"M-M-M-M... Male?!!!"
A boy grabbed her?
Feeling the warmth on her shoulder, Hitori Gotoh stood frozen in a daze. Immediately after, her entire body began to convulse, and she toppled straight backward.
Holy crap.
As expected of Bocchi-chan, the ceiling of social anxiety.
Guessing who she was, Roser quickly reached out and wrapped his arm around her soft body.
He caught her in a hurry, but as a result, Hitori Gotoh's trembling frequency only increased. Her eyes even lost focus, as if a wisp of her soul was drifting out from the corner of her mouth.
After fully several minutes.
Hitori Gotoh was still standing stiffly, her mouth continuously muttering unintelligible ancient god whispers.
"Haven't come back to your senses yet? If you don't snap out of it soon, facing a beautiful girl like you, I can't guarantee what I might do, you know?"
"Beautiful girl or whatever... I'm not that pretty, hehe..."
Bocchi-chan, who was originally deep in social anxiety, instantly perked up. The corners of her mouth split open, revealing a giggle of smug satisfaction.
Only then did she notice the appearance of the man in front of her.
"So... So tall!!!"
And...
The first thing that seized one's vision was that pure white Kariginu, which was definitely not a product of the modern era.
Yet, it did not carry the solemnity and majesty of ancient times, but rather a kind of rebellious unbridledness and arrogance.
The fabric seemed like silk but wasn't; under the sunlight, it flowed with an imperceptible silver light, resembling mercury.
The collar and cuffs were embroidered with indecipherable runes and formations using golden silk threads.
Starting from the cuffs and collar, thousands of streams converged onto his back, forming some kind of mysterious bird-beast seal script. It faintly flowed with radiance, flickering like breathing.
A silver chain, appearing old but incomparably tough, wound in a complex manner from his left arm to his neck, hanging down from his right shoulder.
The wide Kariginu covered his tall physique, exuding an air of nobility, yet his carefree posture added a touch of calmness and unconstraint.
Looking further up, a pair of eyes quietly watched her. It really is Bocchi...
"Gegegege...."
Bocchi-chan lost her ability to speak once again, her body vibrating at high frequency.
She wasn't being a pervert; she had simply fallen into a social anxiety state under an aura that towered two meters eight—far exceeding that of a normie.
"Wake up, Bocchi-chan. Can you take me to Year 1, Class 3?"
Roser didn't mind.
As a famous paranormal expert who was too young, he naturally needed a good appearance and style.
Aside from frequent exercise, a reasonable diet, maintaining a good figure, and strong facial control capabilities...
Technological means were also indispensable, such as this bluffing Kariginu of his.
The manual labor fee alone cost thirty thousand US dollars; he had asked a certain Dr. Agasa to make it.
It directly made people believe in him thirty percent just upon meeting.
However, right now it led to...
"You... N... L-L-Lord... Hai!!!"
As if encountering a samurai lord who tested his sword on people, Bocchi-chan stiffly took a step, leading the charlatan behind her toward Class 3.
Looking from a distance, it resembled a corpse driver from Xiangxi; it could scare someone sick in the middle of the night.
However, at this moment, Roser stopped her. Under Bocchi-chan's panicked gaze, he smiled and said, "It's still early. Why don't we try your school's cuisine first? It just so happens I also have some things about Class 3 that I want to ask."
Hmm, the high-class cuisine of an aristocratic school; he really did want to try it.
In an instant.
Bocchi-chan looked as if she had seen a devil.
Not only was she hit on by a super-normie man, but she even had to eat with him?
.....
"Why do we have to wait until four o'clock..."
Year 1, Class 3.
A girl with beige hair and crimson eyes tilted her head.
Koromo Shiranui was known as the fairy of the first years, an active idol ranking alongside the second year's princess, Kaguya Shinomiya, and the third year's white swan, Tsubame Koyasu.
As an idol, her time was naturally very tight.
"Doesn't Koromo-chan know? They say a new teacher is coming."
Beside her.
A brown-haired girl who was friends with everyone in the class giggled.
"I heard about it. They said it's some Folklore teacher?"
"Eh, a Folklore teacher, huh? I wonder what they'll teach. I'm actually quite interested in folklore."
Kiyotaka Ayanokoji, the honest boy who was very inconspicuous in the class, followed up listlessly.
"Folklore? Just tricking you guys. Hasn't Kiyotaka heard? The one coming this time is very likely a paranormal expert?"
The one speaking was the fellow emotionless girl, Kozue Makihara.
Nicknamed Makihara-senpai.
A member of the Tabletop Game Club. Personality?
