In front of Lucien was Yukihino Rina, one of the most beautiful girls in the school.
Right now he was in Arifu Center, the most popular shopping center in Arifu district. Many students like to spend their time after school at this place so it was natural seeing fellow schoolmates.
“Oh, hi Yukihino-san.”
Lucien wasn’t an arrogant person. Seeing the girl greeted him first, he naturally returned the greeting.
“Y-You actually know m-my name.”
Well, she seemed so nervous that she couldn’t form a proper sentence.
“You also know my name, right? We are classmates after all.”
“U-Umu, you’re right. S-Santosa-kun, c-can I ask you what you are doing?”
She was like a different person compared to her when chasing bullies. ‘Does talking to me make you this nervous? Then why are you talking to me then?’
Lucien was a bit curious about this girl’s head.
‘Well, at least she is talking to me. Maybe she can be my first classmate?’
He was happy at the possibility. Having friends in his lonely school life was what he want. Moreover, which guy doesn’t like to talk to a beautiful girl, especially when she was the one who started up a conversation.
“Well, I’m looking for something to buy.”
“B-But this floor is for girl’s commodities. M-Maybe you are buying a g-gift to U-Ushiyama-Senpai?”
Ushiyama was the family name of Shiori, Lucien’s senpai.
“W-Why do you think I’m buying for Senpai?” Lucien tilted his head wondering how this girl came to this conclusion.
“A-Aren’t you guys d-dating?” Yukihino said with a red face while twirling her fingers.
“Pftt!” Hearing the answer, Lucien almost spat out blood out uncontrollably. Although he already knew about the rumor, he didn’t expect that even his classmate took it seriously.
“W-What? D-Did I say s-something wrong?”
“Well, Yukihino-san, that was just a rumor. She is only my senpai and we don’t have that type of relationship.”
Even though Shiori-Senpai told him to ignore the rumor, he still felt like he needed to clarify about it. Because Senpai was a girl, this type of rumor wasn’t good for her. The rumor might escalate if no one knew the truth.
“Phew, that’s good.” Yukihino seemed a bit relief.
“What?”
“N-No, no, nothing.”
Lucien was stupefied. ‘What the hell? Does she like me? Isn’t she supposed to end up with that Shin-kun of her?’
“T-Then, who are you buying gift to?” She asked him once more like she really wanted to know.
“It’s my g-, no, my sister. I did something bad to her so I would like to apologize with a gift.” He flustered a bit when he almost blurted out ‘my girl’.
“Ehh, you have a sister?”
They decided to walk together as they talked. Yukihino kept stealing him a glance from time to time while Lucien was busy looking around.
It wasn’t that he didn’t notice her action, he was just a bit embarrassed to point it out. Although he seemed to be familiar with Alicia, it was because he had been seeing her as sister for years in Abyss.
As for Shiori-Senpai, there was no romantic feeling. Both of them just wanted a friend.
Therefore, his experience with girls was practically none, especially, toward the girls who seem to develop a crush on him.
The girl beside him, Yukihino Rina, was definitely one of the case. He didn’t know how, but this girl was able to ignore all the piercing gazes from other girls around her and approached him. Or maybe she was too pure to notice?
And so Lucien decided to act like a dense main character from anime, not noticing the girl’s obvious action. Although she tried to hide it, her actions were very clear in his eyes.
After 15 minutes, she decided to advance her move.
“L-Lucien-kun, I can call you L-Lucien-kun, right?”
“S-Sure, Yukihino-san.” Lucien tried to be as calm as possible. Her dynamic really caught him embarrassed.
“Y-You should call me R-Rina too.” Yukihino, no, Rina covered her face with her hands shyly. That action really dealt a bit of damage to Lucien’s heart.
‘S-She’s quite cute- No, I only have Alicia in my heart.’
“Ok, R-Rina-chan”
From what he knew, the way of calling each other in Japan was very important. It represented the relationship between them. Although they had only started to talk to each other for a short period, calling each other first name meant that they both were interested in each other.
It could be an interest in being friends as well, so Lucien felt like it was fine to be closer with her, as long as he made sure to give her a friend card.
Hearing ‘Rina-chan’ coming from his mouth, Rina was so embarrassed that she wanted to dig a hole for herself and jump in.
Stolen story; please report.
Meanwhile, Lucien looked at her action and turned curious. ‘Is there still such a pure girl in this modern society? She looks just like an anime character.’
In the current era, most girls don’t act pure and reserved anymore, especially the good-looking ones. There were many girls who lose their virginity in middle school.
Society nowaday was very open and many girls like to go to nightclub to find a nice random wood to play with. Some girls acted pure but changing their boyfriends every months.
Of course, not all girls were of those types. But well, a good-looking with good personality girl was like a needle in haystacks.
From his observation, Rina seemed really nice. He hadn’t found anything bad about her yet. Moreover, she looked pure and cute despite being a high school girl already. That’s why he was curious.
‘Is there really this kind of perfect girl in this world? Or am I being too pessimistic?’
Well, there was Senpai too, a nice girl, but he hadn’t seen her asa target of love interest. As for Alicia, she was not from Earth so she wasn’t count.
“Do you have any ideas what I should buy?”
Setting other things aside, Lucien decided to ask her for an advice.
“Um, How old is your sister, Lucien-kun?” Rina could now talk with him normally.
“A few years older than me.”
‘At least from her appearance.’ He added in his mind.
“Is she still studying?”
“Nope.”
“If she’s a young adult, maybe a perfume or makeup?” Rina actually had no ideas too. She was just a high school girl that liked cute and fluffy stuff. She didn’t know much older woman but she wanted to be of help to Lucien.
