Chapter 11: Seito: "Get Him! Kick His Ass!!!"
"Whatever you want~ It's all fine~ Anything you say~ I'll do it with a smile~" "The little train chugs along to the rhythm of the beat~"
Seito was swaying his head, humming a nonsensical tune. His relentlessly upbeat (and somewhat annoying) energy had somehow managed to lighten the mood of the entire class. There was no denying it—having a "Social Sun" in the room was infectious.
"Seito-kun, did you really forget your wallet today?" Kaede (Maple) asked cautiously.
"Woke up in a daze, left it on the counter," Seito grinned.
Kaede nodded, looking like an adorable, confused puppy. She was the quintessential "Natural Airhead"—the kind of person you just wanted to protect from the world, even though she was a literal walking fortress in-game.
"By the way," Seito scanned the room. "Is anyone planning on joining a club?"
The students exchanged glances. No one spoke up. After all, with the world's first full-immersion VRMMO out, who wanted to spend their afternoons in a dusty clubroom when they could be slaying dragons?
"I intend to establish the Service Club," Yukino Yukinoshita spoke up, her voice icy and formal. "Its purpose will be to aid those in need."
This was her plan all along. Taking advantage of Seito's prompt, she officially announced her "propaganda," inviting anyone with problems to seek her out.
The class nodded politely, but interest was low. Hachiman rolled his dead-fish eyes. Helping people? That sounded like a nightmare of social obligations. He popped his earbuds in and tuned the world out.
Clack. Clack. Clack.
The sound of sharp heels echoed in the hallway. Shizuka Hiratsuka appeared at the front door.
"Yukinoshita, if you're starting a club, make sure Seito is your first member."
"HAH?!"
"WHAT?!"
Both Yukino and Mu Chen shouted in unison, their faces masks of pure disbelief.
"Sensei! I object!" Seito yelled before Yukino could even process the insult.
"State your reasons," Shizuka said, crossing her arms over her chest, her gaze level and unyielding.
"Reasons? Sobu High doesn't have a mandatory club policy! I have a life! I have digital monsters to slaughter!"
Seito met her gaze head-on. If God's Domain didn't exist, he might have joined just to mess with Yukino, but now? Every hour in the clubroom was an hour of lost EXP.
Shizuka walked up to him, resting a clenched fist against his forehead. "So... you think you're pretty brave, huh?"
"You kidding? I'm the bravest guy I know!" Seito blurted out, before realizing the dialogue felt suspiciously like an old meme.
Whoosh!
Sensing a "Fist of Love" incoming, Seito's eyebrows twitched. He bolted from his seat, retreating to the very back of the classroom with professional speed.
"Hiratsuka-sensei, you're targeting me! This is harassment!"
"Call it whatever you like," she said calmly.
"Fine! Just you wait!"
Seito turned and sprinted out of the classroom. The D-Class students were baffled. Did he just run away?
But a moment later, his voice boomed from the classroom next door.
"Iori! My brother! Someone's trying to jump me!"
"Hidenori! Help your boss out! Someone's threatening your big bro!"
"Kirukiru-ane-san! You were the Empress of our middle school! I need your fist of justice!"
"Chika! Little Secretary! Your favorite person is in trouble!"
The Class D students: "..."
Their eyes twitched. Did he seriously just go next door to call for backup? Is he five?
THUD THUD THUD!
The sound of chairs scraping and heavy footsteps erupted from the neighboring room.
"They actually followed him?!" Risa (Sally) gasped.
In a whirlwind of chaos, a group of students from Class E stormed into the room.
Leading the pack were:
The king of "Titan" facial expressions—Iori Kitahara.
The philosopher of "The Wind is Troubled"—Hidenori Tabata.
The skull-crushing Empress—Kirukiru Amou.
And the chaotic, airheaded secretary—Chika Fujiwara.
In this crossover world, most of these legends were just starting their first year of high school. Iori, for instance, hadn't quite reached his "College Stripper" phase yet, but thanks to Seito's influence in middle school, he was already halfway there.
The classroom fell into a deathly silence as the "Class E Reinforcements" crowded the room.
"Why is that guy... not wearing a shirt?!" Kaede whispered, her face turning bright red as she pointed at Iori.
Iori's shirt had mysteriously vanished somewhere between the two rooms. "Don't worry about it, kid. I'm just here to back up my brother!" he laughed boisterously.
"Enough," Kirukiru Amou spoke, her presence radiating pure intimidation. She scanned the room. "Seito, who's bothering you?"
"HER!" Seito pointed a finger at the unfazed Shizuka Hiratsuka.
Class D: "..."
Class E: "..."
The Class E students froze. That's the teacher. He called us here to fight a teacher?
The silence stretched for three seconds before Iori Kitahara broke it.
"GET HIM!" Iori yelled, suddenly lunging forward and pinning Seito to the floor.
"HUH?!"
Before Seito could react, the Class E mob—not wanting to get in trouble with a teacher—decided that beating up Seito was a much safer alternative. A flurry of kicks and punches rained down in a chaotic "friendly fire" pile-up.
Shizuka Hiratsuka looked away, whistling softly as if she hadn't seen a thing.
"Seito-kun is so pathetic," Risa said, unable to look.
"Um..." Kaede reached out, pointing at a figure currently delivering a particularly vicious drop-kick into the pile. "Is that... is that Seito-kun?"
Risa squinted. It was!
If Seito was kicking, then who was at the bottom of the pile?
Seito was grinning like a maniac. The moment Iori had tried to pin him, he had used his superior Agility to flip the script, shoving Iori into the "kill zone" and taking his place in the circle of attackers.
You want to snake me, Iori? Eat dirt!
Seito kicked harder, yelling at the top of his lungs: "GET HIM! HIT HIM HARDER! KILL THE TRAITOR!!!"
Thank you for reading.