Black-Haired Tanning Delinquent (3)
The ceiling looked exactly the same as it had right before I fell asleep last night.
It wasn't some fleeting summer night's dream. This was real. I was actually living in this world now.
I slid out of bed and, with an almost reverent care, straightened the bedding.
I headed straight for the bathroom and washed myself thoroughly.
A clean body and a clean mind.
Only then was I ready to head to the academy.
Ready to meet the teacher.
'What about breakfast...'
Since I'd be eating lunch at the academy anyway, skipping it wouldn't be a problem. I didn't know exactly when classes started, but I wanted to get there as early as possible. Besides, there wasn't any food in the house.
With a soft creak and a click, I slipped the key I'd found under the flowerpot yesterday into my pocket and left the house.
My phone said it was 6:45.
I'd assumed a prestigious academy like this—the best in the entire setting—would encourage a "miracle morning" routine, but apparently not.
'Did I leave too early?'
I still hadn't seen any other students who looked like they attended the same academy.
For reference, in this world the academy was the final stage of compulsory education.
It was a place where freshly minted adults who had just graduated high school would enroll. And the one I attended—Four Seasons Academy—was the main stage of the story, so it boasted both the largest scale and the highest prestige.
How the hell was someone like me even attending a place like this?
The fact that I was still enrolled without any issues was one thing, but I had no idea how I'd even gotten in.
It was famous for recruiting students with exceptional talent in a wide variety of fields, but I doubted "scary face" or "good at fighting" counted as legitimate specialties.
'Maybe I got in through a donation.'
That was the only plausible explanation I could think of.
The original manga had never gone into detail about the academy's admission process, so there was no way for me to know.
The important thing was that I was already a second-year student who'd finished my first year.
Considering the ridiculous rumors Tachibana Kaede had mentioned, my school life probably hadn't been smooth sailing. But for now, at least, I was still recognized as a student here.
That meant I had to start doing things right from here on out.
If I got expelled from the academy, I'd only end up further away from Ishihara Eri.
And more than that, no one would want to get involved with the worst kind of person who'd managed to get themselves kicked out.
At the very least, I needed to make good use of the next two years while I still had my student status.
In that sense, showing up early like a model student might earn me some points.
I was even hoping for one of those sweet, lucky developments where I'd coincidentally run into Teacher Eri right as she arrived for work.
"Heh heh..."
They say humans are creatures of hope. Just imagining it was enough to make my steps feel lighter.
"I'm late! I'm late!!"
Thud!
'Hm?'
Something had collided with me.
"Ugh..."
More importantly, who the hell shouts "I'm late" and then suddenly bursts out of an alley like that?
It was so cliché for a rom-com manga that the list of possible characters I could've bumped into instantly narrowed down to five fingers or less.
"Figures..."
Whether it was expected or surprising, I couldn't quite decide.
It was the protagonist of the original story, Nagao Takuya.
He even had a piece of bread in his mouth. Normally that kind of thing was reserved for the first meeting with a heroine.
But because it was me he'd run into, his uniform was now covered in the brown stuff that had been smeared on the bread.
I reached out a hand.
"You okay?"
I didn't particularly like any of the characters except for Ishihara Eri, but it seemed I'd developed some internal fondness for them while reading the manga.
I waited with my hand extended to help him up.
"Ah. Yeah..."
He really was the protagonist after all. Unlike the guys I'd seen yesterday, he didn't turn tail and run away like a coward.
He did flinch for a moment, but that kind of reaction was something I'd already expected and grown used to.
"Your uniform."
"Huh?"
"It's dirty. What are you going to do?"
"Ah! Right."
"Wouldn't it be better to go home and change?"
Since even I had a spare uniform in my room, the protagonist probably did too.
"Ah..."
But contrary to my expectations, he hesitated and checked the time on his phone.
Now that I thought about it, he had definitely said he was late.
...!!!
Wait. Did that mean the reason there were no students on the streets wasn't because I'd left too early, but because I'd left too late?
The morning routine for students at Four Seasons Academy apparently began at 4:30 a.m.
What the hell was this?
"Hey, I'm going on ahead!"
This wasn't the time to be worrying about this guy.
I immediately broke into a full sprint toward the academy.
The speed was so incredible that even I was shocked.
It seemed the feeling that my body felt lighter earlier hadn't just been my imagination.
'Made it.'
The moment I reached the main gate I stopped, took one deep breath to steady myself, and then slowly walked forward.
...
Was the academy so ridiculously lax that they didn't even catch late students at this hour?
'Fuck. Something's off.'
Not only was there no one at the gate to catch tardy students, there was literally no one around at all.
Most of the academy buildings had their lights off rather than on.
"Haah..."
Well, since I technically hadn't been late, I supposed I should be happy about that.
Creeeeak—
It looked like I'd arrived way too early instead of being late.
All the classroom lights were off. Curious about the lit-up areas I'd seen from outside, I went to check and found it was the club building.
'I'm obviously going to be in the going-home club.'
There was no way I belonged to any actual club.
And even if I did, if they needed me they'd probably come find me themselves.
Since I'd come so early and had nothing to do, I figured I might as well wander around and see what kinds of clubs there were.
