16 Subjectively absent, objectively present

Today's Yan Huan was not yesterday's Yan Huan.

That was a sophistic argument Yan Huan did not agree with, but he did feel a little regret over the choice he had made yesterday.

It was like how he had wished for a touch of fantasy at six, only for the Modifier to show up in his freshman year of college, ready to beat him to his knees.

In short, he really regretted it now.

After washing up, Yan Huan stood before the mirror and straightened his appearance. Meow-chan ran over too, circling his feet with its tail raised.

A white cotton T-shirt, a loose printed overshirt, and a pair of full-length jeans made up his Monday school outfit.

As he looked, the boy in the mirror yawned, lending his handsome face a touch of languor.

Only now did Yan Huan realize what that inescapable drowsiness meant.

Splashing cold water on his face, eating breakfast-nothing he did could dispel it.

Although it was indeed very mild, it still left him feeling listless.

The feeling only receded when he focused seriously on something, but how many moments of complete concentration could a day possibly offer?

At about ten past seven, he slung his schoolbag over his back and spoke to Meow-chan behind him.

"Meow-chan, I'm heading out."

"Meow?"

Meow-chan would appear whenever he called anyway, yet Yan Huan still had to say goodbye before leaving. He really did seem caught in that drowsiness.

Phone in hand, he went downstairs. The school bus stop was another seven or eight minutes away on foot. By the time he arrived, several other students were already standing there, all from the South District.

"Good morning, President."

"Hello."

Yan Huan smiled and greeted them, then leaned against the side of the bus stop and browsed his phone for a while. Before long, a bus bearing Totsuki's school crest arrived.

He took out his school card, lined up to scan it, and boarded, then chose a familiar window seat.

With all its stops, the trip to school took about forty minutes. They would arrive at eight, and the first class began at eight thirty.

Yan Huan's stop was fairly early on the South District route, so there were only a few people aboard when he got on.

When the doors opened at the next stop, Yatsuhashi Ki boarded with his phone in hand. He took the same bus route as Yan Huan.

"Yo, morning, President."

"Morning."

After scanning the bus, he soon spotted Yan Huan leaning by the window. He greeted him and naturally sat down beside him.

The moment he sat down, he eagerly turned his phone sideways and opened a game about collecting wives from the Two-Dimensional World.

"Oh, Leader, starting work so early? You're working so hard. Genhoshi-chan will have to work hard with you~"

The home-screen girl greeted him sweetly, making him smile unconsciously beneath his Bluetooth Earphones.

"The new banner's almost here. The new character has huge boobs, and I've saved loads of gems. I'm definitely pulling!"

He made his bold declaration while spending stamina and completing his dailies.

Yan Huan glanced at Yatsuhashi Ki's phone screen and said, propping up his cheek,

"You pulled both characters on the last banner, and you're pulling again? How much have you spent already?"

"Only all my pocket money. Anything for my wives is worth it. I even pulled the Signature Weapon. Look at this blade, President."

On the phone, a realistic physics engine set the female character's supple body swaying, while dazzling effects sent a torrent of numbers pouring into the boss.

Yan Huan yawned without commenting and simply leaned back against the window, ready for a short nap.

"I didn't sleep well yesterday. I'll rest my eyes for a bit. Wake me when we get to school."

"That's rare. You're actually resting on the bus, President? Was that Auntie's place so much fun you just couldn't get enough?"

"Heh."

You tell me, is getting hypnotized fun?

He still felt lingering apprehension over Ye Shiyu coming to tug at his bedroom door on Saturday night.

Thinking this, Yan Huan closed his eyes and let the drowsiness bury his consciousness.

Meanwhile, Yatsuhashi Ki continued tending his digital potted plants beside him. Logging in every morning to perform these fixed tasks had practically become a habit.

As he played, a hand suddenly reached over from the aisle and gently tugged his clothes.

"Hm?"

Yatsuhashi Ki turned and saw a girl looking at him with a faint blush.

"..."

Yatsuhashi Ki paused for a second, adjusted his glasses, and asked in puzzlement,

"You don't take our route, do you? I've never seen you before."

"Hehe, sorry. I stayed at a classmate's place yesterday, and she takes this route. So, Yatsuhashi, could you..."

As she spoke, she took out an envelope carrying the scent of her body and a tin of sweets, handing them to Yatsuhashi Ki.

