Respect

All in all, there had been 24 new freshmen that got accepted into Augustus, making up two classes of 12 students in each. And somehow, I had not only had the luck of attending the same academy as my old friends, but I had also somehow ended up in the same class as them.

Now, if this had been a book, and the author was a good writer, he would have absolutely tried to hold off on our reunion to create suspense and excitement amongst his readers. Because, what kind of writer would just instantly force a reunion in this way, without any kind of event surrounding it except for it being the first day at the academy?

'-What are you thinking about, Aarick?'

'Nothing.'

Anyway, let's just say that things were a bit tense now. Or, at least I was tense. I would be quite surprised if any of the two managed to recognize me after my little glow-up. Even the nurse at the hospital nearly had a heart attack when she was my transformation.

Lydia and Peter had also both returned to the classroom, with Peter sitting down with the black-haired extra and Lydia sitting next to a petite green-haired girl that I didn't know the name of. Which made sense as I knew no one's name except for my two old friends and the two that had played tag in the hallway.

'I'm tired...'

After not even spending an hour in the academy, I was already completely gassed out. From the stress of trying to navigate the many corridors in the main building to my interaction with Peter, it was hard to force my eyes to stay open.

Seeing as the teacher had still not arrived, I laid my head down on the desk for a bit, allowing myself five minutes of rest as I knew that the rest of the day would most likely also be taxing.

****

[Lydia's Pov]

Having returned to the classroom, I quickly found my seat next to Stella again, a girl that I had met on my way here. From our short conversation, I was already quite fond of Stella, as although she was a bit shy, she appeared to be a nice and gentle girl.

"What was that about?"

Waving my hand to her question, I was too exhausted to think about the idiot called Peter anymore. For years now, I had tried to make him stop acting like some sort of delinquent as I knew it was all an act for the masses.

Yes, I and Peter had attended the same high school before coming here, and just like then, we had even been in the same class. So I had already had my fair share of experiences with him.

John as well, his dark-haired friend, had also been around back then, but I couldn't recall a single time when I had heard or seen him talk.

Noticing that I didn't want to talk about it, she suddenly leaned toward me and lowered her voice to make sure no one could hear us.

"Did you know that those people were in the same class as us? You know, the two from Titan high?"

"Levi and Will? Nope, I had no idea. But I don't think it matters too much. In here, we are all just students anyway. Just because they have high potential doesn't necessarily mean that they are better than us."

Though, while saying that, there was no doubt that they were probably the most prominent people in our class, as they had already managed to break through to [D]-rank before even coming to the academy.

As there was no awakening practice during the high school years, it was very rare to see someone pass [E]-rank before they got official training, and I was no exception to this. So even though I tried my best to reassure Stella that it didn't matter, it was hard to make myself believe those very same words.

Yet, they were still not the most surprising sight in our class. No, there was someone even more abnormal than those two sitting in the frontmost right corner of the room, right next to the entrance, his head now lying down on the desk.

With almost translucent white hair and red eyes, it had been quite hard to not act surprised when seeing him, even more so when adding in the fact that he looked like he had not eaten for years and years.

Small and skinny, almost as if he was merely a junior high student.

It wasn't hard to deduce that most, if not all, of the people in our class were currently scrutinizing him, but as he had gotten accepted to Augustus, there had to be something special about him. Something special enough to make him worthy of sitting here with us.

Right then, the door opened, and a dark-haired woman clad in a white shirt and black skirt walked in, her whole being exuding an aura of elegance and matureness. One didn't have to be a detective to deduce that the woman who had walked in was the one who would become our homeroom teacher.

Our homeroom teacher who instantly noticed the fact that there was a kid in the front row with white hair sleeping. Looking at us while pointing at him, she wore an expression as if to say 'what is this?'

Shaking our heads, as we, first of all, didn't want to get involved, and second of all didn't understand how someone would have the balls to start the first day off by sleeping, we quickly rid our hands of the matter.

Facepalming with the hand that didn't hold the notes for the lesson, it didn't take long until she had made up her mind about how to go about it.

*BAM!*

Slamming her notes down hard right next to the head of the white-haired student, we were all surprised to see his extremely exaggerated reaction.

"I'm awake!"

Flying off his seat, he instantly uttered a lie in his very sleepy condition. And when I said flying off his seat, I meant it.

For some reason, he was now currently floating in the air above his desk while saluting the space above our teacher's head, and after some time of silence and confusion, he finally noticed that something was wrong.

It was just a shame that he was still too sleepy to fully understand what was happening.

"Hmm? There is no one here? That's weiiirrddd...!"

Unable to take it anymore, our teacher lifted her arm and grabbed the hem of his uniform, dragging him down to his desk in one fell swoop. As she stared daggers right into his eyes, the hairs on my arm rose, not even able to imagine what kind of terror he was feeling at that moment.

"Mr. Laupier, presume?"

"Huh...?"

For some reason, just as she was about to give a sermon to the white-haired student, a sound came from behind me, but as I turned my head, I could only see the very cool and aloof Levi and the uncaring Will.

'Was I imagining it...?'

Not wanting to be caught staring, I turned my head back to our teacher and the white-haired student.

"Now, I understand that you are in a very peculiar situation, but I was also promised that no matter your history, that would have no bearing on your performance at the academy. Now, I will give you the benefit of the doubt and regard this as a one-time thing. However..."

Suddenly, a ghastly aura spread around the room, filling our bodies with what could only be called absolute dread. And the source of it was, naturally, the womanly figure that was our teacher.

"If it happens again, I will not let it slide. U.n.d.e.r.s.t.a.n.d?"

"Yes Sir! I mean, yes Madam! I mean..."

"Just shut up and sit down!"

Having gotten enough of the foolish boy apparently called Aarick, she finally went to her podium and put down her notes. At the same time, Aarick crawled back into his seat, hanging his head with shame.

Turning on the digital whiteboard behind her, our teacher was professional enough to just keep going, immediately starting the presentation that I assumed would be an introductory lesson at Augustus.

"My name is Ms. Zito, with my full name is Dona Zito. Naturally, you are to address me with Ms. Zito at all times, but it might still be valuable for you to know."

Turning her head to a certain student at the front, she somehow increased her volume just slightly to make sure she was emphasizing the words that came next.

"Because here at Augustus, we value respect over everything else. And though I didn't think I would have to say it, respect comes in many forms. For example to make sure you are on time for your classes, or to make sure to stop any kinds of harassment you come across. Or finally to make sure to be awake when the teacher wants to start the lesson."