COTE: Ike Kanji - The Gremlin.

"What the fuck?!"

Ike Kanji ask to himself, neither too loudly nor too softly, as he tried to make sense of the surreal situation he was in.

If someone had been in his vicinity at that moment, they might have asked, "Is everything alright, Ike?"

But truthfully, Ike himself wouldn't have been able to give them a straight answer.

Not because he was insane—no, far from it—but because the words he'd utter would sound equally insane.

"I'm not Ike."

Anyone hearing that would understandably think, 'What the fuck?'

But, after some thought, if the person who talks to him were sympathetic, perhaps they would comfort him like this, 'It's ok Kanji, you don't need to loathe yourself.'

Because most people would assume he was joking—or worse, spiraling into some deep depression, and self hatred due to his reputation.

But no, it was the truth, and it was far stranger. And absolutely absurd.

Going back to the original question, well, it was a deep question, philosophically, rhetorically or symbolically.

Indeed, there is many things in the world that is wrong and could earn the sentence, "What the Fuck?!" For themselves.

In fact, it arguably can be used in most things.

Returning to the original question: What the hell was wrong with Ike Kanji? The only way to find out was to wait for him to explain.

"Where am I?" he muttered again, his voice tinged with confusion.

He glanced down at his arms, noticing the weight of a bundle of dry sticks he was holding.

Though they weren't particularly much nor heavy, his muscles were already protesting.

Although the sticks he hugged were dry, and the amount could only be called small, the person himself feel some irritation building up in his flexor and extensor compartments.

"What…?" He frowned.

His arms ached as though he'd been carrying boulders.

'Why does this feel so exhausting?'

He was annoyed, even though he did not understand what was happening to him, he find it irritatingly weird how his muscle could find the small amount of things he carried to be heavy.

As he contemplated dropping the sticks, a voice interrupted his thoughts. A soft, melodious one.

"You seem pretty healthy, boss." The voice was casual, yet oddly graceful.

The accent that was used, the pronounciation of each words, the enunciation and how the voice seems so relaxed and simultaneously joyous, all of those things combined were so uniquely elegant that Kanji could not decipher what the words themselve means.

A few seconds passes like that, strangely silent, even the forest that surrounds him, like one entity was awaiting that particular person, in case it might hum to them again.

"...Hello? Could you not hear me?" It was the same male voice, husky and deep, while also sounding like that of a boy before puberty at the same time.

Startled, Kanji turned toward the source of the voice.

"S-sorry?" he stammered, regaining a semblance of composure.

"I pardon you," the voice replied with a playful chuckle.

"Hmm... Still, I would have prefer to spooked you out for a bit though."

Kanji's eyes landed on the speaker: a boy of about his height but strikingly different in appearance.

The boy had a sharp jawline, offset by a youthful, almost babyish face.

Soft hazel eyes sparkled beneath deep-set brows, radiating a natural charm that was almost overwhelming.

Witnessing that, Kanji too, was frozen in place, wide mouth and unable to form a coherent question.

The boy, noticing the reaction, smiled warmly.

"Hmm... Let's set that aside for now. Go ahead—ask your question, boss."

"UH, Um... W—who are you?"

Hearing the question, the face of the boy immediately transformed, well, not in a sense of changing it literally, but the nuance in them was shifting definitely.

And...

"Be not afraid..." He spoke solemnly, with an eerily serious voice, but laugh heartily towards the end.

"Ha ha ha, Forgive me, I always wanted to say that at least once you see?"

The boy baffled Kanji, and the latter was just silently gazing at the former with an expression that looks as if he'd just inhaled a particularly bitter liquor.

But all he could do was wait, so he did.

"Ah... Well, that was uncalled for... Inhaled..." For a few more seconds, the boy collected himself while kanji just stood still and waited.

"I was too happy to finally be able to speak to you boss, I was hoping I'd make a few jokes to cheer you up."

"If you are filled with such a joy to see me, you should answer my question." Kanji suggested with some venom in his words.

"Forgive me, but I'm not in the mood to answer, and I can already imagine you have some guesses already."

Hearing the response, kanji strengthen his grip and closes his eyes.

"Inhale... Exhale... Inhale... Exhale..."

"Okay, okay," the boy continued, waving a hand dismissively.

To be honest Kanji was quite suprised himself, he had never been sarcastic with someone he was unfamiliar with, but the boy who stood in front of him was strangely irritating.

It would be close to how—only your siblings could push your button to make you seethed with intense rage, because they were responsible for developing that particular button to begins with.

The boy in front of him, while playful was perfectly executing that role, and strangely, kanji himself was comfortable enough to be sarcastic with him, which he finds to be similarly weird.