Blushing slightly, she discreetly pointed at Yan Huan beside him. Everything went without saying.

Yatsuhashi Ki turned toward the handsome boy asleep against the window beside him. Just seeing him like that made one reluctant to disturb him.

Understanding, he accepted the girl's gifts and said,

"I'll give them to the president when he wakes up. Don't worry."

"Thank you! You're such a nice guy, Yatsuhashi!"

"...That's a compliment that doesn't make me happy in the slightest."

The girl turned and left. Muttering his complaint, Yatsuhashi Ki prepared to open another game.

Then another hand quietly reached over from the aisle and gently poked his shirt.

Yatsuhashi Ki looked up blankly again. This time, another girl, an upperclassman, held up the chocolates in her hand.

"Haha, Yatsuhashi, you know what to do."

"..."

"From now on, you take the aisle seat on the school bus, President. I want the window."

After getting off at school, Yatsuhashi Ki suddenly said this.

Yan Huan held a pile of gifts in both arms, looking somewhat helpless.

"I normally don't accept them, so you could've just turned them down."

Yatsuhashi Ki turned toward him, his face reddening a little as he gesticulated.

"H-how am I supposed to turn them down? I'm not you! Where would I get all that experience? Besides, wouldn't rejecting them seem really rude?"

"No, it wouldn't, okay? Or you could've just left them alone until I woke up."

Beyond the hubbub of all the students talking around them, a rhythmic clanging of construction work drew Yan Huan's attention.

Following the sound, he saw the outline of a nearly finished building in the distant northern part of campus.

"They're building again? It's so noisy this early in the morning."

"I think it's a new classroom building. They started during winter break. It should be finished sometime this month."

Chatting about this and that, Yan Huan and Yatsuhashi Ki climbed to the top floor of a classroom building. The entire floor belonged to the Student Council.

On the door at the end of the corridor, a sign read,

[Totsuki Academy Student Council Office]

Yatsuhashi Ki felt around inside the mailbox hanging by the entrance, but found nothing.

"Huh, that's strange. No documents delivered this week?"

"How could that be? It's Monday."

The Student Council held a meeting every Monday morning, which was why Yan Huan and Yatsuhashi Ki had come here rather than going to their classrooms.

The school's administrative offices generally sent documents over during the weekend, notifying them of the coming week's arrangements so the Student Council could organize its work.

As for why the mailbox was empty now?

Yan Huan walked up to the door and, gesturing for Yatsuhashi Ki to open it, said with a smile,

"Vice President Sakuramiya is already here."

"Huh? This early?"

Yatsuhashi Ki pushed open the door, revealing an office of roughly thirty square meters.

A wool carpet covered the wooden floor. Two black sofas stood around a glass coffee table, with a potted plant on top.

A sofa stood against the wall, opposite a row of cabinets piled with all manner of documents and books.

At the far end, the curtains were open. Morning light streamed through the gridded floor-to-ceiling windows, illuminating a somewhat larger desk in front of them.

On the desk, a gold plaque read,

"Far Moon Student Council President"

Beside it, in front of a bookcase, stood a girl wearing a black British-style school uniform.

Her black hair was tied in a knot behind her head and adorned with a very plain white ribbon.

At the tips of the black locks hanging by her temples, a touch of cherry-blossom pink appeared.

A dark green jacket and white shirt wrapped her petite, supple body. A white bow at her shirt collar added a touch of beauty.

Beneath her long dark green skirt were pale calves, white ankle socks, and small black leather shoes with their heels lifted off the floor-she was using a duster to clean the dust accumulated on the bookcase.

Because of her height, she had to stand on tiptoe to clean the upper shelves.

Hearing the door open, she lowered her heels to the floor and turned, revealing her delicate features.

Her eyes glimmered with lively light as they appraised Yan Huan, who entered carrying an armful of things.

She smiled, beautiful as a sprite.

"Good morning, President, Yatsuhashi."

"Morning, Sakuramiya."

"Good morning, Vice President Sakuramiya."

Yan Huan walked over to the coffee table and set down everything in his arms.

"Sakuramiya, see if there's anything you'd like to eat. Let's finish these together."

Hitomi Sakuramiya put down her duster. Rather than the snacks, a pink letter among them caught her eye.

