[Vol.2] Chapter 51: So far, so good...

A day has passed since Hidetoshi and I (Phantom) had our fun little duel.

Right now, I am currently walking my way to school, recalling how fun it has been all week.

Ever since deciding to live a double life as a hidden strong character, everything seems to be falling into place.

On Monday, the first day since coming back to school, everyone did not suspect a thing that I am Phantom, the hero who lurks in the shadows.

[He convinced himself that.]

I also had a fateful encounter with our school's student council president, Shiori Hikaruno senpai.

In terms of how the setting goes, she should be equivalent to the position of knight's captain, a power off to catch the mysterious vigilante that is Phantom.

Her position being the ally siding with the law, and I, Phantom being the person who cannot be held by the system. Our fates have been sealed to play a game of cat and mouse.

She caught me right away though, however, it was fine since she now knows I am not a bad guy and did not detain me. It's probably her way of expressing her thanks after I saved her on that staircase.

On the second day, with doubts about "perfect side character mode" being not enough to blend in with the crows, I became an assassin. However, I got exposed right away after bumping to this girl named Mocha Tsukiyo, a girl with pink hair that I latter found out was the transfer student of our class.

Even with a wall slam, she was unfazed by my threat, I think she might have even liked it for some reason. But nothing really seems to be special about her. Was she concealing her power?

Doesn't that mean she's even more of a perfect side character than me?

So, I tried asserting my dominance over her, by proving I am the true "You underestimated my power guy".

I demonstrated that by listlessly looking outside the window, pretending I'm not listening, and with full confidence would answer the question perfectly after being called out by the teacher.

Oh, I also had fun in that basketball match with Soba Hito and his friends during gym class.

On the third day, after doing the revelation scene, Mocha-san decided she wanted to become my disciple.

Maybe after witnessing how cool I was, how good I conceal my overwhelming power despite looking like any ordinary classmate character, she wanted to join in and join me in my hidden power roleplay.

That has been the most anyone has joined in with all their heart in my roleplays, she even genuinely looked in fear during that revelation scene. Assessing our overall interactions, I assessed that this transfer student, Mocha Tsukiyo-san was really into roleplays. Hence I decided to take her in as a disciple.

And of course, we also couldn't forget that battle with Hitedoshi Fumidai. He even hired an announcer and people, the stage, the judges, the sound system. It was a blast.

I wonder how much he spend just so we could have an over-the-top duel, competing to decide who is worthy of climbing the title of the strongest.

We set Haruka-san as a wall to conquer for the strongest title. After the duel ends, Haruka-san arrived at the scene. So, she must be in on it as well.

Looking at the uniform she was wearing, a Polaris academy uniform, I confirmed she attends the same school as Ayaka. Fumidai, Haruka, and Ayaka, all three of them having some sort of connection to each other, must mean they are all in on this duel roleplay, so I consider them as my great chuunibyou friends.

I even got the chance to use the smoke screen I bought that cost a fortune, fully utilizing it for my dramatic entrance and exit in that stage where Fumidai and I dueled.

I could say, that was probably my best entrance/exit to date.

Ever since I decided to become the perfect side character like Ayaka advised, everything seems to be falling into place, as I originally expected before coming into highschool

'The plot is progressing smoothly.' I thought to myself.

"Ku, kukuku... KU WHA HA HA HAHAHAHAHA!!!!!"

I started laughing like a maniac in the middle of the road while no one was looking.

Switching the point of view over to Mocha.

[Mocha Tsukiyo's POV.]

A few minutes after I left the house, I am currently walking my way to school full of enthusiasm for this day.

Of course, that doesn't mean I'm not nervous at all anymore. I still can barely hold a proper conversation with my classmates due to my social anxiety. It's just that, these past three days have been so much fun and exciting lately that I'm curious to find out what this day has in store.

Ever since I decided to become a shoujo heroine, on my first day of school (Tuesday), I made a bold(stupid) decision to run in full force with a slice of toasted bread in my mouth, to fulfill one of my shoujo manga cliches bucket list.

A cliche to which when the heroine was running late for school, running in full force with bread in her mouth then bumping into a prince at the next corner fulfilling that cliché "Fated encounter". And to my surprise, it actually worked!

There, I met a boy named I would later find out was Yukiya Saito, a boy in the class I had been transferred to.

