The bus came to a halt, jolting the protagonist awake. He lost balance and fell to the other side of his seat with a muffled thud. As he groggily lifted his head, the first thing he saw was Horikita exiting the bus, her sleek black hair shimmering under the sunlight. She carried herself like the protagonist of a grand tale, her pace perfectly controlled, yet just fast enough to make sure Ayanokoji couldn't casually catch up to her.
'Tch. What a pretender,' he scoffed internally, watching as she subtly slowed down while leaving the bus, almost as if waiting for someone yet pretending otherwise.
Straightening himself hastily, he turned his head to see the brown-haired boy, Ayanokoji, also making his way out. His expression was indifferent, but the protagonist knew better. 'Another pretender. Stop acting nonchalant, you damn psycho.'
As he internally cursed the so-called elites around him, he suddenly felt an eerie breath near his face. A chill ran down his spine as he turned his head, only to find Kushida—or whatever her name was—way too close for comfort. His body reacted before his mind could process it. With all his wits scared out of him, he jumped from his seat, bolted out of the bus, and sprinted away, clutching onto his bag strap like a lifeline.
Then he saw it—an astonishing view that momentarily made him forget his predicament.
The school gate loomed before him, composed of two massive gateways flanking a smaller, narrower entrance in between. But it wasn't the sheer scale that left him breathless. It was the breathtaking Sakura trees in full bloom, their pink petals dancing in the air like fragments of a dream. A single petal floated down, landing gently in his outstretched palm.
His awe didn't end there. The buildings ahead were enormous, radiating an air of modern grandeur. Man-sized arborvitae trees lined the fencing, their dense foliage forming an elegant barrier of nature and structure.
However, his moment of admiration was short-lived. A commotion behind him snapped him back to reality.
He turned around to see the two psychos, Ayanokoji and Horikita, glaring at him as if he had just ruined their precious conversation. He panicked internally. 'Please, I didn't do anything! Get your dirty eyes off me!'
Acting purely on instinct, he pulled a full-on Usain Bolt sprint towards one side of the gateway—opposite of where those two were standing.
Yet, as he moved, so did they. Their eyes followed his every movement, shifting like hunters tracking prey. Desperate to escape their gaze, he hastily changed direction, only to slip on scattered petals and crash straight into a Sakura tree. The impact sent a cascade of pink blossoms fluttering down, covering his sprawled body like a floral burial shroud.
As he lay there, he took a deep breath and exhaled, sending a puff of petals flying from his face. Then, jolting upright, he muttered, "I really need to get out of this school."
That reminded him—the beautiful woman on the bus had told him to visit the office for a discussion. But how was he supposed to navigate without any memories of this body? He absentmindedly touched his stomach, feeling something unusual. Looking down, he discovered a device strapped to him. 'Did I hit the jackpot?'
However, his excitement quickly fizzled out when he realized his predicament. He had unknowingly attracted a crowd. Nearby students were watching him as if he were a zoo animal. Ayanokoji murmured something under his breath, while Horikita covered her face in exasperation. "Fool indeed."
Kushida, who had stepped out of the bus with her friends, had also witnessed his grand accident. Her friends whispered amongst themselves, questioning how a fool like him had gotten into such a prestigious school. But Kushida's gaze shifted, first to Ayanokoji, then to Horikita, before she spoke with an unsettling glint in her eyes.
"Interesting."
Amid the scattered pink leaves, the protagonist stood out like a sore thumb, his disheveled appearance framed against the backdrop of cherry blossoms. The students around him stared as if he were today's entertainment, whispering among themselves with barely concealed amusement. Not wanting to acknowledge the situation, he shamelessly dusted himself off and strutted away as if nothing had happened, despite the weight of countless gazes still fixed upon him.
As he made his escape, his steps slowed upon encountering something bizarre. Before him stretched a glass passageway, suspended mid-air, connecting two towering buildings with no visible concrete support beneath. He squinted at the seemingly floating structure, his mind struggling to process its existence. "What... is this? Some kind of futuristic trap?" he mumbled to himself, contemplating whether this school was run by wizards.
Before he could reach a satisfying conclusion, a sudden shove from behind sent him stumbling forward. "Ahhh!" he yelped, jolted into the passageway against his will. Regaining his balance, he instinctively looked around for guidance, hoping to follow the natural flow of the students. However, as soon as his wide, innocent eyes met theirs, they responded with equally unsettling stares, reinforcing his growing belief: "Everyone in this school is mental."
