The Transfer Student

Back to Kiyo, who waved and said hi to everyone he encountered. While some people returned his jolly greeting, others stared at him as if he were some sort of ugly creature from another dimension. But in all honesty, Kiyo cared little for what others thought of him. He was just so undeniably happy to be back in his own world that he could not contain himself.

After a few minutes of walking, Kiyo had finally made it to his high school—Yokote Higashi High School. A place that Kiyo usually dreaded but now was a treasure that he wholeheartedly missed.

“It’s been so long…”

The moment Kiyo took one step into the school grounds, he was picked up by the back of his collar. The boy was easily lifted and taken over to the back side of the school. Surrounding and towering over him were big and muscular teenagers who looked like they came from a street gang. Three of them—while one with fiery red hair, gray eyes, and a scar across his face stood in the center. His name was Yamaji Tasuku, the toughest and scariest guy in all of Yokote High. He was a bully who enjoyed nothing more than beating Kiyo into a bloody pulp or stealing his money whenever he felt like it. He was one of the main reasons Kiyo dreaded coming to school as Yamaji would make it his mission to bother the blonde boy—either by beating him or forcing him to be an errand boy.

“Hoshi~! Good job making it to school on time~!”

Yamaji held his hand out towards Kiyo.

“Now it’s for my daily fee! Give me all the money in your—”

“Hey, Yamaji!”

Breaking the extremely intimidating tension was Kiyo who casually greeted the bully. Yamaji stopped talking and looked at Kiyo, greatly confused by his demeanor. The boy shook his hand as if they were old friends.

“It’s been so long! You haven’t changed a day!”

“H-huh? What are you smoking?” Yamaji replied. “We saw you yesterday! We beat the crap out of you and gave you a swirly!”

Kiyo snapped his fingers and laughed.

“Right! I remember that! It took me a while to get that toilet smell out of my air! Anyway, how are you?”

“What the…anyway stop messing around and give me my money!”

“Oh sorry I don’t have any more money right now,” Kiyo shrugged. “You took the last of it, remember?”

Yamaji snarled and grabbed Kiyo’s collar.

“I don’t care if I took all your money! Your job is to pay the appropriate amount—preferably 12,000 yen any way you can! You can rob from your mother or your damn sister—just make up the money that you owe!”

Kiyo shook his head.

“I can’t do that, sorry!”

“Why you—”

Yamaji punched Kiyo right in the center of his face. The force was enough to launch the blonde boy to the ground, dust flying after he crashed. Yamaji smirked at his work of violence but also rubbed his red knuckles—they seemed to have taken the hard side of Kiyo’s nose.

“Now do you understand? Unless you want me to break your fingers and make you go to class with no pants you better apologize!”

Not even a second later, Kiyo rose up from the ground. His nose was bleeding but he still wore a smile as if nothing was wrong. The scene before the bullies freaked them out.

“Ha ha! You are too much, Yamaji! See you later, don’t wanna be late for class!”

Kiyo then casually walked off while waving goodbye. Yamaji and his entire group stood where they were in complete bewilderment.

“W-what the hell was that!?”

***

 As Kiyo was far away from the bullies, he touched the blood on his nose and looked at it with interest.

“I’m bleeding but…I didn’t feel any pain when Yamaji punched me. It just felt like I was splashed in the face with water. Is this a byproduct of my experience back on Ihari? But I still can’t summon my system…Maybe it’s just that my body is stronger after all the battles I had!”

“Kiyo!”

“Huh?”

The blonde boy looked up to see a teenage girl with tanned skin, short dark brown hair, and hazel eyes. She was a student in Kiyo’s class, the ace of the volleyball team, and one of the most popular girls in the school—Nao Aikawa.

“Nao-san!” Kiyo ran up to the popular girl with a happy look on his face. “Good morning! It’s been ages!”

“What?” Nao replied with a raised eyebrow. “We saw each other yesterday. You got dragged off by that jerk Yamaji, remember?”

Kiyo laughed aloud.

“Yeah! Ha ha! Good times!”

“…That was yesterday Kiyo.”

“Anyway, how have you been?”

“Since yesterday? Well, you know that I am still dealing with all those upperclassmen asking me out! It was so weird!”

“Who was that again?”

“Ogura Kunisada! The emo guy with the scary tattoos all over his arm and face!”

“Ohhhhhh!!! I hope he’s okay! Last time I saw him he looked so pale!”

“You saw him…YESTERDAY! And he is always pale!”

“Class is gonna start soon!”

Kiyo thoughtlessly grabbed Nao’s hand which caused the girl to blush.

“Let’s go!”

“K-Kiyo!?”

The two hurried up to the next level of the school and entered classroom B5. Inside was a whole congregation of rowdy students. Kiyo and Nao went to the very back and took their seats.

“What’s up with you?” Nao asked. “You’re so…happy?”

Kiyo turned over to Nao.

“Is it weird to be happy?”

“It’s weird for you to be happy! You're usually stoic when you come to school! Hoping that the day ends sooner!”

Kiyo chuckled a little after hearing Nao’s statement and then his memories flooded back to the World of Ihari. He remembered Marcus, Arthion, and everything that he had experienced in his adventure. Despite waking up the next day in his world he knew that his time in Ihari was real and nothing could replace or make him forget the lessons he learned.

“I guess…I’ve just grown to appreciate life. You learn a lot after you go onto the road and see sights you never thought you could or meet people you never imagined to bond with. I experienced it all…and it was exhilarating…”

Nao tilted her head in confusion.

“I’m lost…did you go somewhere yesterday?”

Kiyo nodded.

“Yes, and it was the most wonderful place…”

“Really? Can I go there?”

“Nope! Sorry, it’s closed off for a while!”

“Huh!? What the heck—why!?”

Nao glared at Kiyo but the boy ignored her as he turned to the window and took in the beauty of the morning sky.

Not long after, the homeroom teacher walked in.

“Attention! Take your seats!”

Everyone sat down and silenced themselves.

“Before we officially start homeroom I like to welcome a new transfer student to the class!”

The class began to murmur amongst themselves.

“A transfer student? So late into the year?”

“This class is already big as it is!”

“I hope it’s a girl! And I hope they’re hot!”

“Even if they are, it's not like you have a chance ugly!”

Nao hummed in interest.

“Transfer student? I didn’t hear about this yesterday.”

“It’s a surprise to me too,” stated Kiyo. “But I will do my best to welcome them with a smile!”

“You’ll probably weird them out dummy,” Nao said as she mocked him.

“Quiet!”

The homeroom shouted.

“She is from overseas but still treats us as if she is one of our own! No nonsense understood! Now…come on dear, introduce yourself.”

Entering the classroom was an extremely gorgeous girl with pale skin, purple eyes, and long white hair. The entire class was left with their mouths agape as they stared at what they believed to be the physical representation of a goddess. The girl smiled warmly and waved.

“Hello! My name is Jinn! It’s wonderful to meet all of you!”

The entire class body immediately starts to bustle with each other. In the back, Nao just shook her head at the sight of everyone’s excitement.

“Nobody in this class is subtle. Look at the boys! Already turning into some horny dogs! What do you think of Kiyo?….Kiyo?”

Nao turned to Kiyo who was looking at the new student. All the color in his face was gone and his eyes were widened with fear. It was a complete contrast to how Kiyo was acting earlier and a new expression that she had never once seen on him. She continued to call out to Kiyo but her voice drowned out in his ears as his attention was fully on Jinn who was standing right at the board.

Jinn’s gorgeous gem-like eyes then landed on Kiyo who she waved at with a grin…showcasing small fangs behind her lips.