Beneath the scorching heat of the sunshine during the summer season, I was walking down the riverside road on my way to school. The road was partially crowded with students of my own school who were chatting with their friends.
My name is Aya Tsukuyomi, and I have been studying in Kaisei High since middle school. Not trying to flaunt, but other people say my beauty is like a goddess because of having smooth, waist-length brilliant black hair along with glittering red eyes. But, having a goddess-like appearance doesn’t necessarily mean my life would be the same.

“Ohoo~ look who it is!”

A voice hollered from my back, and I immediately recognized it as the look on my face turned pale. Turning my head hesitatingly, I saw that three girls  showed up. They were my classmates, named Chitose Arisugawa, Kaguya Suzuki, and Akane Satou, the trio of beauty but garbage personalities who excessively bullied me verbally and physically. It was as if I was a relief-pitcher who can be used to vent out all their frustrations. The one with the screeching voice who called me out was Chitose.
Chitose had red hair which was tied into twin-tails using black ribbon. As for the other two, Akane and Kaguya had green and blue hair respectively with traditional japanese bob cut style, with both of them having a slight variation of the original hairstyle. 

“What is a pest doing here?”

She said while marching up towards me followed by the other two. Their presence filled with evil ambience petrified me as my eyes got transfixed on their faces with horror.

“I-I was going to school, just like y-you all…”

“You? School? Hah, you’re kidding, right? A pest like you doesn't deserve to go. You’ll make the school dirty, you know?”

I didn't reply to her statement and kept quiet because whatever I said, they wouldn’t take it into account, and if I replied offensively or in favour of my defense, they would physically torture me. I thought that being silent would help me escape without physical torture, but I was wrong.
Chitose grabbed my hair and pulled it using her strength while I cried out in pain.

“Oww it hurts! Please no!!”

“I am asking you something. Don’t you have manners?? And look at you, such a weakling. Crying out just after holding your hair.”

You’re not just holding it, but pulling it with force!
She even started to tousle my hair, and I was in such pain that I couldn't utter even a single word.

“Hmph, we don't have time to waste on this idiot. The school bell’s gonna ring any moment now.”

Saying this, Chitose let go of my hair, but dragged and pushed me into the river, drenching my uniform. She threw me into the shallow part of the river, so the water was of knee height but since I fell on it flat, my whole uniform was soaked with water. Meanwhile, those three girls began running towards the school while giving out immense laughter.

“Get out of the water soon, or your filthy smell’s going to stain the water! Hahaha.”

This is not just today, but I was bullied like this all the time. Not a single day passes without me getting tortured. Sometimes in the girl's washroom, I was forced to clean it by other classmates, many of the time being those three girls. If I refused to clean, then they would grab the back of my neck and dump my face inside the toilet.

Not only them, but even my own brother, Washizu, bullied me physically. Whenever he gets scolded by our parents, he would physically abuse me in order to relieve his stress. It was as if I was a stress reliever or a human punching bag to him rather than a younger sister.

He is not my blood-related brother though, but rather I was adopted to the Tsukuyomi family.

My family died in a car accident when I was around three years old, and was sent to an orphanage, because none of my relatives wanted to carry a 'burden' like me. At the time of the accident I was present in my house because both of them had gone to an important business meeting and couldn’t drag me along. It was only after a few years in the orphanage that a family came looking for a girl child to adopt , and like this, I got adopted to the Tsukuyomi family.

I finally reached school, but was late because of what happened to me on my way and got scolded by the teacher. Not because of being late, as I managed to reach the classroom just a few minutes before the teacher had arrived, but because of my uniform which was drenched with water. I could’ve confessed the reason, but I couldn’t, in fear that those girls might bully me harder if they got caught. I even could’ve gone back home and got myself changed, but that would mean I would miss out school since the main gate would close.
Everyone, including the three of them, were laughing hard at me, and I couldn’t help but feel extremely embarrassed, even though these kinds of things happened with me almost everyday.

“Yuzaki-sensei, we can't waste our  time on students who are dumb and doesn't understand. So please continue.”

The class president advised the teacher and he agreed with her, letting me sit down, but also told her to not treat me like that. I don’t know about that, as they still wouldn’t change the way they treat me. They don’t even think of me as a human, but just a toy to relieve themselves by letting out their frustrations, or to play with by torturing me whenever they feel bored.
Meanwhile those three girls, Chitose, Kaguya and Akane were still laughing at me.

“*giggle* look at her, aww such a crybaby.”

I was really exhausted and fed up with being the victim of bullies all the time.

“Students,  before we start our lecture, I wanted to let you know that we have a new transfer student who’ll be joining us from today.”

*      *      * (Shifting of POV) 

I heard the teacher mention something about a transfer student, which I believe is me, and thought it was probably an indirect way of calling me inside.

I guess this is it.
Sliding open the door and stepping inside the classroom, I walked up to my teacher and stood beside him facing the students.

“This is our new transfer student. Please introduce yourself.”

“Yes sensei. I am Hisashi Kurogane, nice to meet you all! I hope this year will be a wonderful one and we'll have a lot of fun together!”

