The atmosphere at Soubu High School was much better than Chihaya Anon had initially expected.
The classmates were all quite friendly and didn't treat her strangely just because she was a transfer student.
However, it had been some time since school started, and various social circles had already formed, so it wasn't easy for her to join them.
Thinking about it this way, forming a band and gaining some popularity in school might be a good ice-breaking method.
She didn't have any intention of becoming a professional musician; just as the boy who helped her with the tour said, casually forming an in-school band to have fun should be enough.
During the break, she went to the restroom alone to pick flowers and then touch up her makeup.
Although Chihaya Anon wasn't particularly keen on makeup itself, normal Japanese high school girls of this age were more or less involved in it (Gotō Hitori: "Achoo!"), and it was also a good topic of conversation among girls. For this, she even followed many beauty bloggers.
Originally, today, to give new classmates a better impression, she didn't wear heavy makeup—in fact, with her naturally good base, she hardly ever wore heavy makeup, and most of her touch-ups were just for psychological effect, mainly because the weather was getting hot and she was sweating a bit.
Of course, besides the weather, there were other reasons for sweating.
For example, when she mentioned to her new classmates that this school seemed to have a somewhat abnormal Student Council President, they all reacted very calmly, even saying things like, 'Isn't that how Student Council Presidents are?', 'If they didn't have such prominent personalities, they wouldn't become Student Council Presidents!', 'Although President Nijima is also good, I support Amakusa Shino more to become president', 'Shorten by five centimeters!' and so on.
No! Student Council Presidents are not such strange characters!
Although she smiled and echoed them with 'Ah, right, right, right' and similar phrases, Chihaya Anon, who had served as Student Council President during middle school, vehemently denied it in her heart.
However, from this point, it could also be seen that President Amakusa seemed to be quite popular among the students.
Seeing how popular the other person was, Chihaya Anon couldn't help but feel a little stir of ambition.
The other party was a second-year, and she was only a first-year. So, when the other party retired in their third year, she would just be a second-year. Maybe she could even try to become the new Student Council President?
But precisely because she had served as Student Council President in middle school, she had a considerable understanding of the position.
First and foremost, the workload was enormous, and it would likely take up a significant amount of her after-school time. Considering that Soubu High School was larger than her middle school, the workload might even double, probably ending up in a state of 'Can't finish! No matter how hard I try, I can't finish'.
As soon as she thought of this, she couldn't help but want to back down.
Besides, although it was an unwritten rule, to become Student Council President, one generally had to serve in positions like secretary within the Student Council for a period of time.
But just thinking of President Amakusa Shino, introducing 'this restroom has good soundproofing' with an incomparably heroic and elegant demeanor, like a high-altitude flower, Chihaya Anon felt a physiological resistance to becoming her subordinate.
"Indeed, I should just form a band…"
Chihaya Anon looked at herself in the Mirror above the sink and muttered to herself.
Although there were other ways to join clubs, track and field clubs had a severe seniority system, and she wasn't particularly good at sports, so she would definitely pass on all of them. As for arts and culture clubs, becoming the center of attention also required a considerable amount of talent.
Without being self-deprecating, Chihaya Anon didn't believe she could easily surpass those seniors who dedicated most of their energy to their respective hobbies. Even if she joined those clubs, the greater possibility was that she would just blend into the crowd.
So, only a band, only something that could directly take the stage and showcase herself in front of everyone, could allow her to once again become the focus of attention and wash away the shame of having fled back from England in disgrace.
"Anon, you can definitely do it~"
The girl cheered herself on in the Mirror.
Suddenly, the lights in the restroom flickered. Although they were quite new LED lights, at that moment they seemed like old fluorescent lamps, creating a strange atmosphere.
Then she saw her own lips in the Mirror curve into a strangely distorted arc, her eyes bloodshot, staring intently at her with an indescribably eerie gaze, then getting closer and closer to the Mirror—
The girl rubbed her eyes hard.
When she opened her eyes again, the overhead lights were as stable as ever, emitting a cool, bright glow that lit up the women's restroom, which only had a small exhaust window.
Her reflection in the Mirror showed no strange changes; her eyes, red from being rubbed hard, were looking at herself outside the Mirror with a hint of panic.
"…Here it comes again."
The girl sighed.
Ever since she fled back from England, she would occasionally see strange sights when looking in the Mirror.
But at first, they were just fleeting, blurry shadows, making her even think it was just her eyes playing tricks on her or ordinary floaters.
However, as time passed, the hallucinations became more and more severe, even progressing to the point where they started to spread into reality recently.
Going to the hospital to see a doctor only resulted in the conclusion that her psychological stress was too great, leading to some mental problems, which caused the hallucinations.
The girl, who believed in science, naturally understood this.
Indeed, the failure of her study abroad was a huge blow to her… Although it was somewhat unexpected that it was so severe as to cause hallucinations, psychological problems clearly couldn't be cured by physical methods.
That's why she wanted to form a band as soon as possible, believing that if she could regain her confidence through this method, she would be able to solve her psychological problems.
However, as she left the restroom, the girl couldn't help but recall what Asakura-kun, who had guided her earlier, had said.
"Magic Club, huh…"
She mumbled, hesitated for a moment, then shook her head.
She just had mental problems; it had nothing to do with magic whatsoever.
However, after the girl left, the lights in the restroom flickered again.
Amidst the flickering, a faint humanoid phantom reappeared in the Mirror.
At the position where the phantom's mouth should be, a black arc outlined a horrifyingly distorted, eerie smile.