Still mulling over Wannai-san's words, Natsume Sonoko stepped out of the now-empty classroom, her mind adrift.
Preferring to avoid the spotlight, Natsume-san always deliberately hung back, never actively merging with the Tokiwadai crowd.
This habit fostered a vague, hard-to-define sense of detachment around her.
Of course, because she wasn't particularly good at refusing kindness from others, this detachment was often easily shattered, forcing her into all sorts of troublesome and complicated social engagements.
'Whatever, it's not strange that they know my name. I've even seen tons of tentacle monsters, so a talking dog isn't that weird,' she thought.
Hugging her bulletproof schoolbag, the bun-girl listlessly closed the classroom door.
She'd known all along that such vague information wouldn't lead to any useful conclusions. But she did recall a similar urban legend circulating on a certain website—something about a talking golden retriever.
'I have enough trouble already, please don't come looking for me. I'm just an ordinary, unremarkable middle school student.'
Muttering this internally, Natsume Sonoko decisively pushed the baseless matter aside, unwilling to dwell on any potential crisis behind it.
If someone really was targeting her, she'd inevitably cross paths with them eventually.
As the last student to leave, turning off the lights and closing the door was just a good habit.
As for the classroom's multimedia equipment and lighting, they were all centrally controlled by Tokiwadai's internal computer system, so she didn't need to worry about that.
She had only taken a few steps, not yet on her way to her next class, when an unfamiliar figure suddenly entered her line of sight in the hallway directly opposite her former classroom.
The girl had black hair cut at shoulder-length, with two strange goat-horn-like braids splayed out like flower petals. Her slightly gloomy eyes were cast downward, revealing a smooth, clean forehead.
She was wearing Tokiwadai's summer uniform, but a black glove covered her left hand.
Given Natsume-san's extensive familiarity with the first-year students, she immediately deduced this person was at least an upperclassman.
"Wait a moment, Natsume-san."
The girl glanced around anxiously at the labyrinthine corridors—really just two intersections and one branching path dotted with seven or eight classrooms for different purposes.
Fortunately, she had her trusty GPS navigator, a veritable path-finding marvel, and had successfully located her target according to her intelligence.
Whenever a regularly used classroom was unexpectedly changed, or she ventured somewhere beyond the dormitories, upperclassman Gaouin Tsukasa, who possessed zero talent for remembering geography, would face a major crisis.
While it was hard to believe someone could be that bad with directions, in that regard, she was on par with a certain physical education failure who got winded after just a few steps.
"A pleasure to meet you. I am Gaouin Tsukasa, from the second year. Please forgive my abrupt visit, but there is a matter concerning Tokiwadai's rise, fall, honor, and disgrace for which I simply had to seek you out specifically, Natsume-san."
Gaouin-senpai's face displayed a standard ojousama smile (lips closed, no teeth showing), and an air of elegance befitting a young lady naturally emanated from her.
Seemingly influenced by this, the usually self-disciplined girl, who strived to be a proper lady herself, became more reserved, desperately recalling what her etiquette teacher had taught her.
What was it that young ladies needed again? Composure, nobility, purity...?
She didn't need to think hard; that was basically describing her, wasn't it? An inexplicable wave of confidence washed over Natsume-san's face.
"A pleasure to meet you. I am Natsume Sonoko."
Natsume-san introduced herself as usual, widening her eyes slightly as she waited for the other girl to continue.
Though immune to clickbait by now, this senpai had successfully piqued her curiosity.
This was probably not a common occurrence in Tokiwadai's social scene, which usually involved invitations for tea and gossip. Something related to the school's very "rise and fall" sounded profoundly different.
"Natsume-san, while you are an esper, you are also just a first-year. There are likely some things about Tokiwadai you are not fully aware of."
After carefully considering her words, Gaouin Tsukasa continued. She was fairly confident about this conversation, especially since that news had recently spread.
It was said the #5 and #8 of Tokiwadai were severely at odds, allegedly leading to mutual injuries from a street fight.
Coupled with the pre-existing friction between the #3 and #5, the vast influence wielded by Mental Out, Shokuhou Misaki, within Tokiwadai Middle School finally showed signs of potentially receding.
She had confirmed Shokuhou Misaki's injuries within the Student Dormitories of the School Garden.
Meanwhile, intelligence from her clique's external dormitories suggested the #8's injuries were even more severe, given her entire arm was wrapped in bandages.
Even if the rumored brawl was unsubstantiated, for Gaouin Tsukasa-senpai, it represented a worthwhile opportunity.
"Within Tokiwadai Middle School, there exists an overwhelmingly powerful clique. Over the past year or so, this clique has successively dismantled the Sha Clique, the Mikagami Clique, and the Hasekura Clique, sweeping the three giants of the old era thoroughly into the trash heap of history. As of now, they hold sway over nearly half of all discourse within the school."
"This clique is the current Shokuhou Clique, also known as the Queen's Clique."
Gaouin Tsukasa spoke with utmost seriousness, racking her brains on how best to recruit the girl before her.
Her conflict with the Queen's Clique stemmed from cliqueal rivalry.
She herself was the leader of a clique called the Gaouin Clique, the second-largest clique in Tokiwadai after the Shokuhou Clique, though it paled in comparison to the Queen's Clique's radiance.
Moreover, unlike the general Tokiwadai student body's vague awe and fear of Shokuhou Misaki, she dared to face that so-called 'Queen' directly.
The Clique system in Tokiwadai Middle School roughly paralleled the Club system.
The key difference was that cliques could freely decide their internal activities, with the clique leader responsible for everything.
Unlike clubs, which were primarily for cultivating specific hobbies and earning credits, cliques weren't just for specific interests. Clubs were still indirectly controlled by the Tokiwadai Middle School board.
In simpler terms, cliques were more like mutual study groups or research cells, essentially private organizations formed by people with similar interests or shared aspirations.
Ahem, though the range of these 'shared interests' could be quite broad—a mutual admiration for Shokuhou Misaki probably counted.
If Misaka-senpai were to raise a clique banner within Tokiwadai, students who admired Misaka Mikoto would probably flock to join the Misaka Clique. Shirai-san would likely be the first to sign up.
However, constantly suppressed by Shokuhou-senpai, Misaka-senpai's position within Tokiwadai was quite awkward; even Natsume-san's status was subtly higher than that of the esteemed Railgun-senpai herself.
Even though the relationship between those two senpai had thawed somewhat recently, the school's social landscape remained largely unchanged.
Shokuhou-senpai still would not permit Misaka-senpai to establish a clique.
What many found surprising, however, was that Shokuhou-senpai didn't suppress Natsume Sonoko as strongly.
If Sonoko were to start a clique, Shokuhou-senpai probably wouldn't prevent it, though becoming rival cliques would be an unavoidable outcome.
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T/N: I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.