Of course, this situation wouldn't last long.
Sakiko already had a rough plan in her heart, a plan that would let her gain financial freedom and no longer be a burden.
'As long as I form a new band and quickly commercialize it afterward, I can escape the current situation!'
'Band members... maybe I can ask Uika and Mutsumi for help?'
'But that's not enough. I still need to recruit other members. I must find suitable candidates as soon as possible.'
A hundred thoughts swirled in the girl's heart, but none showed on her face.
After bidding farewell to Kaito and watching his back gradually disappear into the distance, she finally stepped forward again and walked toward the school gate.
The moment he stepped into the classroom, the originally noisy classmates immediately fell silent.
Ignoring the gazes from all directions, Kaito's expression remained calm.
He walked to his seat and casually put down his shoulder bag, only then noticing that his desk had been stuffed full of love letters at some point.
Most were pink envelopes, occasionally mixed with a few blue ones, full of girls' affections.
'Wait a second...'
Recalling the slightly unnatural behavior of a few male classmates earlier, Kaito fell into thought.
'Maybe... even some boys?'
He had no intention of opening them.
From first-life experience, love letters, either read them all or read none at all.
If he picked only a few to read, it might give someone unrealistic hopes, ["He read my love letter. Does that mean he likes me?"]
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Chapter 6: The Rain Wont Always Fall, But the Head Will
Kaito had understood a certain truth a long time ago: the rain won't always fall, but the head will.
It's always said that teenage boys are like monkeys in heat, but honestly, girls aren't much better.
Just placing homework together with the person they liked, one up, one down, they could fantasize an entire hundred-thousand-word sweet romance novel. Some even had the school picked out for their future kids.
Back then, Kaito was obsessed with studying and had no way of stopping others from liking him. The only thing he could do was maintain distance from everyone.
At the very least, not give them any room for fantasy.
Stacks of love letters took up too much space. Kaito simply gathered them all and tossed them straight into the trash can.
Quite a few girls secretly watching from nearby were a bit disappointed when they saw this.
Even if they didn't expect Kaito to actually accept their confessions at least a glance would've been nice.
But they weren't angry about Kaito throwing away their letters.
In this world, not only do beautiful women have privileges, handsome guys do too, especially the kind handsome enough to attract both men and women.
So what if the male god is cold and aloof? That kind of ascetic flavor is just their thing.
The morning class was Modern Japanese taught by the homeroom teacher, Hiratsuka Shizuka.
Wearing a white lab coat and looking completely unkempt, the iron-fisted female teacher's eyes would occasionally drift toward the back row by the window.
That was Kaito's seat.
Just thinking about her humiliating performance yesterday made Hiratsuka Shizuka curl her toes in embarrassment.
'Thankfully, Kaito didn't take it too seriously'
'Otherwise, my career as a teacher will probably be over, right? Sob!'
Because she just couldn't concentrate, her lesson this period was a bit all over the place.
Luckily, many students weren't focused on class anyway. Their eyes were secretly darting toward a certain figure by the window.
Finally, the lunch break arrived. She clutched her chest like she was freed, then knocked on the podium.
"Class is dismissed. Uh, Kaito come with me to the office for a bit."
The teachers' office was very quiet.
Hiratsuka Shizuka casually sat on a chair. She had originally wanted to light a cigarette, but when she saw the handsome boy in front of her furrow his brows slightly, she pulled her hand away from the lighter.
"Teacher Hiratsuka, is there something you need from me?", Kaito's attitude was calm. In a country like Japan, where the hierarchical order is strict, this was a bit out of place.
Low-grade students had to maintain respect even toward higher-grade upperclassmen, or they might get bullied. Let alone a teacher.
But Shizuka wasn't the type who liked putting on airs. In fact, when faced with that face of his that seemed like a vortex emitting infinite gravity, she unconsciously straightened her back.
Just like a newcomer in a company facing a senior, she placed herself in a slightly lower position, "It's not really anything serious."
Wearing her white lab coat, she sat up straight and lightly cleared her throat, "Kaito, you're an international student, right?"
