High School Life Begins

"Kya～! Tak-kun, you look amazing! So cool! So cute! The best!"

The instant Karen-onee-chan caught sight of me stepping out of my room into the living room, she launched into a barrage of enthusiastic compliments while snapping off rapid bursts on her camera.

Today is the high school entrance ceremony, and from today onward my uniform changes from a gakuran to a blazer. The high-school division uniform is a navy blazer, a white shirt, and a red necktie. A normal, sharp-looking outfit.

"Taku-chan, you look so grown-up. Wonderful ♪"

"Mm-hm ♪ It suits you really well."

"Shouya, take a picture with me later too!"

"Mmh, now Onii-chan and I don't match anymore…"

Mom, Masami-onee-chan, and Kaede are all praising me, but Sakura's the only one in a sulky mood now that my uniform has changed. She's still in middle school, while everyone else is in high school and wearing a blazer, so she's the only one in a middle school uniform.

"Sakura, your uniform looks great on you too, so cute. Don't pout like that. Next year let's take a picture together in blazers, okay?"

I gave Sakura my usual head pat to coax her out of her mood. Sakura loves this.

"… Mm!"

Actually, everyone keeps complimenting me, but I'm not the only one whose uniform has changed. Kaede has also switched from her middle school uniform to the high school blazer.

The high-school division has a navy blazer with a large red ribbon, a white shirt, and, like the middle-school division uniform, a navy skirt with red trim. The uniforms differ between the high-school and middle-school divisions, but the skirt design and red ribbon are the same, so they have a unified look when set side by side.

"Kaede, the new uniform looks good on you too. C-cute…"

When it came to telling Sakura she was cute, the words slipped out smoothly, but somehow it felt embarrassing telling Kaede.

"Hehe ♪ Thanks ♪ Chu ♡"

Kaede laughed happily and returned the compliment by kissing me on the cheek. The sudden kiss in front of everyone made my face go red.

Oh, that reminds me. Speaking of bad moods, Yui-san is somehow scowling today as well. I started to worry that I'd done something to upset her.

"You look… you look so wonderful in it! … But, why did you tie your necktie yourself!"

When I asked Yui-san whether the uniform suited me, the reply came back from an unexpected angle. I shot Miki-san a pleading look to figure out what was going on.

"Yui-chan was looking forward to tying Shouya-sama's necktie for you… but Shouya-sama had finished all your preparations on your own, so… um…"

I see. So that's why Yui-san has been in a bad mood. I'd thought it odd because she'd been perfectly normal at breakfast.

Just when I'd resolved to let everyone dote on me more, this happens. Being doted on really is hard. The way I see it, there's a big gap between what everyone thinks I can do and what I can actually do on my own.

In any case, right now I need to focus on getting Yui-san's mood back.

"Yui-san, before we leave the house, could you give me a final grooming check?"

"～～～～! ♡ Yes! As you wish, Shouya-sama!"

Yui-san's cheeks loosened happily, and with a polite, maid-like bow she stepped up to me.

She brushed lint off my shoulders, checked that my hair wasn't sticking up anywhere, and finally adjusted the position of my necktie with care to finish the grooming check.

"There! Shouya-sama, that's perfect! Have a wonderful day!"

Yui-san's pouty face turned into a satisfied smile, and she was back to her usual cute self. That she shows me these shifts in feeling feels like a sign of trust too.

"Yes, I'm heading out, everyone."

After saying goodbye to everyone, we piled into the car. Today's the entrance ceremony, so Mom is coming along. At first I'd wondered why a combined middle-high school would even have a high school entrance ceremony, but apparently it's because some students enroll fresh at the high school level.

I have amnesia, so in a sense it's basically a fresh high school enrollment for me too. To me, the vast majority of people there are first-time introductions.

By now the story of my amnesia has spread through the school until everyone knows, so I no longer have to feel bad about situations where the other person knows me but I don't know them. Still, with the new high school students I should at least mention the amnesia, or there'll be confusion later.

While I was looking forward to my new school life, we arrived at the school. There was an entrance ceremony signboard at the front gate with a crowd of people gathered around it. We joined the line and took our pictures. Getting to do something so family-like after such a long time made my heart feel warm.

Parting from Mom, we each headed off to our own classrooms. First I went to the boys' classroom to meet the other male students. It's called a meet-and-greet, but no boys enrolled fresh from high school, so everyone gave off a 'this is just like always' vibe and it was over in an instant. Boys don't have committees or anything either, so I just went to the classroom before classes started, picked up a printout, and that was that. After that I headed to my own classroom, where Kaede and Arisa were.

The moment I stepped into the classroom, the gazes of all the girls turned toward me at once. This happens every time I enter a classroom, but I just can't get used to it. They're all supposedly continuing their chitchat, yet only their eyes are pointed my way, and it's a little scary. It really drives home that in this world boys are sheep to be eaten. As I dithered my way into the classroom, Kaede and Arisa came up to the door to greet me.

"Shouya! Morning!… Kuh～! Blazers look great too!"

"Th-thanks. Arisa, the blazer suits you too."

"Ehehe ♪ Thanks… ♡"

Arisa and I looked each other over from head to toe before complimenting each other. My gaze did fix on Arisa's chest for a moment; I just hope she didn't notice. Well, it wasn't just that I was looking at her breasts. Arisa was wearing a necktie instead of a ribbon, and that caught my attention a little.

"You're wearing a necktie, huh, Arisa."

