That male classmate smiled and said, "Saiki-kun, right? Hi, nice to meet you. My name is Akazawa Itsuki. Just call me Itsuki."
Saiki Kusuo nodded. [Hi, same here. Just call me Saiki.]
For someone with a decent personality who takes the initiative to talk to him, Saiki wouldn't refuse either. The other guy clearly seemed like the type who's good at chatting, though Saiki had no intention of escalating it to best-friend level.
"So, Saiki, which middle school did you go to before?" Itsuki was very familiar right away, slinging an arm around Saiki's shoulders. If they got any closer, he might start calling him "bro" any second now.
[Middle school? Just some unremarkable, normal middle school.]
"Really? And yet your grades are still that good. I heard you're the top in the grade. What score did you get to take first place?"
Saiki Kusuo pretended to think for two seconds before saying,
[Oh, that... I think it was full marks.]
Itsuki's expression changed dramatically, full of disbelief. "For real? Don't mess with me. Full marks in every subject?"
[Yeah, is there a problem?]
Itsuki finally couldn't hold back and complained, "A problem? Of course there's no problem. It's just that honor students like you are way too enviable and jealousy-inducing."
[Calm down, don't get so worked up. After all, my grandpa is really strict with me. If I don't do well, it'll be a hassle.]
"Oh, is that so? Saiki, are you from that top-100 global company, the Saiki family? That's amazing. Seems like a lot of stores in Japan are connected to the Saiki name."
[Well, yeah. My grandpa is pretty strict with me. He demands I do well in everything, no matter what.]
After all, coming in with full marks in every subject was already eye-catching enough. If he did anything else noticeable later, using the excuse that his family is strict would still be pretty reasonable.
As they chatted, more and more classmates joined in, mostly gathering around Itsuki to talk. Saiki Kusuo had to admit the guy's charisma was pretty impressive.
Time passed quickly, and the bell for class rang again.
Hiratsuka-sensei walked back up. "Alright, class is starting. Since it's the first day of school, we won't dive into lessons yet. Let's adjust the seating first. We'll do it by lottery."
"Great, we get to change seats!" Hearing they could switch seats, Shikimori got excited.
[Congratulations.]
Then Saiki Kusuo stood up and walked toward the podium, ready to draw for a seat.
"Um, no, that's not what I meant. I don't dislike Saiki-kun at all. What I meant was..."
Watching Saiki's back as he gradually walked to the podium, and recalling the look he gave her earlier.
Shikimori [Ahh~ He must think I really dislike him. How could that be? That's not what I meant at all. Shikimori, what's wrong with you? How could you treat someone like that? He even told you not to worry about what happened this morning, but you acted like this toward him. Saiki-kun might seem a bit gloomy, but he definitely wants to change himself too. So gentle, yet I said something like that to him.
He must be someone who's bad at expressing himself, just like me, wanting to change. We're the same kind of person. I became cuter, and he wants to become more sociable too. Just looking at him, you can tell he doesn't want people calling him gloomy anymore. I'm the first person he met at this school, and I treated him like this.]
Shikimori's thoughts spiraled into a brainstorm. Recalling that scene earlier, waves of images flooded her mind, picturing Saiki all alone.
Shikimori [Coming to a new environment for the first time, a strange place, just wanting to change how others see him. The first person he met after coming to this school was me. I started off acting so rough, but he didn't mind at all and wanted to treat me like a friend. Yet I acted like I was disgusted by him.] — The disappointment in Saiki's eyes when he stood up earlier, and that lonely back, pierced deep into Shikimori's heart.
Shikimori [I'm the worst.]
(Yare yare, you're way too good at overthinking. If I'd known, I wouldn't have said congratulations. Is it too late to take it back now?)
Then Saiki reached the podium and met the teacher's eyes.
"Saiki Kusuo, huh? Your parents asked me to take good care of you at school."
[Thank you.]
Well, Saiki had already known this in advance. His parents had mentioned it during a phone call. Hiratsuka Shizuka-sensei knew his parents quite well. As soon as they learned he was coming to this school, they immediately called her.
Then Saiki drew his seat, ending up in the middle. After that, the whole class went through a big reshuffle. Now, to Saiki Kusuo's left was Kubo Nagisa—a cute girl with purple hair, wearing black stockings, and a bit of baby fat on her cheeks.
To his right was Izumi Yuu, and in front was Shiraishi Junta. As for Shikimori, she got her wish and changed desk mates to Kitagawa Marin, now sitting by the window.
Behind them sat Hikigaya Hachiman, who already looked like he'd seen through the ways of the world.
"Alright, next we'll start electing the class president and other positions. Does anyone want to nominate themselves?" Hiratsuka Shizuka said, looking at Saiki Kusuo, who had already taken his new seat.
Saiki Kusuo: ?
(Why are you looking at me? Didn't my parents explain my situation to you?)
In the end, the class president position went to Shiina Mahiru.
Alright, now for study committee member. Does anyone have a recommendation? If not, Sensei thinks Saiki-kun would be fine.
[No way, I don't think I can handle such a big responsibility. It's too much. Please let someone else do it, Sensei.] Saiki Kusuo instantly objected.
No way. Study committee member? Just hearing it sounded like a hassle. Saiki Kusuo had zero interest.
Hiratsuka Shizuka looked at Saiki Kusuo with an "as expected" expression. [As expected, this kid is just like Kurumi-nee said: a bit solitary and lonely, not great with interpersonal stuff. Seems to like being alone, and she asked me to look after him more, help him get along with classmates.]
(That's just me liking quiet.)
Hiratsuka Shizuka [He'll probably always use the excuse of liking quiet to cover it up.]
(I don't cover anything up. Besides, at the Saiki house, with Grandpa, I attend those so-called important people's tea parties and chats.)
Hiratsuka Shizuka [Didn't he mention it before, even on the phone? Saiki Kusuo was dragged by his grandpa to learn how to socialize, but he's always hated it and doesn't build good relationships with others.]
(That's because I can hear their thoughts. Joining those things only makes me more disappointed in them. I'll just use the frail-and-sickly, poor-physical-condition excuse to refuse.)
Hiratsuka Shizuka [I heard Saiki used to avoid his grandpa's tasks by claiming to be frail and sickly all the time. After his grandpa set up a huge training regimen for him, he never used that excuse again. He wouldn't try it now, right?]
(Damn it, all roads are blocked. There has to be another way...)
Hiratsuka Shizuka [If he really can't find another excuse to refuse, I'll have no choice but to use the trump card Kuniharu gave me and report it to his grandpa.]
((=°Д°=) You can definitely hear my thoughts, right? Right?! And damn it, Dad must still be holding a grudge from last time when I accidentally smashed his puzzle toy collection and made him reassemble it all.)
Hiratsuka Shizuka [Don't worry, Kurumi-nee. I'll take good care of Saiki Kusuo.]
(Thanks, Sensei, but please don't take care of me like that.)
"But there's no helping it. Saiki-kun, you're the most suitable one here. No one else wants to do it, and your scores are the highest in the grade, first place."
"Although Shiina-san is also first, she's class president now, so no one is more suitable than you. We can switch later if someone better comes along. So it's decided."
"Then, who agrees? Who opposes?"