‘Today is a total cursed day.’ Spotting Curses on his way to school, calling out to a girl who turned out to have a scheming personality reminiscent of his older brother, and then finding out that very girl was assigned to the seat right next to him—a triple combo of bad luck.
Though homeroom had only just wrapped up, Mamoru leaned back in his chair and exhaled a heavy, mentally exhausted sigh.
‘I should have just gone to see the teacher alone after class.’ Simply because going out of his way to visit the faculty room felt like too much trouble, he had blurted out his question during homeroom.
As a result, he drew completely unnecessary attention from the rest of his classmates.
I really brought a whole lot of trouble on myself, Mamoru muttered internally.
“Fufu, that was quite an impressive piece of deduction earlier.” Whether she was oblivious to his inner turmoil or just enjoying it, Sakayanagi laughed as if it were someone else’s problem.
Seeing her, Mamoru reaffirmed his impression: Yep, this girl definitely has a rotten personality.
“Just asking, but did I say something weird?” “Not at all.
My thoughts were largely aligned with yours, though I did not possess quite as much conviction as you did, Mamoru-kun.” “I see…
Wait, ‘Mamoru-kun’?” Being called by his given name so suddenly left him caught off guard.
“Yes.
It felt much easier to say than ‘Gojo-kun.’ Is that a problem?” “It’s not that it’s a problem, but…” ‘Oh man, I am genuinely locked onto her radar.’ Evidently, something in their earlier exchange during homeroom had struck a chord with Sakayanagi.
Noticing how rapidly she closed the distance between them, Mamoru felt a sudden chill, fully convinced he had been targeted.
“You may call me by my given name as well, Mamoru-kun.
Wouldn’t that be easier to say?” Her attitude was tailor-made to tease him and enjoy his reaction, but Mamoru wasn’t green enough to get flustered over something as simple as using first names.
“Sure.
Arisu-san, then.” As the two exchanged words, a few other students approached their desks.
“Um, excuse me…” “Could I have a moment?” The students had intended to speak to Mamoru, but their voices were cut off by a male student standing in front of the podium.
He had a solid, muscular frame that hardly seemed like someone who was a middle schooler just days ago, paired with a completely shaved, bald head.
His imposing presence made it easy to believe he was an upperclassman.
“I imagine many of you want to speak with him, but I believe we should introduce ourselves first.
Setting aside the previous topic, since we will be spending the next three years together, it is necessary to foster a degree of mutual understanding.” His tone wasn’t overly commanding, but combined with his formidable appearance, it created an atmosphere that made it hard to object.
Since the proposal made complete sense, supportive voices quickly echoed across the classroom.
“That’s true.” “I agree!” “Yeah, let’s do it.” “Thank you.
Then allow me, as the one who brought it up, to go first.
I am Kohei Katsuragi.
I served on the student council back in middle school, and I hope to utilize that experience to help unite this class.
I look forward to working with you all.” Though he looked somewhat stern, his personality seemed quite earnest.
The rest of the class picked up on it, responding with warm welcomes and a polite round of applause.
From there, self-introductions proceeded in order of seating, eventually arriving at Mamoru’s turn.
“My name is Mamoru Gojo.
Sorry for dragging out homeroom earlier.
As for hobbies…
if I had to pick one, it would be visiting sweet shops.
My special skill is calligraphy.
I look forward to working with you.” Knowing better than to overcomplicate things, he kept it brief by listing only his hobby and skill.
Incidentally, his knack for calligraphy was merely a byproduct of practicing writing Cursed Charms.
Once Mamoru finished, it was Arisu’s turn in the adjacent seat.
“My name is Arisu Sakayanagi.
As you may tell from this cane, I suffer from a congenital condition, so my health is somewhat delicate.
Before enrolling, I felt a deal of anxiety, but seeing how kind everyone in this class is, I feel relieved.
I may cause some inconvenience at times, but I look forward to working with you all.” Not a single person in the room likely noticed anything amiss with her speech.
Mamoru, however, caught it instantly.
When Arisu mentioned “how kind everyone is,” her eyes had darted directly toward him.
The other attentive classmates had surely picked up on it as well.
