A Familiar Name

"My name is Yosuke Hirata. Everyone can just call me Yosuke. My hobby is playing soccer... I look forward to getting along with you all. I hope we can introduce ourselves one by one and get to know each other..."

Mu Tianchen was woken by the noise in the classroom and raised his head to look toward the podium.

A handsome boy stood on the podium, his looks in no way inferior to Mu Tianchen's, introducing himself. A group of girls had gathered around him, drawing envious looks from many of the boys below.

After Hirata finished, a timid girl went up to introduce herself, encouraged by the others...

Everyone's introducing themselves? This really was a great opportunity to make a good impression, but Mu Tianchen didn't need it...

I'll just play the part of an ordinary bystander. After thinking it over, Mu Tianchen made up his mind.

"Then, the next person—"

Hirata looked around from the podium and pointed to a red-haired boy sitting in the back row.

"Are you all children? We don't need any introductions!" The red-haired boy glared at Hirata.

"I wasn't trying to force you to introduce yourself. I just thought that since we're all classmates, it'd be better if we got to know each other. If I offended you by doing that, I apologize."

After speaking, Hirata bowed to the red-haired boy to show that he was sorry.

The girls nearby immediately voiced their displeasure with the red-haired boy. They discussed the matter among themselves, occasionally making comments that criticized him.

"You're so noisy. Go play by yourselves!" The red-haired boy stood up at once and turned to leave the classroom. A few other students who didn't want to introduce themselves followed him out.

It wasn't Hirata's fault. Some of the girls began comforting him as he watched them leave.

"Let's carry on!" one girl suggested, and before long, the students resumed introducing themselves.

One after another...

"Uh, um... I'm Ayanokouji Kiyotaka. Um... yeah... there's nothing in particular that I'm good at, but I'll get along with everyone... so, I look forward to it."

"..."

Who's this guy? Why'd he steal the perfect ordinary-bystander template I'd prepared? Now that he's said it, what am I supposed to say? Honestly... Mu Tianchen grumbled to himself.

Wait... Ayanokouji Kiyotaka? Why does that name sound so familiar? I think I've seen it somewhere before. Let me think...

Mu Tianchen had been displeased that the boy had stolen his template, but when he noticed the boy's name, memories from long ago gradually came back to him...

It was a dark, windy night. His father had brought him, still very young, to a room surrounded by white.

The room was in a remote mountain forest. Mu Tianchen clearly remembered that it had been around noon when his father started driving. The journey was long, and before he knew it, he'd fallen asleep...

By the time Mu Tianchen woke up again, the sun had set. He asked his father, who told him they were almost there, so he stayed awake.

Before they left, his father had told him they were going to witness the birth of the greatest creation in history. Although his father called it "the greatest," Mu Tianchen couldn't see a trace of joy on his calm face.

His father was the sort of person who wore his feelings on his face. At least, that was how he acted when he was with Mu Tianchen.

He remembered a time when he'd achieved an outstanding result in a competition his father had arranged, beating the second-place finisher by a wide margin.

When his father found out, he watched the replay over and over, his pride plain to see. The next day, he spent a fortune taking Mu Tianchen to the most luxurious amusement park around, where they played all day.

What exactly was this "greatest" creation? He couldn't help feeling curious...

As they neared their destination, the trees around them grew sparser. In the distance stood a house that looked like a wooden cabin in the forest. Blinding white light poured from its windows, illuminating the entire area...

His father stopped the car. A burly man in a black suit came over. After exchanging a few words, the man handed his father a key card and left.

After getting out of the car, his father led him to the entrance. He gently patted Mu Tianchen on the head and said, "Close your eyes. I'm going to open the door. Once we're inside, open them slowly, understand?"

"Got it."

Mu Tianchen didn't understand, but he knew he had to listen to his father, so he hurriedly closed his eyes.

