Fifteen minutes or so passed, almost everyone now has finished eating and are free to do whatever they want with their spare time.
Just as I had predicted, they started gathering in our spot to interrogate us. However, this time I'm fully prepared with my "perfect side character mode", more prepared than ever before.
"Yukiya-kun, you were really cool yesterday, have you ever considered joining the basketball club?"
"He's right, we can give you a recommendation to coach if you ever feel like joining."
Like yesterday, when they saw my performance in the basketball match against Soba and his friends, they considered recruiting me to their sports clubs.
"Thanks, but I'll have to decline." I nonchalantly told with a perfect smile on my face.
'Only those who live in ignorance are allowed to walk in the light. For me, who left everything and chose to walk on a road of darkness, I shall create a world where no one needs to walk this tragic path. No, not anymore...'
[Translation: it would take too much of my shadow hero time. So, no.]
A shadow hero isn't really known for joining other factions, wouldn't joining other clubs limit my time for my secret operations?
And so, random and trivial conversations just like that are exchanged. The class was slowly getting to know me better and I started to know them better as well in the process.
I put on this sociable air around me while Mocha-san stared at me on the corner.
'Is he still acting? He's playing it off so casually, as if, he was really this friendly by nature.'
I had warned her beforehand to watch me, so she concluded I was demonstrating something to her, believing it was act.
'I don't know anymore...'
As I sat on my desk, our classmates kept giving me questions, which is fine since I fully prepared and braced myself for this.
So far, I have maintained my composure, putting up this sociable air around me quite skillfully.
Everything was proceeding smoothly, they kept handing me questions and I kept giving out replies to their questions.
It was all going well until...
"So, Yukiya-kun. Why don't you wear your old uniform anymore? You know? The flashy looking one?"
The question I feared the most had eventually been touched.
"N-Nothing, I... I don't know what you're talking about." I replied, slightly breaking a sweat.
Hearing questions that might relate me to my shadow hero character "Phantom", my composure wavered from the thought of being exposed.
"Oh yeah. Why did you dye your hair blue? It looks good. Why did you have it black in the first place?"
"T, That's..."
"Why don't you wear a face mask anymore?"
"B-Because..."
By this time, my composure has now been broken, finding myself struggling to answer as they kept asking things I don't want to be questioned about.
My face's complexion turned to that of a somewhat embarrassed one, and my classmates noticed.
Seeing my somewhat embarrassed face, my classmates wanted to tease me some more, pressing on a little further with the questions about those things I did in the past.
"So Yukiya-kun-"
"Yukiya-kun-...."
"Yukiya-kun..."
They keep pressing on and on about the topic, indirectly calling me out for being a chuunibyou.
'He's being bullied by the class!?'
Mocha-san commented, seeing how they kept pressing even with my troubled face, though she quite did not hear the conversation clearly.
"So Yuki- ...!?"
One of my classmates was about to ask, but everyone suddenly came to a halt as they saw the expression I was making.
I couldn't hide my emotions anymore, that I pouted and looked away from everyone, as though a kid in tantrum of not getting what he wants.
'ADORABLE!!!'
You could tell I no longer wanted to talk to them any longer.Everyone looked at me thinking how childishly cute I was acting right now.
It was not to the point of crying, but you could tell the expression I was making was an annoyed and disappointed one. As though, snobbishly not wanting to talk about the topic anymore.
Seeing the face I was making, everyone present had a mutual sense of "We must protect him." and ended the talk about my chuuniness right then and there.
Mocha-san thought the whole interaction was pretty adorable also, from how genuinely disappointed and annoyed I looked at that moment, pouting my cheeks and all as if a child would.
'He's pouting?'
Mocha-san can't believe this was the same person she met yesterday.
'What were they talking about to make him pout like that. I want to know too.'
Mocha-san got curious as to what made me embarrassed by the things we were talking about.
While Mocha-san didn't know the reason for my displeasure, my classmates assumed I had just grown out of my chuunibyou phase, and was embarrassed by the things I did in the past.
The bell rang and the students dispersed from our spot. As the teacher arrives, classes resume.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
'Sigh. That was a mess, I completely lost my cool there.'
I had broken out of character earlier because of the questions that might relate me to Phantom.
Well, it's not like the thought of it happening didn't cross my mind. I'm not so out of touch with the world to think that just by changing my appearance could erase my past history.
[The guy who believes Koroko's overwrite explanation.]
They're my classmates after all. I was just a little disappointed that they didn't go along with the plan I had in mind.
Since my plan flopped, I wanted to apologize to Mocha-san for my poor performance in acting out as the perfect side character.
"I'm sorry if I didn't meet your expectations. I totally failed, didn't I?"
Mocha-san tried to process just what it is I was trying to convey to her.
'I think I get it now... What he meant by "watch me" was acting like a sociable person. But halfway through, he ran out of social battery so he stopped responding to people towards the end.'
Mocha-san nodded her head and assumed.
"N, no... I, I think it definitely worked!"
"It did!?"
"Y-yesh!"
Mocha-san passionately told me, as though she was impressed and trying to cheer me on as a person who's also trying to change and get along with everyone.
'Hm. If even she thinks that way, that must mean Ayaka's theory was right. This vasaud is the perfect interpretation of a side character.'
I took Mocha-san's comment in high regard, for I admire her for having a lack of presence(intimidation).
With her opinion, this mostly confirms that Ayaka's theory of only selected few like President Shiori-senpai can see through my perfect side character vasaud.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A/N: This chapter proves that Yukiya is not that stupid. Well, most of the time.
He could be self aware if he chose to.
He could be dense sometimes, so I'll let you decide if his denseness is justifiend on the near and far future.