She picked it up and examined the writing.

"For the adorable President Yan Huan to open personally!"

Holding the letter, Hitomi Sakuramiya then fixed her gaze on the signature below.

"Class 1-C, Piao Shuwen."

Without her noticing, her grip creased the envelope slightly. A moment later, she said,

"...Mm, but let's wait until You Anlina and Aishili arrive before eating."

Then the letter fell onto the table, and she turned to the nearby refreshment table to pour tea.

"Sure."

Behind her, Yan Huan and Yatsuhashi Ki sat on the sofa and sorted the snacks.

Hitomi Sakuramiya returned with two cups of hot black tea and set them before Yan Huan and Yatsuhashi Ki.

"Please help yourselves, President, Yatsuhashi."

"Ah, thanks, Sakuramiya."

"Thank you, Vice President!"

Then Hitomi Sakuramiya set two more cups on the coffee table before sitting opposite them with another cup in her hands.

Before long, the door opened again, and an energetic female voice rang out.

"President! Sakuramiya! Yatsuhashi! Good morning!"

They turned to see a girl in a JK uniform walk through the doorway with her hands on her hips, her highlighted hair a mixture of pink and red.

Her face bore distinctly mixed-race features. Her broad grin complemented her confident pose, hands on her hips and chest thrust out, which also fully revealed her voluptuous curves.

Behind her followed a tall girl with short golden hair. She was expressionless, seemingly long accustomed to the other girl's boisterous manner.

"Good morning, everyone."

These two were You Anlina, the Student Council secretary, and Aishili, chair of the Disciplinary Committee.

"Morning, You Anlina, Aishili."

"Ooh! So many tasty things! Where did they come from?"

Ignoring You Anlina, who squatted by the coffee table with shining eyes as she considered what to eat, Aishili sat beside Hitomi Sakuramiya.

She glanced at the heart-shaped sticker on the tin of sweets and said,

"A girl gave these to the president, right? His name's written on it."

"Huh?!"

You Anlina raised her head like a fierce tiger, her eyes blazing as she looked at the languid Yan Huan beside her.

"Are you going to start dating, President?!"

"You Anlina, we're starting the meeting."

Hitomi Sakuramiya spoke at just the right moment to interrupt her enthusiasm, also getting up to fetch several documents from beside the desk.

"What?! Aren't you curious, Sakuramiya? What about you, Aishili? Who will win the president's heart... Hey, why aren't any of you interested in this stuff?! The Student Council's practically become a gathering place for eternal singles. Any way you look at it, it's your fault!"

Having sat back down, Hitomi Sakuramiya did not respond. She merely picked up her teacup, preparing to drink.

Aishili took out her phone and began scrolling through short videos as she spoke.

"The president and vice president certainly wouldn't lack partners, but the president's usually busy. Where would he find the time? He probably doesn't have anyone he likes, either. And Vice President Sakuramiya said when she first joined the Student Council that she would absolutely never date."

"I have a part-time job too. Student Council work and studying are enough of a headache, never mind dating. As for Yatsuhashi, isn't he getting along just fine with his wives from the Two-Dimensional World?"

Hitomi Sakuramiya's tea-drinking motion paused slightly, while Yatsuhashi Ki pushed up his glasses with an expression that said, "You're right."

Still unwilling to give up, You Anlina sneaked a look at Yan Huan and asked quietly,

"President, tell me in secret. Is there anyone you like? I promise I won't tell anyone~"

Yan Huan yawned and said with a smile,

"Mm, I like you, You Anlina."

Hitomi Sakuramiya continued drinking her tea. Its faint ripples reflected her blurred eyes.

You Anlina's face instantly flushed red. Waving her hands, she hurriedly said,

"No, no, no! I can't be with you, President. If I were, I'd worry every day about whether my handsome president would cheat. I'd definitely get depressed! If we got married and had kids afterward, I'd spend every day in tears. I'd never live past twenty-five!"

Aishili rolled her eyes and quipped,

"You're actually getting carried away? How much did you drink, and on how little food? Already thinking that far ahead?"

Hearing this, You Anlina turned to Yan Huan, her face full of disbelief.

"President, are you joking with me?"

"Weren't you the one who started joking?"

Yan Huan spread his hands, unable to bear deceiving the naive You Anlina any longer.

