"That should look right!", I said as I fixed my tie.

I showed an excited smile at the mirror as I prepared myself.

I am Yuichi Nishimura.

A 16 years old, newly deemed freshman that's about to have his first day of classes.

"I'm going, mom!", I said as I walk down the stairs, wearing my school uniform.

I have brown hair, brown eyes and a tanned skin tone.

I used to be really pale, but because of the summer heat, my skin turned darker.

Just now, I was fixing myself in the mirror of my room, making sure I look the best that I could.

*tug tug tug tug*, the stairs creaked as I hurried down.

Clean walls, clean floors, and a typical family of four's rooms were seen.

The stairs immediately lead next to the living room, where my mom was vacuuming.

It also faced against the exit which made it easy to exit from my room.

"Yuichi! Have you eaten your breakfast?", Mom asked.

Mom is a middle aged woman with curly brown hair.

She might have aged already, but you can still see that she's as strong as always.

"I'm just gonna buy something in the school store!"

The school uniform I'm wearing was for a middle class school.

It was made of a navy blue blazer, white pholo, dark green tie and pants all together.

I quickly continued towards the door.

"Big bro, you left your I.D. again!"

From upstairs, the voice of my little sister was heard.

"Ah, I almost forgot!"

__________________________________________________

I hurriedly exited the house.

I was carrying a brown sling bag with only a few stuff in it.

I wasn't late or anything, so I didn't have to rush, but still I was looking forward to going to my new school.

Now, you may be thinking 'What am I so excited about?' and stuff like that.

'Do I have past friends in the new school I'm attending that I wanted to meet?'

'Am I a normie that's excited to also be popular once I go to school?'

The answer to both is no.

I had some friends from the middle school I came from, but most of them aren't going to my school.

Most of my childhood friends and classmates applied to schools near our place, while I decided to go to a school a little further away.

There are reasons why I chose to do this that I don't really plan on explaining today.

So why am I so hyped to going to school you might ask?

"Haaaah! The outside world, finally!", I said as I stretched my arms.

I was near the streets, walking towards the bus stop.

Since it was pretty early, there weren't much people there.

During my vacation, I wasn't able to experience going outside much.

Most of the time, I spent it all playing video games in my room, so I felt a bit of a lack of social interaction.

I did go out with some of my middle school friends, but they rarely invited me out, especially since I'm not part of the club anymore.

What club is it? Well, that's a story for another time.

I quickly walked towards the bus and got up the entrance.

"Phew."

It was still sort of hot during these days, but I can handle it.

The air conditioner of the bus did relieve my sweat though.

Just like that the bus drove off towards it's destination.

__________________________________________________

"We here in Fujioka High pride ourselves-"

I was sat next to a bunch of other male students as we watched the principal give his speech.

It was the first day of classes so there wasn't really much to do but to orient us.

It was getting kind of boring, but the other students seemed to be amused with speaking with themselves.

'Seems like I'm one of the few left who hasn't gained a friend yet, huh.'

Just as I thought that, someone suddenly tapped my shoulder.

"Heyo~! Is this seat taken?"

What seems to be a handsome guy with blond hair, blue eyes and glasses called onto me.

"Ah, no. It's fine."

He then took the free seat next to me and sat there.

"It's really boring, isn't it? Makes you kind of wish you just never went to the first day of classes."

Although he looks like the kinda guy who'd probably be extremely popular, he seems quite friendly to me.

"Yeah, but if you don't, you might have a harder time making friends that way."

I personally know this.

Not going to the first day of classes would mean that the next day you come, people would have their attention at you, but since they've already made other friends, you won't be their top priority.

There's a huge chance that you'll just be ignored if you don't approach someone when you're absent the first day, and that seems to be too much trouble for me.

"By the way, I see you like Yuri-kyan too~!"

"…"

'Yuri-kyan?

…the anime character?'

I was confused as to why he was talking about that anime character and addressing her in a way as if you're addressing your pet.

"Your keychain, isn't that Yuri-kyan there~?"

