I just hope to live a leisurely life in the world of anime.

He said hello, then decisively left, leaving someone to be stared at unfriendly by a brother and sister.

###Chapter 399 Kikyo Kushida###

“Damn it, damn it, damn it—”

"Whoosh..."

I closed my eyes, adjusted my breathing slightly, picked up the teddy bear from the ground, and put it back in its place.

Even if you get up early for a long time to vent your frustrations and worries, you may unknowingly overdo it.

I have a little over an hour before I have to go to the classroom, so I need to wash up now.

I pushed open the bathroom door, pulled down the towel hanging on the shelf, and washed my face with diluted water to calm myself down completely.

I looked up at myself in the mirror, and my thoughts drifted back to the past.

Is there anyone who lives entirely according to their ideals?

I don't know, but I am.

Because I was used to my ideal self, I became "she," which is my ideal self.

From a young age, I was considered more attractive than my peers. I was good at studying and athletic. Because of my parents' expectations, I was also exceptionally polite in my manners and speech.

Am I perfect?

no.

Of course, there are girls who are cuter and more outstanding than me, and there are quite a few in this world. This is only natural, and I am well aware of it without being blindly arrogant.

However, I believe that as long as one is human, one is more or less unwilling to lose to others in some way or place.

Perhaps it's appearance, perhaps it's grades, or perhaps it's video games, singing, dancing, and so on.

Because this place represents that person's greatest strength and most valuable asset.

When you lose to others in areas where you excel, you feel resentful.

So... because I'm just at the average in every aspect, I have a very serious inferiority complex.

Whenever I lose to someone close to me, my emotions become very turbulent. Each time I lose, darkness grows in my heart, and I have even vomited due to excessive pressure.

Yes, that's the reality—I'm not an ordinary person, but I'm not a genius either.

Elementary school was relatively easy because as long as I completed a relatively simple problem, the people around me would come over and flatter me, calling me a genius, a prodigy, and treating me as the most important person.

I was in a great mood at the time, sometimes even overjoyed with excitement. I was always number one in the class, no matter what I did.

I developed a delusion that I was a hero, an idol.

With this mindset, I entered junior high school.

The stage in junior high school is much bigger than that in elementary school, which is normal. I have met people who are better than me in every field.

I've tried my best to become better, but I haven't failed. I can't beat those people, those who are better than me. I can't win.

This caused me a lot of pain, to the point of almost becoming depressed.

So I started to escape, looking for a way out elsewhere.

In the end, I got the answer—to gain the trust of more than anyone else!

I gain a sense of superiority by being more popular than anyone else! I've paid a heavy price for it.

There are guys whose smiles would ruin your mood just by looking at them, and there are girls who have reached out to women who are infuriatingly ugly...

I suppressed my emotions, put on a fake smile, and revealed a false tenderness.

I succeeded.

I became the most popular person!

Whether they are classmates, seniors, juniors, teachers, parents... or even strangers in the neighborhood!

I became the most popular person, second to none.

Those days were truly blissful.

When others are eating cake, they will share a piece with you; if you drop a book, they will pick it up for you and even wipe it clean before returning it to you; they will voluntarily help you with your daily cleaning duties; and if you occasionally make a small mistake, your usually strict homeroom teacher will take the initiative to overlook it...

You never know how wonderful this feeling is.

While enjoying the feeling of being trusted, I also learned the "secret" hidden behind that trust.

It's the secret in the literal sense.

When someone finds someone they deeply trust, they will confide their troubles and share their secrets.

I know everything about the most popular boy in the class, the person the smartest person in the class dislikes, and even the smallest changes in a girl's body.

Some secrets are even so important that they're equivalent to the other person's life! When I hear these kinds of secrets, I might even tremble with excitement, because it makes me feel more trusted than anyone else, even more so than their parents or teachers...

However, I gradually began to realize that this trust was maintained by lies, and that they trusted not me, but "her".

That ideal version of myself...

I started to feel the pressure, and with each passing day, the pressure turned into pain...

To de-stress, I did some things...

And then... people found out...

It triggered that incident, one that was irreversible...

Kikyo Kushida's angelic image collapsed instantly.

Respect and admiration vanished, replaced by hatred and fear.

This is not what I want! All I want is to be trusted by everyone and regain that sense of superiority!

Therefore, I am full of expectations for my new high school life, because in a boarding high school, I am the only one in my class to receive an acceptance letter.

I will never do that kind of thing again, I swear!

I was confident I would succeed this time, because I was determined.

however……

I met Horikita Suzune on the school bus on my first day.

I had met her a few times before. She was in our grade and her grades were always among the top in the grade, but we didn't talk to each other. After all, there were so many people in the grade, and I couldn't possibly befriend her all the time.

What should have been a fresh start for me turned into a terrible day. She's from our school, and she probably knows about that incident from before!

But she didn't seem to recognize me.

After more than a month of contact, I sensed something was off about her attitude, but I couldn't be sure.

Because that incident caused such a big stir, it made the newspapers. Although the reason wasn't mentioned, the whole country knew that an entire class in a certain middle school had gotten into a fight, and they had no choice but to suspend classes until the college entrance exam...

So I desperately wanted to get close to her and confirm my feelings, but her awful personality made me so angry that I was about to explode.

Helpless, I had no choice but to secretly go to a secluded place to vent my frustration.

That road is really nice, but because of its design, almost no one goes there! I was there, venting my anger several times, and nobody knew.

At least until yesterday, nobody knew...

I steadied myself and looked at myself in the mirror again, suddenly realizing that my gaze was somewhat frightening...

In my panic, I dropped the towel in my hand. The towel landed in the sink with a "plop" sound, splashing water everywhere.

But I didn't have time to pay attention. I pulled at my stiff face, forced a smile, and said, "Kushida-chan, let's be full of energy today too~"

Although I felt it was childish and disdainful, I forced myself to say it, and it turned out to be alright, with an impeccable expression.

So……

"Teacher Anshu..."

###Chapter 400 Heart-to-Heart Talk (Part 1)###

"An Tong, Karuizawa, hasn't Teacher An Shu arrived yet?"

"Hmm, Brother Anshu should still be in his office. He'll come after class. Is there anything I can help you with?"

Didn't Teacher Anshu tell them about what happened yesterday?

I felt a little uneasy, but the test I just did showed that there was no problem, because Karuizawa-kun's expression didn't seem strange when she answered me.

"No, it's nothing... um, I need to go to the restroom, are you guys coming?"

"Okay, I won't go. What about Sister An Tong?"

"I'm not going either."

"Okay, I'll be going now."

Why didn't Ayanokouji show up?

……

"You can only get it replaced twice per school year, Ayanokouji. How could you lose something so important?"

"There's nothing we can do about it... There are just too many people, and you can lose them all if you're not careful."

"Alright, let's go. I'll take you to the academic affairs office to register. We'll give you the documents there later, probably before school ends at noon."

"Um... thank you so much, Chabashira-sensei."

"Let's go."

The woman in the suit was efficient and capable, which goes without saying. After confirming what needed to be done, she didn't dawdle. She nodded to An Shu, greeted her, and led the students who came to reissue their student IDs out the door.

And now, only An Shu was left in the huge office.

Ok……

Aside from Majima Tomoya and Sakagami Kazuma, who often slack off, even Hoshinomiya Chie is absent today.

According to Chabashira Sae, that guy took a day off and went off to have some fun somewhere again.

"Well, let's go to the classroom."