Chapter 3 - The Girl Who Sees “Them”

<p>The girl opened the book. With a touch of nervousness, she posed the query to the class: "What number is equivalent to 3⁴/3²?"<br/><br/>"It's… um… y'know…" With a nervous expression, she pressed her index finger against her cheek and glanced upward, a crooked smile tugged at her lips.<br/><br/>"Hey, it's 9," Geto chimed in, his voice laced with certainty.<br/><br/>The teacher's attention shifted to Geto, her tone gently reprimanding yet understanding. "Geto-kun, I appreciate your willingness to help, but I directed the question to Saki-chan. If you wanted to answer for her, at least raise your hand first," the teacher explained.<br/><br/>An indifferent expression crossed Geto's face as he responded, "Sure."<br/><br/>"Thank you, Saki-chan, for reading the question. Now, let's discuss the solution together," the teacher suggested, addressing the class as a whole. She turned to the blackboard and prompted, "Based on what Geto-kun mentioned, how do you arrive at the answer 9?"<br/><br/>As the class continued, Geto wasn't listening to any of it. While he would answer any question the teacher asked him with perfect accuracy, when it came down to paying attention or taking notes, he did none of that.<br/><br/>For two hours all he had done was sleep in class. Not great for a first impression.<br/><br/>When lunch break finally came, Geto's disinterest persisted. He hadn't bothered to pack lunch that day. 'I didn't have time to make lunch today 'cause Babā chased me out, saying I was late,' he grumbled to himself<br/><br/>Just as Geto was thinking about going to the cafeteria, a girl approached him. "Hey, Geto-kun, right? Thanks for answering the question earlier," Saki greeted him with a friendly smile. Her face displayed a playful mixture of gratitude and mild embarrassment. "Honestly, I hadn't done the homework at all."<br/><br/>Geto responded nonchalantly, his casual demeanor evident in his tone. "Sure, don't mention it."<br/><br/>Then, a shift in her expression occurred, one that didn't go unnoticed by Geto. "By the way, on a related note, do you sometimes─?"<br/><br/>"Saki-chan! Come on!" A group of girls called out to her, signaling the arrival of her friends.<br/><br/>"Yeah, I'm coming!" Saki replied, turning her attention toward her companions. "Can I meet you after school, Geto-kun?"<br/><br/>"That's fine." Taken aback by the sudden invitation, Geto agreed, wondering what that shift from cheerful to solemn then back to cheerful was. <br/><br/>As he saw Saki and her friends leave for the cafeteria, Geto thought he should also get some food. <br/><br/>As he was getting up, he heard a click to his left. Looking to the left seat neighbor, he saw the boy who had woken him up opening his lunch. But what caught his eye was the appearance of the lunch.<br/><br/>'This guy likes girly stuff?' The lunch box was pink with cute details, and the lunch itself was also aesthetic. It was awfully girly, not something he would have expected for a gloomy looking, four-eyed kid. 'It's not my business what he likes, anyways.' But he decided to turn his eye from it.<br/><br/>Navigating to the cafeteria, he bought a strawberry Sando for ¥3000, then headed back to his classroom. What he saw was the four eyed kid's desk being surrounded.<br/><br/>"Hehe, what do you got there, Keni-𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯?" a bulky student asked with a mischievous smirk.<br/><br/>"It's… Karaage and…" the bespectacled boy started to explain, but was abruptly interrupted.<br/><br/>"Ooh, Karaage?" another kid interjected, reaching into the lunchbox and helping himself to a piece of the boy's food without his permission. "I love Karaage!"<br/><br/>A third student chimed in with a taunting tone, "Hey, why do your lunches always look so disgusting?" The boy, with his brown hair, continued to mock. "What, no girl would like you, so you want to be one?"<br/><br/>The harsh words hung in the air, laced with cruelty and targeted at the four-eyed boy. Geto's eyes narrowed as he observed the unfair treatment.<br/><br/>"Oi," Geto walked up to the bulky kid and grabbed his shoulder, "You're on my seat." though he wasn't there to help.<br/><br/>"Huh? Oh, the new kid!" The bulky student responded with surprise, his initial dismissive tone dissipating. "I'm using your chair right now. Go use someone else's─Ow!" His words were abruptly interrupted as a sharp pain shot through his shoulder.<br/><br/>A maniacal grin stretched across Geto's face, his eyes glinting with a mischievous glimmer. "Huh? Am I hearing wrong? Is a fatass like you really ordering me around?" His words were deliberate, aimed at undermining the bully's attempt to assert dominance over others.<br/><br/>"Hey, stop it! It hurts!" the bulky student exclaimed, wincing in pain as Geto's grip tightened.<br/><br/>Just as the tension continued to escalate, the brown-haired student swiftly intervened. He stepped forward, grabbing hold of Geto's hand with a sly smile playing on his lips.<br/><br/>"We'll get out of your hair, so let my friend go, will you?" the brown-haired student interjected, his tone surprisingly amiable given the circumstances.<br/><br/>Geto released his grip, allowing the three students to disengage from the confrontation. The bulky student rubbed his shoulder, still feeling the lingering discomfort.<br/><br/>"God, that hurts. Why's his grip so strong?" the bulky student muttered, nursing the soreness.<br/><br/>The other student, the one who had stolen Keni's Karaage, chimed in. "What a crazy guy. Let's just go to the cafeteria."<br/><br/>"Thanks for that." Keni, the glasses-wearing boy, expressed with a quivering voice.<br/><br/>His sly smile still present, Geto responded with a casual air. "You're welcome.'<br/><br/>Internally, Geto contemplated his true motivations. 'I didn't do it for you anyways,' acknowledging that his initial intervention had been driven by a desire to reclaim his chair rather than solely to help Keni. 'Eh, it might be good to earn favors,' he contemplated, recognizing the potential benefits of having others indebted to him.<br/><br/>"Do they always bother you like that?" Geto asked.<br/><br/>The rest of the school day was spent with him sleeping at class, occasionally going up to the board to answer the questions no one can, and copying Keni's notes. <br/><br/>Before you knew it, the first day of school was over. <br/><br/>The moment,</p>