[ HARU'S POINT OF VIEW ]
Two weeks had passed since the attack that utterly demoralized the entire city occurred. Today was finally the day that classes resumed. The incident had hit our school like a sledgehammer financially, so school activities were suspended for two weeks. Even though I felt a little shitty about it, I couldn't help but treat it as a short vacation. Though devastating, incidents like that weren't particularly uncommon—after all, humanity had dealt with casualties caused by monster attacks for centuries.
And just as I had expected, the reason Sentinels hadn't arrived on time during the attack at our school was that several monsters had also attacked other locations near our school a few minutes earlier. That made me think the incident wasn't a mere coincidence but a full-blown coordinated attack.
As always, I entered the school early. With my bag on my shoulder, I walked along the campus toward my classroom. Even though it took a while, I noticed that something was off. I felt countless gazes on me from all around. I thought I was imagining things—no, I hoped it was just in my imagination—but alas, almost everyone I passed was sneaking glances at me. And when I tried to look back, they quickly averted their gaze.
One conclusion came to mind, and I wasn't fond of it.
Watanabe... what did you do...
I entered the classroom to find a few people already there. The chairs and desks were arranged, and the usual friend groups I was used to seeing were still gathered, chattering early in the morning. I guess we were fortunate enough not to be among the fallen ones—apart from Kazuki.
But then everything fell silent as soon as I stepped in. I froze when all eyes turned toward me, their expressions too intense for me to meet. I wondered—was I scared? Had they discovered my secret? Did Watanabe really do it?
"Takahashi-san." A female classmate's voice reached my ears as I heard her footsteps draw nearer. Perhaps it was her tone or voice, but I felt at ease enough to look at her. It was the class representative.
"Itoshi-san." I barely finished my words when I saw the rest of my classmates approaching. Weirdly enough, my world started spinning as an unpleasant feeling churned in my stomach. I would have given up all of my life savings just for someone to take me away from that situation.
They found out.
"How are you doing?" one of them suddenly asked.
"Are you okay?"
I blinked a few times before someone else spoke right after.
"We know losing Shinohara-kun was painful. We're here for you."
"You blocked that metal back then, right? You really saved us."
"You were really cool when you fought that monster!"
"Yeah! We never knew you were that badass!"
I looked at them one by one, trying to process their words. "H-Huh?" I muttered, still mulling over what was happening.
"Everyone in our school already knows that you saved Ueda Nozomi! That's totally cool!!!" a classmate exclaimed.
Realizing that my initial conclusion had been completely off the mark, a sigh of relief escaped my lips. "Kazuki was the one who initiated it," I replied briefly. "But thank you for worrying about me. I appreciate it."
"Yeah..." they answered sincerely. "Shinohara-san is a real hero."
A male classmate who could barely contain his excitement barged into the conversation. "We were on the edge of our seats the entire fight! You're usually so quiet and never really showed much of your ability, so what you did back there was a surprise!"
"Give him some space, guys! You're—"
"Do you wanna be friends?"
"Yeah, let's hang out sometime, Takahashi-kun!"
"Maybe we can train together."
I forced a smile as their voices buzzed in my ears. As annoying as it was, I'd take this any day over them finding out my secret.
They all quieted down when I opened my mouth to speak. "Well, uh… if I hadn't been so lucky that day, the outcome might have been completely different."
"Yeah," someone replied.
"In any case, we're really glad you didn't die," a classmate remarked with a chuckle.
With that, the confrontation—or at least what I had considered a confrontation—came to an end. I took my seat by the window like I usually did, waiting for our teacher to arrive.
If anything had changed, it was the absence of Kazuki's loud voice in the morning. He was the only one who had tolerated someone like me, after all.
A few moments later, the room was filled with students. Class 1-C was finally complete. We were expecting our teacher to walk through the door, but instead, the principal showed up.
Everyone followed the middle-aged man with their eyes as he walked to the front of the class. He then stood there, scanning the room to make sure he had our full attention.
