Cote | Alternative Universe.

『Chapter 7 - Arlecchino's First Day』

April. The school entrance ceremony.

Receiving funding from the government to nurture the next generation's hopefuls, Tokyo Metropolitan Advanced Nurturing High School, commonly referred to as ANHS, brings together the brightest youth of Japan onto a single campus. Despite that, the entrance ceremony itself was like any other institution, it remained modestly boring. I found no specific reason to spend my precious time attending a standard speech.

I was sitting on a public bench, fully immersed in reading a book about quantum physics. A book that I couldn't finish in the bus due to a certain two-faced, yellow-haired child. That pitiful woman was disgusting. Playing the role of an angle just so she could make people admire her—that was the kind of individuals I detested the most. 

I disliked those attention seekers.

People should live for their own sake, yet they normally throw that life away just to get others' attention. They supposedly find happiness and joy in doing such meaningless things, but I was certain they grew to regret that decision.

I knew how absurd that statement was, I knew that more than anyone else. One cannot prove that kind of prepositions with 'certainty.'

It was a logical dilemma. A "Devil's Proof." 

The fact was, while evidence will prove the existence of something, the lack of evidence fails to disprove it. And when facing against a claim such as 'aliens do exist,' one simply cannot prove that such statement is false. That will require the us to fully explore the Outerspace, which was unfeasible for humans.

But even when facing that trial, I firmly believed that they would regret it. 

That was my unwavering conviction.

Just then, another person joined me on the bench and sat beside me. From my peripheral vision, I saw a young man with a short brown hair who possessed a rare shade of golden eyes. Objectively speaking, he was reasonably handsome. But that wasn't what made me look at his face—it was his cold, apathetic expression.

The sky was clear, and the weather was nice. The perfect environment for a comfortable reading session. But even so, my sixth sense strongly warned me that there was something wrong. It didn't take a genius to notice that my source of discomfort was this person. 

I was highly confident in my senses, I was never wrong about anything when it came to them. They enabled me to see through people's lies, masks, acts, strategies and schemes. No matter the circumstances, I was never deceived by anyone.

Yet this individual was a first. I couldn't detect anything from him. It was almost as if he wasn't sitting beside me. My impression said that this man wouldn't care if someone lost his life before his very eyes.

I quickly realized that he was dangerous, and that I had to adjust the order in my list. 

I hated wolfs in sheep's clothes, way more than those attention seekers.

"Hello," he said, breaking the silence. His monotone voice cut through pleasant silence. "What are you reading?" he asked, even though he most likely read the title.

"None of your business," I said coldly. 

He was a student here as well, evident by his uniform. His timing suggested a first-year student, though I wasn't sure of that yet. It seemed like I wasn't the only one out for a stroll.

"We're both students here, right? We should get along."

"Speak for yourself. I find it unnecessary to get along with anybody," I replied coldly, "Especially not with someone like you."