I look at the keychain and showed a bashful look.

'That little sister of mine…'

Yuri-kyan is the main character of an anime series that's about a magical girl going around saving people with the power of love.

When I was younger, my little sister would force me everyday to watch it even if I really didn't want to.

She really loved that series and decided to gift me with a keychain of 'Yuri-kyan' randomly.

I didn't want it, but she's really pushy and forced me to accept it.

I planned to just keep it in my room's desk though, and didn't expect it to suddenly be attached to my bag.

'She just had to attach the keychain without my permission.'

Little sis, do you really want your brother to stay single for life?

"Yeah, my little sister attached it there. Guess she just doesn't learn."

"Ah, I know that excuse very well. I used to tell people I despised anime with my whole guts just to hide the fact that I love it so much. I started not caring though, and decided to be more honest. People don't seem to dislike me even though they realized my love for anime though!"

'Well, that's because you're attractive.'

Rule 1 of how life works:

I learned this very well through experience and understand it very much.

"I've bought lots of her merchandise! Here's one of them now~!"

He suddenly brought out a figurine of a pink haired anime girl wearing a frilly pink dress.

"Yuri-kyan is just so cute isn't she? She's the love of my life~!"

"Uh...yeah."

I showed a wry smile to him while scratching my cheek.

"2D girls are just so much cuter than 3D-"

*smack*

"OW!"

Suddenly, though as he was focused on telling me the charm of his 'waifu', what seems to be a red haired female student smacked the back of his head with a rolled up notebook.

"Daichi, you idiot! Why, for the love of God, did you bring your goddamn figurines here?"

She was a beautiful sight, smooth short red hair, slight make-up with pink lip stick, smooth skin, she looked like your stereotypical pretty gal girl.

She was wearing her blazer that was unbuttoned, white dress shirt, a skirt shorter than normal, a cardigan tied on her hips but she wasn't wearing her ribbon.

"See? That's why you have to avoid 3D girls! They're just so much trouble!", he said with slight tears on his eyes.

The red haired girl who was stood there, decided to sit down on the free seat behind him.

"Come on, when are you ever gonna grow up?"

"Hnnng…Yuri-kyan. Mina's bullying me again!"

I just showed a wry smile at their antics.

"So, who are you? Since you also have an anime keychain, I'm guessing you're also an otaku?", she asked as she crossed her arms and legs.

"Uh..no, this is just- my sister attached this."

"Oh, you don't have to lie to me. I won't judge. I've been with this otaku all my life, it's nothing new."

"No, but seriously-"

"Yeah, tell him off~! Yuri-kyan and my new friend don't want you here, you bully!"

*smack*

"OW!"

Without hesitation, she smacked Daichi's head again.

Daichi put his hands on his head as his figurine fell to his lap.

"Name's Mina, Ibaragi Mina. You can just call me Mina, and this dolt right here is Hayama Daichi."

"I'm Nishimura Yuichi, I don't really think I could call you by your first name right now, but I'm glad you offered."

"You don't really have to be so formal, any friend of this dolt is a friend of mine."

"Mina's acting like a nice person when it comes to others, but when it comes to poor li'l Daichi, she's such a meanie! She's just a stupid bully, isn't she Yuri-kya-"

*smack*

Once again she smacked his head, but this time with her fist.

I can only show a wry smile as this weird couple did their antics.

'Hah, well… I guess at least I have friends now…'

Just like that Mina started choking and shaking Daichi while I showed an amused smile.

__________________________________________________

"That far? Why don't you just study in a school near your place?", Mina asked me as the three of us walked together.

"Well, you know. I just wanted a breathe of fresh air.", I replied.

We just entered the first floor lobby where the principal said our classes was listed at.

"Me and this idiot here decided to study here because it's close. Can't believe you're fine with taking the bus everyday when you could just study somewhere close to your place. I could name about three schools you could have applied for there."

Mina was walking between the two of us.

She was tugging around Daichi's wrist as if she was a sister trying to lead her little brother.

"I wanted to study someplace far as well, but this meanie Mina-chan wouldn't let me~!"

