This is a remake of my story 'Difference in Worlds'. After rereading my story and going through every cons and complaints that I've come across, I realized why the story didn't come out as popular as I thrived for it to be. Thus, I decided to rewrite the story. If there's one thing that I know about the majority of the fanfiction community, it is that when people find out that the story they've been reading thus far is suddenly going to be 'rewritten', they usually don't bother reading it. I'm grateful if at least some of my previous readers decide to read this as well, but I'd also be glad to have a new audience to my story! Pardon me for dragging this pre-story author's note on for so long, let's get to the story! Onto the disclaimer!
Disclaimer – This is a non-profit fanfiction story. A majority of the characters used in this either belong to Crypton Future Media, Supercell, or any other respective owners of their fan-made Vocaloid characters. I claim no ownership of any characters used in this story. The name 'Vocaloid' belongs to the creator of the program, Yamaha. Please support the official releases!
Holders
Chapter One – First day
The scary enemy nobody can run away from appears!
Its name is "Monday".
I was still half-asleep as I attempted to confirm this fact, when my blanket was slowly removed by someone.
"Good morning, Len. I love you," a familiar female voice said as I felt someone hovering above my body. The girl suddenly leaned in to kiss me, but I quickly intercepted her face with my hand.
"Good morning, Neru. I appreciate your love, but let's stay friends," I offered her as I leaned up from my futon(1); the blonde with a ponytail hanging off the side of her head backed off as I did.
"… I got dumped," Neru stated nonchalantly, as if it wasn't a big deal. "I almost had it too." she clicked her tongue in disappointment.
"That wasn't close," I clarified. "Don't try to kiss me out of nowhere."
"A girl's mind can sometimes turn into a raptor."
"Well, time to wake up." I ignored her absurd statement and stood up from my futon.
"Breakfast is ready," Neru informed me as she helped me fold my futon.
"Alright." I lazily stuffed my bedding into the wall closet.
"Or I can be your breakfast," Neru offered as she placed her palms on her cheeks and feigned a blush.
"I'm gonna change, so please leave," I told her, not giving her much of a reaction.
"I put out your uniform." Neru didn't persist any further and excused herself from my room. True to her word, my school uniform was straightened out and readily displayed on the floor. The uniform consisted of a short sleeve white collar shirt with a dark navy stripe going around the shoulder and the edge of the sleeve, and dark navy pants with no particular design on it. The female uniform was practically the same except the pant was a skirt.
"I didn't even ask her, but at least she's mindful," I muttered to myself with a shrug.
"Hey, are you awake, Len?" a tall boy with long purple hair tied into single ponytail came into my room.
"Gakupo, you opened my room's lock again," I accused him.
"It's your fault for not waking up early," he answered. "Oh?" Gakupo turned his gaze towards my closet and noticed that it was left ajar with my futon sticking out of the gap. "That's not good, Len. Your futon is messed up." After telling me so, he proceeded to pull my futon out of the closet and fix it himself. Despite Gakupo's current diligent attitude, he's actually a rather feebleminded guy. When around friends he tends to mess around, but when around acquaintances or strangers he puts on this "diligent mask". Having said this, we are indeed friends, but the reason why he's acting so attentive right now is because his mother is the landlord of the dorm that we're currently in. The only way for him to receive his allowance was to do small tasks like this around the dorm. His earnestness in any tasks he's given is the reason why he was behaving this way.
"Don't scold me first thing in the morning," I complained.
"Why do you say that? I'm saying it because I care about you!" Gakupo shouted at me.
"No it's not. You're saying that because you don't want to do this," I accused him.
"You shouldn't point out things that I was obviously trying to avoid admitting! I should cut you into pieces for that!" he threatened as he pulled out his wooden sword, which was strapped to his belt.
"Don't pull out your sword just because of that! You're needlessly quick to draw your weapon!" I exclaimed.
"Hmph." Gakupo went back to properly folding the futon.
"I like to sleep until the last minute," I told him before I went to the washroom. I washed my face and got changed into my uniform to refresh myself before returning to my room.
"There you go," Gakupo muttered as he slid my closet door shut with a proud grin on his face.
I briefly tossed my sleepwear into the corner of my room before going back out to the hallway. I smiled wryly as I heard Gakupo swear in annoyance behind the door. Once I was outside my room I followed the smell of breakfast towards the dining room.
There's a woman at this dorm called Kamui Gakuko who cooks breakfast and dinner for us on weekdays. Such motherly woman is the elder sister of Gakupo and was currently in her late twenties.
"Oh, good morning, Len!" a woman greeted me as I neared the dining room. She had long purple hair tied into a pony tail similar to Gakupo, but was a darker shade.
She was Gakuko (29 years old). Leo. Loves Korean drama.
"Good morning." I returned her greeting. "You look beautiful like always." Despite her young appearance, Gakuko is known to have a complex regarding her age. Everyone would tell her that she's worrying unnecessarily, since she's often mistaken as a high school student despite being almost in her thirties.
"Thank you, Len. I'll add an egg to your breakfast!" she offered me happily, obviously flattered by my compliment. As I was talking with Gakuko, Neru came down the stairs from the 2nd floor. "Come on, why don't you flatter me too, Neru?" She turned to glance at her.
"I don't feel like it…" Neru muttered while avoiding her gaze.
"You're talking like this certain actress from a drama I watched." Gakuko let out a sigh.
"That joke's old now," Neru replied calmly.
"What did you say?! Are you saying I'm old?!" Gakuko suddenly shouted in accusation.
"Well then, food, food." Not planning to stick around any longer I quickly excused myself.
In the dining room; white rice, natto(2), dried seaweed, miso soup with a lot of ingredients, and broiled fish was laid out on the table.
"You need to eat a lot in the morning," Gakuko stated with a big smile. The situation with Neru must have been resolved quickly.
"She's right. It's one of the basics of living!" Gakupo declared loudly as he made his way into the dining room.
"U-uh…! G-Good morning!" an awkward but yet enthusiastic voice abruptly shouted from beside where I was standing.
"G-Good morning?!" I instinctively responded to the startling greeting. What a fired up greeting. I've only known her for a couple of days but I still can't wrap my head around her personality. It was the same deal as when I first met her at the entrance ceremony.
Flashback
I was given the job as one of the entrance ceremony helpers, so I was positioned next to the back gate of the school and was given the task to direct all of the new first-year students that came my way towards the school auditorium.
"Not many people pass by here… this is boring," I complained to no one in particular. Several students did come my way, but they were mostly either the same year as me or a third-year student. The back gate's existence isn't that well known throughout the school, so it'd actually be strange for the new students, who had just arrived at this school, to know about it. You'd question why the teachers would even bother placing a helper here, but I figure it's just precautions. "But it sure is a nice day today. The cherry blossoms are in full bloom, too." I slowly went into a daze as I admired the falling pink petals. However, my admiration was short lived as someone came running and bumped into me. "Whoa." I only staggered forward, but the girl who bumped into me ended up falling... or so I thought.
"Hiek…!" The girl let out a short yelp as she fell back, but before her bottom could make contact with the ground, she was able to shift her body into a squat. It was as if her momentum was changed mid-fall. Unfortunately, her stuff still fell to the ground.
"Ah, sorry about that, I shouldn't have dozed off like that." Even though it wasn't entirely my fault, I still offered her an apology.
"U-U-U-Um. I-I-I'm sorry!" The girl began to stutter uncontrollably.
"No problem." I told her reassuringly and crouched down to pick up her bag for her. I wasn't paying much attention up to that moment, but as I was picking up her bag I glanced at her slightly. She had long lavender hair that was tied into two low bunches, and wore a black hoodie over her school uniform. The hood part of her clothes had something that resembled bunny ears attached to them. There was no school regulation against wearing something over the uniform, so I didn't mind. Regardless, if I were to rank her looks, then I'd probably rate her above average; right around the range of being cute.
