"Hey, did you guys see the new transfer student?"
In the school hallway, together with two other first-year students, a male student spoke to the other two.
"Oh! The one from 1-A? I saw her! She's really pretty." The girl between the two said with a finger on her cheek.
"Yeah, I saw her too, she's a foreigner, right? I think her name was Lala Satalin Deviluke." The other male student said with a hand on his chin and a doubtful look.
"Yeah, to think we'd get a new transfer student right after another one, in my opinion, she's definitely way more pleasant than that guy." The first one said with a grimace and a sour look.
"Yeah, I agree with you." The male student said with an equally sour look.
Looking back and forth between the two, the girl between them noticed something. "Wait, you guys don't know?"
"What?"
While the two looked at her confused, she answered with an amused smile.
"She actually came here yesterday from what it seems, besides that she and the other transfer student already know each other, some rumors say they're even a couple."
The other two just stared at her in shock as if they'd been punched in the stomach.
"Damn it! No wonder that guy tried to hit me when I secretly took a picture of her." The first one said while pulling out his phone.
"You what?" The corner of the girl's mouth twitched while the guy just looked curiously at the phone screen.
On it, in the background, you could see Lala, tilting her head with a confused look toward the camera, but the highlight was who was in front, Rafael appeared much closer with his middle finger raised, a vein bulging on his forehead, and a wide smile that promised pain, not only that, you could tell he was approaching.
"Oh/oh..." The other boy and the girl exclaimed when they saw the picture.
"I had to run as fast as I could after I took the picture." The boy with the phone said as he put it away.
"That damn lucky bastard! How does a guy like that get a girl like her?" The other boy said with a frustrated look.
"And you talk as if you had any chance." The girl spoke with a raised eyebrow. "Actually... he's also handsome and has fluffy hair, I wonder if he'd let me touch it if I asked hehehe~." She said with a blushing face and a slightly perverted smile while holding her cheeks.
The two boys looked at each other dryly before turning their gaze back at her.
Meanwhile, with the information about Lala already spreading through the school along with her relationship with Rafael, the two reasons for these rumors were inside the classroom.
Now it was the break between classes so Rafael could finally talk to her.
['That guy really ran fast, I'll wait to get him later.'] While thinking about the guy who had taken a picture of Lala secretly, leaning back in his chair with arms crossed, Rafael spoke to the said girl sitting in front of him. "So, how did you manage to get into the school, did you use something from that phone of yours for that?"
"Actually no." Lala smiled with her chin resting on her hand. "I just talked to the principal saying I wanted to join the school and he said yes."
"Huh." A little surprised, he looked at her without reaction. ['Wait a sec... now I'm remembering, isn't the school principal that fat pervert?'] The distant memory of that guy coming to mind as he internally decided he'd get rid of him if he tried anything.
[Get rid of him in what sense?]
['In the sense of sending him on a long vacation to some isolated island, preferably full of hungry homosexuals.'] "Let me know if that guy tries anything weird with you."
"Don't worry, I can defend myself~!" Lala raised her arm flexing her bicep with a finger. "See how strong I am?"
Rafael laughed at that. "Yeah, you're definitely strong."
...
Riiinng~
With the bell signaling the end of classes, the students started packing their things to go home or to their clubs.
And while Rafael did the same, his old homeroom teacher suddenly spoke.
"Ah, Haruna, since you're the class representative you could show the clubs to Lala."
The blue-haired girl blinked surprised before nodding. "Yes."
The old teacher thanked her before leaving.
While Rito blinked in surprise and felt a little disappointed since he couldn't invite Sairenji to leave together, Rafael approached the two girls who were introducing themselves to each other.
"Hey blue hair—I mean, Sairenji-san, I'll go with you." He stopped near the two.
The girl shot him a silent dry look, something that only made him look back at her confused.
['What's with that look? Is it because of what happened before? I already apologized for that, does she want me to do a dogeza or something? Should I say 'sorry mommy~' while I do it?']
[-_-]
Haruna's eye twitched imperceptibly while Lala beside her laughed amused.
"Alright, you can come with us." Suddenly feeling tired, Haruna turned her back leaving the classroom with Lala following cheerfully and Rafael with his hands behind his head.
Seeing that, it only took Rito a moment to decide to follow them secretly.
