As per usual, the morning classroom was presided over by an enervated air.
It set my heart at ease. Not only did we take on a security guard, I thought leaving physical evidence would be cause for concern, but that melted away.
"Morning Saitou-kun."
I found the man sitting on my desk, having a nice little chat with the girl who sat to my right, so I gave his back a friendly, "I don't really care if you sit there, but start hauling when the seat owner is right in front of you," pat with all my might.
"That smarts. Satou… my bad."
Saitou dismounted the desk, his back curling up. A small laugh came from the neighboring girl (if I recall, her name was Ozaki).
"So what were you so fired up over?"
"Hey, nothin' much, just talking about how fun it was to go shopping yesterday…"
"Didn't you end up like a snowman melting out of abject despair?"
"Hey, just thought Ozaki-san might be a bit interested, and a bit interested in me taking her there."
So he was hitting on someone with his buttocks spread over my desk.
"That's all well and good, but if you want to take a girl, you should really go through the right steps. That shop guy from yesterday half-forgot who you were. It was embarrassing as 'ell for the rest of us."
Ozaki-san laughed again.
On the other hand, Saitou made a sullen face.
"Hey, you're wrong, I tells 'ya. We really do know one another."
"Is hey the only way you can start a sentence?"
As Ozaki-san burst into laughter, Saitou was put at a loss for words.
I sent a greeting glance at Kawai and Kobayashi who were present but spacing out. Kawai gave me a two-handed thumbs up, making sure Saitou couldn't see. Looks like me Saitou teasing was being endorsed. The reason, he was getting too full of himself. Of pitiful Saitou. You have a smidgen of my sympathy.
"… Satou, my dude, you're nasty."
Something was just added to my name that wasn't there yesterday. He sure is weak to pressure. While Saitou fidgeted awhile, he eventually moved over to a different group.
"Satou-kun, did you end up buying anything?"
Ozaki-san asked me.
"This," I flashed my watch.
"Ah, that's lovely. How much was it?"
I listed the price.
"Oh, that's cheap. I might just drop by."
"The guy who runs the shop is nice."
"Hmm. I'll definitely check it out."
Or so as the conversation bounced, "Oh, you bought a watch, Satou-kun." On her customary rounds, Kobato-san came at the right time to join in.
"Good morning. I got it at a street stall yesterday, how's it look?"
"Morning. Nice, that's nice. I think it's very nice indeed. Nice and casual, right Ozaki-san?"
"Yeah. I think so too. It was dirt cheap to boot."
"Wow, an upright vendor. Satou-kun, when you've got that equipped, your looks go up by two points."
"That's a dubious increase." I returned with a laugh.
"Not at all~, I think two points is a big improvement. It's this spring's must-have accessory."
"Must have, huh."
The true must-have was something else. Of course, I couldn't tell Kobato-san about it, but I kept it on my person. That medal.
A rare accessory that uplifted my mood. While I didn't equip it, I had it hidden away in my inner pocket. To put it in her terms, it was at least a five-point increase in spirit.
As long as I carried it, I would reunite with that witch one day. Of course, it carried with it my desire to one day plunge into the world of the abnormal.
By the way, ever since I picked it up, the medal showed no intentions of speaking.
"Hey, are you talking about Kume-san's store?"
Royal Takahashi called over. Now that's a rare event.
"Yeah, I dropped by with Saitou and the others yesterday."
"Hmm, so Saitou-kun's already spreading the news."
"By the sound of it, you're the source material."
"Yeah, Kume-san's an alumnus of our art club. I ran into his street stall by chance. Hmm, that's a nice piece. Wasn't there last time I checked up on it."
"It's nice, right? Good sense and all," Kobato-san eagerly nodded.
"That Kume-san guy recommended it."
"Yeah, you've made a good purchase there. Lucky, Kume-san's goods are usually one-of-kind."
"But if they weren't one-of-kind, I'm sure it'll be hard on our mister popular. It won't start a trend."
"Sure enough. Looks like you get it." Takahashi's expression brightened up.