"I-I was in a hurry, so, um…" Still unable to control her stutter, she had gone into a panic.
"There's still some time before the entrance ceremony starts. You don't need to panic." I assured her.
"No, I thought I'd come early because I'm a freshman… Ah, I'm talking without any honorific even though I'm talking to a Senpai!" Her panic caused her to talk so fast that I had to strain my ears to comprehend her words.
"Here's your bag." I gave her the light bag that had fallen beside me.
"Ah… wa… wa…" She seemed to have been at a loss for words. "T-T-Thank you for picking it up for me," she finally said after mumbling some incomprehensible sounds. I couldn't tell whether if she was thanking me or the pavement. Her nervousness was making her constantly dart her gaze away from me at all time. An unsettling silence passed as the girl stood frozen in place. Feeling a bit awkward, I tried to think of a way to lighten the mood and noticed that she was clutching some sort of rabbit behind her back.
"Hm? Is that a doll?" I pointed behind her back.
Her body jerked up instantaneously the moment I asked. "Y-Y-Y-Yes! T-T-There wasn't any rule that said I couldn't bring one, so I t-t-thought no one would mind!" It was as if I had just framed her for a crime. She clenched the bunny against her chest protectively. The bunny was like the perfect example of patchwork. You couldn't tell what its original fur color was since it was stitched in so many various places. However, the common color on it was white, purple, and red. The doll looked battle-worn since it had a glass bead for one eye and a black button for the other.
"Ah no, I wasn't gonna confiscate it or anything. I just thought it looked cute," I told her. I wasn't going to take away something that seemed like it had been with her for many years.
"Ah… wa… wa..." It was almost as if it was the first time someone had complimented her bunny, since she had a look of total surprise on her face and was speechless. "I-I-I-I'm sorry for misunderstanding!" she abruptly bowed to me.
I was about to tell her that she had no reason to bow to me, but I was interrupted by a monotone beep from the walkie-talkie strapped to my waist. I brought the walkie-talkie to my face and pressed down on the button on its side.
"Hello, this is point 12. Everything's okay here, but it's rather boring. Periodic report, over." After sending my report I hooked the walkie-talkie back onto my belt.
"Huh?" the girl gazed at me curiously.
"Sorry, I had to do my periodic report," I explained. "I'm an attendant. See this armband?" I shifted my upper body to the left so she could see the armband wrapped around my upper right arm with the word 'Helper' written on it.
"I-I see…"
"Anyways… weren't you in a rush to get to the entrance ceremony?" I reminded her.
"Uwawawa!" I guess she just remembered. "I-I-I'm sorry for taking so much of your time!" With that said she hastily dashed into the school ground.
"What a strange girl…"
After the ceremony
I was on patrol after the ceremony had started, but I was now positioned next to the back gate again. I didn't have to guide the new students anymore, but was given the task to watch out for any suspicious character. As usual this location was uneventful as ever until someone came running towards me. It was that same girl from earlier with the stuffed bunny still in her arms.
"Haa, haa, haa, haa…" she took a moment to catch her breath. I was confused as to why she was here. Did she really end up being late to the entrance ceremony? She had plenty of time to get there so it's highly doubtful, but on the other hand, one can't be certain that she did. Things could have happened on her way there causing her to be late. And if it did, maybe she came back here to blame it on me? If that was the case, then I was fully prepared to give her an apology. "I-I'm sorry!" she apologized instead.
"H-Huh?" I was bewildered by her unexpected apology.
"I-I-I was in a hurry earlier, so I felt like I wasn't able to properly apologize for wasting so much of your time!" She must have had a habit of talking very quickly since she was doing the same thing before.
"You shouldn't apologize. In fact, I'm the one who should be showing some gratitude. I was actually really bored until you showed up, so I'm grateful." I mean, what kind of guy would be annoyed when a cute girl was keeping him company?
"No, no, no, no, no, no." She rapidly shook her head side to side in denial. "T-Thank you for being so considerate!" I'm not sure if she was trying to smile at me, but her twitchy smile looked more like a scowl and she was glaring at me as well. The way she was looking at me was in contrast to her words!
Flashback End
That's how it was like back then. I later found out that her name was Yuzuki Yukari and was going to be occupying one of the rooms upstairs. I wasn't certain whether if she held a grudge against me since then, because she'd always scowl whenever I tried to talk to her.
"I-It's a good day today, isn't it?!" Yukari asked in a tense voice.
"Oh, yeah. Y-You're right!" She was glaring at me again.
"Um…" Her attempt at starting up a conversation had ended up in failure, if she was trying to start one in the first place, that is. "…" Seeing that she wasn't going to get anywhere, she took her seat at the table again and resumed eating.
I took a glance around the room. "We're missing one person." The Kamui dorm has six rooms for students attending Crypton Academy; three rooms for guys on the first floor and three rooms for girls on the second floor. We all eat here in the morning like this, but there was one absent.
"Kaito isn't here again, huh?" Neru pointed out the missing person.
"He's been gone since Saturday evening," Gakupo said.
"Where did he go this time…?" I asked rhetorically. I didn't really want to know where he had gone since it was always ice cream related anyways. I treated this issue as an ordinary occurrence since he had a tendency of travelling long distances for just ice cream.
One of the rooms upstairs was empty, so there were only two girls here, excluding the caretaker. The final room on the first floor belonged to…
"Man, you took your time waking up," the guy with teal locks said coldly. He was the last residence of this dorm, the healthy delinquent, Hatsuno Mikuo.
"You're energetic this morning, Kuo," I told him, calling him by his nickname.
"Hmph," he brushed me off.
I shrugged lightly and decided to enjoy my breakfast. "Ooh, Gakuko's cucumber slices. I love these."
"How healthy, but what about bananas?" Neru, who was sitting beside me, asked.
"Of course I love bananas the most. I'm simply conscious about my nutritional balance," I explained.
"…Here, I'll give you my share." Neru grabbed a couple of cucumber slices off of her plate with a chopstick and placed them on mine. "Affection point up." I raised an eyebrow at her.
"I don't want your Neru-modified cucumbers." I gave them back.
"Hmm." She made a disappointed sound. Neru-modified meant that she used various condiments to turn something that usually wasn't meant to be sweet, taste like some lollipop that was made with too much sugar. By the way, she handed me kimchi cucumber which was supposed to be spicy. "Is this… love turned inside out?" Neru questioned herself happily.
"No, you're totally wrong," I denied completely.
"Can't you guys shut up when you're eating?" Mikuo sneered in annoyance.
"Can I have one of yours, Kuo?" I asked, disregarding his irritation.
"What the hell? Why do I have to give you anything? Don't annoy me," he scoffed.
"Awawawa…" Yukari watched nervously; clearly concerned that something bad might happen.
There was a short pause before… "Damn it… Fine, I'll give you one." Mikuo finally gave in.
"Thanks." I graciously received his cucumber slice.
"Don't get me wrong. I gave you one because it's annoying if you keep begging me," he told me, as if trying to clear up some misunderstanding.
"Phew…" Yukari let out a sigh of relief.
Mikuo is actually a nice person, unlike what his attitude suggests.
As we enjoyed our breakfast while lightly chatting away, I took a glimpse at the TV in the living room and noticed that the news was on, but was now nearly over.
"Was there any interesting news?" I asked, obviously having missed most of it.
"The long rain last week resolved the water shortages. The Prime Minister went to the UK. And two people tried to rob a nearby convenience store, but they were quickly apprehended by a Holder(3) who was nearby," Neru summarized.
