Chapter 51: I Want to Awaken an Other-Exclusion Talent — Step 2: Try Talking to Him

For now, I decided I’d try greeting him.

Because he attacks the people who come up to him with his own prickly thorns, almost nobody talks to him.

So nobody even greets him anymore, and the only time anyone speaks to him is basically for school-business stuff.

Talking to him doesn’t make me as nervous as it did with the girls before. He’s not the opposite sex—so I can just talk to him like I would with my usual friends.

But for him, it’s stressful in a different way—because there are only two routes: the route where I get ignored, and the route where he hurls insults at me.

And the route where he actually returns a greeting is basically nonexistent.

At the very beginning I did see people greeting him, but he always ignored them or threw prickly words back at them. Little by little, everyone stopped even greeting him at all. At this point, the “getting a greeting back” route is so nonexistent you can’t even see it through all the overgrown weeds. It’s a jungle.

Well, if I think of that as a challenge I have to overcome, it’s not a big deal.

The more hardships there are, the bigger the emotion when you finally produce a yandere. Right?

So, with that, I walk up to greet him.

Today again, he’s got his notebook open and he’s studying. Math, maybe? When I show up at school in the morning, he’s always studying.

I couldn’t help thinking he really is amazing. Being smart is probably talent, sure—but obviously, it also takes effort, and I honestly admired that.

You’re so impressive that even if you didn’t attack people, everyone would recognize your ability.

Well, whatever. I’ll change you! …Yeah, right.

For now, I decide to use the technique from when I dealt with Sugisawa—greet him by calling his name. That makes it harder for him to ignore me.

“Morning, Wada.”

I call out to him.

Even after I spoke, he kept studying for a while. Huh? I said his name, but did he not notice? Wait, what?

I mean, there’s only one Wada in our class, so I thought it’d be fine…

Whatever. Maybe I should say it one more time.

“Wada, morning.”

This time I put his name first. And I casually emphasized it, too.

Then he snapped his face up like he was about to glare holes through me, flicked his eyes over me, and immediately dropped his gaze again.

And then,

“Can’t you tell by looking? I’m studying. Don’t talk to me.”

he said.

Okay, so it was the insult route. Even if you expect it, it still hits pretty hard. Let me at least say good morning.

I went, “Sorry, sorry,” and headed back to my seat.

Whew… I let out a breath, but honestly, I was pretty hurt. Of course I was. I’m human. If possible, I don’t want to get hit with prickly words, and even if it’s for producing yanderes, I still don’t want to get hurt.

Nobody talks to someone because they want to get hurt. And besides, his talent still hasn’t awakened yet. Even if this is the “preparation” stage, it’s not like I want to get involved with him because I’m craving pain.

And yet, getting hurt like this feels kind of… wrong. Hngh.

Is it pathetic to stumble on the first try? But then again, nobody likes getting hurt… My thoughts just go in circles.

For now, I’ll try greeting him again tomorrow. Maybe today he was just embarrassed or something, right?

Clinging to that hopeful guess.

Chapter 52: I Want to Awaken an Other-Exclusion Talent — Step 3: Try Greeting Him One More Time, But…

The next day, when I got to school, I looked for him. Assuming he’d be studying again today, I glanced toward his desk, and sure enough—maybe he came early again—he had his textbook and notebook spread out, facing his desk.

He’s so impressive it makes me feel pathetic. I mean, if someone like that is studying from the moment he gets here, I can see how everyone else would start to look stupid to him—or no, that kind of thinking is bad. I shook my head, reset my mood, and went, whew… okay, let’s greet him, and steeled myself.

I’m not an idiot. It’s not like I was planning to greet him the exact same way as yesterday.

If I greeted him the same way, it was obvious I’d get hit with the same prickly words.

I don’t want to get hurt, so hearing the same line again today would be brutal.

So I thought all night. Was there any plan? Any way to avoid getting showered in thorns?

And the method I came up with was only one thing.

Don’t talk to him while he’s studying!

If I do that, he shouldn’t be able to throw the same prickly line at me. Yeah, that was the only option. Because I can’t picture him being friendly with me at all.

I mean, when someone greets me, I’ve never thought, Wow, they interrupted my studying, and honestly, greetings make me happy.

So, for now, I waited for the moment he would stop studying—when he got up to go to the bathroom.

The only time he stops studying is when he leaves his seat to go to the bathroom.

Huh? You think there’d be other times?

Too bad. He keeps studying through breaks, and even during classroom changes he reads his textbook while walking. So the only chance I have is to aim for the moment he stands up to go to the bathroom.

Now that I think about it, that’s way too impressive. Does he even know how to take a breather?

Well, anyway—if he’s not studying, I should see a different reaction than yesterday, and maybe, just maybe, he might return my greeting… is the fantasy I’m clinging to.

Ten minutes after I got to school.

He suddenly stood up from his seat with a scrape. Oh! Is he going to the bathroom?

I stood up too, like I was chasing after him.

Following someone to the bathroom feels rude and kind of makes me hesitate, but… it can’t be helped.

Just like I expected, he went into the bathroom.

And after I followed him that far, I realized—

Wait. If I go in like this, it’ll really look like I chased him. That’s bad. Like a weirdo, or a creep, or… yeah, just bad.

I spun my brain at full speed. Uh—somewhere near the bathroom where I can play it off as something else…

And then I found it.

I’ll pretend I’m using the sink next to it. Brilliant.

I fidgeted in front of the sink, sneaking side glances while waiting for the bathroom door to open.

This is bad. I’m completely the weird guy. It probably looks less awful because we’re both guys, but if this were the opposite sex, I’d be totally out. While thinking that, I waited—and from inside the bathroom, I could hear the sound of someone washing their hands.

Ah, he might come out. For now, I wash my hands too.

Alright, come out. I’m washing hands I don’t even want to wash, just waiting to greet you.

Creeeak—and he came out.

Ah, nice timing. I’m done washing too. Okay, this is the moment.

“Morning, Wada.”

When I called out, he gave a small start through his shoulders, turned to glare at me, and—

“Don’t talk to me from behind all of a sudden.”

He snapped that out, then walked off at a brisk pace.

Yeah, well, I didn’t really think he’d return it, so I’m still fine.

And compared to yesterday, the prickly feeling is thinner. More like… prickly-ish. Like my heart only got scratched through Guard.

What I learned from this greeting is: if it’s not while he’s studying, the prickly level seems to drop, and the ignore route is surprisingly rare.

Also, even when he’s mad, he always responds. That’s one of his good points, and I want him to keep that even after his talent awakens.