A First Love That Ended Before It Began!

At her words, the students instantly fell silent.

The classroom became so quiet that a pin drop could be heard; no one dared make the slightest sound.

Sakai Shion's cool gaze returned to Natsume Chikage.

"Natsume, you may continue."

Natsume Chikage gave a slight nod, his thin lips parting.

He had no particular hobbies, but thinking of how he would be signing up for the shogi tournament that afternoon and might need to take leave in the future, he changed his answer on the spot.

"My current hobby is playing shogi. My dream is to get into the University of Tokyo. That's all."

At his words, a faint, nearly imperceptible trace of confusion passed over Sakai Shion's serious expression.

Natsume Chikage liked playing shogi?

She lowered her eyes, her fingertips quickly passing over the "Talents and Hobbies" section of his student profile—it was indeed completely blank.

As her gaze moved downward and landed on his family information, her brows shifted slightly.

Oh, his father was an amateur shogi player...

Understanding dawned on her, but she secretly shook her head.

His father was an amateur player, so he probably was not all that good either.

The file clearly showed that Natsume Chikage had never participated in any shogi tournament.

Truly exceptional players had already begun to stand out in elementary or middle school, like the student council president of this school—Mido Orihime—who had entered the ranks of female fifth-dan shogi players while still in her second year of high school.

And he said his dream was to get into the University of Tokyo?

Sakai Shion's gaze fell on the glaring "D-" rating in his grades column. Her lips pressed together involuntarily, and her expression turned slightly strange.

As a University of Tokyo graduate, she knew better than anyone just how demanding the threshold for that institution was.

Even top students with an "A-" might not be able to get in. To be reliably admitted, one had to be an elite student who maintained an "A+" standard year-round at the very least.

With Natsume Chikage's past "D-" grades, the odds were vanishingly slim.

Still...

On second thought, Sakai Shion's gaze softened slightly.

The dream itself was a good one, a positive goal.

She had no reason to deny it, and silently made a note of it in her heart.

Saionji Nanase, seated beside him, blinked her lively eyes, her long lashes trembling faintly.

She had not expected Natsume Chikage's dream to be the University of Tokyo either.

Her exceptional memory immediately brought back the grade sheets posted on the middle school bulletin board—Natsume Chikage's name seemed to have always been among the last few...

A bead of sweat formed at her temple, but she still silently cheered him on in her heart.

No matter what, having a dream was a good thing.

Soon after.

The crisp bell announcing lunch break rang out.

Homeroom teacher Sakai Shion picked up her lesson materials and left the classroom with composed steps.

The moment the door closed, the class erupted like boiling water. The new students seized the time to get acquainted and chat with one another.

Natsume Chikage had planned to use the gap to take out his phone and write.

But the moment his fingertips touched the screen's cool surface, the girls in the class swarmed around him in an instant.

A flood of overlapping questions came crashing down on him.

"Natsume, what school did you go to before?" one girl asked curiously, tilting her head.

"Natsume, I have some snacks here. Do you want any?" another girl asked with a blush, offering him a beautifully wrapped packet of candy.

Several boys nearby cast looks filled with obvious envy and barely concealed jealousy.

This situation had persisted for the entire morning, leaving him without a moment's peace.

When lunch break arrived.

Natsume Chikage had been thinking about finishing the novel The Devotion of Suspect X as quickly as possible, so he desperately needed some quiet time alone to write.

But if he stayed in the classroom during lunch break, he would probably be surrounded again by that group of enthusiastic girls.

He could only seize the brief gap before the girls had fully gathered around him, quickly grab the lunch box he had prepared beforehand, and hurry out of the classroom as though fleeing for his life.

Watching his hurriedly departing back, Saionji Nanase parted her lips slightly. In the end, it only became an almost inaudible sigh, and a trace of regret passed through her heart.

She had actually wanted to ask Natsume Chikage something for quite some time, but he had been surrounded by layers of girls all morning, and she had never found a suitable opportunity.

She had thought she could take the chance to talk to him over lunch, but it seemed that was not going to happen...

