After that little incident, the three of them arrived at a corner of the convenience store.
There was a pile of everyday necessities, such as toothbrushes, packed into a shopping cart labeled "Free," with a limit of three items per month.
Even so, Toru Hasegawa still thought it was outrageous.
The school not only gave them personal points worth 100,000 yen each month to spend, but also offered everyday necessities for free!
Was this some kind of charity?
"Is this a relief measure for people who've spent too many personal points? The school really does spoil its students... What are you doing?"
Suzune Horikita offered what could just about be called a reasonable explanation, then noticed what Toru was doing.
He was putting free shampoo and body wash into his cart.
"As you can see, I'm swapping out the things I would've had to buy."
Toru gave a simple explanation, then put back the everyday necessities that had just been replaced by the free ones.
"Do you really need to save that much?"
He had a whole 100,000 personal points, yet he was still trying to get even a tiny bit of everyday necessities for free?
Suzune couldn't understand his behavior.
But when she saw that the silver-haired girl who'd come with him wasn't giving him a strange look, Suzune pushed down what little misgiving she had left.
Sometimes people like that did exist.
"I'm used to it, I'm used to it."
Toru subtracted the cost of the items he'd just replaced from the total he'd already calculated, and couldn't help smiling with satisfaction.
Money should be spent where it mattered.
Everyone had their own mental accounts, each with its own expected price range.
For instance, some people weren't willing to spend much on everyday necessities, but would happily splash out on food.
Then there were people who felt that buying expensive things for themselves wasn't worth it, but were happy to receive them as gifts from someone close to them. That was because the former counted as living expenses, while the latter counted as emotional expenses.
A more common example was spending on one's children or health, where people were willing to pay far more than they would from other accounts.
And Toru's expected spending on everyday necessities was very low.
Seeing him like this, Suzune didn't know what else to say. She wasn't interested in things like this anyway.
"I'll be going."
Suzune stepped away and joined the end of the long line at the register.
"Should I go too?"
Realizing he should probably give Arisu Sakayanagi some space, Toru asked.
"Mm. I hope you enjoy your school life."
Arisu glanced at his cart and decided to let her somewhat endearing classmate off the hook for now. After all, without him she wouldn't have come to the convenience store at this particular time, and she wouldn't have happened to run into Kiyotaka Ayanokoji.
Come to think of it, she really did have him to thank. And now she had something more important to do.
"It's been a long time, Ayanokoji. Eight years and fifty-one days, to be exact."
With only the two of them there for the moment, Arisu leaned on her cane and stopped beside Kiyotaka.
Completely unaware that Kiyotaka's dream of a peaceful school life had just fallen apart, Toru was waiting in line.
The beautiful girl with long, straight black hair standing right in front of him was Horikita, who had just spoken with Ayanokoji.
She had no intention of turning around to talk to him, so Toru enjoyed a rare moment of peace.
But then a loud voice from the front of the line drowned out the background music playing throughout the convenience store, quickly filling the entire space.
"You're so annoying! Hold on! I'm looking for it!"
"Then hurry up! You're holding up the whole line!"
The entrance ceremony had taken up most of the morning, and it was now almost eleven. A lot of students had come to the convenience store to buy lunch.
"Huh? You got a problem?"
Seeing that the two of them seemed to be... No, that they were already arguing, Toru sighed helplessly and tapped the girl in front of him on the shoulder.
"Could you watch my things for a moment?"
"...?"
Horikita turned around in surprise. She hadn't expected anyone to get involved in this sort of situation. She didn't say anything, but took hold of his cart with her left hand, which was as good as agreeing.
"Thanks."
After a brief word of thanks, Toru put on a friendly smile and stepped forward to ask:
"What's going on?"
"Huh? Who are you?"
The red-haired boy immediately barked at Toru, who had been trying to start the conversation amicably.
"I'm just here to sort things out. I saw something was going on and thought I might be able to help."
Toru wasn't intimidated by the red-haired boy's simple threat, nor did he get angry. He just kept a friendly expression on his face.
"Ah... I see... I forgot my student ID. I forgot that the card I'm getting later is supposed to replace cash."
Would anyone really forget something that important?
The thought flashed through Toru's mind, but he showed nothing on his face and continued smiling.
"If you need it, I can pay for you first. It'd be a pain to go back and get it, wouldn't it? If you don't mind."
"To be honest, yeah, it'd be a hassle. And I'm already pissed off because of what just happened."
The red-haired boy's voice calmed a little when he saw that someone was willing to pay for him.
"I'm Sudo from Class D. I'll leave this to you."
"I'm Hasegawa from Class A. Nice to meet you."
The red-haired boy handed over his instant noodles, told Toru to add hot water, and then left.
The number above his head also rose from 40 to 60.
At last, the incident was over. The long line began moving again, and Toru sighed with relief as he returned to his place.
"So your name's Hasegawa. I didn't expect you to be such a kind person."
