What kind of season is April?
It is the season of new beginnings.
A time when students and working adults leave their familiar environments behind and spread their wings toward new horizons.
While some may feel anxious about the change, most cross that threshold with hearts full of expectation.
Spring, overall, is a season enveloped in a warm, gentle, and bright atmosphere.
Yet, amid this lighthearted air, one young man walked along looking sullen, gazing up at the cherry blossom trees.
‘Seriously, there are a ridiculous number of Curses here…’ Standing well over 180 cm tall with dark hair, dark eyes, and handsome features, this young man was Mamoru Gojo.
What he was looking at was not the dancing cherry blossom petals, but the grotesque, monstrous shape wiggling beside them—resembling a giant caterpillar—a Curse.
A caterpillar with a human face groaning right beside fluttering, beautiful cherry blossoms made for a thoroughly surreal sight.
Keeping his hands in his pockets so no one would notice, Mamoru subtly formed a hand seal.
A cubic barrier instantly manifested around the caterpillar Curse.
The Curse thrashed around in a panic, slamming into the walls, but the barrier didn’t budge an inch.
In the next moment, the cube shrank in the blink of an eye and vanished with a quiet pop.
‘That makes three since I stepped onto campus.
Even if they’re all weaklings, this is way too many.’ Curses were fundamentally born from human negative emotion.
Because the surrounding crowd was exuding such an overly festive atmosphere, the existence of these Curses felt all the more bizarre to Mamoru.
He had already anticipated from his meeting with the Chairman that something was off about this school, but that suspicion was now verging on absolute certainty.
This was likely not a place where students could enjoy the brilliant, carefree life that most of these floating-on-air freshmen were expecting.
‘Honestly, I wouldn’t even be surprised if a student or two had committed suicide here in the past.’ In truth, that was hardly a wild guess.
This was a government-run educational institution backed by massive funding.
If any inconvenient truths existed, they would surely have the power to cover them up.
Though Chairman Sakayanagi had seemed like a man of character, a top authority figure couldn’t always enforce their will on everything.
That much was clear from how this request had played out.
Perhaps due to these gloomy thoughts, Mamoru glanced around with a somewhat cold, detached gaze.
After checking his assigned classroom, he followed the guide map and headed straight to the building.
On his way up the stairs toward the classroom, a single girl caught his eye.
‘A cane…
Does she have trouble walking?’ Since there were no visible injuries, it was likely a preexisting condition.
She held a bag in the hand that wasn’t holding the cane, leaving both hands full and making it impossible for her to hold onto the handrail.
Watching her carefully take each step with considerable effort, Mamoru approached and offered a hand without overthinking it.
“Want me to carry your bag?” Hearing his voice, the girl turned around.
She was small, forcing her to look up at the towering Mamoru.
Her features were strikingly delicate, and combined with her radiant silver hair, she gave off a mystical, otherworldly aura.
‘Silver hair, huh…’ When facing her directly, the first thing Mamoru noticed wasn’t her facial features, but her hair color.
That lightly pigmented shade instantly brought the image of his older brother to mind.
To be precise, his brother’s hair was white, not silver, but the resemblance was close enough.
The girl had done nothing wrong on this first meeting, yet the sudden mental image of his overly assertive brother caused his mood to drop slightly.
It wasn’t that Mamoru disliked his brother.
In fact, he trusted and respected him as a sorcerer, and held genuine affection for him as family.
Even that foolish personality of his was something Mamoru recognized as a talent he lacked—the ability to lighten the mood wherever he went.
However, just as watching chaos from the sidelines is entirely different from being dragged into the center of it, to Mamoru, his brother was an utterly exhausting person to be around.
Plainly speaking, regardless of whether he liked him or not, his brother was bothersome and difficult to deal with.
“Fufu, thank you for your kindness.
I will take you up on that offer.” Unaware of Mamoru’s internal plight, the girl smiled softly.
Mamoru took her bag and adjusted his pace to walk slowly beside her.
As they walked, the girl turned toward him and introduced herself.
“My name is Arisu Sakayanagi.
May I ask for yours?” Hearing that name, Mamoru kept his face stoic, but internally, he was slightly surprised.
To think that the very first person he met after enrolling would be the daughter of the Chairman he had just spoken with a few days ago.
“Mamoru Gojo.
‘Sakayanagi’…
If I remember right, the Chairman of this school shares the same last name.” Thinking she might just be an unrelated student who happened to share the same surname, he brought up the Chairman as a test.
There was no deep meaning behind it; walking in silence was simply boring, so he used it as conversation filler.
“My, you are quite well-informed for someone who just enrolled.
Yes, the Chairman of this school is my father.” Just like that, her identity was confirmed.
Looking back, her polite speech and pleasant smile had a subtle resemblance to the Chairman’s mannerisms.
“Figures.” “Though, just because we are related does not mean I receive any special treatment.
My father is quite strict when it comes to rules.” “I see.
If you knew a lot about the school, I was going to ask you a few questions, but I guess that’s off the table.” Not that he had expected the Chairman to leak confidential information to his own family in the first place.
“Indeed.
I believe my current knowledge of this school is not much different from any other freshman’s.
By the way, Gojo-kun, which class are you in?” “Class A.” “Is that so?
I am in Class A as well.
It brings me peace of mind to know that a kind person like you will be in the same class, Gojo-kun.” Sakayanagi smiled warmly as she spoke.
To most people, it would have seemed like a charming, adorable smile capable of captivating anyone.
Yet, for some reason, in that exact moment, Mamoru saw her smile overlap with his brother’s.
It was the look of someone who had just found a convenient new toy to play with.
“I see.
Well, looking forward to working with you.” “Yes, likewise.” While exchanging light pleasantries, Mamoru felt a sudden conviction.
There was no concrete evidence.
Their appearances, personalities, and even their genders were completely different.
If anything, it was the aura she gave off.
Instinct honed by years of experience was sending him a clear signal: This girl definitely has a rotten personality.
–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– Author’s Note: Since the protagonist briefly used his Innate Technique in this chapter, some of you may have already guessed it: his technique operates similarly to the barrier arts used by a ‘Barrier Master’.
However, it isn’t the exact same ability, so I will hold off on a full explanation for now.
I’ll cover the details in a future chapter where he uses it again.
Regarding the suicide remark, that is purely speculation within this story.
Given the original setting of Classroom of the Elite, I personally don’t think it would be strange if students like that existed in the past.
After all, considering there was already a stalking incident in Volume 2 (even if it was stopped), it wouldn’t be surprising if other dark incidents occurred behind the scenes.