(Comment "1" to receive a Shiina Hiyori!!!)
(Just kidding, you get her even if you don't!!!)
(All characters appearing in this work are adult college students. There will be gluttonous scenes later, so adults, please exercise discretion and read in the company of minors!!!)
April, the first day of school.
The bus was packed with people, and the sunlight streaming through the windows made their eyes ache.
In a window seat in the third row from the back, Ken Kaneki rested his chin on one hand, his gaze passing through the glass to the streets flashing past outside.
The well-tailored burgundy uniform might have looked a little bulky on someone else, but on him, it stretched over the smooth, broad contours of his shoulders and back.
The top two buttons of his shirt were undone, revealing his collarbones and faint outlines of muscle beneath.
His pale skin, paired with soft black hair, gave him a sickly look.
But deep in his eye sockets lurked a savage air that warned strangers to stay away.
Ken Kaneki thought he had quite a bit of Kaede Rukawa's vibe.
Several girls on the bus whispered among themselves, their faces flushed. They pushed one another, each wanting to come over and ask for his contact information.
"Isn't being that handsome against the rules... is he mixed-race?"
"His body's amazing. You can feel the muscles even through his clothes."
"Should we ask for his contact info? You go, you go."
Their conversation reached Ken Kaneki's ears, but he couldn't be bothered to pay attention.
In his previous life, he had been an undefeated champion in the fighting world, holding a full grand slam of championship belts and ending boxing champion Tyson's reign.
One day, while he was crossing the street, a heavy truck came roaring toward him. Flesh and blood ultimately couldn't withstand that steel beast, and he had croaked on the spot.
When he woke up, he was already here. He had no system or cheat, only the fighting instincts he had brought from his previous life.
At first, he hadn't wanted to get involved in the plot at all.
The world of Classroom of the Elite? A bunch of college students playing house with battles of wits, only to turn it into a vocational-school free-for-all. It really held no interest for him.
The cheers from the ring in his previous life had long since faded, but the front of that heavy truck bearing down on him still lingered in his mind, as vivid as ever.
Given another life for no apparent reason, he had thought he could live peacefully by avoiding the main storyline, but this world didn't seem to allow that.
Gas leaks, objects thrown from above, brake failures... countless accidents followed one after another.
No matter where he fled or how much wealth he possessed, death would descend in all sorts of absurd ways. He suspected some kind of will was forcibly correcting his course.
Only when he saw the admissions brochure for Tokyo Metropolitan Advanced Nurturing High School did the sword of Damocles hanging over his head finally disappear.
He vaguely sensed that this was his last chance. If he didn't enter this school and participate in the main storyline, this world would erase him completely.
To survive, Ken Kaneki could only step into this so-called Classroom of the Elite.
Fortunately, the plot was taking place now, giving him a chance to improve himself.
He hadn't wasted the years since his rebirth.
The fighting experience that had made him undefeated in his previous life, coupled with insane training that challenged the limits of the human body day after day, had given this body terrifying destructive power far beyond that of ordinary people.
A few years earlier, to earn his first pot of gold, he had plunged into Tokyo's fighting circuit without hesitation.
With nothing but his fists, he had fought his way onto the stage of the finals.
Then, using the enormous sum he had won as fighting champion, he had opened a top-tier combat sports gym in Tokyo's Minato Ward, where every inch of land cost a fortune.
The bar for membership was extremely high: politicians, financial magnates, and top entertainment stars.
He moved effortlessly among the rich and powerful, with luxury cars, villas, and power within easy reach all at his disposal. He had begun living a privileged life above the masses early on.
If not to save his own life, he would never have put on this uniform to play house with a bunch of college students.
The bus jolted hard, and Ken Kaneki withdrew his gaze to survey everyone inside.
Diagonally ahead of him sat a black-haired, red-eyed girl holding a hardcover book, oblivious to the noise around her.
Her aloof bearing reminded Ken Kaneki of a Black Swan refusing to associate with Psyduck.
So this was Suzune Horikita. She really was arrogant.
Across the aisle sat a boy with light brown hair, a vacant gaze, and an expressionless face-the very picture of an ordinary college student with no motivation whatsoever.
Ken Kaneki narrowed his eyes. An ordinary person might have been fooled by that disguise.
But in a fighter's eyes, that seemingly frail body concealed strength like a Tyrannosaurus rex's.
So this was the protagonist, Kiyotaka Ayanokoji. He really was impressive.
A commotion up front interrupted his thoughts. An elderly woman with a head full of silver hair stood trembling, leaning on a cane.
As the bus swayed from side to side with the road, the old woman's withered fingers gripped a hanging strap tightly, her knuckles turning bluish-white from the strain.
Most of the passengers were young people wearing the same school uniform, yet not one stood to offer her a seat.
Some put on headphones and pretended to sleep, some lowered their heads and furiously tapped their phone screens, and some turned their faces toward the windows.
The crowd's indifference spread through the air.
"Excuse me, could someone please offer her a seat?" An affected voice rang out as a short-haired girl stepped forward.
She pressed her palms together and lowered the corners of her eyes, adopting a pitiful, pleading pose. Her full breasts swayed slightly with the movement.
This was Kikyo Kushida, a rotten soul beneath a sweet exterior from Class 1-D.
"This elderly lady is having a hard time standing. Would anyone be willing to give her their seat?"
Silence fell over the bus. No one paid any attention to the girl's request.
Seated in front of the elderly woman was a blond boy. With his legs crossed and a small mirror in his hand, he was trimming his nails as though no one else were there.
"Could you give up your seat? This is a priority seat." Kikyo Kushida approached the boy and made her request earnestly.
Perhaps this sort of guilt-tripping would have worked on an ordinary boy, but this was Mr. Beautiful.
Rokusuke Koenji lowered his mirror, the corners of his mouth lifting into a mocking smile.
"Beautiful young lady, your proposal is utterly devoid of logic. Why should I give up the comfort I am entitled to for an old woman with one foot in the grave?"
"But she's elderly..."
"What does that have to do with me? I paid my fare, so naturally, I have the right to decide what to do with my seat.
"As for whether her stamina will hold out, that is her own problem. Society does not grant preferential treatment simply because someone is weak."
Koenji's words hit hard, and the atmosphere on the bus grew heavier still.
Kikyo Kushida bit her lower lip, her eyes glistening with tears.
She turned around, scanning the bus in search of an opening.
The seated passengers all averted their eyes, afraid of getting dragged into trouble.
Before you continue