Tsugikuni Shiki: “…”
(Dammit!
Is there a single normal person in this classroom?)
He had found his classroom and walked in with high hopes for a brand new world.
Well, he wasn’t entirely disappointed.
The good news: It really was a new world.
The bad news: It was a world full of weirdos.
The seats in the classroom were assigned, with everyone’s name tags taped to the desks.
After finding his spot and sitting down, Shiki started scanning the room and the classmates he would be spending the foreseeable future with.
Almost immediately, he wanted to sigh.
With just one look, he spotted several absolute weirdos.
Ignoring the narcissist who kept calling himself “beautiful”, where did those two monkeys openly acting like they were in heat escape from?
Crap, one of them is literally adjusting his junk in public!
Shiki’s mouth twitched, and he let out a heavy sigh.
He comforted himself by thinking that having three or four weirdos in a class of forty wasn’t too terrible of a ratio.
After calming down, he lazily went back to observing his chatting classmates.
This was a habit of his.
Lacking a sense of security, whenever he entered a new environment with strangers, he would automatically analyze their personalities and try to read their true nature.
An introverted girl with pink hair and glasses, a honey blonde gyaru, a short tempered guy with red hair, a handsome peacemaker, a girl with massive “treasure chests”…
Wow, this class was truly full of talent!
Shiki scanned from the far side of the room to the desks closer to him.
Soon, his eyes landed on the girl sitting directly next to him.
She had long black hair, a totally frozen expression, and was flipping through a classic copy of Crime and Punishment.
Hmm…
Maybe because he had been staring for too long, the dark haired girl sensed his gaze.
She frowned, turned her head to look at him, and asked with clear annoyance, “Can I help you?”
Her intense glare was like she was looking down at a bug.
Some people with special tastes might enjoy that kind of look, but Shiki definitely wasn’t one of them.
“Nothing.
I just thought you looked familiar.” Shiki told the truth.
He was always an honest person.
(TL:This is an original setting of this book but it only got mention later, Shiki went to the same middle school as Horikita Manabu though they only talk twice, and once was about Shiki’s appilcation to the school)
The girl looked at him like she had expected that exact response.
A look of pure contempt crossed her face.
“If you’re looking for an excuse to hit on me, that’s far too cliche.
Please, at least try to find a better reason next time.
And just to be clear, I have absolutely zero interest in you—not now, and not in the future.
So please do not bother me.”
After delivering her ruthless warning, she went right back to reading her book, perfectly playing the part of an aloof literary girl.
Being treated like a creeping pickup artist didn’t change Shiki’s expression at all.
He didn’t bother explaining himself; he just accepted it and moved on.
He knew very well that trying to change someone’s prejudice was a massive waste of time and energy.
When people make up their minds about something, they act like stubborn dictators—I don’t care what you think, I only care what I think.
But that didn’t stop him from secretly judging her in his head.
(What an arrogant, self important girl.
Total buzzkill!)
He went back to his grand observation project.
His eyes shifted to the desk directly behind him.
Sitting there was a brown haired guy with a deadpan face and dead fish eyes, who was staring right at him.
The two locked eyes in a strangely intense silence.
The brown-haired guy looked a little stiff, almost like it was his first time doing this, and gave an awkward greeting.
“Hello, I am Ayanokoji Kiyotaka.”
“Tsugikuni Shiki.”
Shiki gave a short reply, then turned around and slumped over his desk to zone out.
Ayanokoji, who had wanted to keep the conversation going to make his very first friend, froze in place.
The words got stuck in his throat.
His first attempt at taking the initiative had crashed and burned.
(TL:Sad~)
Ignoring Ayanokoji’s quiet sadness, Shiki rested his head on his arms.
His eyes were unfocused, but his mind was busy analyzing the impression he just got from the guy.
(Since when are artificial humans allowed to go to high school?!
Is this really the Japan I know?)
But he didn’t have much time to think about it.
A woman wearing a teacher’s suit walked into the classroom.
She had her dark hair tied up in a high ponytail, a strict expression on her face, and wore black pantyhose.
Seeing the teacher arrive, the students who had been wandering around chatting quickly hurried back to their seats, waiting for her first instructions.
The teacher stood at the podium, scanned the room, and spoke.
“The entrance ceremony will begin in one hour.
Before that, there are a few things I need to explain.”
“First of all, congratulations on your enrollment.
I am the homeroom teacher for Class D, Chabashira Sae.
I usually teach Japanese History.
You’ve probably read this in your school handbook, but I’ll repeat it…”
Next, Chabashira went over the school’s general rules.
It was mostly things they already knew, like the “locked down management” and “free tuition.” She also mentioned that the school doesn’t reshuffle classes, so they would all be classmates for the next three years.
