At home, Shirogane Miyuki is an older brother to his younger sister, Shirogane Kei, who is still in middle school. The build of the Cane Girl before him bears a striking resemblance to his sister's.
Loving the house, one loves the crow; Shirogane Miyuki is currently filled with thoughts of his sister.
Although he had mentally prepared himself to come to this school and spend three years here, he doesn't know if his sister is able to get by easily out there.
After all, their father is so unreliable.
As Shirogane focuses his attention a little more, he notices the frail appearance of the Cane Girl.
Since she was able to enter this school and is wearing the student uniform, she must be a high school student, yet her height and physique are much more petite and underdeveloped than his sister's.
With such delayed development, her health must be very poor.
That's right.
Shirogane Miyuki now looks at the Cane Girl with a bit more sympathy.
"Your gaze seems a bit rude," the Cane Girl says. "However, judging by your attire, you are a new student, aren't you?"
"I am Shirogane Miyuki from Class C, a first-year who enrolled today," Shirogane replies.
"Oh." The girl responds with a polite, indifferent sound, then falls silent. She walks over to the doctor and sits down obediently.
This attitude is somewhat baffling.
She was the one who asked, yet once she received a reply, she was the one who acted completely uninterested.
More importantly, if you ask for someone else's name, you should also provide your own information in return.
Shirogane remains standing to the side, maintaining his manners.
The girl's examination does not last long. After confirming her heart rate, heartbeat, and breathing, the doctor lets her go.
"Congenital heart disease," the girl says to Shirogane. "Although there are no issues with my body otherwise, I am basically prohibited from all physical exercise."
Shirogane finally understands why she seemed so familiar with the infirmary.
With a condition like this, once the school administration knows, they are bound to take certain measures, and she must be a regular visitor to the infirmary.
"So, now that you know so much information about me, what is the problem you are facing?"
The Cane Girl sits there, blinking her eyes gently.
"Auditory hallucinations, is it?"
"What kind of things can you hear?"
"Could it be the voice of another world?"
Shirogane finally understands that this girl heard his conversation with the doctor from the doorway. To be precise, she was interested in the illness he mentioned, which is why she deliberately struck up a conversation.
Her obedient cooperation with the check-up was just a way to leak information to him, and now she is acting as if, since he knows her information, he must reciprocate with the same level of information to handle the situation.
"..." Shirogane.
This girl is quite tricky.
Throughout his middle school years, Shirogane worked hard to earn scholarships and get into a high school that didn't require tuition.
Consequently, he spent his entire middle school life basically studying, studying, and studying; he probably hasn't spoken to girls more than ten times.
Although he isn't exactly stage-frightened when facing girls, he feels that the girl in front of him is a bit difficult to handle.
"Now, let's talk about your situation," the female doctor begins to ask.
"..." Shirogane.
But what can Shirogane Miyuki say right now?
Because from a moment ago, the voices he could hear in his head have turned into this.
[This girl is super cute, right? She seems to have some interest in you.]
[Don't let her quiet and mature demeanor fool you; this is also her first time trying on garter stockings. Even though it's her first time, she thinks wearing them like this is quite cute. She is very aware of how cute she is.]
[Her health isn't great, and she basically can't leave her cane. Although she looks calm now, if you were to snatch her cane away, she might just cry, you know.]
[It's rare to see her cry.]
[I suggest you seize this opportunity!]
"..." Shirogane.
Seize what opportunity, exactly?
Shirogane opens his mouth, but he can't exactly say that the auditory hallucinations he's hearing are all focused on how to woo or make the frail girl in front of him cry.
Doing so wouldn't just be rude; he might even be directly expelled and sent home.
"I started hearing some voices after entering this school. I don't really know what it's saying specifically," Shirogane says, biting the bullet.
"I see. Is this the first time this has happened?" the female doctor continues to ask.
"Yes, the first time," Shirogane nods.
"What time did you go to sleep last night?" the female doctor asks next.
"I went to sleep at 2:00 and woke up at 6:00 this morning," Shirogane says.
"Understood." The female doctor nodded.
"What is the problem?" Cane Girl seemed not to understand.
"Look at his dark circles. And his sleep schedule; this is excessive staying up late, leading to sleep deprivation syndrome," the female doctor said.
So it was a condition caused by a lack of sleep. Basically, catching up on sleep would solve it.
"How boring." Cane Girl stood up, looking somewhat disappointed.
For someone like her who slept 10 hours every day, staying up late was a very distant concept.
The female doctor remained quite diligent.