"Hmph. That's nothing new," Mikuo muttered, uninterested.
April, 2013. Japan is peaceful today like always.
After breakfast, I went to the bathroom, checked my appearance, fixed my small ponytail, and it was 8:15 already. It seemed Kuo had already left for school. What do you think about a delinquent who's never late for school? I always go to school with Neru, Gakupo, and the others.
"I just got here too," Neru stated, as I approached her next to the dorm's front gate.
"Stop making it sound like a date," I snapped at her.
She was Akita Neru. She was in Class 2-F of Crypton Academy. She's like this now, but she used to be really meek and got bullied partly because of her family matters. The bullying was so insidious that I had come up with many plans, got my friends to help me, and saved her; all of this occurring during our elementary school days. The result ended up as so.
"I love you," Neru confessed in English.
She fell in love with me. I've been declining her love ever since then, and this has continued for many years. And now, she has grown into this assertive young adult.
"I've been raised so well," Neru commented, as if proud of the way things turned out for her.
I didn't save her because I wanted something in return. I wanted Neru to see things with a broader perspective. I've kept refusing her love, and that's how our relationship has been like
"Come on, Gakupo! Hurry up! Your friends are about to leave!" We could hear an elderly woman shout from the Kamui's household, which was next to the dorm.
"Shut up! I'm going already!" Gakupo shouted back as he rushed out of the front door. Gakupo had promptly returned home after breakfast to get changed into his school uniform.
"Yo, guy still in his rebellious age," I greeted him.
"Are you picking a fight!?" he glared at me, with his right hand moving towards his wooden weapon
"I'm joking. You're really awesome today like always." I complimented him, trying to avoid any useless brawl.
"Hey, hey. Don't flatter me by saying the truth," He said, but the stupid grin on his face begged to differ. "What do you think, Neru? I'm more awesome than usual, right?" Gakupo asked Neru for her opinion.
"Where exactly?" Neru asked, giving him a bemused look.
"Isn't my hair so perfect that it's going to attract a lot of girls?" Gakupo inquired.
"It looks like it'll attract a lot of men," Neru replied bluntly.
"Man, I don't want to hear something disturbing like that. Well, you're not part of the popular opinion, after all." Gakupo shrugged.
"You sound pretty confident, STR 95(4)," I commented.
"The secret's in this book, INT 95," he told me, and fished out some sort of magazine from his bag. "It says in this book MoteMote style that women will fall for me if I do what it says, starting with how I set my hair," he explained.
"Did that magazine say that having a long ponytail was okay?" Neru questioned.
"It had a list of bad hairstyles, but ponytail wasn't on there so it should be okay, right?" he looked at us as if asking for confirmation.
"How should we know…?" Neru muttered.
"What's with that cheap-looking magazine that looks like it was self-published?" I pointed out. The magazine he was holding was entirely different than any other magazine you'd normally see in a rack at a convenience store.
"I found it on the net. There's this guy called Handsome Jackey that has a site that kicks ass! He says he figured out how to pick up chicks in Hokkaido, and it has made him so popular that he can't leave his house without having a bunch of girls go after him! He said the magazine was only 10,000 yen (estimate 100$) right now, so I bought it." Gakupo told us proudly, as if bragging that he was able to get it at some low price.
"…How stupid…" Neru rolled her eyes at his idiocy.
"Ha, I'm worried about you, Neru," Gakupo shook his head pitifully as he glanced at her.
"Why do you sound like you're better than me?" Neru gave him an agitated look.
"Even a man like Len is feeling my attractiveness, after all." He stated.
"Hah? Did I say something like that?" I gave him a puzzled look.
"You said the truth that I'm awesome today like always!" he reminded me.
"I was lying, obviously." I told him straightforwardly.
"I'm worried about Gakupo's brain. Is he going to be okay in the future?" Neru asked out of concern and pity, but mostly pity.
"What are these childhood friends?! They're merciless!" Gakupo exclaimed. "Damn it! I was longing for the life where I couldn't leave my house without having a bunch of girls chasing after me…"
"Wouldn't that just be inconvenient? And how bad are you sexually aware?" I questioned his life.
"Len made me sexually aware, blush." Neru stated blissfully, placing her palms on her cheeks again.
"I'm not talking to you! I'm talking to Gakupo," I clarified.
"Gakupo, you shouldn't do needless things and simply believe in your body," Neru advised him.
"You're right. I'll sell my physical charm and not let this magazine lead me astray," Gakupo declared loudly. With that, Gakupo started squeezing the hand grip tool that he had in his hand.
"What a waste of money…" I murmured under my breath.
"Huh? Kaito isn't here." Gakupo now noticed the absent blunette.
"You're slow to point that out," Neru remarked.
"He's wandering about again, huh?" It was such a common occurrence that no one really minded it that much anymore.
…
Neru, Gakupo, and I were walking by Toyokawa River towards Crypton Academy. The warm spring air felt good.
"It's so warm. I want to take a nap by the river," I said.
"With me?" Neru inquired.
"By myself," I answered.
"I was close." She clicked her tongue.
"No you weren't. Stop being so persistent," I told her.
"Haha, you got dumped," Gakupo took this opportunity to tease Neru.
"Shut up," Neru shot back at him.
"Don't fall for me just because Len's impossible to get," he said arrogantly.
"Go eat a banana, gorilla." Neru retorted coldly.
"Hey, bananas deserve more respect!" I barked.
"Treat me like a human being!" Gakupo exclaimed in desperation.
"You should thank me for even treating you as a primate," Neru told him.
"Hey, Len. You should know since you're smart. What's a primate?" he asked me with an actual puzzled look on his face.
"… How'd you manage to get into this school, Gakupo?" I questioned him in disbelief.
"He must have bought his way in because they have land," Neru voiced her thought.
"You know that I studied my ass off!" Gakupo tried to defend himself. Gakupo's family has land in this area and was providing part of it for the school dorm. That was why his house was next to the dorm.
"Hey" Joining us was a guy who was walking while reading Weekly Shonen Jump(5), which had came out today. Meaning he had gone to a convenience store on his way here and bought one.
"Good morning, Utatane Piko from class 2-F, whose hobbies are web surfing and manga," Neru greeted him in a strange manner.
"You're terribly descriptive in today's greeting." Piko chuckled uneasily, unsure of where this was going. Piko Utatane was one of our childhood friends. He had medium length silver hair with long side bangs. Nothing about him really sticks out other than his hair color.
"It's because you're so unnoticeable that I might forget about you unless I confirm your existence," Neru stated.
"Don't say terrible things first thing in the morning!" Piko exclaimed.
"She's in a bad mood because she got dumped," Gakupo informed him.
"…Oh, I see… Wait, I don't want you telling me that I'm unnoticeable!" Piko responded.
"Nice comeback." Neru gave him a thumbs-up.
"Piko is always living with all his might," Gakupo commented.
"Huh? Is Kaito gone again?" Piko ignored Gakupo and asked.
"He's gone. Don't worry too much," I advised him.
We continued our walk, but now with Piko as well.
"Piko, you're grinning too much. It's creepy," Neru pointed out to him.
"This week's mangas were action packed and exciting," Piko explained.
"Oh? Was there any panty shots in those scenes?" Gakupo asked curiously.
"If you look through some of them, then I'm sure you could find some," Piko took out the Weekly Shonen Jump from his bag and handed it to Gakupo.
"Just let me see where the panties are," Gakupo requested eagerly. I know they're my childhood friends and all, but I still find it embarrassing to be around them in this kind of situation. It would be great if they showed some restraint.
