my shoulders, because whatever, I am not rushing home anyway.

So soon I am on my way to Café Vinyl with the four Arisugawa students, but Kurumi keeps on looking at me.

"Is there something on my face, Ku- I mean, Shiratori?"

"Mmm, you don't seem like the formal type, I heard you almost said my first name-"

"Alright, I am not, Kurumi."

"Okeee, I see! Hehehe~" She replies while letting a mischievous yet cute laugh.

This girl... She is really cute, but I have a slight feeling she might be a handful once I get know her better...

We arrive at Café Vinyl and go up to the man standing by the bar desk.

"Aaah, if it isn't Lyrical Lily! And I see you have brought with you a friend."

"Well, I wouldn't say friend, I just met these four today, and Kurumi suggested I should tag along, so I figured why not, I am in no rush after all."

"I see, I see. Well, I can only assume all of you are here due to TOKO, is that right?"

"Yes it is! We think that drink looks most delicious, and TOKO has always been great at finding the best new trends after all!"

"Heh, that really does sound like her..." I accidentally say out loud, before the four girls in what happens to be Lyrical Lily looks at me.

"Wait, you know TOKO personally?"

"Well, personally I wouldn't say, but I guess I am kinda... friends with her..?"

"Why didn't you say anything until now?!" Haruna asks me, now her almost invading my personal space.

"Don't be so near please-"

"Hmm, yet you said nothing when I were that close to you~" Kurumi suddenly says as I realize I am basically giving away that I already don't mind Kurumi's company.

"W-Well... No, let's just buy the drink, okay?!"

Everyone chuckles and giggles, before we take and buy the drinks we came here for.

Miyu takes a sip of it before almost in euphoria closes her eyes and smiles widely from the taste of the drink.

"Sooo good..!"

And she isn't kidding either, this drink tastes great, which means Touko truly knows what she does when recommending new stuff like this.

"Karlsson, I am sorry for jumping so hastily to conclusions about you earlier, I guess I became kinda worried because often when boys comes by Arisugawa, they are more so there just to flirt with and harass the students..."

"Don't worry, Kasuga, I took no offense in it, even if it was sudden. Most guys can be absolute assholes of them, so I think it's a good idea to always be a little wary of them."

"Including you~?"

"Maybe me as well, Kurumi, that's up to you all."

"Oi, Kurumi! We have invited him here after all, and he actually seems kind like Miyu said!"

"I'm not-"

"Oh yes, you are kind, Stephan, I can feel it myself." Miyu says as she soon looks at my glass.

"Oh my, you have barely been drinking of it..."

"A-Ah, sorry about that." I apologise as I take my glass and drink the juice like substance until the glass is half empty.

"Phew, I were pretty thirsty..."

But suddenly I feel my stomach work overtime, until it actually starts hurting..!

"F-Fuck, gotta go to the restroom!" I tell the others before I rush off, because man it hurts!

---------

"Hehehe, it set in at once~"

"Kurumi, did you actually put laxatives in Stephan's drink?!"

"Ahaha, ever the prankster, are you not?" Miyu says to Kurumi as Haruna begins scolding the latter a lot while Stephan is fighting for his life in the bathroom.

---------

After what feels like an hour of getting my body dried up at the shitter, I finally come back and slump down on my seat.

"I don't want this..." I tell the others as Haruna gives me an apologetic smile as she takes it and pours it out, before fetching me a glass of water.

"Are you alright, Stephan, does your stomach still hurt..?"

"Ah no, not anymore. But don't worry, I sorta already have slight problems with my stomach, haha..."

"Kurumi..!" Haruna hisses at the apparent culprit as she feels bad that she caused my stomach to work even more than it already does.

"Uhm, I'm sorry, Stephan... I at least now know that laxatives are a no-go, hehe~!"

Haruna just facepalms yet I can't help but to chuckle.

"Yeah, we all make mistakes, but now when you know which pranks you can't pull on me, I will be ready for what you have up your sleeves otherwise."

"Hehehe, just you wait~"

Honestly, forget the handful comment I said before, Kurumi is genuinely a joy to be around, and now it's on with bracing myself for which pranks she will be pulling on me now when I know her a bit better.

Later we say our goodbyes, but Kurumi walks with me home.

"Mmm, are you sure you are feeling well despite my prank?" Kurumi suddenly asks as I raise my eyebrows at her.

"Kurumi, I already told you all that I turned out fine in the end, hurts a bit back there from the rocket blasting I had to do, but it's nothing permanent."

"Alright, that's great~!"

Arriving by my apartment, Kurumi has to continue down the route we are on, thus departing for the day.

"Oh yeah, by the way Kurumi, I hope we get to meet more."

"I hope so too, Stephan~!"

Man, again, she is really cute...

Huh, I've been meeting a lot of cute girls already after moving here, all of them unique in their own way-

"OUCH!"

As I had been reaching into my pocket for my keys, I suddenly feel something snap down on my finger, making me immediately take out my hand again.

