Chapter 3: I Just Want to Be Alone

For the rest of the class, I felt a strange gaze. I could feel it, even without looking. The gaze came from beside me. Ayaka Shirogane couldn't stop staring at me. She looked shocked, as if she still couldn't accept the reality.

To me, it didn't matter. The most important thing was that she didn't bother me.

She knows now, so she won't bother me anymore, right? I thought, hoping the peace I yearned for would return.

When break time arrived, the peace I thought I'd get was shattered. A crowd of women started to surround me. They came from all corners of the classroom, as if I were a movie star who had just arrived on campus.

"Akira-kun, why did you choose to major in law?" one of them asked, her face filled with a sweet, manufactured smile.

"I want to become a lawyer," I answered briefly, returning my focus to the books in front of me.

"Oh, that's perfect! You must be so smart, then?" another chimed in.

I just gave a small nod. The conversation, as I expected, didn't last long. Their topic began to touch on the thing that annoyed me the most.

"By the way... do you have a girlfriend?"

Oh, no. This again.

My face remained expressionless, but inside, a sharp frustration pricked at me. I didn't want a girlfriend. I didn't want romance. I just wanted to study, become a lawyer, and live in peace. This question was a direct attack on my single goal.

"No," I answered curtly, ignoring the sparkle in their eyes.

Suddenly, a voice next to me caught my attention. Ayaka, who had been frozen in silence all this time, finally found the courage to speak to me.

"Why did you... why did you change?" she asked, her voice soft and hesitant.

I glanced at her, then back at my books. "That's none of your business," I answered coldly. I would never tell anyone about it. Especially not her.

Ayaka fell silent for a moment. I could feel her face turning red, perhaps from embarrassment. She gathered her courage, and suddenly, she bowed her head slightly, her voice now sounding sincere.

"I'm sorry," she said softly, almost inaudibly. "I'm sorry because... because I called you a fat pig."

I didn't answer. There was no point. Her apology wouldn't erase what had happened.

Ayaka raised her head, looking at me with eyes still filled with shame. She then took out her phone. "And... can we exchange phone numbers?"

I stared at her with a blank expression. Why? What was her purpose?

However, I didn't refuse. I just took out my phone, letting her input her number. When she was done, she immediately stood up and left, as if afraid of my next reaction.

I looked at my phone. On the screen, there was the name "Ayaka Shirogane."

What just happened? Is this... the beginning of the chaos to come?