Ayame’s POV

“Alright, Miss Yatsushiro, you can sit beside Shibuya-kun’s seat by the window at the back. If you have any struggles or problems, you can count on Shibuya-kun since he’s your seatmate.”

“Yes, Sensei!”

I smiled at Marin-sensei who was really meticulous when it comes to taking care of me during my transfer to this new school! I won’t even lie when I say that this school is really large for just a high school campus! It has a lot of things, even including dormitories too!

But since my parents disagreed that I should be living alone in a dormitory at the moment due to the complicated paperwork involving moving our belongings, it was decided that all four of us family would live in Grandma Sora’s place since they have an extra 3 bedrooms readied for our arrival.

For now, I went towards the location where Marin-sensei said to be my seat which is actually by the window. 

And then, I noticed someone who was going to sit next to me. I immediately knew who this person was, but I can’t remember his name since I hadn’t asked…

'It’s Shibuya-kun like what Sensei said, huh…?' I thought. 

“Oh… You’re the one who’s alone on the roofed gazebo from earlier~! The sandwich that you gave me was quite delectable! It’s nice to meet you once again, Shibuya-kun!” I smiled at him after that exchange when I noticed that every boy in the room was leaking their killing intent.

“Y-Yes. It’s also nice to meet you too, Yatsushiro-san.” He responded with a baffled tone, but nonetheless still a normal reaction. 

I always have this feeling when I was in my middle school days in Switzerland, but with the girls so I’m a bit concerned about it.

But before I could even give more attention to it, I heard a loud clap from the front, and the aura that was covering the entire room dissipated quickly. 

“Alright, you all… Attention’s here, not behind! Your Social Studies teacher was kind enough for me to borrow her time for today so we'll proceed with our discussion from yesterday.

Bring out your 1st Year Science book and turn it to page 391…” It was Marin-sensei who did it and responded to everyone.

Marin-sensei said as everyone in the class started to bring out their books, and flipped through the pages themselves on their own accord. 

Even Shibuya-kun who was beside me also brought out a book.

But there’s a problem on my side... I haven't picked up mine since I would need to pick up the books after the class has ended…

I internally sighed as I was thinking of what I’m going to say to Shibuya-kun to share his book with me. 

As Marin-sensei starts her lecture, everyone was pretty focused on the lecture.

It was when Shibuya-kun said in a whisper.

“They haven’t given your books yet, Yatsushiro-san?” He asked with a low voice, which gave me a shiver for a bit before replying. 

“Y-Yes?” I was surprised that Shibuya-kun already knew my predicament so I sighed and replied to him again.

“Y-Yes… The Dean said that I would receive my books at the end of the class…” I replied with a somber tone. 

“I figured as much…” He said in a nonchalant manner as he shrugs his shoulders. 

‘He figured that out already…?’ I thought as I sighed once again and mustered up my courage to ask him through whispering.

“Can we share your books just for today while in class, Shibuya-kun?” 

“Of course, let’s share for today.” He said stoically as a mild autumn wind blew inside the classroom, fluttering towards all of the students who were near the window but my eyes were stuck towards Shibuya-kun’s flaunting side-parted medium-long black hair and eyes which seemed to be similar to the one I read in one of the mangas that I love.

Now that I think about it, I haven’t observed Shibuya-kun’s face earlier since the roofed gazebo was only lit by the surrounding light during that lunch break.

But before I could even fully enclose myself in a bubble, Shibuya-kun then stood up and lifted his table next to mine before repositioning his seat as well. It was only a small movement, but it was enough movement for Marin-sensei to notice.

“Shibuya-kun? What's the matter?” She asked, which garnered the attentiom of the entire class.

“Sensei, Yatsushiro-san doesn’t have her books right now, so I’m just sharing mine for her to catch up.” He replied, which made Marin-sensei nod in satisfaction. 

“I see… The Dean did say that she’ll have her books after class. My apologies for not remembering it, Miss Yatsushiro.” She apologized as I was baffled with the humility that Marin-sensei is doing. 

“E-Eh? It’s alright, Marin-sensei… We should continue, please…” I said while pleading a little bit. 

