Start in DxD as Motohama: Leveling Up in Another World-Chapter 35: Everything will be fine as long as you don’t lose who you are.

It's been a while since Shinji started his new life—not just in a new class with new friends, but also with three women.

Somehow, they've managed to create some kind of coexistence.

What Shinji never expected was for Tamaki to have such... questionable luck. Or maybe it would be better to say he never thought it could be real.

No matter how many times he saw it, he couldn't believe that just by tripping, Tamaki could end up in her underwear or completely naked. He always thought those things were just jokes from anime. Seeing it with his own eyes... there's no way to describe it.

Putting that aside, surprisingly, things were going so well that Shinji was scared it might all be an illusion.

An example of this was the good relationship he had managed to establish with Tsubasa.

As he walked, he felt many more eyes on him than usual.

"Wait! Isn't that the guy from the magazine!?"

"No way! Isn't that the uniform from Kuoh Academy!?"

"He looks even cooler than in the pictures!"

"Thank God ~, I can finally see him here."

Some people even joined their hands while staring at him for some reason. Shinji wondered if they were praying or something like that.

His eyes widened at this thought. "Motohama's cult" was not something he was prepared for yet.

Then, one of the girls who had been staring at him spoke up.

"E-Excuse me!"

"Yes?"

"Can we shake hands?"

"Eh!?"

Shinji looked at his hand, wondering if there was something special about it. Maybe it was related to a TV show or something like that? He didn't think it had anything to do with the incident where he saved Murayama and Katase. It was way too embarrassing for them to mention.

He was confused by this unreasonable situation. Then, the other girls who had been staring at him all approached at once.

"Me too, please!"

"Hey, that's not fair!"

"Can I take a picture?"

"Please, be my friend...!"

He couldn't think of any reason why strangers would ask him to shake their hands, but not wanting to seem rude, he obliged. Except for the one who asked to be his friend—he didn't want to get carried away without understanding what was going on.

"Ah! He shook my hand!"

"He shook mine too! Mine too!"

"I'm not washing this hand all day."

The girls' stares reminded him of those crazy fangirls from his old world.

Feeling a bit scared by suddenly being surrounded by strangers, he headed to school to escape. He couldn't help but wonder if this was how Kiba felt. At school, as he walked down the hallway, somehow, many students were also staring at him while whispering, so the anxiety inside him only grew.

Still, he decided to put on a confident smile, drawing everyone's attention. He found it a little funny when they started tripping over each other.

At the end of class, he walked into the room not knowing what to expect and sat at his desk when Kaede suddenly approached, excited.

"Ah, Shinji-kun! Shinji-kun! Good morning!"

"Good morning. You're in a good mood this morning, huh? Did something happen?"

"I'm always like this, aren't I? Anyway, look at this!"

"Eh?"

Kaede suddenly placed a magazine on his desk.

"Here! This page! It's Shinji-kun in the picture with Ai-chan, right?"

"Oh yeah, that's me. The magazine was published, well..."

He remembered that a while ago he had done a photo shoot with the model, Ai-san, at a shopping mall.

"...But when was this photo taken?"

Shinji murmured, confused.

The picture in the magazine showed Ai and him chatting happily on a bench. Shinji remembered that the photo wasn't staged by André; in fact, it was the moment when he had been talking with Ai about modeling.

"So that's why no more photos were taken, huh?"

Another murmur escaped his lips.

That was the only photo where he seemed to be laughing naturally. Other pictures were used, but the bench photo was the largest; it spanned two opposite pages.

Kaede sighed softly, staring at the magazine by herself, convinced.

"Hahh ~... So, it really is Shinji-kun, huh. This photo is so good."

"Really? Thanks. But the photographer was great. Ai-san was amazing too."

"No, no, no! It's because Shinji-kun is in the picture with Ai-san, that's why the photo looks so amazing!"

Shinji smiled bitterly, remembering the photo shoot and how stiff his body had been, causing a lot of problems.

