Kogenji's gaze fell upon Jin again, this time with a hint of amusement and deeper scrutiny. He looked Jin up and down, from his calm, unperturbed face to his tall yet slightly slender figure.
A discerning glint sparkled in his narrow eyes, and the corners of his mouth curved into his characteristic mocking arc
"Oh? It seems not everyone here is a hypocrite or a coward after all. But..." he drew out his words, his voice clearly reaching Jin's ears, carrying an interest akin to dissecting an experiment subject.
"Your act of giving up your seat is essentially no different from theirs. It's also a choice made based on a 'should' under certain social conditioning. The only difference is that you overcame that trivial feeling of 'inconvenience,' while they were paralyzed by that feeling. Essentially, you are all just puppets driven by programs. Interesting."
Kogenji's words were still sharp, directly pointing to the motives behind the action, attempting to deconstruct all good deeds into mechanical obedience.
Jin calmly met Kogenji's scrutinizing gaze. He admitted that the "social conditioning" and "overcoming inconvenience" pointed out by the other party were objectively existing factors.
But to simply attribute all actions to "program-driven puppets" seemed overly arbitrary and extreme. Kogenji ignored the actual outcome of the action—the elderly person did indeed get to rest.
Jin also ignored that the differences in choices made by different individuals when faced with the same "conditioning" inherently held meaning, even if that meaning seemed trivial or even laughable to Kogenji.
Jin did not retort, merely calmly averted his gaze. Kogenji's insight was keen and noteworthy, but his absolute conclusions and disregard for the complexity of human behaviour were something Jin could not fully agree with.
"You are the heir of the Kogenji group, right?" Jin asked back without showing any kind of emotion.
"Oh? You recognised who I am. Quite the knowledge you have. Even if my words hurt you, what are you gonna do? Fight me? Or are you scared?" Kogenji teased Jin, believing nobody should dare to lay a hand on him because behind him stood the Kogenji group.
"Try to survive the upcoming 3 years, alright," Jin said with a smile, though in his eyes, there was only disdain.
"What? Are you planning to beat me? Inside this school, you are safe, but after I leave the school, you are dead." Kogenji could recognise the faint killing intent coming from Jin.
Being stood in high ground from the childhood, he naturally felt he have provoked Jin and now trying to intimidate him with Kogenji groups power. Just as he said, inside the school, he is powerless.
"We'll see about that, alright Little heir Kogenji." Jin's demeanour was full of teasing, not taking him seriously at all. Since he has decided to become a Devil wholeheartedly, he also abandoned the human emotion called mercy.
As a High-Class Devil, Being mocked in front of whole croud for no reason even by an arrogant human no less, do they thick he didn't have any temper? But for now, he let this impudent human go.
There is plenty of time to take his revenge, slowly, and when a devil takes his revenge, it's not just physical trauma, it's level of intensity is soul crushing.
"Student!" After settling the elderly woman, the girl also stood beside Jin. Her face was beaming with an incredibly bright and warm smile, her bright eyes curved into beautiful crescents, full of sincere gratitude and pure enthusiasm.
She bowed solemnly to Jin, "Thank you so, so much! Thanks to your help!" Her voice was full of vitality, strikingly different from the tension she had shown when facing Kogenji earlier.
She straightened up, her face adorned with a bright and sincere smile, maintaining a polite distance, and asked in a gentle and friendly voice.
"You have already thanked me more than once. It's alright." Jin felt tired with the girl's enthusiasm for starting conversation with him.
Upon receiving the affirmative answer, Kushida Kikyo's smile became even more cordial and natural. She introduced herself gracefully,
"My name is Kushida Kikyo. May I ask your name?" The short haired girl finally revealed her name.
"Arima Andras Jin." He calmly stated his name. His voice still had no fluctuation, as if he were stating a fact unrelated to himself.
"Then may I call you Arima-san?" Kushida Kikyo then naturally took a step forward, her face bearing a very infectious, bright smile, her tone full of anticipation but still maintaining appropriate politeness, and extended her hand to Jin.
"Then we'll be classmates from now on. May I be friends with you?"
Jin looked at Kushida Kikyo's eyes, full of kindness and expectation, and her outstretched hand, symbolising a friendly connection. Her smile was extremely approachable, like warm spring sunshine.
"Mm." He simply responded, accepting the request. At the same time, he extended his hand and, as a courtesy, briefly and lightly shook Kushida Kikyo's outstretched hand.
Her palm was warm and soft. There was no deliberate sense of distance, nor any special closeness, he simply calmly responded to a kind request and completed this basic social gesture.
"That's wonderful!" Kushida Kikyo's smile grew even brighter, as if making a friend was an incredibly joyful thing, and the previous gloom was swept away. "Please take care of me at school too, Arima-san!"
"Mm," Jin responded faintly again. The Director's assessment, the class divisions, this classmate named Kushida Kikyo, who always maintained politeness and a warm smile... a new environment, new people, and Kogenji Rokusuke's thought-provoking sharp remarks. He calmly absorbed these incoming streams of information, like the deep sea accepting falling raindrops.
Though Jin recognised the girl before her, and what her actual personality is really like, when she asked to be with friends with her, he thought, why not? It's just for a year anyway.
Yes. Jin has no plans to graduate from this Tokyo Metropolitan Advanced Nurturing High School. He came to this school only to recruit a human who is theoretically a Sacred Gear wielder and suffering from Congenital Heart Disease, which is actually nothing but Sacred Gear deficiency.
If he plays his cards right, he could not just recruit a smart peerage member; if her potential is high enough, he could get a 'Queen'.
Besides, Jin took a closer look inside the bus and detected two faint sacred gear ripples. The gamble of coming here first has proven more fruitful than he thought.
After a brief ripple, the bus resumed it's rhythm of travel. The dark blue seawater outside the window still flowed silently. The outline of Tokyo Metropolitan Advanced Nurturing High School faintly appeared at the end of the tunnel.
The bus slowed to a rhythmic hum as it exited the tunnel, the artificial island of the school sprawling before them like a high-tech fortress.
Jin stood up, his movements fluid and possessed of a grace that didn't quite belong to a teenager.
Behind him, he could feel Kogenji's gaze—a mixture of irritation and lingering curiosity.
To Kogenji, Jin was an anomaly to be solved; to Jin, Kogenji was simply a loud insect buzzing in a glass jar.
Kushida lingered by his side, her presence a curated masterpiece of warmth. "It's huge, isn't it, Arima-san? I'm a little nervous, but having a friend already makes it better."
Jin didn't look at her, his focus remaining on the school gates. "Nervousness is a human luxury, Kushida-san. Just ensure you don't lose that smile too quickly. The atmosphere here... it tends to strip people of their masks."
Kushida's expression didn't falter, but for a fraction of a second, the light in her eyes dimmed—a flicker of calculation.
Before she could respond, Jin walked toward the entrance ceremony hall. He wasn't here to play student; he was here to find his first pillar of his empire.