"You weren't even planning to apply for a school in the first place! If I wasn't here, you would have turned into a neet."

"Muu~ Yuri-kyan is so much better. She wouldn't force me to do things I don't like. Isn't that right, Yuri-kyan?"

I was showing a wry smile while the two bickered.

As we continued walking though, I noticed an increase in the number of students.

They seemed to be crowded in that area in the lobby.

'That must be it!'

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I walked towards the area and squeezed myself in to see what they were looking at.

'Here it is!'

The board where all the students' classes were written.

There was a huge paper printed with words there.

'Class 3-C, Class 2-C…'

I kept skimming through the paper looking for my name and class in it.

"Hey, come back here!", said Mina as Daichi also squeezed through to check his class.

"Found your class yet, Yuichi-chan~?"

"Still looking for it. And please don't address me with a '-chan'."

'Here it is, the first year classes…

Let's see…

Class 1-A…nothing…

Class 1-B…my name's not there either…

Class 1-C…'

I raised my eyebrow as I saw a certain name.

'Hikari?'

The name 'Maeda Hikari' was written there.

'Oh, it's a different person. I almost thought…'

I then look a bit lower…

'Yuichi Nishimura! That's it! So I'm in class 1-C, huh.'

Just before my name, the name 'Maeda Hikari' was written there.

It surprised me how much of a coincidence that was.

'Hikari, though…huh…'

"Yay~!"

Suddenly, as I was lost on thought, Daichi tapped my shoulder.

"Seems like we're gonna be classmates after all, my Yuichi-pyon!"

"Ah, yeah…"

Snapping back to reality, I showed an awkward smile from his words.

"And since we're classmates, guess I can be strict with you whenever I want."

Mina suddenly showed behind Daichi with crosses arms and an enraged aura enveloping her.

"Hiiihh!"

Daichi suddenly shrieked as he noticed the enraged Mina.

I just laughed as I stood there.

The other students seemed to start walking away as soon as they found their classes.

It became less and less crowded.

From the corner though, a certain silhoutte of a girl stood there as she looked at our direction.

I suddenly notice her as I was watching Daichi and Mina.

…but before I could though- she already walked away.

Only the tips of her black hair was seen by me as she continued.

I felt a bit curious as to who that was, but decided to just ignore it.

__________________________________________________

"Heya! I'm Hayama Daichi, nice to meet you~!", Daichi said as he held the hand one of our new female classmates.

She was showing a blushed smile as he said this.

Daichi's smile quickly mesmerized her.

*smack!*

Suddenly, Mina smacked his head with her notebook.

"You idiot! Don't just randomly take your classmate's hands!"

"But that was what Seb* did in episode 23! That's the best way of greeting a new classmate!"

"I thought you didn't like 3d girls!"

"I didn't! I just wanted to introduce myself to everyone!"

"You mean you'd do it to male students too?"

"Of course!"

Daichi suddenly approached me and took my hand.

"Isn't that right, Yuichi-pon?"

*SMACK!*

Mina suddenly smacked his head to the desk.

I showed an amused smile as this happened.

We just placed our bags on top of the desks we chose to sit at when Daichi started to introduce himself to our classmates.

They seemed to also be amused by the two and their comedy duo.

'Gotta sit down.'

I immediately chose to sat at the very back next to the window.

The reason why is because this seat is the best area to sleep, because not only is there the cool wind blowing from the windows, I'm also behind other classmates, which will make me harder to spot by the teacher.

I don't really sleep all the time during classes, but I do want to be able to do it when I please.

Now you might think I'm a problem student, but ,I'm not.

I might like to fool around sometimes, but I still listen to class attentively and study well like a normal student.

If I had to place myself on the discipline scale, I'm probably at the center.

I would sometimes one and disobey, just like a regular student.

Daichi sat next to me, while Mina sat next to him.

So I was able to get a VIP ticket of their antics just right beside me.

"Makoto, huh? Call me Ryuuji."

"What middle school did you come from?"

"I like that store too!"

