The sky over Kuoh was absurdly blue that morning, the kind of clear and serene blue that made you suspicious that something very wrong was going to happen by the end of the day.
Kazuya walked through the residential streets toward Kuoh Academy, his backpack slung over his shoulders and his mind racing a mile a minute.
He should have been thinking about the history test, or the fact that he was a freaking Dragon thanks to a stunt with the Third Magic, with eyes capable of seeing the lines of death and infinite magical energy, or the fact that he possessed a Longinus that didn't vanish just because he'd become a dragon.
But no.
He was thinking about two mythological goddesses, over four thousand years old, who had, for some reason, decided to move into his house.
"Ishtar and Ereshkigal…" he murmured to himself, his steps echoing calmly on the sidewalk. "I literally have two Rin Tohsakas in goddess form in my room. One wants to kill me with charm, and the other faints if I look at her shirtless."
Life was truly an anime. An anime with a gacha script that he himself would've loved to program. If he were watching it, he'd have given it five stars on MyAnimeList. But as the protagonist? It was too surreal, even for him, who had already reincarnated.
Kazuya took a deep breath, the breeze slightly ruffling his hair. He recalled the exact moment when the two appeared before him, summoned by his personalized gacha, the result of code he himself had created in his past life.
A guaranteed summon. Ishtar. And, as an absurd stroke of luck, Ereshkigal right after.
Both remembered him as Ritsuka Fujimaru, thanks to the [Experience Card], that rare item that gave him the complete history of a Fate protagonist.
He paused for a second next to a vending machine, as if it could somehow help organize the chaos that was his brain at that moment.
He was supposed to be happy, right? Any guy in his place would've lost it with joy.
Waking up with two goddesses in bed—or rather, being hugged and tackled by both in bed? Check.
Romantic comedy vibes? Check.
One of them literally throwing herself on top of him? Mega check.
But he… hadn't done anything.
Nothing beyond keeping a safe distance, *too* safe, considering he had zero resistance to 2D girls.
Except they weren't 2D. And that was the difference.
He wasn't just an otaku anymore. He was Kazuya, reincarnated, with real powers, and with two goddesses who trusted him because of a past that, technically, wasn't even his.
"I'm not a beta," he muttered, grabbing a can of iced coffee from the machine. "But I'm also not a sleaze without principles."
Yes, he wanted more than hugs. Who wouldn't?
But he also felt weird, since technically they didn't love *him* but Ritsuka Fujimaru. So, it wasn't time to move forward like he was playing a dating sim.
"Besides," he added, opening the can with a snap, "if I'm going to do something… it'll be the right way. The problem is, they might've noticed my discomfort and lack of reaction to their summoning and didn't want to talk about it because of that. It was definitely something weird…"
He took a sip of the coffee and looked toward the buildings of Kuoh, which were already visible ahead.
Kazuya smirked.
"Well, putting all that aside, I summoned two divinities and still go to school. And people still ask me why Fate is better than any isekai."
With that thought, he kept walking.
Kazuya took the last sip of his iced coffee and tossed the can into the trash with the precision of someone who'd rerolled gacha for three hours straight just to get an SSR. A clean, fluid motion, as if his body was made for it. And, honestly, with that Toji Fushiguro-level physique, it probably was.
He passed through the gates of Kuoh Academy, instantly feeling the collective gaze from the students around him. It was like stepping into a school romance anime with dramatic background music and cherry blossom petals floating in the air—if the petals were sighs and the stares could burn clothes.
"Here we go again…" he muttered, already used to the intense looks. It wasn't just his absurd, "Anime God" level of beauty or the white hair that seemed to glow in the sunlight. It was the whole package. Kazuya Ryougi was the kind of character who'd make even a final villain feel insecure—or at least, he thought so.
That's when the student council president appeared.
Sona Sitri.
Elegant. Reserved. The kind of cold, calm aura that hid a brain capable of dismantling any debate with three well-chosen words. Beside her, as always, was Tsubaki Shinra, the vice-president with a sharp gaze and impeccable posture.
They were discussing some paperwork—or maybe reorganizing the schedule for the next demonic civil war—when they noticed Kazuya approaching through the entrance hallway.
