The break ended,
You En slipped into the classroom just as the last lesson was about to begin, forcing himself not to look at a certain beautiful girl with long, straight black hair.
The last lesson was Chabashira Sae's history class.
The red-haired teacher, their somewhat sexy homeroom teacher, walked in, pulled a textbook out of her desk, flipped through a few pages, then closed it.
Chabashira-sensei looked up at You En.
Forget it. It wasn't time for her to put in any effort yet. She'd keep coasting for now. At the moment, she still couldn't see any potential in him.
"Study the first two chapters on your own, then do whatever you want. If there's anything you don't understand, ask a classmate first. If you still don't get it, look it up on the school website. Just don't bother me."
The class erupted. Honestly, of all the teachers they'd met so far, their homeroom teacher was the least serious. She barely seemed like a teacher at all.
Chabashira Sae ignored most of the idiots below and sank into her own world, who knew what she was thinking about.
"What should we do?"
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's voice came from beside him.
You En leaned back in his chair and tilted his head toward him.
"How about you teach me?"
"I don't know anything about this, either. History feels so hard."
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka always kept in mind the persona he was trying to build.
"Oh, then I'll teach you."
You En said cheerfully,
"I don't know that much, but I should know enough to teach you."
Horikita Suzune put a hand on You En's head and pushed him back around.
"If you two want to chat, could you do it somewhere other than right here?"
"We're obviously studying."
You En turned around, decided it was inconvenient, and spun his chair to face them. "I'll tell you a bit of history."
Horikita Suzune reminded him, "Aren't you being a little disruptive?"
You En gave Ayanokoji a friendly nod.
"It's fine. Little Chabashira said we could ask our classmates, didn't she? So let me give Ayanokoji a little lesson to make up for his poor history knowledge."
You En cleared his throat, ignored Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's helpless expression, and said with a straight face,
"During NASA's moon landing program, a few Native Americans passed by and asked what they were doing.
"The staff kindly explained it to them. Then they asked if they could give the people on the moon a note. NASA thought it was interesting and agreed. The note was written in an ancient Native American language, and it took a lot of people to decipher it..."
At the end, You En pretended to be mysterious, pulled a little wad of paper out of his palm, and solemnly unfolded it for them to see.
"Send me 50."
"Honestly..."
Horikita Suzune closed her eyes and finally sighed, her heart softening.
"Are you that short on points? I could lend you some more."
"No, no, there's really nothing I need to spend points on. I was just making a meme... You just didn't get it."
When nobody got his joke, You En wasn't embarrassed. It was mainly because he was strong on the inside—not because he had thick skin.
He could only finish telling the joke. "The message the Native Americans left behind was: 'People of the moon, don't trust them. They've come to steal your land.'"
"That... isn't history, is it?"
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka felt a little foolish for listening so seriously and searching his knowledge for a memory of it. If that was history, then everything he'd learned before had been violated.
Horikita Suzune sat up very straight.
"I have a question."
You En put on a teacherly air and spoke in a drawn-out, nasal voice.
"Hmm~ Go ahead."
Horikita Suzune asked pointedly, "If there are people on the moon, does the moon belong to them?"
"Hm?"
You En had never thought about this before. He considered it for a moment and realized the question wasn't so simple.
If the moon belonged to the people who lived there, then the astronauts who landed on it would be the first people of the moon, and the moon would be their private property?
That couldn't be the right logic.
Human society wasn't like the animal world, where creatures marked out their territory with urine and scent. Besides, even an animal's territory could be challenged and occupied by others.
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, who was eavesdropping from the desk beside them, realized something: he found it difficult to follow You En's train of thought, while Horikita Suzune could keep up with him—and even ask questions in return.
"What do you think?"
You En asked Horikita Suzune.
Horikita Suzune answered casually,
"Nothing in particular. I just think it's like how we'd be eliminated if we didn't come to school or study. It's not a matter of who's right or wrong.
"Human society is governed by violence. The weak, who don't possess violence or possess less of it, get bullied. That's all."
"I agree with everything except the last sentence. Of course, I'm not rejecting the whole thing,"
You En said. "It's not that the weak get bullied. It's that they don't have the choice—the choice belongs to the strong. Still, not every strong person chooses to bully the weak."
"Is there really a difference?"
Horikita Suzune asked. "If the strong don't use their authority or violence, then in some situations they become even weaker. By the same logic, they can be bullied by the weak."
You En smiled.
"The thing is, that's still a choice, isn't it?"
Horikita Suzune froze for a moment, then thought it over before finally understanding.
