Rebirth From Ordinary Person To The Strongest Chapter 42: The Entrance Ceremony

The cherry blossoms are in full bloom.

The edges of the road are covered in a blanket of pink, creating a path of petals on the ground.

Seeing this scene, I realize that spring has co once again.

In my previous life, I had no interest in the changing of the seasons or the events that marked the passage of ti. Still, whenever I saw cherry blossoms, I'd feel a faint sense of excitent, recognizing that spring had arrived. Not that it ever made want to start sothing new or switch jobs to reset my environnt.

"Itsuki, are you nervous?"

"No, I'm okay."

My mother's voice brought back to the present, and I shook my head.

We were standing in front of the main gate of my elentary school. There, a white signboard with the words "Congratulations on Your Entrance Ceremony" was decorated with red and white fluffy ornants around the edges. There was no need to explain where we were or what was about to happen.

…Yes, I was about to attend my second elentary school entrance ceremony in this life.

Although, I don't rember much from the first ti. Almost nothing, really. I vaguely recall being guided by older students and lining up in the gymnasium. I wonder if that's a common experience across the country.

My mother led across the schoolyard, stopping in front of the school building. There was an old-fashioned bulletin board with class rosters posted, surrounded by a crowd.

There were nervous-looking children, excited children, and so were already chatting animatedly with their friends.

Wait, did they already make friends?

No way! That's too fast!

No, it must be friends they made in kindergarten or nursery school. Otherwise, I'd be completely lost on what to do.

As I stood there, feeling a bit of despair at the sight, my mother patiently pulled along through the thinning crowd until we reached the bulletin board.

Of course, I could have used "Silveit" for "enhanced vision" to see the roster from a distance, but that wouldn't have been fun.

After all, chanically going through life's events was how I lived in my previous life. I've decided to leave that behind.

"What class are you in, Itsuki?"

"Hmm… Ah, there it is!"

Scanning the class list for Grade 1, Class 1 from the top, I quickly found my na. As expected, with a surna starting with "Ki," I was fifth on the list. No wonder it was easy to find.

After spotting my na, my mother and I stepped away from the board. She looked at with concern.

"Itsuki, you'll have to go to the classroom by yourself from here. Will you be okay?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine!"

Yes, from this point on, I had to go to the classroom alone.

Whoa, this is nerve-wracking!!

Even though I've faced death twice and actually died once, the thought of entering a new class still makes nervous. But I'm excited too. This is the very beginning of the six years I'll spend in elentary school. It would be strange not to be nervous.

I'll do my best to have a great school life.

With that thought in mind, I entered the school building, heart pounding. As I searched for the shoe cubby for Class 1-1, my thoughts drifted back to the class roster I had just seen.

There were a lot of nas in katakana… That wasn't because they were trendy "sparkly nas." No, there were quite a few non-Japanese nas on the list. Well, it's a global and diverse world these days.

I wonder what it was like in my previous life…

I think there were a few kids from abroad, or maybe there weren't. If there were, it was probably just one per grade. I'm sure there weren't two or three in a single class.

Reflecting on the changes in the world, I placed my shoes in the cubby and pulled out a pair of new indoor shoes. These will eventually turn completely black, and I'll have to wash them myself. That's going to be a hassle.

After putting on my shoes, I noticed a handmade sign pointing to the first graders' classrooms. It was clearly made by older students, with "First Graders This Way ⇒" written in big, bold letters. Very helpful.

Following the arrow up the stairs, I headed toward the classroom.

There were other kids who looked like first graders climbing the stairs too, but I wasn't confident enough in my communication skills to strike up a conversation. Seriously, how is it that I can't even talk to six-year-olds?

As I reached the classroom door, I took a deep breath.

Standing in front of the closed door, I steeled myself.

…Alright, here goes.

As I pulled open the creaky door, I was t with a scene of complete chaos.

It might sound like the beginning of a story set in a snow country, but that's the reality I faced. There's no better way to describe it. After all, telling a group of six-year-olds to "be quiet" is a lost cause. It's no surprise, but still… This is sothing else.

"Wait, your pencil case is black? That's so la!"

