Starting School

West Moon, the new students arrived.

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

A girl sat in the seat beside him.

When she boarded, he caught a fleeting glimpse of her profile, cool as jade, and eyelashes like butterfly wings. He didn't dare look at her again.

A faint fragrance drifted from her brown hair.

He had to admit, people this beautiful were rare, but Yun Lan couldn't match her to anyone in his memories.

Where's my Ayanokoji? Why haven't I seen him? I've already seen Suzune Horikita. According to the story, Ayanokoji should be on this bus too.

Yun Lan thought to himself.

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

Looks like the story's already started.

Not far ahead of Yun Lan stood an elderly woman. She was unsteady on her feet and might fall at any moment.

"You there, sitting down—can't you see the old lady isn't feeling well?" the woman in office attire pressed.

"What a crazy question, Ly." The blond man sitting in the priority seat crossed one leg over the other.

That 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 do it worldwide. Not that they would, of course.

Yun Lan stood up. "Please, take my seat." His voice wasn't loud—in fact, it was rather low—but it carried a peculiar soothing quality.

The elderly woman slowly made her way to the window seat and sat down. At last, her bent body had something to lean against, and she let out a long breath.

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

"I hope you can show your good looks in situations like this, too." Then he patted Koenji on the shoulder and stood beside the handrail.

The girl who had been sitting beside Yun Lan had watched the whole thing. Her enrollment form bore the name Ayanokoji Kiyona.

Afterward, the mood on the bus gradually returned to normal. The rest of the trip passed without incident, and they arrived at school.

When Yun Lan got off, he noticed the girl who had sat beside him was still following him. Most people wouldn't have noticed the tail behind him; she was quite skilled at keeping track of him.

"May I ask why you've been following me?" Yun Lan asked bluntly.

"Sorry, I was just curious. You gave up your seat so quickly on the bus. Why?"

The girl's clear voice rang out.

"I just didn't want to attract attention." She had probably noticed how decisively he'd acted on the bus.

"Looks like we're alike. I don't want to get involved and attract attention either." The girl felt as if she'd found someone like herself.

Making friends is such a hassle. But to avoid being isolated over the next three years, I need to keep a certain number of friends. I have to consider whether this might be the only chance I'll ever get.

Though the thought seemed to take a long time, it lasted only an instant.

"My name's Ayanokoji Kiyona. Nice to meet you."

Yun Lan froze when he heard the name, then grumbled to himself.

Wait, is this right? How did my Ayanokoji turn into a girl? Does that mean this gender-swapped Ayanokoji is going to use me as a tool?

Yun Lan exchanged contact information with the girl anyway, figuring he might as well make a friend.

Yun Lan went to check their class assignments with Kiyona.

"I'm in Class 1-B, and you're in Class 1-D, Kiyona. Looks like we won't be in the same class. What a shame."

"Yeah. I think being in the same class would help us become closer friends."

Yun Lan said goodbye to Kiyona and headed for the Class 1-B classroom.

As he walked, Yun Lan thought, Class 1-B. That must be Uncle Sakayanagi's doing. Class B it is, then. I'll just help Honami get into Class A.

Class 1-B

As soon as Yun Lan entered the classroom, he sensed that the atmosphere was different.

Most of the students were gathered around a pink-haired girl. She was Honami Ichinose.

As the first student to arrive in the classroom, Honami Ichinose had shown tremendous warmth and acceptance, looking after each newcomer from the very beginning.

As time passed, sunlight spread across half the classroom, casting the shadows of the windowpanes on the blackboard. In this fiercely competitive school, perhaps no one realized that the sense of security established on the first morning would become a hidden source of strength in countless hardships to come. Honami Ichinose simply tidied the notebooks in her desk and wrote the date on the first page, as if everything she'd just done had come as naturally as breathing.

"Hello! Can I get to know you? I'm Honami Ichinose. I look forward to—"

Honami Ichinose had also heard the door open behind her. She immediately turned around to greet the new student. Perhaps that warmth was why she so quickly became the heart of the class.

As soon as Honami Ichinose turned, she saw the boy she'd longed for day and night: her benefactor, the one who had pulled her back from the edge of the abyss. She swallowed the words "I look forward to" before they could leave her mouth, her eyes brimming with tears as she rushed forward and hugged Yun Lan.

"Brother Lan, I missed you so much, so, so much. Did you miss me?"

The girl trembled in his arms as if she'd suffered some terrible injustice. All Yun Lan could do was pat Honami Ichinose on the back and gently soothe her.

Her words left the students who'd focused their attention on the doorway staring in shock, their mouths hanging open.

In Japan, people generally addressed one another by their family names. Only those who were very close called each other by their given names, and that was mostly between family members or people of the same sex.

Most of the boys in the class looked stunned.

Who wouldn't like someone as kind, friendly, and pretty as Ichinose? But now she'd gone and called the new student "Brother Lan." They didn't know if he was really her brother, but odds were he was her boyfriend.

Honami blushed in Yun Lan's arms. She realized she'd gotten carried away and felt a little embarrassed (???)?. Yun Lan gently soothed the girl he'd raised.

The little episode soon passed. Yun Lan didn't intrude on the girl's conversations with her classmates.

He walked to the front of the classroom and quickly found his seat using the seating chart posted on the desk.

A while later, Chie Hoshinomiya entered the classroom like a breeze carrying the scent of sweet oranges. She gently nudged the door open with her elbow, both hands full of colorful folders. Her shoulder-length brown hair bounced slightly as she moved, and its tips shimmered in the morning light.

"Hello, hello, everyone!" Her voice sounded even younger than she looked, with a naturally bright, effortless lilt. Before she'd even finished speaking, she set the folders down on the lectern with a rustle. The top one, decorated with a strawberry sticker, slid forward, and she hooked it back with a fingertip.

Chie Hoshinomiya elegantly wrote her name on the blackboard, then gave a playful wink.

The homeroom teacher's cute gesture instantly put the nervous students at ease and lowered their guard around her.