On Ryuji's second day of school—well, he supposed technically it was the first day of class—he spent most of his time running over the course objectives.
Apparently, many of the students were quite surprised, if not a little disappointed, by how genuinely warm and friendly the teachers at this school looked. Sudo had already made a spectacle of himself by spending most of the class asleep.
Ryuji knew that the teachers were deliberately ignoring the indiscipline.
After all, it was up to every individual student whether or not he or she wanted to listen in class. Ryuji could save them from the predicament that would follow next month but openly helping them wouldn't be in his favor. He wanted to stay out of the limelight, like the NPC he was. Class Battles were something he cared about the least.
Ryuji took in the relaxed atmosphere comparing it to the cold isolation of prison and felt satisfied.
Soon it was lunchtime.
Students stood up and left with their new acquaintances, disappearing from his view. Unfortunately, he still hadn't managed to befriend a single one of his new classmates.
Watching the departing students Ryuji fell into thought and leaned back into his chair. The sound of a conversation drifted into his ears at the same.
"How pathetic." Horikita's cold voice echoed.
"What? What's pathetic?" Ayanokoji asked.
"'I want someone to invite me along. I want to eat with someone!' Your thoughts are like an open book," Horikita said.
"But you're alone, too, aren't you? Haven't you thought the same thing? Or do you intend to spend three years here without making a single friend?"
"That's right. I prefer to be alone," she replied quickly,
without hesitation. "Why don't you stop worrying about me and instead think about yourself?"
"Well, I…"
Ryuji smiled wryly as Ayanokoji fell silent.
Poor guy.
Less than a minute after the end-of-class bell rang, about half of the students had disappeared. Those who remained either secretly wanted to go, like Ayanokoji, or preferred being alone, like Horikita.
"Well, I was thinking of heading to the cafeteria. Anyone want to come with me?" announced Hirata as he stood.
He was clearly one of those all-around good guys.
"I'll go, too!"
"Me, too! Me too!"
Girls gathered around Hirata one after another and Ayanokoji lowered his somewhat stretched hand.
Why did those girls have to take his offer? This could've been his chance to make friends with Hirata!
You don't need to jump all over him for lunch just because he's kind of handsome! Ayanokoji thought bitterly.
"How tragic."
Horikita's derisive laugh morphed into scorn.
"Don't just assume you know what I'm thinking," Ayanokoji said.
"Does anyone else want to come?"
Hirata looked around the room, possibly feeling a bit lonely because no other boys had joined him. Hirata scanned the classroom, and his eyes met Ayanokoji's.
"Hey, Ayano—" Hirata began to call his name, but in that instant— "Come on. Hurry up, Hirata-kun!"
A fashionista-type girl latched onto Hirata's arm.
Ryuji looked at them and noticed a certain blonde girl asserting her dominance in the group.
Girl groups were at least outwardly much more supportive of each other than boy groups but at the same time, girl groups were also the worse when it comes to toxicity.
Karuizawa through her bold and fearless actions created the image of a bully, a gyaru that most girls wouldn't want to mess with.
The girls stole Hirata's attention.
They left the classroom together, all looking rather happy.
Ayanokoji's remained alone with his arm outstretched. Somewhat embarrassed, he tried to play it off by pretending to scratch his head.
"Well then." Horikita shot him another pitying look before departing the classroom, leaving him alone.
"That was pointless."
As Ayanokoji got up, Ryuji called out to him.
"Hey! Ryuji, Yamamoto Ryuji." He introduced himself and Ayanokoji paused before turning around. Ryuji couldn't tell if he was surprised or not, that impassive expression seemed to be carved into his face like a tattoo.
"Ayanokoji Kiyotaka… Can I help you?" He spoke politely and Ryuji smiled bashfully, "I noticed you were leaving alone, and your conversation with the girl behind wasn't exactly pleasant either…" Ryuji trailed off before continuing, "Let's have lunch together if you don't mind. I haven't gotten the chance to befriend anyone yet."
He didn't bother trying to act too hard and remained mostly calm. Performing theatrics in front of this human-machine… Ryuji didn't want to embarrass himself. Plus, he'd rather be on the good side of Ayanokoji till it was required.
Ayanokoji nodded, "That's good. Let's head to the cafeteria."
With that, Ayanokoji and Ryujin exited the classroom.
"So what's the deal with that girl?"
Ryuji asked, initiating a conversation. He knew Ayanokoji would stay silent for most of the walk acting like a guy with no social intelligence but Ryuji didn't want to face that awkwardness.
Ayanokoji looked thoughtful and shook his head, "Stubborn and self-centred."
"Do you like her? She's quite pretty." Ryuji smiled, talking like a horny 16-year-old would.
"Nah, I'd rather avoid her. She seems like a real piece of work. I can't imagine peace around her." Ayanokoji spoke these words from the bottom of his heart and Ryuji laughed though his laughter abruptly stopped as he noticed someone approaching them.
"Ayanokouji-kun and Yamamoto-kun, right?"
A beautiful girl suddenly called their name. It was Kushida, one of their classmates.
This was the first time he'd actually taken a good look at her, and Ryujin couldn't help but admire the craft of this world.
She had short, straight, dyed-blonde hair that almost brushed the tops of her shoulders. While it certainly wasn't crude, the school had recently approved rather short skirt lengths. And why were her breasts so large?
Ayanokoji had a strong feeling that this was one of the more recent uniforms.
She was holding something in her hand. He couldn't tell if it was a pouch with a lot of key holders or what.
"I'm Kushida, from your class."
"Oh, nice to meet you. Do you need something?" Ayanokoji asked.
"To tell you the truth, there's something I wanted to ask you Ayanokoji-kun. It's just one little question, are you on good terms with Horikita-san?"
"I wouldn't really say we're on good terms. Just casual acquaintances, I guess. Did she do something?"
"Oh, no. Well, do you remember when I said I wanted to get along with everyone in class? That's why I wanted everyone's contact info. But… Horikita-san turned me down."
She looked downcast and the amusement in Ryuji's eyes grew.
"Weren't you two talking outside the school on the day of the entrance ceremony?" She continued.
Considering they'd all ridden the bus together, it was no wonder that she'd seen Ayanokoji's meeting with Horikita.
"I was just wondering what kind of person Horikita-san is," Kushida put a finger to her chin, looking super cute. "Is she the type who'll talk a lot when she's with a friend?"
She seemed to want information on Horikita, but unfortunately, Ayanokoji couldn't give her any answers.
"I don't think she's very good at interacting with others. Why are you asking about Horikita, anyway?"
"Well, during our introductions, Horikita-san walked out of the classroom, right? It seems like she hasn't talked to anybody yet, so I'm a little worried about her."
Kushida had said that she wanted to get along with everyone when she introduced herself.
"I understand what you're saying, but I only just met her yesterday. I can't really help you."
"Hmm. I see. I thought that you two must have been old friends before starting school here. I'm sorry to have asked you such a strange question."
"Oh, no, it's all right. Anyway, how did you know my name?"
"How? You introduced yourself the other day, didn't you? I remembered."
"Ah, I see…" Ayanokoji replied sensing the conversation was coming to a close.
He felt a bit happy she remembered his name.
But unexpectedly, Ryuji decided to participate in the conversation.
Granted his current target wasn't Kushida but he had to lay the groundwork for the future.
"How do you know Horikita's name?" His voice was flat, bland even.