"Good morning, President, Vice-President…" he greeted with a casual wave and a light smile. The kind of smile that should be outlawed, because it made even the school's gargoyles jealous.
Sona adjusted her glasses, keeping her professional tone.
"Good morning, Ryougi-san. Are you adjusting well to the school?"
"Better than I expected…" he replied, stopping beside them. "I haven't been hit by a cursed baseball yet, so I think I'm ahead."
Tsubaki blinked, surprised.
"Does that happen often here?"
"I hope not…" Kazuya said with a cheeky chuckle. "But with this school, you never know. Half the students look like they stepped straight out of a shonen anime…"
Sona smiled. Subtly, but she smiled. "You fit that profile quite well."
"If that's a compliment, thank you. If it's a threat… I'll pretend I didn't hear it."
Tsubaki looked away, and for a second, he noticed it. A faint, almost imperceptible glint, but definitely there: attraction. It wasn't surprising. Not with what he was. His eyes were so absurdly beautiful that they sometimes seemed more real than reality itself.
"Well…" Sona said, slipping back into 'stoic president' mode. "We'll see you later, Ryougi-san. Remember to submit the extracurricular activities form by Friday."
Oh, right. He had that to do! He'd almost forgotten he needed to find a club by the end of the week or at least give a reason why he wouldn't join one.
"If I'm not kidnapped by some cosmic entity by then, I'll get it done," he replied with a half-wave before heading down the hallway.
That's when he heard it.
Two students whispering near the staircase, with the excitement of someone who'd just watched a new episode of Dragon Ball:
"Did you hear? The pervert trio… They… They became fans of Kiba! Like, actual fans. One of them even wrote poetry!"
"I know! I saw Matsuda defending Kiba in the courtyard. Said Kiba-senpai's shine was like the light of justice… That was before he passed out."
Kazuya stopped. A smile crept slowly across his lips, like the scythe of death.
"Zehahahahahaha…"
The laugh echoed in his mind, resounding like Blackbeard's in One Piece, complete with a sinister echo and the sound of thunder in the background of his imagination.
Of course it was him.
They were saved from hormonal degeneracy. But the price? They became founding members of the "Kiba Brilliant Justice Fanclub™."
Kazuya tried not to laugh out loud.
Tried.
Failed.
"Zehahaha…" he let out softly as he climbed the stairs.
The girls nearby nearly tripped. One of them even leaned against the wall, as if that sound had awakened a new masochistic part of her brain.
He ignored it and kept walking to the third floor, where the third-year classroom was. On the way, more stares. Guys pretending they weren't staring. Girls not pretending they were staring. Even teachers struggling to keep their composure.
And all Kazuya could think was:
"Man… how does anyone go back to being an otaku in peace after this?"
The answer?
They didn't.
But honestly… he didn't want to go back either.
Putting that aside, Kazuya entered the third-year classroom with the calm of someone who'd just beaten a secret RPG boss with MP to spare.
The room was practically empty, which wasn't exactly a surprise. There were ten minutes until the bell, meaning most students were still in "canteen side quest" mode or "training for the Dramatic Hallway Staring Tournament."
He scanned the place with a lazy glance and confirmed what he suspected: neither Rias, Akeno, Sona, nor Tsubaki were there yet (he'd just run into the latter two, so it'd be weird if they'd beaten him to the classroom). Which, honestly, was great. It gave him time to breathe. Literally. All four, in their own way, had the bad habit of causing heart palpitations in normal people.
Kazuya walked to the back of the room, where his seat awaited. He sat down with a light sigh, pulling his backpack with one hand and leaning back as if sinking into the couch of a slice-of-life anime.
Then he looked at his hand.
More specifically, at the three Command Seals etched on it, which no one seemed to have noticed. Obviously, he'd hidden them by keeping his hand in his pocket or something to avoid anyone thinking he was a delinquent with a tattoo.
Three red marks in the shape of an arc. They were beautiful, perfect, heavy with history and a power that shouldn't exist in this world.
For a moment, the classroom faded. In its place, flashes. A battle in Chaldea, shouts echoing through icy corridors. Ishtar laughing as she unleashed a blast of energy like a proper Archer. Mashu, shield forward, blocking a blow that could shatter mountains. Musashi facing an enemy with that look torn between death and freedom. And him… at the center of it all, calling to them, guiding, protecting, choosing.