"Oh, morning Lencchi, Akicchi." We were greeted by one of the girls from the group walking in front of us. It was our classmate, Lily.
"Morning," I greeted her back.
"…" Neru averted her gaze instead of responding. We may have been able to get Neru out of her shell, but she still had the tendency to avoid interacting with others.
"…Hey, greet her, Neru," I urged her.
"Hm." Neru gave Lily a nod in greeting. Good enough.
"She called you Lencchi. You're so popular, hahaha." Piko laughed, poking fun at the nickname Lily had given me.
"It's so annoying. I wish they wouldn't make strange nicknames for people like that," Gakupo said. "Actually, why didn't they greet me?" he asked in realization.
"It's because you two are huddled, reading manga, and saying perverted things," Neru remarked.
"It must be because I'm with Piko, a nerd!" Gakupo came to the conclusion.
"What're you saying? I'm better than you!" Piko argued back.
"Are you going to go against me with that feeble body of yours?" Gakupo threatened him.
"You have a feeble brain!" Piko retorted.
"You two are getting along like always…" I said as I watched them bicker.
"I feel BL(6) energy from them," Neru commented.
"That's just because you like that sort of thing," I pointed out.
The four of us talked like this as we walked by the river, until we noticed a crowd up ahead.
"Why is there a crowd there?" I asked out of curiosity. I turned to glance at where everyone else was gazing at. "Oh." A group of thugs, around 8-7 of them, was surrounding one girl. And the guys were holding weapons like bats and crowbars. The students of Crypton academy were just watching and not even trying to help. Rather, they were watching in anticipation as if it was a show.
"What a big pinch straight off in the morning," Neru said in an unconcerned manner.
"This isn't going to be pretty," Piko said in a worried tone.
"Should we do something before it's too late?" Gakupo suggested.
"So am I the one going?" I asked in confirmation.
"You're the smooth talker, after all," Gakupo pointed out.
"Not sure how much that's going to help, but oh well." I shrugged and jogged ahead.
"Good luck, Len!" Neru cheered me on.
"Hold on, hold on!" I called out to them as I jumped into the scene. "I'll buy some time! So run while you can!" I spoke out desperately…
"Hah!? Are you talking to us?" The thugs gave me a menacing look.
"Yeah! Quickly run away while you still can!" I advised them seriously. "Actually, you guys need to think things through before you pick a fight with someone. Do you even know who you're ganging up on?" I inquired.
"We know. She's Sakine Meiko. We've been hearing how strong she is even in Izu," the thug who stood directly in front of me said.
"…You guys came all the way from another prefecture?" I gazed at them in slight awe. Rumors about her sure do spread fast.
"Rumors are usually exaggerated, so we came to confirm it," one of the thugs stated.
"Hehe… Don't think we won't beat up girls. We're an authentic group, so we beat up anyone that catches our eyes!" another thug exclaimed rather proudly. "Kekeke, you're going to lose in front of all of these people!"
"I guess it's not worth saving them then…" I sighed as all the pity I've felt for them up till that moment, disappeared.
"What's your problem, anyways? Are you one of her friends or something? If so, we should just beat you up as well!" With that, the delinquent raised his bat in the air.
"Don't say I didn't warn you." I shrugged.
Before the thug's bat could even move an inch downwards, he received an overwhelming punch to the face, making his body ragdoll through the air and into the river.
"Ah… Tanabashi!" a couple of the delinquents exclaimed as they watched their comrade soar through the air.
"I was going to let you guys go since Lenny was showing some concern… but I won't forgive anyone who tries to harm my one and only underling!" a tall brunette with medium cut hair declared as she stood between me and the thugs. She's treating me like her minion again. I took a step back, fully aware of what was going to happen next.
"B-Bitch! You hurt Tanabashi!" An enraged thug swung his crowbar at Meiko.
Meiko smirked with a dangerous glint in her eyes. "So I'll start by breaking each and every one of you."
"Gii!?" the thug let out a confused cry. In an instant, his arm was bending in a way it shouldn't, forcing him to drop his weapon. "O-Owwwww! My arm!" he wailed in agony.
"Shit! E-Everyone get her!" They decided to overwhelm her with numbers.
"Too slow! Are you guys even trying!?" Meiko easily dodged each and every one of their attacks and returned with a counterattack. You'd think this was some sort of performance, as if the thugs all had cords attached to their back. The cords pulling them away the moment Meiko struck them. However, the scene that was happening before us didn't have any behind-the-scene action. The sheer force of Meiko's attacks was able to send the delinquents flying. And just as fast the fight had started, it ended just as quickly. Thug's bodies lying here and there. The fight lasted approximately 5 seconds.
The crowd cheered as if they had all been waiting for this moment. Most of the spectators were students from our school.
"Ohhh, Sakine-senpai's super awesome today like always!"
"She's so amazing!"
The girls were screaming in excitement.
"As expected from Sakine-senpai! She's so dominant!"
"Nobody in the world could match her!"
…The guys were screaming in excitement as well.
"As usual, I couldn't even follow her movements," Piko said in awe.
"She kicked each one of them once," Neru remarked.
"Y-Yeah. They were some amazing kicks," Gakupo nodded in agreement.
"I'm lying. She actually punched," Neru clarified her statement.
"Damn you, Neru," Gakupo muttered, embarrassed to have had his lie seen through.
"So even Gakupo couldn't see them, huh?" Piko mused. "I'm amazed that you were able to see her, Neru."
"That's because I'm always watching Len," Neru stated proudly. "By the way, the guy with the round face who had the nastiest smile got punched three times in the stomach in addition to the punch to his face."
"It was seven. You need more training, Neru!" Meiko shouted towards her from afar.
"She can hear us," Piko laughed uneasily.
I crouched down next to one of the thug who was groaning in pain. "Didn't want to say this, but I told you so. That looks really painful."
"H-How…? Even Aniki(7) and Kudahama got beat… We were… Guh… entirely annihilated," the thug was able to mutter before passing out.
"Well, time to start breaking you guys," Meiko hummed happily.
"Huh!?" a thug, who was still conscious, reeled back as he saw Meiko approach.
"I won't be showing any mercy," she smirked.
"Aaaah!"
"She's dislocating the losers' joints again," Piko commented.
"Everyone's so used to it now, seeing that they're watching in delight," Gakupo remarked, glancing at the overjoyed crowd.
"W-What the hell…? T-This is fucking crazy!" the last remaining thug exclaimed as he backed away.
"Oh, you're still conscious, so I'd like you to bend into a more complex shape," Meiko demanded of him.
"P-Please spare me!" the thug begged.
"You want to be spared? Then I'll give you a chance. I'll forgive you if you can make me smile with a good joke," she requested. Meiko must have been getting bored with just punishing them.
"A-A joke!?" the thug looked at her with a confused expression. Or I think he was confused; it was a bit hard to tell when his face was so distorted with fear.
"Don't shut your mouth or tell me that it's impossible. You'll end up making me even madder. Fufufufu," Meiko gave him a malicious grin.
"H-Hiii! This's scary as hell! You're totally evil!" he accused her.
"She's a complete sadist because her enemies came at her as a group instead of fighting fairly," Neru pointed out.
"Come on, tell me a joke," Meiko insisted.
"C-Could I tell you an American joke!?" the thug asked desperately.
"Oh, I like your spirit." Meiko gave him her approval.
"Velcro, what a rip off!" he exclaimed.
"…I'll start with your left arm. Relax," Meiko stated nonchalantly.
"Ugyaaaaaaaaaaa!"
The crowd cheered.
With everything settled, the men were stacked up into a big pile.
"Fufu, they're stacked up nicely," Meiko nodded with approval.