"Class 1-C, am I right? Well, uh… good morning," he spoke in a formal tone.
Several reasons came to mind as to why the principal had personally come to our classroom. One possibility was that he was here to offer condolences to all the classes for what had happened. Another was that he had an announcement to make—perhaps something about increased security measures for the school.
But the real reason was something I had neither expected nor wished for.
"I'm sorry to announce this," he continued, "but Suzuki-sensei, your homeroom teacher, has formally resigned from his position."
Gasps and murmurs filled the room as soon as the words left the principal's lips.
"Seriously?"
"Why?"
"You must be kidding!"
"THAT Suzuki-sensei?"
The principal opened his mouth again. "Even we don't know the full story. Perhaps it was related to the attack two weeks ago. It could be that he wants to move to a safer place. In any case, I ask that you respect his decision." He then glanced toward the door, gesturing toward someone just outside.
"And so, I am here to introduce you to your new homeroom teacher," he continued.
A familiar woman walked through the entrance.
"Please welcome Watanabe Ichika. I hope you'll all get along well."
The moment I heard her name, I instantly knew how much bullshit there was in this story.
Suzuki-sensei was probably already dead.
Watanabe walked into the room and stood beside the principal.
"Nice to meet you, everyone," she spoke softly. "My name is Watanabe Ichika. Let's all get along."
Two weeks ago, she had managed to slip away before I could confront her that night. Yet now, here she was, standing right in front of me. Whatever she was planning, I had to get to the bottom of it.
After some brief introductions, she went over the mundane details of being our new homeroom teacher, but she made no mention of me or the fact that her ability had been the one to defeat the monster. The entire morning period passed peacefully, and before I knew it, it was time for lunch.
Some students preferred to eat their homemade meals at their desks, chatting with friends. Since I lived alone in my apartment, I had neither the time nor the interest to prepare my own lunch, so, as always, I decided to head to the cafeteria. I'd just have to find another time to talk to her. For now, all I wanted was peace.
As I packed my things into my bag, I noticed a few lingering glances from my classmates. Most of them smiled at me respectfully, which I supposed was fine. My actions during the attack had stirred up quite the buzz around campus, giving my name an unexpected prominence. Well, that kind of attention should die down soon enough, like any other fleeting trend.
The one thing I hoped for was that this unwanted fame wouldn't cause me any trouble. But it seemed today wasn't my lucky day.
As I turned the corner just a few steps from the door, I saw three guys standing in the hallway. The one in the middle crossed his arms, watching me as I exited the classroom. He looked familiar, and I tried to recall where I had seen him before.
Before I could do so, he spoke.
"Takahashi Haruto," he said. "That's you, right?"
My brain had half-given up on trying to remember him, but I figured I could just piece it together during the conversation.
"Yes, that's me," I replied, not breaking eye contact. "How can I help you?"
He stepped closer until he was only a couple of feet away. Then, he spoke.
"Let's fight."
I blinked twice before responding. "Huh?"
"I'm challenging you to a one-on-one. Are you up for it or not?"
"Hold on. I think you should introduce yourself first."
Before he could answer, the pieces finally clicked into place. That arrogant voice, those hateful eyes—I remembered now.
"You're really trying to piss me off, aren't you?" he said.
"No, I genuinely didn't know who you were at first," I admitted. "But I remember now."
He chuckled, then lightly—though disrespectfully—patted me on the right cheek, grinning madly.
"Then you must already know how fucked you are right now, huh?"
Serizawa Osamu.
He was one of the most feared students on campus. I'd heard he was supposed to join the Saitou Club but was completely outclassed by the current members. His ability, Sonic Speed, was strong in its own right, but compared to Ueda and Saitou, he was just a runner. Not only were they faster than him, but he also had nothing else to offer apart from his speed.
"Can I refuse?" I asked.
"Hell no," he shot back, giving me a slight shove on the shoulder. "Head to the back lot, bitch."
[ END OF CHAPTER ]