Shibuya-kun and Marin-sensei had a short exchange with each other before shd unnecessarily apologized to me. After all of that happened, I noticed the jealousy, envy, or even curiosity from my female classes while the boys had the same killing intent as earlier towards Shibuya-kun.

It didn’t last long as the Marin-sensei continued her lecture until her period finished. Nothing much happened aside from me being swarmed after class. 

Katsuto’s POV

After class, everyone in the class came swarming towards Yatsushiro-san while I immediately left since I can’t bear the amount of noise that I was hearing from our classmates. 

Even the students from other classes peeked through the doors to get a glimpse of Yatsushiro-san. 

"Ayame-chan, what’s your favorite sport?"

"Ayame-chan, how was your life overseas?"

"Yatsushiro-chan, how did your parents end up together?"

"Yatsushiro-chan, do you have a boyfriend?"

"How did you take care of that smooth skin, Yatsushiro-chan? Teach me, please!"

These were all sorts of questions that I also heard from girls as I tried to walk out of the crowd. Although I admit that Yatsushiro-san is quite a beauty that it’s quite comparable to that the ones that I see on TV, I think that she’s just my seatmate whom I had encountered way before she wss introduced as my classmate. That’s all…

So, when I finally got out of the crowd, I was met with Hayate, Arato, and Tsukumo who had quite bitter faces when they’ve seen me.

I always see those bitter faces from them when it comes to their waning high school romance life that they always talk about during lunchtime.

“Oi, Katsuto-kun! What happened during that lunch break? To think that you two have already met before…” Hayate asked first as if they started snooping around like a paparazzi. 

“Right! You two even shared a book during Marin-sensei’s class earlier! What’s up with the aura that you two are producing?!” Tsukumo talked next, with an overreacting attitude as always. 

“I didn’t know that you’ve already been acquainted with the Goddess herself, Katsuto-kun!” And to hammer the last nail in this coffin of misunderstanding, Arato had to create more of it. 

“Come on now, you three… It’s not like I expected her to be our classmate and transferred here to our class…” I rolled my eyes as an unexpected voice from behind me said something ridiculous. 

“But I want that to happen to surprise Shibuya-kun though…?”

All four of us had surprised looks on our faces as I turned around to see her going toward our location to budge in our conversation with an innocent look on her face.

‘D*mn it… Now you’ve done it, Yatsushiro-san.’ The entire hallway immediately felt cold when she said that toward the four of us, followed by a mischievous smile on her face.

“Just kidding!” She said to all of us as she wore a ‘Tehe-pero’ expression on her face which immediately made the mood within the room pretty relaxed. 

She then approached the four of us for something that I can’t predict at all…

“Anyway, Shibuya-kun, thank you for lending me your books earlier during class.” She said with a thankful tone and smiled at me slightly. 

“Ah, it’s fine, Yatsushiro-san. You were just transferred today, so it can’t be helped.” I shrugged as I inwardly sighed in relief. 

“Indeed! So… Who are those three behind you…?”

She agreed in English and then asked about the three idiots who were behind me. 

The three of them immediately pushed me aside as they immediately introduced themselves.

“Ah, Yatsushiro-san! My name is Ichinose Tsukumo.”

“My name is Akatsuki Hayate.”

“And mine’s Kazuki Arato.”

“""And with that, it’s nice to meet you, Yatsushiro-san!”"" 

The three idiots just introduced themselves to Yatsushiro-san quite synchronously as if the three idiots have practiced it beforehand… 

Wait… how in the world did they practice it when we were just in class this whole time?!?! 

What’s with that carefully choreographed shit that I just heard?!

“Fufufu~! It’s nice to meet you, Ichinose-kun, Akatsuki-kun, Kazuki-kun… Thank you for being Shibuya-kun’s friend.” She said to the three of them as if they’ve been blessed by the Holy Mother. 

I can see the three of them probably being ready to ascend to the greater realms now. 

I have to clear up this misunderstanding now!

“Uhm… Yatsushiro-san…? What did you mean by that retort…?”

“Nothing~!" She turned to me as she added. "Though to be honest with you, I didn’t expect Shibuya-kun whom I found inside the roofed gazebo alone during lunchtime would also have quite a lively friend group!” She said with a tessing smile on her face. 

