"The day is especially beautiful today, and that's all thanks to me."
"How perfect I am…" a girl said, pulling her lips away from an apple juice box.
"It's good to witness your incredible humility," another girl replied with a sarcastic tone.
"I'm only speaking the truth," there was no joke or teasing in the girl's voice. "I'm different from the…"
"—The rest of the world?" now the sarcasm in the other girl's tone was impossible to miss. "You are unbearable sometimes."
"Oh, come on," the first girl's tone was now more playful. "You know you love me like a sister."
"I do," the first girl admitted with some cheerfulness, "sometimes I also want to choke my siblings."
"Pffft…"
"Heh…"
Both girls laughed; it was a beautiful sound.
It was summer, and the heat outdoors was comfortable.
"Would you say a person's place in the world is defined by their birth, their personality, or the environment in which they live?"
The sun was in the sky like a king, its rays covering the entire outdoor pool area.
A breeze made both girls' hair dance.
One was a beautiful young woman.
Long golden hair, cascading past her waist, with bangs that covered her forehead.
It was the "princess" style in all its glory.
The young woman had eyes of such a bright, clear blue that they looked like a cloudless sky.
Her skin was white as porcelain; she was sitting properly, looking like a cross between offering a prayer and being a work of art in honor of a prima donna.
Her uniform was impeccable.
A gray vest with black lining, golden buttons, a white long-sleeved shirt with a long red ribbon over her prominent chest.
All beneath a gray jacket with golden lining. Her skirt matched, cut to the regulatory length.
Her legs were covered by long white stockings that ended at her thighs, all matching brown shoes.
"What kind of abstract nonsense are you talking now, Kana?"Her companion was a beautiful young woman with short black hair, shoulder-length, also with bangs.
Gray eyes, covered by black-rimmed glasses.
Her almost ghostly white skin gave her face a more traditional japanese beauty.
The black-haired young woman had a developed body, though not quite reaching that of her companion.
She wore the same uniform as the blonde, with the notable difference of wearing long black stockings covering her legs and a black band on her right bicep that had "Student Council" inscribed in white letters.
Unlike her friend, she was sitting firmly, chopsticks in hand, holding the bite she was about to eat.
"I'm just saying~" the girl said in an excessively sweet voice while fiddling with a lock of her blonde hair, feigning innocence. "Compared to others, you and I were born different~"
The Student Council President gave her a look that conveyed, "Cut the nonsense right now," to which the blonde stuck out her tongue and looked away, closing one eye."... Just spit out what you mean, Kana," the girl's lack of patience was evident in her voice, "and drop the metaphors, speak clearly."
"Wabisuke from Class 1-B confessed to me the other day," the blonde said with confidence, even allowing herself to close her eyes to hear her friend's expression of surprise.
She only heard someone chewing.
The blonde opened her eyes.
Her friend was eating with a bored expression.
"Who?" she asked after swallowing, her voice completely uninterested.
"..." The blonde's smug smile seemed to shatter at the question. "You… You don't know the top #1 most sought-after boy in the Academy?"
Kana asked, genuinely surprised. Her friend still looked uninterested.
"No," the girl said, taking another bite with her chopsticks. "Besides, I already have my eyes on a guy."
"Seriously!?" Kana screamed in excitement but quickly calmed herself. "Gossip for later…"
"Yeah, but I'm not telling you who." Kana made a kicked-puppy face. "What was your point with your question?"
"Meh, forget it, it wasn't that important anyway," Kana smiled at her. "But seriously, you don't know Wabisuke?"
"Nope." To show how little she cared, she spoke with her mouth full.
"... The Ace of the soccer team?" Kana omitted the fact that Wabisuke himself had said that.
Kumohime took another bite.
"Nah," the disinterest in her was almost comical. "And the Ace of the soccer team is its captain, Saito."
'That's the number 4 spot among the school's most desired guys,' Kana thought. He wasn't her type.
"The top 5 in institute grades?" Kana thought that might catch her friend's attention.
"False, he's #8," Kumohime continued eating. "The fourth is a first-year boy."
Another bite.
"So you did know who he was…" Kana pointed an accusing finger at her friend.
"... The chicken is very seasoned today…" Kumohime dodged the accusation.
"... Kumohime…"
"Ne Kana, what happened with Kuwaraga? Weren't you two dating?" Kumohime asked the blonde, who let out a sigh.
"We weren't even really dating; I just said that so the guys would stop confessing every afternoon," Kana put on a face of false humility. "I don't blame them for it."
"Ooh… cool," Kumohime took another bite of her food, sipped her green tea, and put on an expression of spiritual tranquility. "Oh, Buddha, thank you for this life."
"Hey…"
"... What lovely weather we're having~"
"... Honestly, what you're doing is disrespectful."
