Chapter 2 - How to be a normal highschool girl

Step 1: Walk in slow motion with the wind blowing in your hair.

Unfortunately, reality doesn't include a conveniently placed wind machine. Instead, my grand entrance is ruined by me tripping over my own feet and nearly face-planting into the pavement. Not exactly the effortlessly cool protagonist moment I was hoping for.

In the movies, this is where I'd shake myself off, flick my hair back, and stroll confidently through the school gates. But instead, I just awkwardly staggered and almost collided with a group of third-years.

A few of them stared at me, and I could already feel the heat creeping up my neck.

Great. Smooth start, Aika. Real smooth.

I straightened up, muttering a quick apology, and quickly glanced at the school building. Okay, deep breath. Step one might not have gone as planned, but it was still early. I could recover. I had to recover.

My phone buzzed in my pocket.

I fished it out, praying it was a motivational text from my grandfather or, even better, my uncles. Nope. It was a message from my childhood friend, Haru.

Haru: Good luck today! Don't forget to breathe and pretend to be normal!

I rolled my eyes. Easy for him to say. He'd grown up in the countryside. No mafia family looming over him, no impossible expectations. No pressure.

But here I was, Aika Kurohata, granddaughter of the Kurohata-gumi, trying to avoid getting my family involved in every moment of my life. That's what today was about. Blending in. Acting normal.

And yet, every step felt like I was walking on a tightrope, ready to fall at any second.

By the time I got to my homeroom, I was feeling the full weight of the situation. The door creaked open and I hesitated for a moment. All eyes turned toward me.

Oh no.

I silently cursed myself for being late. As I stepped inside, the teacher, who looked like she was about to fall asleep at any moment, glanced up from her papers.

"Kurohata-san," she said, her voice flat. "You're late. Again."

"I—uh, traffic?" I said, a little too quickly.

"Mm. Take a seat." She gestured to an empty desk near the back.

I hurried to my seat, my face burning. The room was full of unfamiliar faces, all whispering behind their hands. I pretended not to notice, focusing on the desk in front of me.

The student beside me, a quiet guy with glasses, barely glanced up as I sat down. He didn't seem like the type to cause any problems. I could probably sit next to him and be left alone.

But of course, life isn't that simple.

The bell rang, and class began in a blur of introductions. Names, faces, and a barrage of voices all collided in my head. Honestly, I had no idea how anyone kept track of it all.

There was a girl in the front row, the one with the sharp, commanding posture, who seemed to be paying attention to everything. She raised her hand constantly, and every time she spoke, her voice carried an air of superiority.

She looked like the kind of person who probably spent hours organizing her notes by color. I briefly wondered if I could sit next to her and copy her study habits.

Then there was the guy who kept yawning loudly. I'm not sure if he was just bored or didn't care about school, but he had that aura about him. Delinquent. He kept looking out the window, completely uninterested in whatever the teacher was saying.

The rest of the class seemed to fall somewhere in between. Quiet, loud, nervous, confident—it was a blur.

The teacher finally stopped talking and announced we'd be doing group activities.

Great. Just what I needed.

I was about to zone out when I heard a voice beside me.

"Hey, you're Kurohata, right?"

I turned to find the guy sitting next to me—Ren—looking at me from the corner of his glasses.

Ren was the loner type, the kind of person who didn't talk unless he had to. His gaze was cold, but his words were blunt.

"Yeah," I muttered, not really sure what else to say.

"You're late." He sounded almost... amused.

I swallowed hard. "Yeah. My bad."

Ren gave me a slight nod before turning his attention back to the front, as if I was a temporary distraction.

I tried to focus on what the teacher was saying, but all I could think about was how badly I was failing at blending in. My gaze wandered over to the girl at the front again—Top Student Extraordinaire. She was definitely not the type to help me fly under the radar.

Ren's words echoed in my mind. You're late.

And then, as if on cue, the teacher called for our groups to pair up for the activity.

"I'll be in your group," Ren said suddenly, catching me off guard.

I blinked. "What? You want to work with me?"

Ren shrugged. "I'm stuck with you. You're the only one not annoying."

I narrowed my eyes. "I'm not annoying?"

Ren didn't even look up. "You didn't talk yet. So you're fine."

Well, that was an interesting form of validation.

I tried to focus on the assignment, but I kept getting distracted by the people around me. One of the other students kept glancing over at us, probably wondering why I was even talking to Ren. The class itself felt like it was dragging on forever.

In the middle of the activity, I spotted another girl—this one with wild, blonde messy hair and a tough look. She was practically radiating "don't mess with me" energy. I quickly averted my gaze, hoping she wouldn't catch me staring.

And then, my luck decided to take a turn for the worse.

The teacher's voice cut through the room. "Okay, everyone. Time's up. Please present your findings."

Ren didn't even hesitate. "We didn't do much."

I blurted out before I could stop myself. "What? We worked really hard!"

Ren glanced at me, unimpressed. "That's your opinion."

The class started laughing. I wanted to crawl under my desk and disappear.

As we filed out of class, I breathed a sigh of relief. But then I realized—this was only the beginning. The rest of the day awaited, and I was only just getting started.