"My first goal is to become friends with everyone. So, once introductions are done, I'd love for you all to share your contact info with me!"
Unlike the others, her introduction drags on. Looking at it objectively, it's hard to believe someone with such an ugly core could pull this off. Even the main character was fooled for a while.
'I wonder how much time and effort it took to craft that persona. No doubt about it, psychopaths are terrifying.'
"So, after school or during breaks, I want to make all sorts of memories with everyone. Feel free to invite me to tons of events! Anyway, I've talked long enough, so I'll wrap up my introduction here."
No surprise, her performance has already won over most of the class. I'm the obvious exception.
With that, the introductions continue.
In the novel, it was said each first-year class had 40 students, but from what I read, only 25 students in Class D were named. So, a bunch of students introducing themselves now are ones I never encountered in the novel. You could call them variables I need to account for. I'm guessing they weren't highlighted because they don't have notable backgrounds. At least, I hope so—otherwise, it'd be a real pain.
After that, the rest of the students follow suit, one by one.
I'm a bit surprised that no one's complained so far and everyone's joined in willingly. But we're getting to the row with two people I'm not so sure will cooperate.
It's now the turn of the first seat in the last row.
The guy in that seat is a tall, fairly good-looking teen with brown hair. His nonchalant, lazy gaze gives off a carefree vibe. Most would see him as passive and introverted, but to me, he's the person with the most potential in this class—maybe even the whole school.
To put it plainly, he's the novel's main character.
"Uh, well, I'm Ayanokōji Kiyotaka. And, uh, I don't really have any special skills or anything. I'll do my best to get along with everyone. That's, uh, nice to meet you."
'A bland, awkward introduction—something only he could pull off.'
Like a breeze that comes and goes, his moment is instantly forgotten.
Next up is his neighbor, one of the two people I'm doubting will play along.
She's a young teen with long black hair and a slim but striking figure that marks her as a beauty. She's seated, reading a book, completely ignoring that it's her turn.
One second of waiting turns into two, then three, stretching to ten. Soon, the entire class's attention is on her.
I'm not surprised. It'd be more shocking if she didn't act like this.
'A real problem child.'
In the novel, her closed-off demeanor started to shift as the year went on, but I'm not waiting that long.
"Ayanokōji-san's neighbor? I believe it's your turn to introduce introduce yourself."
Though delayed, my voice seems to get her attention.
She pulls her eyes from her book and glares at me, as if I'm bothering her. I don't back down, meeting her gaze head-on.
After a minute of silent standoff, she finally speaks. "Does it matter if I refuse to participate?"
"We'll be spending a whole year together. Not knowing even your name wouldn't be very friendly, would it?"
Her glare softens for a moment as she sighs. She closes her book and stands.
"I'm Horikita Suzune. As for my aspirations or passions, I don't see how they'd be useful to you, so I won't bother sharing. You won't find talking to me very interesting. Feel free to ignore me. Are you satisfied?"
That last line's directed at me, and I nod in approval.
Others might find her introduction cold and distant, but I'm honestly shocked she even bothered. I expected more pushback.
'Looks like I've got some influence. That's a good sign.'
Horikita sits back down and resumes reading, ignoring the mixed looks from the class.
The introductions continue until they wrap up.
Now it's the final student's turn.
He's a tough-looking guy with an out-of-place hairstyle and dyed red hair. He's got a sturdy, muscular build and is tall for his age. His style—top shirt buttons undone, sleeves rolled up—screams wild and aggressive.
"What're you all staring at? Are we kids or something? I'm not introducing myself. Leave me out of this. Got it?"
The delinquent-looking guy glares at the class.
"Hey, dude, don't act tough. Just introduce yourself so we can move on."
A brown-haired guy with bangs over his right eye, seated in front of the delinquent, speaks up. Earlier, he introduced himself as Ike Kanji, a named character from the novel.
"What's childish about getting to know each other?"
This time, it's a girl with long blonde hair tied in a ponytail.
Her name's Karuizawa Kei, a major character in later volumes of the series.
"No one's forcing you, but I don't think getting along with classmates is a bad thing."
Hirata chimes in, trying to calm things down as he does best.
But…
"Shut up! I don't give a damn. I didn't come here to make friends."
The red-haired guy doubles down, clearly not interested in connecting with anyone.
You guessed it—he's the second person I doubted would cooperate. And unlike Horikita, he's acting more or less as I expected.
"Dear classmates, please."
I draw the class's attention, urging them to settle down.
