POV— Nino Nakano,
Looking at her sisters through the LINE chat interface on her cracked mobile phone, Nakano Nino pursed her lips in delight. The familiar avatars and messages made her heart warm. But almost immediately, she frowned.
"What do I do if they see me all covered in dirt and scratches?" she muttered to herself, her voice tinged with distress.
She tilted her head, pondering the situation. Falling into a ditch? Impossible—there wasn't one nearby. And if she tried to explain that she had fallen into another world, been chased by monsters, and rescued by a mysterious white-haired man… well, her sisters would probably think she had lost her mind completely.
Sighing, she gave up on trying to craft the perfect excuse.
'I'll just blame it on my clumsiness', she thought, glancing down at her phone, spiderwebbed with cracks.
Definitely time for a new one tomorrow.
She tapped on the LINE app nervously, waiting for a response. The phone lagged slightly, making her cheeks flush in embarrassment.
.....
A Quiet Evening, half past twelve,
Gojo Satoru has returned home quietly.
The apartment was dimly lit, but he noticed a small figure sitting cross-legged in the living room, absorbed in a handheld game console.
Seeing how deeply engrossed she was, he didn't disturb her. Instead, he muttered, "I'll just take a bath first," and headed straight to the bathroom.
When he returned, the small figure had disappeared. She had most likely gone to her room already, leaving the living room empty.
Gojo shook his head with a faint smile.
He called lightly toward the hallway, "Go to bed early. No staying up all night playing games."
There was no response—only the soft click of a door closing. He shrugged, returned to his own room, finished up a few tasks, and finally drifted to sleep.
A quiet night passed, wordless.
.....
Morning at Sobu High,
Meanwhile, somewhere else, a different story was unfolding.
"Hello, everyone. My name is Shihara Tadakuni, and I'm just an ordinary high school student."
He rubbed his eyes groggily, staring at the ceiling. He was now in his second year at Sobu High School, but staying up until five in the morning reading romance manga had backfired.
Oversleeping until 7:40 am meant disaster.
Haaa… class starts at eight. If the security guard catches me, I'll be forced to stand at the gate like a monkey again…
The memory of last semester's punishment made him shiver.
Grabbing the leftover bread from the table, he stuffed it into his mouth. "I'm heading out, Kaa-san!" he shouted, bolting out the door.
Almost immediately, a familiar voice called out beside him.
"Yo! Late again, Tadakuni!"
He turned and saw Hidenori Tabata, sprinting at full speed while… holding a cup of instant noodles.
Tadakuni's face twisted. "Why the hell are you running while carrying noodles?!"
Tabata sipped casually. "Didn't eat breakfast. I don't wanna starve, you know."
Tadakuni almost tripped. And you're running so smoothly that the soup doesn't even spill a drop? What kind of bullshit physics is this?
Before he could retort, another figure appeared from a side alley.
"Yo! My two best friends! Don't forget, we're about to be late!"
It was Yoshitake Tanaka—this time carrying an actual portable pot of sukiyaki, a slice of tofu balanced on the lid.
Tadakuni's face distorted even further. "... Why are you both like this?!"
"I didn't eat breakfast either," Yoshitake replied, matter-of-factly. "Sukiyaki seemed reasonable."
Tabata nodded in agreement.
"Reasonable, my ass," Tadakuni groaned, dragging his feet. "What the hell is my life…"
The three of them ran together, the school looming in the distance. Only five minutes left before class.
.....
Chaos Strikes again,
Suddenly, a familiar white-haired figure appeared overhead, gliding along on some kind of portable hover board.
"Yo! Very spirited this morning, lads," the figure teased.
The three turned in unison, eyes wide.
"...Gojo Satoru?!"
He was lazily floating in midair, blindfold on, munching on dessert.
Again?! You're flying around eating sweets while we're dying down here?
As if hearing their thoughts, Gojo laughed. "Don't worry, I've got a handle on it."
But before he could finish, his hover board dipped—straight into a muddy puddle.
SPLASH!
Dirty water sprayed all over the trio, soaking their uniforms, splattering their faces and hair.
Gojo froze mid-air. "...Oops."
The three boys stood in stunned silence, dripping sludge.
Gojo scratched his cheek, then muttered, "Didn't mean to!" and sped off without another word.
"..."
The three of them just stared at each other.
Finally, Tadakuni broke the silence. "So… what now?"
Tabata held out his cup. "Want some noodles?"
"Yeah, and I'll share my sukiyaki," Yoshitake added cheerfully.
Tadakuni's face twisted with despair. He raised his hands toward the sky and shouted, "LEAVE ME ALONE!"
The three continued running toward school, bickering and slipping, their tragic morning blending into comedy.
...
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