If I found one that looked interesting, joining wouldn't be a bad idea.
Ideally, it'd be nice if it was one that Teacher Eri oversaw.
And so my unplanned club exploration began.
'Subculture Appreciation Club... not bad.'
Since I couldn't just barge into empty clubrooms, I could only check what kinds of clubs existed. But for someone who knew nothing about this world, that was more than enough.
As expected of the top prestigious academy.
There were already so many clubrooms, and if you included the ones that didn't even get their own rooms, it seemed like every possible club under the sun existed here.
...
Whoosh!
'Was that my imagination?'
I had the strange feeling that someone was watching me.
Maybe it was because I was walking down a dark hallway, but I suddenly felt a chill.
Because of that, I headed toward the area where more lights were on. It turned out to be where all the sports-related clubrooms were gathered.
They were probably doing morning training.
[Karate Club]
Among them, the one that stood out was obviously the Karate Club where one of the heroines, Yumena Natsumi, trained alongside the protagonist.
'Ah, that makes sense.'
So when the protagonist said he was late, he must have been talking about the Karate Club's morning practice.
Now that I thought about it, I'd sprinted all the way here thinking I was late. I wondered if he'd managed to arrive safely.
I considered peeking through the gap in the door but decided against it. I didn't want to risk any misunderstandings.
Rattle—!
"Nagao, you're late..."
"Ah. Um."
...
"Hello?"
While I was debating whether to sneak a look inside the clubroom where Yumena Natsumi was, I got caught red-handed.
This was already beyond the level of a simple misunderstanding.
——
"Who are you and why were you standing in front of the door?"
"My name is Amuro Taiyo, second-year. I didn't have any bad intentions... I was just wondering if Nagao had arrived safely."
She didn't seem to recognize me right away, but it looked like she'd at least heard my name before.
And apparently she'd heard the rumors too.
The wariness that had already been on her face now carried clear hostility.
Before the misunderstanding could deepen any further, I hurriedly explained how I'd run into Nagao earlier that morning.
I left out the part about his uniform getting dirty and kept it to just the core facts.
“...”
Still, the fact that she seemed to be considering whether my words were true meant she wasn't blindly distrustful. That was a relief.
"Come inside."
"Excuse me?"
"Since I can't verify whether what you're saying is true, I'll listen to Nagao's side of the story and make my judgment then."
I couldn't think of any way to escape this situation.
There were security cameras in the hallway, so I could probably prove I hadn't been peeking inside.
But the very act of going through the process of checking the cameras was the problem.
Given all those ridiculous rumors about me, there was no doubt this incident would get exaggerated with all sorts of fabricated details added on top.
"...Alright."
"A wise decision. If you have nothing to hide, then you should confidently clear up the misunderstanding."
In the end, I'd walked straight into the tiger's den of my own free will.
I'd promised myself I wouldn't get involved with the protagonist and his group, yet here I was, somehow picking out and entangling myself exclusively with the main cast.
Yesterday it was Tachibana, today it was Yumena.
Still, the situation with Yumena felt a little safer.
Unlike Tachibana, whose excessive curiosity had been a problem, once I cleared up this misunderstanding, that would probably be the end of it.
So hurry up and get here already, Nagao.
'He must have gone back home after all.'
Given that he was the model student type who always looked neat and proper, I'd expected as much. It seemed he'd gone home to change his clothes.
"...He's late."
Yumena Natsumi was waiting for the protagonist.
Right now she was simply disappointed that she didn't have a training partner yet, but that would gradually change.
Since the protagonist was late because of me, I shouldn't even think about offering to help with training in his place.
Still, watching for a bit should be fine.
It wasn't exactly the same, but back in my original world I'd practiced Taekwondo all the way through high school.
I was genuinely curious about the Karate practiced by someone aiming purely to win the national tournament.
"...If you have nothing else to do, could you help out?"
"No."
“...”
I hadn't expected her to ask me for help first.
Maybe it was because of my intimidating face—it probably looked satisfying to hit. Or maybe my large frame just offered plenty of targets.
Anyway, since I'd refused, she probably wouldn't ask again.
"...Even if what you said is proven true, there's still the possibility that you used it as an excuse to try and peek."
"Are you threatening me right now?"
"Th-threaten?! That's not what I meant at all! I was simply stating a fact."
"If I help out, would that clear up your suspicions?"
...Nod.
'Oh, for fuck's sake.'
The Yumena Natsumi I knew from the story wasn't this kind of character at all.
She was supposed to be an upright heroine who only cared about the protagonist and Karate.
Even so, it seemed her treatment of me was on a completely different level.
"Please. The tournament is coming up soon."
...
So that was it.
To think she'd make such an earnest request with that desperate look on her face.
"I got impatient and showed you an unsightly side of myself. I'm sorry. It seems I misunderstood you, so you're free to leave."
It was almost suspicious how perfectly she was adjusting her approach to make it impossible for me to refuse.
"Haah... Fine. What exactly do you need help with?"
When I finally agreed, her face lit up with joy. At this point I was even starting to think that offering to help had been the right decision.
This woman was seriously dangerous.