Damn, Sensei got catfished.

Ryo walked down the street, stopping as some random guy stepped out of a portal and laughed maniacally.

The random man threw his arms up to the sky, and cackled. "I've done it! I've achieved dimensional travel! Mark my words, interdimensional scum, humanity will colonize-"

Then a builder, who was working on the town skyscraper, poured super-concrete over the man. "Another psychopath trying to colonize us? That's the 37th time this week!"

Another builder said with mild annoyance. "Why would you waste some perfectly good super-concrete over some lower-dimension-dwelling, colonization-fantasizing, too-much-sci-fi-watching, mad scientist wannabe who only figured out how to travel dimensions today? You could've just let the Isokofo manage it, Seiji!"

Seiji laughed. "Come on, Tsukihiko! We both know that stuff is easy to make! And if you want to shut someone up, why not trap them eternally in super strong concrete?"

Tsukihiko winced. "The fact that you just said that so cheerfully... That's it.. You need professional help..." 

Seiji chuckled, ignoring his best friend's discomfort. "Oh, shut up, I'm perfectly fine! By the way, your wife's birthday is tomorrow, what are you gonna get her?"

Tsukihiko's eyes widened. "Wait, her birthday's tomorrow!? I totally forgot!"

Seiji completely froze and a solemn look crossed his face. "I'll remember you, brother."

Tsukihiko raised any eyebrow. "Uh... Seiji, what's wrong?"

Seiji said solemnly. "You're gonna die. Your wife will kill you for forgetting her birthday. Don't worry, I'll write the best obituary of all time for you."

Tsukihiko rolled his eyes. "You're so overdramatic, Seiji... My wife won't kill me, she knows how stressful it's been for me. She'll understand if I were to forget, but thanks for reminding me. I'll make sure to get a gift for her."

Seiji immediately went back to his happy and cheerful demeanor. "Oh, good! But you can't blame me for thinking you'll die! Your wife is scary... But what are you getting her?"

Tsukihiko said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "A massage chair, she's been complaining about back pain lately but she won't let me lighten her load... You know how those stubborn types are..."

Ryo looked up and saw the title of 'Grumpy citizen' over Tsukihiko's head, and the title of 'Cheerful citizen' over Seiji's head.

That's right, reader, in this universe, we're all given titles, denoting roles and tropes within a story. If you're wondering, mine's stoic side character, though I often fake emotions to avoid the consequences of being associated with that title. In this world, your title decides your social status. The main characters are at the top of the hierarchy, with the irrelevant and forgettable characters at the bottom, I'm at the middle of the social hierarchy. People can change titles sometimes, but it is rare. If someone works hard enough, they can get promThese titles are assigned from birth, by the Supreme Goddess Satomi. The Gods, who give Kamikomatai or Kamikokatai, are all different incarnations of the Supreme Goddess Satomi. I haven't seen her but I have heard from "sources" that if she likes you, she'll latch onto you and never let you go. It's going to be extremely hard to keep a low profile if you have the most powerful being noticing you, that's why I'm going to be in hell in the future. But I won't bother to be change the future, I know it must happen and having the Supreme Goddess Satomi on my side, sounds great.

Ryo waves at the builders with a faked smile, they wave back- Seiji with a cheerful smile, and Tsukihiko with a begrudging expression.

Also, if you're wondering, yes, I know the future. It's pretty easy to copy Isorotomatai when you can just create a split personality that will give you that certain Isorotomatai. Normally, I just manipulate my essence to do what I want done, but it IS useful to create a split personality to have another Isorotomatai if I want something in my arsenal permanently. Sometimes, I even experiment with split personalities to see what Isorotomatai I can make. I've recently learnt that I can modify Isorotomatai as it's controlled by my brain, and derived from my personality and consciousness. This is so stupid, to have so much power yet be unable to use most of it. This is definitely another way that Author Lady tortures me. 

Ryo went back to walking to school.

Hmm, They really have too much super-concrete to waste. Super-concrete is concrete, infused with Essence. Essence is a really powerful thing. The weakest baby recorded had destructive Essence which could destroy a whole universe. Average people, have much more powerful Essence. To keep people from blowing up the universe, the earth was rebuilt with super-concrete to be Essence-resistant. Everyone has passive Essence shields, so they don't get blown up by some random guy who wants to take everyone out with them. And if the suicidal person's Essence was strong enough to blow up the universe, The Supreme Goddess Satomi has made many universes where everyone is teleported to, except the suicidal person, so they carry on as usual. Some people are born without Essence, they're what's known as a Siphon. Siphons are extremely rare, as the name suggests, they have the ability to siphon the Essence of those around them, but due to their body often not being adapted to hold large amounts of Essence without direct transferral, they usually lose all of it. Siphons are feared, people would rather die than be the parents of a Siphon. That's why Essence Direct Transferral exists. People directly transfer their Essence into a Siphon, and it embeds in their genes, increasing the Siphon's long-term Essence-holding ability. Siphons who have undergone Essence Direct Transferral, usually are a mixture of their donors in personality or are closer in personality to the person who donated more Essence. Their Isorotomatai is a mixture of their donor's Isorotomatai, or leans closer to either Isorotomatai, depending on who donated more Essence. It's best done at birth, for if it were done when the Siphon was a fully conscious adult, their donors' Essence would overwrite their current personality.