"You say you won't tell anyone, but if I had someone I liked and told you, the news would be all over every group chat your big mouth has joined before first period even started."

"I-"

You Anlina pouted and was about to defend herself, but Yan Huan had already taken the documents Hitomi Sakuramiya handed him.

He glanced over them, his expression growing more serious.

"All right, let's start the meeting. Everyone, take a look at the relevant documents."

The documents were handed out. Hitomi Sakuramiya had already read them, so she merely took a sip of black tea and said,

"There are really only three things. First, the results of last week's start-of-term exams will be out tomorrow. I hear the scores are a little painful to look at."

"They finished grading over a single weekend. Just what you'd expect from specially appointed teachers brought in from the Dragon Nation."

Yatsuhashi Ki curled his lip as he spoke.

Yan Huan was long used to it and simply began assigning work.

"You Anlina, posting the results will be your job, same as before."

"You got it!"

Hitomi Sakuramiya continued,

"Second, the [Club War] is coming soon. This will be the second large-scale event our Student Council has organized. There were some problems with the sports meet we held last semester, which gave the School Committee some doubts."

"I object! What right do they have to doubt us?"

Before Hitomi Sakuramiya could finish, Secretary You Anlina raised her hand to speak.

"Filling the pool with cola for the swimming races and having shirtless boys' basketball were ideas people voted for, even if the School Committee didn't approve them. But I think the five-thousand-meter teachers' race was perfectly reasonable. It's the vice principal's own problem that the students left him in the dust!"

"Who told you to put the vice principal in the same group as the Track and Field Club members?" Aishili always got straight to the point.

"He said he was a sports student in his opening speech! What was wrong with letting him get a reality check?!"

Yan Huan glanced at the document and smiled at Yatsuhashi Ki.

"There are still two weeks before it starts, anyway. As for this week, Yatsuhashi, confirm the budget first. Then Sakuramiya and I will notify the clubs. We'll work out the specific events later."

"Okay, President."

The first two items were notices from the school. Only the final document had come from elsewhere.

It came from Linmen's Education Bureau.

Hitomi Sakuramiya glanced at the document's heading. "Linmen on Preventing Campus Bullying."

Then she held up the document and asked the others,

"Does our school have any campus bullying?"

That idiot You Anlina immediately shook her head and said,

"No. I feel like everyone's really friendly, and there haven't ever been any fights between students."

"Hitting people isn't the only thing that counts as campus bullying, okay?"

Yatsuhashi Ki shot You Anlina a glare and said,

"By the time it turns physical, it's already very serious. That kind is also the most obvious and easiest to deal with. What's worrying is all the insults and slander behind people's backs, the exclusion and intimidation. Those are hard to define, and even asking the people involved directly won't get you an answer."

Aishili nodded and picked up where Yatsuhashi Ki left off.

"I heard privately that someone in the second year dropped out with depression last semester. Xiuzhi Academy next door even made the news because someone jumped off a building. I'm guessing that incident is why this document was issued.

"The investigation afterward found that the school had already conducted an inquiry before the incident. The students questioned were very good at playing innocent and lying. It did nothing to prevent it."

After being contradicted by two people in succession, You Anlina put on a pitiful expression and flung herself into Hitomi Sakuramiya's arms, wailing,

"Waaah! Sakuramiya! They're all bullying me! Do something about them!"

Hitomi Sakuramiya patted her back, at a loss for words.

Looking at the document, Yan Huan recalled a line from his previous life steeped in dialectics.

"Subjectively, no; objectively, it might exist?"

As he thought about it, his brow suddenly furrowed again.

Because he had suddenly thought of Ye Shiyu.

She had come to school here today too, having transferred without warning.

With that bizarre personality of hers, could she fit into a class whose students had already spent over a year together?

She could run into someone with a Modifier and get into an argument just visiting the Aquarium. If she had a conflict with someone else, just watch whether Ye Shiyu switched on hypnosis to deal with them.

Amen. Second-years, you're on your own.

"President?"

Just as Yan Huan was imagining Ye Shiyu going wild with her Modifier and going on a killing spree, Hitomi Sakuramiya's voice brought his wandering mind back.

"Sorry, I was thinking about something."

