Just Because I Took One Extra Glance at Your Black Stockings

Mikage Touji opened his mouth to apologize, but a slightly panicked voice rang out first:

"I'm sorry!"

Mikage Touji: "?"

He opened his eyes. The girl with her hair tied to one side was frantically picking up her books.

"Um..." Mikage Touji crouched to pick up a book. "Yamamura, I'm the one who bumped into you, right?"

"Eep!" Yamamura Miki was startled as she picked up her books. She lowered her head and weakly repeated, "I'm sorry."

"No, no, I mean, I wasn't watching where I was going and bumped into you. Why are you apologizing... Wait!" Mikage Touji seemed to remember something, and his face turned fearful.

"Could it be that you're working with that guy Morishita to mess with me, and you're apologizing because you feel guilty?"

"N-no, that's not it. I don't know Morishita," Yamamura Miki hurriedly explained.

"Then why are you apologizing? I'm the one who should be apologizing to you, aren't I?"

Yamamura Miki's voice grew fainter. "Because I... I don't really have much of a p-presence, so..."

"So you're saying you're sorry because I bumped into you. It's that simple." Mikage Touji handed the book back to her.

"B-but..." Yamamura Miki held the books with one hand and waved the other frantically.

"But what? If you bump into someone and don't apologize, things'll get awkward between you later. Anyway, I look forward to working with you for the next three years. I'm off."

With that, Mikage Touji walked around Yamamura Miki, who stood frozen in place, went to his seat, and plopped down.

"Yamamura, that was kind of you."

Shiraishi Asuka put down her pen and closed the notebook she'd been writing in, speaking with a calm smile.

"Yamamura seems to have a bit of a low presence, so she's afraid of being a bother. You made her accept your apology outright so she wouldn't overthink it, didn't you?"

"Is that so?" Mikage Touji replied casually. "I didn't really think of it that way."

His ability mainly affected the mind and heightened his senses, so he hadn't thought Yamamura Miki had a low presence.

Wait!

Mikage Touji reconsidered. It was a problem in itself that he, with his heightened senses, had still managed to bump into Yamamura Miki.

"I think that's probably true. Yesterday, when she introduced herself, there wasn't much applause either, even though she spoke pretty well," Shiraishi Asuka continued.

During yesterday's introductions, everyone had applauded at least a little out of politeness, unless someone was as frightening as Kito Hayato or as absurd as Mikage Touji. But Yamamura Miki had received hardly any applause. Maybe she really wasn't very noticeable.

"By the way, Shiraishi-san, you're really perceptive. I didn't even notice."

"Not at all." Shiraishi Asuka covered her mouth and smiled. "I just happened to notice."

"Mm-hm," Mikage Touji murmured.

His listless reply caught Shiraishi Asuka's attention. She looked at him curiously. "You don't seem very energetic, Mikage. Did you sleep badly last night?"

"Something like that."

Mikage Touji closed his panda eyes and said gloomily, "I'm not used to the beds at school."

"Hehe." Shiraishi Asuka laughed lightly. "Then... why not take a nap now? I'll wake you up when class is about to start."

"Thanks in advance."

Mikage Touji murmured sleepily, found a comfortable position, rested his face against the desk, and quickly fell asleep.

Seeing Mikage Touji asleep, Shiraishi Asuka put her notebook back in her drawer, propped her chin on one hand, and quietly watched his face.

The sun had already risen above the horizon. The soft morning light streamed through the window and fell over the boy's face, wrapping him in a thin veil of radiance. Shiraishi Asuka found herself staring, momentarily lost in thought.

Are you... him, after all?

Mikage Touji had always believed the classroom was the perfect place to sleep. No matter how bad your insomnia was or how noisy things got around you, you could always fall asleep during a ten-minute break.

As it turned out, Mikage Touji was right.

When Shiraishi Asuka gently touched his arm and shook him awake, he was already back to full strength.

Every student in the class had arrived, and they'd all taken out their textbooks to study the day's material on their own.