“Our school also has a special feature called the S-System,” Chabashira said, holding up the school issued smartphone to show them.
“It acts sort of like a credit card.
However, using it consumes points, so be careful how you spend.”
“Remember, there is nothing on this campus that cannot be bought with points.
As long as it is within the school, you can buy absolutely anything.”
“The way to use it is simple, so I won’t explain too much.
Points will be automatically deposited into your accounts on the first day of every month.
Right now, everyone should have already received a perfectly fair deposit of 100,000 Private Points.
One point is worth one yen.
I shouldn’t need to explain further.”
The classroom instantly erupted into chatter.
Many students’s eyes lit up as they started daydreaming about how to spend the money that afternoon.
“Whoa, is the school really this generous?”
“This is awesome!
I was worried the school would be super strict and wouldn’t let us use outside cash, but they already had this prepared!”
“What should I buy this afternoon?
A new game console, anime figures, maybe a laptop…”
For a high school student, 100,000 yen was incredibly generous.
Actually, it was too generous.
It was a massive sum of money.
For a moment, almost everyone was thrilled by the school’s kindness.
Shiki, however, was not one of them.
When someone offers you a massive favor for no reason, they’re either a thief or a scammer.
He would sooner believe the sun would rise in the west than believe a capitalist would just hand out free money out of the goodness of their heart.
(One hundred thousand yen…
at a part time job paying 1,000 yen an hour, that’s roughly a whole month’s salary) he calculated in his head.
“Are you surprised by the number of points?” Chabashira asked.
“This school evaluates students based entirely on merit.
The fact that you were admitted means you have the value and potential to match.
These points represent the school’s evaluation of you.
Don’t hold back, spend them however you like.
Once the points are transferred to you, you are free to do whatever you want with them.
If you don’t want them, you can transfer them to someone else.
However, please do not resort to extortion or threats.
The school’s punishment for bullying is extremely severe.”
“That is all.
Does anyone have any questions?”
(Here it comes, finally!)
Shiki perked up, waiting to see how his classmates would react.
He had felt something was wrong with this school even before enrolling.
Handing out a massive allowance for no reason, the teacher actively encouraging them to spend it, mentioning that money would be wired every month without clearly stating how much would be wired next time…
It was a classic trap.
It was just like those shady job postings that advertise “1 to 2,000 yen per hour”—you think the minimum is 1,000, but it’s actually 1.
Capitalists used these tricks all the time, and Shiki didn’t buy a single word of it.
Any normal person would be suspicious right now.
Surely someone had noticed the catch…
“Hey, let’s go to the cafe and get sweets later!”
“Sure!
I want to go check out the clothing stores too.
If we get 100,000 points every month, I can buy new clothes all the time!”
“Hahaha, I can finally buy that game console I’ve been wanting!”
“…”
Shiki stared at his excited, completely unsuspicious classmates, and sank into a deep state of self doubt.
(Why were they accepting this so easily?
Did they not have a single doubt in their minds?Wait, am I the one with the problem?)
Looking at their distracted, overly excited faces, Chabashira secretly sighed and scanned the room one last time.
“It seems there are no questions.
Then we are done here.
Feel free to do as you please, just remember to attend the entrance ceremony on time.”
Watching the teacher walk out without looking back, Shiki let out a sleepy yawn and checked the time on his phone.
Alright, there’s still over half an hour until the ceremony.
Just enough time for a quick nap.
Right then, the handsome peacemaker Shiki had noticed earlier stood up.
He walked to the front of the class, smiled warmly at everyone, and spoke in a confident, friendly voice.
“Sorry to interrupt, everyone!
Since we are all going to be classmates from now on, I think it would be a great idea if we did some basic self-introductions.
It will help us get to know each other better.
It would be amazing if we could all become friends.”
“Wow, I agree!
Sounds great!”
“Yeah, we have to learn each other’s names anyway.”
The handsome guy’s proposal easily won the crowd’s support.
It seemed that during the time before Chabashira arrived, he had already chatted with quite a few people and left a great impression.
“Alright, I’ll start us off.
My name is Hirata Yousuke.
You can all just call me Yousuke, that’s what my friends in middle school called me…”
Shiki had no intention of listening to the rest.
Having stayed up late the night before, he desperately needed a good sleep.
He thought for a second, then turned back to Ayanokoji behind him.
“I’m going to take a nap.
Do me a favor and wake me up when it’s time to go to the entrance ceremony.”
Startled by being spoken to out of nowhere, Ayanokoji blinked, then nodded.
“Understood.
I will wake you when it is time.”
Shiki nodded, totally satisfied.
He looked at the artificial human a bit more kindly now.
