It's a gloomy Monday. Until last week, just thinking about the five days of hell that lay ahead made my steps heavy as I headed to school.

I arrived at the shoe lockers and opened mine. As expected, my locker was filled with trash. This was nothing new. It’s annoying when they throw away actual garbage like food scraps or spilled drinks, which make everything smell terrible.

But today, it doesn’t bother me at all. I discreetly cast a no-chant Clean spell, a basic life magic, inside the locker. Instantly, my indoor shoes turned spotless, like new. I threw the trash in the bin and headed to class.

“Hoo…”

I stopped for a moment outside the classroom door. It’s okay—I’ve thought through various scenarios. Let’s go!

Clatter!

I opened the classroom door with a bit too much force, making a loud noise that drew everyone’s attention. Normally, people would avoid looking at me—the bullied kid—but today, they all stared. Well, I guess they didn’t recognize me after my drastic weight loss.

I walked through the crowd toward my desk. There weren’t any obvious things like scribbles on my desk that would get the teacher’s attention, but as usual, the bullies had stuffed trash inside it. They always made a point of throwing trash into my desk instead of the garbage can.

Obviously, if I left my textbooks in there, they’d either get thrown away, crumpled, or torn, so I’ve been bringing them home every day.

I sat down and set my bag on the floor, then took the trash from my desk and threw it away. The classroom was buzzing, but the bully group hadn’t approached me yet. They were probably confused by my sudden change.

Soon enough, one of the bullies, Kaori Kasuya, came over and stood in front of me. She’s a "gal" and part of the school's top social circle, so she gets a lot of attention because she’s cute—at least in terms of looks.

However, her personality is the worst. While she doesn’t directly bully me, she’s always the one coming up with ideas for it and filming the bullying with her phone, laughing all the while.

“Hey, are you the new transfer student? That seat belongs to this gross, fat loser named Tachihara, so you should sit somewhere else.”

…Ah, so she doesn’t even realize I’m Tachihara. Well, to be fair, I didn’t recognize myself at first either, so it’s understandable.

“No, I’m Tachihara.”

“Oh really? You’re also named Tachihara? What a coincidence!”

“…”

How can she not connect the dots? There’s no way that’s just a coincidence.

“…Hey, you’re not seriously that gross, fat guy, are you?”

That’s Takumi Isozaki, another one of my bullies. He’s a delinquent with dyed brown hair and always boasts about having connections with some dangerous yakuza, though I doubt it’s true. He’s the one who’s constantly beating me up.

“I don’t know about being gross and fat, but I’m definitely the Tachihara you’ve been hitting.”

I’ll admit to being fat, but I’m not accepting the “gross” part.

“Don’t mess with me! How could that fat loser change so much in just one weekend? It’s not even like you had plastic surgery or something!”

“Eek!”

Isozaki lost his temper, grabbing me by the collar and yanking me out of my seat. The force knocked over nearby desks, and some girls screamed.

“I’m not messing with you. I went to sleep on Saturday and woke up on Sunday like this.”

“Quit making fun of me!!”

Yeah, I guess there’s no way he’d believe that.

“I’m not. Believe it or not, I’m Tachihara Masayoshi. Now, can you let go of me?”

I grabbed Isozaki’s hands, prying them off my shirt. It didn’t hurt, but I didn’t want him stretching out my new shirt.

“Y-you let go of me!”

Now Isozaki was trying to shake off my grip, but he couldn’t. My newfound strength, thanks to leveling up, made his efforts pointless. Honestly, his arms felt so fragile that I worried I might snap them if I applied just a little more pressure.

But I had to restrain myself. I couldn’t cause trouble here and let him get away.

“What’s all this commotion about so early in the morning? Hmm, who’s this guy? I didn’t hear anything about a transfer student.”

“Ryu!”

…He’s here. Ryuichi Tsuyahara, known as "Ryu" to his friends, is the leader of the bully group and the top of the school’s social hierarchy.

“Ryu, this guy showed up, and we thought he was a transfer student, but he’s claiming to be that gross fat guy!”

“…He says he’s Tachihara? Ha, what are you talking about, Kaori, first thing in the morning?”

“But Ryu, it’s true! I heard him say it too!”

“Yeah, I heard it too!”

Maemi Kitamura and Shuuya Onozaki—both part of his clique. These five are the main instigators of the bullying.

“Even Maemi and Shuuya, huh? …Alright, Tachihara, let go of Takumi first, will you?”

“…”

I’d forgotten I was still holding Isozaki’s arms. But seriously, why do the popular kids always use names or nicknames for each other?

I let go of Isozaki.

“Tch…”

“So, are you really the same Tachihara? If you’re just some impostor, we’ll have to call the cops.”

“I’m definitely Tachihara Masayoshi. I went to bed on Saturday and woke up like this on Sunday, with my whole body aching.”

“You can’t just go to bed and wake up skinny—that’s straight out of a manga. Couldn’t you come up with a better excuse?”

…It does sound like something out of a manga. But I’m not lying. (I was knocked out by the Great Mage’s inheritance magic, and when I woke up in pain, I’d suddenly lost all the weight!)

“I’m telling the truth. If you want, I can list everything you’ve done to me.”

“Tch… You’ve got a big mouth. Whatever. Whether you’re Tachihara or an impostor, doesn’t matter. Meet me on the rooftop after school. We need to talk.”

“Good, I’ve got some things to discuss with you too.”

“…Fine. See you after school then.”

With that, he walked back to his seat. Isozaki gave me a glare but returned to his seat as well.

Phew, the first step went well. He’ll probably gather his lackeys by the end of the day, but that’s just what I want—to take them all down at once.

Honestly, I have my skills to thank for this. Without them, there’s no way I could’ve stood up to the bullies so confidently. Even if I’m stronger now, my personality hasn’t changed.

The skill I used this time was Calm Composure. As the name suggests, it suppresses emotions like joy, anger, sorrow, and excitement, keeping me level-headed. I used it so I wouldn’t get scared of them or lose control and kill them out of rage.

If I hadn’t used this skill, I probably wouldn’t have been able to meet their eyes. Bullies are terrifying to the ones they target. It’s not something you can easily stand up to.

The showdown’s after school. But first, I need to figure out what I’m going to tell the teacher...