“Kotoka, have you heard?” 

 

“Heard what?” 

 

“This morning, our school got a foreign transfer student!”

“Oh? Really? And…?”

“Apparently, she’s a super cute, super beautiful girl! And, she’s a junior too!”

“Whoa… your eyes are literally sparkling. You’re really interested, huh?”

“Mmhm, hehe. She’s in Rina-chan and Etsuyuki-chan’s class! Should we have them recruit her into our club?”

“Oh… that’s not a bad idea.”

~~~~~~~~

“…Please take care of me.”

Anya finished speaking and gave a slight bow. Yet when she straightened, the classroom remained completely silent.

 Anya looked around, puzzled.

Everyone stared at her in stunned silence. Only Lirina looked at her with a mix of confusion and surprise.

“Everyone, although Harts is indeed very beautiful, staring like that is rather impolite, you know?” — Fujinashi

At last, the class seemed to wake from a daze and started clapping.

After a moment, Fujinashi waved her hand and the classroom returned to quiet—but not complete silence. Whispers discussing Anya floated all around.

After all, her white hair, blue-golden eyes, and angelic appearance—well, she really was an angel—combined to leave these teenage girls, mostly well-behaved, completely in awe.

…When Lirina had started school, she hadn’t faced this kind of attention as a new student… though it was almost the same—at the opening ceremony, everyone kept glancing at her, and even the student representative almost forgot their speech when they caught sight of her. In the first week, she often walked down halls being stared at, sometimes approached by shy, blushing classmates, which caused her a lot of stress.

“Now then, Harts, the only seat left is the one by the back window. You can sit there for now. Later, we’ll arrange seating properly. Is that okay?” Fujinashi didn’t stop the class from staring—she herself had been stunned seeing Anya, just like when she saw Lirina years ago. She even thought, Did I do something amazing before, because our class has two girls this cute now?

“Okay.” Anya glanced at the empty seat. Apart from being a little far from Lirina, it had neither advantage nor disadvantage.

She walked toward her assigned seat. All eyes in the room followed her movement.

“Ahem, everyone—” Fujinashi clapped to regain attention. “Now, morning assembly. We’re a bit late, so I’ll go quickly—”

~~~~~~~

After the morning assembly ended.

“Rina-chan! Rina-chan! That’s the girl who was looking for you at the school gate the other day!” Etsuyuki hurried over as soon as class ended.

“Ah… yeah…” Lirina tried to keep her expression neutral.

“So, Rina-chan, what’s your relationship with Harts?” Etsuyuki asked.

“Ah… uhh, friends.” Lirina bit her lip.

“Have you known her for a long?”

“Not… not really… uhh…” Lirina’s forehead began to sweat. At this rate, she couldn’t answer.

“Etsuyuki-chan, want to go to the restroom together?” A girl walked by, waving to Etsuyuki.

“Oh! Rina-chan, I’ll go now.” Etsuyuki stood, waved, and followed the other girl out.

Lirina finally exhaled, wiping the sweat from her forehead, and turned her gaze toward Anya.

She froze. Nearly all the girls in the class had surrounded Anya’s desk, forming a tight circle.

“Wow… Harts’ Japanese is amazing. She doesn’t sound like a foreigner at all…”

“…Harts’ white hair is beautiful. Is it natural?”

“…Why did Harts transfer here? Family reasons?”

Ugh.

Lirina furrowed her brow, half worried, half helpless—she had been surrounded like this before, and had almost cried when classmates pressed her with questions. It had been Etsuyuki who rescued her…

With Anya’s personality, would she get angry at them soon? That would be troublesome… Lirina hesitated to step forward to help, just like Etsuyuki had helped her before. Then she realized something.

If Anya were going to lose her temper, she would have done it already.

Lirina thought in surprise, then saw a gap form in the “circle” around Anya. Anya walked out through it.

Lirina furrowed her brow and turned her head—but too late. Their eyes met.

Uhh… huh?

Anya gave a small, slightly embarrassed smile, her eyes holding a hint of apology.

Before Lirina could interpret the look, Anya had already exited the classroom.

Thinking quickly, Lirina followed.

~~~~~~~

In the hallway, almost every passing classmate’s gaze lingered on Anya—some for a moment, others until their necks ached.

Then Lirina saw Anya enter the restroom.

Lirina hesitated, then followed.

Since morning assembly had just ended, the restroom was mostly empty. As soon as Lirina stepped in, Anya grabbed her wrist and pulled her into a stall.

“Eh…?”

“Shh—” Lirina instinctively wanted to speak, but seeing Anya’s finger to her lips, she quieted down.

Anya then extended her hand, recited a spell, and cast a soundproofing barrier. Then she lowered her head toward Lirina.

“I’m sorry, Lirina.”

Lirina was slightly surprised. “Eh? Sorry… for what?”

“For coming to your school without discussing it, as a transfer student… I bet you’re mad, right?” Anya looked up at Lirina apologetically.

Lirina shook her head. “I… I’m not mad… Why would I be mad?”

“Eh?” Anya froze. “You’re not angry that I acted on my own?”

“No… I never had the standing to tell you where you can or can’t go. If you were worried about causing me trouble… uhh, I’d be more than happy that you care about me like that.”

“…!” Anya was completely flustered.

She had thought of every possible way to approach this conversation, and yet Lirina had completely exceeded her expectations!

“And… just now, when you introduced yourself, I realized… yeah, I usually come to school alone, and Anya staying home alone would be boring… uhh,” Lirina’s cheeks turned pink, “And actually, I’m happy you came to school… uhh, because then we can go to school and return home together.”

Anya felt her chest lightly bumped. After a pause, she asked, “So… you’re not worried I might cause unnecessary trouble?”

“Uhh, since you already thought about it, that means… you wouldn’t, right?” Lirina smiled. “Even in class just now, when everyone crowded around you… you didn’t get mad.”

“Ah… well.” Anya frowned. She had been annoyed earlier… but thinking of Lirina, she endured it.

“Of course, if you said something strange or did something inappropriate… I’d still be troubled. But I’m sure you understand that… Oh, right, to avoid exposing my identity, please call me by my alias at school.” Lirina pursed her lips.

“Oh! Okay.” Anya nodded. “Why not use your real name from the start?”

“Because I don’t look foreign, using my real name would be troublesome…” Lirina smiled wryly. “Ah… we can’t talk much now. Class is about to start. Later, Anya—”

“Oh!” Anya realized they had somehow started chatting—her plan had been interrupted, and Lirina had suddenly shown a ‘tolerant’ attitude, leaving Anya a bit confused.

Just as they were about to leave, a voice called outside.

“Etsuyuki-chan! Aren’t you done yet?”

“Oh, yes, coming!” Etsuyuki replied.

Though the soundproof barrier blocked the stall, both girls tensed instinctively, holding their breath.

Hearing that voice made them suddenly aware—right now, they were hiding together in a school restroom stall… how strange was that?!

Both kept an ear out for sounds outside, feeling their hearts race.

“Uhh…” Their eyes met, then quickly looked away.

━━━━ ❖ ━━━

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