Aozora Itsuki looked at his watch as he glanced toward the doors of the Main Hall. The place had become quiet, settling into that peculiar hush that preceded major events.
It was about 8:56 AM and it would almost be time for the Orientation Ceremony.
He turned to the maid next to him and then to his right where his sister was supposed to sit down. However, she wasn't there.
The empty seat mocked him.
"Kotone… where is my sister?" Itsuki asked as he gave the maid a look. "She's supposed to be here now, is she not? And she doesn't have her glasses too… Are you positively sure she can see properly?"
Kotone bowed slightly, her expression carefully neutral in that way all experienced servants mastered.
"My lady told me to leave her be and come here, that she wanted to socialize with a few girls." She explained, her voice measured. "I am merely listening to her orders…"
Itsuki sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.
They were one of the ten great clans, so being late wouldn't actually reflect much on their family's standing.
The Aozora name carried enough weight that punctuality violations were overlooked but he would still have wanted her to be early.
'I hope she at least has some water with her,' he thought, knowing full well his sister's condition and how painful it became when she neglected it.
Just then, the door opened with a heavy creak that echoed through the suddenly silent hall.
Two people entered while breathing hard, their chests heaving from exertion.
Most of the students focused on them immediately.
The first was Amagi Kōya, the guy who Akari had been spreading rumors about throughout the entire Academy network.
How he almost took advantage of her, how he had fought with employees at the Kumo Terrace, seeding his position as a delinquent to the Academy students before classes even began.
The whispers started immediately, a low buzz of judgment and speculation.
The next person was Aozora Miyuki, who was breathing hard as well. They had just run, and it had been a long time since she ran anywhere with such urgency.
"See you later," Kōya said while walking away from her and toward the back of the orientation seats.
Miyuki quickly walked over to her brother and sat down, still catching her breath.
Immediately, Itsuki turned to his sister with that expression he always wore when dealing with her.
That mixture of concern and frustration that he couldn't quite articulate properly. He cared about her, genuinely cared, but he didn't know how to show it in ways that didn't come across as controlling.
She felt very inferior compared to him, and he couldn't stop it no matter what he tried.
The gap between them only seemed to widen with time.
"What were you doing?"
Miyuki twitched at his tone, her shoulders hunching slightly.
"I... I... I f-forgot to hydrate," she stuttered as she looked to the ground, unable to meet his eyes. "S-so I was stuck in the h-hallway while everyone had c-come here."
Her words came out fragmented by nervousness.
"Why…?" Itsuki asked, glancing at Kotone who flinched immediately under his gaze.
"I-I... was n-near the Cafeteria and the m-main door leading to the entrance of the M-Main Hall was far away…" Miyuki's voice got quieter with each word. "If it w-wasn't for K-Kōya-kun then I w-wouldn't have—"
"That man…?" Itsuki interrupted, his eyes narrowing. "Have you not heard the rumors circulating about him from Akari…?"
He looked at his sister with that analytical gaze he used when assessing threats.
She was too meek to understand social life properly, even though she said she wanted friends.
She would most probably be used by them because of her status, manipulated and discarded when they got what they wanted.
His job as the big brother was to ensure that it didn't happen.
"Hanging around him will only bring about more harm to your reputation than good… or is your goal no longer to make friends?"
Miyuki paused, her breath catching.
She and Kōya were friends already, weren't they? He had helped her when she needed it most.
Did friends forsake friends to make other friends?
"I-I'm K-Kōya-kun's f-friend…" she said softly, her voice barely audible. "And he h-helped me out… he even g-gave me water from his c-can."
That made Itsuki turn to her with practically wide eyes, genuine alarm flashing across his usually composed features.
Without warning, he used his hands to force his meek sister's mouth open, leaning in close to smell her breath.
"You could have been poisoned…" he said seriously, inspecting her mouth and throat for any signs of tampering or foreign substances.
Miyuki whimpered at the invasive inspection, tears pricking at the corners of her eyes.
"I-I have the W-Water affinity…" she tried to explain, her voice muffled by his hands. "P-poison in water w-wouldn't affec—"
"That's enough." Itsuki let go, his decision already made with the finality of a judge's gavel. "I have now permanently banned you from seeing or talking to that Kōya forever."
Miyuki's eyes went wide with shock and hurt.
"And if you dare disobey my orders…" he continued, his voice becoming colder and more threatening. "Then I shall report you to Clan Head and assign more than one maid to you. Also, that your little friend Kōya… I'll ensure that he has more than accusations on his head."
Miyuki flinched as if physically struck, and then bowed her head with a visible tremble running through her small frame.
"Y-yes… Onii-chan."
…
Kōya found a seat at the very back of the hall.
