The door slid open with a sharp clack.
All eyes turned at once.
Yuta Okkotsu stood at the classroom entrance, backpack slung over one shoulder, breathing steady despite being late.
For a second, no one said a word. Not the students, not the teacher at the front. The silence that settled was odd, uncomfortable—as if the figure in the doorway wasn't the same one who used to slink into class unnoticed.
Sae Chabashira raised an eyebrow, arms crossed.
"Five minutes late."
Yuta held her gaze firmly.
"I know."
His voice was clear. Direct.
The teacher narrowed her eyes, studying him with suspicion. It wasn't the tardiness that stood out. It was the tone. The posture.
"Your seat's still the same. Sit down."
Yuta just walked. No apologies. No excuses.
With each step, the whispers grew. Soft, but undeniably present.
"Is that really him?"
"Wasn't he the quiet guy in the back…?"
"He's different."
Aika Kiriyuu stopped laughing for a moment and watched. Her eyes glinted with faint curiosity.
Utaha Kasumigaoka didn't look up from her phone, but her fingers paused for a second. Too brief for most to notice.
Suzune Horikita lifted her eyes from her book.
'That step… that look. It's not the same as yesterday.'
Yuta crossed the aisle between desks and sat in the last seat by the window. The spot once occupied by a ghost now carried a different presence.
And he knew it.
____
Yuta POV
'I could pretend, keep my head down, apologize, and play the part…'
I looked at the desk in front of me. Its edges were scarred with pen scratches. The surface scrawled with names and initials of people long gone.
'But no. Not anymore.'
I leaned back in the chair, adjusting my posture.
'This body isn't someone who hides anymore. I won't hide.'
____
Yuta kept his eyes on the blackboard, but his mind was elsewhere.
The teacher was explaining something about classic Japanese literature, but her voice faded into background noise as he scanned each face in the room.
First, his gaze landed on Suzune Horikita—upright posture, sharp eyes, serious expression. The same cold, methodical personality he remembered from the anime in his past life.
Two rows ahead, Aika Kiriyuu laughed with her friends, her hair tied in a messy bun, her smile easy. Recognizable. Another anime character, now very real and… very present.
Near the back, by the wall, a lone figure typed on her phone with total disregard for the lesson: Utaha Kasumigaoka.
Yuta swallowed hard as he looked at her. The way she kept everyone at a distance, the intelligence clear in her eyes, the subtle arrogance in her gestures—it was identical to the character he knew from the same anime as Megumi Katō.
'So it's not just Megumi. They're all here.'
He scanned the room again. The details clicked into place. The faces, the names… and now the doubt.
'Is this a coincidence? A simulation? Or is this world a real mash-up of fictional realities?'
Either way, he couldn't ignore it. Not anymore.
The lesson dragged on, but the material was too simple to demand effort. Answers came almost automatically, and time seemed to pass faster than before.
When the bell for the break rang, Yuta was already preparing to stand.
But before he could reach for his backpack, a shadow loomed beside his desk.
"Hey!"
Yuta raised his eyes slowly.
Aika Kiriyuu smiled, hand on her hip, leaning slightly as if trying to seem casual, but the glint in her eyes betrayed her curiosity.
"You're really different today. I thought you were, like… a silent NPC, but now it's like you've come to life."
Yuta just watched her.
"So, you gonna keep ignoring me or actually talk this time?"
Aika.
In his past life, he knew her as the *Highschool DxD* girl with an absurd, embarrassing ability: seeing men's "sizes" with a single glance through her glasses.
The kind of character made for awkward jokes.
And, of course, she'd tried talking to the old Yuta. Multiple times.
Yuta knew exactly why.
'Typical. Bet she scanned the whole school in the first week.'
He almost replied with something blunt and direct, but before any words could slip out…
Ding!
The blue screen floated into his peripheral vision, the notification glowing red:
[Emergency Mission – Grade C]
Target: Aika Kiriyuu
Description: An ambush is being planned for student Aika Kiriyuu at the end of the day, in the forest outskirts behind the school.
Objective: Discreetly track the perpetrators and eliminate them before they can touch her.
Reward: Skill Unlocked – Bloodlust (Level 1)
Time Remaining: 5h 27min
Yuta's expression didn't change outwardly, but inside… tension spiked.
'So it's her… an attempted assault. Great. First week, and I already have to kill someone.'
He took a deep breath, lowering his gaze for a second.
When he looked back at her, his demeanor had shifted.
"Sorry for ignoring you before."
Aika's eyes widened slightly, surprised by the sudden change in tone.
"Oh… so you do talk."
Yuta nodded, no smile.
"I was… going through a rough patch."
She leaned against his desk, resting her hip with ease.
"Well, at least now you don't look like a zombie. That's progress."
Yuta gave a slight nod, cutting the topic short.
But inside, he was already plotting.
'I need to figure out who's involved. Follow from a distance. And stop it before it starts.'
He relaxed his shoulders, resting an arm on the desk like he had all the time in the world.
"Actually, I'm still trying to figure out why a pretty girl's bothering to talk to me."
Aika let out a giggle, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.
"Pretty, huh? That came outta nowhere."
"It didn't. You know you are."
She blushed faintly and looked away.
"I'm not *that* great."
"Blatant lie. You've probably got five guys chasing you in this class alone."
Aika's smile faded instantly.
"Ugh. Don't even joke about that. Those creeps can't hold a conversation without being gross."
Yuta tilted his head slightly.
"Creeps? What kind of gross are we talking about?"
She crossed her arms.
"Ryo Mizuhara's group. He and his little buddies think they own the school. Always making crude jokes, trying to corner me in the halls. One of them even tried following me home."
'Ryo Mizuhara… mental note.'
"You told the administration?"
"Nah. It'd look like drama. They're the type who play innocent when adults are around."
Yuta kept his gaze calm, but his blood was starting to simmer.
'Two-faced creeps. But now I know who to look for.'
Discreetly, he glanced around.
Near the wall, a boy was staring at their conversation. His look wasn't subtle or friendly.
Fixed on Yuta.
Ryo Mizuhara.
'There you are…'
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