Self-Introductions

"Could I have everyone's attention for a moment?"

A boy with grass-green hair stood up from the front row and suggested with a smile:

"We'll be classmates from now on, so why don't we take this chance to introduce ourselves?"

His suggestion quickly won the support of many.

"Then I'll start. I'm Hirata Yousuke. Just call me Yosuke. I like all kinds of sports, and I'm planning to join the soccer club. I look forward to getting along with you."

Hirata Yousuke had a gentle voice and expression, and his handsome looks immediately won him the favor of the girls in class.

"I'll go next. I'm Kushida Kikyo. My goal is to become friends with everyone, so come find me and hang out!"

Kushida Kikyo tilted her head slightly, her ten slender, pale fingers lightly touching in front of her full chest.

Her gentle voice paired with her innocent smile made a group of people marvel at what an angel she was.

Chihaya Rei watched with amusement, smiling to himself.

After all, he knew about Kushida Kikyo's devilish nature.

But Kushida Kikyo was clearly an exceptionally high-quality torture target.

"My turn, my turn!"

"I'm Kanji Ike. I like girls and hate handsome guys. By the way, I'm always looking for a girlfriend!"

Kanji Ike's voice rang out impatiently. He was short, with brown hair swept into a side fringe.

His introduction elicited a burst of laughter.

But he was quite pleased with himself, completely oblivious to how many of the girls in class were looking at him with disdain. They were practically calling him a total creep.

"Hehe! I'm Yamauchi Haruki."

Yamauchi Haruki slapped his palm on the desk and sprang to his feet, afraid nobody had noticed him.

"When I was in elementary school, I made it to the nationals in table tennis. In middle school, I was the ace number-four player on the baseball team. But unfortunately, I got injured during the national high school league, so I'm recovering now..."

When he finished, quite a few classmates looked shocked and skeptical.

"That sounds impressive. Is it true?"

"..."

This time, Chihaya Rei couldn't keep a straight face.

As expected of the Black House's greatest masterpiece, Lord Yamauchi.

Just this round of introductions was enough to break through his poker-face defenses. Even Yagami Light would've struggled to hold it in for more than a few seconds.

Yamauchi Haruki didn't even know what the words "high school" meant, which was why he'd said something so contradictory.

"Yamauchi, can I ask you something—"

Chihaya Rei raised one hand. His sudden question drew everyone's attention.

"How did you qualify for a high school baseball league before you'd even graduated middle school? I'm curious."

Chihaya Rei wore an innocent, harmless expression of curiosity, as if he'd asked the question without thinking.

That guy... He'd definitely done it on purpose, right?

Horikita Suzune glanced at Chihaya Rei in surprise.

She immediately tagged him as having a nasty personality.

She didn't believe that someone who'd been at daggers drawn with her just minutes ago could be an innocent little lamb.

After Chihaya Rei spoke, the students who'd been laughing turned to look at Yamauchi Haruki with interest.

Chihaya Rei had asked what they'd wanted to ask but hadn't dared to.

Quite a few of them had realized Yamauchi Haruki was bragging.

But in a place where people liked to read the room, no one would casually do something so likely to offend someone—especially on the first day of school.

Chihaya Rei, however, didn't need to worry about any of that.

He'd ask what others didn't dare to ask.

He'd do what others didn't dare to do.

He'd come here to torture weirdos. How could he act timid?

"Huh?? This..."

Yamauchi Haruki blinked in confusion.

Caught off guard, he'd always gotten away with that story before.

Yamauchi Haruki's face quickly turned red, and he started sweating as he hurriedly explained:

"I misspoke, I misspoke. I got it wrong. It wasn't the national high school league, just a regular baseball league. Ahahaha..."

"Okay. For a second, I thought you were the kind of student who liked to brag but couldn't back it up."

Chihaya Rei smiled as he spoke.

The class laughed, and then Hirata Yousuke stepped in to smooth things over.

"Yamauchi was probably just nervous."

Hirata Yousuke smiled warmly, then turned to invite Chihaya Rei to speak.

"Would you mind introducing yourself too?"

"Sure."

