Keep in mind.
Unreliable Narrator: An unreliable narrator is a character in a story whose account of events cannot be fully trusted by the reader. This can be due to various reasons, such as the narrator being intentionally deceptive, unaware of their biases, or psychologically impaired. The narrator's version of events may be embellished, watered down, or simply inaccurate.
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The next day, as soon as dawn broke, Uesugi Kazuki got out of bed.
After quietly getting dressed, Uesugi Kazuki quickly tidied his school bag.
Since Uesugi Kazuki hadn't even gone to school the last time, when he was stabbed to death by his stepmother, and instead spent his days at home doing things that challenged human limits with Uesugi Riko, he naturally didn't know where his textbooks were.
He quickly rummaged through his desk but found no textbooks.
Uesugi Kazuki could only casually stuff a few things that looked like notebooks and homework into his bag before opening his door and leaving the room.
The house was quiet, with only the faint ticking of the clock in the hallway audible.
Uesugi Kazuki tiptoed towards the front door.
As he passed his stepmother's bedroom, Uesugi Kazuki noticed that for some reason, Uesugi Riko hadn't closed her door.
It seemed she had kicked off her blanket after falling asleep and feeling hot during the night.
Therefore, everything Uesugi Kazuki saw at that moment stirred a primal and heated urge within him.
However, before Uesugi Kazuki's impulse could overcome his reason, a phantom pain in his waist quelled that urge.
Recalling the price of his previous impulsiveness, Uesugi Kazuki silently chanted, "My heart is still water, my heart is still water" as he stealthily exited the house.
Just as he pushed his bicycle out of his small yard, Uesugi Kazuki saw a taxi stop in front of the house next door.
A disheveled woman emerged from the taxi, carrying high heels in her hand, her stockings torn on her legs, revealing fair skin.
Her messy red dress exposed large areas of white skin.
After the woman got out and closed the car door, she was startled by Uesugi Kazuki, who was pushing his bicycle, and instinctively tried to cover her face with the bag she was carrying.
However, after raising the bag halfway, she seemed to remember something.
So, she no longer tried to shield her face with the bag. Instead, she lowered it, winked at Uesugi Kazuki, and then placed her right index finger on her lips.
She made a gesture for Uesugi Kazuki to be quiet.
At this moment, Uesugi Kazuki remembered that this woman was the neighbor's wife, Shimada Anri, known on this street for her lavish lifestyle and generous "assets."
Seeing that Uesugi Kazuki had no reaction, Shimada Anri first scanned him from head to toe with a scrutinizing gaze.
Then, she flashed Uesugi Kazuki a sickly sweet smile, took out her keys, and went back into her house.
After the unexpected encounter with Shimada Anri, just as Uesugi Kazuki got on his bicycle, ready to head to school,
He saw the Shimada family's door open again. Shimada Anri poked her head out and gave Uesugi Kazuki another wink, then hung what looked like a butterfly-shaped black lace thong on the doorknob before pulling her head back into the room.
Although Shimada Anri had pulled her head back in, the door was left ajar, closed but not fully closed.
Seeing that black lace thong and the slightly ajar door, Uesugi Kazuki swallowed hard. This wasn't just a hint; it was practically a sign screaming, "COME F**k ME."
This was no ordinary neighbor's wife! He absolutely must...
After one last glance at the black lace thong hanging on the doorknob, Uesugi Kazuki, with immense willpower, pushed off on his bicycle and pedaled towards school.
The entire ride, Uesugi Kazuki's mind was filled with that doorknob and the black lace thong on it. Half of his thoughts were, Why didn't I just push the door open earlier?
The other half of his thoughts, however, were: work, work, work! I need to move out of this house as soon as possible. The outside world is vast, and there's so much to achieve!
Soon, Uesugi Kazuki arrived at his high school. At that point, his mind was solely focused on the "vast world and much to achieve."
Because at this moment, he saw one of Japan's most famous local specialties: wild JK (high school girls).
Uesugi Kazuki's first reaction upon seeing the wild JKs was, These girls' skirts are really short here. Is it really okay for school uniform skirts to be this short?
Then he realized that, in front of such well-nourished youthful bodies, the length of a school uniform skirt didn't seem to be an issue at all.
Aoyama High School was large, with four buildings including the main teaching building, a swimming pool, and a gymnasium. It also had auxiliary facilities like a soccer field and basketball courts.
Although Aoyama High was big, Uesugi Kazuki managed to find his classroom before class started, relying on the original owner's memories.
In the classroom of just over thirty students, only the desk in the second-to-last row by the window was empty.
Clearly, that was Uesugi Kazuki's spot. After walking over and sitting down before the teacher arrived,
Uesugi Kazuki finally realized why he hadn't found his textbooks at home.
