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75. Fateful Conflicts (2)

  My name is Fukibayashi Neo. I am the youngest within my family. I have a father, a mother, and a big brother. My big brother was 4 years older than I was. I was born and lived the early part of my life in Hokkaido, Japan.

  From a very young age, I was taught proper discipline and manners. I was very successful in my studies at school, even as a first-grader. I've been trying to get as many high test scores as possible. By the time of my 2nd year in elementary school, I was already grouped as one of the smartest students in the school. But during my whole elementary years, I had no friends as I solely focused on my studies the whole time. My parents lightly scolded me for this. They say my social and personal life is just as important as my studies, and that specific mindset has been ingrained deep in my heart.

  A few years later, I am finally in my middle school years. In middle school, I also tried to be more social while not letting my studies go haywire. It was very tough at first, but I finally found a cheat code. I found out about scheduling my activity within the entire 24 hours a day, every day.

  At first, I was just testing things here and there to see how my schedule fulfills both my studies and my social life, but by the time I was in the middle term of first grade middle school, I finally found the perfect schedule.

  I always leave all of my studies at night while spending my entire noon for after-school activities to deepen the bonds I have with my friends. Once I felt I was close enough to everyone around me, I started to ask them to join me in my study. This way, I can raise both my academic level and my friends' as well. Not to mention, I don't care whether male or female, I befriended anyone as much as I could.

  It was during my middle school years that I gained the title of celebrity in school. I became the smartest student in school. My grades are always at number one in the whole school for almost all of my school year, except for the first half of my middle school year. I was ranked at 19. My jump in rank was so surreal, and it was impossible to go unnoticed. Every top student started to admire and look at me as their rival, even across different grades.

  I was also the best athlete in school. I was in a 10km marathon competition and won first place by quite a large gap from the 2nd place. I won a swimming contest and came in first place with two entire seconds difference in our time from the 2nd place. I was on a soccer team and scored a hat-trick, bringing my team to victory during a tournament between local schools. I won first place in a pole jumping competition during a school event. I pulled off 2 consecutive home runs during a local tournament of baseball tournament, bringing my school to a dominating victory.

  I was also the friendliest guy in school. This one feat made me so famous in school that I was known by everyone, even by new underclassmen, whenever I moved up a grade. All of the teacher in the school knows me and even favour me as their favourite student. My circle of friends is so big, I don't think it's fair to even say that I have any circle of friends. Everyone in school is my friend. Although that did make it so hard to spend time with everyone outside of school. I couldn't hang out with all of them without abandoning my studies, but I was also so happy because everyone understood me. Even when I rejected their offer to hang out, they were never mad at me. I always tried to make up for it on the next day, next week, or even next month.

  And then finally, I was the hottest guy at school. Everyone in school always says my face is cool and handsome, which is probably because I am of mixed race, of Japanese and Austrian descent. The females are always delighted and cheered up whenever they see me, and I'm not just saying this to be arrogant, because I am merely stating a fact. While the males are always teasing and asking me how many girlfriends I have in total. I always answered that I never dated anyone, and they all didn't believe me.

  When I reached the third year, I finally graduated. During graduation, everyone in school was bawling, including me. It was so hard saying goodbye to everyone. The reason why everyone was crying extra hard was also because I was moving to Tokyo and would live there for the rest of my life. For both everyone else and me, this was the last time we'll see each other. Nobody else in my school has a plan to move to Tokyo, given how expensive it is. This whole thing was because of my father's job that we had to move out permanently, though I didn't understand all the details at the time.

  After the ceremony, all of us in school take one giant photo that includes every single one of us, students, teachers, headmaster, teacher assistants, school staff, administration staff, janitors, security, everyone. I said my final goodbye to everyone while bawling my eyes out, and then I moved to Tokyo, and the most important memories of my whole life began there.

  My family and I finally moved to Tokyo, excluding my big brother, because he had to finish his university back in Hokkaido, plus he already had a job of his own that he could provide for himself. There were still two entire months until my high school started, so I decided to familiarize myself with the city, or at least my commute route from my home to school. Also, I chose a specific school in Tokyo that bans Believers from enrolling. I don't wanna sound weird, but all I meant was there's always a chance any teenager Believers would lose control of their power like they lost control over their emotions. That would ruin my school life experience. This is also why I was grateful for growing up in Hokkaido, because in my previous school and even the town I grew up in, there were very few Believers, and those few Believers have already left the town anyway since a long time ago.

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  And then 2 months later, I was ready for high school. A new chapter in my life. I was so excited to repeat my plan from middle school to just befriend everyone, be the best at every subject, build a beautiful relationship with everyone in school, and, most importantly, I had to regain the celebrity title that I had back then.

