“My name is Rolo Spencer, it’s a pleasure to meet all of you. I’m deeply grateful to be part of this class and I hope that we’ll all get along.”

Damn it! I told them my old name. You would think that I would get used to calling myself Rolo Valero after all these years, but I guess I’m still Rolo Spencer deep inside.

Today is the first day of our 1st year in university. I was held back for a few years because of the incident, so I am only now starting my uni life. It was tough to get in at Mulberry University, but thanks to the Valero family’s influence, I was able to enter without a hitch; even though I feel like there’s some form of nepotism involved with this.

But unlike my time back in high school, everyone here seems to be nice.

I guess high school is just a chasm for horrible people doing horrible things. I mean, I am an easy target for bullying. My appearance has been severely altered by the burns I received back then, as my left side is still showing the burns of yester-decade to this very day. I believe they’ve called me a “Half-and-Half Bastard” and a “Yin-Yang YoYo”, with that second one being quite idiotic.

Now that I think about it, maybe these people are just nicer to me because of my appearance. Maybe, university students gain a level of empathy that was lacking in their high school days, that they’ve shifted from bullying into pity. I’m not even sure if that’s an upgrade or not. But nevertheless, I’m just glad that there’s no conflict of any kind here with me.

Enough about my commentary about my fellow student, my seat in the arrangement is in the back rows. More specifically, a seat to the right of the empty window seat.

Now, I was supposed to sit there, but apparently someone named Amelia already owns that seat. I have no idea what that means or who that girl is, but I didn’t mind not sitting on that particular spot. I am curious as to why this Amelia girl isn’t around though, but not curious enough to actually ask people about her.

University classes are not that much different from high school classes, surprisingly enough. The only difference is that we’re actually learning new things in university, rather than the same thing we’ve learned from elementary school, over and over again. But what is rather surprising is the fact that time seems to move quicker this time around. And before I could even check what time it was, it was already the end of that particular class.

“Man, that went by like a breeze. HIgh school classes always felt like eternity, so this is definitely a good start,” I mutter to myself.

My next class for today is 6 hours later, so I have a lot of free time on my hands before that. Considering that it’s almost noon, I decided to walk around and try to find a spot to eat lunch. And as I was walking down the halls, I saw Raina walking across the halls with other students following her around.

She’s currently in her 4th year here, despite us being the same age. But just like in high school, she’s also the president of the student government here. I’d say she’s an overachiever, but she didn’t like it when I told her that.

While she was busy chatting with them, she noticed me and immediately ran up towards me. She then asked, “Hey! How’s your first day so far?”

“It’s alright, I guess. The classes flew by quickly and smoothly,” I said.

“That’s odd, classes are usually like passing a kidney stone,” she jokingly says. She lightly bumped my shoulder with her fist and said, “Oh well, glad to see you’re having a jolly good time, Rolo.”

“I most certainly am,” I replied.

And without even changing a beat, she walks closer to me and whispers in my ear, “You haven’t used you-know-what here yet, have you?”

“I haven’t, and I don’t plan on doing so. You all made it very clear before we left home earlier,” I replied.

She leans back and smiles, “Well, good! As your big sister, I have to make sure that you’re acting like a functioning member of society!”

“We’re the same age, Raina,” I point out.

“I’m 29 days older than you,” she specifically points out.

Well, she’s not wrong on that one.

“I can see that you’re being followed by a bunch of people… I’m assuming they’re members of the student government,” I mutter.

“Yep, you got that right. We’re going to have a meeting in a few minutes, so I personally chauffeured my people to the place our meeting is held,” she replies.

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“Your dedication is awe-inspiring,” I said. I smile and say, “Well, it does look like you’re all busy doing… something. So, I’m going to bid you adieu for now and I’ll see you later after classes.”

“Indeed you are! Well, off you go!” she says, as she runs back to the crowd of people.

Raina is definitely the leader type. I mean, not only is she smart and sociable, she’s also elegance personified. Her every move is just oozing with style, class, and well, elegance! Man, it must be tough to be like that everyday, I’d imagine. And I’m just now realizing that the name Valero carries a heavy burden. I certainly won’t be able to carry that load, not even close.