"Yep! I like neckties better! … Does it not look good on me? If you prefer ribbons, Shouya, I'll switch…"

It seems Arisa misread my gaze settling on her chest as me not liking the necktie. That's not it at all. I was just being a perv whose eyes locked onto her big breasts.

"No, it really suits you… but I'd love to see you in a ribbon sometime, too… I think…"

"Geez ♡ Shouya, you're so greedy! ♡"

When I said it sheepishly, Arisa's face went a little red and she happily teased me. I'm glad Arisa didn't start feeling insecure again.

"Geez! You two are flirting already, this early in the morning!"

Kaede was pouting furiously about being left out of the conversation. With her arms crossed, her breasts were pushed up and emphasized. It was like she was saying, look at my chest too, not just Arisa's.

"Sorry, sorry. Oh, I know, let's take a picture of the three of us."

To get Kaede back into a good mood, I suggested taking the picture I'd mentioned that morning. Her face broke into a grin right away, and she started pestering Arisa to take it quickly.

"Okay～, here we go～"

We took the picture on Arisa's cue. Kaede pressed her breasts against me as hard as she possibly could, and I got jittery wondering whether my member was about to get hard right there in the classroom.

My seat is the same as in middle school: the back of the row by the window. Kaede is to my right and Arisa is in front of me. Everyone else is arranged in name order from the front of the row by the window, skipping over our seats.

That said, the person next to Arisa is really tall, taller than Arisa even, so it's hard to see the blackboard from my seat. Well, since it doesn't really matter whether I attend class or not, I guess it makes no difference.

"Oh, that's right, Shouya, do you remember this girl?"

Arisa tapped the shoulder of the tall girl next to her and turned to look at me. That height, brown hair tied at a low position… I'd definitely seen her somewhere before… ah, right, that's—

"The middle blocker?"

"Yep! I knew you'd remember, Shouya!"

What would she have done if I hadn't remembered? Did she have a plan for handling the awkward atmosphere?

"Um, ah… my name is Kousaka Honami… as you said, I play middle blocker… A-Arisa-chan…"

Kousaka-san flustered her way into begging Arisa for rescue. Understandable. I'd want to be rescued too.

"Nice to meet you! I'm Izumi Kaede! Is it okay if I call you Honami-chan?"

"Y-yes, Izumi-sa… Kaede-chan…"

Kaede stepped in to defuse the awkward mood Arisa had caused. Kousaka-san also figured 'Izumi-san' would overlap with my name, so she switched to calling her Kaede-chan.

"I'm so jealous of how tall you are～! Slender and long-legged! You really do feel like a volleyball player!"

"N-no, I'm not… but outside of volleyball, I'm not very useful, you know? … And I scare boys, too…"

Kousaka-san shrank her body in on itself, trying to make herself look smaller while sneaking glances at me. She's surely doing it out of consideration for me, but I have to tell her there's no need.

"Honami, it's okay, really. Shouya's the best kind of boy who's totally fine with it, even if you're tall, even if your breasts are big!"

Just as I was about to open my mouth, Arisa beat me to it. But she really didn't need to bring up breasts. I'd appreciate her not unilaterally exposing my fetishes.

"Kousaka-san… like Arisa said, I really am fine… please just act the way you do when you're playing volleyball…"

When I went to cheer for Arisa, I'd been watching Kousaka-san's play too. Back then she'd stood tall with her chest out and made the absolute most of her height. Her height is her greatest asset, so I want her to live with that same confidence every day.

"Y-you were watching me too…?"

"See, it's fine!"

For some reason Arisa was looking smug, but I'm glad Kousaka-san was happy. Now that I think about it, she wasn't in our class last year. Could it be that she requested my class?

"Um, Kousaka-san, you weren't in our class last year, right…?"

"Y-yes… um… when you came to the match… um…"

Kousaka-san fidgeted, rubbing her long legs together. Maybe it was something hard to say.

"Fufu ♪ She fell in love with you, Shouya ♪"

"A-Arisa-chan! Don't say it…"

My guess was right. It seems she requested my class starting this year.

"Honami used to say 'I'd scare boys' and never put in a request for the boys' class, even though her grades are good, you know? But then she suddenly said she wanted to be in Shouya's class!"

"Honami-chan, that's amazing! Shouya, you went to cheer for Arisa in March, right? For her to put in the request after that and make it into your class, her grades must've been incredible to begin with! The competition for Shouya's class is insane right now!"

From Arisa's account I could tell just how kind Kousaka-san is. And to think that despite not requesting the boys' class, she kept her grades high enough to make it into mine. What a serious person she is. My impression of her keeps climbing.

"Wait, there are that many people who want to be in my class…?"

"Yes! After you were discharged, you got even cooler AND even kinder, you don't get scared of girls, you're super popular!"

Arisa is praising me in a state of high excitement. But even being told I'm super popular, I don't really feel it.

"Honami-chan, it's because you worked so hard up to now that you got into Shouya's class AND your seats are this close right from the start! It must be! God really is watching!"

Just as Kaede says, God is watching. Mm-hm, watching indeed…

"Oh, Honami, want to exchange contacts with Shouya?"

"Eh, but… wouldn't that be too sudden, a bother…"

"It's fine with me, Kousaka-san."

"Um, then… please!"

Kousaka-san briskly bowed her head and held out her smartphone. I scanned its QR code and added Kousaka-san's account.

"Wow… Izumi-kun's contact info…"

Kousaka-san stared at her phone happily. Maybe she was just that overjoyed, because she then chose to communicate not by speaking, even though I was right in front of her, but by going out of her way to send messages instead.