I could feel many gleaming stares coming at me from among the girls, and as the boys noticed them, they abruptly turned their gazes onto me with bloodlusted eyes. Those stares from students were enough to give me a hunch of what will be happening in the future.

“Kyaaaa~ soo handsome!!!”

The girls cried out in joy and even started to yell at excitement. Meanwhile the boys who were already staring at me with bloodlusted eyes, started gleaming red with anger and jealousy.

“Hmph, he got the attention of all the girls right when he moved in. I'm jealous of him man. Why does it have to be him, why can't we get any attention from the girls??”

“Hisashi-kun, there is one empty seat right beside Aya-chan. you can go and sit there.”

The teacher said and as I agreed and started moving towards the seat the teacher pointed to, a girl called me out.

“Heyy~ Hisashi-kun was it? You can sit here right beside me!”

She was requesting me to sit beside her, which was already occupied. Apparently, she was pushing another girl from her seat as she requested me, and I couldn’t help but give a troubled smile. Whilst this was going on, another girl interrupted in between.

“Hisashi-kun... You can sit here if you want.”

Said the girl as she was getting up from her seat. At first I thought she was a normal, respectable schoolgirl who was kind enough to give up her seat to a transfer student,  but wait-

“But, as a compensation for giving up my seat, you'll have to let me sit on your lap.”

She said while winking at me, but I didn't show any reactions and returned a blank stare, being utterly disappointed. 

How wrong I was to think her to be innocent…

Meanwhile the teacher got really irritated at their behaviour and yelled at them.

"Chitose-chan, Kaguya-chan and Akane-chan! Get back to your seats! Hisashi-kun, I'm really sorry for all these.”

“No sensei! It's not your fault.”

I said kindly and as I went to my seat, a tiny smile of pure goodwill appeared on the teacher's face.

After reaching my seat, I took a glance at whoever was sitting beside me, and I saw a girl’s face whom the teacher had mentioned as Aya-chan. At first, I flinched out in surprise, seeming to recognise her, but disagreed as I thought I might have mistook Aya for someone else. Her beautiful, goddess-like face was pale with depression whose eyes were in a daze. Her eyebrows were lowered and pulled together, indicating exhaustion or sadness. Unknowingly, I had developed a sense of concern for her, and so after sitting, I greeted.

“Nice to meet you!”

She slowly turned her gaze which was facing the blackboard towards me.

“N-n-nice to m-meet you too”

Replied fumblingly, and in such a manner as if she was afraid to utter a word, as if doing so would lead to punishment. But on the other hand, I seemed to recognize her voice too. It made me wonder if we met somewhere before, but had gotten distracted by her beautiful face.

I had already perceived that she was depressed, and now it has been confirmed. I still didn’t know why I was feeling bad, why I was feeling pity for her, but the thought of helping her had been craving inside me from the very first time I laid my eyes on her. Now I can’t even tell if this is all natural or unnatural. Was it because her face was too cute for me to handle, or was it because her face resembled someone else I knew?
But whatever the reason might be, I strongly felt like talking to her in order to  cheer her up. Not only that, but even thought of trying to become her friend a little later, since it seemed as if she didn't have any.

After a long wait, the first period's class was over, and I called her out.

“We didn't get to say our names... I'm Hisashi Kurogane. May I know yours too?”

“I... am Aya Tsukuyomi. I-it's really nice.... to meet you.”

She replied as she gave a smile, which seemed like a forced one but I didn't mind, as I already had a hunch of what she might have been going through, and instead, added-

“Likewise.” 

It was only now that I took a brief look at her and noticed her drenched uniform. I was shocked with a sudden realization, which was more like a guess since I wasn’t sure about it, and it might not have been the only reason for her wet uniform.

No way….Getting bullied? Her??
Was she depressed because she was getting bullied? As I’ve said, it’s just a guess, but it seemed like the most appropriate reason for her poor talking skill and depressed face. But why was she getting bullied? She didn’t seem like the person who would be a victim of such a thing. With her sweet, charming face and gorgeous, obsidian-black hair, she really resembled a goddess. Not to mention her beautiful glittery-red eyes.
I didn't want to ask her whether it was true that she was getting bullied, as it was still too soon to be asking such personal questions. Rather I talked about the things I liked, my hobbies, and asked about her hobbies also, for the sake of dragging the conversation and also in order to cheer her up.

While we kept on talking, the teacher of the next period came, so we had to stop the conversation in between. Wondering how she might be feeling, I took a peek at her and saw that she had a small smile on her face, and this time, that smile seemed pretty natural.

I think I was able to motivate her a little. I should talk to her afterwards  again... 

Thinking that, I sighed a sense of relief and satisfaction, as I was able to cheer her up, at least by a bit.

 

“RIIIIINNNNNNGGGG”
Ahh, damnit. This school bell never fails to rumble my ears. I don't really know if it is the school bell being loud or my sensitive hearing, but it did cause me discomfort. But anyways, it was lunch time now. So I took out my lunch box when I heard some rash talk-

“Oi, give us money, we are hungry and are going to the cafeteria. If you refuse, things will get worse for you.”