Our other classmates seemed to have settled in well with the each other.

It was the first day of classes, but they seem to have already formed bonds with one another.

"A really cute girl, I tell you! I saw her near the first floor lobby earlier"

"Really? What was her name?"

Before my desk, sat a bunch of male students who were chatting with each other.

"She went there and slid her pointer finger on the board looking for her class, I saw her pointing to 1-C, I think the name she pointed was…Nishimura?"

'Nishimura? Wait, that's me!'

Feeling curious, I listened in their conversation.

Daichi continued playing with his figurine and kissing it while Mina reprimanded him.

I wasn't able to notice them though due to me wanting to listen in the guys' conversation.

"Wait, that's a guy's name there, I remember. I think it was Yuichi Nishimura. You probably saw it from an angle so you didn't really see what she was pointing at."

"No! I saw her point at Nishimura and widen her eyes. I was sure she was Nishimura…"

"It was a guy's name, man. We'll figure it out anyways if she comes here."

'Someone pointed at my name? …What's that about?'

I kept my thoughts on what the guys just said as they spoke.

"Okay class."

As everyone was chatting with each other though, a middle aged woman suddenly entered the class.

She had dark blue hair, was wearing a dark green tracksuit and glasses, was carrying a handbag and a solid ruler and showed an angry expression.

"I am MISS Yui Hiiragi. Your homeroom teacher for the whole year. As you might have noticed from my name, I am still not married!"

…

That sudden announcement made all of us show an awkward look.

"That still does not mean I'm not eligible for romance though! I'm just too pretty of a flower to be plucked right now!...but, that doesn't mean I'm not putting any work to it. I have been working on looking for that special guy who'd take me.and my heart with him! …but up until now, I still haven't found him…"

She was showing exaggerated movements as she announced her situation.

"That means I've been in a couple of awful dates this past week and I've been in a very…very bad mood…you know?"

She showed a friendly smile with an intimidating atmosphere around her.

Seeing her like this made all of us shiver.

"So if anyone breaks my rules, they'll be sentenced to divine punishment. You got that?"

She slapped the ruler to her hand as if threatening the whole class.

""""""Y-yes ma'am!""""""

The whole class agreed in unison.

'Seems like we're having a strict homeroom teacher, huh? This seems like it's gonna be a long ride…'

"Good. Now, to start off, let's get you seated into your seating arrangements."

She took out her notebook from her bag.

"We'll be separating you in pairs of male and female every row. I've already prepared a plan as to which seat which student will be on."

Teachers separate male students from other male students and female students from other female students a lot to prevent them from messing around during classes.

That doesn't mean males and females can't mess around, it's just that same sex friends are usually more noisy since they relate to each other more.

Daichi showed me a brooding expression since he got tired at being scolded at by Mina.

"Haah. At least we're still seated near each other, Yuu-chan."

'He already gave me a nickname, huh.'

"You're still next to your nightmare though."

Since it was a bit noisy with everyone heading to their seats, our conversation was drowned by the noise.

I was lucky I was decided to sit at the place where I wanted to sit, but seeing as though the teacher we have right now is strict, I probably won't be able to slip through with sleeping in class.

"Haah."

Now, I'm still sat at the back next to the window, while Daichi was in front of me.

Mina was seated next to him, while behind her, the seat beside me, was empty.

"Is Maeda-san still not here?", the teacher suddenly asked.

We have all just sat in our seats when she asked us.

Everyone started looking at each other as if wondering if someone might know.

I did as well, but immediately stopped when I saw the empty seat beside me.

'So whoever was sat beside me doesn't seem to have made any friends with the class yet…'

"Alright. I'll just ask that later. For now, let me take your attendance. If I reach Maeda-san's seat and call her name and she's still not here, I'll mark her as absent."

She pushed the button on her pen and opened her record book.

"Say 'present' when I call your name."

She then pointed her pen on the record book.

"Abe."

"Present!"

"Fujimoto."

"Present!"

She started calling out names, trying to check attendance.

