At the entrance of Shuchiin Academy, Iino Miko stood dutifully at her post as a member of the Disciplinary Committee.
Her daily responsibilities were simple yet sacred: checking students' attire… and preventing any impure relationships between boys and girls.
To Miko, romance was something that should wait until adulthood, and anything more intimate belonged strictly after marriage. Spring might be the season when animals went into heat, but Miko worked diligently in every season.
If only human relationships were as simple as animal instincts. Unfortunately, humans were worse—many of them seemed to be in heat year-round.
"…" Miko's eyes narrowed as she spotted a couple walking past, shamelessly flirting.
They were even holding hands.
Now, Miko didn't consider all hand-holding impure. Context mattered. If someone stumbled and you offered a hand to help them up, that was fine. But this—intertwined fingers, clasped so tightly it was basically indecent—was beyond forgiveness.
Intertwined fingers = impure!
"You two! Let go of each other's hands! Don't—ha~" Her lecture was interrupted mid-sentence by a sudden yawn. Her momentum vanished instantly.
When she realized what had just happened, her cheeks puffed in embarrassment. So shameful!
She had only herself to blame—last night she stayed up late cramming for a test until eleven o'clock. For an early-sleeper like her, that was a fatal mistake.
By the time she finished yawning, the guilty couple had already sprinted off.
"Ugh…" Miko's shoulders slumped. Another failed duty.
Still, she persevered, standing guard as students continued streaming through the gates. Minutes later, her eyes lit up.
"Hmm? Hayasaka-senpai?"
At once, Miko remembered her resolution from yesterday afternoon—this time, she absolutely wouldn't let Hayasaka Ai slip past her again!
But when the girl approached, Miko froze in surprise.
'Hayasaka-senpai… is dressed so neatly today?'
This didn't feel right. Wasn't she supposed to be a flashy gyaru-type?
Her nails were trimmed neatly with light blue polish, and she wore tasteful jewelry. Still fashionable, but strangely refined.
Miko scrutinized her for ten whole seconds, but found nothing objectionable.
"Yoro~ Miko! Did you miss me?" Hayasaka Ai leaned in suddenly, closing the distance between them with an impish smile.
Finally, Hayasaka thought, my chance for revenge.
She hadn't forgotten the way Iino Miko had stopped her yesterday and forced her through half an hour of questioning. Yes, the end result had been fine, but being cornered like that had left her deeply annoyed.
Now it was time for payback.
Miko, confronted with Hayasaka's sudden closeness, panicked and took a step back.
"Um… Senpai, you're too close…" As someone with social anxiety, Miko had no idea how to handle this kind of aggressive friendliness.
"How do I look today?" Hayasaka spun gracefully in front of her. "Neat, right?"
She had dressed this way on purpose, just to tease.
"…Mm." Miko nodded stiffly.
Hayasaka chuckled, then leaned casually against the gate beside her.
"Um, Hayasaka-senpai… aren't you going in?" Miko asked nervously. Who knew what this gyaru might do next?
But Hayasaka only reached out naturally and ruffled Miko's hair. "Mm, class is about to start. I'll go now."
Then she walked off, leaving Miko staring after her with a mixture of relief and bewilderment.
"…Phew." Miko exhaled, patting down her hair. With the flood of students nearly over, she finally allowed herself to relax.
That was when it happened.
A blur of black darted past her.
"You're great Keep it up You're the best~"
The words were whispered gently in her ear.
Miko froze. Her heart skipped a beat.
When she looked up, she saw Sakurai Saki, grinning mischievously as he ran toward the school building. His uniform was deliberately messy, every detail calculated to mock her.
Her face turned bright red—though whether from embarrassment or anger, she couldn't tell.
Having successfully teased his favorite "toy," Sakurai Saki arrived at his classroom in high spirits. He straightened his uniform, erasing the messiness from earlier, and pushed open the door.
Since he was late, most of the class was already seated.
"Yo, Sakurai, overslept?"
"Good morning, Kazaki. Yeah, I just woke up late today," Saki replied smoothly. In truth, he'd slept wonderfully last night, which was exactly why he'd overslept.
After exchanging a few more greetings, he sat down, putting away his bag. Then his eyes slid to the girl seated nearby.
"Ai-chan, no greeting for me today?" he teased lightly.
Hayasaka Ai flinched. Her eyes darted toward him, then away, as if she couldn't quite bring herself to meet his gaze.
Ever since he had walked into the room, she had been hyper-aware of him. Her heart still hadn't calmed from yesterday's confession. Just seeing his face now was enough to send her pulse racing.
Sakurai Saki, meanwhile, only tilted his head curiously.
Strange. Why's she acting so weird? Is it still because of my confession yesterday?
Of course, to anyone else, it was obvious. But Sakurai Saki only thought to himself: Well… I am pretty handsome, after all. Even at Shuchiin Academy, he could easily rank among the top.
But was Ai-chan really that pure?
So shy from a single confession that she was still like this the next day?
Sakurai Saki was genuinely puzzled. He had teased her plenty of times before, but she had never reacted with this much intensity.
"G-Good morning, Sakura-chan…"
Hayasaka Ai's voice stumbled out awkwardly, her breathing uneven. When her eyes met his, it felt as though the world had placed a soft filter over her vision.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, the phrase flashed in her mind, and her delicate cheeks turned pink.
Sakurai Saki tilted his head and spoke bluntly. "Even if you were confessed to yesterday, you don't have to keep thinking about it until now, right?"
Hayasaka Ai froze.
Then, with a muffled groan, she slammed her forehead onto her desk, covering her face with both hands.
Who do you think caused this!?
Damn it, this is so embarrassing!
How can you, the culprit himself, say something like that!?
And that last part—was he… jealous?
Her heart fluttered wildly. Oh no… I really like him so much.
Meanwhile, Sakurai Saki only grew more confused. Watching her melt into her desk, he wondered, Why isn't she asking how I even know about the confession?
Could it be… Ai-chan actually had feelings for that Hasaka-kun?
Yes, that guy had a handsome face. But was Ai-chan really so shallow?
To be honest, if a girl only cared about appearances when dating, Sakurai Saki didn't think he could bring himself to invest too deeply. After all, beauty was subjective. What if she found someone even more attractive later? That would be the end of it.
"I… I didn't accept his confession…"
Her voice was soft, almost inaudible, but Sakurai Saki caught it.
She had already said the same thing yesterday, but hearing it again now still made something in his chest loosen.
His expression relaxed.
Hayasaka Ai peeked up from behind her hands, and when she caught that slight change on his face, her heart filled with quiet joy.
He really does like me.
...Patreon Rene_chan, kindly support, I'd appreciate some motivation :)