Of course, even if Kaguya Shinomiya had a smartphone and was chosen as a Player, the castle-like mansion where she lived was full of spies monitoring her movements. Being chosen as a Player in such an environment was a hellish start.
Asagiri Utsunomiya could sense that the atmosphere in the classroom had become inexplicably depressing from the moment Kaguya Shinomiya entered. The students who had been chatting and were very excited about their first day of high school life were now cautiously silent, as if afraid of waking a dangerous sleeping beast.
(It's so quiet that it's annoying.)
At this moment, Asagiri Utsunomiya, who was in the corner of the classroom, suddenly took out a very small mysterious object with a circle on the top from his shoulder bag hanging on the side of the table. The object was not much longer than a ballpoint pen.
"It's too quiet. Let me play a tune for everyone."
All the students in the classroom, including Kaguya Shinomiya, couldn't help but look at Asagiri Utsunomiya who was sitting there.
"That instrument is..." Seeing the strangely shaped object in Asagiri Utsunomiya's hand, before Kaguya Shinomiya could really remember the name of the instrument, a sound with a powerful impact resounded in Class 1-A's classroom.
*Beep~beep~beep~beep~!*
When they heard the sound of the instrument, everyone was stunned.
What the hell was this musical instrument?
To describe it in words, the tone was very dull, and there were bursts from time to time. The sound produced by this instrument was... funny and absurd, which made people want to laugh and revealed an abstract feeling.
The problem was that when Asagiri Utsunomiya played, he was very serious, and apart from the dull tone, the melody he played was very catchy. Combined with the sound of the instrument, which should have had a negative effect, it actually created a brainwashing feeling that people could not forget after listening to it.
"Kazoo?" After hearing the sound of the instrument, Kaguya Shinomiya finally remembered the name of the instrument.
Kazoo is a very ancient instrument with a simple structure. As long as the player knows how to hum a song, they can use the kazoo to play it without spending too much time practicing.
But... why?
Kaguya Shinomiya couldn't understand why the boy sitting in the corner of the classroom suddenly started playing the kazoo.
Was this... a prank?
At this moment, a middle-aged female teacher, wearing a professional suit, about forty years old, but still well-maintained and charming, and wearing gold-rimmed glasses, walked into the classroom.
Kaguya Shinomiya originally thought that the boy sitting in the corner of the classroom would stop playing when he saw the teacher coming in.
Unexpectedly, Asagiri Utsunomiya blew even harder, and even the speed of playing became faster, as if he had pressed the double-speed play button.
*Beep, beep, beep~~~*
Kaguya Shinomiya was speechless, thinking to herself—how come he got so excited while blowing the Kazoo?
Nearly a minute later, Asagiri Utsunomiya finally put down the kazoo in his hand. Facing the gazes of the classmates in the classroom, he looked calm and composed. He stood up on his own initiative, like a real performer finishing a performance. He placed one hand on his chest and stretched out the other hand, making an extremely elegant curtain call.
"A kazoo version of Shape of You for everyone~"
The female teacher who had been standing behind the podium and had been silent all this time did not react with any anger when she saw Asagiri Utsunomiya making a gesture of farewell. She just pushed her glasses and spoke in a calm tone.
"Utsunomiya-san, are you done playing?"
"It's done."
"Alright." The middle-aged female teacher first said with a nod, then glanced at the students in the classroom and said slowly, "My name is Miwa Ashikaga, and I teach Japanese. Starting today, I will be the homeroom teacher of Year One, Class A. You can call me Ashikaga-sensei, or just sensei."
Miwa Ashikaga paused her for a moment, sweeping the silent classroom with her stern gaze, then continued speaking.
"What I will say next may sound unpleasant, but I will still say it. I'm a very serious person, and I teach very strictly. I know many of you come from wealthy families, but I want to make one thing clear: within the Shuchi'in Academy, within my class, I don't care what your parents do for a living, or how rich your background is. I will only judge you based on your ability as a student, as an individual."
After hearing what Miwa Ashikaga said, the students present had only one thought in their minds.
(No... are we going to start the formal process right away? Was the incident of the boy playing the kazoo just now just glossed over so lightly? What the hell is this? Just because you are handsome, you can do whatever you want?)
But Kaguya Shinomiya had completely different ideas.
(He openly played the kazoo in the classroom and delayed the class. However, the seemingly strict teacher, Ashikaga-sensei, did not criticize the boy at all. He even made a special effort to confirm whether he had finished playing before he began to introduce himself as the teacher. Is it because the other party has a strong family background?)
No, if there was such a person in the same class, Ai Hayasaka, her maid, would have reported to her before Kaguya Shinomiya entered school.
Furthermore, the way Miwa Ashikaga addressed that boy...
(Utsunomiya-san? Could it be... Asagiri Utsunomiya?)
Kaguya Shinomiya had an impression of this name. She would always remember the moment when she knew the ranking of Shuchi'in Academy High School Department's entrance examination. The complicated feelings in her heart when she saw that her name was only ranked second, and the name that was ranked above her—it was a name that she would never forget.
—Asagiri Utsunomiya.
(So it was him...)
Kaguya Shinomiya glanced at Asagiri Utsunomiya, who was sitting in the corner of the classroom, staring at the scenery outside the window in a trance, and couldn't help feeling a complicated feeling in her heart. She actually didn't mind losing, and sometimes she even lost to others on purpose.
In her opinion, deliberately losing something was also a tactic in socializing, and it was not humiliating. But there was one exception.
That's studying. Only when it comes to studying, Kaguya Shinomiya would give her all without reservation and would not want to lose to anyone.
"Now, let's start introducing ourselves." Miwa Ashikaga, who was standing behind the podium, said as she glanced around. Her gaze rested on Asagiri Utsunomiya and she said lightly, "Utsunomiya-san, please introduce yourself first."
"Okay."
Asagiri Utsunomiya did not refuse, but he did not stand up either. Facing the gazes of the other students in the classroom, he just introduced himself with a smile.
"Asagiri Utsunomiya, sixteen years old, an Impure student."