I'm Just A Chuunibyou: Why are Maidens Falling for Me? [Volume 1] (Remastered)

Chapter 1: A new beginning.

April has arrived, which means spring has come. Petals from cherry blossom trees began to fall, painting the road in a light pink hue. The sun had just risen, and birds were chirping a welcoming melody that we hadn't heard in a while, as they had just returned from their migration.

Shops and stalls opened, for them, today is another day for business opportunities. The streets have now become lively, as more and more people have started to walk by, filling the streets. And you can't help but wonder, where are these people going? However, it was quite noticeable that most of them were wearing school uniforms, likely heading to school. After all, it's already April, marking the beginning of a new term and the start of a new school year.

Seeing all these students scattered around, commuting to school, there was some loitering at your local convenience store, and some who just woke up, tardily dressed and yawning. Seeing these youths, really gives off that new-term vibe every beginning of April.

There was the local elderly neighbor walking their dog, the cheerful chirping of birds, and students laughing with their friends over trivial conversations. Everything seemed to be going as it does every fresh start of April—nothing felt strange or out of the ordinary... except for one particular person.

"The wind of change is approaching." He declared.

A young man with black and messy hair, his bangs blocking almost half of his face, with only his left eye peaking.

"How long has it been since I last basked in the sunlight? ...It's warm." he muttered to himself.

Along with his overly grown bangs, already blocking most of the view of his face, he also wears a black mask reaching up to his nose making it even harder to do so.

"The abyss is upon us... The hands of time, began to turn once more... We have little time remaining..."

The clothes that he wears was far from  ordinary. He wears a red long coat that seems to be his school uniform, modified to look like a long coat, and fingerless gloves on both of his hands, a sword slung on his back, sheathed inside a scabbard as if telling everyone he was a man of the swords.

"As for me? My name is... wait, who am I?" he said, pretending to ponder as if he had forgotten who he was. Then he continued, "Oh yeah, that's right..." He snickered, which slowly developed into frantic laughter, as if he recalled something important about himself. 

"I am Phantom! The hero who dwells in the shadows!"

He clenched his fist, thinking to himself, 'Kukuku, nailed the introduction.' He self-complimented after delivering his chuunibyou lines.

"Now for some exposition" he mumbled. He then placed his foot on the bench under the cherry blossom tree. He struck a cool pose—or at least he thought was cool.

"The world might not remember my name, but I still remember the world."

He struck another pose, placing his hand over his face with one eye peeking through the gaps between his fingers.

"Even if no one remembers, nor I am rewarded for my deeds, I, Phantom will carry out justice, and vanquish all evil out of this world."

He clenched his fist tightly, as if making his resolution. The same time, felt satisfied with the delivery of his dialogue.

He sighs, thinking to himself 'Haha. I'm so cool...'

"What's up with that guy?" a passerby remarked.

"Don't look at him, he looks very troublesome." said another.

Who is this weird, delusional boy—clear as day a chuunibyou you might ask? He is none other than this story's protagonist, Yukiya Saito.

Hi, my name is Yukiya Saito, an average 16-year-old high school boy you could find anywhere. Well, that would have been my introduction if I weren't, in fact, "Phantom," the hero who lives in the shadows. [Yep, a total chuunibyou.]

Chūnibyō (中二病) is a Japanese colloquial term typically used to describe early teens who have grandiose delusions, who desperately want to stand out, and who have convinced themselves that they possess hidden knowledge or secret powers.

I don't know when or how it started. From an anime perhaps? From a movie? Well, it's not that relevant. As long as you know that I like cool stuff like heroes of the shadows, magic, and such, that's all that really matters.

It's not like the things I like are limited to shadow heroes though. I like everything that I perceive as cool, and it just so happens that Shadow Hero is at the peak of them all.

Shadow heroes, also known as silent heroes. The main thing that sets them apart from your typical heroes is that they don't get recognized for their deeds. A person who helps people from the shadows without seeking anything in return. In other words, the "ultimate vigilante".

Why are they the ultimate vigilante you ask? Because they're mysterious and cool! Everyone loves them mysterious characters. That's the reason why I try to imitate them as much as I possibly could because I wanted to be cool myself.

In other words, I want to be the "mysterious character".

Yukiya Saito, is a 16-year-old chuunibyou who's just starting his new journey in life that is called high school, is now currently walking his way to school.

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[Yukiya's POV]

On the way to school.

My house is just about four kilometers away from the school I'll be attending to. Some students with that distance prefer riding bikes, most by train, or bus as form of transportation. However, for me, I much prefer walking because, you know, there's no shadow hero who commute to school riding on a bicycle. Let's say if batman took the bus to the crime scene, wouldn't he look like just some guy in a bat suit on his way to a party? Or so I thought that bicycles doesn't match well to my mysterious aesthetics.

'What's up with that outfit?', 'Weird,' 'Is he a cosplayer...?' 'Ah, it's one of those chuunibyous.'

As I walked along with other people on the sidewalk, people stared at me oddly. People have mixed opinions, judging my clothes that only could be considered flashy and edgy. Thinking I was crazy, people move out of the way, trying to maintain distance from me, even avoiding eye contact as much as possible. Like, you know, like people in clown costumes you try to avoid, fearing you'd be dragged along with their weird antics. Though I thought of myself as the coolest person around at that time.

Well, chuunibyous aren't really that welcome for their strange behavior, but I haven't really grasp that. Back in my old school it wasn't treated as a bad thing, they just accepted it as my character trait. I just thought that they moved out of the way because of the intimidating aura I gave as an intimidating and serious hero from the shadows.

In other words, I just thought that my powers are leaking out and they probably feel my blood lust. Kukuku.

"Um, Excuse me. Do you know where- Eekk!"

A random girl tried asking me for directions, but as soon as I turned my gaze around and stared at her, she ran away. She had mistaken that I was angrily glaring at her for bothering me, but it was actually because of my long bangs that were on the way making it hard to see. I was just trying to focus my vision to get a good look at the person asking.

'Why did she run away? Was it because of my Phantom attire...? So, it was effective huh. Kukuku.' I thought as I reflect on the clothes I am wearing right now.

A shadow hero's character trait: [Intimidating.]

This is also one of the reasons why I don't find it strange that people are moving around me. This is my first time wearing the "Phantom attire" out in public, as part of my high school debut, and seeing that girl's reaction, it seems to be effective, which made me kind of happy.

"Kukuku... Ku HA HA HA HA!"

I burst into a hysterical laugh, sounding like a maniac as if a villain had just achieved his goal. This was part of my shadow hero persona, and I thought this kind of laughter was really cool, so I practiced it a lot on the mirror. Now, I was putting it to good use.  

To be honest, at first I was embarrassed wearing this kind of outfit in public, but not anymore. Now, it's just like any other outfit I have in my wardrobe.

While not being aware I was being avoided, I just took it as my phantom attire playing at work, making me look intimidating and hard to approach.

And so, I continued leisurely walking my way to school.