Half a month later.
Teitan High School, Class 2-B.
The bell rang, and the students quickly returned to the classroom, though they continued chatting quietly among themselves.
A girl with a short, shoulder-length bob of light brown hair rested one arm on the desk behind her. Though she kept her voice low, she still sounded excited and loud. "Ran, Ran, have you heard? A transfer student's joining our class today! I heard—I heard he's really handsome~"
"Oh? Is that so?" The girl called Ran brushed a strand of hair aside, then said, "Sonoko, I think you'd better sit properly right now. If Teacher Kato sees you like that..."
"What do you mean, 'Teacher Kato this' and 'Teacher Kato that'?" Sonoko waved her hand, looking like she feared no one and could do whatever she wanted. Then she slapped the desk and exclaimed, "Ran, didn't you hear the important part? I said he's handsome! Really handsome! A handsome guy's joining our class! Don't you feel even a little excited?"
"Not really." Ran still looked completely indifferent.
Sonoko deflated, then a mischievous smile suddenly spread across her pretty face. "Ah! I get it. Your husband's sitting right next to you, so you're trying hard to act like a good wife and mother, aren't you? Huh? Is it because of that big, stupid, idiotic detective fanatic?"
Sonoko glanced at the handsome boy sitting nearby.
Ran's face turned bright red in an instant, as if she'd been steamed. She nervously glanced at the boy beside her, then raised her voice three octaves. "N-no! How could that be? Husband? Good wife and mother? Honestly, Sonoko, you're always making things up! It's not like Shinichi and I..."
"Oh? Did I say that person was Shinichi?" Sonoko still wore a mischievous grin.
"Anyway, no! It's not like that!" Ran looked ready to fly into a panic.
The students around them watched with amusement. Teasing Ran and Shinichi seemed to be their favorite pastime.
The boy called Shinichi rubbed his forehead helplessly, grumbling to himself, That loudmouth Sonoko!
"Quiet! Everyone, quiet! Mori Ran, Suzuki Sonoko, this is class time." A voice rang out from the doorway, and the students fell silent. Ran and Sonoko, the two who'd been called out, lowered their heads and said, "Yes, sir. Sorry, Teacher Kato."
The male teacher called Kato came in with a student in uniform and began, "Good morning, everyone. This student beside me is called Shu Yunwen. He used to attend Teitan High School too, so he's your senior. Due to certain circumstances, his studies were delayed, so he's transferring into our class now. I hope you'll all get along. Shu Yunwen, could you introduce yourself to everyone?"
"..."
The classroom was completely silent. It was quiet enough to be deafening.
Everyone kept looking back and forth between Teacher Kato and Shu Yunwen, who stood at the front of the class.
Shu Yunwen wore a student uniform and had a schoolbag slung over one shoulder. With a helpless smile, he began, "Good morning, everyone. My name is Shu Yunwen, and I'm eighteen. My hobbies are reading, exploring, fortune-telling, and... detective work. I'll be your classmate from now on, so I hope you'll all look after me..."
"Hello, Shu Yunwen. I have a question..." A boy who looked mischievous at first glance raised his hand and called out, "Shu Yunwen, are you sure you're eighteen and not forty-eight?"
Forty-eight, my ass!
Shu Yunwen glared at the boy who'd spoken, the corner of his mouth twitching twice.
Then laughter rang through the classroom. Even the famously strict Teacher Kato couldn't stop the students from whispering among themselves.
"...This Shu guy looks really old!"
"Yeah! He looks older than Teacher Kato. Teacher Kato's forty this year, right?"
"Aizawa's absolutely right. He looks forty-eight. Hey, what are you checking? Why do you carry a calendar around?"
"I'm checking whether it's April Fool's Day. Maybe Teacher Kato got one of his friends to play a prank on us?"
"..."
At the front of the classroom, Shu Yunwen listened to the chatter with a head full of frustration, feeling even more helpless.
It wasn't his fault he looked so old now, was it?
While he was in the hospital, Shu Yunwen hadn't tried practicing Ghost Sorcery, so he'd looked like a handsome young man in the prime of his youth. But after he got home, he'd tried practicing Ghost Sorcery for just one night, and then this goddamn disaster happened. Overnight, his face had aged thirty years. When Kojima Genji, Kojima Mie, and the others saw him, they thought they were looking at a ghost—
That was right. Shu Yunwen looked almost exactly like his late, adoptive father, so they really had thought they were seeing a ghost.
Afterward, Shu Yunwen spent a long time explaining what had happened and even brought up his family's "inherited exorcism technique." But Kojima Mie was still worried, so she took him to the hospital for a checkup. Only after they confirmed that his appearance had aged but his body was fine did she finally let it go.
Of course, Shu Yunwen's attending physician, Tanaka, had wanted him to stay in the hospital for observation. Shu Yunwen had refused, naturally.
Poor Shu Yunwen had been a pretty boy for only one month before turning into a middle-aged man again. His fragile heart was utterly shattered. Fortunately, practicing Ghost Sorcery would restore him to normal. Otherwise, Shu Yunwen would've been so depressed he might have died.
Those had all been Shu Yunwen's thoughts.
