Self-Introductions

"My name is Kikyo Kushida."

Kikyo Kushida, who was sitting behind Yukiya, stood up as soon as Hirata finished speaking.

Soft, shoulder-length blond hair fell around her face, held neatly in place with a white headband. Her burgundy school uniform and white pleated skirt gave her a polished, eye-catching presence as she stood.

She was a girl with a gentle, angelic smile.

"My goal is to become friends with everyone in this school."

Kushida pressed both hands to her chest, sounding a little nervous as she spoke.

"Unfortunately, none of my friends from middle school came here with me. That makes me feel lonely and a little uneasy, so I want to get to know all of you as soon as I can."

"So... after the introductions are over, I'd really like to exchange contact information with everyone. Please?"

From the outside, she looked exactly like the perfect girl.

Kind, warm, harmless, and full of goodwill.

Yet he did not miss the way Kushida's gaze flicked, for the briefest instant, toward Horikita.

'That acting deserves an Oscar.'

Kushida was the sort of girl who would exhaust herself trying to gain the trust of everyone around her, then feed her own sense of satisfaction with that trust. At the same time, she was perfectly capable of driving out anyone who might expose her past.

In other words, beneath that angelic face lived someone with a very ugly side.

Even if he did not know exactly what had happened to her in middle school, he understood enough of her basic nature.

The introductions continued.

"Well, then I guess I'm next."

Haruki Yamauchi stood up and scratched at his head, acting casual.

"I'm Haruki Yamauchi. In middle school, I was on the baseball team. I was the ace pitcher, and my jersey number was four. Unfortunately, I got hurt during the high school tournament, so now I'm recovering from that injury. Nice to meet you all."

A few students blinked at him.

He nearly laughed.

Pitchers were not usually assigned number four. If Yamauchi wanted to brag, he had probably meant to call himself the cleanup batter. And a middle school student talking about getting injured during the high school tournament was even worse.

The lie was so sloppy it barely counted as a lie.

It was exactly the kind of thing Yamauchi would say.

Yukiya remembered him well enough. One of Class D's infamous trio of idiots. Later, Yamauchi would be manipulated by Arisu Sakayanagi, betray his own class, and end up expelled.

He did not bother paying much attention to the rest of Yamauchi's introduction. What mattered was the impression it left.

During self-introductions, people usually wanted to show only their better sides. They tried to look gentle, capable, reliable, or impressive.

Someone who told half-baked lies in that setting gave off the opposite impression. Loose-lipped. Frivolous. Untrustworthy.

Self-introductions were not just a social ritual.

They shaped a person's position in the class and influenced which groups they would be accepted into later.

After Yamauchi sat down, the introductions went around the room.

Then it was Yukiya's turn.

He rose from his seat with an easy smile.

"I'm Yukiya Amami."

The girls in the class immediately looked over with bright eyes.

"I'm best at photography. If anyone ever needs pictures taken, feel free to come to me. I hope we can all get along."

"Photography? Then we can leave class photos to you from now on, right?"

Chiaki Matsushita smiled and teased him from nearby.

"Of course," Yukiya said. "I'd be happy to."

The girls around him broke into soft laughter.

The atmosphere around his seat warmed almost instantly.

People tended to have an easier time opening up to someone who smiled well, spoke cleanly, and looked good while doing it.

That last part mattered more than most people were willing to admit.

The main reason the girls gathered around Yukiya so quickly was simple.

He was handsome.

"Yukiya Amami."

A clear, theatrical voice cut through the easy mood.

Koenji, who had been admiring himself in a hand mirror, suddenly turned his gaze toward Yukiya.

"Put away that false smile. That ugly soul of yours is not beautiful at all."

The classroom went quiet.

The students who had been laughing a second earlier froze in place.

"Koenji?"

Hirata looked startled.

"Wait, what do you mean by that?"

The others stared at Yukiya with surprise and suspicion.

Koenji's accusation had come too suddenly.

The cheerful, approachable Yukiya Amami they had just seen might be nothing but an act?

He glanced at Koenji.

Of course Koenji knew what sort of person he was.

Yukiya did not care about anything unless it benefited him. Once he decided something was worth doing, he would use almost any means available.

The Koenji family and the Amami family were both powerful Japanese zaibatsu.

On the surface, families like theirs exchanged polite smiles, attended the same events, and maintained a graceful public relationship. Beneath that surface, however, they constantly probed, competed, and schemed against one another.

Yukiya and Rokusuke Koenji had known each other when they were younger.

Back then, Yukiya had even gone out of his way to push him around a little.

"Koenji."

He kept his smile in place, calm and unruffled.

"Let's not drag our families' problems into school. We're classmates now. Even if we can't become friends, we can at least stay out of each other's way, can't we?"

"Family problems?"

Matsushita's eyes sharpened with curiosity.

Several other students seemed to understand at once.

If this was a conflict between powerful families, then Koenji's harsh words made much more sense.

To the class, his reaction looked generous and mature. Koenji, who had attacked him in public the moment he opened his mouth, now seemed like the one clinging to a private grudge.

If Koenji tried to reveal what Yukiya had done in the past, it would only sound like he was escalating the dispute.

"Stay out of each other's way?"

Koenji gave a dismissive huff.

"You have no credibility with me. None."

With that, he returned to admiring himself in the mirror.

To Koenji, beauty was the only standard worth respecting.

And right now, Yukiya Amami was not beautiful.

The class fell into a strange silence.

Koenji, however, did not seem embarrassed in the slightest.

If anything, the rest of the room felt embarrassed for him.

"Um..."

Matsushita leaned toward Yukiya, her expression bright and curious.

"So, Amami-kun, are you really an heir of the Amami Zaibatsu?"

Her tone was half joking, but the interest in her eyes was real.

Even she understood what kind of force the Amami family represented in Japan.

The Amami Zaibatsu had influence in almost every major industry. Finance, manufacturing, real estate, media, technology. Even people who knew little about business had heard the name.

If Yukiya really was one of their heirs, he was exactly the kind of boy Matsushita had once imagined as an ideal partner.

"Well..."

He raised a finger to his lips and smiled.

"Keep it secret from the other classes, all right?"

"Eh?"

Matsushita blinked.

The girls nearby drew closer at once.

"Wait, so it's true?"

"You're serious?"

"Amami-kun, that's amazing."

Their attitude changed in an instant.

The distance between them shrank until a few of them were practically pressing against him. Their eyes had turned bright, sharp, and a little too eager, as if they had found prey.

"Hey."

A rough voice broke into the commotion.

A red-haired boy stood up with an irritated look.

"Quit screwing around. What are we, little kids? If people want to introduce themselves, then let them do it."

Ken Sudo.

He grabbed his bag and headed for the classroom door.

"I'm out."

"Sudo-kun, wait."

Hirata quickly called after him.

"Sorry. This was my fault for not managing the time properly."

"Hirata-kun, it isn't your fault."

"Yeah, Sudo-kun's just too impatient."

"We still had plenty of time."

Several girls immediately defended Hirata.

Yukiya watched the room with a faint smile, then picked up his own bag.

"Hirata-kun, I have something to take care of too. Is it all right if I leave first?"

"Ah... yes, of course."

Hirata nodded after a brief pause.

"We'll continue the introductions another time."

"See you later, Amami-kun."

"Don't forget to exchange contacts with us."

The girls waved as Yukiya left the classroom.

The door slid shut behind him.

Horikita remained in her seat.

Her hand tightened around the compass hidden in her grip.

The needle seemed to give off a cold, ominous glint.

Because Yukiya had left, she had stayed behind.

Compared to the original flow of events, this alone was already a butterfly effect.

After a moment, Horikita rose from her seat as well.

She had to follow him.

At the very least, she needed to stab him once with the compass.

Only then would the frustration in her chest ease.

...

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