School Opening

West Moon, new student enrollment.

Yun Lan sat on the bus heading to the school, swaying with the movement of the vehicle.

A girl sat in the seat next to him.

A fleeting glance upon boarding revealed her profile to be like cold jade, with eyelashes like butterfly wings, making one afraid to look a second time.

The faint scent of her brown hair drifted toward him.

It had to be said that someone this beautiful was quite rare, but Yun Lan could not associate her with any character from his memories.

Isn't Ayanokoji here? Why don't I see Ayanokoji? I've already seen Suzune Horikita. According to the plot, Ayanokoji should be on this bus too.

Yun Lan thought to himself.

"Don't you think you should give up your seat?" A woman dressed in office attire interrupted Yun Lan's thoughts.

"It seems the plot has already begun."

Not far in front of Yun Lan stood an elderly woman, her steps unsteady; she might fall at any moment.

"You sitting over there, didn't you see that the old lady is very uncomfortable?" the office worker spoke again.

"What a crazy question, Ly." The blonde man sitting in the priority seat crossed his legs.

"This must be Rokusuke Koenji, the heir to the Koenji Conglomerate. If the Koenji Conglomerate can throw its weight around in Japan, then the Yun Family can throw its weight around globally. Though, we wouldn't actually do that."

Yun Lan stood up. "Please, take a seat." Yun Lan's voice was not loud, perhaps even a bit low, but it carried a strange, soothing power.

The elderly woman slowly shuffled toward the window seat and sat down. Her hunched body finally found support, and she let out a long sigh of relief.

Yun Lan glanced at Rokusuke Koenji and spoke in a voice only the two of them could hear.

"I hope your beauty can also be put to use in places like this." He then patted Rokusuke Koenji on the shoulder before standing by the handrail.

This entire incident had been observed by the girl sitting next to Yun Lan from the beginning. Her registration form bore her name—Ayanokoji Kiyona.

Afterward, the atmosphere on the bus slowly returned to normal, and the rest of the trip was uneventful until they arrived at the school.

Yun Lan got off the bus and discovered that the girl who had been sitting next to him was following him. However, an ordinary person would never have noticed this tail; it was a very sophisticated tracking method.

"May I ask why you have been following me?" Yun Lan asked straight to the point.

"Sorry, I was just a bit curious. You gave up your seat so quickly on the bus; why did you do that?"

The girl's crisp voice rang out.

"I just didn't want to attract attention." She must have noticed his decisive choice on the bus.

"It seems we are the same. I also don't want to get involved and attract attention." This gave the girl the feeling that she had found a kindred spirit.

Making friends is such a hassle, but for the next three years, to avoid being isolated, I need to maintain a certain number of friends. I must consider if this might be the only opportunity I have in this life.

Although the thinking time seemed long, it was only for an instant.

"My name is Ayanokoji Kiyona. Please take care of me."

Yun Lan was stunned when he heard the name, then complained in his heart.

Wait, this isn't the right pair? How did Ayanokoji become a girl? If that's the case, won't I be used as a tool by this gender-bent Ayanokoji?

Yun Lan still exchanged contact information with the girl, just treating it as making a friend.

Yun Lan went with Kiyona to check the class assignments.

"I'm in Class 1-B, and you're in Class 1-D, Kiyona. It seems we aren't in the same class. What a pity."

"Yeah, I think being in the same class could have deepened our friendship."

Yun Lan then bid farewell to Kiyona and walked toward the classroom for Class 1-B.

As he walked, Yun Lan thought, "Class 1-B, this must be Uncle Sakayanagi's doing. Class B is fine; I'll just take Honami to Class A."

Class 1-B

As soon as he walked into the classroom, Yun Lan felt a different atmosphere.

He saw that most people were gathered around a girl with long pink hair; this girl was none other than Honami Ichinose.

As the first student to enter the classroom, Honami Ichinose displayed immense approachability and tolerance, taking care of each new student from the very beginning.

As time passed, the sunlight had already covered half the classroom, casting the shadows of the window frames onto the blackboard. In this highly competitive school, perhaps no one realized that the sense of security established in the first morning would become a hidden spiritual pillar in countless future dilemmas. Honami Ichinose was simply organizing the notebooks in her desk, writing the date on the title page, as if everything she had just done was as natural as breathing.

"Hello, classmate. Can we get to know each other? My name is Honami Ichinose, please take care of me in the future..."

Honami Ichinose, who had also heard the sound of the door opening behind her, immediately turned around to greet the new student. Perhaps this enthusiasm was the reason she quickly became the core of the class.

As soon as Honami Ichinose turned around, she saw the boy she had been longing for, her benefactor—the person who had pulled her back from the cliff. The words "take care of me" that she hadn't yet spoken were swallowed back down. Honami Ichinose's eyes filled with moisture as she rushed forward and hugged Yun Lan.

"Brother Lan, little Honami missed you so much, really, really missed you. Did you miss little Honami?"

Seeing the girl sobbing in his arms as if she had suffered some great grievance, Yun Lan had no choice but to helplessly pat Honami Ichinose's back, gently soothing her emotions.

Honami Ichinose's words caused the students who had been focusing on the door to drop their jaws in shock.

In Japan, people generally only address each other by their surnames; only those who are very close address each other by their given names, and this situation usually occurs between people of the same gender or family members.

Most of the boys in the class had expressions of shock.

Who wouldn't like a girl as kind, passionate, and beautiful as Ichinose? But to address the new student so directly as "Brother Lan"—whether he is truly a brother or not, it's highly likely he's a "lover-brother."

Ichinose's cheeks flushed red in the arms of Yun Lan; she realized she had been a bit too excited and felt rather shy. Yun Lan was busy soothing the emotions of the "cub" he had raised.

The little interlude passed quickly, and Yun Lan didn't intrude too much on the girl's conversation with her classmates.

He walked to the front of the classroom and, by checking the seating chart posted on the desk, quickly located his own seat.

A while later, Chie Hoshinomiya walked into the classroom like a breeze carrying the scent of sweet oranges—the door had been nudged open by her elbow because her hands were occupied with a stack of colorful folders. Her brown, shoulder-length hair bounced slightly with her movements, the tips catching the morning light in delicate halos.

"Hello, hello, everyone—" Her voice sounded even younger than her appearance, carrying a natural, effortless lilt. Before she finished speaking, she set the folders in her arms onto the podium with a clatter; the top one, adorned with a strawberry sticker, slid out slightly, only to be hooked back by her fingertip.

Chie Hoshinomiya elegantly wrote her name on the blackboard and playfully gave a wink.

This cute gesture from their homeroom teacher instantly dissolved the tension the students had been feeling, causing them to drop their guard toward their new instructor.