Ryo arrives at his school, finally. It was a modern building with 10 floors, painted black since 1920s Ikamatei was a cold and snowy place. The roof was still burdened with the snow from the snowstorm yesterday. Ryo walked inside, and went to class, fully knowing what was about to come.

The teacher, Kai Miyazaki, looks around, his "Hot, kind teacher" title hovering above his head and takes attendance, no one was absent, everyone knew how important today was.

He speaks. "Good morning, everyone! Nice to see you all, I'm going to get straight to the point, because we all know what you are here for! Anyway, as you all know, This is your second year at the Isokofo Academy, so you're officially mature enough to go in squads and complete missions for money! Of course, you'll still have to complete your 4 years here but after school, you can take up some missions with your squad. Most of you already know what ranks missions can be, and what they mean, but I'll spell it out for the people who sleep in class. Meitori rank is for low level missions, like imprisoning someone trying to invade us from a different dimension, God, there's been too much of that these days... Rytori rank is for the medium level missions, like restraining or killing a rampaging villain in the middle of a city. Temtori rank is for high level missions, like gaining intel from a crime syndicate. Isotori rank is for the most difficult missions, but you still have a chance at doing them, like preventing a war. Kamikotori rank is just suicide missions, like stopping a God from wreaking havoc, at that point, there's truly nothing you can do. Just pray to the Supreme Goddess Satomi and hope that she'll stop her incarnation. But all of you are just beginner Isokofo so just worry about the Meitori missions and getting a squad, okay? Of course, you can go solo but it's generally easier to go in a squad. Choose wisely who you want in your squad. You're gonna have to act professionally with them, and have good team synergy, and you're going to have to do teamwork! Put your selfishness aside, because as an Isokofo, the squad comes first! Anyway, class dismissed! Go group up with the people you want to be in a squad with!"

All of the people rush out of the classroom, leaving behind Ryo, who was packing his things up. While he was doing so, he glanced at the teacher and noticed something.

Ryo says, in a faked thoughtful voice. "Miyazaki-sensei... You have a lock of purple hair which doesn't look dyed, and a mitorix ring..."

Miyazaki smiled at Ryo. "I do. My fiancee convinced me to do a ritual that her family does, whenever there's someone marrying into them. And Mitorix? What's that? I thought this was just amethyst?"

Ryo simply hummed in response, his fake smile dissolving into his usual emotionless expression whenever he was alone.

Miyazaki tilted his head. "Ryo-kun? Is something wrong?"

Ryo says emotionlessly, letting go of the emotional facade he had. "Does she have purple hair and purple eyes like me?"

Miyazaki said, confused. "What? Why would that matter?"

Ryo says emotionlessly. "Answer the question."

Miyazaki says, slightly shaken. "Yeah... She does. What's that got to do with anything? You're scaring me, Ryo-kun."

Ryo says emotionlessly. "I see. So she hasn't told you yet. Interesting."

Miyazaki says, now both angry and confused. "What do you mean by that? What does my fiancee have to do with this!?"

Ryo says emotionlessly. "She isn't who you think she is. Neither am I."

Miyazaki says in a dangerously calm voice, his eyebrows narrowing. "Explain."

Ryo says emotionlessly. "Your fiancee and I are family. We're both Kamito, my real name is Ryo Kamito and not Ryo Sato and I have an Isorotomatai, I'm just faking not having one, and her real last name is Kamito instead of whatever fake name she may be using."

Miyazaki says, clearly shook. "And how... How would you know all this about Mikoto?"

Ryo says emotionlessly. "The purple hair and purple eyes are a dead giveaway. If you ever encounter those traits in a person, they're definitely a Kamito or have Kamito ancestry. The ring is also a dead giveaway. Mitorix is a purple Containment Metal, we Kamito infuse the Mitorix with a little bit of our Essence and soul, and give it to the people we romantically love. This ring, if sensing any danger to our significant other, will draw upon the Essence stored in it to shield our lover, if the Essence in the ring runs out, the ring still has our soul and can contact us and continue drawing upon our Essence through the soul link. Everyone in the Kamito family has a Mitorix ring, just like me and your fiancee." Ryo holds up his Mitorix ring as an example, which was in the shape of a star. Then he puts it back into his pocket and just emotionlessly stares at Miyazaki.