"Have you gotten used to life on campus? Or encountered any difficulties?"
"If there's anything, feel free to say it. As your teacher, I have a duty to help you solve any issues during your time studying abroad."
This righteous excuse was something Shizuka had stayed up thinking about for more than half the night.
'It's normal for international students to not get used to life abroad, right?'
'With no shared language, they're left isolated and may even develop psychological issues over time!'
As a righteous teacher of the people, Hiratsuka Shizuka could not just stand by.
"I'm doing fine. Life on campus is very satisfying. Thank you for your concern, Teacher Hiratsuka."
Kaito nodded slightly, "Is there anything else? If not, I'll be going."
"Wait, wait, wait!", Seeing him turn to leave, Shizuka quickly grabbed his hand, then let go like she'd been shocked, her face blushing unnaturally.
"Um, it's already been two days since school started. Have you thought about the club activities yet?"
Japanese schools have a strong club culture. Most students join a club they're interested in and do club activities after class.
Of course, there are also a few who prefer to be alone and refuse to join any club. Commonly referred to as the "Go-Home Club."
"I'm not interested in the school clubs," Kaito didn't have many hobbies. Cooking was one of them, but he didn't plan on joining the cooking club at school.
The reason was simple: the cooking club was almost entirely made up of girls.
There's an old saying in his country: ["Throwing a meat bun at a dogit won't come back."]
Unfortunately, based on the current situation, if he joined the cooking club, he'd be that meat bun that never came back.
However
"Teacher Hiratsuka, even if I'm a new student, I should still have the right to create a club, right?"
"If you're a first-year student, not yet."
Hiratsuka Shizuka shook her head, "Maybe at other schools, but here at Shuka, only second-year students and above are qualified to create clubs. It's school policy."
She paused, then grew a little curious, "Why do you ask? Don't tell me you're thinking of starting your own club?"
"That's right," Kaito was a bit troubled.
He had planned to create a Paranormal Studies Club, as a trial run for opening an exorcism business. But he got stuck on the grade requirement.
"Actually, if you really want to start a club, it's not entirely impossible," Shizuka stroked her chin, her face turning serious, "I can help you out. After all, helping students with their troubles is a teacher's responsibility."
Though she looked like a disheveled, aging female teacher, Shizuka was not your average person.
What ordinary person can afford an Aston Martin Vantage?
And in her garage, she had at least three more luxury cars like it.
With the sudden turn of events, Kaito didn't refuse, "Then I'll thank you for your kindness, Teacher Hiratsuka."
"Oh come on, don't mention it!"
Shizuka waved it off carelessly, "Just leave it to me."
Leaving the office.
It was lunchtime, and Kaito planned to head to the cafeteria to get something to eat and try out the flavor.
Although Japanese students often brought bento from home, not everyone could do that, so naturally, the school still had a cafeteria.
But before he could take more than a few steps, he sensed a strange aura.
'Is there a ghost nearby?'
Kaito furrowed his brows.
As a disciple of the Courting Death Sect, a proper orthodox cultivator, eliminating demons and ghosts was his duty.
Though he wasn't the kind who believed all supernatural beings should die, real-world experience had shown that even if you killed nine out of ten, one might still slip through the cracks.
In any case, now that he'd encountered one, he couldn't just ignore it.
Not to mention the karmic merit rewards.
Kaito quickly followed the faint ghostly aura to its source.
It was an apparently abandoned classroom. The desks and chairs were all piled in the corner, already gathering a thin layer of dust.
In the center of the room, a girl who looked familiar, seemingly a classmate, was crouching down with her head in her arms, wearing a pink tracksuit, her pink hair shaking as her tiny body trembled uncontrollably.
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Chapter 7: The Visible Bocchi
For the girl named Gotou Hitori, this was supposed to be an ordinary day.
An ordinary wake-up, an ordinary breakfast, an ordinary two-hour one-way commute by train to school, then an ordinary lonely day, and finally, an ordinary return home to rest and wait for the next day to arrive.
But this script, plain as clear water, went wrong right at the first act.
