Self-introductions. It was nothing more than a ritual to establish the classroom hierarchy. Everyone is just sizing each other up, calculating who to follow and who is safe to ignore. A painfully ordinary routine.
A girl in the second row stood up. Her posture was relaxed, and she offered a bright, welcoming smile to the entire room.
"Hi, everyone! I'm Hirano Yui," she said warmly. "I really hope we can all get along. My main goal is to make sure our class becomes close friends and works together. If anyone ever needs help with studying, or just wants to talk about anything, please come to me!"
The room visibly relaxed. They instinctively centered their social trust around her. She was the anchor.
Then, a boy in the fourth row stood up. He had carefully styled hair and wore an expensive-looking watch.
"I'm Kariya Sho," he said, his voice loud and confident. "I'm into fashion and finding the best hangout spots. Let's make these three years the best. If you're looking to have a good time, you know who to follow."
He actively claimed the top position among the boys, quickly drawing the flashy students into his orbit.
In the fifth row, a tall, muscular boy pushed his chair back violently.
"Sugimoto Ken," he grunted as he glared around the room. "I play basketball. Don't get in my way, and don't bother me with stupid stuff. I'm not here to make friends."
He slumped back down, instantly establishing himself as a hostile delinquent.
So, the foundation is set, Reine thought, watching the class react to the three of them.
Hirano will be the center. She looks safe, reliable, and acts like a shield. Kariya just made himself the leader of the boys. Anyone who wants to be popular will have to stand behind him. And Sugimoto is the landmine. People will avoid him, but his temper is going to be a problem later. The strong group together, the weak look for protection, and the loud ones take control. It is exactly the same as middle school.
But as the sequence moved down the rows, Reine encountered a rare, unfamiliar problem. It was going to be her turn soon.
In middle school, avoiding this exact situation was incredibly easy. I simply spent the first hour of the first day in the nurse's office, claiming I had a severe migraine. By the time I finally walked into the classroom, the self-introductions were over, and everyone had already formed their friend groups. I just took an empty seat in the back and faded away. People naturally ignore the quiet girl who shows up late.
But I couldn't use that tactic here. This school is supposed to be elite, right? There must be secret parameters somewhere. If I hide in the restroom or fake an illness to skip the very first group activity, there might be a consequence.
The problem is, because I had successfully avoided this ritual my entire life, I have absolutely zero practical experience. I understand the theory of a casual greeting, but executing it live, before the eyes of thirty-nine staring people, is a completely different variable. I was invisible since elementary. This is a new equation to me.
She possessed high level intellect and could process tensor calculus in her head, but her rigid upbringing entirely lacked a "how to be a normal high school student" concept. She needed a script.
I will state my name. Then, I will establish a statistically average persona to minimize scrutiny. 'My name is Asakura Reine. My academic metrics are consistently within the median range. My recreational pursuits include standard reading and passive media consumption. I aim to contribute to a stable, low-variance classroom environment.'
She blinked and stared blankly at the whiteboard.
I overdid it. That will immediately flag me as a weird and strange person. No normal teenager uses terms like 'median range' or 'variance' during a casual greeting. This is supposed to be a simple, baseline social interaction. Why can these people execute it so effortlessly? To them, it is as automatic as breathing.
The sequence moved to the next column. A girl with blonde, carefully styled hair stood up.
"Hi! I'm Karusawa Kei," she said. Her voice was bright and loud. "I love fashion and styling clothes. Let's go shopping at the mall together sometime! Oh, but one rule—please don't invite me to watch horror movies. I really hate seeing blood."
Her smile got stiff for a split second. Her chest stopped moving as she held her breath. She pressed her thumb hard into the side of her index finger. It looked like a nervous habit to keep herself steady. A second later, she let out a loud, bubbly laugh.
"It just makes my stomach turn," Karusawa added, waving her hand to brush it off. "Anyway, I hope we all get along!"
She sat down.
She sounded like a normal, trendy girl. But I noticed the physical shift. She tried to make it sound like a casual complaint about movies, but the way her body locked up meant it was likely a real fear.
The sequence reached Row six. A girl stood up.
"Hi everyone! I'm Matsui Chiaki," she said, her voice bright and overly energetic. "I'm like, super into shopping, finding cute cafes, and trying out new cosmetics. Let's totally get along and have the best time together!"
