What to expect on the first day of school?
Normally, there would only be an introductory event to form a circle of friends with similar hobbies and interests.
But what if a circle of friends is filled with people who have conflicting personalities and not even the slightest commonality?
This is what happened to Vincent on his first day of school. Vincent, Aria, Vittoria, and a boy were sitting together at the cafeteria table.
Ever since Aria declared herself Vincent's future wife, rumors quickly spread like a virus throughout the school. Aria had no choice but to act as she had spoken, constantly sticking by Vincent, who felt annoyed.
The same went for Vittoria. She found an unexpected rival. She clung to Vincent's right side like Aria, like a child who wouldn't let go of her toy. *If I'm not careful, Aria will surely take Vincent somewhere and do something indecent with him! That's why I have to protect Vincent from women like her!* Vittoria thought.
"Ah.. It's nice to be the young master of the richest company in the city. You already have a beautiful future wife right on your first day of school." Gregor, for some reason, followed Vincent like an chick. He slurped the mushroom soup from his bowl.
Slrrrp!
Because Vincent was the only male friend he knew, he had no choice but to be friends with Vincent (when Gregor tried to talk to girl, they looked at him cynically, which made Gregor slowly retreat).
"Vincent, try this. Aamm..." Aria spoon-fed Vincent a spoonful of beef stew. Vincent, who wanted to eat peacefully, was forced to accept Aria's feeding. Otherwise, he was afraid something would happen.
"Vincent. Drink my milk. My milk is more delicious than hers." Vittoria didn't want to lose and forcibly made Vincent drink a glass of her white milk.
Aria and Vittoria glared at each other sharply like international Olympic rivals, not wanting to lose attention from Vincent.
Vincent, as a living trophy for both of them, felt very disturbed. But what could he do? He didn't dare to drive them away.
Many other female students whispered every time they saw Vincent and the two girls beside him. Vincent didn't care much, but being gossiped about on the first day of school felt completely uncomfortable. Vincent could only sigh.
"Hahhh... If only I were as rich and handsome as you."
Gregor complained because his presence was considered nothing more than a statue. He sighed while sipping his mushroom soup.
"Believe me. I'd rather have a normal life than this." Vincent replied with a serious face, making Gregor swallow the mushroom soup in his mouth.
"But at least feed me too! I'm a man too, aren't I? That's my privilege for being born a man, isn't it? Why is only Vincent being fed by you two?" Gregor voiced his complaint.
Vittoria and Aria turned to him. Vittoria grinned while Aria still had her characteristic sweet smile.
"That's because Vincent is my future husband. And you're nobody, Gregor." Aria said that with a sweet smile, making Gregor feel his heart being cut twice as much.
"Ugh, then you? Vittoria? You're not anyone to Vincent, right?" Gregor looked at Vittoria across the table.
Vittoria hmphed while crossing her arms over her chest. "I am Vincent's stepsister. My position is higher than a childhood friend who claims to be someone's future wife."
Aria heard that and immediately bent the spoon she was holding.
"What did you say?" With eyes full of fiery anger, Aria stared at Vittoria, who returned a similar gaze.
Vincent, feeling the heat between the two fires of anger beside him, immediately took action, forcibly feeding both girls beside him with a spoonful of meat.
"Yes, yes, stop fighting. I don't like teenage drama."
Aria and Vittoria were surprised to feel something in their mouths. As soon as they realized it was Vincent feeding them, both their cheeks turned a little red. And they chewed the contents of their mouths in silence and cutely.
"Wow... you really are an expert with girl, man. How many women do you have?" Gregor had been observing Vincent from the beginning of class, and he seemed calm, as if he was used to being surrounded by women, unlike himself. Even when Aria clung to him and Vittoria didn't want to be outdone and also clung to Vincent, Vincent acted as if this was his normal daily life.
Vincent thought for a moment while chewing the contents of his mouth.
"Is that so? Well, all my family members are women. In my childhood, I was also more often surrounded by women than men. Isn't that normal?"
Gregor shook his head. He opened his mouth and eyes with amazement. He gave Vincent a thumbs up.
"I salute you, man. You deserve to be my teacher." Then Gregor realized something. "From now on, I will call you master! Please help me achieve my dream of creating harem in this high school, master!" Gregor made a bowing gesture on the table to Vincent. It made Vincent shiver.
"Oh yeah. By the way, Vincent. I don't know where you went four years ago without telling me first... I always waited for you to come back so we could play together as usual. But you never showed up..." Aria remembered her days without Vincent. She always peeked at Vincent's house every time she came home from school, hoping she could meet him again and ask him why he left.
Now she met Vincent after four years, and Aria managed to get a chance to ask him naturally.
Vincent didn't answer and put the spoon on his plate, which only had breadcrumbs left.
"Sorry, I shouldn't have asked that." Aria realized Vincent probably didn't want to answer and quickly backed off.
But Vincent shook his head. "No, I should be the one apologizing for suddenly leaving without telling you. I lived with my aunt in a small town for four years after my mother passed away. After my father died, I had to take care new family he left, which is why I came back here."
Aria tilted her head, "New family?"
Vincent pointed to Vittoria on his right.
