<Bright>

 

 

 

Studying.

Bright hated studying. In his last life, he used to put so much effort into it. Spending hours and hours on end cramming procedures, facts, and knowledge. He did so with the grand belief that it would pay off. That all the hard work wasn’t for nothing. It did so in the sense that he got the CFO role, but in the end, Bright never got to enjoy the true rewards for his labour.

He gained status at the sad expense of his life.

A fact that infuriated him the longer he thought about it. Bright wasn’t naturally gifted in academics. He really had to struggle to comprehend the most trivial of material. If a genius was able to grasp a concept 5x faster than a regular person and a clever person was able to do it in 3x, then Bright would be considered a complete fool at 0.8x. He was slightly worse off than a regular person.

Overcoming this shortcoming was hard.

Especially for a lazy person like Bright.

He had to study constantly just to not fall behind others. In his old life, Bright suffered endlessly. Forcing himself to study even when others were out having fun. But, because of that, he was now able to top in this life with minimal effort. Bright heavily relied on his old knowledge that he crammed with religious zeal to pass.

A precarious position to put himself in.

 “Do you know what the midterms will be like?” (B)

Sitting at the school rooftop, Bright posed the question to the thin air.

No response.

Bright waited patiently.

The thin air in question finally began to shimmer slightly before taking the form of a mousy girl.

“I… I wasn’t spying on you?”

‘Why did that sound like a question?’

The girl with short black hair avoided Bright’s eyes.

He sighed.

It was a good thing she came here willingly. Saving him the trouble of planning on how to get her here, but the way she approached was still very much wanting. Turning invisible and stalking him wasn’t something any normal person should be doing. It was very unnerving/creepy. If Bright hadn’t picked up on the small distortions of light she was creating and her light steps, he wouldn’t have known she was here.

“Remind me of your name.” (B)

“I-It’s Lily.” (L)

Bright patted the spot next to him.

“Next… next to you? I-I can’t….” (L)

‘What is she going on about?’

She didn’t seem to mind that much the last time they talked.

Bright patted the spot beside him harder.

“…Sorry, excuse me.” (L)

The two sat in silence while Bright descended into thought.

His previous method of relying on past knowledge would see him fail spectacularly. The longer he stayed in school, the more he felt the limits of his knowledge. The limits of his memory. Although he was able to graduate primary school with top marks, Bright noticed his average scores steadily declining. He was getting more and more things wrong. A direct consequence of harder course material, slight variations from one world to another, and the alarming fact that his memory was starting to betray him.

It was why he was now asking about this.

He really needed every edge he could get.

The girl, who Bright now knew as Lily, turned, gave a light cough and started speaking.

“Uhm, so! Y-You were asking me about midterms?” (L)

“Yes.” (B)

Bright’s hand unconsciously reached into his pocket and started fiddling with a certain book.

Due to reasons beyond his control, asking anyone other than her right now would be impossible. The respectful distance students used to keep had disappeared entirely. That one video of him in the store had shredded his long-standing reputation. Bright was no longer seen as the sweet, powerful new-gen hero by the student body but as the cute underclassman or classmate. The extreme fawning was bad before, but it had gotten to the point he couldn’t have conversations without someone almost fainting.

“W-What would you like to know about the midterms?” (L)

That was a hard question to answer.

There were many things Bright wanted to know, but the main one would be….

“Are they hard?” (B)

“Yes!” (L)

The gloomy eyes of the girl lit up as she began talking.

“As Chrome High is the leading school in the world, it naturally has some of the toughest exams out there! Set by world-renowned academics in their fields of study. Each examination is made to push the students to their very limits! To make them go further beyond what they thought themselves capable!!” (L)

‘She gets going once she starts, huh?’

The girl gestured wildly while yapping away.

She was completely lost in her own world.

‘Is this school really that exciting?’

Bright never cared to research the school beyond determining which one was best.

All he cared about was getting a platform to step up and advance his hero career.

‘This is such a drag’

He should’ve chosen something easier.

The girl continued speaking with Bright, not really listening until she mentioned something scary.

“It is also rumoured some kids go mad with the stress of it all.” (L)

He must’ve made a face because the girl immediately changed gears.

“B-But for you… I bet they’ll be a walk in the park.” (L)

Yeah, no.

Bright didn’t pay much attention in class. Partly due to the distracting amount of phone cameras trying to take subtle photos or videos of him but mainly due to not caring. The topics covered in most classes felt very asinine. All rehashes of knowledge he mostly knew. The common course bored him to death, and the hero-specific ones, while sometimes more stimulating, were more of the same.