The aloof girl with long, straight black hair had actually started talking to him. Toru was happy to oblige. He glanced at the number above Suzune Horikita's head, which had gone from 40 to 45, then replied:
"I just hope that by acting this way, I can make there be more people like me in this society. Even if there's only one more."
"Most people would want to keep their distance from someone like him, judging by his appearance."
"That's a stereotype," Toru corrected her.
"His reaction just now proves that what you called a stereotype is absolutely right."
Suzune rebutted him without holding back.
Toru had thought talking with a beautiful girl like her would be a pleasant experience, but now he'd been knocked flat by her argument.
"...Even so, I don't think anyone was born wanting to turn out like that."
Toru fell silent for a moment before speaking.
If he hadn't had all the knowledge from his previous life, if he hadn't kept studying over the past twelve years, he might have ended up like that boy too.
One's environment had a profound influence, especially during childhood, before one's values had been fully formed.
"I can't agree. You can escape your circumstances if you just work hard. I have the least respect for people like him who make no effort to improve."
Suzune clearly couldn't understand Toru's way of thinking. She believed that the root of every problem was that the person in question hadn't tried hard enough.
"That's not—"
Toru was about to explain further, but the line had reached Suzune at the register, so he quietly shut his mouth.
He finished paying right after her, including for the red-haired boy's instant noodles—Sudo's.
"Water, water."
Knowing that changing someone else's mind was difficult, Toru immediately put the earlier incident out of his thoughts.
It was hard to be happy if you kept brooding over things like that.
"Hey, why are you still here?"
Toru was a little surprised to see Suzune still waiting there, but he didn't pause what he was doing.
Carefully filling the cup to the line with hot water, he walked out of the convenience store with Suzune following behind him. He had no idea what she was planning.
Sudo was waiting nearby.
"Your noodles."
Sudo took the noodles as if it were only natural, then waited for them to cook.
"You're eating them here?"
"Of course. Eating here is common sense everywhere in the world."
Was it?
Toru wasn't sure, but then again, it was perfectly normal for people to have different common sense based on the environments they'd grown up in.
For instance, people drove on different sides of the road, and customs differed between bowing and shaking hands.
So he quickly convinced himself, while the girl beside him, Horikita, let out an incredulous sigh.
"I want to go back. Staying here any longer will only lower my standing."
You could've just said the first part. Why did you have to add the second? And "standing"? All I see is you acting aloof, come on...
Toru felt a sense of foreboding.
At the same time, he felt sorry for his own stereotypes, because he could already guess what was going to happen next.
"What do you mean, lower your standing? Isn't this normal for high school students? Or are you... some rich girl?"
Just as expected, Sudo got angry as soon as he heard Horikita say that.
But she didn't even look at him.
"When someone's talking to you, listen properly! Hey!"
"What's wrong with him? Why's he suddenly getting angry?"
Horikita still didn't speak to Sudo. Instead, she asked Toru a question.
We've only just met, so don't push me into the line of fire!!!
That was what Toru thought, but he knew that if he didn't step in now, things might really get out of hand.
In the worst case, it could even turn violent.
So he stepped forward.
"When someone's talking to you, you really should listen properly."
Toru first looked at Suzune with an earnest expression and gave her a subtle wink, hoping she'd understand his hint. Then he turned to Sudo and said:
"But you're also in the wrong. This is just a minor thing, so you've gotten a little too angry."
Toru thought he'd handled things pretty well. But Sudo seemed to be a powder keg that could go off at the slightest spark. He jumped to his feet with a shout.
"Huh? What did you say? That stuck-up woman's the one in the wrong! She's just a woman!"
No, I admit her attitude was a little stuck-up, but your behavior is worse. And what do you mean, "just a woman"...
Gender conflict is even worse than violence, you know~
That was what Toru thought, but he couldn't actually say it. If he did, he'd be the one to destroy the peaceful future with his own hands.
But someone else didn't feel the same way.
Before he could get a word in, Suzune continued, though she still wasn't speaking directly to Sudo.
"She's just a woman—that's a seriously outdated way of thinking. I suggest you stop associating with him~"
"..."
Toru knew things were going badly and hurriedly said:
"All right, all right. You're both in the wrong here. How about you each take a step back?"
He forced himself to say it.
He'd realized that neither Sudo nor Horikita was easy to deal with.
The former was like a powder keg, quick to ignite and with a very short fuse. The latter was extremely self-righteous, putting herself at the center of everything.
I should've realized when she refused to introduce herself.
After giving his optimistic outlook a mild scolding in his mind, Toru gloomily turned the matter over in his head, hoping to find a way to de-escalate the situation.
But faced with two people whose personalities were so distinct, his efforts seemed futile.
Unless something from the outside intervened.
After quickly comparing his build with theirs, Toru figured his chances of holding them back were pretty good.
And then, trouble really did arrive.
"Hey, are you first-years? This is our turf. If you want to argue, do it somewhere else."
As the two of them faced off, with Toru caught between them, a group of three students carrying instant noodles came out of the convenience store and joined the conversation.
Before you continue