And why he was doing that even he didn't understand, he could've just joined them directly but he decided to go hidden. 'Why am I doing this? Am I jealous of Sairenji?' He questioned himself internally, but he didn't feel anything pointing to that.
'It doesn't even make sense to be jealous, Rafael is Lala's fiancé.' Though he thought that, he didn't stop following them.
Meanwhile, the three ahead of him were already in front of a different classroom after passing two others.
"This is the chemistry room." Haruna pointed to the room with its door open.
Lala stood in front of the door looking around curiously leaning a bit with Rafael right behind her also looking into the room.
And what he saw was a skeleton, some desks, a shelf with books, and a bigger table with test tubes and all the necessary materials.
['Wow, this chemistry room...is a chemistry room!']
[...]
While Lala laughed internally, Haruna's face twitched slightly at hearing that, her sidelong glance going toward Rafael.
'He really doesn't get tired of thinking absurd things.' Since she had already realized that the owner of the thoughts she constantly heard was Rafael, she watched him to see if it was on purpose but she soon noticed he seemed completely unaware.
That was strange to her, how could someone have the ability to share their thoughts with others without even knowing it?
She intended to talk to him about it, maybe he could fix it since she was unable to stop the constant and random wave of his thoughts.
Her gaze then shifted to Lala. 'So, this is the alien princess?' Her gaze focused on the tail coming out of her uniform knowing very well that it was real. 'An alien, to think they exist, though, the thoughts of a boy I don't even know popping up in my head against my will feels even more absurd.'
After a while, the two turned to her waiting for her to continue, she then turned back walking again with the two following her.
They continued passing through more rooms and different clubs, with Lala looking around curiously and Rafael singing random songs that were being heard by the two girls.
With a dry look, Haruna guided the two already outside the building walking through an open path, her face dry from what she was hearing at that moment.
['Omai wa mou shinderourggghhrr! Hadouken! Shoryuken! Atatatata!...']
And with an amused smile behind her, Lala walked cheerfully. "School really is a fun place, isn't it?"
"Mm? Ah yeah, it is." Pulled from her questioning thoughts about the boy's sanity behind her, she went back to ignoring the random thoughts and answered Lala with a slight smile.
"People here seem really close and get along well." Lala smiled with her hands clasped behind her back.
"Yes, it's a policy of Japanese schools, organization and teamwork to help them become more responsible people."
"Mmmm, by the way Haruna, I can call you that right~? Tell me something, is there someone you like?"
"Eh?" The sudden question made Haruna stop in place, a blush rising on her face as she looked at Lala surprised.
"Hahaha, sorry for the abrupt question, it's just that I recently met someone and..." Lala blushed lightly placing her hands on her cheeks. "I'm discovering what this feeling is." She looked back smiling.
But Lala's smile actually trembled for a brief moment while Haruna also looked speechless at Rafael.
['Where did these ants come from? Oh, from there.'] Rafael was crouched down looking curiously at the trail of ants passing nearby.
"Hahaha, so, do you?" Shaking her head lightly, Lala turned her gaze back to Haruna.
'Someone I like?' The image of Rito came to her mind as she blushed again. "Yes... I do."
Lala's eyes practically sparkled as she quickly approached her. "Really!? Who is it~?"
Haruna leaned back slightly surprised by Lala's energy. "Uh..."
"Ugh!"
Just as she was struggling with what to answer Lala, a groan of pain was heard making them look at Rafael.
"What the hell? Where did this ball come from?" Crouched on the ground, his face was frowning as he instinctively looked up with a ball in one hand and the other rubbing the top of his head.
"Sorry about that! Can you throw the ball back?"
Hearing the shout from afar, he got up as he saw a student wearing a baseball uniform.
"What's that?" Lala asked curiously seeing the group of people dressed like that.
"It's the baseball club." Haruna answered looking in the same direction.
"Oh! That looks fun! Hey Rafael, let's go there?" She asked him pointing toward the place.
"Sure, why not." He replied walking to her, with the two then heading toward the field.
"W-wait." Once again surprised by the apparent lack of sense from the two, Haruna followed them.
Meanwhile, "hiding" in a bush holding some branches above his head, Rito saw them going toward the baseball field and "stealthily" followed them.