Deciding to move before he attracted more unwanted attention, he jolted forward in a random direction, only to halt before a restroom. "Finally, a place to think!" he sighed in relief. Without checking the sign, he stepped inside—only to be met with the disapproving gaze of a well-dressed girl exiting the stall. She took one look at him and scoffed, "Where did this beggar come from?"
His face burned with embarrassment as he backpedaled furiously. "M-My mistake!" he stammered, his legs shaking. But he needed information. Gathering his courage, he hesitantly approached her. "U-um... where do the new students need to go?"
The girl clicked her tongue in irritation before lazily gesturing toward the main hall. "They're giving some big speech there. Figure it out." Then, without another glance, she walked off, leaving him standing there, clueless.
"Hall...? Where even is that?" he muttered. His confidence crumbling, he wandered aimlessly until he spotted a restroom—this time, double-checking to ensure it was the men's. Stepping inside, he exhaled in relief, only to freeze at the sight of a towering, muscular man washing his hands at the sink.
"Where did this big brother come from?!" he whispered under his breath, instinctively pressing himself against the nearest stall.
Spotting an empty stall, he locked himself inside, immediately unbuttoning his shirt to retrieve a hidden smartphone. "Why was this body hiding its phone here...?" he wondered aloud, confused. Pressing the power button, he was met with a black screen. Holding it down longer, a family photo flickered to life—a woman with a radiant smile hugging a bright-eyed child, while a man with sharp features gazed at her fondly. His eyes trailed to the expensive jewelry and high-end watch in the image. "Wait... am I rich?!" he gasped, excitement bubbling within him.
After some time , the noise of someone struggling with a lock outside caught his attention. He cautiously stepped out, only to see nothing out of the ordinary. Shrugging, he exited the restroom—just as a bucket of water toppled from the door, crashing onto the ground behind him.
"Now that's what I call an entrance!" he thought triumphantly, only for his celebration to be cut short as he found himself face-to-face with the same towering figure from earlier.
Still processing his near-death experience, he wandered toward a student who seemed to be effortlessly avoiding the chaos around him. The boy was surrounded by a group of students, but the protagonist was drawn to his presence. "Another psycho..." he muttered, eyeing the mysterious figure warily.
Yet, an idea struck him. If he followed this guy, he might just figure out where he needed to go! Using the pillars as cover, he began shadowing the boy, whispering to himself, "To fool the enemy, fool yourself first by a Chinese legend."
Meanwhile, somewhere in China, a skeleton arose from the soil, shaking its head. "I never said that, fool."
The protagonist continued to follow the free boy—Hirata—while murmuring under his breath, "I am invisible, I am invisible." With each step, he blended into the crowd of students heading toward the entrance of the hall, trying his best to remain unnoticed. As he walked, he noticed the lines forming, students falling into organized rows as they entered.
His eyes immediately landed on Akyanoji and Horikita standing in one of the lines. Something was strange—Horikita had broken into a sweat. "Huh? This arrogant girl is actually sweating? What kind of monster could cause that?" he muttered to himself, intrigued but too wary to investigate further.
A person at the front of the hall began speaking, introducing himself with an air of importance. But to the protagonist, it was nothing but nonsense. Predictably, only the psychos seemed invested in his words. His gaze swept across the audience, spotting a peculiar girl with striking white hair. "Wait, isn't she like ten years old? And why is she holding a stick? Whose child is this?" he thought, utterly baffled.
Shifting his gaze, he found another enthusiastically nodding girl with pink hair. Unlike the others, her presence radiated an odd, unsettling aura—something primal and almost... carnivorous. Despite his usual indifference, he felt a strange calm in her presence. That, in itself, was a red flag. Instantly, he ranked her as the second most dangerous person he'd encountered. He scribbled her face onto the second spot in his mental danger list, with Kushida still reigning supreme in first place.
Satisfied, he reached into his bag and tucked away his imaginary rankings.
But his evaluation wasn't over yet. His eyes landed on a hulking man with fiery red hair. "This guy... he's definitely the alpha male type." The protagonist's instincts screamed at him to steer clear. His murmuring shifted into a desperate mantra, "I need to get out of here. I need to escape."
As if fate were mocking him, the entrance to the hall closed behind him, sealing his path to freedom.
"I'm doomed," he whispered, resigned to whatever insanity awaited him in this school.