'Hmm...she's still not here yet. Whoever sits next to me might be a delinquent…'

"Present!"

All of the students of the class except for the one seated next to me was there and answered the call for their names.

"Takahashi."

"Present!"

'If it was a delinquent, I'll be in a lot of trouble this year.'

"Present!"

'Wait…if I remember...that name she just said...the one seated next to me, it was Maeda-san, wasn't it?'

"Present!"

'She was the one with the familiar name before… the one above my name in the class listings earlier, can't believe she's even seated next to me.'

I kept my mind on whoever that absent girl might be.

I was a bit intolerant to trouble, so I really didn't want to be seated next to someone troublesome.

"Nishimura."

'Still-'

"Nishimura!"

"Ah…present!"

I was lost in thought there for a second but was able to answer her in time.

"Okay then. Now, for the student who's still not here. If I call her three times and she still hasn't answered. I'll mark her as absent."

'Is she even planning to come? Whoever that was?'

"Maeda."

…

There was no answer.

'Was she just too lazy to go to class because it's the first day?'

"Maeda."

There was still no answer.

'Whoever that was, she's in for a lot of trouble if she's marked as absent today.'

Seeing as how strict and bitter our teacher was, if she was absent today, she'll probably be punished by our teacher tomorrow.

"Maeda-"

"Present!"

Suddenly though, as she kept calling Maeda-san's name, the door to the classroom suddenly opened.

A certain figure suddenly appeared.

She bowed slightly and turned to look at the class.

"Sorry I'm late."

Silence.

There was suddenly complete and utter silence when everyone saw her.

As if something surprising just happened, everyone's jaw dropped.

Maeda Hikari.

The girl who was listed above my name.

The one who I thought was familiar...

....was way different than I could have ever imagined her.

Everyone's eyes stayed at her as they gazed at her figure.

Long, smooth, glittering black hair tied into twin tails, flawless skin that was perfect even without make-up, her beauty was out of this world.

Everyone was enthralled with her appearance.

Even the teacher felt a bit mesmerized for a second.

She continued forward, carrying her briefcase in front of her, with her two hands.

She stepped on the floor as if it was made out of marble.

Just her being there made it feel like everything just started sparkling.

She then finally, sat on the chair next to me and laid her briefcase down on the desk.

She had her eyes on the floor the whole time, and once she was seated next to me, she decided to take out a notebook and a pen from her briefcase and placed the briefcase on the side of her seat.

I was completely…enamored.

'Holy…hell…'

I didn't know what words I could say.

Or even if I wanted to or not.

I was starstruck.

"O-okay…then. Next is Sasaki."

As if trying to ignore what just happened, the teacher then decided to call the next person, snapping everyone back to reality.

Some guys seemed to still kept their eyes on her, but turned their eyes back since they still feared our strict teacher.

I also finally snapped out of it, and decided to turn my attention back in front again.

'…Haaah…'

In my mind, I did a fake sigh of relief.

'I thought I'd probably be in trouble earlier if the one seated next to me is a delinquent, but now I'm even more troubled.'

I didn't really have the best experience with attractive girls in the past, so I felt as if I was in deep peril.

'Just try not to get yourself involved with her.'

There are certain reasons why I hated being seated next to such a girl, but I don't really want to disclose them now.

Feeling a bit curious about her though, I still tried to look at her from the corner of my eye.

'Hmm?'

I noticed though, that for some reason…

She was looking at me…

'What is she…?'

"Nishimura…kun.", she said with a low voice.

Her voice sounded even more beautiful close up.

'How'd she know my name?'

"Uhh…yeah. That's me. Do you need something?"

I was a bit afraid of being caught by our teacher, so I spoke with a low voice as well.

"Th-that…keychain. That's...from an anime…r-right…?"

'Is she…nervous?…No, I'm just being stupid.'

"Uh…yeah. That's nothing. My sister put it there so-"

"Th-then you're an otaku then, how disgusting-"

As if she instantly regretted what she said she quickly covered her mouth.

Hearing her say this, made me feel a bit irritated.