“Well, I know nothing about them and I don’t want to buy something consumable.” Lucien rejected the idea. He wanted something memorable. Something that Alicia could use daily and think of him every time she sees it.
“Uh, w-what about an accessory, like bracelets or necklace?” She tried again.
“I know a good place if you want.” She knew a bit about accessory shop from her friends.
“Hm, good idea. Let’s go to the jewelry store then.”
“U-Uh, I meant the normal one made from iron or stainless, not real j-jewelry. T-Those are very expensive.”
“Nah, don’t worry about the price, let’s go.”
“U-Uh, alright.”
The two then walked to the jewelry zone of the shopping center. Rina seemed a bit nervous as it was her first time surrounded by nice and expensive looking jewelries.
The two’s student uniforms really stood out as most people were wearing gaudy suits and dresses. The officers sent them a suspicious gaze but they didn’t do anything as this was not a forbidden zone.
Some rich guys even gave a look of disdain toward them, making Rina even more embarrassed. She held the hem of Lucien’s shirt as she lowered her face.
There were many luxurious accessories here. Lucien thought that Alicia would be even more beautiful wearing them. Still, he wasn’t sure about his artistic sense so he asked Rina for an opinion.
“Rina-chan, I want to buy a necklace. Which one do you think is good?”
After walking around for a while, Rina seemed to gain some of her composure.
“T-They are all b-beautiful. Your sister would be h-happy from any of them.” Well, Rina was still nervous.
She was blaming that how useless she was. She knew nothing about jewelry fashion at all.
Lucien continued to look around for a bit before going to the counter. The shopkeeper had a good personality. She didn’t look down on them at all and greeted with a smile.
“May I help you?”
She said as she sent Rina a ‘Good job picking such a rich boyfriend’ glance, turning her completely red.
“I’m looking for a present for my sister. What do you recommend?” Asked Lucien, not being aware of what was going on.
“What about this necklace?” The shopkeeper pointed at the nice diamond necklace. It had a flower petal shape, looking dazzling.
“Umm, this one is a bit.. I don’t know. I’m looking for something that would suit my sister. She’s an angel.” Lucien pondered as he told her.
“You must love your sister a lot, to describe her like that.” The shopkeeper was a bit surprised. She misunderstood that he was talking about Rina. ‘She’s his sister? Maybe they aren’t related by blood?’
Lucien smiled, “I really love her. She’s the most important person in my life.”
Although those words didn’t direct to her, Rina felt bashful for some reason. ‘If only that person is me…’
“How about this one, sir?” She pointed the nearby necklace and sent Rina a secret wink.
Lucien’s eyes lit up when he saw the necklace. It had a shape of a pair of angel wings, similar to what Alicia had before. The necklace wasn’t too gorgeous but high-end and exquisite. He knew right away that this was the one he was looking for.
“Alright, I will have this one.”
While the shopkeeper was casing the necklace, Lucien turned to Rina. “Rina-chan, thanks for coming with me.”
“S-Sorry, Lucien-kun. I couldn’t help you choose at all.” She was upset at herself.
“No, you actually actually help me a lot, Rina-chan. Right, Let me buy you a present too.” Although Lucien had decided to firmly give her a friend card, he couldn’t help but acting generous to a beautiful girl.
“N-Not good, Lucien-kun, I don’t need anything! Moreover, these are so expensive.” Rina quickly shook her head.
“It’s fine, I have lots of money,” Lucien then turned to the shopkeeper. “Miss, can you help me choose a present for my friend as well?”
“S-She’s your friend?” The shopkeeper was stunned.
“Right”
After 5 minutes, Lucien finally bought a topaz bracelet for Rina.
“L-L-Lucien-kun!?”
“Just take it, Rina-chan. Think of it as a present for being the only one talking to me among all the classmates.” He said with cool smile and added. “We’re friends, right?”
“F-Friends, y-yes, yes we are.” Rina took the present with her trembling hands.
“Alright then. Bye, Rina-chan, see you tomorrow!” Lucien waved his hand at her and walked home, leaving her stunned at his suaveness.
“You gotta catch him with all you have.”, whispered the shopkeeper from the side.
Rina unknowingly nodded. Her face then turned beet red as quickly walked away.
When she reached her home, she placed the bracelet on her desk, not daring to touch it.
Normally, Rina was a very cheerful and lively girl. She have been treating everyone in her class equally like friends since she was young. However, she didn’t know why she hadn’t talk to Lucien at all since the school started.
Every time she looked at him, her heart beated fast, especially when she accidentally saw his smile. However, the feeling she had was more like a girl when looking at a handsome actor.
She had always been curious about him and wanted to talk to him. But she always felt an invisible chillness from her friends everytime she looked at him for more than a second.
Today, since she saw him at the girl shopping zone alone, Rina decided to greet him and used this chance to know him more.
She didn’t know why but she was a bit nervous talking to him as she had never been like this to anybody. She could even yell at bullies but couldn’t even form a normal sentence in front of him.
The more she spent time with him, the less she could control herself to not keep stealing him a glance. He looked so cool and nice, making her face hot all the time.
On her bed, Rina looked at the bracelet and thought of Lucien bashfully. Her hand started to unconsciously move toward the place below her belly.
That night, Rina experienced the feeling she had never imagined in her life.
--------------------------------------------
As for the person who had unknowingly tainted such a pure heart girl, Lucien was standing in front of Alicia’s room in the middle of the night in concealment, trying to calm himself down with a necklace in his hand.
Right when he was about to cancel the concealment and knock the door-
“Lulu~”
A bewitching voice could be heard from the inside her room...