A clear, blue sky and a picturesque stone gate beckoning the new first-year students to enter greeted Yukio Kobayashi, as he stepped off the bus, being one of the last to do so. 

‘Haa… I’ve got mixed feelings about entering this academy. On the one hand, it’s like a paradise with outstanding facilities and… beautiful girls. But on the other, it’s a honey trap where every dialogue and action must be made carefully.’ 

The teenage student released a heavy sigh, before even stepping foot into the academy. 

‘Well, it’s not as though I can just leave right now anyway. It said ‘expulsion was not permitted.’ And it can’t be all that bad, can it? I’ve endured 7 years around horny teenage boys. I’m sure I can survive another 3 here.’ 

Deluding himself, he slowly walked on towards the inviting (though Yukio would beg to differ) gates so he could witness a scene he’d read about and watched in an anime. There was just something about fantasy being brought to life which tickled the right dopamine receptors in his brain. 

Kiyotaka Ayanakouji, held up by Suzune Horikita, stood facing the prim beauty, expressionless, as she all but interrogated his earlier actions on the bus. 

Watching on and smiling with a hint of Schadenfreude, Yukio thought of the plight Ayanokouji would go through henceforth. Problems would lead to more problems in the future at this academy, and the glance at Horikita on the bus was only the first of many he would have to deal with. 

Yukio reaffirmed his ambition to remain as much of a background character, coasting through exams, as he could. He was hoping for a decent social life, and an easy time at the high school- everything Kiyotaka wanted but could not achieve. 

Watching the pair finally break apart, he decided it was time to head in while thinking of the unfathomable circumstances that brought him to this point. 

— — — 

./-.[ExPuLsIoN WiLl NoT Be ToLeRaTeD].|-.

— — — 

Walking into the classroom, Yukio noticed it was only half full, with most of the notable students having yet arrived. 

‘It’s quite surreal to see 40 chairs in one classroom given the fact that I’m used to 20-30 students in a class.’

He took a glance around the class and became dazzled by the sight before him. 

‘Wow… the ‘extras’ that were never mentioned.’

The 15 extra students were directly removed in the anime and only found in the light novel to serve one purpose- to pad the class count to 40.

Looking around, the relatively tall teenager found Chiaki Matsushita waving at him excitedly. He had expected her to be in class D obviously, though he wasn’t too sure about the class he would be sorted to. It did, however, make the most sense to be sorted into class D as well, given his… interesting circumstances. 

“We’re in the same class and even desk-mates too, Kobayashi-Kun!” declared Chiaki, as he manoeuvred his way towards her, spying the nameplates as he went. 

He looked at the desk beside hers, to spot his nameplate and thought it was a pretty good position for a background character- smack bang in the middle to the left. Out of curiosity, he looked at the nameplates around his own and was left speechless.

Kouenji would sit beside him with Onodera and Haruka Hasebe sitting in front and behind respectively. The corners were occupied by 4 girls- Mei-Yu Wang, Kei Karuizawa, Kikyou Kushida and Maya Satou. 

‘Girls everywhere?! And the only boy happens to be that narcissist as well. Haa… my 7 years of education will not be able to help me get through this.’

Sighing internally, for what felt like the tenth time that day, Yukio plastered a smile on his face and turned back towards Matsushita. He was honestly glad that he knew at least someone among his neighbours.

“Hey, Matsushita-san. I’m quite relieved to know we’ll be desk-mates. Treat me well!”

Over the past hour, Yukio had been getting a hang over the newfound knowledge that was Japanese speaking. He knew he wouldn’t be able to understand idioms and complex statements, and would probably flunk his Japanese literature studies because of it, but he felt comfortable enough speaking to others and knowing they would understand. 

He had a foreign look, which was slightly obscured by the fact that he was in a 3D anime world with anime graphics, but which would nonetheless help explain his lacking speech and understanding of the culture. Unusually, he didn’t find it weird to view things as he did. Whatever had brought him here must have tempered with his brain to make him more receptive to the situation. Or he might have transmigrated with a God-level adaptability skill. Who knows? 

‘Now that I think about it, it may have even tempered with my sense of… self? Or something of the sort… since I honestly couldn’t care less that it had tempered with me in the first place and basically forced me here. I just want to enjoy my high school life in a world where the average beauty is at least, from what I can see, 2 points higher than my past world.’

Yukio took his seat and lugged his bag below his desk, as was normal for the past 7 years, while being witnessed by his bored and nosy desk mate. 

