"This is a priority seat..."
"I have no interest in contributing to society..."
Hearing two people begin to argue over the priority seat, Shimizu Akira, who was sitting near the exit, stood up and stepped aside. "Grandmother, please sit here."
"Thank you, young man."
Shimizu Akira nodded slightly, gently supporting the old woman's elbow with one hand before retreating to a nearby pillar.
A delicate scent of gardenia suddenly drifted closer.
When Shimizu Akira looked up, he met a pair of smiling eyes. The girl with light brown hair tilted her head slightly in the swaying bus, her hair brushing against her shoulders.
Seeing that he noticed her, the girl nodded lightly, a dimple appearing at the corner of her lips.
"Classmate, thank you for your help just now."
Shimizu Akira shook his head gently. "It was nothing. Don't worry about it."
"Thank you for contributing to society. You really helped me a lot." The girl's eyes curved into crescents. "My name is Kushida Kikyo. It's a pleasure to meet you."
"My name is Shimizu Akira," the young man replied with a slight nod. "Hello, Kushida-san."
After the brief greeting, the bus compartment returned to quiet.
Shimizu Akira's gaze unconsciously lingered on the girl's hair.
It really was light brown hair.
On his second day in this world, he was still surprised by the colorful hair of the people around him. Despite everyone having East Asian features, their hair colors were as varied as a spilled palette, with hardly two identical shades.
This was very much in line with anime style.
But apart from this small anomaly, everything here was unsettlingly real. The rise and fall of his chest as he breathed, the warmth of the sun on his skin, even the breeze brushing past his ears—all carried the breath of genuine life.
After finishing overtime one day in his previous life, when he reopened his eyes, he was back to his sixteen-year-old self in this unfamiliar world.
The mechanical voice had echoed in his mind: [Sole Main Quest: Complete your studies at Tokyo Metropolitan Advanced Nurturing High School].
'I must graduate smoothly from Tokyo Metropolitan Advanced Nurturing High School?'
What followed was an ability called the "Daily Information System." Every day at 8 AM, the system would refresh with three new pieces of information.
Shimizu Akira, having been a light novel fan in his previous life, quickly understood this was probably a special ability to help him graduate smoothly.
But why an information system and not a study system or genius learning system? Could it be that the difficulty of graduating from this high school isn't in exams, but in other aspects? What's so hard about graduating?
Still, something was better than nothing.
Following the system's instructions, he gently flicked his pinky finger three times. These were the three pieces of information the system had given him yesterday after he transmigrated.
The next second, three lines of text shimmering with faint blue light appeared on his retina:
[Information 1: On the opening day of Tokyo Metropolitan Advanced Nurturing High School, on a certain bus, Kushida Kikyo and Koenji Rokusuke will have a conflict over a priority seat for an elderly person.]
[Information 2: Kushida Kikyo is a two-faced person.]
[Information 3: Koenji Rokusuke's ability assessment has a serious deviation. Due to his unconventional behavior, he angered the interviewer, causing his originally excellent intelligence and judgment to be intentionally suppressed to C-rank.]
Shimizu Akira's gaze lingered on the first piece of information.
It was because of this that he had deliberately left half an hour early today, boarded the bus from its starting point, chosen a window seat, and quietly waited to verify the system's authenticity.
And now, everything was exactly as described.
The girl named Kushida Kikyo had indeed argued with the classmate next to her, Koenji Rokusuke, over the priority seat.
There was no need to doubt the system's authenticity anymore.
But the second piece of information puzzled him.
Kushida Kikyo is two-faced? Does that mean everything about her is an act?
His gaze unconsciously fell on Kushida Kikyo.
Her light brown hair cascaded smoothly over her shoulders, her delicate features were perfectly proportioned, her figure was practically flawless, especially her impressive bust line.
Combined with her earlier request for someone to give up their seat, such a beautiful girl seemed like an angelic presence.
However, the system told him otherwise. Could all these gentle and kind displays just be a carefully crafted facade?
Shimizu Akira pondered carefully, increasingly finding both their behaviors strange.
It was true that Koenji Rokusuke brazenly occupied two priority seats, and Kushida Kikyo strongly demanded he give up his seat.
As she spoke, she skillfully stirred up the emotions of those around her, turning public opinion into her weapon.
Would a truly kind person semi-forcefully compel a male classmate to give up his seat like that?
Shimizu Akira suddenly understood. If all of this was within her calculations, then all the anomalies made sense.
But what exactly was she after?
He suddenly noticed the glances from other classmates from time to time, and the fleeting curve of the girl's lips.
'So that's it. She's deliberately creating an image to gain attention.'
The bus slowly pulled into the station, and the electronic announcement sounded:
"Tokyo Metropolitan Advanced Nurturing High School stop. Tokyo Metropolitan Advanced Nurturing High School stop."
"Ah, we're here so quickly!" Kushida Kikyo turned back, but her gaze suddenly caught a figure behind her, and her brow furrowed almost imperceptibly before vanishing instantly.
"Um..." She flashed her characteristic bright smile again. "See you later, Shimizu-kun. I hope we can be in the same class."
Before finishing her words, the girl had already lightly leaped off the bus and blended into the bustling crowd on the platform.
Shimizu Akira looked back thoughtfully.
A beautiful girl whose temperament resembled Yukinoshita Yukino closed the hardcover book in her hand and elegantly stood up.
She walked past Shimizu Akira without a glance, her long black hair tracing a cool arc in the air, carrying a faint scent of books as she exited the bus.
Immediately after, a light-brown-haired young man silently followed, maintaining a poker face even as his eyes met Shimizu Akira's, then disappeared at the bus door.
Shimizu Akira slowly followed the crowd off the bus, repeatedly pondering the deeper meaning of the third piece of information.
'He must be Koenji Rokusuke.'
He caught a glimpse of the golden-haired figure in front, stretching his long body. The other person's oblivious demeanor was indeed prone to causing annoyance. But what was more concerning was the insider information about the ranking revealed in the intelligence.
'"Interviewer displeased"... "deliberately suppressed ranking"...'
These words linked together in his mind.
'Could it be that this school secretly assigns ability levels to students?'