Yuuji's childhood was quite difficult, at least economically, from wearing patched clothes multiple times to using the same backpack and school supplies for years, Yuuji grew up in total poverty.
That's why, when his parents suddenly became millionaires thanks to a lottery prize that they later invested and multiplied several times, they made sure to give Yuuji everything he could possibly want.
They took the phrase "work so your children won't have to" to the extreme, even telling him that it wasn't necessary for him to continue studying, since they could support him for the rest of his life.
To prove they were serious and to make him accept, they even created an account that not even they could access, only Yuuji once he came of age, and transferred enough money for him to never have to work a single day in his life.
That is why Yuuji used to say he had been quite successful in his past life, having everything you want and not having to do anything represented success to him, not fame, power, or popularity.
However, because of the current situation, Yuuji was forced to go back to school and pull a few strings to be in the same class as Lala.
Not too many, because due to his age he could easily enter her class, but since he had dropped out a year ago, technically he would have had to repeat the previous year and finish it, ending up one year behind Lala.
"For better or worse, money can solve everything" Yuuji laughed.
...
A few days later, Yuuji was standing at the door of his house, although anyone else would say calling it a mansion would be more accurate.
In front of him, a blonde woman just over thirty, yet looking like she was in her early twenties, greeted him warmly.
Her beautiful emerald green eyes, the same ones Yuuji inherited from her, looked at him with concern.
Her name is Clara, half foreign and half Japanese, and of course, Yuuji's mother.
"Sweetheart, are you sure you have to go? You can stay home and live off us," his mother said, trying to convince him to give up.
'I wish I could,' Yuuji thought.
"It's fine, I've been bored at home lately," Yuuji excused himself.
"But…"
"It's fine, giving him freedom doesn't just mean not letting him do hard things, if he likes going, then let him go, isn't that what we always wanted?"
The voice of a man sounded, suddenly appearing behind Clara.
With dark brown hair, almost black, and brown eyes.
Yuuji inherited his hair from his father.
At the words of Yuuji Eicchi, Yuuji's father, Clara finally gave in, but not without leaving a few words of warning.
"Alright, but tell me anything that worries you, if anyone dares to bother you, we'll make sure to send their family to some mines in Africa. The Tenjoin daughter also goes to that school, but don't worry if she causes you trouble, with just a few calls we can handle it, even…" Clara leaned closer and whispered into Yuuji's ear, "if you like her, we can…"
"Enough, enough, I get it, and no, I don't need you to force someone to be my girlfriend" Yuuji said and quickly left.
"Goodbye, sweetheart, I love you!" Clara shouted behind him.
"Love you too" Yuuji muttered, already quite far away.
[I don't think she can hear you from this distance, host] said the light blue screen appearing out of nowhere.
"Trust me, she did" Yuuji replied, "By the way…"
Yuuji closed one eye and moved the other in all directions, some nearby people stepped away thinking he had some strange condition.
"It doesn't feel any different."
[Of course, if you could notice the difference it wouldn't be an Elite rank item.]
"I suppose" Yuuji said, "but not feeling anything despite knowing something is there makes it even stranger."
"By the way, do you have some kind of status? So I can check it while I'm heading to school."
[Name: Yuuji Rito
Abilities: Wind Flight, Deafness, Project Image, Shark Physique, Wendigo, Gate Creation
Skills: Master Management, Novice Conceptualization
Items: Feng Shui Engine
Curses: ]
"No level?"
[No.]
"Then how do I increase mana?"
[The energy required to use abilities increases naturally as you grow stronger or obtain more abilities. Do you want me to add a Mana section as a reference?]
"No need" Yuuji replied, as he kept observing all the details of the different abilities until he reached the school.
It wasn't very different from other schools, four floors, completely red, a huge pillar in the center where the entrance was also located and, of course, a massive and unsafe rooftop without any safety fence, but perfect for romantic encounters.
'I feel like I'm forgetting something' Yuuji thought as he entered the school.
