"Mm-hmm~?"
???...
A soft little tune, hummed from the throat, drifted out through the half-open window...
Clearly, in the student dormitory belonging to Tokiwadai Middle School, not far to the southwest of the Garden of Nurgle outside School Garden in Academy City's Seventh District, Shirai Kuroko had just finished bathing in the private bathroom of the luxurious apartment-style double dorm room she shared with her roommate. Now she sat wrapped in a towel before the vanity, carefully making herself up. She was in a very good mood!
So, as she applied moisturizer and lip gloss to her face and gently dried her damp brown hair with a towel, she occasionally hummed a couple of lines of a cheerful little song, even if the words made no sense.
"Ah..."
As she hummed, Shirai Kuroko suddenly let out a long, wistful sigh.
Because she had suddenly remembered what had happened yesterday and today...
That new little brat, the transfer student who was now her new classmate, Annie Hastur. She had excellent grades and a high Ability Level, reaching the highest rank of LV5 and becoming Academy City's eighth Level 5... But she was also incredibly lazy—utterly lawless, disorganized, undisciplined, and completely lacking any sense of time. Today, since it was the weekend and there were no classes, Kuroko had finally managed to get the empty room beside their dormitory tidied up for her, and had finally settled the unwilling, somewhat obnoxious little brat in. Now, would the girl still have any excuse to show up late or leave early?
The rules at their private Tokiwadai Middle School were extremely strict. The dormitory had a strict curfew, and even wake-up time was set (7:00–7:30), as was breakfast (7:30–8:00). Dinner and lights-out were just as strictly scheduled. Kuroko firmly believed she could fix that