[17] First Day

"Shogi! Come join the Shogi Club!"

"If you want to be popular. Join the baseball club!"

"Manga Club in need of members!"

"Join the club..."

A bustling crowd of students huddled up outside the academy building with stalls and stands all lined up for the freshmen to see.

Within the crowd was Izumo with a face mask on as he struggled to push through the gathering of students.

'Please move for Chris's sake'

Izumo scowled in annoyance, seeing the seniors constantly blocking the freshmen thereby causing traffic in the line.

Thankfully, he had worn a face mask to cover half of his face which hid the clear annoyance written all over his complexion.

As for the reason he had even worn one in the first place...

It was because he was afraid of being recognized.

After all, this was Japan where geniuses are highly exaggerated by the media in order to show the pride of the country.

And he, being the best middle school player in Kansai was naturally targeted.

'Now, where, oh, where is the soccer club stand located?'

Izumo thought, twisting his head left and right, trying to locate the stands or stall for the soccer club.

In the end, he had to resort to using [Eagle Eyes] just to find the damn location due to how crowded the place was.

'There you are'

Smiling beneath his mask, Izumo silently headed toward where the soccer club stall was and soon came upon two students, a girl and a boy.

Without saying a word, he nodded at the two and quickly took a club form paper from the table as he shortly wrote his info onto it, and immediately left after he was done.

"..."

The two students couldn't react in time and were dumbfounded as Izumo came in like a wind, leaving only behind the club form he had written.

They had at least thought that the young man would interact with them, perhaps even a greeting of some sort but instead...

They were met with nothing but the breeze in the air.

Realizing it was too late for them to do something, the two could only shake their heads as the girl shortly took the club form Izumo left behind and read its contents.

"...!"

Not long after she read it, the young girl stood up from her chair and gasped in shock, scaring the young man beside her.

"What's wrong?"

"T-This... look!"

The young girl showed the club form in front of him as the young man read it and later had his eyes wide open afterward.

"...!!"

Silence lingered in the air as the two stared at each other in shock, taking a while for them to process their findings.

"Is this who I think it is?"

The young man asked rhetorically, knowing there wasn't a need to answer his question.

Though it was hard to believe, deep down, they knew their eyes weren't lying.

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Arriving inside a sliding door, Izumo stood in silence and raised his head, looking through the room's name to confirm whether or not he was truly in the right classroom.

Seeing nothing wrong, he soon slid open the door and came upon a variety of students.

He could see that most of the students had already formed a group of their own.

Some were also chatting or greeting one another.

While a minority were the lonely or quiet ones, seemingly doing their own things in their seated chairs.

And indeed, just like any normal class in a normal school.

'Highschool, huh... how nostalgic'

Izumo smiled beneath his mask, feeling quite melancholy.

He couldn't help but remember the friends he made back then, wondering if they were still sprite and energetic even now.

Shaking his head, Izumo stopped thinking of the past and decided to focus on the present instead.

'Right...'

Without wasting any time, Izumo walked toward his designated seat, specifically at the back of the room where he sat next to a girl who was looking through the window with a passive expression.

Secretly taking a glance at her, Izumo was slightly impressed as the girl was pretty enough to be a model.

But that was it, after a while, he took away his eyes off her and focused his attention on the rest of the students instead.

And while he was quietly observing, a vibrant young man cautiously walked up to him with a smile.

"Hello"

"Hm?"

Izumo turned his head toward the unfamiliar voice and stared at the stranger with a curious look.

"What's with the mask?"

"...ah"

Forgetting to take off the face mask, Izumo hurriedly took them out and shortly stored them inside his pocket.

He had only planned to wear them outside the room, after all, it may seem rude to others if he had kept wearing them even during class.

Unless there was a valid reason of course, such as having flu or cough then he might not take them off.

But he was healthy, very much so.

Naturally, Izumo knew his plan of hiding his face would be ruined.

But he also knew there was no way he could keep his identity secret forever, sooner or later, the whole school grounds would find out.

He was merely buying time so he could have some peace and quiet, even if it was just for a day.

"I knew you were a handsome guy"

"Thanks?"

Izumo smiled awkwardly, feeling uncomfortable at the enthusiasm of the young man.

"My name's Takashi Yoshizawa. What about you?"

"Izumo Kizashi, it's a pleasure to meet you"

"...so formal"

Takashi muttered under his breath which Izumo clearly heard and merely chuckled in response.

"Hey, can we change seats?"

"No? And... I believe it's not appropriate. If you want, you could ask the teachers about it"

"Oh..."

Takashi lowered his head, looking quite gloomy before he lifted his head back and smiled again, seemingly forgetting his earlier sadness.

"That's too bad"

"..."

"I wanted to sit next to her"

"Her...? Oh, you mean her"

Izumo glanced to his left where the model girl was sitting, still gazing through the window in a daze.

He could understand why he liked her, she was gorgeous after all.

If it wasn't for him having the mentality of an old man then he too might have fallen for her.

And for a while, both Izumo and Takashi chatted until the school bell rang as the students all went back to their seats, waiting for the class to start.