"But my pencils are cool."

"Whoa! They really are!"

I weaved my way through the chattering kids—no, classmates—and made my way to my seat.

The blackboard had a large ssage written in hiragana, "Congratulations on Your Entrance," along with a seating chart.

It was handwritten with chalk. Did the teacher write this?

My seat was by the window. The first seat by the window was number 1, and the numbers decreased as you moved toward the back. I was number 5, so I ended up in the last seat.

The last seat by the window, seriously?

That's such a classic spot for sothing like a youthful adventure to begin. I thought sothing silly as I placed my backpack on the desk, but then I noticed the girl sitting next to .

Unlike the other noisy classmates, she had hung her pink backpack on the side of the desk and was resting her chin on her hand, looking a bit grumpy.

But what stood out wasn't her bad attitude.

The color of her backpack wasn't unusual either. Pink wasn't rare even in my ti.

What was unusual was her appearance.

Platinum blonde hair, almost translucent, and blue eyes.

Her skin was so fair it looked like it had never seen the sun.

…She looks a lot like Irena-san.

Maybe this girl is from Europe too.

She's probably one of the kids with a katakana na I saw on the roster.

With that thought, I took out my pencil case from my backpack and hung my backpack on the side of the desk, imitating the girl next to . Then I checked the ti.

The entrance ceremony starts at 10:00.

It's 9:30 now. I still have about 30 minutes.

…What should I do?

I had assud that first graders would be more nervous before the entrance ceremony, maybe even a little stiff. My plan was to slowly close the distance with my new classmates and make friends that way. But reality had exceeded my expectations, and the first graders here were much freer than I had imagined.

So of them had already made friends before the ceremony even started.

This is bad.

If I don't make friends from the very start, I might struggle throughout my ti in elentary school.

It's often said that the beginning is crucial. If you miss the starting dash, it takes a lot of effort to catch up later on.

I looked around, trying to find soone I could talk to… But no luck. Everyone had already left their seats and was chatting freely. There was no opening…!

As I scanned the classroom, my eyes landed on the girl sitting next to again.

There she was! Soone who hadn't talked to anyone yet!

Feeling a surge of excitent, I thought about talking to her, but it was hard to approach a girl who was resting her chin on her hand before the entrance ceremony even started.

But I knew I had to.

Making friends is a decision I've already made. I can't back down now…!

I took a deep breath, gathered my courage, and spoke to the girl next to , who was facing away.

"…Hello."

"...…"

But the girl remained silent.

Co on, say sothing…

But I couldn't stop here.

My goal for first grade is to make ten friends.

If I can't get along with the person sitting next to , that goal will be hard to achieve!

"My na is Itsuki. What's yours?"

"…Nina."

Whoa! She answered!

Even though she still wasn't looking at .

"Nice to et you, Nina-chan."

"…Hmph."

After my greeting, she responded with what felt like a growl. Tough crowd. But then she stopped resting her chin on her hand and turned to face .

"Itsuki, what do you want?"

"Huh? What do you an?"

"Your last na, tell ."

Her gaze, slightly more mature than I expected, pierced through , and I answered since it wasn't sothing I needed to hide.

"My last na is Kisaragi. Itsuki Kisaragi."

The mont I said that, Nina jumped out of her seat with a loud bang.

She stood there, looking shocked.

To an outsider, it might have seed like odd behavior, but in the chaos of the classroom, no one noticed. Nina then spoke in a barely audible voice, almost drowned out by the noise around her.

"R-Really…?"

Really, what? What is she talking about?

Could it be that she knows about ?

"Are you really the one who defeated the Sixth Rank Queen…? Itsuki Kisaragi?"

"You know about ? Then… um… Would you like to be friends?"

When I asked, Nina took a step back, as if she was a bit startled.

That hurt.

"Why are we in the sa class?"

"Is it bad if we're in the sa class?"

"Of course it is!"

Nina shouted, a mix of anger and confidence in her voice.

"I'm a Fourth Rank Bishop Exorcist! I ca here to defeat you, Itsuki!"

..…Uh-huh.

Uh-huh…????