She played the part of a trendy, airheaded girl flawlessly. However, Reine noticed her eyes briefly scanning the room.
Then, the sequence hit the seventh row. A striking girl stood up. She looked at the rest of the class like they were garbage without smiling.
"I am Kousaka Reina," she said, her voice dripping with absolute arrogance. "I possess beauty and intellect far beyond anyone in this room. Do not speak to me unless I address you first. I have zero interest in playing pretend with commoners."
She sat back down instantly and pulled out a small mirror to check her reflection. She was a completely uncontrolled, hostile variable who would not bend to peer pressure.
The countdown to Reine's turn was accelerating.
Reine began calculating different, safer options.
Hobby: Reading. Flaw: Sounds too antisocial. Hobby: Music. Flaw: High probability of inviting follow-up questions regarding specific genres, requiring a fabricated list of popular artists I do not know. Hobby: Sleeping. Flaw: Implies laziness, inviting negative academic scrutiny. This is annoying.
She needed something incredibly plain. A statement that gave them absolutely no reason to talk to her again.
There are too many ways this could go wrong. There is no perfect answer. It's just a basic greeting, yet acting 'normal' is somehow more exhausting than solving Lebesgue integration in my head. My turn is coming. This is absurdly difficult.
The sequence finally reached the back row.
The boy to her left, in ROW: 8 | COL: 3—the unremarkable gamer from the bus—pushed his chair back and stood up.
"Hey, everyone. I'm Kato Kenji," he said, rubbing the back of his neck with an awkward, apologetic smile. "I'm really into video games. I'm not exactly the best at studying, but I'll try not to drag anyone down. Let's all get along."
It was a flawless execution of mediocrity. A few people smiled politely, but no one paid him any real attention. He is perfectly average.
Then, he sat down.
It was her turn.
Reine stood up. The scraping of her chair against the floor sounded unnaturally loud. Thirty-nine pairs of eyes shifted toward her. The optimal script was ready in her mind. It was logically sound and easy.
But the physical execution of speaking to a room full of strangers without a clear tactical objective felt incredibly restrictive. Her throat felt dry. She was deeply, profoundly unsocial.
"My name is Asakura Reine," she said. Her voice was completely flat, devoid of any of the nervous or excited inflection the others had used. "I... don't have any particular hobbies. Or skills worth mentioning."
She paused for a fraction of a second, feeling the awkward stiffness of her own posture. "It's a pleasure to meet you."
She sat down immediately.
The classroom was silent for a brief, uncomfortable moment before the next person hastily stood up to fill the void.
Reine stared at the blank screen on her desk, quickly replaying the introduction in her head.
Total failure. My tone was too rigid. I failed to act like a natural teenage girl. I stood out by trying not to stand out.
Beside her, in ROW: 8 | COL: 5, someone exhaled sharply.
It was a small, unmistakable sound. A faint, slightly mocking laugh.
Reine shifted her amber eyes to the right.
The boy sitting next to her had perfect posture. His uniform was immaculate, and his sharp, dark eyes were fixed straight ahead on the whiteboard. He had not even looked at her. But the faint trace of an amused, condescending smirk was still lingering on his face.
Reine noticed it.
Then, the boy pushed his chair back. Since he was in the last column of the last row, he was the final student to speak. He stood up. His movements were smooth and completely unbothered by the thirty-nine people watching him.
"My name is Hori Seiji," he said. His voice was cold and carried easily across the room. "I have no hobbies to share. I have no intention of getting along with any of you, and I don't want to make friends. Please don't talk to me unless it is an absolute emergency."
He sat back down, his posture perfectly straight, and immediately went back to staring at the whiteboard.
The entire classroom froze. The awkward silence Reine had created was nothing compared to this. Hori had just drawn a massive, freezing wall between himself and the rest of the class.
Well, Reine thought, looking at the side of his face. At least I'm no longer the worst introduction in the room.
She rested her chin on her hand, her amber eyes dull, staring right through the classroom.
The noise and chatter of the classroom filled her ears, but her mind was elsewhere. The entire first week would likely just be everyone settling into their social groups.
She would remain in the background. A ghost. A perfectly harmless student.