In an apartment in Nerima Ward, Tokyo.
Luo Shu, resting on the sofa, heard the shower door open and turned to see Utaha Kasumigaoka stepping out, wrapped in a bath towel and drying her hair.
While searching for a hairdryer, the radiant girl calmly remarked:
"So, the reason you came to my place in the middle of the night is because you want us to go to school together?"
Hearing this, Luo Shu's face scrunched up in exasperation as he slumped against the sofa cushions, grumbling:
"Way to make it sound like I'm some socially awkward school-phobic student."
"I've just been too busy to attend, not afraid of going to school, alright?"
"I know." Utaha Kasumigaoka took out a hairdryer from under the TV cabinet and glanced at Luo Shu. "But that's how the rumours are spreading at school."
"Eh?" Luo Shu was taken aback. "Why am I being talked about at school?"
"Isn't it normal for people to talk about you?"
Utaha said disdainfully, looking at him as if he were making a fuss over nothing.
She stood up, holding the hairdryer as she walked towards Luo Shu, explaining:
"You're already a hot topic at school, and then you disappeared for half a month right after term started. After a while, everyone started speculating what happened to you. Even us second-years heard about it."
Hearing this, Luo Shu was both speechless and curious. Tilting his head, he asked Utaha:
"What exactly are they saying?"
Utaha's lips curled slightly as she smiled:
"Oh, there are plenty of versions."
"Some say you offended a gang outside school, got your legs broken, and are now hospitalised."
"Others claim you got some young lady pregnant and fled back to China overnight to avoid her family's wrath."
"Then there's the one about those seniors you beat up before, who—now that they've graduated and aren't under school supervision anymore—challenged you to a fight outside campus. Both sides ended up hospitalised, and the school suppressed the news because it was embarrassing."
"Lots of variations, but those three are the main ones."
After hearing Utaha's explanation, Luo Shu was utterly dumbfounded. He couldn't help but ask:
"Do these people even care about logic when spreading rumours? Gangs, knocking up some young lady... only the school fight one sounds remotely plausible."
"Plausible?" Utaha Kasumigaoka was taken aback, expressing surprise: "Did those graduates really cause trouble for you?"
Utaha was aware that Luo Shu had conflicts with some students at school and had even investigated the matter afterwards.
From what she understood, the conflict arose when senior students noticed Luo Shu's good looks attracting attention from female classmates. Seeing him as a foreign exchange student unfamiliar with the area and seemingly vulnerable, they decided to pick on him.
However, such conflicts ended after Luo Shu immediately retaliated with his fists and later paid some clan-affiliated gangs from his hometown in Japan to warn those seniors.
Ordinary students would naturally fear legitimate violent groups, though that didn't stop some from secretly kicking him while he was down.
Utaha had hypnotised several seniors who deliberately spread rumours, making them socially dead in front of their crushes. However, since the graduated seniors were no longer at school, she wasn't fully informed about their current activities.
"They did cause some trouble, but only by making trouble at my part-time job before being scolded away by the manager."
Luo Shu recalled that before regaining his past life memories, there had indeed been incidents where graduates caused trouble while he worked at the bookstore.
However, school bullies tended to be cowardly outside campus. After being intimidated, they quickly fled, so he hadn't paid much attention.
After all, Toyogasaki High students generally came from decent families. Upon graduation, their top priority became university entrance exams.
In Japan, universities each set their own entrance exams, requiring high school students to pass these individual tests for admission.
Thus, those graduating seniors only caused trouble for a few days around graduation time. After receiving warnings, they became buried in various exams, ending any further incidents.
By the time Luo Shu awakened, quit his job and joined the SDS, all contact had ceased completely.
"I see..." Utaha said thoughtfully, mentally reviewing her list of graduated seniors to identify who might have troubled Luo Shu.
Never mind, tracking them down would be too troublesome. Better to target all graduates who'd ever conflicted with Luo Shu.
How dare they bully her man? Had they grown tired of living?
"But speaking of which, why are the school rumours so outrageous?"
Luo Shu's entire face showed frustration as he mentioned the gossip:
"I barely have any friends at school. Apart from that initial conflict upon enrollment, there haven't been other issues. Just because I stopped attending classes for a while, how did things get so exaggerated?"
Utaha was shocked by his question. Did he really not understand?
"You clashed with seniors immediately after enrollment, even resorting to violence, then brought in outside violent groups to threaten them. Did you think your reputation would be good?"
"Even the teachers suspect you might be the child of legitimate violent group members. Do you really think there's no problem here?"
"Uh..." Luo Shu stared blankly at Utaha: "That too? Even the teachers suspect me?"
Seeing his expression, Utaha could only sigh in exasperation:
"Yes, they doubted in their hearts, which is why they treated you so politely. After all, in their view, students bullied by seniors at school never fought back – they either formed cliques or endured until they became seniors themselves."
"You're the only one who resisted right from the start and even brought in outside help."
Luo Shu was baffled: "What nonsense is this? If someone picks a fight for no reason, you're not supposed to retaliate? If you get cornered by a group, you shouldn't call the police or get backup? That'd make you a damn coward!"
Utaha fell silent for a moment after hearing this:
"Suddenly, I understand why China maintains such strict control."
With everyone having personalities like Luo Shu's, how could they possibly govern easily?
Utaha sighed, then handed the hairdryer to Luo Shu:
"As payment for accompanying you to school, help me dry my hair."
"Sure." Luo Shu took the silent hairdryer without hesitation, stood up, and began drying Utaha's hair as she sat down.
But as he worked, he suddenly felt he'd forgotten something.
What was it he'd forgotten...