The instant the door opened, Mu Tianchen felt a powerful light hit him. It was a good thing he'd closed his eyes before entering. Otherwise, the sudden glare might have blinded him.

Mu Tianchen slowly opened his eyes. The light had stung them enough to bring a few tears, but when he finally made out the scene around him, it sent a tremendous shock through his young heart.

The room was enormous, and nearly everything around him was white. All the buildings and walls were white, even the ceiling.

It was as if he'd entered "heaven."

But as he followed his father farther inside, it gradually began to feel like "hell."

In the middle of the room was a group of children around Mu Tianchen's age, separated from them by a glass wall. Their eyes held none of the liveliness one would expect from children that age.

Their eyes were vacant. Several adults kept watch over them. Some were doing exercises on paper, while others practiced punching with their peers. Even when a child was knocked hard to the ground by another, not a single cry escaped them...

Mu Tianchen and his father watched through the glass, just as if they were looking at animals in a zoo... It was the first time he'd ever been to such a strange place or seen such strange children his own age...

As they continued farther in, Mu Tianchen noticed that one boy was being watched over differently from the others. Most of the children were in groups, each watched by a single adult, but a crowd of adults surrounded this boy...

The boy stared expressionlessly at the adults around him. One by one, they stepped forward to fight him. It was hard to imagine that a child could use skill to hold his own against those adults!

"Do you see him? He's the 'greatest' creation I told you about—the greatest one this facility has ever produced," his father said, pointing to the boy.

"Mm," Mu Tianchen replied calmly, though he was amazed by what he saw.

Mu Tianchen practiced fighting from time to time too. That was why he could identify the techniques and moves the boy was using just by watching his movements.

"His name is Kiyotaka Ayanokoji. He's not only good at fighting, but also the most brilliant student in the Fourth Generation. I hope you'll work hard and take him as your goal..."

Mu Tianchen nodded. He'd always admired geniuses and wanted to become one himself, but he thought it would be hard to persevere if it meant living in a place like this all the time...

"Mu Tianxiao, you're here," a man's voice came from behind them. The man was dressed quite formally and looked like he might be in charge of the place. Several staff members followed him.

"Yeah, it's been a long time, Teacher Sakurakoji," his father replied, turning around.

The man led his father to a nearby office to talk. Before leaving, he gave Mu Tianchen a meaningful look...

"Hey! Hey! Hey! It's your turn to introduce yourself!" A male classmate sitting in front of him brought him back from his earlier thoughts.

"Hm? It's my turn? Okay." Mu Tianchen stood up and began his introduction:

"I... I'm Mu Tianchen. I transferred here... P-please be nice to me."

Mu Tianchen pretended to stammer, lowering his head from time to time and letting his eyes dart around, putting on the air of a shy girl.

Even though his template had been stolen, Mu Tianchen understood that you could change the words without changing the idea. It reminded him of something his middle school English teacher had said when teaching them how to write essays: Don't just copy a template. Learn to adapt it!

Just as they'd encouraged Ayanokouji earlier, the students gave him a few encouraging claps too.

Most of those claps were probably out of sympathy and pity.

"What's with the boys in our class? Are they all this shy?"

A girl with yellow hair and a flashy, gyaru-like look turned around and chatted with the girl behind her.

"Yeah, yeah. First one, and now another. They're not even bad-looking."

Mu Tianchen heard the girls below whispering to one another, but he didn't care.

He'd never cared about what other people thought of him, and he still didn't. He just had to be himself.

But Ayanokouji Kiyotaka? Was it just someone with the same name, or was he really that person? It seemed like he'd have to keep an eye on him from now on...

After everyone had introduced themselves, it was almost time for the entrance ceremony. Hirata called for everyone to head to the sports field together.

It seemed that the red-haired boy's harsh words and departure hadn't affected him for long. He quickly recovered, and most of the girls in the class got up and followed him out.

Sure enough, handsome, kind, gentle boys with the air of a leader were popular...