"Meiko. This is just scary," I told her straightforwardly. It was a tower made of people, for pete's sake.
"Hm… I guess this is a bit unsightly." With one quick twist of her body, she kicked the pile of thugs into the river. "You sure took your time coming, Len!" Meiko stated passive aggressively. "You're my underling, so be quick, okay?"
"Underling… How long is the contract good for?" I asked.
"Fufu. I'll never revoke it. You'll be my underling forever," she replied with a wry grin on her face. She came near me and patted my head.
"W-We'll be late unless we get going," I told her, embarrassed by the way she was treating me.
"…One second!" Meiko briskly dashed off towards a group of her fangirls. They immediately started squealing in delight as she approached them. It was practically impossible to hear her with all that noise.
"She's going after girls again…" I sighed and returned to the group.
"Kuh…! Why is Meiko so popular?!" Gakupo bit his bottom lip in frustration.
"She's strong, she's a beauty, and she treats all the girls like they're some princess," I summarized it for him.
Meiko came along, looking contented. "Did you see that, guys? I was able to get another date with a cute girl~" she mused.
"Come on, Meiko!" Gakupo started protesting immediately.
"You're taking too many cute girls for yourself! At least leave some for me," Gakupo suggested.
"No way. If you want a girl, go get one yourself," she told him. "Oh, but I'll take her away if she's cute. Fufu."
"You're so forceful," I remarked.
"It's a real waste for a beautiful woman to like other women," Gakupo stated.
"Hey now. That doesn't mean I like girls by nature. It's just that I can't find any worthy guy around me, so I have to make do with girls," she replied.
"I don't think anyone who matches your standards even exist," I pointed out.
"Nobody tries to make an appeal to you because they think it's impossible," Piko added in.
"Hm? Is that fool not here?" Meiko asked as she glanced around.
"Kaito's like always," I answered.
"Well then. Look at the time. Let's go to school." Meiko said unenthusiastically.
The crowd must have known that it was getting late, as they were starting to leave as well. There are five people in our group now with the addition of the only upperclassman in our group, Meiko.
"We're halfway through April. Are you guys familiar with your new classes now?" Meiko asked us.
"We went on a vacation to Kyoto with the new classmates during spring break, after all," I told her.
"That orientation is a good event." She nodded.
"The athlete types can get along after one night together," Piko commented.
"You found gaming buddies too, right?" Gakupo asked him. "Something about crying to some game's scenario and whatnot."
"Yeah. I'm glad that I found gaming buddies," Piko said.
"I'm glad to you know that you guys are doing well," Meiko stated.
"How about your new class, Meiko?" I asked her.
"There're a lot of cute girls, so things look delightful," she hummed happily.
"Please introduce me to them. I beg you from the bottom of my heart!" Gakupo requested.
"They're all mine. I refuse from the bottom of my heart," she turned him down.
"I have to quickly do something about her…" Gakupo muttered under his breath, as if Meiko was a large obstacle for him.
"Are you alone as always, Neru?" Meiko turned and asked her.
"Solitude is the best," she answered with a thumbs-up.
"You're a lonely wolf," Meiko commented.
"She's continuing to be a hopeless girl," I said with a sigh.
"I don't care about anything else as long as I have everyone here plus two more," Neru declared, referring to the two absent people in our group.
"That's your ideology, huh?" Gakupo said.
"You know a difficult word. You're really smart," Neru remarked.
"Hahah," Gakupo grinned proudly.
"That was sarcasm," Piko told him.
We continued to chat like this and soon reached the Toyokawa Bridge. On the other side of the bridge was Crypton Academy. This bridge was also known as the Bridge of Oddities.
"Birdy~" a short blonde boy hummed. He had bandages wrapped around one side of his face and a sailor cap on his head. His appearance by itself stuck out, but the fact that he was sitting on top of a bag that was floating in mid-air added onto that.
"Hey, hey. Don't go drifting into the road," a guy with silver hair tied into a similar style as mine, advised the boy. The fact that the boy was floating didn't seem to bother him.
"A small bird is flying. It's pretty," the boy replied, as if he was in his own little world.
"The road has cars so it's dangerous. Doing dangerous things is restricted," he told him sternly.
"Road kill!" the bandaged boy remarked.
"Saying dangerous things out of the blue is also restricted!" he shouted.
The bridge was named this way because of the unique students that would go across here to get to school.
"Ohohoho!" a distant laugh approached as well as a powerful gust of wind.
"The biggest weirdo is coming. Don't look at her," I told the group.
A rickshaw that was moving as fast as a bicycle came by.
"Good morning, commoners!" a girl who was standing proudly on the rickshaw greeted loudly. She had long hair with a questionable color. The left side of her hair was yellow while the other half was a light brown, and she had highlights that resembled a rainbow. She wasn't wearing the school uniform, but rather an open white jacket over a black shirt and a white skirt, and she also had a small gold crown located on top of her head. "I am Shibasaki(8) Galaco! Engrave this glorious sight into your eyes!" she announced.
"You're so wonderful, Galaco-sama!" the boy who was pulling the rickshaw complimented. He had long cobalt hair that was tied into a low bunch, and he wore a black butler suit instead of the school uniform.
They darted past us and continued diligently towards the school.
"I'm really glad that I'm not in the same class as her," Neru said the moment they were gone.
"But it's still painful that she's in the same grade," Gakupo said.
"She sure knows how to leave an impression though," Piko pointed out. The strong gust of wind didn't originate from the fast pace of the rickshaw, but the girl's ability to control wind.
"There are so many potential opponents at this school," Meiko commented with a grin. "That butler was pretty impressive, too."
"We can tell that he's no ordinary person after seeing him pull a rickshaw at the speed of a bicycle," Piko remarked.
After the loud people disappeared, we crossed the bridge. To the left side was the Shinshiro metropolitan area, and up the hill that was straight ahead was Crypton Academy.
"Good morning, everyone!" a lively voice called out to us.
"Oh, my little sister is here," Meiko said as the person jogged towards us.
"Yo," Neru greeted, raising her hand slightly.
"Morning," I greeted Sakine(9) Teto, who came running over. She was wearing the school P.E uniform, which was a white t-shirt and blue shorts. She had magenta color hair tied into two drill like tails on both sides.
"Yo, Terrier," Gakupo greeted her.
"Good morning, Terrier," Piko greeted as well.
"I saw a bunch of unconscious people drifting down the river. Was that you, Onee-sama?" Teto asked Meiko. Obviously not minding the nickname she was being called by.
"Yeah. They were boring opponents," Meiko told her.
"You really are amazing!" Teto flattered her.
"Terrier, were you out on a jog today?" Gakupo inquired.
"Yeah. I usually have weights on me, but to make up for it I went all the way to the Shinshiro metropolis along the river," Teto stated.
"You ran to the edge of town yesterday too. You're so energetic…" Piko said.
"I have to exercise a lot, after all! Because I want to be able to eat as much bread as I want, and also because I have ways to go before I can match, Onee-sama!" Teto explained.
"Isn't she admirable? She's my prized little sister," Meiko said proudly and patted her head.
"That's flattering," Teto said bashfully.
"She's on sale for a hundred trillion yen," Meiko declared.
"Eh? Am I going to be sold? N-No way…" Teto said in a discouraged tone.
"I'm joking. And even if someone did pay, I'd just take their money and not sell you," Meiko reassured her.
"As expected from Onee-sama~ You're so strong and wonderful!" Teto remarked. "I'm eventually going to be as strong as you!" she proclaimed. What she had said was basically impossible since Meiko was that strong because she was a Holder.
"Two of her? Give me a break." I rolled my eyes.
