Airhead

At Yoshimura Kōzen's arrangement, Ken Kaneki came to the "King's Hometown" and became Atsushi Murasakibara's deskmate. When Ken took his seat, Atsushi was catching a quick nap in the last few minutes before class.

"Hi, Atsushi Murasakibara. I'm Ken Kaneki. We met during the fitness test at the basketball gym at lunchtime." Ken greeted Atsushi in a friendly manner.

"Mm, hi," Atsushi replied groggily. Actually, Ken figured he just didn't want anyone bothering him while he slept and was answering at random to get rid of me.

Ken looked at the chibi portrait of Atsushi that had appeared in the system's relationships menu. Yet the Character Bonds level hadn't budged at all, and he fell into thought. The ringing of the school bell soon interrupted him, and he had no choice but to put the matter aside and focus on class.

I wonder if any of you feel this way: we always look back fondly on our school days, but if we actually went back and sat in class again, we'd be eagerly waiting for it to end. With that feeling, Ken boredly endured the lesson until the bell rang. During the long class, he'd come up with a brilliant idea.

"Murasakibara? Murasakibara?" Ken patted Atsushi, who'd slept through the whole lesson, and carefully tried to wake him.

"Hey," Atsushi said, glaring with annoyance at Ken for disturbing his nap. "What do you want?"

"I just bought a bag of seaweed-flavored chips. Want some?" Ken pulled a bag of chips from his pocket, wearing the expression of a creepy old man trying to tempt a kid. That's right—Ken had decided to appeal to Atsushi's interests.

"Ah~ Arigato!" Atsushi instantly perked up, snatched the chips from Ken's hand, and eagerly dug in. As he ate, he mumbled, "Thanks, Ken-chan. You're a good guy!"

Now he's calling me Ken-chan? Ken thought, not sure whether to laugh or cry.

"Congratulations, host, you have interacted with an S-rank protagonist. Current Character Bonds level: Acquaintances. Reward: one S-rank draw!" The system's notification sounded at just the right moment.

Emmm... looks like Murasakibara really loves chips, Ken thought, unable to help laughing. Then he reconsidered. But one bag of chips for an S-rank draw isn't a bad deal.

"Ah, I remember you now, Ken-chan. You were the guy who took the fitness test with me at lunchtime! I heard your bench press was even better than mine!" Atsushi mumbled indistinctly through a mouthful of food.

"So I already told you that. You're only remembering now?" Ken looked at Atsushi, who was busy stuffing his face, and couldn't help rubbing his temples. How am I supposed to keep milking him... I mean, get along properly with this natural airhead? What a headache!

With the school bell's ring, the agony of class began anew.

As Ken listlessly listened to the teacher lecture at the front of the room, he felt Atsushi quietly nudge him with an elbow. Ken turned his head and gave Atsushi a puzzled look. Atsushi discreetly tossed a note onto Ken's desk. Ken opened it and saw a question written on it: "Ken-chan, want to read manga?" Ken was confused. He subtly scribbled a question back: "We're sitting so close. Why don't you just ask me?" Atsushi didn't say anything and passed him another note. Ken opened it. It read: "The teacher said no talking."

What kind of logic is that, you idiot? If we can't talk, does that mean we can read manga and pass notes? Ken's face took on the look of an old man on the subway staring at his phone, and he could barely hold back his urge to complain. But for the sake of his sheep—I mean, the friendship we'd have as classmates for the next three years—Ken could only imitate Atsushi and write him a note: "Okay, Murasakibara."

And so the two of them sat in the corner with their heads down, absorbed in the world of manga. When they looked up again, the classroom was silent, and their teacher stood before them with a dark expression.

"I've been watching you two for ages. Sneaking around, not paying attention in class, reading manga?" The teacher's tone was very unfriendly.

"Yeah, Ken-chan, how could you read manga?" Atsushi chimed in, looking all righteous as he scolded Ken.

"Huh? Me?" Ken's eyes widened. Fine, fine. I treat my brother like family, and he turns around and plays me. Don't blame me, then! I'm done being a decent person, Murasakibara!

Ken pulled the manga out from beneath his textbook, looking remorseful. With a pained expression, he handed it to the teacher and said, "I'm sorry, teacher. I shouldn't have read manga in class."

"Huh?" Atsushi, the natural airhead, had never imagined the situation would play out like this. He stared at the manga in Ken's hands, looking heartbroken. He wanted to take it back, but didn't dare.

"I'll let it go this time! If I catch you again, I'll confiscate your manga and make your parents come get it!" Seeing that Ken had "admitted his guilt" with a good attitude, the teacher said no more and turned to continue preparing the lesson. Just then, the bell rang.

"Ken-chan, you're so disloyal!" Atsushi shouted angrily.

"You're calling me disloyal? You're one to talk!" Ken pointed at Atsushi and snapped back without holding anything back. Maybe even Ken didn't realize it, but without either of them noticing, Atsushi's extensive experience as a natural airhead had dragged Ken, who had lived two lives, down to his level...

With the two of them accusing each other of being a bad friend, the afternoon classes finally came to an end. As Ken packed his schoolbag, someone knocked on the window behind him. He looked up to see Daiki Aomine and Satsuki Momoi.

"Hurry up, hurry up, Ken! The basketball club's having its first training session tonight. I heard they're announcing the new fitness test results and lineup changes!" Daiki urged him incessantly, trembling with excitement.

"Don't rush me, Aomine. At least let me finish packing." Ken tidied the books and stationery on his desk in an orderly fashion, then looked at Atsushi, who'd just come back from the restroom. "Murasakibara, want to come with us?"

"Hey! You're that guy from lunchtime! The tall one with purple hair!" Daiki said, pointing at Atsushi as if he'd made a great discovery. "Hi, I'm Daiki Aomine! I didn't know you and Kaneki were in the same class, and desk mates too!"

Atsushi looked conflicted as he considered whether to accept Ken's invitation. He felt like Ken had just tricked him, and going to training with him now seemed like too much of a blow to his dignity.

"Ah, well, Aomine and I will go on ahead. I was thinking of treating everyone to ramen tonight." Ken didn't pay Atsushi any mind, merely muttering the words as if they'd just slipped out.

"Ken-chan, hurry up! We're going to be late!" At the mention of good food, Atsushi swiftly packed his things and called to them from the doorway. What? You say dignity? To Atsushi, dignity was worth only a few bowls of ramen...

"That big guy just moved faster than me, didn't he?" Daiki said, a little surprised.

"What? He's just a greedy natural airhead." Ken covered his forehead, not wanting to admit that he was that guy's deskmate.