Chapter One: Path to Hegemony
"Haah."
A sigh escaped the lips of a young male.
Young, and by most standards of his age, average-looking. With black hair framing his features, dull, grey, almost dead eyes.
Coupled with the Raizen High School uniform he wore.
He looked every bit as generic as they come.
But at this moment, the male came to a stop, looking over the cherry blossom trees, their petals falling on the paved roads beside the expressway.
Raizen High School was just in front, and other students like him were flocking towards the gates.
However, at this moment...
"...Well, I can't help it."
As though he already had something in mind before, now, those words escaped his lips easily, as he then took three steps forward.
Then he paused.
Looking forward, he squinted his eyes towards the gate, then at the school.
Mirthlessly, he muttered.
"Why on Earth am I even here?"
Seriously, no, no, no.
This wasn't the type of place he should be in the first place.
Infuriatingly so.
However, due to his guardian's uncompromising plans, he eventually had no reason but to settle here.
But really, even if he were to go to school, why Raizen High?
Most of all, why Tengu City?
Regardless of that, Morgan Sinclair bit his lips, with clenched fists against the strap of his bag over his shoulder.
Perhaps the only thing going for him was his omniscience due to his existing knowledge of this world.
Aside from that..?
Nothing.
Not to mention, he certainly didn't have a savior complex; it was his life, before others, as a normal human from a previous world.
Still, he didn't quite believe reincarnation or transmigration was a thing until now.
As a Christian, he'd always gone along with the belief of eternal life, not whatever this situation is.
"Might as well become a heretic because of this. Perhaps, Buddhists were right all along."
Morgan said that with a straight face.
In the next moments, however, he strode towards the gates from the sidewalk.
Still…
"Even without me meddling, this world will still have its happy ending, why should I bother?"
With that mindset, he continued on his way.
And in just a few steps, he appeared in front of the gates leading to Raizen High.
It was the standard Japanese school setting, really.
From the gate, straight down to the building in front, which is the main building.
Cherry blossom trees lined the paved road path. A peaceful and beautiful scenery indeed.
Across this peaceful scenery, he trudged.
Luckily for him, the transfer procedures were quite simple.
Nowadays, everything can be done over the net, and the details had been forwarded to his email.
He would still have to meet with his homeroom teacher, but that can be done later to get his schedules, textbooks, and other necessary materials.
That aside, Morgan trudged forward alongside other students into the school's building.
Letter
To: Morgan Sinclair,
We are pleased to inform you that your transfer application has been approved by the school.
Furthermore, your class arrangements and accommodation have been finalized.
Upon successful registration, your details will be processed accordingly.
Kindly consult the staff office, as your documentation has been processed.
We appreciate your cooperation.
[Attachment one.pdf]
[Class assignment.png]
Switching his clunky mobile phone on, Morgan read the email sent to him by the school.
With a short sigh, he flipped the phone closed.
Finding his class wasn't really an issue for him.
He had an idea of the layout.
Well, he did…
Soon enough, he was in front of his assigned classroom.
Through the door, he could hear some murmurs from the other side.
Lightly, he rapped his knuckles against the door, and following that, he heard a vague voice saying:
"Oh, looks like they're here."
Similarly to him, his class teacher must have gotten a notice, following with his files and documentation.
Iyaaa~ things were easier with the suspiciously advanced technology of this world, wasn't it?
"Please come in."
Shakk!
Slowly, Morgan slid the door open, entering the bright room with about twenty-five seats arranged with students on them.
At least most, except for two seats, which were empty.
Quickly, he took everything in as he approached the podium.
Naturally, his presence elicited quiet murmurs from the class.
Morgan wasn't handsome, per se. At the same time, he wasn't bad-looking.
One could say he was simply average.
"Well then, can you please introduce yourself."
Tamae Okamine.
Otherwise known as Tama-chan.
A woman who, despite being the supposed homeroom teacher, had a petite, youthful appearance.
Due to her childish facial features and small build, one could easily mistake her for a student rather than a teacher.
Naturally, Morgan knew who she was and conducted himself cordially.
"Morgan Sinclair. That's my name. Pleased to meet you all."
Introducing himself caused the murmurs to grow one tone higher amongst them.
Sure enough, when Morgan scrutinized the back seat.
'There's Tobiichi Origami and there's the main character himself, Itsuka Shidou.'
Both platinum-haired girl and blue-haired boy sitting at the back side by side respectively.
Again…
Seeing this unreal scene almost made him give up with a wry smile.
In the end, Shidou was a better man than him, but he still couldn't stand the male.
Aside from that, he could see Origami was more focused on Shidou who was looking his way.
"We have a little bit of time for questions, are you okay with that, Morgan-san?"
Turning his head, he found Tama-chan, as they called her, to be looking his way.
With his throat moistened, he let out a sound at first, followed by a nod.
"That's alright."
Immediately after Morgan said that, a girl raised her hand high in enthusiasm, prompting Morgan to nod.
"Where are you from?"
"The United. I was born there, but raised in Tokyo City by my guardian."
