01

Today was a special day. A new transfer student would come to our class. Excitement filled the air. Who's the transfer student again?

"I think he's from up north."

"Up north?"

"I heard boys from there are cold."

"Why's that?"

"Because of all the snow, it freezes their hearts solid."

All the girls shivered.

"Do you think he'll be the strong silent type then?"

"I hope so."

"I don't understand why you're all so obsessed with strong guys."

All the girls turned and gawked at the girl who said that.

"You're into the more wimpy soft boys, right?"

"You like it when they're cute, right?"

"No, no, you're getting it wrong. She just wants to be a dommie mommy," one of them said smugly.

"Oh."

"Ohooo."

The other girl said, "We didn't know you were like that."

"Shut up, guys!"

"You're wrong. She just wants losers because she's afraid of being cheated on!"

"Oh... poor child..."

The girl being attacked responded, "No! I-I..... I just like how open they are with their feelings."

"Uh? But doesn't that make them less attractive?" one of them asked.

"Right, right," the one on her right nodded. "The appeal of the strong silent type is the mystery, they're like onions where you have to peel them off first so you can see the soft interior."

"That sounded dirty!"

"Pervert!"

The other girls joked.

"What do you think, Mitsuru?"

"Uh?" suddenly I heard one of them say my name. "What's your kind of guy?"

I paused for a moment, not sure how to respond. Should I just say something generic so they can leave me alone?

The girls' eyes were all drawn to me.

"I'm not interested in dating," I answered.

The girls blinked for a while, looking kind of disappointed in my answer. What did they expect?

"As expected of Mitsuru," the girl sitting in the chair, Yukari, said. "No nonsense as usual."

I silently nodded.

The other girls' voices started to pick up again.

"Doesn't that make her the strong silent type as well?"

"It does, doesn't it?"

"Um, um."

They came to that conclusion.

"But then, what else can you tell us about him, Yuka?"

"Well," she crossed her legs. "There are two main points of interest I noticed about him," she made a peace sign with her hand.

The girls all came closer in anticipation.

"He's very tall," Yukari said.

"How tall?"

"This tall?" one of the girls who was standing up looked at the far end of the classroom, into the upper corner.

"More like this," Yukari, who was sitting down, tilted her head up and her pupils almost rolled back into her head.

The girls were impressed.

"He's like a tower!"

"A giant."

"How were his hands?"

"I don't know," Yukari lamented. "We'll just have to find out for ourselves."

"And what about the second point?" they brought it up.

"Well..."

They all leaned into Yukari again.

"When I saw him on Saturday, he was in his casual clothes, and his arms were ripped."

"... "

"... "

"He could probably crush my skull with those arms."

All the girls squealed like guinea pigs.

"But here comes the hard part," she stated. "It's better we decide who's going to have dibs on him first," one of the girls declared.

They all went silent. One after another, they said, "I'm already dating Yuri," another said, "I've just started going out with Tanaka a few weeks ago," another, "I'm not a fan of the strong silent type," one more, "I need to focus on my judo classes so I can compete for nationals."

Which only left the person sitting down.

"What about you, Yuka? You haven't dated anyone since Ken, right?"

"Oh?" Yukari smiled. "Too much sand for my truck to carry. Te-he!" she bonked herself on the head. "Besides, I think I know someone who's a much better fit."

Her smile morphed into a smirk as she turned her gaze to the desk next to hers, my desk.

The girls gasped.

"Well... that makes sense."

"Um, um, their personalities so align quite a bit..."

"What do you think, Mitsuru? It's been a while since you've dated someone," Yukari asked excitedly.

"No, thank you."

"......"

Bluntly, straight to the point, that's how I said it.

"Dating brings only distractions, right?" I addressed the girl who wants to compete in judo; she slyly nodded.

"..."

They all started whispering to each other, until Yukari said, "Well," she stood up with her bag and said, "Well... I'll just have to change seats then."

All the girls were impressed and stared at her in awe and clapped.

"Nice one!"

"Well thought!"

"Genius, Yuka!"

"As expected of the great matchmaker, Yuka!"

Yukari looked down on me reading my textbook.

"Thank me later," she winked and walked to the opposite side of the classroom, and the other girls slowly followed.

"...."

There were two vacant desks in the class, and Yukari swapped seats.

"..."

I went back to reading my textbook, burying myself in the book. As usual.

All the chit-chat died out as the teacher came in.

"Settle down, class."

My name is Kirijo Mitsuru.

"Today is an exciting day. After all, it's always nice seeing new faces for a change."

I'm a second-year high school student.

"But since it's been a while since we've seen one, I'm going to ask you to follow some rules."

I sit on the far right side of the classroom next to the window, front row.

"Yes. Rules. You don't want our new friend to feel overwhelmed, do you?"

I always sit in front because it's convenient; I sit on the sides because I used to be shy when I was small, so I would sit in places where I didn't call much attention.

