“I like you! Please go out with me!”

A tall boy with neat black hair, and a handsome face bowed his head, his cheeks red, and his hands tightly curled into fists at his side.

In front of him stood a girl of slightly above average height, but that was the only thing that was slightly above average about her. The rest of her features significantly blown past the barriers of what one would consider average, and even further beyond that, as an impeccable snow-white face was revealed, adorned by perfectly shaped lips of the purest pink. Straight midnight-black hair flowed past her shoulders, complimented by a pair of dreamy hazel eyes that seemed deeper than the world’s ocean where you stared at them. It was easy to get lost in her eyes, which must had been one of the many reason why she was getting confessed to at this very moment.

You see Aya, as this girl was called, was no ordinary girl. It wasn’t just her looks that were extraordinary, but she was also one of the top students in Japan, having received many academic awards and scholarships that others would die for. Not only that, she came from the prestigious Kuramoto family, an elite group that controlled the biggest bank in Japan; the Kuramoto Bank.

That was why Aya sighed, holding her index finger and thumb to her forehead at the sight of the handsome young boy bowing his head before her. She had been in this situation countless times, and the novelty had already far worn off, to the point of annoyance.

Is this guy serious? Does he really think he stands a chance with me?! Aya glanced from behind her hand at the boy, who was wearing the same school uniform as Aya. However, Aya was wearing the female version consisting of a maroon jumper covering a white collared shirt, and a striped skirt that fell just above her knees. Running up her elegant legs were black stockings, stopping in the middle of her thigh. Aya’s uniform was perfectly worn, with no signs of adjustment, just like the aura of perfection she emitted.

Aya closed her eyes, grimacing at the thought of being with the boy in front of him. This guy… if I’m not mistaken, his name is Eito, and his family owns a famous car company… Still, I am way, way beyond this guy’s league. I can’t believe he would actually ask me out. This is such a joke.

Despite how classy and elegant Aya looked, inside she was a prideful and stubborn girl, spoilt by the incredibly easy life she had been gifted. However, she still had an image to uphold…

Aya placed her hand away from her forehead, and smiled, a beautiful smile that seemed to radiate with an angelic charisma. She wasn’t doing anything special, this was just how she looked every time she smiled.

Seeing this, Eito’s face reddened even more, his heart accelerating to a rapid pace. S-She smiled at me! Does this mean I have a chance…? I mean, I’m not that bad of a choice, right? She should know that my family is rich. I’m also good looking and smart! Maybe she’ll say yes...! Ah, I’m so happy seeing her smile, I could die right now!

“Eito…” Aya called out softly, her voice like everything about her, was perfect, like an expensive violin. “I’m really happy that you feel that way about me…”

Oh my god, is she really going to say yes?! Eito’s face perked up with anticipation. I can’t believe it! I might actually be able to date Aya, the Aya that everyone at the school admires! Everyone’s going to be so jealous, I—

“…But I can’t return your feelings.”

“A-ah…” Eito felt a grave sadness falling over him, but he had expected this. Every single person that had ever confessed to Aya had failed. And among these people were better guys than him. “That’s okay…”

“I’m really sorry about this…” Aya’s face winced with pain as though she could empathetically feel what Eito was feeling. In reality, the pain on her face was from the thought of Eito thinking that he ever had a chance. “I-I can’t imagine how much courage it took for you to say this…”

Idiotic courage. Next time, think about who you’re confessing to! Aya thought, but nothing about her face revealed her true inner thoughts.

“I-it’s okay. It’s nothing, really…” Eito laughed weakly, shaking his head. He was feeling better with how empathetic Aya was appearing to be. “Don’t mind yourself about it. I just wanted to let you know my feelings, Aya.”

“Really?” Aya’s face still seemed concerned, but she was actually getting impatient. When the hell are you going to take the hint and leave me alone? “Are you sure it’s okay? I really feel bad for this…”

“Don’t worry yourself, Aya.” Eito gave Aya a firm look, but he blushed, staring into her face. She was just too pretty, especially when her face was filled with concern, staring at him like this. “You shouldn’t go out with someone you don’t like. I respect your decision, but I won’t give up.”

Ugh. What the hell?! You won’t give up?! Clearly, I’m not interested in you! Aya smiled, that angelic smile once again and Eito’s mind was sent to a place of heavenly bliss. “Thank you, Eito… for taking this so well…”

S-she remembered my name! Eito blushed some more. He couldn’t believe how he was behaving. It was like he was a young kid again, blushing in front of a pretty girl. He never acted like this in front of anyone else. Eito was the captain of the school’s soccer team and was extremely popular with the girls, so it was strange that Aya could make him feel this way.