"Was staying up late yesterday an isolated incident, or have you been doing this for a long time?" the female doctor asked.
"It's been like this for the past three years; I study for 12 hours a day," Shirogane Miyuki answered honestly. "I was a bit nervous about starting at a new school today, so I stayed up late studying last night."
Hm?
A hard worker?
And a super hard worker who studies for twelve hours a day at that.
Cane Girl, who had been preparing to leave, felt it might be worth listening a bit longer.
Chapter 3: Class A, First Year, Sakayanagi Arisu!
Shirogane Miyuki, 17 years old, is a remarkably hardworking person who studies desperately at the cost of sleep and leisure time, spending over 12 hours a day hitting the books.
He stays up late almost every day.
His studies are extreme, and his sharp gaze is due to long-term sleep deprivation. Without a supply of caffeine, he would fall asleep immediately.
Perhaps because he didn't drink coffee today, and because of the late night, he has even started showing signs of auditory hallucinations.
The above is the information collected by Cane Girl.
And now, the time has reached 9:45 AM.
Shirogane and the other person are on their way to the gymnasium to attend the entrance ceremony.
"I am truly sorry for my slow pace." Moving together with him, Cane Girl seemed somewhat apologetic.
There was nothing wrong with her body, but due to her heart condition, she had to honestly use her cane to move bit by bit.
Thus, her walking speed was half a beat slower than an average person's.
"There is still time before the 10 o'clock entrance ceremony. I'm not in a hurry."
"Besides, you are also a student enrolling today, right?" Shirogane said. "Since our destination is the same, there is no reason for me to run off halfway."
"Oh." Cane Girl's attitude still seemed rather cold.
However.
Her heart was stirred.
She had just been synthesizing the information she collected on this boy named Shirogane Miyuki.
And now, she could tentatively add that although the other party looked fierce, his personality was actually quite kind.
Cane Girl updated her opinion of him.
She was also a new student at this school; due to her physical condition since childhood, she had been unable to attend school and her family had arranged for private tutors to teach her.
Therefore, this school was the first educational institution she had ever formally attended.
Because she had never experienced it, she actually had some expectations for campus life.
It was just that joy was always accompanied by a bucket of cold water.
Her father had ordered her to go to the infirmary for a check-up before everything began, to ensure everything was foolproof before she could officially start her activities as a student of this school.
As such.
What she had thought would be a slightly tragic start in the infirmary had instead led to meeting a seemingly decent classmate.
However.
"First Year, Class A," Cane Girl said.
"What?"
Shirogane was looking at a map and hadn't noticed what she was saying.
This was also a distraction.
Because the auditory hallucination in his mind hadn't stopped just because they left the infirmary.
[I am the Narration System that belongs only to you, and only you can hear my voice. The girl beside you cannot hear it.]
[By the way, with such a cute girl beside you, can't you pay a little more attention to her?]
[Shirogane! Don't look at your phone, look at the Rich Loli!]
"..." Shirogane.
So, with his mind being so noisy, he could only distract himself.
Although he spent most of his time reading, Shirogane wasn't completely oblivious to the world around him; he still caught snippets of conversation from his classmates, such as talk about protagonists in novels having systems.
So, it was something akin to a cheat code.
Had he been chosen for such a thing? But this Narration System was clearly abnormal; even without any romantic experience, Shirogane had already noticed a few suspicious signs.
This Narration System seemed intent on goading him into building a relationship with the Cane Girl.
Furthermore, it was incredibly rude to refer to her as a Rich Loli.
Wasn't that just treating someone like prey?
"Class A, first year, Sakayanagi Arisu." The Cane Girl repeated herself.
"Oh." Shirogane finally put his phone away. "I'm Shirogane Miyuki from Class C, first year."
"I already know your name."
The Cane Girl, or rather, Sakayanagi Arisu, said.
"Although I am also just a freshman, I don't believe this school is the same as an ordinary school in the outside world."
"A school supported and promoted by the government, with a 100% employment and college acceptance rate, free tuition, and even a living allowance—conditions like these are like a pie falling from the sky."
"However, the things that are free are often the most expensive."
"So, I suspect this school has some kind of unusual mechanism."
Having said that, Sakayanagi Arisu walked into the gymnasium, and Shirogane noticed her heading toward the line marked with the Class A sign on the floor.
As for Shirogane, he located the marker for Class C and found his place in the Class C, first-year line.
Time quickly reached 10 o'clock.
"I am the Student Council President, Horikita Manabu."
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