Lost on the Road of Life

"If you want to hang out, you can come by during break."

She spoke gently, like a kind big sister or a guardian angel.

Kageya Shinjitsu was reminded of Hanada, the blonde, busty, adorable girl.

"Don't mind me. I'm just looking. Just looking."

"Don't worry about getting punished. The teachers don't care what we do. You can even sleep in class, let alone skip it."

Kageya Shinjitsu said this to himself.

Although the students of Class B found him rather strange,

they still found him a seat, where he squeezed in beside a skinny male student.

Even Hoshinomiya Chie, the homeroom teacher of Class 1-B, made no attempt to kick him out.

Class B was the only class that let him sit in their classroom.

They were incredibly friendly.

"Come by anytime!"

Even during break, they greeted him warmly.

"I will, I will."

"See you around, Ichinose."

He'd rarely bothered remembering other people's names, but this time he'd managed to remember several students in the class. After learning what he wanted to know, Kageya Shinjitsu didn't linger and left.

"Hoshinomiya-sensei, what was that about?"

Ichinose Honami watched Kageya Shinjitsu leave, then turned to the homeroom teacher, who was still there. She had to know something.

"I don't know anything."

"Maybe he's being bullied in his class."

"I'll ask him about it later."

Hoshinomiya Chie lied without batting an eye.

Only the honest students of Class B would believe such an evasive answer.

"Then please ask him, sensei. If he's too afraid to go to class because he's being bullied, that's awful."

"It's only the first day of school."

Ichinose Honami could tell something was off, but she couldn't say what.

Hoshinomiya Chie smiled without replying and left the classroom.

Looks like we really do have some promising students this time.

After leaving Class B and its harmonious, friendly atmosphere behind,

Kageya Shinjitsu arrived at Class C. It felt like he'd walked into some sort of delinquent hangout.

"Is this a class full of thugs?"

"Need me to call a doctor for you guys?"

"What's going on with this class?"

Kageya Shinjitsu looked at the many Class C students with bruised and swollen faces, especially the boys. Several of them had been beaten up badly.

This class was far more hostile than the previous two.

And the delinquent vibe was strong.

Kageya Shinjitsu even felt like joining them.

They've probably lost a lot of points too.

"Hey, asshole! Who are you?"

"Get out of here!"

Several students in the chaotic class cursed at Kageya Shinjitsu.

They looked ready to attack him, too.

But the bell rang, and their homeroom teacher, Sakagami Kazuma, arrived.

So they backed down.

They just glared at Kageya Shinjitsu, as if they wanted to beat him to a pulp.

But Kageya Shinjitsu was already immune to that kind of intimidation.

Without a care, he stood by the classroom door and watched the class for the entire lesson.

Class C was also the class closest to Class D.

It was full of problem students and delinquents, just as he'd suspected.

As soon as the bell rang, Kageya Shinjitsu took off.

After all that, the afternoon was basically over.

He'd also gained a general understanding of the first-year students at this school.

Judging by their talent, most of the students in Class A really were polished, top-tier professionals.

They probably didn't know the school's rules either, but even so, they had strong self-discipline and seemed capable of learning well.

Even when he'd barged into their class and acted up earlier, hardly anyone had been distracted. They'd just listened to the lesson.

And they'd already chosen someone who seemed like a class leader on the first day.

The students in Class B were probably a level below them, perhaps future middle managers. They were still well worth cultivating.

They were capable, too, and had likewise chosen a leader on the first day.

Then there were Classes C and D...

They're like a pair of garbage dumps.

He didn't really want to say that about his own class, but that was the reality.

Compared with the classes before them, theirs was like a garbage dump.

They'd definitely lost a lot of class points.

In fact, Kageya Shinjitsu suspected that with students like those in his class,

even if they knew that fooling around would cost the class points and affect their future income, many of them would still carry on as usual.

Chapter Eighteen: Lost on the Road of Life

Could people quickly change their bad habits?

In Kageya Shinjitsu's opinion, the odds were slim.

And if people were also pointing fingers at them while they tried,

the odds were even slimmer.

"I need to think of something..."

Otherwise, being tied to these people in his class was going to be a real pain.

Kageya Shinjitsu returned to the Class D classroom.

To his surprise, there were still a few people in Class 1-D who hadn't left.

Those who were still there looked at him in surprise.

He'd been gone all afternoon. The teacher hadn't called roll, but they'd noticed.

The Class D students might fool around, ignore lessons, and sleep in class, but skipping school on the very first day of lessons

still made them look at him as if to say, You've got guts.

Kushida was one of the students in the classroom.

"Kageya, where did you go this afternoon?"

"You were gone the whole time. Everyone was worried about you."

"Did something happen?"

With a concerned look, Kushida Kikyo came over to Kageya Shinjitsu.

She'd thought he wouldn't show up again all day, but then he'd suddenly appeared.

"Nothing happened. I just got lost on the road of life and ended up in the wrong classroom."

Kageya Shinjitsu explained seriously.

"Huh? You went to the wrong classroom?"

Kushida Kikyo ignored the part about getting lost on the road of life.

"Yeah. I went to a few wrong classrooms."

Kageya Shinjitsu said.

He didn't mention that he'd sat in on lessons in other classes.

There was no need.

"Well, that's just..."

Kushida Kikyo didn't know what to say.

"Then, do you want me to walk to school with you from now on?" She immediately changed the subject and offered.

Kageya Shinjitsu flatly declined. He didn't want to drag along a burden.

"No need. I've memorized the way. I won't get it wrong tomorrow."

"Sorry, Hanada. I'll be going now."

Out of habit, he announced that he'd gotten her name wrong, then made his escape.

"My name isn't Hanada. It's Kushida Kikyo. Also, someone from the Student Council came looking for you today. Did something happen?"

Kushida Kikyo brought up something else.

She was already used to him calling her the wrong name. She also didn't believe a word he said about memorizing the way.

Kageya Shinjitsu was either trying to get her attention or he was a guy who liked men.

A pervert.

A brainless pervert.

"The Student Council?"

Kageya Shinjitsu checked his phone in surprise.

He'd silenced it while snooping around the other classes.

There were calls and messages waiting for him.

The message mentioned an apology from a second-year student.

They hadn't come to punish him for skipping class.

Just as he'd expected, skipping class would probably only cost his class points. No one would actually bother with him.

He replied to the Student Council member and arranged a time to meet tomorrow.

He'd make sure to accept the second-year student's apology properly.

After dealing with that, he looked at Kushida Kikyo, who was still standing in front of him.

"Okay. Thanks, Kushida."

"I know what happened now."

Kageya Shinjitsu acted as if he hadn't noticed how curious she was about what had happened.