When Gotou Hitori opened her eyes, what she saw wasn't the familiar ceiling of her own home, but a terrifying ghost face smeared with bright red lipstick, face bluish-purple, with fangs protruding outward.
Seeing her awake, that ghost face asked excitedly, "You can see me? You can see me?"
Her brain short-circuited instantly, and Bocchi's face froze in a daze, even losing the ability to make a sound.
The ghost face pestered her with questions for quite a while, but never got a response. Maybe it thought this pink-haired slime hadn't woken up yet. Eventually, it lost patience and floated elsewhere.
Finally snapping back to reality, Bocchi, worried for her family's safety, ran downstairs in her pajamas.
When she reached the living room, she finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Dad was sitting on the sofa watching TV, Mom was in the kitchen preparing breakfast, and her little sister was happily playing with Jimihen. [T/N: Jimihen is the Shiba Inu of Bocchi]
Everything seemed perfectly normal, except for that ghost face floating beside her dad.
'It seems only I can see it?'
Despite being within arm's reach of the ghost face, her father's expression remained calm. He even curiously asked why she was up so early today.
Relying on some mysterious intuition, Bocchi had a strong feeling that if the ghost face found out she could see it, something really bad would happen.
So she stammered through some vague answers, ate a breakfast full of anxiety, and was soon rushed out the door by her mom, worried she'd be late for school.
It wasn't until she got on the train, looking at the compartment that was no different from any other day, warm sunlight pouring in through the clear windows, that things finally felt peaceful again.
Gotou Hitori almost thought she'd imagined it al, 'Maybe this morning's incident was just a hallucination?'
But just as she let out a breath of relief, she encountered another monster near the school.
Wearing a school uniform in black and white, with long bare legs bouncing lightly, it looked just like any cheerful high school girl you'd see around.
Except it didn't have a head.
'Ki-Kidoko!' [T/N: Ghost of Misery]
That was the first word that flashed through the girl's mind.
It was said to be a monster born from the anxiety of adolescent female students, quite a well-known urban legend in Japan.
Just like the ghost face at home, this Ki-Kidoko also walked with light steps, occasionally hopping up beside passing students and whispering softly into their ears, "You can see me?"
God knows what organ a headless monster even uses to speak.
Gotou Hitori wanted to turn and run, but that Ki-Kidoko had already locked onto her. Though still seven or eight meters away, it appeared beside her in the blink of an eye.
Then, it leaned in close, "Can you see me? Can you see me?"
As a weak, pitiful, and helpless social anxiety sufferer, Gotou Hitori barely had any experience interacting with humans, let alone ghosts.
As expected, she gave herself away, and was promptly chased by the excited Ki-Kidoko.
Little Bocchi ran for her life, quickly dashing out of the school, and in a panic, darted into a small alley, trembling beside a garbage bin.
'C-Come to think of it'
'It's been a while now, that Ki-Kidoko should've given up the chase, right?'
Yeah, right.
From Kaito's perspective, the pink-haired slime squatting with her head down was radiating a faint black aura all over her body. Especially around her eyes, which were shrouded in thick black mist.
In other words, she had ghost-blindness.
Thinking she had escaped campus, she'd actually run straight into a trap. A secluded, abandoned classroom. Probably, even if she died here, it'd take ages before anyone found out.
As for that ghost
It was actually standing right beside Gotou Hitori, holding a bloodstained box cutter, greedily absorbing the thick aura of fear pouring off the girl.
Sensing the presence of a living person, the Ki-Kidoko turned around, toward the classroom entrance.
Then, it couldn't wait and dashed over.
"You can see me? Can you see me? Can you see me?"
'This ghost doesn't seem very bright.'
'Completely unaware of the situation. Doesn't even see me as a threat.'
Kaito raised his hand, lightning crackling.
A simple palm thunder, a required course for every disciple of the Courting Death Sect.
It's usually just for teaching beginners the basics, but in this case, it was like using a cannon to kill a mosquito.
The headless JK in front of him disintegrated into ash in an instant.
At the same time, the black aura wrapped around Gotou Hitori mostly dispersed, and her sky-blue eyes returned to normal.
