Chapter 1: How I Became a Mob Character
I suddenly skipped over the first-year arc and became a second-year student, but I’ll give a digest version of the first-year arc.
April—I made one friend. The end.
That’s not just the end of April—that’s the end of the entire first-year arc. I’m serious.
Of course, being a school where supernatural powers exist as a matter of course, there were plenty of things I saw and experienced for the first time. There was even a Nessie.
However, there wasn’t even a speck of anything story-like in any of it. There was no heart-pounding adventure, no supernatural ability battles with mysterious enemy organizations. In fact, I barely even left the school grounds during the entire year.
Even the slight sense of the extraordinary quickly became familiar, and within a month it became an ordinary daily routine. It’s scary how you can get used to things. Even words like “hero” and “demon lord” coming up in class now feel completely normal.
Well, it would be a bit much to end it there, so let me talk about the events of April in a bit more detail. Yes, this was back when I still believed without question that I would become a protagonist-like existence—
Having stepped into a society where supernatural powers exist, on my first day of enrollment, I arrived at the school with great expectations and a bit of anxiety, and successfully found my classroom, at which point I was already experiencing the utmost satisfaction.
However, this wasn’t because I’d seen someone using supernatural powers, or because I’d had a boy-meets-girl encounter. I’d hoped a little for a cliché development where I’d bump into a beautiful girl at a corner, but unfortunately nothing like that happened.
The point where I gained satisfaction—it was the appearance of the students. You might think “That’s it?” but for me it was shocking. When I arrived at the school, when I stepped into the classroom, what I saw was truly a festival of individual expression.
People not putting their arms through their uniform jacket sleeves, but instead draping it over their shoulders for some reason.
People with skirts so short they could give Wakame-chan a run for her money.
TLNOTE : character from Sazae-san
People whose uniform sleeves had been removed from the shoulders down. The cut edges were jagged.
Some people even have tattoos, and as for hair color, you’d be hard-pressed to find a color that isn’t there
There was practically no one other than me who wore their uniform properly—everyone was free to dress however they wanted. Not just uniform alterations and hair dyeing, but even possessions seemed quite unrestricted, as there was even someone with a Japanese sword at their waist. It’s probably not real, but a replica or something… right?
In any case, I was shocked by such a scene. At the rural public middle school I attended, the dress code was strict, and there was even an image that “dyeing your hair = delinquent.” This scene that overturned all my common sense was more than enough to make me realize I’d come to a world different from before.
So right now, in an explosively excited state, I’m sitting in my seat waiting for the teacher to arrive. By the way, the seats are apparently arranged in alphabetical order, and my seat is at the very back by the window. It’s the fate of someone with the surname “Watagaya” to inevitably have the last attendance number no matter what.
From this seat with a view of the entire classroom, I’m constantly excited, but there’s one thing that makes me anxious. It’s that multiple groups already exist within the class.
And not in a “we just became friends” kind of way either—they’re chatting in a friendly manner as if they’d known each other for ages.
I don’t know the reason, but apparently I’m completely behind when it comes to building friendships. That said, there’s no need to panic. School life has only just begun.
I’ll have plenty of opportunities to make friends from now on. Yes, comrades in the name of friends, with whom I’ll devote myself to supernatural training, overcome various hardships, and be bound by strong bonds!
Just as I was fantasizing about such a bright future, a woman who appeared to be a teacher opened the classroom door and went straight to the podium.
“Everyone sit down.”
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Those words, delivered curtly and sharply, carried a certain pressure, and everyone in the classroom immediately sat in their seats.
“I am Tachibana, the homeroom teacher of this class. I will be in charge of you all for the next year.”
Having finished her brief self-introduction, Tachibana-sensei was a woman who appeared to be in her late twenties, wearing glasses, giving off a crisp and composed impression. However, perhaps because she’d been expressionless since entering the classroom, she exuded a somewhat strong sense of intimidation.
Yet despite this intimidating Tachibana-sensei, one male student fearlessly raised his hand, stood up on his own, and tossed out a question.
“Tachibana-sensei! Do you have a boyfriend!?”
The so-called class clown type. There was always at least one of these guys in my middle school classes too. The other students were also laughing at the male student who asked the question, with expressions like “What an idiot.”
Meanwhile, Tachibana-sensei, who’d been asked about whether she had a boyfriend—
“…………”
Was magnificently silent. She showed no sign of opening her mouth at all, simply staring at the male student who’d asked the question.
“Um, a boyfriend…”
“…………”
“I was wondering if you had one…”
“…………”
“Sensei…?”
“…………”
“…Sorry. Never mind.”
Perhaps unable to bear it any longer, the male student looked away from Tachibana-sensei and sat down.
“There won’t be a next time.”
Tachibana-sensei finally opened her mouth, and those words were a final warning to the male student.
…Scaaaary. In this modern society bound by compliance, there really are picture-perfect demon teachers like this…….
At this point, the warm atmosphere from before had completely vanished, and smiles had disappeared from the classroom. After that, no one opened their mouth at all, and we simply listened in silence to Tachibana-sensei’s matter-of-fact explanation of necessary matters.
Then, about ten minutes later, the teacher finished all her explanations and made a gesture as if thinking about something.
“—So, that’s all I have to tell you, but… hmm, everyone’s expressions are stiff. It seems you’re all nervous because it’s the first day of enrollment.”
No, it’s your fault. Everyone was having a pretty good time until just now.
“I see… how about we go around and do self-introductions. There are probably some who don’t know each other well yet.”
Self-introductions—hearing those words, I regained a bit of my earlier excitement. Self-introduction events when you’re in a new class aren’t anything particularly special, but this is a school for learning supernatural powers. Perhaps the self-introductions might include things like “supernatural powers you’re good at.” That’s what I was hoping for, but—
“The time limit is ten seconds per person.”
Why though? The time limit is way too strict. That way, it’ll basically end with just your name and a “Nice to meet you~.”
However, after witnessing the earlier scene, there was no one who could defy Tachibana-sensei, and the ten-second self-introductions began in alphabetical order.
Well, even if the time limit is short, a self-introduction is a self-introduction. Switching my mindset to that, I listened carefully to the self-introductions to memorize my classmates’ names and characteristics.
However, perhaps fearing exceeding the time limit, most students just stated their names and finished, with the person giving self-introductions changing one after another. The rotation was so fast that my classmates’ names and characteristics weren’t entering my head at all. Was the blonde person just now Ogihara-san? Was the light green-haired person before that Hagiwara-san?
In utter confusion, I completely gave up on memorizing them midway through. Well… I’ll have plenty of opportunities to interact with them from now on, so I can learn them gradually. Just as I was thinking that, before I knew it, the self-introduction order had progressed to right in front of me.
When his turn came, the male student sitting in the seat in front of me stood up and began his self-introduction.
“Um, I’m Watagaya Touji. Until middle school, I lived without knowing anything about the existence of supernatural powers. So there will probably be a lot of things I don’t understand, but I look forward to working with you all.”
The same surname, and also from normal society. Feeling a bit of kinship with Watagaya Touji, who shared so many things in common with me.
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