Cardfight!! Vanguard: Generations Volume 1.5 [Dr Yukimura]

- Part 3

It was now lunch time, which gave us an hour or so break to relax and talk to our friends. Seeing as I needed to save up points for a certain something, I decided to skip lunch. To compensate, I usually ask for extra when Fumio and Himeji cooks dinner for everyone in the Drachma Red dorms.

As I've started to skip lunch, my new routine became going to the library with Nora. The school library was really impressive, with shelves upon shelves of books and a nice, cozy atmosphere. I could reliably find a new light novel series without much effort, especially since the student librarians were hospitable people.

"Let's go, Takanori-kun."

Nora was smiling more than usual as we walked to the library.

"Did something good happen?"

"U-um... not particularly..."

"I see. You look happy."

If there was one thing I appreciated, it was that Nora was like me when it came to socialising, and thus understood the troubles of communication. That's why, even though I was talking to him in a cut and dry manner, he didn't judge me for it.

"I-I do?"

"Even more so than usual."

I suspect it has to be the new attention he gained from his new appearance.

"Sorry..."

"You don't have to apologise."

I didn't mean to ruin his good mood. Seeing Nora happy was a nice change of pace, since he usually has an anxious expression.

"S-so... um... I finished volume 8 of TOP during break time..."

"Oh, really? What did you think about it?"

"I-I think... the story got better towards the end. When Kiyo-kun got involved more I mean... because he had to overcome the threat of Yoichi's plan..."

In some aspects, TOP reminded me of my life here, because it also took place in an intense, cutthroat, high school setting. The protagonist, Minamoto Kiyotaka, has to battle his way from the bottom of the school all the way to the top, and various students get in his way due to a conspiracy against him.

The school is like a tower. When the students enter the school, they are placed on a level indicative of their rank. At each level of the school, the students on that level have to achieve a certain "invisible goal" in order to proceed, with hints being provided along the way and a set time frame.

If they can achieve the goal, they would ascend a level. If not, they would descend a level. This made the story interesting as each volume focused on a different level and what the goal of that level was, and the levels always kept changing goals, so when the characters descend, they aren't repeating the same level.

It leaned heavily into psychological and thriller aspects, with lots of strong characterisation and mind-blowing solutions to the problems. What made it chilling was the story was set in reality, with no fantasy aspects except the unrealistic school. It made you believe this really did exist in our world somewhere.

I suppose GEN Academy might be the closest thing we'll get to the story in real life.

"I'm going to return this volume first. Could you wait for me?"

"Sure."

Me and Nora entered the library, going up to the front desk. The student librarian sitting behind it, Tokihara Mitsuki, a 2nd Year from B Class, greeted us.

"Afternoon, Takanori-san, and um... you brought a new friend today?"

"O-oh no, I'm, um... Nora... I'd like to return this..."