The day after the entrance ceremony. Yuito rubbed his sleepy eyes as he passed through the school gate.

(I ended up chatting with Kirika-san until late... I'm so sleepy...)

Last night, when he greeted Kirika after exchanging contact information, it naturally led to continuing the chat.

It seems that Kirika is surprisingly the type to play games, and while talking about the recent trend of battle royale FPS games though for Yuito, who has traveled back in time, they are a thing of the past, he ended up going to bed late.

Suppressing a yawn, he headed towards the school building, where people were gathered around the entrance.

They were chatting and having a good time while looking at their smartphones.

At the center of the crowd, a piece of paper was posted with a QR code on it.

They seem to be pointing their smartphone at it, looking at the scanned content, and making a fuss.

(By the way, we need to scan the QR code to check the class, right...)

Yuito approached the entrance and pointed his smartphone at the relatively less crowded QR code.

The downloaded data included the class and seat assignments.

(My class is 1-B. It hasn't changed since last time.)

Yuito checks the class and heads to the classroom.

When he arrived at the classroom, groups were already forming. Several students were gathered and talking.

Yuito's seat is around the middle by the window. He sits down in his seat, puts down his luggage, and looks around.

(I knew it, but I'm in a different class from Kirika-san and Hakari-san... I felt like we got along well, so I would have been happy if we were together...)

He knew from past experiences that it would be different from Kirika, but it's a pity that it's also different from Hakari.

However, there were also familiar names on the class list.

"Yo..."

"Hey, Arai-kun, good morning!"

"Wow, I'm so glad to be in the same classroom as Arai-kun."

The one who entered the classroom languidly was Arai.

Immediately gaining popularity, several boys gather around Arai.

There are quite a few people who have a somewhat sporty, aggressive vibe.

(Ugh... There are a lot of people around Arai-kun who seem difficult to deal with... But since we had lunch together, we should have a good chance of becoming friends...!! It's a bit scary, but this time I have to muster the courage to enjoy my youth!!）

Yuito, despite feeling a sense of discomfort around Arai, musters the courage to approach him.

"Ah, Arai-kun. Good morning. Yesterday was fun, wasn't it?"

"Huh? Who the hell are you?"

Gah!!

He mustered up the courage to speak to Arai, but the response he got back was merciless.

Arai furrows his brow and glares at Yuito.

"Um, we went to Stub together yesterday afternoon, right..."

"I don't remember people like you, you loner. Don't get the wrong idea and talk to me."

"Ah... ahaha..."

The knife of words stabs Yuito's chest with a thud.

This might be the first time he has suffered such mental damage.

Tears were about to overflow.

The boys gathered at Arai sneered at Yuito with smug, mocking smiles.

"Whoa. Misunderstood loner, so painful."

"I should have recorded that video just now. It would have gone viral if we posted it online."

"Hey, loser, go read a book in the corner or something."

Laughter echoed loudly.

It's hard. He wants to die.

Yuito turned his back with a stiff smile and tried to return to his seat.

"Oh, there you are! Good morning!!"

"Good morning."

A voice echoed from the entrance of the classroom. When he turned around, Kirika and Hakari were coming in.

The two of them enter the classroom and walk over there.

Arai quickly raised his hand while thinking it was a visitor for him.

"Hey, Kiri―"

"Yuito-kun, I'm sorry for keeping you out until late yesterday."

"―Tsu!?"

However, it was not Arai that Kirika called out to, but Yuito.

When Kirika ran up to Yuito, she clasped her hands together and stuck out her tongue, saying "Hehe."

Cute. Yuito's wounded heart was slightly healed.

On the other hand, Arai, who had made a grand misunderstanding, glared at Yuito with a bright red face.

The surrounding boys also exchanged puzzled glances, as if to say, "Uh, what do we do about this...?"

However, those roughnecks were ignored, and Hakari approached Kirika.

"Wait a minute. What do you mean by 'until late'?"

"Ah, remember we exchanged contact information? That's why we ended up chatting late into the night."

"Could it be... were you using the greeting from Yuito-san to talk? That's unfair... Yuito-san, let's talk tonight."

"Eh? Yeah. It's fine."

"Yay!"

When Hakari smiled and jumped, her long hair floated gently.

―What could possibly be enjoyable about talking to someone like me?

Yuito tilts his head. He will never understand the reason behind this person's actions.

Well, there was someone who was frowning with blue veins on their forehead after being shown such a romantic comedy development.

It is Arai.

"Hey, what's so fun about talking to that introvert? It's just going to be boring stories about games or anime, right?"

At Arai's words, several students looked up.

They are, so to speak, students with relatively subdued, otaku-oriented hobbies.

Eventually, they would gather and form an otaku group, but for now, they were still not gathered and were sitting at their respective seats fiddling with their smartphones.

They don't like it because it feels like their hobbies are being mocked.

However, since he doesn't have the courage to openly complain to Arai, who is clearly of a higher caste, all he can do is glare at him without being noticed.

"...I usually play games and watch anime."

"..."

Kirika gave a wry smile.

Arai fell silent. The otaku's favorability towards Kirika increased.

An awkward silence envelops the classroom.

Arai was contextually overwhelmingly at a disadvantage.

Kirika is the queen of the social hierarchy and also serves as the representative for the new students. The top of the social elite is not just for show.

Criticism from the entire class pierces through Arai.

"...Hey, let's go."

"Eh, Arai-kun!?"

"Wait, wait a minute!"

Arai fled the classroom unable to endure it any longer, taking his friends with him.

Chapter 8: The Morning of the First Day of School