Meeting him again was a surprise to me, I didn't expect to be meeting him again so soon. What are the odds?

He dragged me out of the room ...and all of a sudden, he performed the infamous "Kabedon", another cliché in my shoujo bucket list I was hoping to fulfill.

But of course, I wasn't as delirious enough to think that Kabedon in real life to a person you barely just met is appropriate. I still have to be warry of him even if he's handsome, there's a possibility that he might be a terrible kind of delinquent.

However, not to worry, I might just be the one to fix him. I am now the shojo heroine, after all.

After observing him for a while, I realized that he might not be such a bad person after all ...in fact, isn't he stupidly nice? Or was everything all just an act.

He didn't try to ignore me. We exchanged notes during class, which was exciting for me as it was the first time having exchanging notes with a friend(?) during class. It felt I was doing something naughty, but in a good way.

I even got to see his top half bare, with abs(!) exposed when he was changing in the classroom. People have a term for this, a "Lucky Pervert" situation that I had now experienced firsthand. Another one off from the bucket list.

I really shouldn't have played in that volleyball match, but I guess the trade off was decent as the Yukiya, the prince, or the demon I befriended comforted me, along with Hitomi and the others who officially became my friends.

And... now that I think about it. What the hell was that? Yukiya-kun fills the infirmary with girls(also Soba) that he carried in his arms. But later I deduced it was him trying to cover for my volleyball incident, directing attention into him so they would forget I got assaulted by the volleyball that left a bright red print on my face from a full forced spike of a pro.

On the second day, he declared a challenge of who can get along with everyone better, which I accepted. Because of this, I got to find out the dynamics of the class and what the role he plays in it.

My initial thought was he was a bit anti-social, considering how he acted the previous day with this barrier of wanting to be alone, but that day he seems different, as if he became the center of the class no problem. Doesn't that mean he has no problems with communicating with everyone, unlike me who's struggling so much just to say hello.

But then he revealed he was just two facing everyone.

In curiosity, I decided to carefully observe him, followed him the whole day to find out more what kind of person he really was.

He seems really kind but doesn't really like to show it, he seemed caring for the environment, he took out a full 10,000yen bill and placed it inside the lost wallet that appears to be empty. Doesn't that mean, he's super rich?

In that abandoned classroom, he finally revealed his true colors at its barest.

Leading me into an empty room, he pushed me to a corner and gaslighted me of my own insecurities. He probably realized I was projecting myself on him, and trying to take advantage of his kindness yet still couldn't achieve anything.

Despite his seemingly twisted personality, I can sense the kindness within him reigning over his darkness.

Even though he said he was just acting, yet he was staying true to himself. Like the way he still offered to help me despite how I projected myself in him, thinking we were on the same level.

I was jealous. The loneliness within my heart, if I have the power to show everyone the true me like he did, would I then be truly satisfied with myself and be happy?

That time, I truly decided I would no longer let opportunities pass by me.

Accepting his offer, I went on the "Master and Disciple" route, in the flow of my shoujo manga genre plotline.

But, WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT DUEL WITH HIDETOSHI FUMIDAI!?

[Mocha gave up understanding at that point and concluded that she manages to grabbed an amazing master.]

On the third day, nothing much happened, but it's fine since everyone still went out of their way to talk to me because of my transfer student status. As for Yukiya-kun, Master still talks to me as we are seatmates seated next to each other in the back row. The luckiest seats in the room.

Ever since I decided to become a shoujo heroine, everything just seems to be so much fun and exciting lately.

"These past three days have been so much fun lately, that it's suspicious..."

I stopped walking for a second in deep thought.

"Don't tell me I'm dying?!"

[Mocha can't believe how fulfilling it has been to her for the past three days.]

"No, no. That can't be the case. Hahaha, right...?"

Arriving on the next corner, I saw a familiar face. It's Yuki- Ah, I guess I should start calling him master now.

I decided to greet him first, I always wanted to greet people I know first thing in the morning, taking the initiative to say hello.

"M, Master! G-good morning!!"

I greeted, voice shaking, calling out Yukiya-kun with his master title.

"Good morning, Mocha."

He replied with a bright smile, shining brightly that it's blinding. Though he was just probably acting.

I complimented Yukiya-kun, Master in the back of my mind,

'As always, 10/10 Acting.'

Since we bump into each other, we decided to walk together on our way to school.