That was his life. And he loved every second of it—or rather, his Ritsuka Fujimaru version loved it, and so did he, playing every day on his phone. Still, now he was here. In a Japanese high school full of demons, fallen angels, and dangerously beautiful girls. With weekly tests, literature classes, and… Rias Gremory as his project partner.
It was surreal.
But the truth hit, soft and inevitable, like the end of a sad Clannad episode.
"I'm being an idiot."
Kazuya closed his eyes.
He felt the tingling of the Command Seals pulsing, as if the bonds with them vibrated beneath his skin. It wasn't just magic. It was intimacy. A kind of connection that made the idea of a "normal life" feel empty.
"I don't deserve this."
The thought came instinctively. Almost automatically.
But then, as if Ishtar had kicked down the door of his consciousness—which was entirely possible—another thought cut through the fog:
"You already earned it, idiot. That's why they followed you here."
Kazuya let out a short laugh.
It wasn't sarcastic. It was almost… liberating.
"Yeah. I'm the guy who summoned two goddesses who are my wives from a game I dedicated my life to playing. And I'm still here pretending I can't accept this life because, technically, they're not in love with *me*…"
He leaned back further in his seat, looking at the sky through the window.
The sun shone over Kuoh as if everything were at peace. But inside him, a war was being won—a war between what he was… and what he was afraid to be.
He wasn't just a gacha-obsessed gamer anymore.
He was Ritsuka Fujimaru.
He was the Master of Chaldea.
It didn't matter if he'd won this life through a lucky draw; that card brought Ritsuka Fujimaru's life, as if he were remembering a past life…
And you know what?
He finally accepted it.
For real.
He was still pretending he needed to fight for something when, for the first time in a long time, he'd been given the chance to live. To really live. To sleep eight hours a night, eat rice balls slowly, and reroll gacha every morning.
It was like living as the character he'd created after years of dedication and pain.
And accepting that…
It lifted an enormous weight off his shoulders.
Kazuya smiled.
A sincere, calm smile. The kind Mashu used to say he only showed when he knew everything would turn out okay in the end. He ran his fingers over the Command Seals and spoke softly, to no one but himself:
"Alright, universe… Let's see how far this goes."
Putting that aside, he noticed the students arriving.
The quiet silence of the classroom was slowly broken by the sound of hurried footsteps and lively chatter from people who had no idea what kind of identity crisis had just unfolded there.
First came the normals—or as close to "normal" as you could expect at Kuoh Academy. A group of boys entered, laughing loudly, probably discussing the new chapter of Bleach, while one of the girls swung a massive Rem keychain, as if it were the most natural thing in the world to carry a piece of waifu on her backpack's zipper.
Something he did in his past life.
A couple came in next, debating whether the literature assignment could be submitted typed. Kazuya cast a brief, almost pitying glance.
"Ah, the innocence…" he thought. "Little do they know this school demands more survival skills than a Soulslike RPG."
Then came the back-row veterans, three guys with that "I didn't study, but I'll copy from the right guy" vibe. They gave Kazuya a quick glance, hesitated… and moved on in silence. It was always like that. A mix of respect, suspicion, and slight existential dread.
Next came the girls from Rias's fan club.
Yes, there was a fan club. It wasn't official, but it was militantly active. Two of them passed by him and chirped a "Good morning, Ryougi-san" with that little smile that said, "If you want to steal my heart, I'll drop it on the floor to make it easier."
Kazuya just responded with a subtle wave.
He was starting to understand how Fate's Gilgamesh felt with that whole "ants and dust in the wind" thing.
At that moment, the door opened with a soft click.
He looked up.
Rias Gremory walked in.
Her red hair, vibrant like magical embers in the morning sun. Her gaze was calm but held that spark of curiosity she only showed when she wanted something. And right behind her, Akeno, smiling in that way that made you wonder whether to run or surrender immediately.
A little later, the door opened again.
And that's when the atmosphere shifted.
Sona walked in.
