The Beginning of Campus Life

After leaving the class, Takahashi began wandering aimlessly around the campus. As he walked, he mapped out the school's layout in his mind—where the convenience store was, where the dorms were, where the surveillance cameras were, and so on—all of it committed to memory.

Oh? What's that?

Walking toward Takahashi were several people bearing injuries: a burly black man, a girl with short blue hair, and an ordinary-looking boy with no distinguishing features. However, they all seemed to be led by a red-haired male at the front. (At this point, Class C had just resolved their leadership through a physical confrontation, with Ryuuen emerging as the leader.)

As they passed each other, Takahashi and the red-haired boy exchanged a brief glance.

"Hey."

Suddenly, the red-haired boy called out to Takahashi.

"Hm?"

Takahashi turned back, meeting the red-haired boy's gaze.

After two and a half seconds of eye contact, the red-haired boy said, "Your eyes make me uncomfortable."

"Oh, is that so?" Takahashi replied, glancing at the surveillance camera nearby. Without another word, he turned and walked into the convenience store.

Inside the convenience store, he casually picked up some daily necessities—and naturally, he also noticed the free items available.

Not long after leaving the convenience store...

Is that Hirata?

"So that's roughly the situation. That's why I'd like you to be my boyfriend... well, pretend to be."

"Alright, I understand your situation. I'll protect you."

"That's great, thank you, Hirata-kun." As she said this, Karuizawa Kei looped her arm around Hirata's.

So Karuizawa Kei has a past like that. None of my business, I'll just keep to myself. Back to the dorm.

After picking up his room card and dormitory rules from the dorm manager, Takahashi arrived at his room—403.

Once inside, he arranged his daily necessities, brewed a cup of coffee, and stood by the window... Bullying? If my guess about this school's rules is correct, you'll either keep getting bullied here or get used by someone. And being a parasite isn't exactly a good path to take. But we've only met once—choosing a host this early isn't very wise.

Staring out the window, Takahashi's eyes flickered. Suddenly, he let out a soft laugh, closed his eyes, and murmured to himself: "For now, Hirata is indeed the best host on the surface. But that also marks the weakness of both of you."

Hirata is probably someone who cares deeply about his classmates—at least within the class, he definitely values them. Karuizawa, on the other hand, is afraid of being bullied.

"According to the Nihon Shoki, the first Emperor, Emperor Jimmu, founded the nation in 660 BC..."

Listening to Chabashira-sensei's lecture on Japanese history from the podium, Takahashi watched his classmates below—some sleeping, some on their phones, and even Yamauchi, who had introduced himself as the baseball club's ace pitcher, playing a handheld game console. But Chabashira-sensei paid no attention to what was happening in the classroom. She was the homeroom teacher, after all. Was she really this unconcerned about her students? Or was there something that would eventually force the students to behave in class, only they didn't know it yet?

Takahashi rubbed his temples, then propped his cheek on one hand, tilting his head slightly to look at the classroom surveillance camera. He smiled...

Then he pulled out his phone, glanced at the remaining eighty thousand-plus points on the screen, and thought to himself, Next month is going to be full of interesting things.

Watching four figures emerge from the karaoke place, Takahashi, hands in his pockets and leaning against the wall, smiled and called out:

"Your name's Ryuuen Kakeru, right? We've met. Interested in making a deal?"

Ryuuen looked at Takahashi, narrowing his eyes slightly. "Oh?"