'Boring.'
It was the most apt description that Nemuri could give that Entrance Ceremony.
Exiting the gymnasium, Nemuri paused in thought before deciding to head towards Keyaki Mall. Since it was his first day inside ANHS, his dorm room would undeniably be empty.
Not empty in the traditional sense.
After skimming the school booklet Hoshinomiya-sensei gave him earlier, he knew the school provided students with school-issued furnishings such as a bed (with a pillow and blanket) and appliances such as a refrigerator.
Along with them, there were another set of uniforms and two sets of school-issued tracksuits and a swimsuit, all based on the measurements the students sent in before enrollment.
So Nemuri planned to buy a set of clothes he could wear comfortably at home. He'd decide whether the school-provided pillow and blanket were comfortable and whether to replace them later.
He could buy hygienic products at the convenience store near the dorms later.
With that in mind, Nemuri was about to make his way to Keyaki Mall before a voice called out to him from behind.
"Kyusoku-kun?"
Nemuri turned around to see Ichinose, surrounded by both girls and boys from his class.
"Are you also heading to Keyaki Mall?" She asked, extending an invitation.
However, Nemuri was now drowning in an indescribable emptiness.
'Gomen ne, Hoshinomiya-sensei. Helping me was pointless.'
'How many people has she already charmed…'
Counting twelve people, Nemuri gave up. Ichinose's charisma was truly frightening, already friendly with over a fourth of Class 1-B in the span of the Entrance Ceremony ending and him deciding on a destination.
Among the boys, he saw Kanzaki Ryuji talking to another boy.
'…So even the one single candidate I had was already won over by Ichinose.'
He might have had motivation to change things when they were back in the classroom, but his social battery was nearing empty. It might even take a week for it to charge back to full.
"...I am."
"Would you like to go with us?" Ichinose asked. "Since we didn't get to do introductions earlier, we can get to know each other while shopping for necessities at the same time!"
A normal person would have agreed.
Rather, being offered this by someone like Ichinose, who was undeniably beautiful, would probably make any high schooler accept in a heartbeat.
Unfortunately for Ichinose, Nemuri wasn't a normal high schooler.
And for another, he was a fickle high schooler. Someone who decided on a goal before getting tired of that goal when realizing how tiring it would be.
So despite the plans he had set, after some contemplation during the Entrance Ceremony, he had what one could describe as a 'post-exhaustion clarity' regarding that Plan A.
At the very least, Nemuri had prevented a future loss of points during the Behavioral Exams.
Wasn't that enough?
So now that his plans had changed, Nemuri was going back to his 'creed'.
Don't get expelled.
Coins.
And then points.
For the sake of earning coins, he wanted to sleep as soon and as long as possible. From experience (imaginary), it was better to refuse from the start than to tag along just to leave early.
"I'm good."
Nemuri shook his head softly and, just in case, gave an excuse.
"...I prefer shopping alone."
No reason to give people the impression of him being a rude person.
Though refusing someone's offer obviously didn't mean they thought lower of the person they refused, this was High School. It was the height of unreasonableness and overthinking caused by rapid growth and hormones.
Better to be safe than sorry.
"Oh…" Ichinose's smile faltered before quickly turning into an understanding expression. "That's perfectly fine! Then I'll see you in class tomorrow, Kyusoku-kun!"
"...Mhm. See you tomorrow." Nemuri nodded, watching as Ichinose left with her group, stifling a yawn.
--<>--
'...This is quite the haul.'
Nemuri nodded.
Despite the words implying that there was quite the supply, there weren't many clothes on the bed, only two pairs of shorts and two shirts, both grey and black, and a bundle of underwear and socks.
During his time at the orphanage, Nemuri seldom bought anything, relying on hand-me-downs from the bigger kids, even though he was older than most of them.
So to him, even buying this little was quite the experience.
After neatly putting everything he bought away, a feeling that he had been trying to ignore for a while was starting to irritate him.
Gurgle~
He glanced down at his rumbling stomach, which had been giving off a dull ache for a while. His body might be telling him he was hungry, but he didn't feel much pain from it.
It used to hurt when he was younger, but after a while it became a dull throb. Maybe a more apt description was like if one sucked in their stomach to make themselves look skinnier, but constantly.
But even Nemuri knew that eating was a necessity.