Impeccable as always. Uniform perfectly aligned, posture of someone carrying more responsibilities than most adults in Japan. Beside her, Tsubaki, the vice-president, with the same serene and focused expression, as if they were there for a high-stakes meeting, not a regular high school class.
The two made their way to their seats with the elegance of queens on a chessboard.
And then, the final piece entered the board.
The teacher.
A short woman with glasses and an perpetually exhausted expression, as if every day was both Friday and Monday at the same time.
"Sit down, let's begin…" she said, entirely unimpressed by Kazuya's cosmic charisma.
To her, it was just another morning.
The students settled in. The chatter stopped, and the class began.
But for everyone, bad news.
The dull thud of stacks of printer paper on the teacher's desk.
"Pop quiz… not so pop anymore," she said with a bored sigh, starting to hand out the test sheets. "And before anyone complains: yes, I warned you last week. It's on the schedule. It's on the board. And it's in your souls, if you pay the bare minimum attention."
In the back row, one of the "I didn't study, but I'll copy from the right guy" veterans whispered:
"We're screwed…"
"Relax…" said the second, already pulling out his pencil with the confidence of someone who'd guess everything. "Trust the statistical divination method."
"Cumulative stupidity method, more like…" commented the third, staring at the test like it was an arcane text in a forbidden language.
Kazuya… froze.
"Quiz? There was… a quiz today?"
The question echoed like a belated epiphany. He blinked, trying to recall. There was something vague—a distorted memory of an announcement at the end of the last class, the board full of red notes, and maybe someone in the class mentioning "studying chemistry" while he was distracted analyzing the flow of a leaf floating outside the window.
Priorities, you know.
He looked at the sheet being placed on his desk. Letters, formulas, questions… an entire science test, with questions on basic physics, chemical equations, and some theoretical biology questions.
The kind of thing that made an average student break out in a cold sweat.
Kazuya, however, took a deep breath.
The first question was about kinematics. The second, covalent bonds. The third, photosynthesis.
And all of it…
All of it was too simple.
As a nerd, how the hell would he struggle with this? Yes, he was being arrogant. But he had the backing to justify it, thanks to Ritsuka Fujimaru's memories. His mind had already processed formulas and phenomena far more complex than any school curriculum would dare teach.
He'd memorized Avogadro's number to help Da Vinci recreate alchemical reactions.
He'd solved temporal paradoxes and analyzed quantum reality explosions during singularities where time collapsed on itself, thanks to Da Vinci-chan and the route he'd taken with her…
But beyond that, he'd literally discussed the fundamental laws of the universe with Nikola Tesla while deciphering a magical energy circuit from lost civilizations.
Want more?
Whether through general knowledge or cheating via Kazuya's version of Ritsuka Fujimaru's memories.
Filling out that sheet was like playing with toothpicks.
The answers came in sequence, flowing like water. He didn't even need to stop to think. He just wrote. The pen danced on the paper as if eager to show the world what it meant to be "genius in human form."
Around him, chaos ensued.
"What's the formula for average speed again?" one whispered.
"It's that mol thing, right? Like mol and… sugar?" said another, completely lost.
Akeno, a few rows ahead, seemed focused but occasionally threw curious glances over her shoulder. Rias, beside her, had the noble posture of someone who studied and wanted it noticed. But even she had noticed that Kazuya was writing without hesitation, as if he were just copying something he'd memorized years ago.
Sona, further ahead, paused for a second, as if sensing something odd.
She glanced back discreetly, only to see Kazuya's calm gaze, steady hand, and relaxed demeanor of someone who shouldn't be *that* calm.
A nearly imperceptible spark of interest gleamed in the student council president's eyes.
Tsubaki noticed it too.
And finally, when time was up, the teacher collected the tests with the same bored expression.
"Use the next few minutes to rest. We'll grade them tomorrow."
In the back, the back-row trio looked like a devastated battlefield.
"I picked B for everything. One of them's gotta be right."
"Man, question 5 was in German. I swear," said the second, head down on his desk.
"I drew a Pikachu on the last question. Maybe I'll get points for creativity."
Kazuya leaned back in his chair, letting out a subtle sigh.
"I need to pay more attention to dates… But at least it was easy."
And it was true.
Even without knowing there was a test… he'd aced it.
Call him a Sigma Nerd Hottie.