“Hey, Kobayashi-Kun. There are lockers at the back, you know. You can place your things there. I’ve already chosen a locker on the right by the way.” 

Yukio looked back to see several rows of lockers stacked above each other, forgetting that there wasn’t a culture of placing bags below desks in Japan. Or maybe it was only at the Advanced Nurturing High. But technicalities such as that did not matter as this would be his new normal now. 

Storing his belongings in a locker on the right- certainly not due to the position of Matsushita’s locker- he made his way back to find the brunette talking to a shorter girl in the class who appeared to have hair of a brown-violet gradient. He could only explain it with anime logic.

The girl looked familiar enough to be someone who wasn’t axed off from the anime but too vague to have played much of a part in the light novel, so he guessed she was Nene Mori. Yukio wasn’t too familiar with Chiaki’s relationships from the first or second year so he couldn’t tell if this was a fated friendship. 

Looking around the classroom which was filling up, Yukio spotted a lone Ayanokouji in the corner with his stone-cold, expressionless face. He knew better though and understood that the teenager was currently having his internal struggle about approaching someone to make friends so he couldn’t help but pity him. But then he remembered the monster in the boy’s lower department and all feelings of pity were instantly extinguished. 

‘To be fair though, I have a very respectable tool too, one that’d be perfectly capable of grazing anyone’s pasture fields. It’s just I wouldn’t want to go up against the likes of Kouenji and Kiyotaka. Those two are just… monsters in their own right. Superior genes I tell ya.’

Yukio made eye contact with Ayanokouji for a brief moment and decided to give the Man nod- an unspoken acknowledgement of the presence of the other, to slightly ease the teenager's distress. 

He had no qualms against interacting with Ayanokouji, or any prominent character for that matter, as long as they didn’t drag him into their problems. He would remain completely normal and oblivious to the happenings around him if he smelt potential trouble. 

Looking away he saw Chiaki bringing Nene over to his desk, probably to get them acquainted with each other. 

‘Wow! Buy one friend and get another for free. It's a sale day! Making acquaintances with Matsushita was definitely a boon.’ 

After exchanging greetings with Nene Mori, a confident girl with fairly good looks, Chiaki left to make acquaintance with another girl in the class, leaving him in the snake’s pit with a girl he didn’t know- and one who knew how to bite! 

“So Kobayashi-Kun… what’s your relationship with Chiaki-Chan, hm?”

Yukio sputtered in complete disbelief and looked at the girl with unbelieving eyes as he internally rebuked the living daylights out of her for dropping such a question in their first interaction.

‘What the fuck is wrong with this girl? Was Japanese culture so relaxed that two people can meet, and within the hour they’re already in a relationship? I need to do some more research. But one thing must be true- the fact that girls are after all the gossip. Being bred in an all-boys school didn’t prepare me for this.’

Yukio noticed the rather familiar way Nene referred to Chiaki, and couldn’t help but feel jealous at how quickly girls were able to click with each other.

‘Haa… I’m not feeling possessive of Chiaki or anything. It’s just every conversation with the girl leaves me with clammy hands, and here we have this annoying git with a complete lack of tact getting all chummy with her after one conversation.’ 

Deciding that it was prudent to answer as early as possible so as not to allow any wandering thoughts to marinate in the girl’s head, he replied-

“We’re just… well, I think we’re friends? I met her a little over an hour ago, so I’m not too sure Mori-san.”

“Ah! What? She seemed very familiar with you though, Kobayashi-Kun. I thought you guys may have been cousins or acquaintances from middle school or something.” She dubiously replied a look of confusion marred across the 5’1 girl’s face, as Yukio so too realised his misunderstanding. 

“No, no. Nothing like that. She just caught me doing something daft on the way here and we made acquaintance.”

After sorting out the misunderstanding and exchanging a few more pleasantries, Nene went back to join Chiaki as she was talking pleasantly to Kushida and Shinohara.

Amid the light muttering of the class, the brunette brought the group of girls over to Yukio, who couldn’t help but notice a slightly interested look in Kushida’s eyes. 

‘Ah… this can’t be anything good.’

“Hey, Kobayashi-Kun! I’ve told Kushida that you recognised her from when we were on the bus and she seems interested in getting to know you. Come join us.” She encouraged cheerfully, not realising the turbulent waves and alarm bells she had set off within the stunned boy. 

‘Fuck.’