Vittoria flashed a proud smile while puffing out her chest. This immediately made Aria's forehead veins tense with annoyance. She puffed out her cheeks in disbelief.
"Hah! But I've known Vincent longer since childhood! We've made so many unforgettable memories compared to you, who only met Vincent a few weeks ago!" Aria retorted, puffing out her chest and smiling triumphantly. This made Vittoria not want to lose.
"Hmph! I've also made many unforgettable memories with Vincent! We've slept together, eaten together every day, and even bathed together! ...eh?" Vittoria didn't continue her sentence, realizing she had said something very embarrassing. Immediately, her cheeks exploded with a blush as if she had accidentally stepped on a landmine she had set herself.
Aria and Gregor opened their mouths in surprise. "Aren't you two step-siblings?" Both of them asked Vincent and Vittoria.
But Vincent was as embarrassed as Vittoria and didn't answer the question.
"M-m-me too! I once bathed with Vincent! Just me and Vincent in the river together! And at that time, I accidentally kissed his 'snake'!" Aria exclaimed, not wanting to lose. But instead, she threw the same bomb and hit herself.
Aria's face turned completely red like a strawberry. She realized what she said after a few seconds of silence passed.
"Huh?!"
Gregor's eyes and mouth opened wide. The spoon fell from his hand.
***
In class, the lesson proceeded as usual. What was unusual was the atmosphere in the class when taught by Ms. Lilith. Every time someone wasn't paying attention to the lesson.
Ctak!
A small piece of chalk landed squarely on their forehead. Without tolerance. Without of nowhere.
But on the bright side, Ms. Lilith's lessons were very easy for the students to follow and understand. Except for Gregor. He was the student who had chalk thrown at his forehead the most today. He had been hit with chalk four times by Ms. Lilith for being sleepy, not paying attention, and teasing the girl at the next table two times.
After dusk, the school bell finally rang. And the students were free from studying. They immediately rushed out to go home and rest in their beloved homes.
Except for two, Vincent and Aria, who got the first cleaning duty before going home from school.
"Come on, let's finish quickly. Vittoria is waiting for me at the gate and if we're not done in five minutes, she'll scold me." Vincent handed the broom to Aria, who stands with her feet together.
Aria remained standing in her spot as Vincent was about to start sweeping.
"What's wrong?" Vincent asked.
"Um... I'm sorry for saying bad things to you today." Aria bowed slightly to apologize. From her guilty face, Vincent could tell that Aria was truly serious about apologizing.
Vincent smiled and waved his hand. "It's no problem. I'm quite happy to meet you again here. I don't really remember my childhood memories, but I remember your voice and your face when you smile sweetly. Starting today, nice to meet you, Aria." Vincent extended his hand to shake Aria's hand.
Aria raised her head, hesitantly accepting Vincent's handshake. "But... Is it okay? I made your name look bad at school because of me, Vincent. Aren't you angry with me?" Aria said with her head down.
Vincent shook his head. "I'm not angry. I also don't really care how my name sounds to other people. In fact, I should be the one apologizing for forgetting you, Aria. I thought you were doing this because you were angry with me for forgetting your name this morning." He scratched the back of his head, which wasn't itchy.
Aria raised her head in disbelief. Her mouth opened slightly.
"Really?"
Vincent nodded. "Are you angry?" He asked hesitantly.
Aria then smiled and chuckled softly.
"Ugh! I'm angry! I'm very angry! Because Vincent forgot me! Vincent is mean! Mean! Mean! Mean! Hmph!" Aria turned her face away, pretending to be angry.
That made Vincent confused and feel even more guilty.
"Um... I'm sorry, Aria. I really don't remember my childhood memories because a lot of things happened. I truly apologize to you—"
Aria then walked closer, touching Vincent's lips with her index finger to stop him from talking.
"I will accept your apology. On one condition!"
"What is it?"
"Hug me."
Aria said it shyly and rubbed her feet cutely. She kept her trembling hands behind her back to hide her nervousness from Vincent's eyes.
Vincent tilted his head. "Hug?" That was an easy thing, he thought.
Aria nodded nervously. "Yes."
Then without warning, Vincent suddenly hugged Aria's unprepared body. Making her whole body blush with embarrassment.
"Vi-vi-vincent!..."
Vincent's warm hug made Aria's heart pound so fast that she felt like she would faint at any moment.
I could feel the warmth of Vincent's body, his breath on the back of her neck, his hands that were big and strong compared to mine, his scent, chest, and other. I wanted a hug like this every day.
"Just like when we were little." She accidentally mumbled, closing her eyes. Wrapping her arms around Vincent's body, not wanting to let go of this warm hug any longer.
For almost ten seconds, "This is enough, let—" Vincent was about to release his hug when they both heard someone clear their throat. Making the hugging pair open their eyes in surprise.
"Ahem."
Vincent turned around, recognizing the sound of the girl's throat clearing, a girl he knew very well. Aria saw the girl, smile triumphantly while hugging Vincent tighter and more erotically.
Making Vittoria's anger burn fiercely.
"Oh, so this is how you do class cleaning duty?" Taking a firm stance. Vittoria prepared to unleash a deadly punch.
"W-wait! You misunderstood!"
"Perverted step brother!!!"
THUD!
***