  The first day of school was good. I immediately went directly towards everyone in my class and introduced myself first. I befriended them as fast as I could. After just one week, everyone in the class is now close to me, so they greet and talk to me every day. My next plan is to just deepen my bond with my classmates and focus on my studies first, and make my name known throughout the whole school on the upcoming midterm exam.

  And then there was a girl who was carrying a box for a teacher in the school hall during recess one day. She looked like she needed help, so I offered to help her. I took the box from her, and she was delighted. She seems to be from another class in the same year as mine. What's obvious is that she was an introvert. Her response was kind of funny. She made a strong first impression just from a visual standpoint alone: her busty figure, her long blond hair, and, not to mention, her pretty face. I have to say, she was the first girl who took my breath away a bit. Although nothing ever developed from that single moment because I never even met her again, even though we went to the same school all the way until graduation. Later, I found out her name was Miage Yuna. I was planning to make a move on her, but I declined because I realized it might have been just a one-time thing. Not to mention my busy schedule, I wouldn't even have time to take care of her, so I moved on with my life. No need to make a fuss about it.

  During the first half of my first year in high school, I made sure to shine the most amongst my classmates. I always gained the highest test scores, no matter the subjects. I defeated all of my classmates, even the ones who were said to be some of the smartest students back in middle school in this school. I was pretty proud of my achievements, and that all of my studies paid off immensely.

  I also made sure that I was the most athletic guy in my class. I beat all the guys in a 100m sprint race. I made sure to score a home run every time we played baseball during sports class. And now every time we're having team matches, whether it's soccer, basketball, baseball, or even hockey during winter, everyone always begs me to be on their team. I was pretty happy to be favoured for my skills and competence.

  I hung out a lot with my friends after school. We went to karaoke with everyone in class without leaving anyone out. I also made sure I got the highest score with my singing. We went to a public pool as a class. We raced with everyone involved to decide who's the fastest in class, and I secured that title as well. Though the gap between the girl who got 2nd place was terrifyingly narrow. But then it got to the point where some of my classmates asked me to hang out at their house at night. Yet again, I sadly had to decline and explained to them that nighttime is my study time, and they understood it. I was so happy about it.

  And then, finally, it was the mid-term exam time. This will be the most pivotal moment in my high school years. I will have to make my name known to every student first before I reach the teachers.

  As preparation, I invited everyone in my class to do a study session together as a big group. This way, we can help each other with the subjects we're not great at. But one of the girls objected instead because that would cause us to not be able to focus and concentrate in such a large group. She suggested that we divide into smaller study groups for maximum efficiency. Before I could even agree to her suggestion, one of the boys also objected to her suggestion, saying, won't this just make it so that only the smartest people in the class group leave the others less capable in their study to be left alone. And then we all finally decided on smaller study groups, but all the smarter students must not be grouped; rather, they must be scattered so that they can help the other students instead.

  When the day of the exam finally arrived, I made sure to tell my classmates that we should do our best on the test. I also promised them that we would go to a restaurant afterward as a celebration for everyone in the class. Everyone loved the idea, so now they were even more pumped for the exam, more than before.

  One week later, we were done with the exams. Today is the day when they announced everyone's score on the school board. As I entered and walked through the school gate, I was filled with both grogginess and excitement because I, for one, knew how much I had studied and how well I answered all of my tests across all subjects. But I was also a bit nervous about having my total scores beaten by someone else, which pushed me out of the way of being ranked 1.

  There are already a lot of students on the giant school's billboard. I ran up to it and joined the crowd. I anxiously and excitedly looked for my name. And then. . .I DID IT. I was ranked 1, not just in my school year, but in the entire school as well. I was jumping in excitement and screaming my lungs out, so that everyone in the vicinity looked towards me. They have now learned about who I am, and I'm pretty sure this news will spread throughout the entire school in no time. My plan to befriend everyone in school has officially entered its second phase.

  I ran up to my class in excitement. When I entered the classroom, I greeted everyone and told them of my current position in school. My classmates also cheered with me as some of my classmates who had mediocre scores have now placed in the top 50 for the whole school year. We celebrated by jumping for joy, and everyone in the class jumped with me in harmony. My classroom that day was filled purely with joy and happiness.

  As we were celebrating, there was a female student who came into my classroom. There are also a lot of students from other classes gathering in front of our classroom door. They came to see the ruckus caused by the girl, but at the same time, they seemed like her followers of some sort.

  "Is Fukibayashi Neo here?" the girl shouts.

  Everyone in my class looked towards the girl in confusion.

  "Huh? Hey, who is that?"

  "I don't know, I'm new here."

  "I'm also new here, so I can't really answer."

  But then some of my classmates recognized her.

  "Hey, that's the prodigy from middle school. She got 1st rank for 3 consecutive years!"

  "Neo, she has business with you."

  "Uhh. . ."

  I confusedly raised my hand and walked up to her to see what her intention was.

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