Even her younger sister could probably do it better than I could, even though she shuts herself inside her room every day. In the past 10 years, I think I’ve only seen her a couple of times. Is she even okay there?

After Raina and her cronies disappeared from my sight, I began walking the opposite direction. But as soon as I turned around, I was confronted by a student that I’m not particularly familiar with, but I can tell that this guy is a senior by his uniform.

“Can I help you?” I ask.

“What’s so special about you?” he asks with such vitriol in his tone.

“I beg your pardon?”

“You’re a freshman, aren’t you?” he asks.

“Yes, I am.”

“Then, how in the hell were you able to make the beautiful, classy, and smart Raina Valero run up to you looking so happy? Tell me!” he inquires and subsequently grabs me by my collar.

“Can you please let go of me?”

“Answer my question, pleb.”

Remember all the things I said earlier about the difference between high school and university culture? I guess we can forget about all that, as this guy is clearly cuckoo for cocoa puffs. I almost thought that I would last an entire day without someone grabbing me by the collar and calling me names, but I was fooled by that first class.

I should’ve seen this coming, but this guy is a bit weird.

I mean, doesn’t he know that I’m an adopted child of the Valeros?

Either way, he’s actually making it hard to breathe and talk because of how tightly he’s grabbing me by my collar. I need to make this misunderstanding disappear before it escalates even further.

“Well, cat got your tongue?” he mockingly says.

If you would let go, maybe I can answer your question! You’re not a telepath, so I doubt you can read my mind right now. It would really be convenient if you could read it, so you’ll understand why I can’t say anything!

“Huh?” he mutters.

I would’ve mumbled something like that, because I feel like the both of us felt a heavy and dark aura manifest itself nearby and it’s getting closer and closer, like a perfect storm ready to tear down everything in its path. I felt chills on the back of my neck, as I’ve become aware of what this familiar, malignant aura actually is, as a hand appears to grab this guy’s shoulder with such force that he couldn’t keep his grasps on my collar.

I fell on my knees and coughed for a bit, since I was seriously losing breath from his clutches. I looked up and my suspicions were correct, the one who grabbed him is Raina and she’s totally pissed off.

“What’s going on here, Grant?” Raina inquires… menacingly.

Ah, so this guy’s name is Grant.

“R-R-R-Raina! I-I-I’m sorry! I was just trying to…” he was shaking.

“Zip it!” She cuts him off and squeezes his shoulders even tighter, causing him to squeal in pain. He falls to his knees and she proceeds to give him threats. “Let me make one thing clear, you are not to harm him by any means. If I even get a whiff or rumor that you did something to him, no matter how miniscule, I will come for you and you’re lucky if you’ll only get a separated shoulder. Is that clear, Grant?”

“I’ll leave him alone! I promise!” an immediate response.

She finally lets go of her grip and tells him, “Good. Now, scram before I rip your arm off of your body!”

Grant scampers away in fear as soon as Raina finishes talking. But as he was running away, I could see that he had a smile on his face too, which was a bit weird. Either way, I’m pretty sure that Raina meant it when she said she'd rip his arm off, I have no problem believing that one bit. She’s definitely scary and I wouldn’t want to get on her bad side again.

Never again.

“Are you alright?” she asks while she’s helping me up on my feet

“I’m alright, it’s nothing I haven’t experienced before,” I said, which might be a cause for alarm. “But don’t you think you went a bit too far with him? I mean, you know?”

“Don’t worry about it. If I didn’t threaten him, things may just turn for the worse, y’ know? I merely cut the conflict off before it could become a huge thing,” she says.

“I guess? I don’t even know why he was so mad at me though. Like, what’s up with that?” I said, wondering for other reasons than straight-up bullying.

It really seemed more personal, for some reason.

“There’s a simple explanation,” she said as she was about to leave. And in simple terms, she states, “That doofus is madly in love with me.”

Ah, that makes sense.

So, it was love.

Hmm.

Wait a minute.

Huh?

“I was bullied out of jealousy?!” I scream particularly loudly.

“Screaming is a student violation!” Raina screams back in reprimand.