"Hm?"
Sebastian turned back for another look at Iori's words, and sure enough confirmed the enormous anime print plastered across the blond young man's shirt.
"Wait — why do you sound so biased against anime? Isn't Japan literally where it comes from? What business do you have judging people for it?"
Sebastian gave Iori a slightly puzzled look.
"That may be true, but you still have to consider your audience. For most people, anime still carries the image of being childish and immature, doesn't it?"
"There is nothing wrong with anime!!"
Iori had a perfectly reasonable point. Sebastian didn't care. He slammed both palms on the desk with a bang and shot to his feet.
"Hey — what are you doing?"
Iori couldn't quite follow what Sebastian was planning, but something about the movement gave him a sudden bad feeling.
"Nothing much. He just reminds me of someone with a similar history to mine. I want to introduce myself."
"Why would you go out of your way to talk to someone like that?! And what exactly is this 'history' of yours supposed to mean?! Would you please calm down!"
The half-naked Iori lunged to grab Sebastian — and Sebastian bolted before he could get a hand on him.
Sebastian standing up in the middle of the classroom dressed in nothing but a pair of beach shorts had already drawn plenty of eyes. Now he was walking directly toward the one anime-shirted pretty boy in the class, and the gossip instincts of everyone present ignited simultaneously.
"What do you think that guy's going to do? He's not going to start something on the first day, is he?"
"What are you implying — you think that weirdo has some kind of... interest in the good-looking guy?"
"You never know. Actually, isn't the guy he came in with probably a weirdo too? Maybe those two are fighting over him. Oh my — this is giving me proper BL manga energy, I'm already invested!"
Ignoring the several fujoshi in the class who were vibrating with excitement, Sebastian walked toward the blond young man one step at a time, stopped beside his desk, and stared at him without moving.
One second. Two seconds. The noise of the classroom died away in that moment, every head turning toward the two of them with anticipation.
The blond young man had, in fact, noticed Sebastian coming from the moment he'd stood up. The slight tremor in Sebastian's arm was visible enough that anyone could tell he was considerably more nervous than he looked.
Finally, the blond young man couldn't take the burning stare anymore. He shot to his feet with a bang, glaring.
"Alright, what exactly do you think you're doing?!"
Sebastian just smiled and held up a hand.
"Relax. My name's Sebastian. I just felt like we had a connection. Oh, and one more thing—"
He reached out and pointed at the large print on the other's shirt — the pink-haired girl brandishing her magic wand.
"I really like the character on your shirt."
The classroom erupted. Then came a collective, disappointed tch.
"Oh, that's it? Just another anime shut-in. I thought something actually interesting was going to happen."
One seasoned fujoshi muttered under her breath in complaint.
Sebastian kept his smile and looked at the blond young man, whose expression had gone completely blank — while somewhere behind his eyes, a faint trace of something wistful quietly surfaced.
Back when he'd first started university, he too had assumed that everyone would be just like his high school friends — happy to go along with anything, endlessly patient, a warm and accepting extended family.
And so, at the very first class meeting, Sebastian had done something unprecedented: he'd shown up in the most aggressively expressive, visually striking anime shirt he owned, determined to leave a powerful first impression on his new classmates.
The powerful first impression was duly achieved. What followed, over the next four years, was that his classmates spent the entire time maintaining a quiet but consistent distance — his presence growing dimmer and dimmer until, whenever his name came up, someone would typically say:
"Oh, you mean the weirdo who stood at the podium on the first day in that anime shirt with a naked magical girl on it and introduced himself?"
He'd really put in the effort back then, trying to make friends with everyone.
Thinking on it now, Sebastian narrowed his eyes slightly and looked with a faint smile at the blond young man, who was still staring back at him with a blank expression.
I understand you completely. Dressed like that on day one — you're clearly trying to make an impression in a new environment and find your people. Be grateful. When your read on the social landscape of university was about to go catastrophically wrong, someone willing to help you came along. You can spend the next four years paying me back in kind....
Sebastian's internal monologue was cut short when the blond young man suddenly grabbed his hand.
"Hm?" The grip sent a jolt through Sebastian, and a bad feeling rose in him immediately.
"You — you're genuinely interested in Dissolve! Magical Girl Lalaco?!"
The blond young man's face had gone red, his eyes shot through with bloodshot intensity as he fixed his gaze on Sebastian's face, leaving absolutely no room for denial.
"What on earth—"
Before Sebastian could even react, tears were already streaming down the blond young man's face.
"I can't believe it — I can't believe I actually found someone at university who shares my taste!"
His voice cracked with emotion. One hand clutched Sebastian's in a grip that wouldn't let go while the other plunged into his trouser pocket and rummaged frantically.
"Hey — are you okay? Why are you crying? Can you let go of my hand first? You're crying and holding my hand and the rest of the class is looking at us very strangely right now!"
Sebastian was starting to panic. He strained to pull his hand free while simultaneously twisting around to shout at Iori, who was watching the spectacle from his desk.
"Iori! Get over here! Something's wrong with this guy!"
"Not my problem! I told you before you went over there — that guy was clearly not normal, and you walked up to him anyway. You two seem to be getting along great, so have a wonderful conversation. I've got somewhere to be."
Iori stood up from behind his desk and turned to walk out of the classroom.
"Outrageous!" Sebastian wheeled around in fury. That avenue of rescue was closed. He was on his own.
"Will you calm down for a second! I only said that to be friendly — I don't actually know the anime girl on your shirt at all!"
This explanation appeared to be automatically filtered out somewhere on its way to the blond young man's brain. Vibrating with excitement, he pulled from his pocket — a pocket that had no business containing this many things — a full dozen posters, badges, and stickers of various kinds.
"Here — all gifts from one fan to another. Oh, and by the way: my name is Kōhei Imamura. From this moment on, we are firm and devoted comrades!"
So saying, Imamura reached into the pile and selected a badge and a sticker.
"Fellow members of the alliance need proper insignia — allow me to mark you accordingly!"
And with that, Kōhei Imamura pressed a sticker printed with an adorable anime girl squarely onto Sebastian's bare left chest, covering the protruding feature there with precision.
The increasingly rowdy classroom went silent again. Even the fujoshi who had been chattering non-stop were now sitting with their mouths open.
Sebastian stared down at the sticker on his chest. The situation had become so detonatively absurd that his brain had simply stopped processing.
Meanwhile, Imamura had already taken the badge in his mouth to unclasp the pin, and the needle was now hovering in the direction of Sebastian's other mysterious protrusion with unmistakable intent.