Three girls approached Aya and started asking for money in a rough manner. I could recognize the faces of those three, as they were the ones who had tried to seduce me by giving up their seats the moment I entered the classroom. They were bullying and threatening her.

I guess I was right about Aya getting bullied...

Thinking that my guess was right, I was about to step up to confront them. I don’t know how, probably by changing the topic. Or, since they were trying to seduce me previously, I could take it to my advantage by sweet talking and drag them away from Aya. But-

“Hii~ Hisashi-kun! Do you want to have lunch together?” 

“We can visit the cafeteria if you want! There’s lots and lots of delicious food there!”

“After class, let’s go see a movie together~.”

A few girls showed up in front of my desk, who were my classmates. I was just about to confront them who were bullying Aya, but thanks to these girls, I couldn’t. Maybe it was for the better. Since I  just transferred in today, I already thought about trying my best to prevent meddling into any sort of argument or violence, and ignored the situation, even though my heart didn’t want to, and tried to solve the situation with these girls in front of me.

Few minutes passed and I was having my lunch, after somehow managing to overcome the situation and aligning my desk with the row.

Those girls really caused a ruckus, huh…

The girls were all over the place surrounding me from every direction, and my field of vision was blocked, and slowly they got piled up and started pushing from the back, which caused my desk to get shambled and misaligned.
I didn’t mind that though, but I didn’t know what it was in me that they found attractive. I suddenly realized what was happening with Aya, and abruptly turned my gaze towards her desk but couldn’t find her. Worrying what might’ve happened to her, I scanned the whole classroom and saw that she was dragged into one corner and was already made to lie on the floor by those three girls, and they were kicking on her body pretty roughly. What's surprising, the rest of the classmates didn't even bother looking at her, not to mention reaching out to help her. I was utterly shocked to see their behaviour. There a girl is getting tortured and no one, not even a single soul, bothered to even lay a gaze upon her. I was slowly starting to grasp the situation with Aya, why her beautiful face had been pale, with depression overlayed on her face. It was because she was bullied like this. Don’t know if she was bullied often or seldom.
The moment they started stomping on her face, I had it. I couldn’t hold back and watch it any longer. My infuriation was slowly building up on my face, as my expression roughened. I got up from my seat pretty roughly to confront them but-

“Hey, Hey! What are you three girls doing with her huh? Come here at once!”

I heard a voice come from the entrance of the classroom, and as I turned my gaze, I saw a tall man with neat and long blonde hair wearing spectacles standing on the doorway of the classroom. From the looks of it, he seemed like a teacher, who might have been passing by and saw the commotion, and called out those three girls who were bullying Aya.

“Oh, Chitose, you and your partners in crime, Kaguya and Akane, you three never change. Come with me now to the headmaster!”

The teacher commanded and took those girls with him. As I had thought, he really was a teacher and I was relieved, because I didn’t have any other choice but to confront, but that teacher saved me.
I rushed towards Aya who kept lying on the ground, with her messed up uniform, panting heavily and her cheeks had footprints imprinted.

“Are you okay? Are you hurt somewhere??”

“I'm fine, thank you.” She replied in a very soft, pleasant voice.

“It's nothing. And I'm really sorry you were being bullied by them, and the fact that I tried to ignore the incident at first, since you know, I just transferred in today…”

I apologized. Yeah, it was because of the girls who hoarded around me, but it’s not a lie that I was also trying to ignore the incident. It’s because I could’ve easily broken out by forcing my way through the girls and confront her, but I didn’t and sat there trying to solve the situation with them.

“No no, y-you don't have to a-apologize, it's ok. And still t-thank you for helping me.”

I nodded, and helped her get up. Judging from what she said, she didn’t seem to mind it and I was relieved since I didn’t want any misunderstandings to take place, even though it seemed like I might’ve wanted it.

“Let's have lunch together.”

I said, while joining the two tables together and keeping my lunch box on the table, while Aya Nodded to me in agreement.

Of course, I couldn’t ask her why they were bullying her, as it was still too soon, but I said I'd like to have lunch together since I felt bad and pity for her. How she was managing to deal with it, was something about her that had impressed me. She might not be physically strong, but mentally she was. Even after getting bullied like this, she still managed to keep herself. Even if I couldn’t save her, I could at least prevent her from feeling lonely, even though it seemed as if she was used to it. And so, we had our lunch.

There was still a lot of time left before lunch time was over. I had to go to the washroom to freshen up.

“Tsukuyomi-san, I’m coming from the washroom.”

“.....Nn…..”
She said in a really soft voice, so soft that it made me seethe with cute aggression, wanting to squeeze her into my arms. Wait no I can’t do that. It would be inappropriate to do something like this when we’ve just met today.

As I was about to get up from my seat, suddenly, an arm fell on my shoulder, quite roughly. I jolted as it took me by surprise, and as I looked behind my back, I saw a guy with light brown hair styled in a delinquent way or whatever they say, stood behind me with his arms on my shoulder.

“Ooh, the new transfer student huh? What a pretty face you have. Just like the rats in my basement.”