I wasn't an otaku, but I have people who are… I mean were close to me who are otaku.

And that's not counting Daichi.

I quickly decided to ignore her and turn my attention back in class.

"H-hey!"

She called me again as if she really wanted to speak with me.

"What is it?"

I showed her a slightly irritated expression as she called for me.

"I-I'm just saying that...if you keep that…people might…you know, bully you! I'm just giving you a heads up!"

"No thanks. I don't really care about pretending to be what I'm not. If you don't like me being an otaku, then that's your problem."

I then turn my attention back to the front again.

In front of me though, I noticed Daichi was showing a thumbs up with his left hand, although he was still turned towards the front.

'Even he's scared of the teacher, isn't he?'

"H-hey!"

Again, I heard Maeda-san call me.

"…"

I decided to ignore her this time though.

"N-Nishimura-kun!"

'I might sound petty, but still, we're in class and we have to listen. I don't really like her attitude as well.'

"H-hey!"

Suddenly though.

*pak*

"ow!"

I suddenly felt Maeda-san kick my feet.

I wanted to scream out in pain, but kept a low voice to not get the teacher's attention.

I was even more irritated and quickly turned my face at her.

She was showing a sad scared expression as if she was regretting something.

"What are you…?"

When she noticed I finally turned my attention to her though, she quickly fixed her posture and crossed her arms.

"I-if you want stay like that then, th-then it's alright. I-I'll allow it.", she said with a prideful and bossy look.

I was a bit surprised by this.

'She's really hard to communicate with.'

"Okay…"

I decided to just nod and then turn my attention back in front.

I looked at her from the corner of my eye, as if she wanted to tell me something else, but I decided to not talk to her anymore during class.

__________________________________________________

"Class dismissed."

We bowed to our teacher as she left.

It was finally lunch time when our first class ended..

The orientation in the auditorium went on so long that we had our lunch immediately after our first class.

"You guys heading to the cafeteria?", I asked Daichi and Mina.

"I'll-"

"Sure, we'll join you, but we won't be buying anything.", Mina suddenly interrupted Daichi.

"Why? Aren't you gonna eat anything?"

"I've got bentos prepared for the two of us so we don't need that."

Mina suddenly tugged on Daichi's ear which made him look troubled.

'These two really seem like a married couple...but I don't really want to ask them if they're in that kind of a relationship now since I just met them earlier.'

"Thanks then. Let's head-"

*pak*

"Ow!"

Suddenly though, I felt Maeda-san's feet smack my leg again.

"What are you-"

She looked like she wanted to tell me something, but before she could say anything...

"Maeda-san!"

"Your name's Hikari, right?"

"Heyyy!"

A bunch of my classmates suddenly blocked my sight of her as they crowded around her.

"Wait, uh-"

She seemed to be troubled as lots of people started talking to her.

"Let's go then."

I just decided to ignore it and continue towards the cafeteria with the two.

__________________________________________________

"That's it for today. Class dismissed."

We bowed to our teacher as he left the class.

Everyone started packing up their things inside their bags as they prepared themselves to leave.

"Hey-"

"Maeda-san!"

"Let's go together, Hikari-chan!"

"We should go to the nearest crepe store-"

I turned my sight towards Maeda-san, wondering if she was still trying to speak with me.

A bunch of our classmates started surrounding her again though.

'Tough life being the popular girl, huh?'

At first, I thought Daichi would be the center of attention, but since Maeda-san came, his presence was overpowered by hers.

What's more is that apparently my classmates were a bit creeped out by him being an obsessed otaku and kissing his figurine.

He doesn't seem to mind it though and decided to stay as himself.

I walked beside Daichi and Mina as we exited the room.

I tried looking at Maeda-san from the corner of my eye as well, but the crowd of people prevented me from seeing her.

__________________________________________________

"Are you going to wait for the bus, Yuichi-kyan~?", asked Daichi.

"Yeah. You guys go ahead without me."

"Must be tough studying far away from your home, huh? Well then, see you tomorrow!", said Mina.

