Chapter 16: New Student

I put on my brand-new school uniform.

The skirt, freshly tailored, doesn't have a single wrinkle.

I check myself out in the mirror, and I think it actually suits me pretty well.

My hair, which I only dyed recently, looks great too.

Still, I only got to wear my old high school's uniform for about three months.

It's a little sad. But I'm even more excited about all the days ahead of me.

Most of my belongings have already been sent ahead.

Once I've finished getting myself ready, all that's left is to grab my bag and head out.

"Yukari, be careful, okay?"

As I was about to leave the house, Mom called out to me with a worried look on her face.

Dad had said something similar before leaving for work, too. They were acting as though they were seeing their daughter off to a battlefield.

"Don't worry, Mom. I'm just going to make some friends!"

Even after seeing my smile, Mom still looked worried. Still, she waved me goodbye.

I waved back and opened the front door.

I'm in a great mood. It's a refreshing morning, perfectly suited for a new beginning.

And so, I set off for Gensou High School, the place where the Bluffers gather.

"Whoa, so this is Gensou High... The school building is huge! Gotta take a picture!"

I snap a photo of the fortress-like school building.

Then another one with my face in it.

I think I can make myself look a little cuter. One more.

"Wooooow, this is great! It really feels like I'm a Bluffer now!"

My excitement reaches its absolute peak.

Gensou High is the kind of place that even makes the news. The fact that I'm actually here has me practically buzzing with excitement.

As I'm busy taking pictures, a little girl approaches me.

She's wearing a school uniform, and she walks straight up to me without hesitation.

"Are you Ennai Yukari?"

"Huh? You're so tiny and cute! Are you lost?"

The girl standing in front of me was even shorter than I was, and I'm already pretty small myself. Was she in elementary or middle school?

She had a barely-developed frame and a waist so thin it made me worry about her health.

For some reason, she looked like I'd just hit her with a shocking revelation.

"T-Tiny...? Ahem. I'm your guide, Usobuki Raika. I'm one of the Bluffers here and your senior. Nice to meet you."

"Eeeh, you're so cute trying to act all grown-up! Can I pat you?"

"I said I'm your senior, didn't I?! I'll knock you flat!"

The first senior Bluffer I ever met, Usobuki Raika, growled at me like a little dog.

"Please cheer up... I didn't know."

"You were treating me like crap even after I told you my name..."

"Come on, come on. We've finally got the new student we've been waiting for, so why don't you show her around?"

"You're one shameless brat..."

So this little senior of mine was apparently the guide I'd been told about beforehand.

Today's schedule was just a tour of the school.

My official transfer wouldn't begin until the start of the week. Apparently, the school wanted me to get used to the atmosphere here first.

"Anyway, let's head inside the school building. Though it's the weekend, so the classrooms are empty."

She'd been grumbling the whole time, but my senior led the way. Maybe she's actually a nice person after all.

Her mouth is foul and her eyes are scary, though.

Inside, the school didn't look all that different from my old high school.

"That biggest building you were taking pictures of is the main school building. Classes and meetings are mostly held there."

"Eeeh? Why do I have to study now that I'm a Bluffer?"

What was even the point of becoming a Bluffer if I still had to study?

I complained to make my protest clear, and my senior shot me a sharp glare.

"You at least need to learn about the 'Fictional Invasion,' don't you?"

"Well... I guess that's true."

The Fictional Invasion, which had suddenly appeared on Earth and threatened the survival of humanity.

We Bluffers have to fight against it.

If that's the case, then of course we'd have to study our enemies.

"Well, that aside, you'll still be doing regular math, Japanese, and all that."

"What?! Nobody told me that!"

Why...? Wasn't becoming a Bluffer supposed to free me from studying...?

"No, because if you didn't study, we'd just end up with an eighteen-year-old who can't even handle a high-school education. What are you going to do about college or getting a job?"

"Ugh... Stop saying such realistic things..."

