03. School 1

Walking into class, and just like he had expected from his classmates, all eyes were on him. The matter of his leaked confession text had yet to be laid to rest, people around him were still snickering and mocking him. 

'I'm too tired for this. Damn riajuu, can't a person get some peace and quiet in here?' - Helplessly hunching over, Hikigaya hastily made his way to his seat, ignoring the constant mumbling of his classmates. 

His fish eyes locked onto his position by the window, fully intending to sacrifice the upcoming lessons to make up for his precious sleep. After all, it's not like there would be any important exams coming soon, and even if there were, he wouldn't be able to focus anyway. 

On his way, he couldn't help but notice a presence in class, Orimoto Kaori, who kept sneaking some glances at him while chatting with her group of friends. Even if it was just for a moment, there was guilt in her eyes. 

She had only shown her friends the text for their consultation on how to reject Hikigaya without hurting him, yet the text had spread to her entire class before she could stop it. 

Orimoto Kaori was a social animal, without a doubt, but to put her among other social animals would be a disservice to her nature. Unlike others who liked to blend in with each other, she was cheerful to a fault and thus became more like a magnet that pulled others towards her. 

She was emotionally conscious of others, always keeping people at arm's length while still being equally friendly with them. It was this feature that had made her into a light beacon in class, very few could even ignore her, not to mention hate.

Her interactions with Hikigaya had been just that, a friendly classmate. However, to someone who was emotionally deprived like him, the feeling had turned into a crush, a simple 'puppy love', but 'love' nonetheless. 

Orimoto's turbulent emotion at this moment didn't skip Hikigaya's eyes. He guessed that the text had been leaked by her but the spread was most likely caused by her friends. 

The girl wasn't disgusted by his confession, he knew that much, troubled, perhaps, but never disgusted. After all, it was this aspect of her that Hikigaya had fallen in love with, and many boys in class could share that feeling. 

'Stop looking like you owed me something woman. It was my fault for confessing in the first place.'

That's right, unlike the boys who knew the consequences enough to push down that feeling, Hikigaya had been overwhelmed by the excitement, causing him to make a hasty and clumsy confession. That alone was unacceptable on a social level, any boy who confessed to a girl liked by many would cause disharmony in class. 

What made it worse was the fact that Hikigaya had the courage to confess while others didn't. This combined with his 'disgusting' appearance had made their jealousy boil, with one of humanity's seven deadly sins in play, one could only imagine how extreme the isolation could get.

Yet, for the already isolated boy, it was like every day, just with a little bit more spice. People's attitude toward him could only change from uncaring to disdain, nothing too much to handle for the 'professional loner'. The only thing that might need worrying was more blatant bullying, regarding this, Hikigaya could only grit his teeth and suffer the verbal abuse since fighting over this wasn't worth his time and effort or the consequences. But if the bullying ever went beyond verbal, he would gladly report them to the higher-ups.

'I should buy a separate voice recorder, just in case.' - With this, he could have enough evidence to win any case in the future, maybe even get some hefty compensation from his 'victims'.

After that long narration, Hikigaya finally managed to get to his seat.

'Why does the classroom feel longer today?'

Before he could be suspicious of the setting, the bell rang, announcing the beginning of the first lesson.

'Well whatever, good night… hopefully, anyway…'

With that said in his mind, Hikigaya slipped into his well-deserved slumber, praying to whatever deities there were not to repeat what had happened last night in the middle of class.

…

… … … 

… … … … …

He was in an enormous venue, enough to be called a sports stadium even. Everything around him was dark, especially the ceiling where the pitch-black darkness could be mistaken for the cold, unfeeling void of space. Staring into that void, he could almost imagine the metallic cover disappearing, leaving behind the true barrenness of existence. He wouldn't be surprised to see an enormous eye suddenly opening in that void revealing whatever terrible entity living out there.

The only light source was the candles on the table in front of him. Yet the sheer number of tables inside the venue was enough to provide light to the several hundred people sitting around them. 

Everyone was in tuxedos and gowns, adorned with pompous jewelry that the common people could only ever dream of. Men wore gold watches while women wore diamond earrings and necklaces. Different decors, but all have the same expression, an upturned smile showing politeness, yet leering eyes. Words that came out of their mouths were all flattering each other's success, buttering up favors. They all seemed so happy, meanwhile, no laughter ever sounded. The venue was packed with living, breathing human beings, yet it was no less dead than a cemetery. 

Observing the people around him for a while, the man looked down at his table, the high-class luxurious Australian lobster now seemed unpalatable. He glanced at the other items on the table, the portion of each one was so small while the prices were astronomical enough for middle-class families to cry blood. Luckily, he didn't have to pay for anything as he was invited. Still, he silently pushed the plate away and poured a glass of water in front of him instead, his tablemates seemed to pay no mind to the untouched dish that was worth thousands. 

With the clear water to calm his nausea, the man - no, the boy looked at his reflection in the glass. He was young, perhaps less than 20 years old even, the youngest person in this entire crowd of people. There was anxiety and anticipation written on the boy's face, his heart had been beating violently for the last 30 minutes. He looked foreign in the suit he was wearing, it was too big for his size, too extravagant for his immature face. His hair was neatly combed into shape but too shiny due to the amount of hair gel needed to fix it after years of having the 'unkept style'.

Everything about the boy screamed newborn, unnatural, and unprepared. After all, this was his first time, on the world stage, receiving an internationally recognized award for his effort. 

Suddenly, a stage appeared in blinding streams of light, making it the focus of the venue. The room became quiet, everyone's eyes were on the stage, waiting for the announcer to start the ceremony. How a person could talk so well under the sight of so many others was completely unknown to the boy. Before he could wonder more, the program started. 

The boy couldn't hear what the MC was saying because he was waiting for his moment to shine. The boy clapped along when there were people clapping, and laughed when others laughed, meanwhile, his mind was solely occupied by the anticipation.

"And now, for the last category of this year's ceremony, …" - 'This was it!' - The boy exclaimed in his mind, he knew what the announcer's words meant. It was his turn, the moment he had been waiting for, to leave his mark in history, the milestone of his career.

"... And he had achieved all of them before the age of 20. Please welcome, Mr. *****!"

One of the lights on stage shone on his position, it was so blinding that he had to cover his eyes with one hand. He walked toward the stage, feeling elated, so much so that he would jump here if he could.

On the podium, looking down at the admiration beaming from below, he was higher than ever before, with all the adrenaline, and all the ecstasy. At this moment, he was a god.

"... I'm…"

… … … … …

… … … 

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