I’ve never been to school.
The facility wasn’t a school by any stretch of the imagination. And I took online classes while I was living with Rosso and Blu.
The reason is simple—I’m not cut out for living around others. If I ever became even a little depressed, Keraunos would awaken and go on a rampage.
Foreigners who live in the empire are punished severely at the first sign of trouble. They’re captured by scary people, thrown in a cage, and forced to live locked up for the rest of their lives. So I’ve tried my best to stay out of everyone’s way since I came to this country.
There was no way I could ever go to school. I knew that a weak, little scaredy-cat like me would just cower and cause problems. I couldn’t let that happen. I couldn’t.
So I did all my studying over the internet. These days, you can do anything online. I listened to lectures, took notes, and did my homework remotely.
“From this day forward, I have been assigned to assist you in your studies. My name is ■li■■ W■■■■■■. ■■■, ■■■. You can make as sour a face as you like. But until you have mastered the language of the empire, you and I will be ■■■■■ing much time together. So you had better get used to the idea…”
I never really thought it was a big deal. But sometimes…when I’d play games, read manga, or watch anime, I would think about how nice school seemed. Everyone sitting at their desks, studying or eating lunch together. It all looked so fun.
“Wanna go check it out, then?” Kyouichirou asked me one day.
I had been playing an adventure game that took place at a school, and without realizing it, I’d mumbled something like, “That looks so fun.”
“Really?” I asked him. Then, a second later, I rephrased my question: “I mean, is that even possible?”
Kyouichirou laughed. “If you want to go, it’s no problem at all. Listen up, Jupiter. I’m heading to school right now to pick up something I left behind. You can come with me as a family member. We’ll say you’re just backing me up because I was too scared to go back alone at night. You can come inside the school with me, check out my classroom, and we can even chat a little and eat a boxed lunch… It shouldn’t be a problem.”
According to him, that was why he’d pretended to be a good student all this time—it paid off whenever he needed the teachers and school staff to trust him. He flashed me a mischievous smile, and I have to admit—it was pretty cool.
“Are you sure it’s okay?” I asked.
“Totally. That settles it. Now, let’s get over there.”
I followed Kyouichirou out into the city under the cover of night. We took his bike to the school. It felt kind of dangerous to ride with two people. I wore a helmet, and Kyouichirou tried to keep to streets that were mostly deserted. We’d brought a backpack with a lunch box Fumika had prepared.
The whole city of Sakurabana sparkled at night. It was like seeing a bunch of flowers made of light in full bloom.
The air was humid and damp, with the faint smell of rain. The weather forecast said it would be okay, but I was starting to wonder.
I found myself focusing on the sound of the bike as it sped through the nighttime scenery. Something about it stuck with me.
We passed by a lot of people going about their business. People from other countries like me, people of other species—all kinds of folks lived in Sakurabana.
We talked about our hobbies on the way. We discussed flowers and dating sims, and then Kyouichirou told me all about mobile gacha games.
I’d heard of them before, but when I said I wanted to try them, ■■■za said, “You’re too young for such things.” So I never had a chance to play them.
“We should play together sometime,” Kyouichirou said. “Once things have settled down anyway.”
He told me that gacha games were pretty much free to play.
Isn’t that so cool? Playing games for free! It’s like a dream come true!