Mikage Touji's mouth twitched. He was beginning to understand why their class was ranked first among Classes A, B, C, and D. With this kind of intense overachiever energy, if Class A really ranked last, he'd wash his hair upside down.

Of course, there were still a few exceptions. For instance, Morishita Ran, whose blue-violet eyes gazed dreamily into the distance as she propped up her chin, and Mikage Touji, who was sound asleep without a care in the world...

Ahem, that wasn't the point!

Mikage Touji slapped his cheeks with both hands to wake himself up, then turned his gaze toward the classroom camera.

Now came the main event.

When all was said and done, the school's assessment of each student's value was just a guess. There was no evidence to back it up.

Finding evidence was simple, though. All he had to do was prove that one of the school's assessments of a student was correct.

Academic ability could be measured with exams.

Physical ability could be measured through competitions.

But for the other areas, if things really worked the way he imagined, the cameras had to be involved.

And during the process, teachers couldn't offer any reminders. Otherwise, they wouldn't be able to test the students' true abilities.

So when would students be showing their true abilities?

Mikage Touji had figured out the answer last night.

When students had a great deal of freedom—in other words, when the school's rules were very lax.

So...

All he had to do was watch how the teachers responded to students' behavior in class. If they completely ignored it, that would clearly mean the school was using the cameras to test students' various abilities.

With that thought, Mikage Touji eagerly took out his textbook and propped it upright on his desk. Hiding behind it, he discreetly observed the class.

Come on, then. Show me what this school is really like.

Half an hour later...

Mikage Touji yawned for the third time and stared blankly at the class.

Seriously, was this for real? The entire Class A, all forty students, were listening attentively. They looked like they were addicted to studying. Weren't there supposed to be regular NPCs like the Back-row War God?

Mikage Touji yawned again, then seemed to remember something and slapped his book down.

No... speaking of the Back-row War God, there actually was one!

Mikage Touji looked toward the podium. Mashima Tomoya stood there, holding his textbook in one hand as he taught the class.

"The Earth provides us with air, water, and..."

"Ahem!"

Mikage Touji coughed twice, and the entire class turned to look at him.

Mashima Tomoya paused briefly, then continued teaching with his hands behind his back.

"It gives us forests full of life and oceans so wide..."

I see...

At the sight of this, Mikage Touji's expression turned brazen.

In full view of everyone, Mikage Touji tilted his chair back and leaned his head onto Morishita Ran's desk. Ignoring her increasingly chilly gaze, he went a step further and swung his legs up onto his own desk with a loud clatter.

"We must protect our beautiful planet..."

Mashima Tomoya still didn't react. He continued stiffly reading from the textbook, the corner of his mouth curling into the faintest smile where no one could see.

The strange scene and bizarre atmosphere made it abundantly clear to the students that something was wrong.

Finally, Mikage Touji simply stood up and walked out of the classroom, ignoring everyone's stares.

Mashima Tomoya made no attempt to stop him, continuing to read the lesson the entire time.

Five minutes later, Mikage Touji strolled back into the classroom with a bottle of free mineral water.

Some of the students seemed to have figured something out from Teacher Mashima's reaction, and watched Mikage Touji intently.

Mashima Tomoya, meanwhile, acted like a consummate professional, teaching his lesson meticulously as if nothing had happened.

Before long, the bell rang. Mashima Tomoya gathered up his lesson materials and left the classroom without a word.

The next moment, everyone in the class focused on the seats in the lower-left corner of the room. A group of students led by Katsuragi Kōhei and Hashimoto Masayoshi quickly gathered around.

"Hey, Mikage," Hashimoto Masayoshi greeted him first, speaking with considerable enthusiasm. "You were testing the school rules just now, weren't you? Mind sharing what you found out?"

"I had the same thought," Katsuragi Kōhei said, crossing his arms and speaking gravely. "Mikage clearly knew Teacher Mashima wouldn't react before he acted that way. He must know far more than we do. It would be great if he'd share what he knows."

