"You saw this coming all along…? Looks like it's my turn now."
Standing by the school gate, Jojiro adjusted his glasses as he watched Otosaka Yuu fleeing in panic.
After all, glasses that reflect light only appear on big shots.
Otosaka Yuu glanced behind him. Once he was sure no one was chasing him, he crumpled up the test paper in his hands and tossed it into the trash can.
But just then, a nearby store suddenly exploded for no apparent reason.
The sound of shattering glass was piercing, making Otosaka Yuu tense up again just when he had barely managed to calm down.
At first, he thought there had been a car accident or something, but in the next second, a boy with a middle-parted hairstyle, glasses, and blood dripping from his forehead appeared not far behind him.
For some reason, even though Otosaka Yuu didn't recognize him, his instincts screamed at him to run.
But Jojiro behind him had no intention of letting that happen. He activated his ability once more and rushed after Otosaka Yuu.
"I wonder if the school will compensate for all this damage caused by Takajo…"
Inside the shop that had been completely wrecked by Jojiro's collision, Hakuto and Nao appeared.
"The school takes care of things like this."
Nao responded nonchalantly since Hoshinoumi Academy had plenty of money.
Then, she walked over to where Otosaka Yuu had been standing earlier, reached into the trash can, and retrieved the discarded test paper.
"I thought you'd make me do this kind of thing."
"Quit complaining. Takajo should have already caught up with that guy."
With that, Nao started walking in the direction Otosaka Yuu had fled, and Hakuto followed closely behind.
"Why are you chasing me?!"
Otosaka Yuu was utterly bewildered. He still hadn't figured out why Hakuto had messed with him like that.
And now, there was another person—someone with a special ability who could move at speeds the naked eye couldn't follow—chasing after him.
While Otosaka Yuu was still confused, Jojiro finally caught up, thanks to his high-speed movement.
When Otosaka Yuu turned his head, he saw Jojiro flying at him like a missile that had gone off course, crashing straight into him.
Under the force of the impact, both of them were sent flying.
If not for the reservoir below them, they would have been seriously injured, if not dead.
Struggling wildly in the water, Otosaka Yuu realized he was sinking fast—he didn't know how to swim.
Just as he thought he was done for, a mysterious force suddenly grabbed his clothes and hurled him onto the shore.
"That won't kill him, right?"
"Of course not, I had it under control."
"But I swear I just saw you flying up high enough to shake hands with the sun…"
Still dazed from being thrown onto land, Otosaka Yuu overheard two boys talking. One of the voices sounded eerily familiar.
When he looked up, he saw the very person who had been chasing him earlier.
And standing beside him was a man Otosaka Yuu would never forget for the rest of his life—Shiratori Hakuto.
"Shiratori Hakuto?!"
"Hey! Long time no see!"
"Like hell it is! I never wanted to see you again!"
Otosaka Yuu's temper flared instantly. Anyone would be pissed after being messed with like that, not to mention the feeling of being kept in the dark the entire time.
"Come on, don't be so mad. If you had just listened to my advice last night, none of this would have happened."
"What do you mean? And… who is he?"
Otosaka Yuu shifted his gaze to Jojiro, who had been standing beside Hakuto.
Even though Jojiro had been moving at high speeds the entire time, Otosaka Yuu managed to recognize him instantly thanks to his injured body and distinct middle-parted hairstyle.
"My name is Takajo Jojiro, a first-year student at Hoshinoumi Academy."
"Hoshinoumi?"
Otosaka Yuu had never heard of that name before. Wasn't Hakuto from Toyosaki? Why was he hanging around with someone from Hoshinoumi?
As Otosaka Yuu was lost in thought, a crumpled-up test paper suddenly appeared in front of his eyes out of nowhere.
"Hello, is this yours?"
"What… What the…? No, wait, how did that even get here?"
The one speaking was Nao. She had actually been crouching beside Hakuto the whole time, but Otosaka Yuu hadn't seen her because she had activated her ability.
"Is this yours?"
Nao held out the test paper Otosaka Yuu had discarded earlier, bouncing slightly as she slowly approached him.
"This is… How did you get that?"
"So you admit it's yours?"
"Let me see…" Nao held the test up to examine it carefully.
But no matter how long she looked, she couldn't make sense of it. The test was too difficult for her to understand.
It couldn't be helped. As the student council president of Hoshinoumi Academy, she spent most of her time tracking down ability users.
Studying had always been a lower priority.
Seeing this, Hakuto instinctively rolled his eyes and leaned in to whisper something in Nao's ear.
"Wow! Aside from the multiple-choice questions, everything else is wrong! Is this really the top student of Ichinose High's first-year class?"
"Wait… All the multiple-choice questions are correct?"
"Otosaka Yuu, why would I lie to you? The answers I gave you were definitely right."
"Then why were there so many consecutive B's at the end?"
"I was stuttering, you believe me?"
"You bastard!"
Otosaka Yuu glared at Hakuto, gritting his teeth as he pushed through his pain and lunged at him.
But just as he moved, Nao suddenly vanished from Hakuto's side.
Before Otosaka Yuu could react, an invisible attack landed squarely on his face.
"High kicks are cool and all, but aren't you wearing a skirt?"
"So what? I have safety shorts."
Flat on the ground, Otosaka Yuu was utterly bewildered. From his perspective, Nao had simply disappeared into thin air before attacking him.
"She vanished… Could it be invisibility?"
Otosaka Yuu suddenly had a realization.
He had just stirred up a nest of espers.
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Check out the other translations too: [Mash-Up: I'm Not A Substitute]
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