This guy really acts like an NPC, even if he looks completely human.
(With a little training, he could probably become a pretty useful AI assistant.
I mean, he already comes with a wake up call feature.)
With that thought, Shiki’s breathing slowed down, and he drifted off into a peaceful sleep.
Beside him, Horikita—the literary girl sitting perfectly straight and reading her book—glanced over at the dark circles under his eyes as he buried his head in his arms.
Finding it completely ridiculous, she let out a quiet sigh.
Meanwhile, Ayanokoji stared at Shiki’s sleeping back, his heart fluttering slightly.
This counts as taking the first step to making a friend, right?
The books say friends help each other out.
The self introductions in Class D continued.
The next person up was a stuttering, incredibly nervous girl named Inogashira.
She was super introverted and only managed to finish her introduction after another girl cheered her on.
The next one was the girl who helped Inogashira—the owner of the massive treasure chests.
She introduced herself brightly.
Her name was Kushida Kikyou, and she said she wanted to become friends with every single person in the school.
When she spoke, the atmosphere in the room exploded, matching the energy Hirata had brought.
The two guys Shiki had labeled as “circus monkeys” cheered her name like crazy, acting like obsessive fans at an idol concert.
After her came Kouenji Rokusuke, the muscular blonde guy who kept calling himself beautiful, and Karuizawa Kei, the gyaru.
Everything seemed to be going perfectly fine.
But of course, in a class like this, accidents were guaranteed.
“Alright, let’s have the next person…” Hirata guided the flow like a friendly TV host.
“Tch.
Do you think we’re kids?
There’s no need for any stupid self introductions.
If people want to introduce themselves, they can do it on their own!” The hot tempered red haired guy, Sudou Ken, glared viciously at the host.
His completely unreasonable attitude immediately pissed off Hirata’s supporters, and they started voicing their complaints.
“What’s your problem?
It’s just a self introduction.
Do you really need to overreact like that?”
“Yeah, if you don’t want to do it, then don’t.
Nobody’s forcing you.”
“Who are you trying to scare with that glaring?
You look like a total thug…”
“What did you say?!” Sudou slammed his hands on his desk and stood up, glaring fiercely at the person who spoke.
“Alright, alright, it’s my fault,” Hirata quickly stepped in, lowering his head.
“I didn’t mean to force you.
I just thought it would be nice to learn everyone’s names since we’re classmates.
If I offended you in any way, I apologize.”
“Hmph!
I didn’t come to this school to play make friends.” Sudou shoved his hands into his pockets and stomped out the back door of the classroom.
Because of the drama, the warm mood in the room instantly chilled.
A few other loners in the class who seemed to share Sudou’s mindset quietly stood up and left the room as well.
Horikita, sitting right next to the still snoring Shiki, did the exact same thing.
She packed her book into her bag, cast a cold glance at the sleeping boy, and walked out without a word.
Hirata smiled bitterly as he looked at the half empty classroom.
He didn’t try to stop them or complain, perfectly keeping up his ‘nice guy’ persona.
The introductions continued.
Since quite a few people had left, things moved a lot faster, and soon it was down to the last few rows.
“Mhm, that was a great introduction!
Alright, the next person is…” Hirata’s voice trailed off into awkward silence.
He stared blankly at the deeply sleeping Shiki, not knowing what expression to make.
He was starting to question his life choices.
Why is a simple self introduction so incredibly difficult?
First, he somehow angered a classmate for no reason.
Then, a bunch of people left and ruined the mood.
And now, he was faced with a classmate who was passed out asleep…
Even a seasoned nice guy like him was taking a hit to his confidence.
“Uh…
it seems this classmate is extremely tired.
Let’s just move on to the next person,” Hirata decided to skip him.
After the whole Sudou incident, he was afraid that waking Shiki up might cause another explosive argument.
(It’s finally my turn…)
Determined to make friends, Ayanokoji resolved to give it everything he had and deliver a flawless introduction.
Bam!
He stood up with perfect posture and confidence.
“Uh…ah…
I am Ayanokoji Kiyotaka.
Um…
well, there isn’t anything I’m particularly good at, but I will do my best to get along with everyone.
So, please take care of me.” (TL: Marvelous)
Silence.
The reality in the classroom was, to say the least, worlds apart from the roaring applause he had imagined in his head.
(Ah…I’m doomed)
Ayanokoji instantly slapped his deadpan face back on.
“Please take care of us too, Ayanokoji-kun!
Let’s all get along!”
Hirata laughed warmly and started clapping.
Following his lead, a scattered but genuine round of applause echoed through the room.
(Hirata, you are so gentle.)
Ayanokoji felt moved from the very bottom of his heart.