In Katsuragi Kōhei's eyes, Mikage Touji didn't avoid socializing, but he also didn't go out of his way to approach people. If they didn't ask, Mikage might not tell them anything at all.

Mikage Touji tilted his head back and took a swig of mineral water, then looked at Hashimoto Masayoshi. "Hashimoto, did you ask the upperclassmen yesterday? What did they say?"

"Unfortunately," Hashimoto Masayoshi said with a shrug, "they had no idea. I put my whole reputation on the line, wheedled and pestered them, and even tried offering points in exchange, but they weren't interested. Their answers were pretty vague, too. Things like, 'Just do what you're supposed to do.'"

"I have some guesses of my own, but no evidence, so I can't get any further," Katsuragi Kōhei said.

"I see..." Mikage Touji wasn't surprised. He answered honestly, "The truth is, I'm still only at the guessing stage myself. I need to test things further."

"Is there anything you need me to do?" Kito Hayato volunteered.

"If you need support with points, that's possible too," Katsuragi Kōhei said. "I'm sure everyone in the class would be willing to contribute."

"No need," Mikage Touji said. "If I need anything, I'll ask."

"Need an extra pair of hands?" Hashimoto Masayoshi leaned in. "I'd be happy to run errands or help out with things like that."

"No need." Mikage Touji gave Hashimoto Masayoshi a strange look.

Why did he get the feeling that this guy was being a little too enthusiastic, almost as if he were sucking up to him?

Every time Mikage Touji saw him, he could practically hear that ingratiating voice from the anti-Japanese war dramas of his past life, with its strange accent: "Yes, sir~"

"Okay." Katsuragi Kōhei nodded. "If you need any practical help, just call on me in the class group chat."

The break was short. When the bell rang, the crowd around Mikage Touji dispersed.

"You sure made a spectacle of yourself, Mikage Touji." A voice from behind him drifted over, devoid of emotion.

This time, Mikage Touji didn't fall for it again. He leaned back and rested his chair against Morishita Ran's desk.

"So, Morishita, are you ready to admit defeat?" Mikage Touji asked in a low voice.

Morishita Ran sounded a little disappointed that she hadn't tricked Mikage Touji. "That's still up in the air. My plan is progressing smoothly. That brazen attitude of yours really suits someone with a powerful darkness inside him, doesn't it, Mikage Touji? But never mind. People who celebrate at halftime like that usually end up losing everything."

"Morishita, if I remember right, I'm the Ultraman who represents light, aren't I?"

"Hm? But hasn't your light already run away? An Ultraman without light is Alien Empera."

"Tch..." Mikage Touji was mortified and furious.

"That's why I hate that scumbag who tricked me out of my light when I was eight!"

Just Because I Glanced at Your Thigh-Highs

Palette Cafe was the most popular café at the school. The girls loved spending their lunch breaks and time after school there.

Mikage Touji sat in his seat, coolly sneaking glances at the pairs of fair, shapely thighs beneath the pleated skirts.

Now that was full of vitality—

"You're not a very cute underclassman, are you? There are so many gorgeous upperclassmen here, yet you're staring at other girls." A teasing voice pulled him back to reality.

Mikage Touji turned around helplessly. A tall upperclassman with long silver hair had crossed her long, thigh-high-clad legs and was sipping her coffee at her leisure.

"So, senpai, why did you bring me here?"

Kiryūin Fūka raised an eyebrow, rested her left arm on the chair, and smiled boldly. "You came snooping around our second-year territory, and now you're asking why I brought you over?"

"Senpai, is it possible I was just taking a walk?" Mikage Touji picked up his coffee and took a sip, cautiously testing the waters.

"This is the first time I've seen someone take a walk specifically to watch classrooms," Kiryūin Fūka said, exposing Mikage Touji's lie without mercy.

I shouldn't have glanced at those thigh-highs. Mikage Touji wailed inwardly.

His plan had been going so smoothly. He'd already finished checking out the third- and first-year classes, but when he finally went to investigate Class 2-B, he'd been drawn in by those gorgeous legs in thigh-highs, swaying in the air.