Fortunately, the seats were arranged in ascending order, so the back was at the top while the front was on the ground level.
It gave him a good vantage point to observe everything without being too exposed.
He sat down next to a green-haired young man who waved at him cheerfully, seemingly unbothered by Kōya's reputation.
"You're the infamous Amagi Kōya from Class 5…?" The green-haired man said with a grin. "Your name really spreads everywhere, though you're pretty much a handsome bastard to be a delinquent."
Kōya raised an eyebrow at the casual assessment.
"Don't worry…" the guy continued, gesturing around at the conspicuously empty seats surrounding them. "We're practically in the same situation."
"Oh…"
The green-haired man scooted over slightly to give Kōya more room.
Kōya sat down with a small sigh, already resigned to his social pariah status.
'Well, I should get over the hopes of getting to talk with Miyuki.' he thought, a twinge of disappointment settling in his chest.
She was genuinely a nice person, kind and sincere in ways that were rare in this world but until she got character development and learned to stand up for herself, she would be thrown around by her family.
Especially her big brother Itsuki, who had a sister complex that bordered on suffocating.
Now he focused on the screen that materialized in front of him.
「Congratulations, you have completed your first mission」
「You have paid back your debt of 1,000 F.P.」
'I see… what's F.P. again? Is it like some kind of System points?'
「Fate Points are the currency of the System that can be used to heal damage done to the body or purchase items from the System Shop.」
'I see… the usual,' Kōya thought with mild interest. 'Shop then.'
A green screen materialized in front of him, floating in his vision like a holographic display.
「Welcome to the System Shop」
「Please set a Username to continue」
'Huh…?' He blinked at the unexpected request. 'Why would I need to set a username?'
「Just do the damn thing. Think about what username you want.」
He sighed inwardly, feeling like he was setting up a social media account rather than accessing some mystical system shop.
'Use Username XOXO.'
「That Username has already been taken」
'What…?' Kōya's mental voice carried genuine confusion. 'Am I not supposed to be the only person using the shop?'
The System didn't answer, maintaining its selective silence on topics it deemed unimportant.
'New Username: Popped Out Like A Phantom.'
He just picked what randomly came to his head, half-expecting it to be taken as well.
「Congratulations, you have gotten Username: PoppedOutLikeAPhantom」
「The System store is now being accessed」
"Yo… bro… are you hearing me?" The green-haired guy asked, waving a hand in front of Kōya's face.
Kōya was staring forward intensely like his life damn depended on it, completely zoned out.
"Yeah?" Kōya asked, dismissing the screen with a mental command.
He forgot he was outside for a moment, too absorbed in the System interface.
"Like I was saying before you got all locked in…" The green-haired guy leaned closer conspiratorially. "I'm just like you."
"A delinquent?" Kōya raised an eyebrow.
"No, no…" He shook his head quickly. "I offended a noble as well."
He whispered it like a secret, and Kōya turned to him with genuine interest.
He couldn't remember this guy from the manga, not that he could tell much from the green hair alone.
Mangas didn't have color unless they were on the cover, and hair colors were rarely mentioned in the text.
"Which one…?"
"Well, I tried to hit on Lady Shion from the Shiden Clan." He whispered, wincing at the memory. "Now I have a target on my back… about 25 million crowns. I'm protected from the outside world by ALI's rules, but from the inside? I have to be careful."
Kōya's eyes widened slightly.
He knew this guy now. He was murdered during the mid-terms in the manga, killed by assassins hired who wanted to cash in on the money.
But… this wasn't the same face he remembered from the panels.
"Oh, I remember seeing your face on the bounty site but… it's not the same."
"Of course I'm wearing a face changer, am I dumb?" He muttered back, tapping his cheek where the device was presumably hidden. "Basic survival instinct."
Kōya acknowledged the wisdom of that decision with a nod.
Just as he was about to say something in response, he couldn't.
The words wouldn't escape his throat at all, caught somewhere between his brain and his mouth. It was as if a mute spell had been cast all around the hall, silencing hundreds of students simultaneously.
「You have been afflicted with Status: Mute」
A person walked onto the stage with measured, confident steps.
It was a domineering man with a silver mark across his forehead that gleamed under the hall's lighting.
He was wearing a black cloak and all black clothes that looked cool, designer quality that screamed both wealth and taste.
He really kept up to date with quality drip.
The man stood in front of the mic and tapped it once, twice.
The sound echoed through the now-silent hall.
However, from his domineering figure and intimidating presence, there was no booming voice. Instead, there was a mature voice like that of a scholar came out.
"Good day… to all of you," he announced, his words carrying weight despite their calm delivery. "I am Hachirou Tenma, and I am the Owner of this establishment… ALI."