Chihaya Rei nodded.

He had a good impression of Hirata Yousuke. He seemed like a genuinely good person.

However, he didn't agree with Hirata Yousuke's extreme, almost pathological desire to protect every single person in the class equally. That needed to be corrected.

Chihaya Rei slowly stood up and smiled.

"My name is Chihaya Rei, but don't worry—I'm not a strict person."

"As for my hobbies... I used to be in a band. I played the drums and keyboard. I'm just not sure if that'll come in handy at this school."

"Chihaya, that's so cool!"

"A band? I like bands too. What was yours called?"

"Did your band have any good songs?"

"You should perform for us sometime!"

Chihaya Rei's slightly tousled black fringe fell partly over his forehead, accentuating his sharp brows and eyes and defined jaw. He had the kind of handsome looks that seemed casual yet a little edgy.

Having been in a band—a popular activity—he easily won applause from a group of girls.

After that, Hirata Yousuke turned his attention to the few classmates who still hadn't spoken and invited them to introduce themselves.

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka was the first.

After Ayanokoji gave a somewhat halting introduction that was so ordinary it made the room go a little quiet,

Hirata Yousuke offered him some encouragement, then looked around thoughtfully.

"Then, next..."

"Bang!!"

A sudden, sharp noise startled everyone.

A red-haired boy sitting by the back door had kicked his desk hard.

Sakura Airi, a timid girl sitting at the next desk, was so startled that she shrank to her left.

Chihaya Rei calmly looked over.

And with that, the last member of the Black House's Three Greats was accounted for.

Ken Sudō glared at Hirata Yousuke and said angrily:

"What the hell is this introduction crap? Do you think we're still in elementary school? Anyone who wants to talk can do it themselves!"

Hirata Yousuke looked a little awkward.

He didn't understand why the other boy had suddenly gotten angry.

Still, he walked over and spoke gently, trying to calm him down.

"Sorry, I might have been too enthusiastic. You don't have to introduce yourself if you don't want to."

"Hmph!"

Ken Sudō snorted and turned his head away, not bothering to hide his displeasure.

His outburst dampened the lively atmosphere.

Quite a few people were unhappy with his behavior, but after seeing how big he was, no one dared to step forward and provoke him.

"Hirata doesn't need to apologize."

But Chihaya Rei glanced at Sudō and spoke in a breezy tone:

"The one kicking desks looks like the elementary schooler to me."

"Besides, we don't need introductions anymore. We all know you're an angry guy."

Ken Sudō's face stiffened. When he noticed everyone looking at him strangely, he shouted with his neck craned:

"S-so what? You're annoying!"

"Ahahaha! I agree with the band boy. That sort of behavior isn't gentlemanly at all. The girls will hate it."

Having spotted an entertaining scene, Kogenji Rokusuke spoke up with interest.

Once one person spoke up, the other students who'd been afraid to say anything began muttering too.

"Yeah! If you don't want to participate, you can just stay quiet. Why kick your desk and yell at people?"

"What a nasty personality..."

"Good thing I'm not sitting near him."

"Chihaya's so cool. Thanks to him..."

Sudō's expression grew even more unpleasant.

But just then,

Chabashira Sae walked into the classroom. She wore a black business suit, with the collar of her white shirt open wide. Her black hair was tied in a high ponytail, and her expression was stern. She spoke as she entered:

"You three, return to your seats."

At the sight of a teacher, the class fell silent and stopped discussing what had just happened.

Chihaya Rei chuckled and looked away, checking the spoils from his earlier torture in his mind.

[Successfully tortured Yamauchi Haruki. Gained 886 Torture Points]

[Successfully tortured Ken Sudō. Gained 901 Torture Points]...

[Current torture progress: 15%. Reach 30% to unlock a reward]

It was less than he'd gained from torturing Horikita Suzune, but that was understandable. He'd only made a simple retort to two people. Still, every little bit counted.

Chihaya Rei felt a little wistful.

The Black House's three masterpieces had managed to make such a fuss over something as ordinary as introductions.

Things would only get more interesting from here...

These guys really did make him happy.