"Kana, I've known you since kindergarten, and it was the same back then as it is today," Kumohime gave her friend a bored look. "All the top boys go after you, you never accept any of them, the girls hate you for it, and the guys realize you're out of their league… it's the monotony of perfection."
Kana arched an eyebrow at her friend's words. With a wave of her hand, she asked her to continue.
"It never hurts to know I'm perfect, but I'd like to hear your reasoning," Her friend rolled her eyes at that. "But be concise, we don't want to spend all day here."
Kumohime adjusted her glasses with a bored gesture before giving the blonde a cold stare.
"Like you said, you're made of something different, which is why people are naturally drawn to you," Kumohime looked at the sun above her with an absent expression. "But that very thing pushes you away from everyone… what usually happens during recess?"
"All the girls and boys gather around me," it was inevitable; she owned almost everything in Meisei, literally and metaphorically. "They're so adorable…"
The blonde had an arrogant smile on her face, even allowing herself to move her hair off her shoulder in a gesture of superiority.
"Who is the school's top #1?" Kumohime was settling for a second place.
"Well, obviously me," Kana smiled at her friend, always behind her. "Better luck next time, darling~"
Kumohime didn't even react to that.
"What happened the last time they tried to undermine your authority?" They had been friends since they were very young; they knew well what that meant.
"Oh dear…" Kana closed her eyes for a few moments before opening them with a wicked gleam. ". . . Those people never existed… they were just lost little children."
Kumohime didn't seem the least bit perturbed; as her closest confidante, she knew what Kana usually had to deal with.
Her best friend couldn't afford to be weak.
With anyone.
"Exactly," Kumohime said in an indifferent voice. "The only options with you are to admire or submit; there will always be an infinite distance between you and everyone else."
The silence between them was only interrupted by the faint sound of someone shouting.
"We told you you had to bring the money if you didn't want to suffer the consequences!"
"Come on, Umogami, we're just looking out for you!"
"Oh wow…"
Kana said with a tone of feigned outrage, and Kumohime's gaze turned cold.
"It seems there are people incapable of following the most basic norms of human decency…"
Both girls exchanged a meaningful look, then stood up together and walked with impassive faces toward the source of the noise.
"... How vulgar…" Kana whispered, tucking her hair behind her ear.
Meisei was not the school for that kind of thing; the facilities were too expensive and prestigious for the public image to be stained with such scandals.
Kana looked at the buildings. Inside were students who had paid with sweat and effort to be able to enter the school.
Many came from families who made sacrifices for them; she had special respect for those people.
To Kana, those people were worthy of following her.
"Should we call security?" Kumohime said into the air, not even seeming to intend to do so. "…"
She gave Kana a knowing look.
"Nah, let's stretch our muscles," Kana allowed herself a cruel smile. "Sometimes you have to take out the trash yourself."
Then there were those who were like her, born into luxury and power, their parents having bequeathed them the well-being they had earned through hard work.
There were those who valued that, maintaining the necessary dignity for their status; those might be worthy of following her.
Then, there were those who valued none of it, bringing shame to their predecessors, despising every effort made for them.
She hated that type of person with intensity.
"There they are…"
Kumohime said without emotion. Kana observed the image in front of them and let out a sigh of exhaustion.
Three burly boys, with their uniforms poorly worn, covered in shiny trinkets and dyed hair.
'Such bad taste,' Kana thought, watching the trio laugh uproariously.
They were in a secluded part of the school; both girls knew it was a recurring spot for… private activities.
"Ugh… delinquents…" Kana muttered with disgust, then moments later, she shouted in an authoritative voice: "What is supposed to be happening here!?"
The three stopped, slowly turned around, and their faces paled with fear upon seeing the two.
"Meigama, Natsuda, Modou… should I assume you have forgotten the previous warnings the Student Council has given to you all?" Kumohime's tone promised pain.
Kana, as Kumohime's best friend, often heard her constant complaints about the three present idiots.
They were recurrently sanctioned for harassment, disrespect for authority, and vandalism of the facilities.
Kana wanted to beat them up right there, but she had to be patient.
"Look at that first-year student," she said to her friend.
Kumohime moved her head slightly to the side before noticing the state of the young man who was being intimidated.
He was short in stature, with black bowl-cut hair and thick bottle-cap glasses.
His jacket was missing buttons, a bruise was starting to form on his left cheek, and his pants were halfway down his thighs.
Both girls took note of the details; a suspension would be the minimum for the looks of the affair, but before that, they had to secure the victim's testimony.
Then a burst of laughter from the de facto leader, Modou, distracted both of them from their plans.
"Hey guys, we're in our lucky day…" Modou ran his tongue over his lips with a hungry expression. "We have two of the Top 10 right in front of us right now."
"Filthy monkey," Kana said with disgust.
"Worthless scum," Kumohime's voice was cold.
Modou was a curious specimen in the eyes of both; dumb as an ass, with the lust of a dog and the charisma of a brick.