"Hm? I can't let that comment go, Len." Meiko quickly assumed position behind me and squeezed my head between her arms.
"Ow, that hurts! My vision is blurring!" I exclaimed. The pain wasn't intense, but simply uncomfortable. Meiko knows when to hold back her strength.
"I'm a kind master because I don't make you carry my bag, right?" Meiko questioned.
"Yeah, yeah!" I quickly gave in.
"Huh? Kaito isn't here," Teto noticed.
"We don't know where he is," I told her after Meiko finally released me from her grip.
"Well, that's just like always," Teto shrugged.
Teto joined us on our way to school. Diligently jogging by herself.
"Let's not train while we're walking," Gakupo requested. Teto jogging by herself amongst a walking group really looked out of place.
"I train whenever I have the time to," Teto responded.
"It's embarrassing for us to walk with a girl who's rigorously jogging," Piko said.
"You're so self-conscious. That's why you're never going to get a girlfriend," Teto told him.
"What does that have to do with anything?!" Piko exclaimed.
"If I keep exercising like this, not only would I be able to indulge myself in bread as much as I want, but my body will grow to be like Onee-sama's as well," Teto stated.
"Do you want to match her figure too?" I asked, raising an eyebrow as I did.
"Yeah! Onee-sama is practically my goal in everything!" she answered. "To start off, I'm going to drink milk at lunch!"
"But it's still impossible," I told her.
"Are you picking a fight, Len? Do you wanna fight?" Teto asked. She must have thought that I doubted her determination.
"But you're…" I glanced at Meiko again. Her firm body had no unnecessary fat, and she had graceful legs and a slim waist. She's not one of the most beautiful girls at the school for nothing. I'm sure numerous guys would have hit on her if she wasn't also the strongest person at the school.
"Why are you staring at me, Len?" Meiko locked my head in her arm again.
"Nuaaaa, I just think it's impossible for Terrier," I told her.
"What!? Don't take me lightly! I'm going to have the perfect S line figure that rivals Onee-sama one day, and have someone tell me some cheesy pick up line that compliments my busty body!" Teto declared.
"Hahahahahaha." Piko started laughing.
"Nice gag! You pass!" Neru gave Teto her approval.
"Oh, Neru liked it! Hahaha." Gakupo joined in the laughter.
"Don't laugh, you idiots! I'm serious!" Teto exclaimed.
"No, that was pretty funny. Hahaha." I chuckled.
"C-Come on…" Teto's previous demeanor started to falter.
"You're a comedic character. Fufu." Neru said.
"Don't laugh…" Teto's voice began to tremble. She was starting to cry.
"There, there. Pat, pat." Meiko comforted Teto and patted her head.
"Ehehehe." Meiko's action made Teto smile blissfully. After Teto settled down, she came back at us. "I'm going to beat you guys up because you were all getting carried away! Physically, of course! I challenge you!" Teto declared.
"You guys. I'll take you on if you tease her too much," Meiko informed us.
Feeling that we had gone too far, I decided to apologize to her. "I'm sorry, Terrier. Cheer up."
"All that's on my mind is punching you!" Teto stated firmly.
"Oh, then punch Gakupo first because his name comes first alphabetically," I told her.
"Hey, Len!" Before Gakupo could argue, he was quickly assaulted.
"Baguette attack!" Teto kicked him square in the chest.
"Big sister assist!" Meiko joined in and uppercutted him. Meiko had held back, but her attacks still packed a punch.
"Owwwww!" Gakupo grunted in pain.
"You're so popular, Gakupo," Piko chuckled.
We were loud, but nobody cared since this was nothing new.
We eventually arrived at the school gate.
"We barely made it," I said as we walked through the gate.
"See you guys. Study hard, youngsters." Meiko, the only third-year student in our group, said and went to Building A where her class was. The five of us headed to Building B where our class was.
"…" Neru had fallen silent since we had entered the school premises.
"But I didn't think we'd all get in the same class," Piko said as we were walking down the hallway.
"It's the first time. We were all in different classes in middle school," Gakupo mentioned.
"Hmhm~" Teto, who had changed back into her school uniform in the locker room, hummed happily as she ran lightly and opened the classroom door. "Good morning!" she addressed everyone.
We were in Class 2-F, which was said to be a collection of troublesome students.
"Good morning," I greeted energetically, following Teto's example.
"Good mornin'!" a petite girl with long light blonde hair greeted us back. She had on a black headband with cat ears attached to it.
"I watched what happened this morning. Meiko-senpai was breathtaking today too," Lily commented.
"I'm worried that she may go too far," I remarked.
After briefly talking with others, I walked over to my desk by the window.
"…" Neru, who was sitting next to me, was in her reading mode. She was reading Ryotaro Shiba's historical novel.
"Alrighty." Teto, who sat in front of me, opened her bag. She had this gleeful expression on her face as she pulled out a small bag of mini baguettes. "Munch, munch." She merrily ripped pieces off the bread and tossed them into her mouth.
"You sure do like bread, Teto," the girl with cat ears, whose name was SeeU, commented.
"Of course! My goal is to eat a lot, sleep a lot, and exercise a lot," Teto told her.
"Did you do your homework?" SeeU asked.
"I'm ready to copy yours, Class Rep!" Teto responded.
"Geez, you have to do it yourself," SeeU scolded her.
"You should walk to school with us once in a while, Kuo," I talked to the person behind me.
"You don't need to talk to me," Mikuo replied.
"This is more like a habit of mine," I admitted.
"Hah, what a diligent guy you are," he remarked.
The bell rang, so everyone stopped talking.
"Everyone. Hiyama-sensei's coming," SeeU informed the class.
"Crap, that's my manga. Hide it, hide it!" Piko said in a panicked tone.
"Terrier, your bread is still on your desk," I pointed out to her.
"Oh, that was close. Thanks," Teto delicately placed the mini baguettes back into her bag.
Stern footsteps could be heard from the hallway.
"The teacher is here!" SeeU announced. Everybody sat up straight at the class representative's signal.
Moments later a tall man with dark brown hair wearing a formal suit and blue tie entered the classroom.
"It's time for the morning homeroom," he said as he walked to the front of the class.
"Stand up! Bow!" SeeU instructed.
Everyone greeted him energetically.
"Good morning! You may sit down." We took our seats. "I will take attendance. Reply right away after you hear your name," he stated.
Nobody was stupid enough to talk.
"Akita Neru."
"Here."
"Utatane Piko."
"Here!"
"Good reply," Hiyama-sensai nodded in approval. "Kagamine Len."
"Here!"
He took the roll call quickly and finished swiftly.
"This ends the roll call," the teacher declared. As soon as he shut the attendance book, the backdoor of the classroom swung open, revealing a heavily panting red haired boy.
"Haa… haa… haa, Shion Akaito here!" the boy announced, out of breath. He had the same last name as Kaito, but they were in no way related.
"Wow… he's out of his mind to show up right now," Lily whispered barely audibly.
"Amen," Piko muttered in condolence.
"H-Hiyama-sensei. Did I make it?" Akaito asked nervously.
"I have already taken attendance," Hiyama-sensei replied, raising the closed attendance book as if to show that he was indeed done. "This means that you're late, Shion Akaito." For some reason, the teacher's word sent a shiver down everyone's spines. Hiyama Kiyoteru, our homeroom teacher, despite his pleasant appearing demeanor, he was well known for his strict personality.
"I-I'm sorry!" Akaito pleaded.
"I'll listen to any excuse you may have." The teacher gave Akaito a chance.
"U-Um, it was really late when I woke up, so…" Akaito started to explain.
