Long Time No See, Kei

The classroom after school was unnervingly quiet.

The setting sun slanted through the windows, dyeing the floating dust in the air a warm gold as a gentle breeze drifted by.

A handsome boy and a blonde girl stood facing each other.

It was like a beautiful painting.

Xu Nuo did not speak, merely watching the girl before him with calm eyes.

He was waiting.

Waiting for this timid little hedgehog to lower her guard on her own.

Yet this silence.

To Karuizawa Kei, it felt like a slow, agonizing torture.

One second, two seconds, ten seconds...

The longer it dragged on, the more her heart, which had been pounding from the courage it took to stand there, cooled and sank, eventually plummeting into the icy depths of the sea.

He wasn't speaking.

Why wasn't he speaking?

Did he not recognize her? Or...

Did he not remember her at all?

This thought was like a poisonous thorn, stabbing deep into Karuizawa Kei's heart and making it impossible for her to breathe.

Yeah...

That made sense.

She thought with a touch of self-mockery.

What was she like when she was little, anyway?

Wearing tacky braids, a faded dress, cowardly and prone to tears, always following behind him like a persistent little tail.

How could someone as ordinary and unremarkable as her be remembered by someone like him?

After all.

He was so dazzling.

He was like someone living in an entirely different world.

As the floodgates of memory opened.

Those dark scenes she had deliberately sealed away in the corners of her mind came rushing out, vying to be seen.

The afternoons spent isolated by classmates, the sobbing after her lunch was stolen, the tiny version of herself hiding in a corner, secretly envying other girls...

No!

Karuizawa Kei bit down hard on her lower lip, the sharp pain snapping her back to reality.

She couldn't keep thinking about that!

The "me" from the past was dead; the one standing here now was the brand-new, shining leader of the girls in Class D—Karuizawa Kei!

That's right.

Since he didn't remember, then so be it.

Or rather.

Maybe it was better this way.

Let him completely forget that tacky crybaby, and then... then she would introduce herself to him all over again.

Introduce him to the current...

Perfect me!

At this thought, the girl's gaze shifted instantly.

The fragility and unease vanished, replaced by a deliberately cultivated, confident, and assertive radiance.

She would do it here.

She would bid farewell to her childhood with a brand-new persona.

Karuizawa Kei took a deep breath, having already rehearsed the perfect opening line in her mind.

A confident yet cute smile, a perfectly angled tilt of her body, followed by an energetic, "Xu Nuo, would you like to go out with me?"

Perfect.

This was the proper posture for the gal queen of Class D.

No boy could possibly resist!

That was the plan.

Besides, it fit the gal persona, right?

Karuizawa Kei thought to herself with a self-deprecating smirk, then pressed her lips together, adjusting all her emotions to their optimal state like an actress about to step onto the stage.

She lifted her head.

Her face was already adorned with the flawless social smile she had practiced thousands of times in front of the mirror.

However.

The very moment her red lips parted to speak—

Xu Nuo suddenly smiled.

It was a smile that was... incredibly gentle, as if it could melt solid ice, carrying a hint of nostalgia.

"?!"

This smile.

Caused all the lines Karuizawa Kei had prepared to get stuck in her throat, and her brain to instantly crash.

The next moment.

She heard that nickname.

The nickname she thought she would never hear again in this lifetime drifted across nearly a decade of time to land in her ears.

"Long time no see, Little Crybaby."

"...Eh?"

Time and space seemed to freeze in that instant.

The teachers' office.

It was very quiet here, with only one person present.

Sae Chabashira sat alone at her desk with her legs crossed, her posture lazy yet elegant.

Those long, slender legs, wrapped in a thin layer of black pantyhose, glowed alluringly in the sunset, and her high heels swayed gently as she tapped her foot.

In this state.

She looked less like a teacher and more like a sharp, capable female executive from some foreign-owned enterprise.

Judging by the tapping of her foot.

She seemed excited.

As the camera zoomed in, one could see Sae Chabashira's fingertips pinching a thin personal file.

Name: Xu Nuo

Academic Ability: C

Intelligence: C

Judgment: C

Physical Ability: C

Teamwork: E

Interviewer's Evaluation: Aside from his appearance, his abilities are mediocre in every category, and he displayed an extremely uncooperative attitude. During the interview, he made several incomprehensible remarks. Overall assessment: Class D.

This file.

Was practically the standard template for a "Class D student," the kind that no one would spare a second glance if it were thrown on the ground.

But...

Sae Chabashira's fingertips traced the edge of the file unconsciously, her inner thoughts churning.

A student assessed as a "defective product."

Yet, on the second day of school, he had accurately mentioned "Anonymous Account," a term for a gray area that even most upperclassmen didn't know.

Was this reasonable?

It was not.

Therefore, this file was fake.

Or rather, this guy had been putting on an act from the very beginning.

This realization made Sae Chabashira faintly excited, feeling her blood accelerating through her veins.

Class D.

She had led many batches.

No one knew the sheer absurdity of this class better than she did; the number of defective products she had seen could form a mountain.

Precisely because there were so many oddballs.

Sae Chabashira had started to give up on everything by now.

She had also fantasized more than once about an "ace" appearing in her class, one who would lead the class to a comeback against Class A and help her escape the nightmares of her past.

Now.

It seemed she had... truly drawn that card?

No—

It was still too early to judge.

Knock, knock, knock.

Just then, a knock sounded at the office door.

He was here.

Sae Chabashira quickly reined in all outward emotion, tossed the file onto the desk, and resumed her cold, indifferent expression before speaking calmly.

"Come in."

The next moment.

The door was pushed open.

Xu Nuo's impeccable face appeared in the doorway; he walked into the office and closed the door behind him.

The entire process was unhurried.

There was not a hint of the nervousness or restraint one might show a teacher.

He was as casual as if he were returning home.

"..."

Sae Chabashira did not mind his attitude; she did not tell him to sit, nor did she waste any words.

She simply leaned back in her chair, legs crossed, and scanned Xu Nuo from head to toe with sharp eyes, as if evaluating the value of a commodity.

Xu Nuo let her, appearing completely indifferent.

He had no intention of speaking either.

Thus.

The air in the office grew stagnant for a moment.

"Anonymous Account."

In the end.

It was Sae Chabashira who broke the silence first, her voice as cold and emotionless as her expression.

"I can get one for you."

At this.

She paused, then held up five slender fingers and uttered a number that would be enough to make any freshman pack their bags and run.

"Five hundred thousand Private Points."