His only semi-redeemable quality was his ability to make others look somewhat decent by comparison.
"Your parents don't deserve for you to disrespect them this way," Kumohime said with a tired voice.
"Save your breath, Kumohime," Kana shook her head, a tired smile on her face. "I doubt he even understands the value of a yen."
Modou made a face that made him look like a monkey.
"God, you are so mediocre it's not even funny."
Kana was not joking.
Brown hair, green eyes, and a forgettable face—she felt tempted to just leave to avoid dealing with him.
"Heh…" The monkey laughed.
"Hahaha!"
"Modou?"
"Boss?"
Modou threw his head back and laughed loudly; he seemed to have gone crazy.
"From now on, a psychological test will be an indispensable requirement…" Kumohime said with an expression of second-hand embarrassment.
"Please," Kana pleaded.
Then Modou stopped laughing.
"Let's take the chance… it's our opportunity to feel up the perfect Goddess of Meisei and the cold, but sexy Student Council President for the first time…"
Kana blinked in disbelief.
"Did you hear that?" Kana looked at her best friend, who was rubbing her head to mitigate a migraine.
"Wait," Kumohime raised her hand. The other two were particularly more idiotic than their leader, to the point that it took them minutes to put two and two together. "Those two are about to say something stupid."
"Boobs?"
Said one, looking at Kana, or rather, her chest.
"Sexy?"
Said the other, looking at Kumohime's face.
"Perfect…" Kumohime muttered, almost smiling, knowing this could work in her favor.
"Idiots! Grab them both!" Modou shouted, frustrated.
"Yes!" shouted Meigama, the salmon-haired delinquent, running towards Kana with both hands outstretched, causing her to roll her eyes. "Boobs!"
"I've always wanted to see that serious face with an expression full of pleasure!" Natsuda, the fake blonde, pointed at Kumohime, who sighed with apathy.
Meigama was about to touch Kana's chest.
"Don't touch me, worm," with a fluid motion, Kana slammed her right heel into the idiot's chin.
The delinquent fell to the ground, unconscious.
"What a waste of time," Kumohime landed a punch directly on the idiot's chest.
It knocked the air out of him.
Taking advantage of it, she grabbed him by the hair and connected her knee with the idiot's face, making sure to break his nose.
He fell just inches from his companion, also unconscious.
"Aah, the former Mixed Martial Arts League champion is still in shape," Kana said with a smile, tossing her hair off her shoulder.
"Says the champion of every discipline," Kumohime said, adjusting her glasses with a flat tone.
"Hey, you're still the only one who can give me a fight."
"Is that a compliment?"
"It is."
"Improve on that; it's clearly not your forte."
Kana smiled.
"Maybe later." She focused on Modou. Out of fear, he took a step back, hitting the wall. "You have permission to wet your pants."
Kana said it as a joke, but she heard drops hitting the floor.
"You have to be kidding me," Kumohime said, looking at the stain on Modou's pants.
"... Mercy?" the imbecile dared to ask.
Both women made faces of disgust.
"I'm not touching him," Kana said. "He probably has parasites."
"I'll call security," Kumohime said, pulling out her phone and tapping the screen.
"Can we reach an agreement?" Modou pleaded in a pathetic voice. "My parents are…"
He stopped, likely realizing that Kana and Kumohime had no need for more money.
"No," said Kana, the heiress of Japan's richest and most powerful company.
"Don't even dream of it," Kumohime spoke, CEO of a videogame company.
"... Ms. Aminogaki, President Kumohime…" the victim spoke nervously. "Are you going to let him go without consequences?"
Kana felt sorry for the boy; he probably took all his courage to speak to them.
She felt a flicker of respect for him.
"Of course not!" Kumohime almost yelled, her face showing the outrage she felt. "... This animal is going to pay for what he did just now… wait…"
Kumohime took the boy by the shoulders, her face worried; she almost looked like an older sister comforting her younger brother.
"President Kumohime…" The boy was incredulous; he likely didn't expect that reaction from the stoic girl.
"How many times have they done this to you?" Kumohime's tone was almost maternal; she even touched the student's face and focused on the bruise on his cheek. "God, that's going to be there for a while."
"They…" moved, the boy seemed to gather courage. "They've been doing this all this time, not just to me but to everyone who played along with them!"
"Shut your mouth, you little piece of trash!" Modou had the survival instinct of a hamster. "You always hide behind that shadowy bastard!"
"Shut up," Kumohime addressed Modou with a freezing tone. "Trash doesn't talk."
Kana smiled at that.
"Do you want me to break his legs?" Kana's sweet tone directed at the boy was quite terrifying. "It's easier than you think."
For a moment, the boy seemed to consider it.
"No…" he replied after a few minutes. "It's not necessary."