But since he couldn't remember it, he let it go, upon entering there was no cliché of everyone admiring the handsome new guy, although some people looked at him curiously since they didn't recognize him.
Yuuji ignored them and went up the stairs, soon he was standing in front of a door with 1-B written at the top.
"Um… student?" the teacher asked, not recognizing Yuuji as one of his students despite him wearing the school uniform.
"I'm Yuuji Rito, I'm new" he said, and the teacher nodded in understanding.
"I see, new students usually arrive earlier to go to the principal's office so they can be introduced at the start of class" the teacher explained in a clear hint, though he didn't dare say it explicitly.
'Looks like they know my family' Yuuji realized from his attitude.
"I'm sorry" Yuuji apologized, even though he had no idea about the protocol.
"Alright, alright, don't worry, come in, I'll introduce you to the group," the teacher said, leading him to the front of the class, who had already arrived, much to Yuuji's surprise.
'Could it be that I'm late?' he thought.
'No, the schedule clearly said this time.'
"Students!" the teacher called to the whole class and everyone looked with curiosity.
Lala and Rito in particular looked at him in surprise.
"This is Yuuji Rito and he will be your classmate from now on, everyone give him a warm welcome. Would you like to introduce yourself?"
"I'm Yuuji Rito" Yuuji said, "You can call me Yuuji, even if we become close, so I don't get confused with Yuuki Rito, my dream in life is to be able to live without having to do anything."
The class fell silent for a second before reacting.
"What a great dream," someone said, and the rest laughed in agreement.
"Alright, alright, if that's all, go take a seat…"
"Here, here!" Lala raised her hand excitedly.
"Well, there's an empty seat next to Satalin, so you can take it," the teacher said, and Yuuji nodded before heading there.
The seating arrangement felt somewhat strange to him, with Lala in the center and Yuuji and Rito at her sides, normal people might not think anything of it, but to Yuuji, knowing they were in a romance anime, it somehow made him think of a love triangle.
"Yuuji, we meet again" Lala said.
"Your Highness, it's been a while," Yuuji replied with a smile.
"Your Highness?" Lala said in confusion, "Ah! Right, I never told you my name, I'm Lala Satalin Deviluke, you can call me Lala like all my friends."
"Then, Lala, it's a pleasure to officially meet you."
"But before we're friends, you have to pass a test."
"A test?" Yuuji asked.
"That's right, last time you abandoned me, I won't forgive you until you prove you're reliable," Lala said with a mischievous smile, it was clear she hadn't taken it seriously and just wanted to have fun.
Or at least that's what Yuuji thought, the truth was that Lala had taken it seriously.
"Satalin, Yuuji, silence back there," the bald teacher with glasses suddenly said.
Yuuji stopped paying attention to Lala and focused on the class.
However, throughout the whole morning he could see how Rito looked at Lala discreetly from time to time before quickly looking away again, as if he wanted to say something but felt guilty.
At the same time, Haruna also alternated her gaze between them, with various thoughts running through her mind.
'Are they fighting or something? Should I report this to Zastin?' Yuuji thought.
'System, can you tell me what chapter we're in or what the plot is about?'
[Impossible, I don't have that function.]
'Never mind then,' Yuuji thought before solving the math problem the teacher had assigned in their notebooks.
With this strange tension, which it seemed the only one unaware of was Lala, who kept smiling innocently, attracting the gaze of several boys at the same time Rito earned many resentful looks, the morning ended and lunch break arrived.
Everyone gathered with their friends and took out their bentos.
Some people also approached Yuuji with the intention of getting to know him better.
But Yuuji couldn't think about that at that moment.
'Ahhh! The food, that's what I forgot, I don't have a bento or money to buy anything, what do I do now?'
But whether it was Yuuji or everyone else in the class, no one was faster than Lala, who immediately stood up, grabbed Rito by the arm and dragged him out of the classroom under everyone's curious gaze.