“Ha? They’re just stupid so I often get away from their antics way before they could invite me to it.” I said to her with a gein while rolling my eyes before hearing something that satisifed me. 

“""G-GAH!!”"" 

Looks like I just affected the three of them by the heart. It seems that the feeling of their comrade pulling them down jokingly still gets them affected.

The three of them immediately retorted back after quickly recovering from that attack.

“O-Oi… Katsuto-kun… That’s mean of you…” Hayate said. 

“Yeah! That’s so mean of you, Katsuto-kun!” Tsukumo followed. 

“As if you’re any better than us, Katsuto-kun! You’re supposedly the stupidest one out of the four of us!” Arato said lastly as he tried on dissing me. 

“Can the three of you just shut it?! Let's check up our scores during the last semester's Finals to see who's the boss.” I retorted back to the three of them.

“Pfft~!”

After returning my retort with my own, I heard a laugh from Yatsushiro-san which prompted the four of us to smile at each other and chuckled over what just happened. 

After that chuckle, I looked over at Yatsushiro-chan who was just happily smiling as she also looked at me with an endearing smile on her face which made me surprised before happily sighing.

I’ve never felt this feeling of contentment before. The three idiots then snickeringly talked to each other loud enough for Yatsushiro-san and I to hear.

“Ah, shit…! What’s with those two…?” Tsukumo's the first to say something to Hayate. 

“Now that I think about it, I really can feel it, huh…? Damn it!” Hayate replied. 

'Feeling what, Hayate?' I said within my thoughts. 

“My goodness… It was already settled even before I got a chance… Can you just explode now, Katsuto-kun?” Arato's the most bitter one as he basically treated me as a riajuu¹Japanese term for normies, people who got a girlfriend or in a relationship. now. 

“E-Explode?! What the hell are you three talking about?!” I exclaimed to the three of them as I rolled my eyes. 

‘What the hell’s wrong with those three now…?’ I internally sighed as everyone else left the hallway now, leaving the five of us just idling by. 

Realizing that, I asked Yatsushiro-san.

“Yatsushiro-san, are you alright with carrying the books yourself or getting to the Inventory Office?” I asked in a gentlemanly manner. 

“Oh, I can get it by myself, Shibuya-kun. Thanks for the concern.” She smiled at me as she positively rejects my help, which is fine to me. 

“I see… Anyway, the four of us will leave now. See you tomorrow, Yatsushiro-san.”

I said to her as I tapped the three idiots’ shoulders to get themselves moving now as the four of us were already carrying our bags by then. The five of us then left the classroom, going opposite ways from one another as Yatsushiro-san went out on going to the Inventory Office which is just a few minutes away from the entrance of the 1st Year Building.

While the four of us went to the commercial district within the school in which there was a train station adjacent to the school itself. 

The three of them were living in the dormitory district together since they’re not from Tokyo, but since I live 30 minutes away from this school by both train and walking, I was allowed to get in and out of the institute.

3rd POV

After Ayame got back from her grandparents’ home in Shinjuku along with the 6 books that she needs to carry to school, she puts down the books in the living room where Grandpa Shinji coincidentally entered the room.

“Ah, Grandpa, I’m home.” She greeted. 

“Welcome back, Ayame-chan. How was your first day of school today?” He asked Ayame with a concerned tone. 

As Ayame was about to answer his grandfather’s question, a beeping sound originating from Ayame was heard for a few seconds before stopping itself. 

Soon after hearing that beeping sound, Grandpa Shinji immediately took a whiteboard and a whiteboard marker out from one of the drawers in the living room and gave them to Ayame.

She started smiling as Ayame started to scribble something on the whiteboard without moving her mouth. After finishing writing something on the whiteboard, she showed it to Grandpa Shinji with a smile on her face.

“Today’s quite fun, Grandpa. I’ll tell everyone about what happened earlier during dinner.”

Apparently, Ayame can only hear others by using her eyeglasses as a specialized bone-conducting hearing aid because she has been diagnosed with otosclerosis when she was 2 years old.