"So you slept in. Then there are no grounds for extenuating circumstances." The teacher flicked his wrist upwards, throwing a piece of chalk into the air. It spun momentarily before abruptly bolting towards Akaito, bursting into a cloud of dust as it collided against his forehead.
"Gyaaa! It hurts!" Akaito cried out in agony as he groveled in pain on the floor.
"After you've finished writhing in pain, you can do push-ups till homeroom ends," Hiyama-sensei instructed him. "Let this be a lesson to everybody else as well. This is the kind of punishment appropriate for someone who would disturb communal life," the teacher told the class. A nervous silence settled over the classroom for a moment until Hiyama-sensei clapped his hands together. "Okay! Then here are this week's announcements. There will be a morning assembly on Wednesday, and a human power measurement on Thursday." He glanced around the class briefly. "Sakine Teto. Please repeat what I just said," he told her.
"Okay! There will be a morning assembly on Wednesday, and a human power measurement on Thursday!" Teto repeated his words exactly.
"Good. This ends morning homeroom," Hiyama-sensei stated. "You can stop now, Shion."
"… Ugugugu," Akaito grunted as he got up.
"If you're late again without an excuse, I shall use more than just chalk to punish you," the teacher warned him.
"I-I'll be careful," Akaito muttered hesitantly.
"Alright then." Hiyama-sensei left the classroom with his back straight.
The whole classroom instantly relaxed.
"…Phew." Lily let out a sigh of relief.
"That was a rowdy homeroom," I remarked after everything settled down.
"Let me copy your homework, Len," Teto turned around and requested.
"It'll be 300 yen," I demanded.
"What's with that price I can afford? It should be free!" she demanded.
"Have the Class Rep show it to you," I said.
"She didn't show it to me… She scolded me instead." She looked dejected. "I thought she'd show it to me every day."
"You're too impudent," I told her.
"Can I see yours, Neru?" Teto shifted towards her.
"Here you go. Look at it all you want," Neru opened up her notebook for Teto.
"Yes!" Teto cheered happily.
"You're too indulgent, Neru," I pointed out.
"I don't mind if it's Terrier." She shrugged.
"What do you think about this yutori(10) education?" I turned around to ask the person behind me.
"Who cares? Don't bring me into the conversation," Mikuo responded coldly. He was a good guy since he still replied to me.
Crypton Academy was a private school. It was Shinshiro City's exemplary school, and the only school in Japan that also taught Holders, people with special abilities. For example, Meiko had her enhanced physical abilities. Galaco, and her control over wind. And the sailor hat boy who was floating in mid-air. Those were the types of Holders that you'd see in this academy. There was a 1 out of 1,000,000 chance for a person to be born as a Holder, and I was one of them. However, my power wasn't even worth mentioning. There were some unimpressive powers amongst Holders out there, like, making one's body light up brightly, changing one's skin color, etc. My ability was part of that unimpressive bunch, thus the reason why I've kept my ability a secret ever since the 4th grade. My childhood friends also agreed to keep silent about it.
The school rules were lax to value individuality, and there were unique events and classes. It was pretty good academically, and there were a lot of students since normal kids could enroll as well, as long as they had decent grades. There were no midterms, so the finals were crucial. We got Saturdays and Sundays off, and we were allowed to have part-time jobs. And as a feature of this school, there was the 'duel' system, but I'll talk about that later. The only intimidating person was our teacher, Hiyama-sensei, but I tried to take all classes seriously.
"Zzz…"
Idiot Teto was asleep, but I'll leave her alone.
-It was lunch time
"Uwoooo! Start dash!" Gakupo rushed out of the classroom the instant the bell rang.
"Hey, Gakupo! Don't jump the gun!" Akaito chased after him.
The people who eat cafeteria food run to the battlefield (cafeteria).
"Are you going to eat here today?" Piko asked me.
"Yeah. I had Terrier buy me bread in the morning when she went on her jog," I told him.
"It's from a bakery I always go to, Bakery Rucsty. I love how their bread is crispy like a pie. There aren't any additives, and the bakery-made custard in the cream bread is great!" Teto told us enthusiastically.
"Wow. I don't think I've heard about that bakery around here," Piko remarked.
"It's in the Chausuyama district. I went there first thing in the morning," Teto said and pulled out her own lunch. "I'll eat my bread too~"
"Sweet lunch," Neru said as she took out her food as well.
"Woah, your lunch is only junk food again." Teto glanced at Neru's lunch anxiously. "I'm surprised you never gain weight from always eating like this."
"I have a high metabolism," Neru shrugged as if it wasn't a big deal.
The ones eating in the classroom took it easy and moved their desks together.
"Oh, what is that? The color is so pretty," Lily said as she admired SeeU's lunch.
"It's grated radish omelette. It's healthy," SeeU explained.
Everyone was enjoying lunch.
"There's pollen in the large area of the Kanto region…" the announcer on the TV spoke. We were allowed to watch the news on TV during lunch.
"I wish there'd be some interesting news," Teto said as she opened her second serving of milk.
"And next on the news… A man who did not pay his bill at an ice cream parlor in the Fukaya district, Saitama prefecture was caught by a male student who happened to be there. According to the investigation, the man has committed similar offences nearby. The man was also wearing stolen goods, so the police are investigating for further crimes."
"They said a male student apprehended the guy. I wonder if he's handsome," Lily commented in curiosity.
"That takes courage to do. He must be amazing," SeeU remarked.
"The male student who apprehended the criminal is Shion Kaito from Shinshiro City, Aichi prefecture. He says that he went after the guy out of anger because the man had taken the last scoop of ice cream that he wanted…"
"Buh!" Neru gracefully dodged the milk Teto spurted out. "Oh, I'm sorry. I choked," Teto apologized and wiped her mouth.
"There wasn't much damage. More importantly…" Neru glanced back up at the TV, which was now displaying an image of our childhood friend. His azure colored hair really stuck out on the screen.
"Hey! Is that Kaito on TV!?" Lily turned to ask us.
"…It has to be him," Piko chuckled.
"He's on TV now, huh?" I said.
"He upgraded from the newspaper. But I'm sure this will be in the newspaper too," Neru stated.
"The reason Kaito went after the guy is just like him…" Piko remarked.
"Seeing that he didn't call us, he doesn't seem to be aware of what he did," Neru pointed out.
"I hope he's not causing too much trouble for the cops," I said worriedly.
"I wonder if he's demanding free food in return," Teto said.
"That's more in your line of thinking," I told her.
"What!? Do you want to fight?" Teto raised her fist at me.
"Just wipe up the milk," I brushed off her threat.
Piko lowered his phone and shook his head. "Nope, Kaito's not answering."
"I'm sure he'll come back eventually," I said reassuringly.
One of our childhood friends, Shion Kaito, was too free a man.
…
The afternoon classes and homeroom ended.
"Let's go to our club," Piko said after our homeroom teacher left.
"All right. We're so diligent every day," I commented and grabbed my bag.
"Then let's go home," Gakupo said as he came along.
The members of the 'go-home club' started our club activity, Neru tagged along.
As we left the school building, Neru stopped midway. "I'm going to the dojo today," she notified us.
"Oh, you're going to your club for once? Good luck," Piko told her.
Neru was part of the Judo club, which she decided to join during middle school. She started to do the sport mainly because of the bullying she received in the past. She wanted to know a form of self-defense and chose Judo.
"At least greet the people there, okay? Say hello," Gakupo said.
She nodded briskly and strolled off. We continued out of school without Neru and soon reached the Oddities Bridge.
"But it sucks that we're going home in a group of three guys," Gakupo complained.
"You're always talking about girls, Gakupo," Piko remarked.
"I want a woman. Don't you think so too, Len?" Gakupo questioned me.