Just as You En had said,
whether the weak chose to bully those weaker than themselves was also a choice...
But why wouldn't they?
Horikita Suzune wanted to keep discussing it,
but You En stopped there and turned back around.
"All right, our chat's over. We'd better get to studying."
What was wrong with this guy?
Horikita Suzune truly couldn't understand him. He was the one who'd brought up the subject, yet he was also the one who ended it whenever he felt like it. How strange.
The little interlude between them ended, but the classroom remained noisy until the dismissal bell finally rang.
As soon as the bell rang, the first to react wasn't a student but Chabashira Sae. She'd stood up and waited by the door before it rang, then opened it and walked out the instant it did.
She had the spirit of a young person from the 2000s.
You En nodded in approval. That was the right attitude for a wage slave.
"Um, could everyone wait a moment?"
Hirata Yosuke stood up and walked over to You En.
He wore a warm, sincere smile.
"Sorry, You En. Before the opening ceremony this morning, we introduced ourselves in class, but you two weren't here.
"Ah, I'm not blaming you. It's just that we'll be classmates for the next three years. At the very least, we should start by learning each other's names. How about introducing yourself?"
"Sure."
You En stood up and held out his hand.
"I'm You En Tiandai. Nice to meet you."
Hirata Yosuke froze for a moment, then smiled and held out his hand as well.
"My name is Hirata Yosuke. You En, you really are an interesting person."
"Hirata, you're a good person. I'll support you. Keep it up."
You En said it in his usual easygoing manner.
In his previous life, he'd usually been a class officer at school. When his homeroom teacher in high school was ill and couldn't come in often, he'd even taken on the role of a substitute homeroom teacher.
Class officers, in plain terms, were people who gained certain rights within the class from the homeroom teacher and the students.
Some people used those rights to serve the group, while others used them to serve themselves.
You En had always preferred the former.
He really admired class officers like Hirata, who devoted themselves wholeheartedly to the class.
Although You En didn't intend to contribute much this time, he'd still help out with anything Hirata arranged, as long as it didn't interfere with his own interests.
Hirata Yosuke felt as if he'd just been encouraged by a senior from the workplace. He found it a little funny, but he could genuinely feel You En's goodwill.
"Thanks. I'll do my best."
Hirata Yosuke turned to the next person. "Horikita, would you introduce yourself?"
"No need."
Horikita Suzune replied coolly, her expression blank.
"Uh..."
Hirata Yosuke was at a loss. Just then, someone tugged at his sleeve.
You En lowered his voice as if whispering. "She's very shy, so don't put her on the spot."
"Who's shy?!"
Horikita Suzune snapped, a little louder this time. Her voice echoed through the quiet classroom.
She stood up and looked around, like a queen coming to inspect her territory.
"I didn't come here to play friendship games. It doesn't matter whether I know your names or not. That's all."
Then she left her territory.
"I'll go check on her."
You En got up. As he left, he said from the doorway,
"She's not entirely right, but one thing is certain.
"Some of you don't deserve to know her name. As for who that is, well, just don't assume I mean you."
After he left,
the brief calm was completely shattered.
The class erupted into chatter, with students discussing or criticizing the two of them.
Meanwhile,
Kushida Kikyo lowered her head and glared viciously at the floor. She clutched her own arm so tightly that her nails dug into her skin.
Those two had definitely been talking about her.
That woman definitely knew. She'd recognized me!
You En followed Horikita Suzune out. He'd said those things only because he didn't want her to be isolated for being too unusual.
Besides, Suzune was his biggest creditor. He couldn't let anything happen to her. At the very least, he had to max out the emotional returns—who knew, maybe he'd be able to borrow from her again someday.
At the corner of the hallway,
You En found Horikita Suzune standing there with her arms folded, looking unhappy.
Horikita Suzune looked at him. "Why did you come out here?"
You En didn't bring up what had just happened. Instead, he said, "Nothing. I'm going to get something to eat. Want to come with me? My treat."
"What could you possibly treat me to...?"
Horikita Suzune realized that by "treat," he meant going together to eat the free food.
"Pfft..."
She couldn't help laughing. She covered her mouth and tried to stifle it, but she couldn't hold it in.
You En urged her on as he walked ahead. "Come on. What's with all these introductions? I'm starving. I'm going to transform into the Gluttonous Sea Otter and gorge myself."
Horikita Suzune hurried after him.
"Hmph. You'll make yourself sick."
"If I make myself sick later, does that mean I won't have to pay you back?"
"In your dreams!"
Before you continue