I was finally getting excited about living in a world that felt like fantasy, and she had to drag me right back into reality.

We took a quick look around the spotless main school building. It really wasn't all that different from an ordinary school.

Honestly, that's a little disappointing.

Next, she took me to an area where several buildings resembling apartment complexes stood together.

"These buildings are the dormitories. Most of the Bluffers live here."

Because of its unique nature, Gensou High was almost entirely a boarding school. There were an enormous number of rooms throughout the campus.

Not just for the Bluffers, but for the Anchors and staff as well.

For starters, there were hardly any homes around the school. This place was close to central Tokyo, where the Fictional Invasion could spill out at any moment.

If you wanted the safest place to sleep around here, it would probably be Gensou High, where all the Bluffers gathered.

"Whoa, these are pretty impressive too."

"Yeah. There are baths and a cafeteria, too. Most everyone hangs around here at night."

"Wait, does that mean you never leave the school?"

"Of course not. There's nothing around here unless you take a train and go pretty far."

The areas surrounding central Tokyo had become dangerous zones by now.

No one crazy enough to open a café would choose a place where a monster might suddenly attack them.

"Everything you need is available on campus. There's an area with cafés and clothing stores and stuff, so you can check that out yourself later."

"Eeeh? You're not going to show me that part?"

"Nope. I don't really know much about that stuff myself. Ask some high-school girls."

You're a high-school girl yourself, aren't you?

"Hey, it's unusual to see Raika here. What's up?"

My senior turns around after suddenly being called out.

There was a male student standing behind her. Was he one of the Anchors?

The moment Raika saw him, her eyes became razor-sharp.

"Huh? What are you doing near the girls' dorms? Should I call security?"

"No, seriously, don't! I'm just meeting Mana here!"

"Haah... Then why do you have your phone out? Taking secret pictures?"

"Because I'm checking my messages, obviously! Don't make me sound like some kind of peeping Tom!"

The two of them chatted with such ease that they seemed pretty close. In fact, they looked like they knew each other very well.

"Oh, sorry about that. We kind of got carried away. The person next to you is new, right? Can I ask your name?"

"Yes! I'm Ennai Yukari! I'm going to start as a Bluffer tomorrow! Nice to meet you!"

I held out my right hand for a handshake, and he offered his right hand a moment later.

"I'm Nakatsuka Shota. I'm the Anchor of Raika's Fox Squad. Nice to meet you."

I shook his hand, which was slightly larger than mine.

It was rough and uneven, with calluses here and there.

Somehow, I could almost feel how straightforward and sincere he was just from his hand.

"Um, are you perhaps Raika-senpai's boyfriend?"

"—Huh?"

Raika-senpai glared at me with an absolutely terrifying expression. She looked like she was about to bite me.

"Where the hell did you come up with that ridiculous assumption?"

"Well, you two seemed pretty close."

"We're not! I have no idea when I ever became friends with this pathetic loser! How the hell did you even get that impression!?"

Without even sparing her supposed boyfriend a glance as he stood behind us, visibly wounded by the word "loser," Raika-senpai continued her tirade.

"You're actually making it more suspicious by trying so hard to deny it. Are you sure you're not just embarrassed?"

"......"

Raika-senpai fell silent, a vein bulging on her forehead. Apparently, she'd realized that saying anything else would only make the situation worse.

Nakatsuka-senpai watched her awkwardly before suddenly brightening when he looked at his phone.

"Ah, sorry, Raika. Mana just messaged me, so I'd better go. See you!"

Oh, he ran away.

He quickly left the scene, practically skipping away.

He seemed like a nice guy. Though I get the feeling he's going to have a lot of trouble with women.

"......Haaah. Enough with the stupid nonsense. We're moving on."

"Okayyy."

After that, I continued following my senpai around.

She gave me detailed explanations about the facilities, from the cafeteria to the gymnasium and the athletic field, all while looking thoroughly unenthusiastic.

Yet somehow, I could tell that she genuinely wanted me to get used to life here as quickly as possible.

