Chapter 07: Face to Face

Yuu walked down the almost empty hallway, not really sure where he was going. He had forgotten to ask Sona for directions to his classroom.

He shook off the thought and smiled to himself. Not because he really cared about going to class. The idea of a normal scholar life no longer motivated him. He had experienced a million situations in his long existence that no longer made sense.

Besides, he had already confirmed his suspicions about this world. That was why he had come here; to make sure that he had really traveled to an anime universe.

Now that he knew, he considered the option of returning home and perhaps destroying the plot bit by bit for fun.

Although he ignored the curious looks of the passing students, he noticed a familiar figure at the back of the hallway out of the corner of his eye. Not because he had seen him before in person, but because his face was unmistakable to anyone familiar with this story.

'I think the time has come for an interesting encounter.'

Issei Hyoudou walked down the hallway with a silly, perverse smile, his cheeks rosy as he watched the female students. Every time a girl looked at him, he scratched his brown head.

He didn't seem to be paying attention to the road, because suddenly he bumped into something surprisingly hard. He groaned and took a few steps back, balancing himself so he wouldn't fall.

"Who the hell left a wall in the way?" He raised his voice as he rubbed his sore nose and opened one eye to observe.

But it wasn't a wall in front of him, it was someone else's chest. Slowly, he looked up and saw an unfamiliar face. An extremely handsome and tall young man... For a moment, Issei looked confused.

But soon he regained his foolish smile, "Ah, I'm so sorry, man, I didn't see you. You almost broke my nose, it was my fault!"

However, inside his mind, his true thoughts were spoken and reflected on his envious face:

[A Bishonen! I hate his stupid species! If I had that face, it would be a breeze to get girls!]

Yuu smiled calmly and watched Issei curiously. He had deliberately not moved to start a conversation.

But something unexpected had happened. Issei's lips had not moved while he cursed the bishonen, and yet Yuu heard him speak clearly.

In the past, Yuu had used his mental abilities to read the thoughts. He realized that this was exactly what had happened here.

'Little Sis, did you do this?' He asked his system mentally.

Although he had been able to use these abilities in the past, they were currently blocked, making it impossible to penetrate a person's mental defense at all.

Yuu pondered the situation for a moment. His system had been specifically designed to change the course of the plot. So it was possible that listening to the protagonist's thoughts was one of Siara's functions to help him with this task.

{What are you talking about? I didn't do anything} A confused female voice replied in his mind, {Don't call me little sis, it gives me the creeps! Better keep calling me Blue Weirdo or some other nickname}

Yuu's eyes narrowed slightly. Other than Siara, he couldn't find any logical explanation except the intervention of a third force.

But who?

At this thought, he shrugged inwardly. If someone wanted to cause him trouble, he would find a way to destroy them, just as he had done from the time when he was the weakest to the time when he was the strongest.

In just a few seconds, he thought it all through. Then he held out his hand to Issei and smiled, "I'm Yuu, exchange student."

Issei looked away with some discomfort, "So, uh, exchange student, huh? Welcome to Kuoh, I guess." He shook his hand and said, "I'm Hyoudou Issei."

Although it was easy enough for Yuu to read Issei's inner feelings, he nodded, "Thanks. It's exciting to be in a new place. Even though I haven't been here long, I've already met some interesting people."

His tone sounded friendly, but somehow Issei felt the hairs on his body stand up. This new student clearly smelled trouble! He chuckled nervously.

"Y-Yeah, we're a pretty weird bunch here. But you get used to it. So where are you from?"

"From far away. Quite far actually." Yuu's answer was rather vague as his gaze wandered off into the distance. "But since we're here, you can show me my class if you want."

At that moment, Issei's voice rang in Yuu's head again:

[This bastard... If he were a woman, I would accept it. But I don't like being with other men. Let alone a Bishonen!] His mind wandered for a moment.

[Although, if I befriend him... he sure knows a lot of cute girls, hehe~. Even though I'm reluctant to be with him, I have to sacrifice myself to see the girls around him.... Maybe one or two of them will fall in love with me!]]

Yuu's lips pursed briefly at the sincere voice in his head. He didn't feel like having his mind invaded by a man's voice either. Especially when that man's voice sounded so horrible!

In fact, he preferred the pleasant voice of a woman a thousand times more as his system....

{Emoji blushing}

Issei cleared his throat. "I mean, sure, it would be nice to get to know the academy. You're new, after all."

Yuu nodded and showed no expression. Even though he knew the other's intentions, he said calmly.

"Great. Then show me, Hyoudou."

Yuu's smile widened as he put a hand on Issei's shoulder as if they were good friends.

But in that brief contact, something appeared between his fingers that at first looked like a worm. Upon closer inspection, however, it was actually a small white snake with a triangular head marked with a crimson symbol.

That symbol was an 8-shaped snake devouring its own tail.

The strange thing was that Issei didn't seem to notice it, even though the snake was slithering down his unprotected neck. It waved its tail happily before sliding into the young man's body. Still, it did not leave any scratches and was more like a stone rippling the surface of a lake.

Yuu smiled inwardly without saying anything.

Since he had a target, he didn't hesitate to use one of his special skills. Whether it would work or not, he could only wait.

While they were walking, Issei commented that he was in class 2F.

Yuu feigned surprise. "Really? I'm assigned there too."

Of course, he had been the one to arrange the papers himself without thinking too much about it, since from his point of view, he wouldn't be here for long. He would have returned long ago if he hadn't met Issei on the way. But this situation also gave him an advantage.

Just as they reached the door of the classroom, a mature woman intercepted them. The teacher looked at the register in her hands, compared it with the handsome face of the person in front of her and spoke to him. "You are Izumi Yuu, right? Wait here, I'll introduce you when class starts."

She turned to Issei. "Hyoudou, take a seat. We'll start in a few minutes."

They both went in, leaving Yuu leaning against the wall in front of the door.