Yan Huan gave Hitomi Sakuramiya a slight smile and said,

"Mm, luckily, they haven't left this problem for us to solve. The Education Bureau has already taken the first step. The document spells out the measures they want the school to take, so we just need to follow them."

"All right, President."

At that same moment, in Class 1-C.

"Hey, Shuwen, did you really give the president your letter this morning?! Doesn't he always refuse those? How did you do it?"

Since classes did not officially begin until eight thirty, the students were doing their own things inside and outside the classroom.

At one of the seats toward the back, several girls were gathered around a seated girl, chatting animatedly.

The girl in the seat, called "Piao Shuwen," covered her mouth and grinned mischievously.

"I did! The president fell asleep on the bus today. That Student Council treasurer beside him was obviously an otaku, and really easy to talk to. I acted cute a little and he got all dizzy, saying he'd pass it on to the president~"

"Huh? The president fell asleep on the bus?"

"Really! Look, here's the photo I took. Handsome, right?"

"A sneaky photo, huh? You little sneak. Send it to me, send it."

As they chatted, a girl quietly walked down the aisle beside them.

Her head was lowered, her thick, long black hair hanging down, obscuring her fair, clean face and lending her an even gloomier air.

It was not one of the designated days, yet she was still wearing her Totsuki uniform, making her stand out awkwardly among everyone else in their own clothes.

Even more striking was how her excessively ample chest stretched her uniform taut, as though it might spill out at any moment.

The buttons on her shirt and jacket there struggled to hold the fabric together on either side, as though red-faced and shouting,

"I can't hold on!! Command! Tell the buttons below that I love them!!"

The badge on her uniform bore her name:

"Class 1-C, An Le."

As she walked past with her head down, a certain word in the girls' conversation seemed to catch her attention.

Her steps slowed, and her pink lips parted slightly.

The chatting girls also noticed the gloomy girl who had stopped. Piao Shuwen, surrounded by the others, glanced at her companions and suddenly smiled.

"Hey, do you smell milk?"

"Haha, yeah. Such a strong milky smell."

Hearing their words, the girl with her head lowered pressed her lips together, but still gathered her courage and addressed one of the girls sitting at the desk behind Piao Shuwen.

"This seat... is... is mine."

The girl sitting there laughed without budging and merely said,

"I'm just sitting here for a bit. So petty. Be a little more big-hearted."

"Pfft."

Piao Shuwen snickered amid the others, then turned away, not bothering with An Le as she stood with her head lowered.

Just as she picked up her phone to share Yan Huan's photo with the students around her, Class C's homeroom teacher entered through the classroom doorway.

"Quiet down. I have something to announce, so we're starting class five minutes early."

"Why?!"

"None of the other classes are doing that."

But the homeroom teacher did not bother arguing and simply raised their voice.

"Quiet! Everyone, back to your seats!"

Under the teacher's authority, the students reluctantly returned to their seats.

The students scattered like birds and beasts, and An Le could finally return to her own seat.

She raised her head a little, just enough to see Piao Shuwen's phone screen at the desk in front of her, and caught sight of the secretly taken photo of Yan Huan asleep that morning.

An Le's eyes were instantly caught by the handsome sleeping boy in the picture. Her throat bobbed, and her face flushed slightly.

Piao Shuwen sensed the gaze behind her and looked back at An Le in disgust.

Then she straightened up, hiding her phone screen.

"Disgusting."

"..."

An Le pressed her lips together and lowered her head again in embarrassment.

Under the desk, her fair fingers nervously gripped the hem of her skirt, as though Piao Shuwen's remark had stung her.

But beneath her sleeve, an illusory snake-shaped tattoo seemed to begin writhing across her skin as her emotions shifted.

"Gurgle~"

Huh?

What was that sound?

An Le raised her head blankly, searching for the source of that illusory sound. Just then, the teacher at the front spoke.

"Well, we have a new student transferring into Class C today. Let's have her introduce herself. Everyone, give her a welcome."

Clap, clap, clap.

Scattered applause rose from below, and An Le was among those clapping.

Then, before An Le's eyes, a beautiful girl with long golden hair and an ample figure strode openly through the doorway, her head high and chest out.

She stood at the front of the classroom, her gaze sweeping down over every student below.

She chuckled, revealing a very conspicuous fang.

She said casually,

"I'm Aria Spencer. I'll be your classmate from now on, so I look forward to getting along with everyone."