Then Kaede suddenly pointed at a picture, pouting with her cheeks puffed up.

"But isn't this too close?"

"Eh?"

The picture Kaede pointed to was the only one where Ai had hugged him.

"I know it's work, but... are you two dating?"

"Eh!? N-no, we're not!"

"Hm... I see... so you're not dating yet..."

He hurriedly denied it, but as he looked at Kaede, who seemed relieved, a thought crossed Shinji's mind.

Is she in love with me?

The moment the thought appeared, he dismissed it.

They had barely known each other for a while. There was no way that could just happen like this.

While talking to Kaede, many other students were also talking while glancing at him.

"Look, look, it's Shinji-kun!"

"The photos are great, but still, you can definitely tell the difference in experience."

"Hahh... I thought it was cool, but I never imagined I'd do a photo shoot with the popular model Ai-chan..."

"But Shinji-kun is so kind. Somehow, I feel calm when I see him talking with Ryo-kun and the others."

"Tell me more about that!"

"Eh, wh-what? You scared me..."

Looking around the classroom, it seemed like there were many students who had seen the magazine besides Kaede.

It was then that Shinji started to understand what was happening. However, he wasn't entirely sure that a photo in a magazine could have such an impact.

As he thought about this, Ryo and Shingo entered the classroom, and as soon as they spotted him, they rushed over at full speed.

"Hey, Shinji! I knew you were amazing!"

"Amazing?"

"Yeah, you were on TV!"

"Eh?"

He could only let out a silly sound upon hearing Ryo's words. He... on TV?

"No, no, stop joking around. I don't remember being on TV."

"It's true, you know. You're the guy in the photo with Ai-san, the model whose popularity is skyrocketing..."

"... Really?"

"I'm serious. Look!"

Ryo showed him some of the news posted on a video site with his smartphone.

(── Anyway, who's the guy in the photo with Ai-chan?)

(He's like a supernova that suddenly appeared.)

(Yeah. He's good-looking, but that aura, which you can even see in the photo, is a little different from idols and actors. That elegance isn't something everyone can pull off. I can't believe he's just a regular guy. Let alone a newbie!)

(It's strange there hasn't been more of a fuss about him until now.)

(The industry people must want to get him, right?)

(That's amazing, isn't it?)

Shinji was speechless in amazement as he watched the video.

"... From what I saw, the way Shinji was, I can't believe it was you..."

"Eh, is that so?"

"B-but, Shinji-kun, you're completely frozen..."

Now everything started to click.

"... So that's why so many people saw me and talked to me this morning..."

He murmured while continuing to watch the video. Until he heard Kaede's excited voice.

"It's amazing. Shinji-kun has become a hot topic among the girls right now!"

"I don't understand why people get so excited about me like that... after all, I'm nothing. I'm not even an active idol."

The moment he said that, the three people looked at him with expressions like they had been hit by a void.

"Eh? What's wrong?"

"U-um, Shinji? Are you serious about what you just said?"

"Yes."

Shinji was sure that, while his appearance was above average, even among ikemen, this was all too exaggerated. At the end of the day, it was André's skill, along with Ai's beauty and popularity, that was behind the whole thing. In his eyes, they deserved all the recognition.

"Isn't your self-confidence a bit low?" Ryo asked.

"Uh? You think so? To me, it's enough. And stuff like this only makes it grow more. But I don't want to become the center of the world. I won't be able to live my normal life if that happens."

The guys let out a sigh after hearing Shinji's words. An ironic smile appeared on everyone's faces.

"So that's it."

"Well, it's clear that Shinji's life from now on is going to get a lot more hectic."

Shinji smiled bitterly after hearing Shingo's words. In fact, being famous was just the tip of the iceberg in his life. He had bigger concerns.

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"As long as you don't lose yourself, everything will be fine," Kaede said with a smile.

Shinji nodded in response.