Artificial Hero

First Day

Kiyotaka started to walk to school, a bit excited to get there. The sun was shining, the sky was blue. It was quite peaceful. As he walked around, he saw multiple adults sweating from the unexpected heat0

. It was understandable, as it was near the middle of spring, yet it was over 80 degrees outside.

"Ahhh, what's up with this heat? I could've swore the forecast said 65 degrees today..." KIyotaka said, wiping the sweat off of his forehead.

"Maybe the weather doesn't like you," A voice said. Kiyotaka turned around, and low and behold, Horikita was there.

Kiyotaka sighed. "Hello, Horikita."

"Hello, Hashira. Did you fail the exams, like I said you would?" Horikita asked, a smirk visible on her face.

"No, actually. I passed, and I'm on my way to ANHS right now." Kiyotaka answered, surprising Horikita a bit.

"Eh? How......." Horikita said, still taking it in.

"I landed in the middle of the results, but I'm pretty happy about it." Kiyotaka continued. Horikita woke up from her state of shock, and attempted to change the subject.

"Nice, I guess? The sad thing is that you'll be in the same school as me." She said, recovering quickly.

"Oh, you're attending as well?" Kiyotaka asked, ignoring the insult he just received.

"Yes, I was recommended." Horikita said, a smug smile visible on her face.

"That's nice, congratulations!" Kiyotaka exclaimed. Horikita was a bit weirded out, due to his unwavering kindness. Regardless of what she did, he would still talk to her, congratulate her, and help her, much to her dismay.

It made her heart feel somewhat warm whenever that happened, and she's wanted to be his friend for a while now.

But every time she attempted to try, that moment, no disaster, came back to her. The guilt would always hold her back, causing her to retreat back into her bullying nature. If only she could move on...

"Uh, Horikita?" Kiyotaka said, pulling Horikita out of her trance.

"O-Oh, sorry. Thanks for the compliment." She said, quickly bowing.

"You're welcome-"

"But don't think that means I like you!" She said, bonking him on the head.

"Ouch...." Horikita giggled at his suffering.

"See you later!"

As Kiyotaka watched her run off, he stood there in confusion. This wasn't the regular Horikita, not at all.

Timeskip

Kiyotaka had finally arrived, and was now standing at the steps to ANHS, again. This time, less students were walking in, about 75% less from what Ayanokouji could observe.

He walked up the brick stairs, and entered the large building again. This time, there was a lady at a desk, with a lot of papers. A sign sat in front of the desk, with the word "Directions" on it.

'Is this where I'll find my class?' Kiyotaka thought, walking up to the desk. The lady seemed to be sorting papers, so he stood there awkwardly. Eventually, she looked up, and met his eyes.

"Uh, hello. I was wondering if I could get my schedule here?" He asked.

"Oh! Sure," She said, sorting through some papers. After a seemingly long period of time, she grabbed a piece of paper from coincidentally, the middle of the stack.