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“Hey, nerds!” with that greeting, the student kicks the door open like it personally offended him.
Keigo nearly falls off his chair at the entrance. He adjusts his computer glasses and silently stares at the newcomer. The guy looks less like a philology student and more like a visual kei vocalist who got lost on the way to a concert. How security even let this walking cluster of punk-emo-goth fashion through the door is beyond him.
Takami studies him and immediately notices the feeling is mutual. The gaze is curious. Assessing. Interested.
Strange, Keigo thinks. What exactly is so fascinating about him? His plain white shirt and pale yellow sweater vest don’t exactly compete with a black leather coat studded with shiny metal spikes.
Keigo casually looks away toward the door. Hopefully it survives this level of disrespect… Their department waited three months just to get funding for a new projector lamp, and now there’s a whole door at stake. At this rate, Keigo will graduate before they replace it.
“Wait a second… is this even my group?” the student suddenly realizes, scanning the room. “Mine only had freaks, losers, and weird little nobodies. Cutie, how did you end up here?”
And he’s talking to Keigo. Takami nearly falls off his chair a second time. The only thing keeping him upright is the very practical thought that he cannot afford a replacement.
Okay. Don’t blush. Don’t panic. Don’t react. Seminar. Topic: “The Culture of Silence.” He needs to set up the presentation and share his screen.
“Young man, where exactly do you think you are?” the lecturer finally intervenes. “This is not a circus, this is a university. You must follow proper conduct. You are expected to arrive on time, not whe-”
“Oh great noble lady, allow me to present my report,” the loud student bows dramatically. “So I can spend as little time here as possible.”
He completely ignores both the teacher’s irritation and his group’s disapproval and walks straight to the computer running the presentation. Which, incidentally, is Keigo’s station.
An unknown but striking student has just hijacked the broadcast. Keigo doesn’t resist. In fact… he’s curious what the guy will do next.
“You know,” the student suddenly whispers as he passes him, “I’d stay here an extra hour for you.” He steps toward the podium. “Click through the slides for me, yeah?”
It almost sounds sweet. Almost. With this kind of surprise-package student, anything is possible — from compliments to insults.
Keigo shifts all his attention to him, pretending he didn’t hear the lecturer’s remarks.
“My subtopic is: “Critique of the Culture of Silence.” Today we’ll explore why the loud, barbaric, tradition-breaking West might’ve had a point, and why mouths should be used for more than just eating noodles, but also for expressing thoughts. My plan…
…
…Thank you for your attention. I hope your level of logical reasoning allows you to conclude that this tradition should be forgotten like a bad dream.”
That was… something. Definitely something.
Keigo is genuinely glad he didn’t interrupt the performance. Seriously. A well-prepared argument, clear structure, competent speech, properly designed slides. Objectively solid work. A model presentation. For students and for some teachers too.
“An argued position,” the lecturer says flatly. “Next.”
Unfortunately for her, the university doesn’t grade behavior. A real shame. That system would’ve been extremely useful against people like this.
The impudent but highly erudite student steps away from the podium. His presentation is over, which means Keigo should close the file and prepare for the next-
“Shall we get acquainted, cutie?” the same student suddenly appears beside him and whispers into his ear. “Name’s Dabi. And yours?”
So the loud, arrogant, striking, disrespectful, oddly brilliant student finally has a name. Dabi.
“Takami Keigo,” he replies politely, almost sweetly. “Department assistant in philology. Feel free to ask if you ever need help starting the presentation again.”
For the first time in a while, Dabi — the walking surprise — looks genuinely caught off guard.