"What's this? What are you talking about?"
"The male psyche. I wouldn't want to double up."
"Mnn?"
As Kobato-san tilted her head, soothing nutrients spilled into the classroom, filling me with happiness. My luck went up five points.
"Rather, don't girls fell that way too?"
"Yeah, I'm pretty sure they do."
"Mnnnn, I don't really get it!"
Kobato-san was puffing her cheeks, so I answered with a wry smile.
"If everyone wears the same things, won't it feel awkward? Is how it goes."
"Oh, overused, right~. Yeah, yeah, I totally get you."
I'm pretty sure that meant something completely different but…
"But when you think about our uniforms, it feels nice that everyone's wearing the same thing. I was in the literary club in middle school, so I never experienced the feeling. I always wanted to try it out~."
There was something I should have noticed by that point.
"I'm sorry, I'll be off for a bit."
With the conversation growing harder to enter, Ozaki-san stood from her seat and ended up leaving the classroom. I should have directed the talks toward her. That was my bad. Judging by Takahashi's good-natured response, he evidently felt no guilt. To add to that, Kobato-san similarly simply fluffily waved her hand.
Those blessed with human relations are unable to understand the urge to get away. Indeed, truly royal.
"Satou-kun, you know, we were planning to go stopping by the station today, but want to come with?"
"Huh?"
Now that was a surprise. Contrary to how he treated everyone with courtesy, when it came to hanging out, Takahashi only ever acted with close friends. If such a man called out to me, that meant he might eventually invite me to his group.
How could this be? It's head hunting.
"Well… is it really okay if I go?"
"Of course, perfectly okay."
"Then I think I'll do just that."
"Welcome to the team, Satou-kun. It's the first time we'll ever hang out~."
"Y-you're right."
Just what was it, this supernatural luck I was having today. I got the feeling my life was suddenly taking a fun turn.
"The teacher's going to get here soon. Could you give me your number later?"
"See you later~."
Takahashi and Kobato-san returned to their seats. It was a few minutes before class, but before the sense of being new students wore off, it was the default for everyone to wait on standby at their own station. Only Ladies' Satou one chair forward and to the left remained missing.
Despite the fact the homeroom teacher hadn't arrived, the classroom had sunk to silence. This atmosphere would definitely crumble away within the next month. And by the time it collapsed, the class's human interrelation diagram would be largely completed. A little more than a week from commencement, I was blessed with the chance to join the vanguard. Upon conversing with me, apparently Takahashi came under the impression that I was a quick wit. Depending on how things rolled, perhaps Saitou would be pushed aside and I would enter the circle to fill the vacancy.
I felt a sense of accomplishment. But that wasn't the real me. It was wonderful to be able to play with Kobato-san, my apprehensions of the distant future foresaw a retribution for rushing through the political game, weighing down heavily on me. If I interacted with the vanguard, I would exist as an unfavorable comparison, and would constantly have to keep mind of my surroundings. I would also have to take good care of my relationship with Kawai and Kobayashi. It was no easy task.
Maaan, if only I was handsome. No, the more important thing was charisma. If only I had the aura to draw people to me, even without self-interest, I could live a fun life.
By the way, aura comes from the Latin for wind. The English word originally meant a gentle breeze, but now indicates the spiritual energy emitted from one's character. Of course, it isn't something that actually exists. It's generally used as a substitute for charisma and the feeling one gives off. While it's invisible to the eye, there's nothing out there that can influence people more.
Someone who could become the leader of the class would have to emit a strong aura. Take Takahashi, for instance.
But when it came to the greatest I had ever seen—I gripped the medal in my pocket— the witch from last night was the greatest. That was something else.
I wanted to meet her again. Perhaps my wish would be granted in the near future, I held a faint hope.
The front door of the silent classroom slid open as the witch in a blue robe brazenly strut in. If I had been drinking milk at the moment, I'd have undoubtedly done a spit take.
Who'd have thought it would come true a second after I thought it.