A few had already seen Mamoru carrying her bag on their way to school.
In short, she had smoothly implanted the impression that Mamoru caring for her was the natural order of things.
A frail, beautiful girl with an unfortunate condition relying on a specific classmate—once that perception took root, taking a cold or distant stance toward her would guarantee public disapproval.
Beside her, as Arisu offered a delicate, innocent smile, Mamoru’s cheek twitched subtly.
The introductions continued until the last student finished, at which point Katsuragi raised his voice once more.
“Now that introductions are complete, there is a matter I would like to discuss immediately.
It concerns Gojo’s deduction during homeroom earlier.” The relaxed, friendly atmosphere from the introductions tightened in an instant.
“Is what he said really true, though?” “Feels like it.
His logic was sound.” “But would the school really pull a trick like that on us?” Students voiced their thoughts back and forth, causing a wave of murmurs to ripple across the room.
“Everyone, please quiet down for a moment.” Katsuragi called out loudly, calming the noise.
“We will get nowhere if everyone speaks all at once.
I will organize the information, so please raise your hand if you wish to speak.” Watching Katsuragi take the initiative to lead the discussion, Mamoru let out a quiet sigh of relief.
Since his own question had started the commotion, he had been worried about getting dragged right into the center of it.
Some classmates might have felt dissatisfied with Katsuragi stepping up as the authority figure, but everyone understood the downsides of derailing the conversation over it.
No one voiced an objection.
“First, the main point: next month’s point distribution may fluctuate based on academic performance and overall conduct.
Furthermore, classes may be ranked based on those evaluations.” A female student raised her hand to speak.
“Is that confirmed?
The teacher didn’t actually confirm anything, right?” “Gojo’s deduction is almost certainly correct.
If he were wrong, the teacher would have denied it outright.” Another stir went through the classroom.
It was an understandable reaction.
For those who had been celebrating their 100,000 points, hearing that next month’s distribution wasn’t guaranteed felt like a cold bucket of water thrown over their heads.
“However, that is not the crucial part.” “What do you mean?” “Fundamentally, a student’s primary duty is to focus on their studies and maintain proper behavior.
As long as we conduct ourselves properly as students, there is no need to fear a reduction in points.” “That might be true, but it’s hard to feel secure without knowing the specific evaluation criteria.” “A valid point.
In that case, we can gather any questions, including that one, and go ask the teacher after class.
As it stands, we lack enough information to make sound judgments.
Even if he refuses to answer, learning which topics are off-limits is valuable information in itself.” At that moment, Arisu quietly raised her hand.
“Pardon me, may I offer a suggestion?” “Sakayanagi, was it?
Of course.” “Having everyone go to the teacher individually might become a nuisance.
How about appointing another representative alongside Mamoru-kun to go and share the answers with the rest of us?” Having been casually nominated as a representative, Mamoru shot Arisu a sharp, complaining look.
‘I mean, I’m going anyway.
I still haven’t asked how much it costs to buy days off, so I’m going regardless, but still.’ As someone who preferred to stay out of the spotlight, being brought up as the center of discussion was objectionable in itself.
“Ah, that seems appropriate.
In that case, I shall go with Gojo—” “No, I shall go.” Cut off mid-sentence, Katsuragi knitted his brows in discontent.
From his behavior so far, Mamoru could tell that Katsuragi was eager to establish his standing as the class leader.
“Hm, but…” “Truth be told, I have a small matter to discuss with Mamoru-kun, so I was hoping we could walk back together.” Hearing that, Mamoru knitted his own brows this time.
‘I need to walk around town after school to hunt down Curses, though.’ Naturally, he couldn’t say that out loud.
He considered declining by claiming he had business, but making up an excuse on the very first day of school would only invite annoying questions.
Claiming he wanted to explore the campus would just lead to her asking to tag along, which sounded equally tiresome.
‘I don’t know what she wants, but I’ll wrap it up quickly and get to work.’ “If that is the case, we shall leave it to Gojo and Sakayanagi.” “Fufu, yes, please leave it to us.” ‘Yeah…
today is definitely a cursed day.’ Just as he had when homeroom ended, Mamoru slumped back into his chair.