"I'll do it anyway!" The smile on Kana's face resembled a demon, but Kumohime's hand on her shoulder stopped her.
The girl with glasses seemed calmer than her friend.
"... Enough, we have enough evidence to have them expelled," Kumohime was right.
Kana sighed, letting go of her malicious intent, then focused on the injured student.
"Are you okay, Umogami?" The boy, simple and charisma-less in appearance, seemed surprised to hear his name come from Kana's lips.
"You know my name, Ms. Aminogaki?"
Kana gave the first-year student a radiant smile, then walked toward him, taking a moment to straighten his clothes and messy hair.
"Of course, I do. What kind of upperclassman would I be if I didn't know the names of my cute juniors?" Kana gave Kumohime a disguised look.
"..." Kumohime ignored her.
The blonde took a step back to get a good look at the boy, and with a brilliant smile, she gave him a thumbs-up.
"All set, you look presentable, and…" Kana gave a fleeting glance at Modou, who trembled with fear. "… You should start thinking about which other school to enroll in… preferably in another district."
The fallen boy's face turned red with fury, he clenched his teeth before shouting loudly:
"My parents will hear about this!" That level of stupidity drained Kana's energy.
"You can count on that, troglodyte," Kumohime replied with an indifferent gaze and crossed arms. "You have twenty minutes to leave the school, before I send the security staff to… invite you to leave."
Modou's face went white, his mouth moved to try to say something without success.
Finally, he lost strength in his legs, falling to his knees.
"Uhh," the idiot started crying.
"Pathetic…" Kana whispered, looking at the fallen delinquent.
"Umogami," Kumohime addressed the boy with a soft tone. "Come with us; your testimony is important."
Kumohime turned around with a professional air; the first-year student was captivated in that moment, and Kana smiled like a fox about it.
"Come on, President Kumohime has cookies and tea as snacks~" Kana said with a cheerful and affectionate tone; the boy blushed at that. "By the way, did this happen often?"
Kana took the boy's arm and pressed herself against him; the hormonal teenager instantly turned into a human tomato.
"Well… well, normally Modou just limits himself to intimidating others, taking our money, and making fun of everyone, but… it wasn't so frequent anymore…" The boy looked at the intense blue sky that day, lost in thought. "There are people who stood up to Modou."
Kana felt curious about that. Pressing closer to him, allowing him to feel her chest, she brought her lips close to his ear.
"Tell me, my little friend," she whispered in his ear with a sexy voice; the boy shivered at the contact. "Did something keep them in check?"
The boy, Umogami, focused on the horizon, his body burning with embarrassment, but regaining his composure as they followed Kumohime at a distance.
"Ms. Aminogaki… why did you help me?" Kana sensed the doubt behind the question. "Many people turn a blind eye to what Modou does."
Kana felt a flash of fury; fortunately, she managed to calm herself.
She hated those who did nothing in the face of evil.
"It's the right thing to do," Kana said firmly. "It's good to help those who need it."
Kana replied without thinking.
The boy let out a small laugh, which caused her to blush with embarrassment.
"... Ms. Aminogaki…" Umogami said in a surprisingly calm voice. "You sound like a hero."
'A hero?' Being compared to something like that piqued her curiosity. Smiling brightly, Kana took the boy by the shoulder.
"A heroine?" she brought her lips close to the boy's ear again. "Do you want me to save you?"
The young man blushed at the proximity, nervously looking elsewhere while his mouth moved anxiously.
"Ms. Aminogaki, I already have a girlfriend," Umogami said with more firmness. "Please stop doing that."
Kana blinked several times in surprise.
"Well, well… you have more courage than I thought," Kana acknowledged him with a smile. "Your heroine is pleased by that."
Kana nodded for further confirmation.
"Kuroda told me once," Umogami looked up at the sky. "... To have courage, that someone will always be supporting me."
'Good words,' Kana mentally conceded.
"Kuroda?" Kana didn't recognize the name, but it didn't matter. In Meisei, if you were someone, she, the undisputed Goddess of the institute, would know about you.
"Kuroda is a senior student; he's always helping everyone," the boy smiled good-naturedly. He seemed to be remembering something pleasant.
"He always says it's good to do good."
'Nothing special then,' Kana thought. Good heart, but nothing beyond that to catch her attention.
Noticing they were getting closer to the school's main building, Kana separated from him slightly.
It wasn't good for her fans to see her with a boy; she didn't want to imagine what they would do to the poor guy.
A shiver ran down Kana's spine, and she felt a heat rising from her body.
She searched the entire front yard with her gaze; several students were looking at her, but none were the source of such a reaction.
Then Kana noticed someone's presence.
He was standing on the rooftop.
Intense brown eyes.
The look he gave her was one of evaluation, measuring something about her.
"You have nerves," Kana said with a fierce smile. She was the one who measured, she was the one who judged. "To think you can evaluate me like that."