“No, I should be thanking you, Aya.” Eito said. “You’ve been so nice to me even though you couldn’t accept my request.”

“Of course. I know how hard it is for you to do something like this.”

Aya had no idea how hard it was to do something like this. In fact, she had no idea what hard even was. The only thing that she ever had to really work for, was her excellent grades, but that too was just a result of discipline and innate talent.

“Thank you, Aya. I appreciate it.” Eito replied, then glanced around. He had called for Aya behind the school building at lunch where there was no one else around. Lunch was ending soon, so he had to get back to class. “I feel much better telling you about my feelings.” Eito returned his glance back to Aya. “I’ll leave you alone now, I’ve already wasted too much of your time.” Eito laughed.

Finally. Now you leave… after wasting my lunch time. Aya laughed with Eito to not seem impolite. “No, not at all!”

Aya’s laughter was even sweeter than her smile. At that moment, it was like Cupid had shot a thousand love arrows into Eito’s heart, freezing him in time. He stared lovestruck at the laughing Aya, his mind completely empty except for thoughts of her.

Seeing that Eito wasn’t speaking, Aya coughed into her hand. “Well, I’ll be going now. Thank you, once again for your feelings, Eito.”

But Eito didn’t say anything. He was still in a daze from seeing Aya laugh.

What’s with this creep? He’s staring at me and not saying a single word! Aya was annoyed. She just wanted to go enjoy the rest of her lunch in peace.

With a polite ‘goodbye’, Aya quickly scuttled off, leaving Eito alone behind the school building.

Ah, thank god that’s over… Aya walked back to her classroom, heads turning to glance at her as she walked. She didn’t pay any mind to this, as this was normal and she had gotten accustomed to people glancing at her beauty.

Entering her classroom, more heads turned to glance at Aya. Students from her class that had stayed behind in the room, some had gone out. Walking to her desk, she saw two girls waiting there.

It was her two best friends, Sana and Fumiko. Sana had curly brown hair, freckles on her cheeks and wore cute glasses that shielded a pair of black eyes. She was a studious girl as her appearance suggested, and not too bad in the looks department. Like Aya, she was one of the top students in the nation, although Aya was smarter despite studying less.

Fumiko had light purplish hair that was dyed, and a pair of dazzling brown eyes. She was extremely gorgeous but nowhere near Aya’s level. No one was really near Aya’s level in the looks department. She wasn’t the study type like Aya and Sana, however, she was moreso the type to focus on her appearance, as evident from her manicured nails that were painted a shade of pink.

The reason why both her best friends were good looking was that Aya chose her friends carefully, wanting to be with people that matched her standards, or at least was closest to it, since no one really matched her unrealistic standards. It was a trait of Aya, that of perfection, to create herself a life that was the closest to her ideal.

“Ah, Aya!” Fumiko’s face lit up when she saw Aya entering the classroom. It was like she was waiting for Aya all along. “How did it go? Did Eito really ask you out?”

Hearing this, the rest of the classroom was listening intently, some glancing over at Aya’s direction discretely.

“Aya, you should be careful to just follow guys like that…” Sana said in a concerned tone.

What had happened was that Eito, being from a different class, had come to Aya’s classroom to ask to borrow her for a second. If Aya had said no, it would had looked impolite, and so Aya agreed, as she refused to do anything that would tarnish her reputation, even slightly. But Sana didn’t understand this.

“Nothing happened.” Aya smiled politely as she sat down at her desk, with Sana and Fumiko sitting around it. They had moved their chairs so that they would be sitting with Aya. “Eito just needed some help with an event he was planning for the soccer team.”

“Eh…” Fumiko stared at Aya with a suspicious look, not believing her. She knew that Aya was a polite girl that didn’t want to embarrass guys that asked her out. “Are you really telling the truth?”

On the other hand, Sana took Aya’s words at face value. “Ah, so that was all…” She said, completely believing Aya. Despite being book smart, Sana was a naïve girl that didn’t experience much in life other than staying at home with her books.

“I’m telling you that’s all that happened.” Aya laughed, seeing Fumiko’s reaction.

“Hmm…” Fumiko peered deeper into Aya’s face.

“A-anyways,” Aya was put off by Fumiko’s stare. Fumiko was a more intuitive girl, that seemed to be able to read people easily despite her grades being poor in comparison to Aya and Sana. “Did you guys see the new drama that was on television last night?”