"Now, remember, he is from Hokkaido, up there they have different customs and culture, but in the end, they're not so different, so try to guide him on etiquette and our class norms, okay?"

As for sitting next to a window...

"I'll ask you not to bombard him with too many questions all at once, okay?"

I always sit next to the window so I can have an escape. If, for example, the teacher starts talking about things that don't have anything to do with the lesson, for example, love advice, I have a quick and short way to excuse myself.

"I know you're all curious to know everything about him, but also know that if you jump at him all at once, he'll most likely start isolating himself."

Kidding.

"Now! Now that that's out of the way...."

A dark silhouette came to the blurry window of the door. Everyone was watching with anticipation, but I just buried myself in my textbook again, my whole world became isolated.

"My name is Tanaka Akihiko."

Nice to meet you, he bowed

The classroom exploded into hushed murmurs, as expected. The teacher told everyone to settle down. As expected, I started hearing footsteps getting closer to my desk, just as Yukari had planned.

I heard the chair next to me squeak as Akihiko sat down and gently put his bag on the floor. The sound of pencils and pens colliding and sliding on his desk, the smell of a fresh textbook entered my nose.

I heard the irritating squeaks of the almost-empty marker rubbing on the whiteboard.

"So, today we're going to do a quick review of the questions on the last test," the teacher said.

With that said, I lifted my head and...

"Which one of you wants to solve this one?"

"Me!"

"Me, me, me!"

"Me, I know this one!"

I... wha... what?

"Anyone else? You back there!"

"Uh?!"

"Come solve this!"

"W-Why me, teacher?!"

This... Thi-Thi-thi... This... I... Is... What is... why. W-why?

I shookingly looked around the class.

"You never lift up your hand. Do you even know what a quadratic equation is?"

"I—It's..."

"Unbelievable..."

My god!

"Every time I ask the class for something, only three of you raise your hands."

I shifted in my chair suddenly, attracting the attention of the teacher.

"I have no choice, then. Mitsuru! Will you come do this, please?"

"....!!!!"

"Miss Mitsuru?"

"Ah..."

I stood up suddenly, my legs getting caught on the desk so I almost fell down. At this point, the class went silent, and they were all staring at me. Confused whispers polluted the room.

"Miss Mitsuru?" her voice grew more concerned. "Is everything alright?"

"Ah........AH!"

"Mitsuru?!"

"Haha! It's probably just a cockroach!" one of the boys yelled.

"You..."

You're also looking at me!

He's looking at me!

Akihiko was his name?

Akihiko is looking at me!

He's looking!

He's there!

He can move.

His face...

His face.

His eye?

"Mitsuru?!"

My legs are giving way, my legs are shaking, my legs are shaking, I can feel my heart beat, my lungs just shrank, it hurts when I breathe. My mind goes blank, and it feels like two fingers are pressing on my temples. My hair is itchy, and my eyes feel dry.

"Ha....ah! GyAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Everyone's face went pale as I let out a deafening scream. The room fell silent.

"Mitsuru."

"AH!" I let out a cry after the teacher touched my shoulder.

It was the teacher, why? Why did she touch me at a time like this? Why isn't she screaming? Why aren't my classmates running for their lives?!

"Mitsuru! It's okay!"

The teacher tried to hold me, but I slapped her hand off.

"GYaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

I let out all that was left in my lungs as I pushed my teacher aside and bolted for the door. I even knocked over someone's water bottle; I almost fell on my face as my foot got caught on the door frame, and one of my slippers flew off as I ran down the hallway.

I ran and ran and ran.

It's as if my feet barely touch the floor.

Coming close to the end of the hallway, I couldn't stop myself from slamming my shoulder on the wall. I pushed against it to boost me to the stairs.

I'm stretching my legs so much that I slipped and slammed my elbow on the cold guardrail.

Jumping down the stairs is a more accurate way to describe how I got down to the first floor. It's a miracle I didn't fall or slip; I didn't even see if there was anyone in front of me.

I ran out of breath. I tried to run more, but my legs forbade it. There was a small bench at the bottom of the stairs, and it beckoned me to rest. I collapsed on it. Like a broken doll, I collapsed.

All my senses go numb. My eyes are blurry, and my ears are ringing.

"W.....-----What----...What was that!?" I questioned myself. Sitting down, my brain started receiving enough oxygen to start thinking.

The adrenaline was running dry, so I could feel my breath shortening. It feels like there's an invisible hand gripping my heart; I can't stop coughing.

I cough and choke on my own saliva.

"Tha....that was..."

My brain started working again. It started processing the image my eyes sent it.

The image developed in my mind.

Became clear.

It hit me like a truck.

His shocked face when I started screaming.

I noticed that no one else was afraid of him.

Why was no one else afraid?

Why is everyone still in that class?

I would rather jump out the window than stay in the class... with that, thing!

That moment, when I looked at him, I saw it.

His body.

His face.

Everything from the middle to the right side of his body.

Everything was sliced clean in half.