The next morning, the relentless alarm from his phone clawed at the edges of Rin Kuga's consciousness, trying to drag him back from the depths of sleep.
With a low groan, he finally pried his eyes open. A long, languid yawn escaped him as he rubbed the sleep away with the back of his hand. He slapped the alarm into silence, threw off the covers, and shuffled toward the bathroom, the morning routine a familiar, unthinking ritual.
A single-strap drawstring bag slung over his shoulder, Rin walked the path to school. Along the route, countless female students called out greetings or shot him glances ranging from shy to bold. A few of the bolder ones even approached directly, phones in hand, asking for his LINE contact.
They were all met with the same response: a flat, disinterested refusal, his expression never wavering from its default state of detached cool. In this entire school, it seemed the only one who had ever managed to secure his LINE was that superstar, the Bunny Girl Senpai herself.
And as if summoned by the thought, a familiar, melodious voice called out from behind him.
"Yo! Morning, Kouhai!"
Mai Sakurajima caught up to him, a playful lilt in her voice as she deliberately emphasized the word 'Kouhai'—a not-so-subtle reminder of their senior-junior dynamic, a cheeky attempt to deflate any perceived arrogance.
Rin merely offered a slight nod in return, his voice a study in casual indifference. "Morning, Bunny Girl Senpai."
His dismissive reply clearly didn't sit well with Mai. A spark of irritation flashed in her eyes. She reached out, instinct driving her to pinch his cheek and shake some proper manners into him. But her hand froze halfway, fingers curling into an aborted fist as she remembered the boundaries of their current relationship. The intended pinch became a soft, frustrated punch pulled back to her side.
Instead, she settled for lightly stomping on his foot with her shoe. "Wake up a little more, Kouhai?"
Even after all that, Rin's response remained as placid as a still pond. "Yeah. I'm awake."
He wasn't in much of a talking mood today. Lately, a strange, ancient-seeming voice had been whispering at the edges of his mind, a persistent murmur that felt less like thought and more like a distant memory trying to surface. It was… bothersome.
Mai studied his unchanged expression and demeanor, her own features tightening almost imperceptibly. "Tch."
Without further conversation, they fell into step beside each other, walking the rest of the way to the school building in a silence that was more companionable than awkward, at least for one of them.
Back in his classroom, Rin hooked his bag on the desk and sank into his chair, fully intending to spend the period with his head on the desk, drifting in and out of sleep. It was a good way to kill time while waiting for the inevitable disturbance—the telltale chaos that signaled a monster's appearance.
However, the girl sitting behind him, Utaha Kasumigaoka, had been waiting for his return. After her unintentionally sharp tongue last night, a knot of guilt had tightened in her stomach. She was convinced he was angry with her.
Hesitantly, clutching a pencil in her hand, she reached forward and poked him gently in the back with its eraser end.
Just as she hoped, feeling the prod, Rin lifted his head from the desk and turned around, his eyes opening to ask what the 'acerbic girl' wanted now.
But the question died on his lips.
Another figure had interposed herself, cutting off his view of Utaha.
Kaguya Shinomiya stood there, an image of poised elegance, addressing Rin directly. "My apologies for the interruption. There is a small matter I was hoping you could assist me with, if you have a moment?"
Huh?
This development left both Rin and Utaha momentarily bewildered. Why would the vice-president of the student council seek help from a non-member? And more pressingly—
Why did she cut in front of me?
A hot spike of indignation shot through Utaha. I was here first!
She rose from her seat in one fluid, angry motion, stepping forward to pull Kaguya around to face her. Her expression was a mask of barely-contained fury. "You! Do you have any idea how rude that was?" she demanded, punctuating her words by jabbing a finger toward Kaguya.
Kaguya Shinomiya merely looked down at the offending digit with an air of supreme contempt. She calmly reached up and pushed Utaha's hand aside. "My, my. And is pointing one's finger in such an aggressive manner not considered the height of rudeness where you come from?"
Their eyes locked—Utaha's blazing with fiery passion, Kaguya's glinting with icy calculation. The air between them crackled with a tangible, hostile energy, thick enough to choke on.
It seemed a spark was all that was needed for the tension to erupt.
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