Morgan gave that curt answer.
Truly, he was born over there, evident from his name; however, with the standard template of a reincarnated…
He was quite unfortunate, wasn't he?
Even his guardian, he really didn't know her, as he'd only seen her a few times.
Though she took care of him, that much was evident.
And to Morgan, it was enough.
Rather, he couldn't care less. He was free to do whatever he liked, only limited to funding and his morals.
"What do you do in your free time?"
Morgan blinked as the voice called him out of his thoughts.
He scurried his gaze over to the female who asked that question.
"Well, I love gaming and reading books too. But, I'm open-minded to most other hobbies and try them in my free time too."
Saying that, Morgan took another glance.
At the entire class before Tama-chan interrupted with the light clap of her hands.
Pah!
"Okay, okay, now we have to start. Ah… Morgan-san, please take a seat in any of the free spaces over there."
By over there meant…
The back of the class near where the main characters sat.
Looking over, he nodded, making his way, sitting at the third row, which also served as the middle row.
Right beside Shido, who was right beside Origami.
"Hello. My name's Itsuka Shidou. Nice to meet you, Morgan-San."
As Morgan's chair screeched against the floor, with him propping on it.
The person beside him greeted him with a smile.
Itsuka Shidou.
A handsome young man with straight blue hair and bands down to his neck and amber-brown eyes.
"Nice to meet you too. Itsuka-san."
Morgan smiled warmly; however, his intentions were anything but friendly, nor evil.
While he admitted the man beside him was a better man than he was.
Regardless…
That didn't stop Morgan from having a slight negative impression of him, whether through his acts or his philosophy,
Mostly, it all boiled down to his way of gaslighting himself and others to achieve his goal.
Truly a main character.
Him aside.
Morgan set his bag down focusing on the board as homeroom began.
Diligently, as someone who had two lives worth of memories, learning wouldn't be an issue.
In that department, he'd excel more than most of his classmates due to prior knowledge.
March 7th.
That was today's date.
'Just about a month, then.'
Morgan briefly thought as he flipped open his phone.
Tapping away at it, he set a reminder for a few more weeks to come.
Specifically, a week before April 10th.
Doing that, he closed that app for another one, his banking application.
[DuskCharge Bank Application]
[Good morning user]
[Account name]:
- Morgan Sinclair
[Balance]:
$ 53,723.00
[Transfer] [Inquiry] [Bills]
At the very least,
His cheapskate of a guardian was well-off, and thanks to that, he'd saved that amount up.
But now,
'Time to bring all my plans full circle.'
… it was soon afternoon,
Ringggg~
The bell signaling a new period rang.
In other words, the first half of the day was done. With his head slumped on the table, he huffed as the bell rang.
[12:00 P.M. - Afternoon JST]
The time was exactly that.
Speaking of which, as someone new to this town and school, he thought about getting acquainted.
It can't be helped, then.
Morgan thought with a pause.
Then, with his thoughts finalized, he raised his head from the desk and sensed the sudden loss of air.
Cramped.
"Hello, Morgan-san, nice to meet you."
"Morgan-san has quite a unique name. Which place in the United States did you stay at?"
"This is the first time I've seen a foreigner."
By the time he would blink,
Surrounding his desk were many students of his grade.
… Right.
It was the normal hustle and bustle for a transfer student.
Regardless, slowly, one by one, he addressed them politely:
"Aa. Nice to meet you too."
"From around NY, just before I moved to Japan."
"It's a pleasure."
Sure enough, interacting with many people like this is exhausting in its own way.
Eventually,
the crowd thinned, trickling away with satisfied chatter. The classroom air finally loosened.
Seeing that, Morgan heaved a sigh.
"That must have been rough, Morgan-san."
Just as he heaved the sigh, the voice came from the side, low and with just the right amount of concern tinged in his voice.
…Cordial, right.
Shidou Itsuka.
"No, it's okay. It's good to know my classmates are lively."
Like that, Morgan replied with a cordial air and a feigned smile.
But this only elicited raised eyebrows from the youth beside him.
"Really? Your Japanese is really good. Did you learn before?"
That—
Now that Morgan thought about it, Shidou was actually right.
He doesn't remember himself learning Japanese, which was weird as he could speak it fluently enough.
While he'd indeed watched tons of Japanese animations, that didn't warrant him speaking it this fluently.
Rather, it was like he could always speak it.
'... weird.'
But in the next moments,
"Well, take a guess,"
Morgan said that with a tilt of his head and a smile plastered on his lips.
Honestly, he could go ahead and say he learned Japanese, but he wouldn't waste his time building more lies around that.
… And that worked.
"I see."
Shidou knew better than to push further.
Exchanging those brief words, Morgan then went back to rummaging through his phone.
As for lunch, he came utterly unprepared.
When he then scrolled through… "hmm, I have more than enough for a meal at the school's cafeteria."
Thinking that, he rose from his chair.
Its legs made a screech across the floor as he took the second door out of the classroom.
"Anyways,"
Walking down the hallways, he mused.