"Let me explain before you combust. You're not hallucinating, boss. You've transmigrated."

"Trans… what?"

"You've entered another world. Specifically, the world of Classroom of the Elite. A slightly altered version, because I thought it'd suit you better." He delivered the information with that same relaxing style of speaking.

"What the fuck are you talking about?" Kanji snapped, his patience wearing thin

"Simply put, you're Ike Kanji now. But you didn't replace him. Your consciousness is now linked to his, well he was you to begin with, a parallel version of you to be exact. You and he are essentially the same person, and… merged, now. Got it?"

The boy, perhaps finishing his sentence, remove his gaze from the sky and turn it towards Ike Kanji who had expressed a stupid expression. "You can ask now,"

Kanji stared blankly, trying to process this. "Why, you, I, incar... What?"

Because he was too confused, he decided to collect himself first, so he inhaled sharply.

And finally, he ask, "Why?"

"Because it was judged that you deserve more. I pleaded for this chance on your behalf."

"Judged? By who?"

The boy didn't answer directly.

Instead, he sighed and offered a bittersweet smile.

"I... Am your guardian, I suppose. I've been with you since the beginning—before you spoke your first words, I was with you when you first decided to speak, I was also beside you when you began crawling, even before you were conceived, and even before you were suppose to exist."

Kanji frowned.

The boy's tone was filled with a strange mix of nostalgia and sadness, making it hard to dismiss his words as nonsense.

"Your life… it wasn't great, was it?" the boy continued, his voice soft. "I always wished I could talk to you, you know?

There was a moment of silence. Kanji, overwhelmed and still skeptical, struggled to respond.

Opening his mouth, it seemed like the boy was about to add more, but in the end decided not to.

"Anyway, forget it. This might be the last time I appear in front of you..."

There was silence again, as if the boy didn't exactly know what to say more, or what to say less.

There was a conflict within him, Kanji noted with a frown, but before long the boy speak again.

"Ha ha... Anyway, it might be abrupt, but let's change the subject—"

It was then Kanji Finally interrupt, "I don't understand how you manage to talk in the most convoluted way possible."

"Ha ha... I'm sure you would get it..." The boy raised his voice, sounding more cheerful, "To the important parts!!! you have a few gifts from me...

Firstly, because I know you well, I have present you with an ability to adapt. Basically, with this, you'll match anyone who challenges you. If they're strong, you'll be just as strong—plus a little extra."

"....¿?"

"Don't give me that look, with this, you will match anyone who confront you, isn't that cool?"

"Ha? Why not..." Before he could finish, he noticed something strange.

The forest around them had gone eerily still. Leaves hung frozen in mid-air, and a bug that had been flying past was suspended motionless.

With thousands of different things going through his head, he look around, forgetting his previous dialogue.

"Why not?" The boy, perhaps wanting to continue probed.

"Uh, oh... Apology." He return his gaze at the boy who was still warmly gazing at him.

"Uh, things... Seems like they, are. Frozen?"

"Yes, because I wished to speak with you."

"Oh, wow..." He moved his eyes again, and finally jolted.

"…Time stopped?" Kanji whispered, his voice tinged with awe.

Then, without thinking, he blurted out, "Sexstopwatch—wait, no! That's not what I meant! That is not what I mean!!!"

The boy's warm smile remained unchanged, but Kanji could sense a subtle shift in his demeanor—like a disappointed teacher catching a student cheating.

"I'm disappointed, boss," the boy muttered with a sigh.

"And no, Your ability is cooler, as I said, you can immediately match with whoever confronts you, for example, say they are two at strength, you will be immediately two at strength, plus 1/5 of your original strength."

"Tch... Thui..."

"Also your dynamic visio—" The boy's eye twitch slightly as kanji look at the side with some dissatisfaction.

"Did, did you just "Tch" at me?"

"No, I don't remember ever doing that."

"You certain... Anyway..." The boy look at his body and chuckled, "Remember, it is entirely because of me that you are here."

Frowning, Kanji gave a sidelong glance to the boy.

"Is that a threat?"

"A ha ha, no, just let me finish. As I said, it is entirely because of me that you are here, While I wanted for you to act in an orthodox way, I can certainly guess that you would fail to do so..."

The boy looks downcast, "Keeping that aside, As mentioned before, there are discrepancy between what you know and this world, it is in your discretion to act in however way you wished..."

As he spoke, his form began to fade, dissolving into the still air.

"Most of all... Live well, boss," he said, his voice echoing faintly.

"Oh! And you'll grow too. That's my second gift."

And just like that, he was gone.

Kanji stood there, dumbfounded, clutching his bundle of sticks as the forest resumed its gentle rustling around him.

"What the fuck…" he muttered again, his voice barely above a whisper this time.