"As Hirata-san said, there's no obligation to introduce yourself. If he thinks building friendships is pointless, that's his choice."
I know better than anyone that forcing him is useless.
'With guys like him, the more you push, the hotter he gets.'
"However, I still believe it's important to get to know each other. So, I'll introduce him in his place."
My words catch everyone off guard, even the delinquent. He plays it off like he doesn't care, probably thinking I only know his name at most. Too bad for him—I know more.
"His name's Sudō Ken. He puts minimal effort into studies and is known for his hot temper. His passion is basketball, and he dreams of going pro someday. And though he seems fierce on the outside, he's actually…"
"What the hell!"
I'm cut off by the delinquent, who I just introduced as Sudō Ken.
"Where'd you get that crap about me? Do we know each other?"
His tone's threatening, but I'm not fazed. Between my actual age and this body's sky-high confidence, I'm unfazed.
"Don't you find your words a bit inconsistent, Sudō-kun?"
"What're you talking about?"
"Just minutes ago, you brushed off our invitation, but now you're demanding answers from me. Isn't that contradictory?"
"You little… Who do you think you are?!"
Fuming, Sudō starts closing in on me, his glare dark and menacing.
"Chill, dude!"
Ike steps in, trying to stop him and calm him down, but it backfires, only pissing Sudō off more.
"Get out of my way!"
Sudō shoves Ike, who stumbles back into his seat. After that, no one dares step in, leaving Sudō a clear path to me.
Me?
I'm still not rattled. I stand my ground as Sudō reaches me.
In a quick, rough move, he grabs my collar. I could've stopped him, but that'd defeat the point of what I'm trying to do.
"So, Mr. 'I'm better than everyone,' who do you think you are, huh?"
He tightens his grip.
'What a messy situation…'
Hirata, unable to stand by, starts to get up, but I signal him with a hand to stay put.
"Sudō-san, it's not wise to attack me like this. Our sensei just said the school doesn't tolerate bullying. The way this looks, you're not exactly in the clear. If something's wrong with the introduction I gave, you can correct it by introducing yourself. What do you say?"
He keeps gripping my collar for a bit but finally lets go.
"Screw you. I'm out of here."
I fix my wrinkled clothes, and as Sudō grabs his bag to leave, I call out, "Sudō-san."
"What do you want?"
I bow to him.
"Please accept my apologies if I offended you. That was never my intent. I hope this doesn't sour our relationship."
"You done?"
"I'd like you to stay a bit longer with us."
"Is that an order?"
"Far from it. I'm about to make another suggestion to the class, and it'd be great if you stuck around to share your opinion."
"Tsk."
With a click of his tongue as his reply, Sudō heads back to his seat.
'As I thought, humility's a strong weapon against hotheads, but this body doesn't seem to like it…'
"Thank you, Sudō-kun."
After saying that, I straighten up and face the class again.
"Thank you, dear classmates, for taking the time to introduce yourselves. I look forward to getting to know you better throughout the year. Now, before we head to the entrance ceremony, I have one last suggestion. I'd like us to elect our class representative right now. Sensei didn't deny it needs to be done, leaving it up to us. What do you think?"
"I'm on board. Better to get it done now so we can focus on studies later."
The speaker's a guy with gray hair and round glasses. His name's Yukimura Teruhiko, another named character.
"Okay, but how do we do it?"
Ike asks.
"Let anyone who wants to be our representative step forward, and then we'll vote by a show of hands."
I suggest.
A simple, quick, and straightforward method.
"W-will Kōenji-kun be running too?"
The shy Inogashira asks.
'Will I run? Of course—why else go through all this?'
"I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to be representative. But don't feel pressured just because I suggested it. The class's choice is what matters."
With that, I wait for any candidates to step up. But seconds tick by, and no one moves.
"Is something wrong?"
I ask, glancing at Hirata and Kushida, who I thought would throw their hats in.
"For me, there's no need to vote when the perfect person for the role is already a candidate."
Hirata says.
Judging by the class's reaction, they agree.
I turn to Sudō.
"Should I take it you feel the same, Sudō-san?"
He looks away, grumbling.
I'm kinda shocked.
I didn't expect it to go like this. As much as I hate to admit it, there's no denying I've got a certain charisma that's won over most of the class.
'I'm not complaining—it's for the best.'
"Well, thank you for your trust. It's a great honor, and I accept the role of class representative."
At my words, the class bursts into applause. It feels a bit over the top, but deep down, I'm pretty pleased.
'With that, step one is in motion.'
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