"Yeah, see you guys!"

I gave my farewells to Mina and Daichi as they continued their way towards their home.

They told me they lived near the school so they didn't have to go home by bus.

'Those two really do seem like a married couple. Mina even made Daichi a bento.'

I wasn't really sure what their relationship was, but they seemed so close that it looked like they were actual lovebirds.

They suit each other in terms of looks, but Daichi doesn't really seem like the type of guy who'd be serious for a relationship.

I didn't want to think too much about it though, since it's their business not mine.

"Haaaah.", I sighed.

I sat there on the bus stop bench, waiting for the bus to come.

There was about two other random students at the left side of the bench.

It isn't late or anything, but due to it being the first day of classes, I knew there would be some traffic in the area.

Just like that, I waited patiently.

Feeling bored, I decided to take out my phone.

"Let's see-"

As I took it out though, I noticed someone else approaching behind me from the reflection on the phone.

'Is that-'

*tup*

Suddenly, close to me, but not too close, quickly sat a person I've seen and dealt with earlier.

I then turned to look at her.

It was Maeda-san.

She seemed sort of tired and sweaty, as if she ran away from someone.

"What happened? Lost your fans?"

I sparked a conversation.

I wasn't that interested in doing so though, since I believed she would rather prefer to befriend those people that she met though besides me.

"Sh-shut up! Th-they were just too pushy! I-I don't really care about them."

"Yeah…"

After those few words we shared, I decided to just turn back to my phone again.

I still want to hold on to the words I vowed to myself earlier.

'I really should not get involved with her. It would probably just be troublesome.'

I then started playing around on my phone.

"H-hey…"

I heard her say something, but decided to just ignore her yet again.

"About earlier, ummm…"

'Earlier? Was she talking about how she ridiculed otakus?'

"I'm s-s-sorr-"

I turned my sight at her hearing this.

'Is she planning to-'

"I-I mean if you really want to be my friend, I'll allow it! So you better be thankful!"

'What the hell is she talking about?'

"No, sorry. I'm not really interested."

I decided to be direct with her.

I know I might have sounded a bit harsh there, but her superiority complex was slightly getting on my nerves.

*brrt*, suddenly, the bus finally came.

I didn't care about what she was gonna say next so I decided to walk towards the bus.

"Wait!"

I kept walking without stopping, when suddenly...

She suddenly tugged on my sleeve.

'What is with this girl?'

I decided to turn back at her to tell her off, to see…

…that she was bowing.

"I'm sorry!"

She suddenly apologized to me.

"Why are you-"

"I don't hate otakus or anything…and I didn't mean to call you…disgusting…! I umm… I was just..."

"…"

'She's a really difficult girl, isn't she?'

"Haah."

I decided to release a deep sigh as I looked at her.

'Guess, I'm the one being mean after all, huh?'

"It's alright. I forgive you."

She was still bowing even though I've already told her that.

I wasn't able to see her face due to it.

"If that's all then-"

"P-please! B-be my friend!"

Before I could turn back, she suddenly decided to tell me that.

'Huh? Was that was she wanted to tell me all along?'

"Sure."

I planned to not get involved with any troublesome people and vowed to do it.

…but even though that's what I promised myself, I still decided to break it.

'Well, guess I just have to put up with this for now.'

"See you tomorrow.", I said as I walked inside the bus.

"O-okay…"

I wasn't able to see her expression earlier, due to her bowing down.

…but as soon as the bus started driving off, I saw her standing there.

From the bus's window, her dazzling figure glowed bright as I saw it.

It completely mesmerized me.

She…was smiling.

It was the cutest and most beautiful smile I've ever seen.

It was as if she achieved something really really great.

The bus continued on, and her figure got harder for me to see until it finally drove off too far for me to see.

'She…might be trouble, but…

If there's a chance for me to see that smile again…

Well…'

Suddenly, the image of a violet haired beautiful girl flashed in my mind.

Her eyes weren't shown, but her evil grin was seen.

'…I'll try…

…and risk it.'

End of Chapter 1