Yukimura Suzune, on the other hand, had been deeply immersed in the world between the pages all morning, turning a blind eye to most of the chatter and commotion around her.

In just one morning, it was as though an invisible wall had risen around her, radiating an unapproachable aura. Hardly anyone dared to come near her anymore, leaving her with the faintly desolate feeling of being "isolated" by the entire class.

Saionji Nanase was an old acquaintance of Yukimura Suzune's, and the two had been close since childhood.

And now, they had the good fortune of being in the same class and sitting so close together.

With a smile, she suggested, "Suzune, shall we have lunch together?"

Yukimura Suzune's attitude toward her close friend was completely different. At those words, she immediately lifted her face from the pages and gave a slight nod. "Mm."

She closed her book and stood up, preparing to move their desks together.

Just then—

A short-haired beautiful girl with healthy wheat-colored skin appeared at the classroom door.

Fujiwara Aoi peeked inside, her gaze sweeping across the classroom as though she were searching for someone.

Her appearance was like a stone dropped into calm water. The previously noisy classroom instantly quieted somewhat, and many gazes were drawn toward her sunny, energetic figure.

Yukimura Suzune and Saionji Nanase naturally noticed the commotion at the door as well.

Nanmura Tomohiko, one of the more handsome boys in the class, felt his heart race at the sight of her. He could only feel that his "first love" had finally arrived.

Unable to resist, he raised a hand to fix his hair, took a deep breath, and stepped forward with a smile. "Um... who are you looking for? I can help!"

Hearing him, Fujiwara Aoi turned her head and asked curiously, "I'm looking for Natsume Chikage. He's in this class, right?"

The moment he heard that name, Nanmura Tomohiko's smile froze. Then his shoulders slumped like a deflated balloon. His newly sprouted "first love" had ended completely before it could even begin.

If she had been looking for someone else, he felt that he might still have had a chance to compete with his looks.

But she was looking for Natsume Chikage... the gap was so great that he could not even bring himself to compare.

If girls thought a boy was handsome, perhaps that was simply the boost of an opposite-sex filter.

But when even a boy sincerely thought another boy was ridiculously handsome—

Then that boy's looks were beyond doubt.

Natsume Chikage was exactly that kind of person.

And it was not just him who thought so.

The boys in the class all privately agreed on it.

More importantly, this girl had come specifically to find Natsume Chikage on the very first day of school, carrying a lunchbox in hand. Her intentions could not have been more obvious.

No matter how hard he tried, it was probably meaningless.

With a trace of poorly concealed sorrow in his voice, Nanmura Tomohiko explained quietly, "Natsume... as soon as the lunch bell rang, he took his lunchbox and left. I don't know where he went..."

Fujiwara Aoi paused, her face instantly filled with the regret of having arrived a step too late. Her shoulders drooped slightly. "I see..."

Still, she politely bowed her head in thanks. "Thank you."

With that, she turned and left the classroom, her steps carrying a hint of disappointment.

Inside the classroom, whispers about the relationship between that unfamiliar beautiful girl and Natsume Chikage immediately spread like a tide.

Could she be his girlfriend?

That question became the lingering doubt in the minds of many girls.

School had only started today.

If they had not known each other before, how could she have come looking for him so deliberately on the first day?

And Fujiwara Aoi was clearly carrying a lunchbox. No matter how one looked at it, she had come to have lunch with Natsume Chikage!

Yet before learning the truth, many people in the class did not dare conclude that Fujiwara Aoi was Natsume Chikage's girlfriend.

Because he had personally said that he did not currently have a girlfriend.

Saionji Nanase took small bites from her exquisite lunchbox as she blinked her large eyes, watching Fujiwara Aoi's figure disappear around the corner of the corridor outside the door.

Only then did Yukimura Suzune belatedly raise her eyes and realize that Natsume Chikage's seat had long been empty.

No wonder the restlessness and whispers around his seat, which had continued all morning, had quieted down considerably.

It was a good thing that it had become quiet.

A flash of understanding passed through her heart, and she continued focusing on pushing her desk together with Saionji Nanase's.