Because they were all in his desk drawer.
He wasn't sure if not taking textbooks home was a Japanese tradition or just a habit of the original Uesugi Kazuki.
A man wearing black-rimmed glasses, looking extremely intelligent, around fifty years old, and with an expressionless face, walked onto the podium.
Sitting in the second row by the door, a girl with long braided hair called out, "Stand up, bow."
Uesugi Kazuki, whose memory was still a mess, now knew that the braided-haired girl with thick, "beer-bottle-bottom" glasses was the class representative.
After sitting down, Uesugi Kazuki glanced at the desk of the cold and aloof girl in front of him, who had smooth, long black hair. On her desk lay a Japanese Literature textbook.
He then began to search for his own textbooks in his drawer.
Soon, Uesugi Kazuki found his textbooks in his drawer.
But besides the textbooks, Uesugi Kazuki also found a white envelope with [To Uesugi Kazuki-kun, personally] written on it in brushstrokes.
Just from the envelope, it was clear that the person who wrote this letter was culturally well-versed.
After all, in this day and age, someone who could write such sharp brush calligraphy was rare.
Moreover, the letter was written entirely in Kanji (japanese characters) instead of Kana (Japanese syllabary), which made it even more exceptional.
However, now was not the time to read this letter; class was more important.
Although his memories were a bit blurry, the previous Uesugi Kazuki was clearly a diligent student.
Even with the Japanese-language instruction, Uesugi Kazuki understood essentially everything after one class.
At least he hadn't fallen behind in his studies in the second week after school started.
However, Japanese teachers and Chinese teachers seemed to share some common traits.
The entire morning was spent wildly dragging out classes, until lunchtime when the chemistry teacher, wearing gold-rimmed glasses and a black business suit, looking like an elite white-collar worker from a major corporation, finally announced the end of class after an extra ten minutes, still seemingly unsatisfied.
The moment the chemistry teacher left the classroom, the previously silent room immediately erupted.
Some students took out their bento boxes to share with friends, while others paired up, planning to head to the cafeteria or vending machines to get food.
Uesugi Kazuki, who had neither a bento nor money, decided to see who had written him that letter.
Just as Uesugi Kazuki was reaching into his drawer for the letter, a boy with dyed yellow hair and a huge bento box in his hand walked over and sat down opposite Uesugi Kazuki, casually placing the bento box on Uesugi Kazuki's desk.
"This morning was tough, Kazuki. You didn't bring a bento again today? Still planning to buy fried noodle bread?"
After speaking, he leaned in and looked left and right.
It seemed he was making sure no one else was paying attention to them, two insignificant figures.
Then he lowered his voice and said to Uesugi Kazuki,
"I saw you staring at Aya from time to time during class. You don't have a thing for her, do you?"
Uesugi Kazuki looked up and saw the guy's yellow hair. Past memories told Uesugi Kazuki that this "yellow-haired" guy was named Takeda Masaaki, and could probably be considered his 'friend'.
Because the former Uesugi Kazuki was rather... well... withdrawn.
He spent every day either studying or practicing kendo, so he was essentially invisible in class.
Coincidentally, Takeda Masaaki was also a member of the kendo club, but he was too gossipy.
Plus, on the first day of high school, he tried to make friends by sharing certain adult magazines in class.
As a result, he was scorned and ostracized by all the female students in the class.
The boys also found it difficult to openly associate with this guy who had been labeled a pervert by all the girls in class.
Thus, Takeda Masaaki, who had become a semi-invisible person, ended up hanging out with Uesugi Kazuki, the completely invisible person.
While not truly 'friends,' they could at least be considered familiar acquaintances.
The kind of acquaintances who would eat lunch at the same table.
"Didn't bring a bento, don't want to buy bread either. I'm on a diet. I just glanced twice, no other meaning. Please don't overthink it."
Uesugi Kazuki casually replied to Takeda Masaaki, then pulled the letter from his desk drawer. He was about to open the envelope to see who had written to him.
Then he heard Takeda Masaaki, who had just been mumbling, "It's fine if you like her, bro, I'll help you out," make a sound of shock, as if he'd seen a gorilla in a ballet tutu dancing Swan Lake.
"What! Tokushima Masako actually wrote you a letter?!"
Tokushima Masako? Uesugi Kazuki found the name incredibly familiar but couldn't quite place who it was.
So he turned to Takeda Masaaki, ready to ask him what he knew.
Uesugi Kazuki saw Takeda Masaaki looking at him with an expression like a prison guard delivering a last meal to a death row inmate.
Takeda Masaaki's eyes conveyed a clear message: [You're finished, have a good meal.]
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