He's the Harem Protagonist
"So Kacy kissed Ha-eun which means kissing another person of the same sex turns you into a fiend."
[You're an idiot if you believe that.]
"Just trying to make a joke...", Dean replied as his usual stoic face crack a little feeling a bit down that his attempt at making a joke failed.
The previous 5 minutes were filled with silence after listening to the recordings. Of course they cut off the recording once it started getting depressing and gory.
Last 5 minutes were spent pondering on what they heard and silently glancing at Mary who was still sitting listlessly like a broken doll.
Dean's attempt at lightening the mood broken the silence and Kat's thought process leaving the holographic girl in a bad mood.
[Sigh...next time come up with a better joke or else you'll remain as the weirdest guy in the academy.]
"I take offense to that statement."
[Really why?]
"I'm sure you were there when I tried to befriend Mark von Harem."
[Mark? He's norm- oh...ohhhh....]
Kat's face twisted from confusion to understanding when she suddenly recalled the time Dean tried to befriend Mark....
***
4 years ago
"Espers started emerging around the end of the 21st century with various side effects to their appearances such as eye and hair colors being different colors from normal human beings. In addition, their appearances are more attractive and are capable of becoming stronger and faster than the average human. There's also a theory that Espers emerged once humanity achieved the capability to travel faster than light, but it is difficult to find the correlation between the two and thus remains a theory."
"Good answer Dean. Now to clarify a bit, Esper is a very loose term to describe superhumans of various abilities much like me and everyone else here. Speaking of which it seems we have reached the end of class, remember to read about the famous Espers during the late 21st century before next class", said a middle age female professor who looks like she owns too many cats.
As for the 2nd ranked student of the first years, Dean McLovin, he had a goal today and that was....
"Ahem excuse me."
....befriending Mark von Harem, the first ranked student of the first years. Dean walked up to a couple happily chatting and interrupted them mid-sentence.
The 16 year old tall boy of about 6 ft (182.88 cm) turned around lowering his face a little to Dean and revealed the most handsome face that anyone has seen on campus. His face seems to have been sculpted to perfection with vibrant green eyes and long raven black hair that's been tied into a ponytail.
Of course, Dean wasn't fazed by Mark's handsomeness as Granny Judy told him he was the most handsome man to exist.
He was Mark von Harem and the girl who was chatting with him was his fiancé at the time, Melanie Asato-Romanoff who was glaring daggers at Dean for interrupting their lovely chat. The last time she saw Dean was this morning since they were neighbors due to their ranks. She quietly wondered why this peasant boy was here again as he was clearly looking at Mark so she chose to back off and see.
"Uhhh...Dean correct? What brings you here?", replied Mark with a soothing deep voice.
"Would you like to hangout sometimes as friends since we're both high rankers?", Dean questioned with a robotic tone as if he was reading from a script last night that his virtual assistant, Kit, came up with when Dean asked 'How to make a friend?'
Melanie facepalmed.
Kat, who was with Jen, facepalmed.
Even Jen facepalmed.
Mark, however, was confused then a little disgusted with the idea of hanging out with Dean.
At first, Dean thought the disgusted look was because of his low-born status until he heard Mark's reply.
"Hang out with....a guy? Uhhh....sorry but...ummm...listen I don't swing that way, but thanks for offer. See ya", Mark replied returning to his cheerful personality and headed out of the classroom with Melanie.
"..."
Dean had a confused face then thought of something, "Kit can you give me the family history of House von Harem?"
***
Present Time
[Pffft]
Kat was trying to hold her laughter recalling Dean's robotic tone and Mark's strange reply, but the more vivid the memory the more difficult is was getting until...
[HAHAHAHAHAHA]
....it burst out echoing around the staircases but there was no reaction as the doors were soundproof and there doesn't seem to be any inhabitants in the vents.
[Your stiff voice....hahah....and Mark's stupid...haha....face as he responded], Kat finished laughing and recalled reading Mark's family history when Dean asked her alter ego, Kit.
[Fine you're as weird as Mark. Happy now]
Dean nodded with satisfaction in his eyes despite being labelled as the weirdest guy tied with Mark who was equally weird.
After Dean's encounter with Mark, various similar occurrences happened all over the academy with Mark declining being friends with anyone of the same gender. This garnered him the nickname of Harem Protagonist since he was friends with only Melanie's friends and other girls plus his last name was....
[Who changes their last name to 'Harem' right after society quietly accepted polygamy a century ago hehehe]
"Yeah...and their family customs is...strange compared to how I was raised", Dean nodded recalling the von Harem's history from their strange name change to their practice of polygamy to the point they don't consider befriending men in high society unless they're relatives of their respective spouses.
[Umm...Dean just curious but if you ever wanted to settle down with someone...do you want to ummm...have multiple wives?], Kat curiously asked wondering which mindset he had in today's society.
"Well, from the vague memories of my parents, they seem really happy that it was just the two of them loving each other aside from me of course. So going with that mindset, I think a monogamous relationship is the only one for me. And did you know that even in a polygamous relationship it's always the first....."
Dean started going off on his usual tangent explaining centuries of social studies while Kat quietly listened with a happy expression.
She stopped listening to Dean after he said he only wants one partner as she recalled why Melanie broke up with Mark....aside from finding out Mark cheated on her with one of her close friends.
Kat recalled one of her conversations with Jen where her best friend gossip about Melanie and Mark arguing behind closed doors. Their argument was purely on Mark wanting to marry Melanie's friends after getting to know them better, but Melanie hated the idea of sharing her man with other people even if it was her close friends.
"....so I think a monogamous relationship is better as there's less drama and complications between both parties", Dean finished his long explanation and pushed his glasses up.
Kat refocused on Dean once he finished his explanation and remembered why they were here.
[Dean about the recording I think-], but Kat stopped herself as she noticed Dean was trying to fight against exhaustion. It was understandable for Dean to be exhausted after fighting through two floors filled with undead monsters and crazed fellow students.
[Dean I think you should rest, I'll keep watch]
"I can-"
[NO, you need to listen to your body and rest when it tells you to.]
Dean only nodded to Kat's bossy attitude and took a couple steps down to the same floor as Mary's listless self. He then took his dirty jacket off and set it down making a makeshift pillow. Satisfied, he laid down as Dean took his glasses off and closed his eyes to let his mind wander off into sleep.
He thought of everything that happened in the past hours.
It's only been a week since Granny Judy passed away in her sleep.
He didn't feel lonely anymore as he and Kat became friends instantly.
The academy has become a nightmare....literally.
His mind quickly drifted off to sleep as his last thoughts were wondering where Melanie was....
***
Last Night
"Jen?"
[Yes princess?]
"I can't sleep"
[...]
**********
A/N: Nice light mood along with some lore stuff.
Hopefully I didn't offend any harem enjoyers here, but next chapter might offend some since it'll be Melanie's POV.