"Wait… Satoshi?" I blinked a few times, still not believing my eyes. "I don't know where you heard that name, but you can't be Satoshi Yamazaki. The kid I remember was shy, messy-haired, and always had this gloomy aura. You? You're a completely different person."
He chuckled, as if amused by my reaction. "Clan Leader, it's definitely me."
I immediately winced. "Don't call me that. I'm still trying to forget that embarrassing, weird name of yours." But… well, I had to admit, it did sound like him.
"Really?" I stared at him. "How did you change so much?"
He smirked, resting his chin on his hand. "Well, a lot has happened since our Clan Leader abandoned us."
I sighed dramatically. "Ugh, really? Stop with the 'Clan Leader' stuff."
"Okay, okay," he laughed, "I'll stop." He leaned forward slightly. "Anyway, why are you eating lunch all by yourself?"
Well, now I was in trouble. I couldn't directly say I didn't have any friends and had turned into a gloomy kid.
"Ah, well…" I rubbed the back of my head. "I suppose that I prefer to stay hidden from everyone's gazes."
He raised an eyebrow, giving me a skeptical look. "Yeah, there's no way you could be the quiet, loner type."
I shrugged, avoiding his eyes. "Well, actually, I am," I thought, but there was no way I was telling him that.
Satoshi then started to reminisce. "Haruki, you were always a cool and kind kid. Remember when you saved me from those bullies back when we were kids?"
I nodded. "Yeah... I clearly remember that day. It was after school, and a bunch of students were ganging up on you. And since I can't stand bullies—seriously, they boil my blood—I stepped in to help you."
Satoshi smiled. "Yeah, and that's when you started hanging out with me after school to keep them away. Eventually, we became good friends."
"Those days were pretty nice." I poked at my food absentmindedly. "We even had our own group of friends and completely stopped bullying in our school."
Satoshi smirked. "That's when you became our Clan Leader."
I sighed, shaking my head. "You just won't let that go, will you?"
Everything was going smoothly, but there was one problem: I could feel intense gazes from everyone in the class. They were murmuring,
"How did Haruki approach someone who is going to be a future star?"
"He's having lunch with the unapproachable!"
It was as if an invisible spotlight had been placed directly on me.
I subtly glanced around. Yep, all eyes were on us. Fantastic.
At this point, I'd like to remind everyone that I enjoy my peaceful, unnoticed existence. But nooo, fate just had to throw me into the social battlefield. I swear, if my life had a narrator, they'd be laughing at me right now.
Satoshi, on the other hand, seemed completely unbothered, casually taking another bite of his lunch. "Man, you'd think they've never seen two people talking before."
I sighed. "Welcome to my life."
After that, we talked a lot about our past, and before we knew it, the lunch break was over.
Wait. I forgot to ask him if he joined The Golden Circle. Based on his effortless looks and cool personality, I could already tell that he will be able to easily join it.