Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School, Class 1-A.
Although Ayanokoji Kiyoko could indulge her reclusive tendencies in her dorm and skip class, Amasawa Reigetsu wasn't a recluse and had nowhere to hide. So after he'd finally managed to pry himself off the tree, he coughed up a mouthful of blood and headed to class.
Amasawa Reigetsu hadn't noticed that a certain practitioner of Blue Stream Style had witnessed the whole thing.
Morishita Ran: ＜(ºOº)＞＜(ºOº)＞
Amasawa Reigetsu walked into the classroom, looked around, found his seat, pulled it out, and sat down. His deskmate hadn't arrived yet.
Back row, by the window—the king's homeland.
Amasawa Reigetsu didn't join one of the already-formed groups chatting animatedly. Instead, he lived up to the protagonist's aura, gazing out the window to his left, propping his head on his right hand, and striking a melancholy pose.
"Tap... tap... tap... tap... tap."
The sound of a cane striking the floor wasn't loud, but it carried clearly to Amasawa's ears. From the sound of the cane, he could make a basic assessment of the build of the person about to enter.
But as if the power of heaven itself were at work, Amasawa Reigetsu inexplicably moved his lips.
"I really wanna play Genshin (Cloud Genshin)."
Keeping time with that rhythmic beat, a petite, white-haired girl walked in at an unhurried pace.
Her short silver hair flowed like moonlight, setting off skin so pale it was almost translucent. She gave off an ethereal, almost unbelievable air.
Her eyes held a depth and composure utterly at odds with her childish appearance. A gentle, serene smile graced her lips, but her gaze was clear and self-possessed.
She was like an exquisitely crafted porcelain doll with a fatal crack running through her—seemingly fragile, yet quietly surveying everyone in the classroom with eyes that saw through it all.
Amasawa Reigetsu quickly sized up the silver-haired girl as she entered. She looked a little familiar...
Wait, that cane—
At the same time, the silver-haired girl's gaze came to rest on Amasawa Reigetsu. Her pupils widened slightly, a complex swirl of emotions rising in her eyes before she instantly suppressed them. But that didn't escape Amasawa's notice.
Sakayanagi Arisu.
Good grief, why was everyone at this school connected to the White Room? Was this a group outing or something? If Yuki hadn't told him she planned to go to an ordinary high school and stir things up after he'd left the White Room and gone to comfort her, Amasawa would've gone looking for Yuki by now.
Yuki: Time to stir things up!!
Amasawa Reigetsu: I didn't add a Genshin module when I treated you and gave you those subliminal suggestions, did I?!
His thoughts had wandered. By the time Amasawa Reigetsu came back to himself, Sakayanagi Arisu had already walked up to him.
Before he knew it, Class A had fallen quiet. Everyone's eyes were fixed on the cute yet somehow imposing girl and the man in front of her, who looked every bit like a protagonist.
"Rei-kun, hisashiburi. (Long time no see.)"
An irrepressible fervor shone in Sakayanagi Arisu's eyes—a fervor only Amasawa Reigetsu could see.
"Ah..." Amasawa Reigetsu turned his head awkwardly, unable to meet Sakayanagi Arisu's eyes.
What was with that stalker-fan-level intensity? He'd only talked to her once, hadn't he?
Everyone in Class A watched the scene, which looked like a love triangle showdown, without blinking. Their sharp instincts told them juicy gossip was brewing!
"Bang!!"
Just then, the door to Class A was kicked open!
Had the timeline shifted? Was Ryuen Kakeru coming after Class A right from the start?!
"Fourteenth successor of Blue Stream Style martial arts, Morishita Ran, reporting for duty!"
In the blink of an eye, the martial arts genius Morishita Ran unleashed a one-use Flash skill and teleported right beside Amasawa Reigetsu's desk.
Thank goodness, my good deskmate has come to save me! Amasawa entertained this wildly unrealistic hope.
"Amasawa Reigetsu! I challenge you to a duel!"
Amasawa Reigetsu's vision blurred. A figure appeared before his desk with a thunderous opening line. Dazed, he raised his head, his gaze meeting a pair of unusually sparkling eyes.
The person in front of him wore a neat uniform and had the cool, refined look of a high school girl. She wasn't even trying too hard, yet somehow she'd struck a wuxia-style pose, as if she were about to draw her sword and duel. Her slightly childish face was filled with a fighting spirit that allowed no refusal.
Amasawa Reigetsu: ...Man!
Sakayanagi Arisu: ...What can I say?
"I saw everything just now! Someone punched you and sent you flying into a tree, embedding you so deep that it'd take me a whole year to dig you out, and you got out after coughing up just one mouthful of blood!? A Qi-training expert is terrifying! As a successor of Blue Stream Style, I have to challenge the strong—I can't suppress my fighting spirit toward you!!"
Class A fell silent. The world fell silent. Mashima Tomoya, standing in the doorway, fell silent too.
Was this even human? Where was the future of Class A? Although Morishita Ran's traits had been clearly listed in the S System, seeing her in person was... quite a shock.
In the end, the commotion came to an end when Mashima Tomoya walked into Class A and began the class meeting.
[Sakayanagi Arisu's Diary]
Security level: Wait, why are you reading my diary?
xxxx-xx-xx, White Room
Today, Father brought me to that legendary place—the White Room.
The corridors, walls, ceiling—everything in sight was suffocatingly white. It was terrifyingly quiet here, as if every impurity had been stripped from the air, leaving only absolute reason and cold order. Father said this was a cradle for cultivating true geniuses, an "ideal world" built with the dedication of his old acquaintance, Teacher Ayanokoji.
I couldn't accept the ideas behind this place. Artificial geniuses—what was that supposed to mean? A self-contradictory creation. Only what you were born with, the one and only thing in the world—that was a gift from heaven. That was what made someone a genius.
Dad and I argued, but we kept touring the facility. All the while, I knew I'd already made up my mind—
I would prove this was wrong.
I sat in my wheelchair as Dad wheeled me to the one-way glass in the observation room. He told me that if I stood here, I could see what the children inside were really like, while they wouldn't be able to see me.
On the other side of the glass, a group of children were playing chess. They looked about my age, but their eyes held something far beyond their years...
Indifference.
The match was boring. Artificial geniuses didn't exist—
Until I saw the girl named Ayanokoji Kiyoko. Her ability... might be worth my giving it everything I had.
I told Dad I wanted to play against her. He looked troubled, but at the time, I didn't understand why—until I heard the emotionless voice from the other side.
"Checkmate."
"A new face, huh? Did Ayanokoji beat you?"
"Get lost."
"She's pretty cute. Why's she so rude?"
I looked up and saw the person in front of me, with his light gray eyes. What he said sounded so unlike someone from the White Room, but eyes couldn't lie...
Muddy gray.
"Stand up."
There was no room for refusal.
My body stood up against my will, but my condition wouldn't let me stay on my feet for long—
"Here. Didn't think I'd actually get to use it."
"Who's stronger, you or Ayanokoji?"
The question slipped out of me before I knew it.
"Depends on your perspective. She could beat me into a bloody pulp in nine seconds."
"Liar."
Then silence.
I looked down at the crudely made yet exquisitely finished wooden stick in my hand.
"Amasawa Zero."