After the entrance ceremony ended, the crowd surged out of the gymnasium, spreading across the school grounds like seawater after a receding tide.
Hikigaya mingled with the crowd, sluggishly making his way toward the classroom.
The classroom for Class 1-F was on the second floor of the teaching building. When Hikigaya pushed open the door, about a third of the seats were occupied. He did a quick scan: Saeki hadn't arrived yet; a few girls were huddled together in the middle of the front row exchanging contact info; and quite a few boys were gathered by the back window, loudly discussing so manga.
He chose the second-to-last seat in the row against the wall. After sitting down, he hung his school bag on the side hook of the desk and began his "human observation."
This was his habit—observing the distribution of power in a new environnt. Who were the naturals at socializing, who were the loners, and who were the potentially dangerous elents—for instance, the type who would proactively strike up a conversation with soone like Hikigaya were definitely not the benevolent sort.
"Um... is this seat taken?"
A weak voice ca from his side.
Hikigaya turned his head, and then he froze.
Standing there was a girl with pink-and-white gradient hair, like first snow dyed by late-blooming spring cherry blossoms. The color faded from a silvery white at the crown to a pale pink at the tips. A black beret was tilted on her head, a cherry blossom hair accessory was pinned to the side, and a cross-patterned hairband along with a choker made her look as if she had stepped straight out of so magazine. Staring back at him was a pair of large pink eyes, so transparent they seed capable of reflecting one's soul.
"Is soone sitting here?"
She pointed to the seat next to Hikigaya and asked again softly, the corners of her mouth curving up slightly to reveal a tiny snaggletooth.
Hikigaya was pierced through by that smile.
"...No."
"Okay, thank you."
She sat down in the seat next to Hikigaya. Her movents were very light; the hem of her school blazer swayed gently as she moved. Hikigaya's gaze inadvertently swept over her, then quickly darted away.
She had two garters tied around her upper thighs.
Her cuteness level was off the charts.
Hikigaya withdrew his gaze and slumped onto the desk. Looking at a beautiful girl of this caliber for too long made it easy to be branded a pervert; it was safer to sleep. He might as well catch a few winks before the horoom period started.
He closed his eyes. Rustling sounds ca from beside him; she was organizing sothing, her movents gentle as if she were afraid of waking him.
A "dangerous elent"? Rather, she looked like the type who would be targeted by dangerous elents.
Hikigaya didn't think much more about it as his consciousness gradually drifted down.
What he didn't know was that after he slumped down, the beautiful girl next to him had retracted her smile and was silently observing him out of the corner of her eye.
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"Hey~ Wake up~"
Soone gave his shoulder a nudge. Hikigaya lifted his head and saw a middle-aged male Sensei, who looked to be in his forties and wore thick glasses. He exuded the aura of a corporate drone and was standing at the podium, looking at him with an "asleep already on the first day" kind of expression.
"Horoom has started," a gentle reminder ca from his side.
Hikigaya tilted his head. The pink-haired girl was looking at him, her expression innocent, as if she hadn't been the one to just nudge him awake.
"...Thanks," Hikigaya said in a volu only the two of them could hear.
"You're welco," she replied in a small voice, her mouth curving to reveal that cute little snaggletooth again.
Hikigaya looked away toward the chalkboard.
This was bad. Too cute. Like a puppy.
His fragile heart couldn't handle this.
The contents of the horoom eting were the usual: school rules, curriculum schedules, and class officer elections. It went in one of Hikigaya's ears and out the other; his mind was still on that brief nap. To be honest, he hadn't slept well. With a girl possessing an excess of cuteness sitting next to him, her presence was felt even with his eyes closed.
He started to regret picking this seat.
"...Next, we'll do self-introductions," the horoom Sensei said. "Starting from the first row, about one minute per person. Na, interests/specialties, future dreams, future plans—anything goes."
A rustle went through the classroom as people began to stand up.
The first girl stood up, gave her na and forr middle school, said she liked listening to music and wanted to be a nurse in the future. Her voice was sweet, her smile bright—a typical "sunny" type (riajuu). This kind of person would eventually beco the core of the class, organizing sports ets, planning cultural festivals, and keeping the atmosphere lively in the LINE group.
The second boy stood up, his voice half as loud. He said he didn't have any special talents and liked playing gas—a typical "gloomy" type. This person would sit in the corner in the future, form a small circle with similar types, and be responsible for moving tables and chairs during the cultural festival.
Third, fourth, fifth.
Hikigaya continued to space out. In a few days, these people would automatically split into small cliques anyway; it wouldn't be too late to morize them then.
His gaze swept across the entire class. Saeki still wasn't here, and there were only two seats left: the ones directly in front of and behind him.
Wait, why was he paying attention to that?
Hikigaya withdrew his gaze and went back to daydreaming.
The self-introductions continued. So people's voices shook from nerves, so intentionally cracked jokes to liven things up, and so sat down so quickly after stating their
nas it felt like they were escaping. Hikigaya recorded this information like a human data logger; unfortunately, he hadn't inserted an SD card.
"Next."
The chair next to him creaked as the pink-haired girl stood up.
"My na is Sakuraba Ema. I graduated from..." The na of the middle school she ntioned sounded sowhat familiar.
He wasn't sure if it was his imagination, but as she said this, her eyes drifted toward Hikigaya, intentionally or otherwise.
"My interest is finding delicious restaurants. My specialty is eating very fast. My dream for the future is..."
She paused for a mont, her gaze quickly scanning the classroom.
"To make a hundred friends."
Quite a few people in the classroom burst into laughter. It wasn't mockery; it was the kind of laughter elicited by a cute pet—an "Aww, that's so cute" kind of reaction.
Sakuraba Ema blushed and sat down quickly.
'Ah, a hundred friends.'
Such a naive and cute dream—even a sharp-tongued guy like him couldn't bring himself to criticize it. But saying sothing like that in this setting was enough to leave an impression; at least it was better than the "Please look after " template.
"Next."
Hikigaya stood up.
"Hikigaya Hachiman. No interests or specialties, and no particular dreams. If I had to say sothing, it's to be able to spend each day in peace."
The whole thing took less than ten seconds. Perfect.
At that mont, the classroom door was pushed open and a blonde head peeked in. Miria Saeki stood at the entrance, panting slightly, holding an entrance guide she hadn't had ti to put away.
"Sorry, Sensei, I'm late."
Her gaze swept the room looking for a seat, and then she saw Hikigaya and the girl next to him, Sakuraba Ema.
Saeki's expression faltered for an instant. Hikigaya caught that pause, but he wasn't sure what it ant. It could have been surprise, or sothing else.
His ability to interpret human expressions was truly limited; after all, the only subjects he usually had to interpret were Komachi and his occasional parents.
Then her gaze shifted and landed on the seat in front of Hikigaya, which was still empty.
"That seat is vacant," the Sensei pointed. "Go ahead and sit down."
"Yes."
Miria Saeki walked over and sat in the seat in front of Hikigaya. As she put down her bag, she tilted her head slightly, glancing back at Sakuraba Ema out of the corner of her eye.
'What was that? Territorial awareness?'
Hikigaya tagged the mont in his mind. It was common in the animal kingdom: two tigers eting on a path, sizing each other up to see if the other posed a threat to their territory. Saeki's look probably ant sothing like that. After all, in the ecosystem of high school, it was normal for top-tier beauties to acknowledge each other's presence.
Yes, that must be it.
Hikigaya slumped back down onto his desk.
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