“Oh, I was studying last night.” Sana said. She studied every night. “What was it about?”

It was good that Sana was here to help Aya change the topic. That was one reason why she chosen a naïve girl like Sana to be one of her best friend.

“You mean the one about—”

Fumiko started but was interrupted when the bell rang, signalling the end of lunch.

Argh!! Lunch is over already?! Aya grumbled in her mind. That stupid Eito wasted all my time!!

Students that were missing from the classroom began pouring into the room, sitting down obediently at their desks. Fumiko and Sana moved their chairs back to their desks. Fumiko sat in front of Aya, while Sana sat behind. Their position in the classroom was in the middle right, next to the window and away from the classroom door.

As all the students were sat neatly in their desks, waiting, a tall guy wearing a white collared shirt tucked into black formal pants walked into the room. He had black hair and looked to be in his early 30s.

“Sorry, I’m late guys, there’s been something at the office I had to do.”

This man was the teacher of the classroom, Mr. Abe. He was young for a teacher but was extremely smart.

He placed some paper and books he was holding down onto the table at the front of the classroom.

“Today, we have a new transfer student. She just arrived at Tokyo today after having lived in the country side for a while, so everyone should be nice to her, okay?”

Huh, a new transfer student… a girl… Aya was sitting with a perfectly straightened back and posture in her seat as she always did. She had been taught well to not slouch or lean on her chair. That doesn’t really concern me…

“Okay, you can come in now.” Mr. Abe indicated to someone outside the classroom.

The person outside didn’t respond, perhaps they were shy.

“Don’t be nervous, come in.” Mr. Abe tried to be accommodating, smiling, but that wasn’t his strong suit.

Slowly, a girl walked into the classroom, her head down and her arms held tightly down in front of her. The girl had long black hair, falling over her shoulders, plain but seemingly to be very soft. She was on the shorter side of things in terms of height, and had an undeveloped body with a small chest.

“Please welcome Hikaru.” Mr. Abe said, then glanced to the girl. “Give the class a short introduction about yourself.”

The girl was quiet, her eyes still staring down at the ground. She seemed really nervous, her cheeks pink.

Hesitating, she lifted her head up, revealing a very cute face. A flawless, white complexion, with big, round brown eyes, and strawberry pink lips that pouted out of the rest of her face, enticingly. Her long black hair fell past the sides of her face, further emphasising her cuteness.

“I-I’m Hikaru…” She said, then bowed. “Please treat me well!”

Aya rose up slightly in her chair to glance at the girl. Although Aya was much prettier and there had been cuter girls than Hikaru that Aya had seen, something about Hikaru drawn her in.

Doki doki.

Her heart was beating faster at the sight of Hikaru, something that she had never felt before in her life.

W-what the… Aya couldn’t help but to stare at Hikaru, her eyes refusing to move away.

Hikaru glanced around at the classroom timidly, then her eyes met Aya and she quickly turned them away, seeing how intently Aya was staring at her. She was also intimidated by how pretty Aya was. She had never seen a girl that beautiful before.

“Ah, let’s see…” The teacher’s eyes scanned the classroom. “Let’s put you over there.” Mr. Abe pointed at the seat besides Aya, that had been empty due to the previous student leaving the school, then nodded with a satisfied look. “Aya should be a good influence for you, Hikaru you will seat there.”

Some quiet groans could be heard from the classroom as they had been hoping they would be able to seat next to Aya. Now that hope was dashed away.

Hikaru gave a short nod, then walked over to the seat next to Aya, her head down and cheeks still pink. The class was staring at her because they had nothing else to look at. She didn’t like the stares.

Aya was the one that was staring the most intently though, but no one noticed.

Hikaru moved past Aya’s desk, muttering a quiet ‘sorry’ before plumping herself down at her allocated seat. Hikaru placed her bag under her desk, taking out some notebooks and other items to place at her desk, before glancing to her side at Aya.

Ek! Why is she still staring at me? Hikaru’s face blushed, as she turned her stare down at her desk. That girl is so pretty… I never saw someone like that…

Hikaru glanced over at Aya again, then smiled weakly.

“Hi… I’m Hikaru…”

Aya stared at Hikaru, then glanced away, ignoring Hikaru’s greeting. What the hell? Why is this girl making my heart beat so fast?!

Ah… Hikaru watched as Aya turned her head away, ignoring her. I guess she must not like me… She seems to be really popular… I guess that’s why…

“Anyways, let’s get back to class…” Mr. Abe said.