Two years after Korosensei’s death, everyone from class 3-E going to separate schools and doing their best as what their tentacled teacher had taught them. However, everyone never forgot to connect with each other, having meetings and calls and stuff.

This was the same for Hayami Rinka, who was attending Aoba High School.

When Hayami walked in her classroom, she noticed the extra seat beside hers- which was all the way in the back row. She didn’t pay any mind to it, opting to place her bags on her chair.

She checked the class 3-E chat on her phone. There were a few new messages, ‘Good Morning!’s from Kurahashi and Kanzaki. Sugino had also replied a ‘Good Morning, Kanzaki-san!’. There wasn’t any teasing from the rest of the class, which means that they haven’t seen it yet.

“Good Morning, Rinka-chan!” One of Hayami’s newer friends, Koizumi Amako, greeted.

“Ah. Good morning. Koizumi.” She replied. “Have you done all of the homework for today?”

“Geez, Rinka-chan! I’m not that irresponsible! But maybe, sometimes.” Koizumi replied. “Also, I told you to call me Amako! We’re practically best friends now!”

Hayami chuckled. “I guess.” there’s only one bestfriend I have in mind, though. How is he right now?

“Also, there’s an extra chair next to you. Are we gonna have a new student in class?” Koizumi asked. “Oh, that’ll be exciting!”

“Apparently, father said that there’s another student transferring to Aoba High School today.” Another voice replied. Hayami could recognize it as one of her other friends, Ishida Kanna.

“Ooh! What are they like?”

“He didn’t say anything else, except that he’s coming from Kamakura Academy. We’ll get to meet him soon, anyways.”

“Ah. So it’s a boy. Lucky!” Koizumi patted Hayami, who was thinking to herself. Wasn’t he in Kamakura Academy? Maybe I could ask the new student about him. It could improve my social skills.

The conversation continued on, with Hayami speaking up if she needs to, until the teacher came in class.

“Alright everyone,” Ishida-sensei said. He reminded Hayami of Aguri-sensei. “As you may have noticed, there is an extra seat in our classroom today. Yes, you guessed right, we have a new student joining us this year. I’m not going to waste any more time, so can Chiba-kun introduce himself, please?”

Hayami’s eyes widened. Chiba-kun? She had not seen her sniping partner ever since they started high school.

A black-haired boy entered the room and wrote his name on the blackboard. Hayami could hear various whispers like ‘why does he have no eyes’ or ‘what do his eyes look like?’ There was also a ‘he looks so mysterious, right Kanna-chan?’ from Koizumi, who was a row in front of her. Eventually, the whispers died down when the boy finished writing his name.

千葉 龍之介.

It was her sniping partner, alright.

Wait, the extra seat is beside me- I’m gonna have to sit next to Chiba. Oh- wh-what do I do?

Chiba faced the class and froze. Hayami froze as well. They made eye contact (although Hayami wasn’t sure because she never saw his eyes), even if it was only for a fraction of a second.

“Good morning, everyone. I am Chiba Ryuunosuke. I look forward to being here.” He said, his voice deeper than she remembered. The whole class clapped for some reason.

“Alright, Chiba-kun. Your seat is right there, beside Hayami-chan’s. She’s the girl with the orange hair and green eyes.” Ishida-sensei said.

“Ah.” Chiba made his way to the extra chair, which was beside Hayami. Once he sat down, he turned to face her.

“Hayami.”

“Chiba.”

They were quiet for a while, before Chiba added something.

“It’s good to see you again.”

--

Lunch time of Chiba’s first day rolled around, and most of the students were in the cafeteria. However, there were some who preferred to stay in the now-empty classroom, like Hayami and Chiba.

It was weird how they both easily went back to their old habits of eating together. Hayami pulled her chair into Chiba’s table as the boy got his bento out of his bag.

They ate in peace and quiet before Hayami suddenly spoke.

“How’s… your sniping ability?”

“... I only practice once a month nowadays, school is very hectic.” Chiba replied.

“Ah.”

There was more silence, until loud footsteps can be heard approaching the classroom. There were at least two people, Chiba noted.

“Rinka-chan! Can we eat lunch with y- oh!” Koizumi said, surprised how her friend and the new student got along so quickly. It was shocking, since it took a month for Hayami to be comfortable around Kanna and her.

“I hope we’re not intruding.” Ishida said, entering the room and directing her attention to Chiba. “Hello, I’m Ishida Kanna, and this is Koizumi Amako. We’re Hayami’s friends.” Koizumi waved.

“Chiba Ryuunosuke. Hayami and I were classmates in middle school.” said boy replied.

“Oh! What a coincidence! That’s so cool, Rinka-chan!” Koizumi giggled. “Can we eat lunch with you both?”

“S- sure.” the black-haired boy replied, not wanting to be rude. It was his first day, after all. And these were Hayami’s friends.

The four of them pushed Hayami and Chiba’s tables together, and continued eating.