"You have three days, Ms. Aki. If you fail to convince me of your worth here in Hikari Academy any later than the assigned date, you will be expelled."

Those were the words that the headmaster had left her with, and Reya repeated them to herself before she stepped into the classroom. She had three days to prove that she belonged here, so she had to make every second count.

The classroom dropped to immediate silence as she walked in, dressed in the academy's uniform. The ripple of silence enveloped the teacher as he turned to her and gave her a small nod as she stood in front of the class.

The teacher gave a brief speech, though it was clear the class was too invested on the new student to worry about the words that were coming out of his mouth.

"Hello. I am Reya Aki. Looking forward to getting to know you all," her voice was colder than ice, and her expression was emotionless; quite contrary to the words she was uttering.

The silence is broken as one of the boys decide to make an obnoxious statement.

"There is no way that the new kid is a girl."

That was all it required for a heated discussion to emerge, as the students began to panic as if they had never seen a girl in their life.

That very idea is quite pitiful, Reya thought, sighing, perhaps the only women they've ever seen are their mothers.

It takes some time for the class to quiet down, much to the displeasure of the teacher, who assigned a five-page essay on history to express his annoyance.

Reya sat in her seat, avoiding the glances that the boys would give her every few seconds.

***

It was became clear to her, how out of place she was at this school the moment she walked inside the dorms later that afternoon. Class had just finished and she was staring at the piece of paper in her hand, which had her dorm number printed in tiny letters, attached with a black key.

She felt someone behind her, and barely managed to dodge his attempt to grab her arm as she moved away.

"Looks like the new girl has some reflexes," he said, a snarky grin plastered on his face.

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She glanced at him, pondering whether he was worth her time or not. He was about the same height as her, with messy black hair and a set of rare green eyes.

Reya glanced at his name tag, and realised he was in her class.

Ryou Han

He was accompanied by some of his friends, who didn't seem to enjoy the sight of her in the slightest. Not that anyone here seemed to like her, though.

"… don't touch me," she said, giving him an icy stare before turning around.

He managed to grab her arm this time, and held on to it.

"Don't touch me," Ryou said, imitating her voice, "what's a girl like you doing at an all-boys school?"

Reya sighed, and tried to pull her arm away. This came as an invitation for him to squeeze it tighter.

"Oh, don't run away just yet," one of the boys behind him piped up, "we have unfinished business."

"Look, I'm not looking for trouble. So let's just part ways and peacefully—"

She was cut off as Ryou grabbed her arm and pinned her onto the wall. The little piece of paper in her hand fluttered onto the floor, along with the dorm key.

"The moment you walked into this school, you had trouble written all over you," he squeezed her wrist and leaned in to her ear, lowering his voice to a husky whisper, "should I prove that to you?"

Reya shifted uncomfortably as his hot breath tickled her ear. When she didn't answer him, he tightened his grip on her arms and glared at her.

"Ryou Han. You play basketball, don't you?" Reya finally spoke up, looking into his emerald eyes. He noticed his pupils shake ever so slightly at her statement, then he gave her a cocky smirk.

"Yeah, and I'm the best player in the entire school. What about it?"

Reya paused, then smiled. It caught him off guard again, because this was undoubtedly the first time she'd smiled since she'd walked into the academy.

"Want to… make a bet?"

She'd said it, and the reaction throughout the group was automatic. They erupted into laughter, as if the fact that she could bet on anything was downright hilarious. She let them laugh for a bit, and Ryou finally released her wrists and wiped away a fake tear.

"Okay, princess. Let's hear it."

She picked up her little square of paper off the floor and wiped the dust off it.

"Tomorrow during lunch, you and me will have a one-on-one five-minute basketball game. You score the most points, you win. Whoever loses will be the winner's errand boy, or girl, for the rest of the month. Deal?"

Ryou made a face, then grinned. He turned to his friends.

"This b*tch actually thinks she can play basketball?" He chuckled, his statement encouraging another wave of mischievous laughter. He then turned to her, "okay, you have a deal, Reya. I need someone to do my work for me, anyway."

And with that he left her alone in the hallway as he strode off with his merry little band of friends, laughing to himself. Reya sighed, then spotted her dorm at the end of the hallway.

Room 403

She'd left her belongings at home, because she'd never thought the headmaster would actually give her a dorm. She should probably pick it up before she actually went inside, but Reya decided to postpone that for later.

She pushed the little key into the lock and it made a tiny click sound as it opened. The door needed some serious oiling, because it was ear-splittingly creaky.

Reya had expected dust, cobwebs, and junk, based off the un-maintained door. But what she received was the total opposite; a clean, spotless floor, dustless carpet and seriously concerning clean rooms.

And she had also expected to be alone.