Maybe she really was a nice person after all.

Even if she did get angry really easily.

As we leisurely continued our tour, the sun began to dip ever so slightly.

I wondered if our fun little sightseeing tour was finally coming to an end.

In the direction Raika-senpai and I were looking, a group of girls were practicing basketball near the edge of the athletic field.

"—As you can see, students can use the field however they like on their days off. Some of them even do things that are basically like school clubs."

"Oh, that sounds fun!"

The girls tossing balls toward the outdoor basketball hoop looked almost dazzling as they played.

Raika-senpai looked at me curiously as I said that.

"Come to think of it, you're really enjoying yourself, aren't you, Yukari? Girls who come here and become Bluffers often look like they're about to die."

Her observation was perfectly reasonable.

Bluffers were sometimes even mocked by the public as "child soldiers."

Fighting for their lives was the job of a Bluffer.

At best, they were saviors.

At worst, human sacrifices.

It wasn't surprising that an ordinary girl dragged into something like that might fall into despair.

But I was a little different.

"I came here to make friends, so I never really thought about all that negative stuff."

"......Huh?"

The response came out as a rather dumbfounded voice.

My senpai stared at me blankly, looking so innocent that she actually seemed her age.

"I'm here to make friends. I've always loved making friends. Meeting someone I've never known before, talking to them a lot, and becoming close with them. Doesn't it feel like your world gets a little bigger every time?"

It's fun getting to know your friends.

They might have hobbies I've never heard of, values completely different from mine, or even aspects of themselves that I simply can't understand.

"......If you're just here to make friends, couldn't you do that somewhere peaceful? You don't need to come to a place like this."

"Well, I suppose I could. But I'm actually pretty grateful that I was able to come here. Because if I'm here, I get to become friends with people I probably never would have met otherwise."

I think high school tends to attract people who are fairly similar.

People who passed the same academic entrance exams and have enough motivation to show up at school diligently every day.

Groups form among them. Connections and social circles develop. And in the end, the people I could actually become friends with would only be a small portion of all those people.

"I've heard that all kinds of people become Bluffers. And Anchors aren't limited to high-school girls either. There are all sorts of people. If I'd just stayed a normal high-school girl, there are probably people here I never would have met in my entire life. Becoming friends with people like that, talking about all kinds of things, and getting to know each other—that's my goal!"

"......Yeah. That's a good goal."

After listening to me, Raika-senpai had an unusually gentle expression on her face.

"It's much better than worrying about heavy stuff like not wanting to die or saving humanity."

"Right? I'm actually pretty confident in how positive I am!"

Raika-senpai gave a small laugh at my words, then spoke in a brighter voice than before.

"I'll be quietly rooting for you to do well here. If you ever run into trouble, I can at least listen."

"Thank you! Then that means you and I are already friends!"

"......Huh? How?"

Raika-senpai looked at me as though she genuinely had no idea what I was talking about.

"If you agree to listen when someone comes to you with a problem, that means you're already friends! Actually, I want to be friends with you, Raika-senpai!"

"I don't think being friends with me would be very interesting."

"No way! You'd definitely be interesting! You're obviously a really fun person!"

"Hey, are you making fun of me?"

"I think you're a weird person!"

"So you ARE making fun of me!?"

Talking about stupid things, getting to know each other, and becoming friends.

And just like that, I made my first friend at Gensou High.

"I don't know some brat as cheeky as you! Go make friends on your own, somewhere I can't see you!"

I only found out much later that Raika-senpai was actually fourteen years old.

Ennai Yukari

A playable character added to the game after Raika could no longer observe the smartphone game BOG.

A sociable and energetic first-year high-school student. She loves making friends and eagerly closes the distance with people, even when meeting them for the first time.

She can occasionally be a little rude, but thanks to her natural cheerfulness and communication skills, she quickly gets along with almost anyone.

Likes: Making friends.

Dislikes: Giving up.