Miyazaki blinks. "Why... Why are you telling me this...?"

Ryo says emotionlessly. "Just thought I would, we are family now, after all. Unless you want to leave Mikoto-san."

Miyazaki says, infuriated. "Yeah, I will leave her. I can't believe she hid such an integral part of her identity from me!"

Ryo says emotionlessly. "We all have our reasons for the things we do, but I can't blame you for wanting to leave her. It's easy to fall out of love after-"

Miyazaki interrupts, calming. "No... It's not like that. I still love her. But you got to understand, Ryo-kun... And you will, when you're older... A healthy relationship is built on mutual trust. And what Mikoto did... Was a major breach of trust. I still do love her despite what she did, but if I continue this relationship with her, it'll be full of doubts. How can I trust her with the big things, when she couldn't even be truthful about such a simple thing like her identity...? How can I trust that she's the person she acts like she is? How can I trust she really is sincere? How do I know I won't get fooled again? I don't want a relationship where lying's normalized. If I were to continue our relationship, there'd always be some kind of doubt and paranoia, which would hurt both of us. But like you said, we all have reasons for the things we do, and I'm still willing to hear hers out. But it better be a damn good reason, or I'm leaving."

Miyazaki walks over to Ryo and ruffles his hair. "But if I don't leave her, it'd be cool to have you as a little cousin in law, or however you're related to Mikoto."

Ryo says emotionlessly. "We're third cousins."

Miyazaki says, not hearing Ryo. "Huh?"

Ryo repeats louder. "Me and Mikoto-san are 3rd cousins. I'd be your third cousin in law, if you two got married."

Miyazaki says, smiling a little. "If Mikoto and I did get married, I think I'd ignore the specifics and just say you were my little cousin in law."

Just that moment, Miyazaki gets a phone call. He sees that it's from Mikoto and accepts it.

Miyazaki says into the phone. "Hello?"

Mikoto speaks from the other end of the line. "Kai, we need to talk. Dinner at our usual place at 10PM. I have something to tell you."

Miyazaki says again. "Sure Mikoto. I'll be there."

Mikoto, again, speaks from the other end. "Great, love you!"

Miyazaki says with a soft smile. "Love you too..."

Miyazaki hung up the phone.

He looked at Ryo. "Ryo-kun, can I ask you a favor?"

Ryo says emotionlessly. "Sure."

Miyazaki says with a serious expression. "Can you come with me to the dinner to make sure Mikoto doesn't lie to me? I'm not sure I can trust her anymore."

Ryo says emotionlessly. "Sure. Can I ask you a favor, sensei?"

Miyazaki nods with a smile. "Of course, Ryo-kun!"

Ryo says emotionlessly. "Keep my secret. Everyone in this school doesn't know who I really am. I'm keeping a low profile so I can hide from my clan, I could just use my Isorotomatai on them to check if they harbor negative intentions towards me, it wouldn't harm them so I could do it, but why get to know the minds of the people I don't intend to ever meet? They haven't even tried to contact me so why should I do something to garner their attention? Also, my father had an argument with them and left the clan, so I'd like to honor him by never interacting with them. It's important to me that nobody knows. Can you keep my secret until I'm ready to say who I really am?"

Miyazaki smiled. "Of course! I'd keep your secret even without that knowledge because it should be your job to disclose any secrets about yourself to people important to you, not mine! That's what builds trust. So don't worry, Ryo-kun, your secret is safe with me. Also, if you don't mind me asking, why are you so emotionless?"

Ryo says emotionlessly. "It's a Kamito thing. We all have this specific gene which makes our brain secrete hormones that bind to the receptors where ceptylyne is supposed to bind to, in other words, it makes us emotionless to others. This gene is active from birth to the age of 25, so until the age of 25, I will be like this. Mikoto-san also probably went through that."

Miyazaki chuckles. "I could never imagine Mikoto emotionless, she's always so open about how she feels and she's so expressive!" Miyazaki's eyes widen and he facepalms. "Oh Gods! I've wasted your time for too long! You're supposed to be finding people to group up with!"

Ryo says emotionlessly. "Oh trust me, it's not a problem-"

Miyazaki interrupts. "No! No! No! You must go now! You need to find a squad, and a good one, someone as talented as you, who's at the top of my class, needs the best squad members!" He gently pushes Ryo out of the classroom. "Don't forget, Dinner at 10!"

Ryo never got to tell Miyazaki that he had stopped time.

Ryo unfreezes time, and starts walking to where he knew Hinata Suzuki would be. A genuine smile on his face as he thinks about Miyazaki.

He's so much like dad, whenever I'm around him, it's like I have dad back...