Chapter 4: boring presentations
As Professor Mashima exited the room, the room erupted in conspiratorial murmurs, debating what Sakayanagi meant by her question. Of course, not everyone was talking about it; some were just talking normally like normal teenagers, while others simply ignored the commotion. As I was about to leave, a student from the front rows stood up, his imposing figure drawing attention.
"Everyone, please pay attention to me for a moment," said Katsuragi, the bald student.
The students who were packing their belongings to go to the welcome speech raised their heads in interest. Katsuragi scanned the room, giving a few brief moments of silence to increase his authority because there was no one to interrupt him, before clearing his throat.
"I propose that we introduce ourselves because we will be in the same class for the next three years. Of course, no one will be forced to introduce themselves if they do not wish to." Some students left, but the majority stayed because they felt the introduction was necessary. So Katsuragi kept talking. "My name is Kohei Katsuragi, and it's a pleasure to meet you."
It was a little brief, but I think it got the point across. No one seemed willing to continue the speech, so one brown-haired student stood up to break the awkward silence.
"My name is Yahiko Totsuka, and I came to this school to be able to enroll in Tokyo University in the future; it's a pleasure to meet you all." He added an unnecessary piece of information, possibly due to the silent pressure of the students' eyes on him.
This was definitely a waste of time; I waited for a while, hoping for something interesting to happen, but I was left disappointed.
I slid out of my seat, making an unpleasant sound as the seat slid across the polished floor of the room. The girls were looking at me intently, while the men were looking at me with mixed feelings. The entire class's attention was on me, and a normal student would have succumbed to the pressure and simply shown up, but I simply grabbed my backpack and headed for the exit, under the confused and somewhat surprised gaze of the students.
"Fufu~" Sakayanagi laughed as she watched me walk. It was getting scary at this point; that giggle was getting on my nerves. Was it a tic or something?
I shut the door behind me and looked behind me; there was still an awkward silence in the class, which Katsuragi filled by acting as class leader. This boy seemed to want to lead the flock, which is usually my role, but this time I couldn't care less.
The entrance ceremony was routine; my classmates looked at me from time to time, as if trying to figure out who I was, but my uninterested expression only made them more perplexed. I could try to make my flat lips into an entrepreneurial smile, but it was exhausting, so I didn't.
As I walked out of the hall, I decided to take a slight detour away from the dorms to go to a convenience store and buy something for dinner. I noticed many people walking straight to their dorms and others running to the recreation centers as if their lives depended on it. This freedom is quite surprising in such a conservative country as Japan; perhaps this is some kind of utopian experiment in which the students are the test subjects? Is there a new "Universe 25" or is it "behavioral drainage"? That makes more sense.
Unleashing creatures like humans will result in an unsettling prosperity and, as a result, distrust. Was it their intention all along for us to seek refuge in conflict by providing us with a conflict-free environment? Now I'm connecting the dots on ridiculous theories to explain behavior that can be explained by complacency and stupidity, sigh. Maybe I was already doing what they wanted by attempting to find conflict in the midst of peace. I couldn't help but chuckle quietly to myself. Was God thinking that returning me to my adolescence would teach me that not everything in life is interesting and that I should learn to enjoy the mundane? As I walked into the convenience store, I sighed again.
However, as I continued to ramble, I failed to notice the person crossing the hallway on the way out. We collided shoulders, a forceful and unrestrained collision. We both came to a halt because neither of us could move backwards or forwards, as if an immovable object collided with an unstoppable object. I didn't know what this new body's maximum capacity was, but I knew I was on the upper end of the strength scale because I felt a little lighter than in my previous life, and I trained regularly.
"Sorry." I apologized, observing the person in front of me, more specifically his posture: one foot back, center of gravity stabilized, knees slightly bent, ready to attack at any moment. He appeared to have taken a defensive stance unconsciously as a result of the impact, just like me.
"No... it's my fault." He said, also staring at me, his dull brown eyes slyly scanning my posture.
His brown hair fell on either side of his head and covered his forehead slightly; he was slightly smaller than me, but the difference was almost imperceptible. A black-haired girl next to him, carrying a basket of groceries, looked at us strangely in the midst of the somewhat tense silence that surrounded us.
"Have you made an enemy yet, Ayanokouji-kun? It's amusing when your number of enemies exceeds your number of friends." The girl said this with a haughty and mocking expression on her refined face.
"You're being cruel, Horikita." Perhaps in an attempt to appear hurt, the boy said, but his monotone didn't help.
I gave them a nod and walked away, going to the snack section and watching the couple of students out of the corner of my eye, they were observing a place of products labeled as free, after that they went and paid for their stuff, not without first helping a rather tall and grumpy man to pay for their food. I must have looked like a stalker, but I wanted to learn more about the bored-faced guy's behavior; sadly, all of his actions were normal, almost too normal.
As he began walking, his posture relaxed and he appeared to be neither on guard nor watchful; perhaps he was aware that I was watching him? After all, stealth was not my strong suit. At the end of the day, I shrugged and went back to shopping, grabbing a few freebies from the pile of goods because it never hurts to get something for free.
'Ayanokouji.' I reflected on my way back, careful not to forget the name or the face associated with it.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
harvier_
harvier_ Creation is hard, cheer me up!
I tagged this book, come and support me with a thumbs up!
— New chapter is coming soon — Write a review
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone