The wind in late August had already shed the stifling heat of midsummer, and the long summer vacation had finally come to an end after all. For the students of Sobu High School who were used to a leisurely routine, the first day of school always brought a bit of reluctant laziness, with even their steps half a beat slower than usual.
Asakura carried a bag that wasn't particularly heavy—most of his textbooks hadn't been taken home at all and were dumped directly on the bookshelves in the Club Room—as he ambled slowly into the familiar classroom.
After first giving a shallow yawn to pay his respects to the new semester, Asakura began seriously considering whether to take it a step further and catch up on some more sleep.
During the tail end of the summer vacation, he naturally didn't cling onto that little bit of remaining time to go on urban legend hunts; instead, he ran a three-point line between home, Rabbit House, and the Club Room, working hard to study the Half-Blood Prince's potion notes.
To be precise, studying Elixir to Induce Euphoria and Pepperup Potion.
His current progress was -10%—he had burned out his cauldron.
Just as Asakura slumped onto his desk, before he even had time to catch up on sleep, soft footsteps came from beside him, followed by a familiar, gentle voice sounding by his ear.
"Asakura-kun, long time no see. Did you have a good summer vacation?"
Asakura turned his head to the side and saw Yanami standing beside him, a shallow, gentle smile on her face.
"...Did you ruin your brain by eating something off the ground?"
The flawless smile on Yanami's face instantly crumbled at one corner.
"O-Oh, woah, the way you say that, it's as if I'm some kind of glutton~" The girl continued to try her best to maintain her image as a pretty girl.
"What kind of creature are you? Release Yanami this instant!" Asakura declared with righteous severity.
"Honestly, why do you have to say such mean-spirited words!" Yanami finally couldn't keep up the act any longer and deflated.
"It hasn't been that long since we last met, right? To suddenly change even your art style all at once—anyone would definitely be frightened." Asakura roasted: "So what's the actual situation?"
"People just felt that recently Asakura-kun as well as the others in the Magic Club have been looking at me with eyes that are a bit... well, not so polite." Yanami sighed: "Look, if this were a light novel, someone like me would be a female lead no matter how you slice it, right? But recently things keep developing in the direction of a comedy character, so people are reflecting on themselves a little bit at least..."
"So you can go back to eating only three meals a day now?" Asakura asked teasingly.
"Fuel to sustain life is also necessary." The girl argued plausibly.
"Actually, being a comedian seems like a pretty promising career path for you." Asakura patted her shoulder.
"Even if you tell me 'give up' in such a euphemistic way, people can't feel happy about it at all!" The girl muttered.
Though to be honest, if one ignored the fact that her essence was an overly gluttonous sea otter, Yanami's appearance was still quite deceptive.
The girl wore a clean and tidy school uniform, her medium-length hair falling smoothly over her shoulders. While her eyes looked gentle and quiet, she also carried a bit of a bright, sunny atmosphere like a normie. At the same time, because she wasn't a genuine, quintessential normie at heart, even introverts didn't feel uncomfortable when hanging out with her. In a certain sense, she possessed a unique temperament that made people feel at ease and unable to resist offering her goodwill.
On this point alone, Yanami was actually quite popular among the boys in the class.
Asakura had merely patted her shoulder earlier with slightly intimate body language, yet at this moment he had already received subtle looks of contempt from quite a few boys in the classroom.
Toward this, Asakura naturally couldn't care less.
"So Yanami, how was your summer vacation?" He asked politely: "Was it very fulfilling?"
"Feels like Asakura-kun asked this question not too long ago... It was alright, though hardly anyone invited me out to play."
Yanami let out a long sigh.
Originally, from childhood up until early this year, she would always run out to play with her childhood friend. But ever since he got a girlfriend, whether to avoid gossip or for some other reason, he almost stopped showing his face in front of her.
However, this matter wasn't entirely a bad thing for Yanami either. After all, compared to getting the cold shoulder, being called out to watch the two of them act all affectionate like before made her feel even more like sitting on pins and needles, utterly unbearable.
"What about Asakura-kun?"
"It was alright. Just went on a beach trip, went to two days of the fireworks festival, got caught and taken to wild camping, soaked in hot springs due to some reasons, attended the Bon Festival, watched a friend's band live..."
"Isn't that super wonderful! Damn it, so jealous! Jealous to the point where my gums are about to bleed!"
"That's just a vitamin deficiency." Asakura completely ignored the girl's gaze—which looked like a special-grade vengeful spirit—and advised, "Eat more oranges."
The casual chat between the two maintained a smooth, relaxed rhythm throughout, without overly intense greetings or awkward silences. Yanami spoke softly and gently, not deliberately searching for topics nor letting the conversation go cold. They chatted about books they had read during summer vacation, snacks they had eaten, exams and homework they would face after school started, and occasionally about small changes in their classmates—plain and ordinary, yet making one feel exceptionally relaxed.
Asakura didn't talk much, mostly listening and offering brief responses now and then. There wasn't much change in his facial expression, yet there wasn't a single trace of impatience either.
Compared to the noisy Yamada Ryo and the straightforward (and slightly boy-crazy) Kita Ikuyo over at Kessoku Band, Yanami's side was still a bit quieter.
Probably?
As they talked, more and more students filled the classroom, and the originally quiet space gradually grew noisy.
Students gathered in groups of two or three, excitedly sharing their experiences during the summer break. The chattering sounds filled the entire classroom, packed with youthful energy, completely shattering the vacation's silence.
Asakura knitted his brows slightly. It wasn't that he felt annoyed, but rather he was a bit unaccustomed to suddenly switching from a quiet state to a noisy environment. He subconsciously looked out the window. Many students were already walking around on the sports field wearing uniform school outfits, their figures coming and going, every corner oozing the vitality of school starting.
Yanami noticed his subtle movement, the corners of her mouth curving into a shallow smile. She didn't say anything further, merely accompanying him quietly (Asakura noticed that her hand subconsciously seemed to want to reach into her bag for snacks, but through her strong... well, actually not so strong willpower, she managed to suppress it), allowing the classroom's clamor to slowly spread.
Just as the atmosphere in the classroom grew livelier and the students were chatting enthusiastically, a crisp voice with a touch of crisp authority suddenly came from the classroom doorway, instantly drowning out all the noise in the room and bringing half of the bustling classroom to an immediate silence.
"Everyone quiet down, stop making noise!"
Asakura and Yanami turned their heads toward the doorway at the same time, only to see Hiratsuka standing at the entrance.
Unlike during the summer break community service where she appeared sluggish most of the time, the current Hiratsuka looked much more like a proper "teacher."
The students in the class instantly shut their mouths, turning their heads one after another to look at Hiratsuka. The classroom that had been extraordinarily bustling just moments ago became completely silent in an instant, with even the sound of breathing becoming much lighter.
After all, no one wanted to personally experience the origin of her nickname as the Iron Fist Teacher.
Hiratsuka scanned the students in the classroom, her gaze sweeping past every person. Only after confirming that everyone had quieted down did she speak up: "Summer vacation is over. Get your minds back in order and stop thinking about those lazy days of summer. Besides, now isn't the time for idle chatter either. Everyone, pack up your things immediately and assemble in the school auditorium. A grade-wide orientation assembly will be held, and there are important matters to announce. Move faster, don't drag your feet."
As her words fell, a small stir rippled through the classroom. The students began tidying up their desks one after another, preparing to get up and head to the auditorium.
Someone muttered in a low voice about not wanting to attend the meeting, complaining that the first day of school was already such a hassle, but with Hiratsuka towering over them on the podium, no one dared to delay their actions, quickly packing up their belongings.
Asakura stood up slowly with an indifferent expression.
To him, the orientation assembly was nothing more than delivering some routine precautions and new semester discipline requirements—long and tedious, yet as a student, he could only obediently follow instructions.
Yanami also quickly tidied up her items, looked at Asakura, and said slyly: "Asakura-kun, let's head over together. It's not easy to get left behind if there are more people."
Is being left behind really the only thing you care about?
Asakura complained in his heart, but still nodded without refusing: "Okay."
The two followed the main body of the class and slowly walked out of the classroom. The hallway was already jammed with students from various classes, buzzing with noise as everyone shuffled toward the auditorium. Hiratsuka walked at the very back of the class line, urging them along every now and then to maintain order, ensuring every student kept up with the line and wouldn't run off.
It seemed that Tobe and the others almost getting lost during the volunteer service activity had left her with a bit of a psychological scar—in the past, she wouldn't have done this.
Asakura walked beside Yanami, moving forward slowly with the flow of people. Looking at the classmates coming and going around him and listening to the voices rising and falling in his ears, he felt secretly emotional. The long summer vacation was completely over, and the noisy daily life belonging to the campus had ultimately restarted.
The auditorium ahead was already close at hand, its double doors wide open, bright lights spilling out from inside, with the clamor of students from other grades faintly audible.
Asakura stepped into the auditorium with the line.
The heavy, stale air, wrapped in human voices and the cool airflow of the air conditioning, blew right against his face.
Asakura almost stumbled from the stifling smell. Standing at the doorway, he took a deep breath before following the line into the auditorium.
Many schools in Japan actually didn't have an auditorium facility at all. Most of the time, meetings were held by gathering students in the gymnasium; the better ones would move chairs over in advance for students to sit on, while the worse ones simply made students stand as punishment.
Sobu High was different—it possessed the rare facility of an auditorium.
Sobu High's auditorium was spacious and orderly. At the front was a raised stage draped with a light grey curtain, featuring a long table and microphones, with the school flag and grade placards neatly arranged at the corners of the table. The speakers beside the podium stood quietly, exuding a sense of solemnity for the upcoming event.
Below the stage were rows of reddish-brown connected seats arranged in a stepped tier pattern from front to back, stretching as far as the eye could see. At this moment, more than half the seats were already filled with students. Uniforms of various colors merged into an orderly ocean, distinguishable by grade only through subtle differences at the collars and cuffs.
The human noise inside the auditorium wasn't quiet, nor was it boisterous—it was a restrained clamor unique to student groups.
The ceiling lights overhead cast warm white beams, illuminating the entire auditorium brightly—because there were no windows on the walls on either side of the auditorium, the lights had to be kept on even during the daytime. There were still many students on the aisle who, like Asakura's classmates, had just entered, searching for their corresponding seats under the guidance of class committee members. Their steps were hurried yet orderly, and homeroom teachers were scattered everywhere, whispering reminders now and then to maintain order, giving the whole auditorium a busy yet structured atmosphere.
After quite a while, the chaotic situation finally settled down, and all the students temporarily found their seats.
Then, high-level school officials—likely characters such as members of the school board of directors—stood up from their seats.
His voice was steady and deep, spreading to every corner of the auditorium through the sound system. However, the opening was entirely comprised of stale, routine opening-day speeches: first welcoming all students back to school, briefly summarizing the campus achievements of the previous semester, and then launching into cliché words of encouragement, delivered in a formal yet gentle tone full of symbolic admonitions.
It was nothing more than urging everyone to refocus, abandon the laxity of summer vacation, adjust their learning attitudes for the new semester, listen attentively in class, study diligently, observe campus discipline, and focus on moral character cultivation, striving to make progress in both academics and comprehensive quality. It seemed that regardless of which country's opening ceremony speech it was, it followed the standard套路 of campus speeches without much novelty.
Most of the students below the stage listened mindlessly and drowsily, and Asakura was no exception. He leaned against the back of his chair, his eyes resting lifelessly on the curtain in front, feeling immensely nostalgic at this moment for Kaname Raana, who had only said "Meow" during her speech at the joint Live.
The board member's routine speech lasted for over ten minutes. Seeing that many students below the stage had already shown weary expressions—some even starting to secretly yawn—his tone suddenly pivoted. His originally sluggish voice gained a bit of solemnity, pulling the students' dispersed attention back in an instant.
"Everyone must surely be very curious as to why you were suddenly gathered here today, when the precautions for the start of school could have simply been stated over the PA system. In fact, I am here to announce something to everyone!"
The board member said with an air of mystery.
Seeing that the students all revealed puzzled expressions, this board member finally spoke loudly into the microphone: "I'm sure everyone has heard of 'Shuchiin', the prestigious school that has always been known for its high caliber of students. Not to mention in Chiba, it can be considered second to none nationwide—and in the upcoming semester, Shuchiin will be engaging in multifaceted cooperation and collaboration with our Sobu High!"
The students erupted into an uproar—most of them finding this news hard to believe.
After all, a behemoth like Shuchiin was simply too far removed from their lives in the past.
Only Asakura raised an eyebrow.
Collaboration? Damn, the gacha game is still chasing me...