Ordinary Enrollment Day (3)

"Ichinose-san, that guy who came in with you looks really refined. Introduce him to us, won't you?"

I suddenly heard the girls to my right shift topics—must've been chatting about some guy.

I didn't listen closely, but the playful voices still drifted over.

"If you want to get to know him, just go talk to him yourselves. He's actually pretty chatty."

"Huh? Ichinose-san, you don't mind?"

"Mind what? It's perfectly normal for everyone to get to know each other, right? I shouldn't mind."

"Oh, I see. But since you came to school together and you two look so well-matched, it's easy to misunderstand."

"Misunderstand... what?"

"You're such a good fit, it'd only be natural to assume you're a couple. Not to mention, with a personality like yours, no guy could turn you down—even just standing together, you look perfect."

"Yeah, yeah! And I noticed Ichinose-san's face was all red when she came in."

"I caught that too. It was like you were trying to avoid suspicion—one of you came in first, the other followed. Pretty careful about it."

"Speaking of which, could Ichinose-san and him be..."

"No, no! We just... met on the bus, found out we're in the same class, and came together since it was on the way."

Ichinose explained, her face red. But the more she explained, the more it felt like she was covering something up.

After all, in matters like this, no matter how much someone explains, it never sounds convincing.

Nobody cares what the truth is; everyone just cares about what they want to happen.

Even if being misunderstood usually benefits the guy, this kind of benefit didn't feel worth having.

"I really did just meet Ichinose-san on the bus. We found out we're in the same class and came over together."

I turned sideways, joining the conversation with a light laugh.

Suddenly, I noticed one girl looked familiar—I think I saw her on the bus.

She'd been lively discussing other topics, but seemed lukewarm about stirring up rumors between Ichinose and me.

I shot her a pleading look. She seemed to catch on, thought for a moment, then spoke in a soft, gentle voice:

"I came on the same bus as them. It looked like they just met onboard. Since both of them have explained it clearly, let's not dwell on this topic."

As it turned out, when girls decide to start a new topic, no matter what it is, they dive into it with blazing enthusiasm.

Is this youthful energy, or a special talent unique to girls?

If it's a special talent, then what special talent do guys have?

Hey! Not that kind of weird talent, alright? Don't just pin everything on talent—you can discover things for yourselves.

Before I knew it, it had turned into a small-scale round of introductions, and I felt like I'd gotten closer to a lot of classmates without even noticing.

Is this Ichinose-san's charm?

I watched the brilliant star shining among the crowd beside me, and I couldn't help but feel infected by a peculiar emotion, involuntarily joining in.

Allow me to briefly explain the current situation.

My name is Hajime Kashima, a first-year student at the Advanced Nurturing High School. I'm currently in Class B.

The girl next to me, Ichinose-san, is also my desk mate. She's a straightforward, strikingly attractive girl who naturally becomes the center of any conversation.

The two boys in front of me—the one who lost the game and started talking to me is named Tetsuya Hamaguchi. He has rare gray hair, the athletic type, seems easygoing, like he can get along with anyone.

The other is Ryota Beppu. He has a "stay away" look about him, and honestly, that's how he is.

But I mean that in the context of a big group laughing and chatting. When it was just the three of us talking earlier, he actually seemed quite talkative.

Is it because he dislikes crowded conversations, or something else?

The girl who proactively helped Ichinose out of that situation sits behind Ichinose—that is, behind and to my right.

Her name is Chihiro Shiramami. Short brown hair, calm and composed in speech and manner, with a very gentle attitude. She gives off a soft, delicate impression.

I don't have a strong impression of the other classmates—even their names are vague.

Right now, we're about to head to the opening ceremony. Our homeroom teacher isn't waiting in the classroom but at the ceremony hall for the new students.

Wait—that woman, face flushed, eyes dazed, wobbling as Ichinose supports her—is she Class B's homeroom teacher?

"Mmm~ Class B students, line up over here! I'm your most, most, most adorable homeroom teacher, Chie Hoshinomiya! Just turned 18! When I thought about meeting my cute students today, I couldn't help having a few extra drinks last night."

"Ho... Hoshinomiya-sensei! Please be careful."

Ichinose quietly reminded her.

"Ah~ I forgot to introduce myself a bit more! I'm known as the female sake immortal of Advanced Nurturing High School, ahahaha... Ah!"

"Saeko! What are you doing in front of all these students..."

Another teacher with a mature figure had her by the scruff of the neck—just kidding, it was the back of her neck.

"Don't cause too much of a ruckus. You'll have plenty of time to go on a drunken spree with your students once we're back in the classroom."

"Waaah, Saeko's so mean."

I watched as Hoshinomiya-sensei, the teacher she called Saeko, pressed her head down and made her stand in the corner as punishment.

"Pfft."

For some reason, the scene struck me as funny, and I couldn't help but let out a laugh.

The pinned-down little Hoshinomiya shot me a glare.

For a moment, I suddenly wondered if Class B had been grouped together not by chance, but because the school knew the teacher's personality and arranged it deliberately. The teacher couldn't take care of the students, so the students in Class B first had to be able to take care of themselves, and then also look after one extra teacher on the side.

It felt like someone was watching me. Following the gaze, Sakurako Arisu tilted her small face up and stared at me. The school uniform paired with just the right amount of pristine white knee-high stockings—I struggled to move my eyes up to her face. She blinked playfully, as if she'd noticed something, a faint, elusive smile curling at the corner of her lips before she turned away.

A bit hard to handle, that one.

Among the second-year students, there seemed to be one who shone a little too brightly, surrounded by several female classmates of the same year, looking almost dazzlingly popular.

He was staring at the Student Council President, who was about to take the stage for a speech.

Delving into his gaze, it seemed he wanted to replace the President and take the podium himself.

"Hajima-kun, what are you looking at?"

Ichinose leaned in close, asking me.

"White stockings."

"...Hajima-kun, you don't need to state your fetish so bluntly."

"But I have to answer your question, don't I? I'm just telling the truth."

"You're bad..."

"If Ichinose-san wore white stockings, I could look at them forever and never get tired."

For some reason, when it came to Ichinose, I couldn't help but feel the urge to tease her.

"I'm ignoring you!"