I shrugged. "It would depend on the girl," I replied. "For example, let's say you get impatient and start going out with a girl with spending habits. She would suck every penny out of you and leave for another man."
"Yeah, I'll have her suck me dry," Gakupo said disturbingly.
"I think you've got it wrong," Piko sweatdropped.
"…Well, with that aside. What about Teto, Gakupo?" I asked.
"I'm not interested in loving a dog," Gakupo replied.
"That's a strong comment," Piko said.
"What about Neru?" I asked instead.
"Neru would get mad if you say that…" Piko mentioned.
"She's obsessed with you. I don't have any feelings for her," Gakupo answered. "I'm a nice guy, so I need someone with a nice body who would suit me."
I pondered about it for a bit. "I can't grasp her personality, but there's a cute first-year student at the dorm," I told him.
"I'm not interested in first-year students. I need a girl in the same grade or older," he stated.
"And you're constantly getting dumped by anyone you confess too," Piko pointed out.
"What about you, Piko? What do you think about real women instead of 2D girls?" Gakupo asked him.
"I like 2D as 2D, but there are times when I want a girlfriend…" he admitted.
"Then you have to look at women in the eyes when you talk to them," Gakupo advised him.
"Ugh. I'm not used to it outside of the girls in our group… So it's embarrassing," Piko told us.
"I guess we still have a long ways to go," I said.
We soon reached the front of the dorms.
"See ya. I'm going to go to the gym now and do some practice swings," Gakupo waved and went ahead.
"I'm going to go play a game. See you tomorrow," Piko said his farewell as well and went down the other path.
"Bye. I guess I'll read the novel I borrowed from the library," I waved back at them and headed inside. "Oh, yeah. I have to get a part-time job in preparation for the summer," I suddenly remembered.
"Welcome back, Len," Gakuko greeted me as I entered the dorm. "Hm? Something on your mind?" She noticed that I was deep in thought.
"I was wondering if my parents were doing well on the road. And I'm hoping that they'll send me more money," I told her.
"I hear that they're wonderful parents," Gakuko mentioned.
"Yeah. They asked me if I wanted to go overseas as well, but I didn't really want to go to another country," I stated.
"Overseas? That's good. Journeys aren't bad." Gakuko nodded to herself. "Oh, right, Len. Kaito…" she started to say.
"I know. I saw the news. He caught the guy who didn't pay his bill, right?" I cut her off. "Man, what could he be doing now?" I wondered out loud and went to my room.
"Oh, welcome home, Len," Kaito greeted me. He had already returned to the dorm, and he was eating green onion ramen in my room. "Man, it took a long time before the cops released me. Here, have a souvenir." He handed me a green onion cracker.
"Cops, huh? Does that kind of thing take a long time?" I asked and sat down next to him.
"I told them that Saitama is a nice place, and they got so happy that they told me about how great it was," Kaito told me.
"Why were you in Saitama?" I inquired.
"A person at my work is from Saitama, and he would talk about staple goods like green onions and beef like it was awesome food," he explained. "He also said they had green onion flavored ice cream, so I went out like the wind during the weekend."
"So in the end, you went there for the ice cream?" I concluded.
"Who wouldn't? Ice cream is the greatest creation ever made!" he declared.
"Anyone normal wouldn't travel across the country just for ice cream," I remarked.
"You'd enjoy ice cream a lot more if you came with me sometimes," Kaito suggested.
"I'll pass," I declined.
Kaito shrugged and continued eating his ramen.
"Oh, crap. It's time for work," Kaito abruptly said and put down his bowl of ramen. He grabbed a bag full of green onions and got up.
"What's with those green onions?" I asked curiously.
"The ice cream shop's owner's wife gave them to me as a souvenir and to show her gratitude," he explained. "I'll give you the rest of the ramen. See ya!" Kaito left in a hurry.
"Man. The room's filled with the smell of the ramen," I complained to no one in particular. But the smell sure was appetizing. I glanced inside the bowl. "There's only the soup left!"
-Outside of the dorm
"Oh…" Yukari was coming home from school.
"Welcome back. You're Haratori living on the second floor, right?" Kaito greeted her at the front of the dorm.
"N-No. I'm Yuzuki Yukari," she clarified.
"Oh, was that it? I'm sorry. Here, I'll give you some green onions to make amends." He took a few out of the bag and handed them to her.
"…Eh? For me?" she gave him a puzzled look.
"Ciao!" Kaito jogged off quickly.
"…Um. H-How should I respond in a case like this…?" Yukari pondered. "…Oh, he's already gone." She finally noticed. "But I received these green onions… Someone gave me a present. I did it, Usasagari!" she raised her stuffed bunny in front of her.
"You did it, Yukacchi! Keep at it!" the doll spoke back to her.
"Okay!" she nodded enthusiastically.
"… What are you talking to yourself for?" Gakuko, who was hanging up laundry outside the dorm, asked.
"Huh!?" Yukari was startled by her sudden appearance. "Uh, uhm… It's nothing! G-Good bye!" she hurriedly rushed into the dorms.
"Both of the girls at the dorm sure are eccentric," Gakuko commented and went back to hanging the laundry.
…
After dinner, I took a bath. Thanks to Shinshiro City's deep subterranean development and the excavation of hot springs, this dorm had hot spring water. Even Meiko and Terrier came here from time to time to take a bath. But the women's bath was on the second floor and the men's bath was on the first floor. So incidents you might expect never do happen…
"Well, time to take a bath," Neru said nonchalantly as she entered the male's bath.
"Hey," I called out to her.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I came into the wrong one," she made an excuse.
"You saw me come in here. But I don't care since I haven't taken my clothes off yet!" I told her. We were still in the changing room.
"Tch." She clicked her tongue and went back upstairs. It's unfair how the girls can go wherever they want in the dorms. But guys can't go up to the second floor without permission from the girls, or they'll be dragged through the city and be expelled (I heard it really did happen before).
…The day ends.
Going to school, studying and playing… Busy days. I never thought that these days would get even more boisterous.
CHAPTER END
A/N – I hope you guys enjoyed the first chapter of this remake. A decent amount of effort was used to allow you, the readers, to get a better feel for each and every character's personality, thus the reason why this chapter came out so long. A reasonable amount of research was also required to give the story more of a "this is taking place in Japan" kind of vibe. This is only the first chapter so I'll end the A/N here.
Keywords (Use Ctrl+F and type in the number as you read for more convenience)
(1)Futon – A futon is a traditional Japanese bedding consisting of padded mattresses and quilts pliable enough to be folded and stored away during the day.
(2)Natto – Fermented soy beans. When eating natto, place it in a bowl and season with some soysauce. Add various toppings if you would like and stir well.
(3)Holder – As explained later in the chapter, Holders are people with a special ability.
(4)STR 95/INT 95 – Len and Gakupo are making game references where STR means Strength, and INT means Intelligence.
(5)Weekly Shonen Jump – This is a weekly shonen manga anthology published in Japan.
(6)BL – In Japan, BL is the modern term for "Shounen Ai", definition meaning "Boys love".
(7)Aniki – A Japanese honorable term for an older brother or a superior.
(8)Shibasaki – Galaco does not have a 'surname' like many other Vocaloids, so I'll be following a rule where any Vocaloid without a surname will use the surname of the voice actor that provided their vocals.
(9)Sakine Teto – I know her name is Kasane Teto, but I had to change this to make Meiko and Teto related.
(10)Yutori Education –This is a Japanese education policy which reduces the hours and the content of the curriculum in primary education. In recent years, the mass media in Japan have used this phrase to criticize drops in scholastic ability.
Special thanks to Troubled Windchimes for proofreading this.