And there on my index finger is what looks like a mini mouse trap almost.

...Yeah, while Kurumi is cute, she is really going to be quite something to be around with all her pranks, huh?

Heading inside my apartment, I try switching on the hallway lamp, and it actually turns on now.

"Sweet, finally some electricity." I say to myself as I put on some more light and charge my phone, and go for going to bed early, not much I can still do with no internet.

And besides, I feel really sleepy...

--------------

Meanwhile, in a place far away from time and space as we now it...

"Ugh, this is boring, when are we getting to the good parts?!"

Sothis, as expected, is looking over Stephan's new isekai life, but doesn't find it thrilling in the slightest thus far.

"Why couldn't I have been assigned someone that were willing to straight up be some sort of hero, who even wants to be like Travis Touchdown of all people?!"

"Well, it is always the wish of the one being ressurected what they want to be in their next life." A voice suddenly says, making the goddess turn around and look at the one talking to her.

"What the, Lavenza, what are you doing here?!"

"The same I can ask to you, you aren't supposed to be the one looking over Stephan."

"Wait, what..?"

"The one you were supposed to look over was called Steve, who actually wanted to be a great hero, be the one who saves everyone plus having a bigger harem than the amount he can count on his hands and feet."

"So that explains why I suddenly got someone wishing for a life in the 'slice of life' category, as that is usually your job."

"Indeed, so-"

"Well, too bad! I am overseeing Stephan until something awesome happens!"

"I'm just saying, besides, I have something else I would provide for him if I get to take over here."

"Like what?"

"Can't tell or you will want to forcibly alter his isekai life."

"Well then, suit yourself. Aren't you going to see your 'Trickster' or whatever he's called again?"

"You do know that at this point, his journey is over, and I have been assigned here to be able to do something in my spare time until a new Wild Card awakens."

"Aaand even then you won't be around because another sibling of yours will appear~"

"That's just how it is, Igor likes having new faces around all the time-"

"Yeah yeah." Sothis replies as she gets off the seat she had made for herself. "Well, he's all yours now, as if things will be any different."

"Thank you for your cooperation." Lavenza thanks Sothis as the latter exits via a rift before the former stands in front of the huge portal acting as a sort of screen, now being the one watching over Stephan.

"...Good, I am here earlier now at least. I am going to make sure your life isn't filled with bloodshed this time, even if I have to intervene."

---------

I suddenly wake up to the door bell ringing, or rather the buzzer that sounds when someone is calling on the intercom.

Now whoever is here by 6 AM, I have no clue, but even if it's like 2 hours till I start, I figure I can go up from bed.

So I prepare myself quickly with putting on my uniform before I get out from my apartment and head downstairs.

Turns out it's actually Kurumi that waits outside.

"Oh, hey again, Kurumi. You woke me up."

"Well, you should be awake by now, it's school soon anyway in a few hours, right~?"

"Yeah, true, but I need to eat breakfast first. Want to come inside for now?"

"Geez, inviting girls you've just met into your apartment already?~"

"I'm just asking!"

"Sure! I already had my breakfast, so I can just watch on as you eat."

"No laxatives though."

"Relax, it's a bit too early for me to pull any pranks~"

And thus Kurumi comes inside my apartment, the first person I get to have visit me.

Would've been nicer if it was Touko though...

Nonetheless, I quickly eat what I had made and also hastily prepare a lunch box, before me and Kurumi heads out again.

"You didn't seem to have much food?" Kurumi asks me as I just side eye her and shake my head.

"Obviously, I barely have money for food, hence why I am part-timing at CiRCLE."

"Ooh, CiRCLE! That's were many girl bands tend to be, they want to promote them a lot because boy bands are a little bit too much currently."

"I barely know much about bands, but I have taken my time to listen to some of the bands' songs, like Morfonica, and I definitely like it."

"Of course you would pick Morfonica, they have Touko in there after all~"

"K-Knock it off, I have other factors as well!"

"Not even denying it, I see!~"

The walk continued with Kurumi teasing me about my crush on Touko...

And the school day itself wasn't much to it either, all in all not much else to do before that "UAA" thing starts for me, which I have no clue about when or where it is.

"What's up, Stephan?" Mizuki suddenly comes out of nowhere and asks me, making me slightly jump from me having spaced out like I tend to do.

"Oh hey there Mizuki. Not much, just thinking..."

"Well, you can tell me anything really!"

"It's fine, I can handle it."

"If you say so~"

Later on my way to CiRCLE, I bump into some of the girl bands that will be practicing today, say my "hello"s to them before I start my shift.

...Hmm, maybe the UAA isn't too bad of it in the end, because how things are right now, they just aren't exciting.

Then that's it, I will be ready for the UAA, no matter what..! Make way for Stephan, the one that will become number one in the UAA's rankings!

With a sudden new determination, Stephan braces himself for when the UAA ranking battles begins.

But a certain someone has taken over Sothis' role as the spectator of Stephan's new life, ready to offer him a greater opportunity than being a murderer.

To Be Continued.