Well, she can play together with the chaotic evil Chika Fujiwara...
Once the topic was started, the classroom instantly became noisy.
"Paranormal expert? That's too exaggerated~~"
"Eh, isn't it just a swindler? Do people still believe in these things nowadays?"
"That's right, desu. Aren't there still many illegal cults now?"
"Yaaah—! Could it be that Mom and Dad were scammed?"
"Maybe they're just worried. By the way, Miko-chan, you should know, right? You're so close with the President of the Supernatural Phenomena Research Club, Yume Atenbo-senpai."
"...."
Mentioning that senior, Miko Iino didn't want to speak at all.
That senior didn't seem to like the supernatural that much, but she really liked to make dirty jokes. She was a super bad-natured senior whose catchphrase was: "When the cart reaches the mountain, there will be a way; when the due date comes, the birth will happen naturally."
"Ehehe, luckily I know."
Kikyo Kushida, who was said to have a super good personality, mouthed the shape of 'shisha' (The Dead One).
But the others didn't look very surprised.
Clearly, most people actually knew what was going on; they just chose to play dumb according to the atmosphere.
In Japan, fitting in and reading the atmosphere are basic skills.
And believing in urban legends would lead to being mocked.
Being mocked meant that bullying wasn't far away.
In fact.
Under the guidance of a certain social butterfly, the class had tacitly chosen a person to be [The Substitute], the candidate to exist as the 'Ghost' in the class.
That is, the transfer student who only reported in on the seventh day of school....
The second-to-last row of the classroom.
The seat by the window.
A girl with long straight black hair and a cold temperament, beautiful beyond the mortal realm, indifferently withdrew her gaze.
Boring jokes.
The girl named Yukino Yukinoshita didn't think there would be any curse.
Otherwise, having been envied and ostracized since childhood, she probably would have withered away in curses long ago.
In fact, she was originally supposed to enroll at the nearby Sobu High in Chiba.
It was only because of her father's insistence that she came to Shuchiin Academy, this aristocratic school.
But she didn't expect...
"It's still the same..."
The girl sighed softly.
In this school, which gathered the children of the top tier of Japan's political and business worlds...
Their Yukinoshita family was nothing more than rural landowners.
And in terms of facial refinement, she was no longer in a league of her own.
Even regarding academic ability... she barely made it into the top three.
This was also the fundamental reason she was able to transfer into Shuchiin Academy.
Even so, before she even enrolled, she was naturally selected to be the "non-existent person."
No one would communicate with her; no one would "see" her.
The upside was that no one should steal her indoor shoes anymore.
Yukino Yukinoshita mocked herself in her heart.
So, a world like this, a mistake like this, being corrected is the proper...
Suddenly.
Amidst a loud sound of the door opening.
The classroom door was pushed open.
"Yo, Bocchi-chan, thanks for this time. I've added you on LINE, and also... I'll come find you, Guitar Hero~~."
Accompanied by a girl's frightened shriek and the sound of rapidly fleeing footsteps.
Under the blinding sunlight outside the door, a tall silhouette appeared at the doorway.
As their eyes gradually adapted to the light, the figure before them became clear.
It was a man wearing an Onmyoji's Kariginu.
Very tall.
At least by Japanese standards, he was surprisingly tall.
His towering physique appeared extremely striking in the black, tight-fitting undershirt.
On the outside, he wore a set of moon-white wide-sleeved Kariginu. The feathered sleeves and collar were embroidered with exquisite talismans and inscriptions in gold thread.
Accompanying the crisp sound of the swaying ancient silver chain, two silk bands written full of ink-colored seal script hung down from his shoulders.
Extremely rich in texture.
Under the breeze, the scripture bands hanging from his shoulders fluttered, and the seal script of unknown meaning moved with them, as if coming alive.
It appeared abstruse, mysterious, unbridled, and magnificent.
The classroom fell silent for an instant.
Even Kiyotaka Ayanokoji, who had been pretending to be transparent and going along with the flow, had his pupils shrink, momentarily awed by this appearance.
The man who entered didn't care at all. Without saying a word, he walked in, strode towards the podium, stood on it, and looked down.
"You are all clear that a Folklore teacher has come today, or rather... a charlatan?"
Roser raised his head, scanned the whole room, and smiled freely.
"That's right, it's me!"
Huh?
The boys and girls were instantly stunned.
ps: (Kaguya is in the second year; the first years are Ishigami and Miko Iino.
Also, this is the class of Koromo Shiranui, the biological older sister of Frill Shiranui from 'Oshi no Ko'.
Kaguya and 'Oshi no Ko' share the same worldview.)
_____
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