Various Things At School

A few days had passed since the stream where I held something like a discussion about haters.

With final exams just around the corner, the usual energy during school breaks seemed a little more subdued than normal.

I was the type who studied properly too, but… ever since the memories of my previous life returned, it felt like I’d somehow gotten smarter, or rather, I’d apparently become able to remember anything I’d seen once with remarkable clarity.

That had been perfectly normal back when I was the Demon Lord, and it was only because the current me knew how abnormal it was that I found the whole thing strange.

Thanks to that, studying has become incredibly easy since the start of this year.

Long live the Demon Lord.

Though rather than being because I was the Demon Lord, it was probably because of my magic.

My magic had become active again, and apparently I was unconsciously using it to enhance things like my concentration and memory. The same went for physical enhancement.

I mean, someone like me who never exercised could now dunk a basketball with a light jump.

Obviously, I hadn’t done that in front of the other students.

Now that I’d gained magic, using it to effortlessly surpass people who were working hard at those things was, well…

I didn’t want to do that, and I didn’t think I should, so I kept it hidden to avoid being needlessly placed on a pedestal.

I mean, seriously. Yeah.

Normally, you’d have enough sense not to show off something like that.

If I were dedicating myself to something and somebody else breezed past me without any effort because of an advantage like that, I’d probably find it irritating too.

If I were reincarnated into some medieval-style fantasy world with overpowered cheats like in a light novel, I might not even go near human settlements.

…Though, now that I really thought about it, I currently was someone reincarnated into another world with overpowered cheats.

Yeah, well, setting that aside.

Ever since I’d started talking with Yuika and Tomo, the other students in class had also begun striking up conversations with me whenever something came up.

Before, I’d been ignored like air whether I was there or not.

The way people treated me had certainly changed a lot.

Girls could be pretty ruthless about this sort of thing.

It was more like, if they weren’t interested in something, then it was simply “irrelevant.”

It wasn’t even about liking or disliking someone; they simply decided that person had nothing to do with them.

So I figured my changes had made them interested in me.

Because of that, my school life had actually become fairly fulfilling.

—Or so I could say… but it wasn’t as though everything had been completely smooth sailing.

In fact, after changing my appearance and starting to talk with other people, a few problems had surfaced.

“—Taki-san, how about today? Wanna hang out?”

“I have plans.”

“Seriously? Again? You seem super busy lately.”

“I suppose I am.”

“You know, Taki-san, if you’re always this antisocial, people are gonna start disliking you.”

“If someone would dislike me over something that trivial, spending time with them would be more painful, so please feel free to dislike me.”

Problem number one: this boy. I didn’t know his name.

He was a boy in my class who had started constantly talking to me and trying to get me to hang out after school about two days after my makeover—a thoroughly annoying type.

He had done a decent job of making himself look fairly handsome, but his ulterior motives were obvious enough that you could tell just by looking at his eyes.

According to Yuika and Tomo, this boy was apparently popular.

People said he looked clean-cut, was fun to be around, and apparently came from a wealthy family, so he had money and often treated people.

The fact that none of the other students’ praise mentioned his personality at all made their standards feel very student-like.

For the record, Tomo and Yuika had given me brutally harsh reviews such as, “He looks like a player,” “He’s way too familiar,” “He’s full of himself,” and “Sometimes I want to poke his eyes out.” Since this boy had started inviting me out so persistently, several girls in class who apparently had their sights set on him had also started glaring at me.

I did not understand.

If they wanted him, they could have him. Rather, I wanted nothing to do with him, so I wished they’d hurry up and take him away.

Please take him already.

I felt like shooing him away with my hand.

While I was thinking that and sighing, the aforementioned boy casually tried to place a hand on my shoulder, so I knocked it away with the back of my hand and looked at him, only for him to stare at me in surprise.

I’d held back, but since my physical abilities were enhanced by magic, I ended up swatting his hand away with quite a bit of force.

Actually, I was the one who should’ve been surprised.

Why would you try touching me after I’d been this cold to you?

Maybe because the slap had made a fairly loud sound and drawn everyone’s attention, the boy’s face visibly stiffened.

“Uh, ah, s-sorry, sorry. Was I being too familiar?”

“Yes, extremely. I don’t want someone I’m not close to touching me.”

“…Ah, haha… Sorry about that.”

What was this monkey misunderstanding?

“Sorry about that,” my ass.

Your apology lacks sincerity, brat. Prostrate yourself, lowborn cur.

Do it again and I’ll make it look like an accident when I break that arm.

An unpleasant atmosphere hung between the boy, who wore a stiff smile as he tried to play it off, and me, who stared coldly at him without even attempting to hide my displeasure, so the attention around us remained firmly focused on the scene.

The truth was, this monkey—rather, this boy—was the type who constantly hit on all sorts of girls. Simply put, he was a flirt.

Apparently, he at least understood that being too blatant about it would cause problems at school, because he was fairly crafty about approaching girls only when he thought other people weren’t watching.

So being put under the spotlight like this was probably the last thing he wanted.

He clearly wanted to leave as quickly as possible, and his impatience was obvious.

Maybe because my previous-life memories had returned, part of me was actually enjoying situations like this and was tempted to grin while wondering how he’d manage to get himself out of it, but I maintained a perfectly composed poker face.

Though rather than looking composed, my gaze was downright icy.

Oh, look at him panic.

He could just run away, but apparently he understood that running would make him look pathetic.

Some of the girls he’d flirted with had also seen that I was clearly uncomfortable, so now then, what would he do?

Even if he tried making some clumsy excuse, there was no way he’d be able to brush this off here.

“Rinne, what’s up? C’mon, let’s go.”

Oh, that was unexpected.

Perhaps trying to rescue me from what looked like a staring contest, Tomo called out from the side and tugged lightly on my arm.

“Sorry, Tomo. That boy over there was being persistent.”

“Well, Rinne’s kinda the hot topic right now. But you ain’t interested in going with him, right?”

“Nope.”

“Hah, instant answer. Anyway, we’re heading out. And you—Rinne’s been obviously uncomfortable around you for a while now, so maybe take the hint already? C’mon, Rinne.”

“…!”

As Tomo casually said that and pulled me away, I noticed the boy, who had been very plainly put in his place, briefly twisted his face in irritation before he could hide it.

Ah, I knew this type.

I’d seen his kind plenty of times in my previous life.

I really had dealt with that sort more times than I could count back then.

Sigh…

I had a vague feeling this was going to turn into trouble, so I let out another sigh and left the classroom together with Tomo.