‘What am I actually going to do?’

Bright hadn’t been a good student at all.

He largely turned off his brain when in school.

It only served as a rest point after a gruelling day at work.

‘Wait a second!’

Wasn’t a solution sitting right next to him?

Bright stared down at the timid girl holding her head in shame.

Weren’t the quiet ones usually smart or something?

“I was thinking. Tily—” (B)

“A-Actually, it’s Lily—” (L)

“—Would you like to study together?” (B)

The girl froze.

Her mouth hung open as she motioned to herself.

“M-Me?” (L)

“Yes! I would love to study with you!” (B)

Bright scooched closer, took her hands and gave a disarming smile.

“Eek!?” (L)

His plans to make her a lackey needed to speed up if he didn’t want to end up a homeschooled weirdo.

“You’re like, super smart, right?” (B)

“I-I wouldn’t say—” (L)

“Don’t undersell yourself!” (B)

Donning on the persona for her once more, Bright continued.

“~From the very moment our paths crossed, I knew there was something special about you.~” (B)

No lie was uttered.

There was something truly special about stalkers.

“Please, believe in yourself as I believe in you. I-I know this might sound sudden… But I think we can be great friends! I won’t let my friend talk to herself that way!!~” (B)

Bright brought his face close to hers.

A lethal combo combined with his oh-so-sweet words.

She wouldn’t be able to say no!

“O-Okay, sure.” (B)

The words were whispered so faintly one might think it the wind, but no.

It was her words of agreement.

“~Awesome! Let’s start today. We can meet at your house, right?~” (B)

Bright smiled… brightly and closed his eyes.

It was too easy sometimes.

Praising his hard work, he waited on her confirmation of location.

And waited.

And waited.

And waited some more.

Receiving no response, he peeked open his eyes a little.

‘…oh, no’

She fainted.

The weakening of her grip wasn’t in his imagination.

The girl’s head hung limp in front of Bright.

‘That can’t be comfortable’

Pulling the girl into his embrace, he made sure to support her head, then sighed.

He may have overdone it for someone who was that enthralled with him.

…Sometimes, he simply forgot the power he truly possessed. How could he not? When his efforts were consistently met with indifference by those goddamn heroes, one inevitably starts to believe their impact is nonexistent. He was so used to their blank stares and mockery, he had begun to think himself entirely ineffective.

SLAM

The door to the rooftop opened with a resounding bang.

‘Ah, crap’

Seeing the enraged face glaring at him, Bright gave a warm smile.

It was all a misunderstanding.

He hadn’t done anything wrong.

 

 

 

“Don’t think I won’t mess that pretty, little face of yours!”

“Suie, please! It was all my fault.” (L)

Bright awkwardly scratched his cheek.

The moment her friend had been confirmed alright; he had been on the receiving end of this verbal assault.

What was once a nice, quiet infirmary had devolved into a shouting ring with only one fighter.

…Thank the genius that erected curtains here.

“You better watch your back, Hero Bright.”

The words were spat with such venom Bright felt himself die several times.

But.

He didn’t mind too much. As the timid girl helplessly tugged at her friend’s hand, he took a step forward. For as much as the boisterous girl was gesticulating, she hadn’t so much as looked him in the eye once. A common denominator for people who found him overwhelming.

Bright reached out his hand, grabbed her free one and forced her gaze to settle on him.

“I’m sorry, truly. I didn’t mean for that to happen.” (B)

He spoke with the sincerest tone he could muster and gave a sad, tiny smile.

…You can’t fault him for trying this tactic to calm her down.

It worked once already, didn’t it?

“W-Whatever!”

Seeing the seething girl nervously pull away, Bright claimed another victory.

This whole socialising thing was easy once you think about it.

 

 

 

Walking ahead of the two girls out of school, Bright struggled to ignore the conversation behind him.

“And you just agree!? What’s wrong with you! Can’t you see she’s a bit… weird?”

“S-She’s not that weird once you get to know her….” (L)

They were trying to whisper, but Bright could still hear everything.

…He wasn’t weird.

They were the weird ones.

Seeing the convoy up ahead, Bright turned—startling the two. He told them to wait before leaving forward.

A small caveat to this plan was, of course, his dear “parents”.

He needed to convince them to allow its occurrence.

An arduous task that would border on impossibility.