Back in the classroom, Teacher Kato's face had gone dark beside Shu Yunwen. "Quiet! Everyone, quiet! Is this how you welcome a new classmate? Especially you, Aizawa Eisuke. If you don't want to stand in the hallway with your schoolbag over your head until class ends, you'd better apologize to Shu Yunwen right now!"
Aizawa Eisuke froze, then stood up with a dejected look and bowed. "Shu Yunwen, I'm really sorry. I didn't mean anything by it. Please forgive me."
"Heh... It's fine." Shu Yunwen nodded in reply, then added, "You're Aizawa Eisuke, right? I accept your apology. But you'd better be careful today!"
"W-what do you mean?" Aizawa stared at him.
Was that a threat?
Teacher Kato spoke up too. "Shu Yunwen..."
Shu Yunwen smiled. "Teacher Kato, Aizawa, don't get the wrong idea. I'm not some delinquent. It's just that our family was cursed, so anyone who makes fun of my appearance gets cursed too. They'll have bad luck all day!"
There was such a thing?
A curse?
Was he messing with them?
Everyone in the classroom looked unconvinced.
Aizawa Eisuke paused, then laughed. "A curse? I'm not afraid of that..."
"Mm..." Shu Yunwen nodded with a smile. He silently recited a few Sorcerous Curses, and a strange force enveloped Aizawa.
"Ha ha ha..."
Ghost Sorcery—Misfortune Follows!
After nearly half a month of practice, Shu Yunwen still didn't have much Sorcerous Power, but casting a few simple Sorcerous Curses was no problem.
A spell like "Misfortune Follows" was so basic it didn't even count as a first-level Sorcerous Curse. It was just a little trick to mess with people. It would only bring bad luck and wouldn't even cause an injury. So using it now took practically no effort at all.
Why was Shu Yunwen using Ghost Sorcery to mess with people?
He had no choice!
If he didn't, who knew how many people would make comments about his old-looking face every day? It wouldn't matter once or twice, but if it kept happening, it would get really annoying. Better to make everyone afraid right from the start. Then the problem would take care of itself.
After casting the spell, Shu Yunwen continued, "Also, for the next twenty-four hours, please keep your distance from Aizawa Eisuke so you don't get caught up in it."
Laughter immediately filled the classroom.
Teacher Kato sighed. "Shu Yunwen, don't make jokes like that again..."
Before he could finish, Aizawa Eisuke suddenly yelped, "Ow!" and landed hard on his backside. "W-what happened?"
A boy beside him said, "Aizawa, you need to lose weight! You broke your chair!"
"Ha ha ha..."
The classroom burst into laughter again. Aizawa got back up helplessly and looked at the chair, one of whose legs had snapped.
Teacher Kato frowned. "Aizawa, use one of the spare chairs from the classroom. Don't cause any more trouble. And Shu Yunwen, you can sit..."
Teacher Kato looked at the several empty seats in the classroom, unsure which one to choose.
Shu Yunwen pointed to a seat. "Teacher Kato, may I sit there?"
"Of course." Teacher Kato nodded, then looked toward the person beside that seat. "Kudo, Shu Yunwen will be sitting next to you. Please help him get used to the class as soon as possible, all right?"
"Ah, understood, Teacher Kato." Kudo Shinichi stood up and answered.
Teacher Kato turned to Shu Yunwen too. "Shu Yunwen, you should get used to your surroundings quickly, settle in, get along with your classmates, and study hard. Understood?"
"Yes, sir."
Teacher Kato left, and Shu Yunwen walked over to the seat beside Kudo Shinichi.
Kudo Shinichi greeted him first. "Hello, Shu Yunwen. My name's Kudo Shin—"
Shu Yunwen smiled and took out his textbook. "Kudo Shinichi, right? You're pretty famous: a high school detective, the Holmes of the Heisei era, the savior of the Japanese police. Your name's been all over the newspapers lately. Oh, and I'm Shu Yunwen. I hope we'll become good friends."
"Ha ha ha..." Kudo Shinichi scratched his head. "Am I really that famous?"
At the next desk, Sonoko looked annoyed. Resting her head on one hand, she gave a dead-fish-eyed stare. "...Hey, Ran, that new middle-aged guy's getting along pretty well with your husband!"
"Honestly, Sonoko, I told you, he's not..." Ran scolded her, then teased her with a smile. "By the way, Sonoko, he really is handsome! Even if he does look a little old..."
"Come on! 'A little old'? He looks about as old as my father!" Sonoko pouted. "I thought we'd be getting a handsome guy, but instead we got a middle-aged man. He's not my type... Honestly, it's not like I need a father figure..."
"Heh heh heh..." Ran chuckled softly.
Just then, the Japanese teacher walked up to the front of the classroom and began the lesson.
Aizawa Eisuke had just moved over a chair and sat down. He braced a hand on the desk, and then—crack!—the desk collapsed too, sending him sprawling onto the floor again.
"Ha ha ha..."
Laughter filled the classroom.
Shinichi said, "...Aizawa really does seem to be having a run of bad luck."
Shu Yunwen glanced over and smiled. "This is only the beginning."
Before you continue