He could ignore that feeling most of the time, but since he had so much free currency, he was willing to splurge for the first time in a while.
Though, of course, he needed to buy toiletries.
He hadn't bought them while at Keyaki Mall since he knew that there was a convenience store near the dorms, and making his bag heavier when he was so weak was definitely not the play.
Arriving at the closest convenience store, Nemuri made his way inside, immediately heading toward the free items table. After all, for something as important as free things, even that insignificant hunger could easily be ignored.
'Getting free things fulfills my soul.'
Even if he was limited to three items a month, free things were free things.
Who cared if it was low quality? That was expected. But the happiness of using that free product and it being high quality was comparable to finding buried treasure.
As long as it was usable, it was a veritable Holy Grail to Nemuri.
"Hmm… Let's see…"
Nemuri hummed, visibly in a good mood.
"Kyusoku-kun?"
'An eerily familiar feeling of deja vu…'
Nemuri paused at the voice, turning his head to see a familiar pink-haired girl.
"...Ichinose-san."
From his memory, shouldn't she still be at Keyaki Mall? His own trip was short, since he already had a goal in what to buy. But Ichinose, who was walking around with a dozen other people, was here instead of hanging out with them?
That was a bit unexpected.
'Maybe it ended early.'
He had no interest in inquiring further.
"Finished shopping already?" she asked.
"...Just clothes. I still needed these."
Nemuri lifted the toothbrush in his basket slightly.
"Me too! A few of us came back to put our bags away." Ichinose picked up one of the free items and checked the label. "I thought I'd stop here before going upstairs."
"...Mhm."
For a moment, they browsed beside each other.
"It's a good thing we found out about the points earlier," Ichinose said. "I think some of us would've spent a lot more otherwise."
"Yeah…"
Nemuri picked up a bottle of body soap.
…Now that she was alone, wasn't this an opportunity?
He could ask whether she actually wanted to become the leader. If she had doubts, perhaps he could—
"Kyusoku-kun?"
"...Hm?"
Ichinose was looking at him.
"You've been looking at that one for a while. Is it any good?"
Nemuri glanced down at the bottle, then at the identical one already in his basket.
"...No idea."
"Oh. I thought you might've used it before."
"No. It's free."
Ichinose gave a small laugh. "That's a good reason too! I know the feeling."
Nemuri returned the second bottle to the table.
…But even if he somehow convinced her, what would happen afterward? Someone would ask why she'd changed her mind. Then she might mention their conversation, and he'd have to explain himself to the rest of the class.
Just imagining it felt exhausting.
"Am I… bothering you, Kyusoku-kun?"
"Yeah… wait uh—no. You're not bothering me."
Nemuri looked up.
Ichinose's hand paused over a shampoo bottle.
"Sorry," he added. "I was thinking about something else."
"Oh." Her expression eased, though she still looked a little uncertain. "Anything you want to talk about?"
"...It was nothing important."
In the end, he just decided against trying.
"...Really?"
"Mhm."
"All right."
She went back to comparing shampoos, leaving him to his shopping.
The silence was more comfortable than Nemuri had expected. Ichinose didn't seem offended, and she didn't immediately search for another topic to fill it.
After adding some rice porridge for lunch/dinner, he headed toward the register. Ichinose finished shortly afterward, and they happened to leave the store together.
Nemuri was about to say goodbye when she spoke.
"Are you going to the class hangout later during dinner time, Kyusoku-kun?"
"What class hangout?"
"...The one we were talking about in the group chat?"
Nemuri paused. He pulled out his phone, going to his messages app.
And lo and behold, there were over five-hundred messages that he didn't see. Was this the consequence of muting the class group chat the moment he was invited?
"...Sorry. I turned off notifications for the group chat." He said awkwardly.
"Oh." Ichinose blinked, then glanced at his screen. "We did send quite a lot…"
"It's nothing formal," she explained. "Just dinner with whoever wants to come. We still haven't had a chance to talk to everyone."
"...Sorry, but I don't think I'll make it. I'm a little tired."
"That's fine! You don't have to apologize." She smiled. "Maybe next time?"
"...Yeah. Maybe."
He meant it as an acceptable answer. But judging by the slight hesitation before her next smile, she hadn't found it particularly convincing.
"Have fun, Ichinose-san."
"Thanks. Get some rest, Kyusoku-kun."
He would happily do that.
--<>--