"Ahhhhhh…."
I yawned hard enough to dislocate my jaw.
Morning light bled through the curtains, making me squint.
I looked around.
I was on my bed.
Strange.
I'd fallen asleep meditating on the floor last night, if I remember
[
"I locked the door though?"
[
…Ah.
Right. Doors meant nothing to her.
She was resting in her dimension now, apparently.
I dragged myself upright. My entire body ached in protest. I stretched for a few minutes, joints popping in sequence, then stumbled to the bathroom.
Bath.
Teeth.
Iron the uniform.
Put it on.
Everything except the tie.
I stared at it for thirty seconds, then left it hanging loose around my collar like a decorative scarf.
I will never figure out how to tie that thing properly.
10AM.
Anyway, late again.
I was too tired to care honestly.
[
"Yeah." I nodded.
They'd probably waited a minute, then left. Being late themselves wasn't worth waiting for me.
I didn't blame them.
Today mattered though.
First up was a History lecture, full promotion, all four classes together in the central auditorium. Then afterward, the second class. That one was going to be interesting...
The central auditorium was at the heart of the first-year building. You genuinely couldn't miss it. It jutted out from the middle of the structure like the building's ribcage.
As expected, the corridor was completely empty.
I was the only one late.
Walking alone in peaceful silence—
"Hey!"
…Or so I thought.
I turned around. My eye twitched.
Brown hair. Blue eyes, lively almost to an annoying degree. First year, but not Basilisk.
Pegasus Class emblem on the sleeve.
Tyler Sawyer.
[Rival] of Jayden. Future best friend of Jayden. Commoner, powerful, and based on my very short exposure to him, a certified, card-carrying muscle-brain.
He was also, in spirit, the prototype for the protagonist of the Second Game.
Headache already forming.
I turned back around and kept walking.
"Hey! Dude! You're also late?!"
"Why are you shouting?"
I slapped a hand over my ear and turned just enough to glare at him.
He had the same energy as a golden retriever puppy that had just discovered it had legs.
"Ah! Sorry, man. I was just relieved I'm not the only one!"
Was he though?
"I'm a noble. Behave yourself."
"Come on! We're fellow students—"
"You're not in my class. So no."
"Hey! You're friends with Jayden, right?!"
A vein throbbed in my forehead.
I genuinely could not understand where this enthusiasm came from. Some sort of commoner rivalry thing? The two of them were both greatly talented commoners, which probably made Tyler feel the magnetic pull of competition. But he'd never even spoken to Jayden yet.
"Come on, man! I heard you're besties!"
Besties.
With a person I have known for less than twenty-four hours.
"Jayden is MY rival!" Tyler declared proudly.
Jayden doesn't know you exist.
"And since you're his best friend, you're consequently my rival too!"
What kind of fucked up logic was that?
The longer I listened to him, the more I felt my neurons quietly giving up and going home. I quickened my pace.
"Hey! Wait for me!"
Absolutely not.
-Creak.
I turned the knob of the auditorium door and pushed.
Damn.
Every head in the room swiveled toward me.
I really hated that feeling.
"Hm. Mister Edward and Mister Tyler."
The man at the podium had a microphone in one hand and the disappointed expression of a man who'd hoped for better.
Erwin Kornus.
Homeroom Teacher of the Pegasus Class. Thick-framed glasses, brown hair, pleasantly average face that could be improved significantly with a better wardrobe. Hopelessly in love with my homeroom teacher, Professor Mona, for years now.
Unofficially nicknamed 'MonaSimp' in my head.
"You are late," he said.
"My apologies, Professor," I said smoothly. "Professor Almona needed my assistance this morning. It delayed me."
"Professor Almona?!"
Erwin went rigid.
Giggles and snickers rippled across the auditorium from every corner.
If anyone in the first-year promotion had somehow missed Erwin's feelings for Mona before, they certainly hadn't now.
"Ahum!" He straightened and adjusted his glasses. "I understand completely. It is admirable to help one's teacher, Edward. You may take your seat."
"Thank you, Professor. Please don't hesitate to let me know if you need anything as well."
I smiled politely.
[
'None whatsoever.'
"You as well, Mister Tyler—"
"Thank—"
"Tyler did not assist anyone," I cut in, before the smile could fully form on his face. "He simply woke up late."
"…"
Tyler's expression went through five different stages of emotion in under two seconds.
"Mister Tyler," Erwin said, straightening further, "you are one of my direct students. I cannot overlook tardiness on the very first day of class. Per Eden Academy regulation, ten points will be deducted."
"N-No, that's not—"
"Take your seat."
The points came off the Pegasus Class's total, naturally.
I didn't need to look to feel the combined glare of a few dozen Pegasus students boring into Tyler's back.
Erwin, for his part, had made the correct call as a teacher. The assessment system was strict: teachers were evaluated by senior faculty on their impartiality and their decision-making. A lenient teacher got weaker results. A strict, fair one got stronger students and better access to academy resources for their class.
The students didn't know this, of course. They just thought their teacher was being harsh.
The diligent ones thought he was excellent.
I laughed inwardly.
[
'It also benefits my class ranking. Every point another class loses moves Basilisk up relatively.'
[
'I'd have done it regardless. He nearly burst my eardrums.'
[
I climbed the stairs toward the upper rows, holding my impassive face in place over the grin underneath.
A hand waved at me from the far right.
Jayden.
He, Milleia, and Lyra had saved a seat right beside them. Jayden was pointing at it with a cheerful expression.
What a nice guy...
I smiled warmly, raised a hand to wave back—
And then I actually looked at where they were sitting.
Right behind Alfred, Loid, and Thomas.
The three idiots.
They were tucked in neatly, camouflaged by the crowd of students filling every surrounding seat. I'd have sat directly behind them if I hadn't caught it in time.
Lyra.
It was absolutely Lyra.
I knew her too well. She'd chosen that spot specifically for me, planted me right in range of those three, knowing I had zero ability to hold my tongue when they were within earshot.
Brewing conflict and guaranteed entertainment.
Very Lyra.
But you cannot outsmart me.
I kept walking.
Past the right side. Past the middle.
All the way to the far left, highest row.
I found an empty stretch and sat down.
Alone.
Beautiful.
"I'm not sitting with you," Tyler said, appearing behind me with crossed arms and a glare.
"Wasn't asking you to."
"I thought of you as a friend."
Not me though.
What the hell was wrong with him?
Maybe he suffered from a trauma in his childhood.
"You are going to regret, we could have done some great things together...."
What this guy was saying?!
I just met him like two minutes ago!
Tyler stared at me. Then shook his head like a man who had been betrayed by the universe itself and went back down to take the empty seat I'd abandoned, the one Jayden had saved.
Which meant Tyler sat right next to Jayden.
Two rivals, side by side, on the first day of class.
I'd accidentally engineered their first meeting....
[
'Don't say that word!'
Down in the row below me, Jayden and Tyler sat in stiff silence, both apparently too betrayed by me to speak to each other.
I turned away before the secondhand embarrassment could register fully on my face.