Who Said Going to School Was Bad? School Was Awesome!

Six thirty in the morning.

"I am the storm that is appro-aching! Provoking back--!"

All right, cut!

Shaken awake by the psych-ward anthem, Xiao Ling quickly grabbed the phone on his bedside table and swiped the alarm off, then sat dazed on the bed.

He didn't really understand why this mad genius had used a psych-ward anthem as his alarm, but at least he was up.

After gathering the soul that had just been shaken out of him, Xiao Ling sighed silently.

"I don't want to go to school..."

He actually wanted to keep spending time with his lovely girls, but if he didn't go back to school soon, he would be smitten by the thunderous hands of his counselor and principal.

Onegai, if I can't cuddle up with beautiful girls, watashi!

School was terrible. He didn't like going to school!

But he could only say that. He couldn't skip school. If Her Majesty the Empress Dowager found out he was skipping class to pursue romance, she'd probably come over in person to demand an explanation.

After putting both his feelings and his written self-criticism into his somewhat worn black backpack, Xiao Ling crept downstairs and started making breakfast for the girls, who were still asleep.

By the time he was done, another hour had passed.

"Done."

Looking at the table full of hot breakfast before him, Xiao Ling made sure everything was in order, then wrote a note for the girls in the villa. He stuffed two slices of toast into his mouth and headed out.

After Xiao Ling moved, getting to school was less convenient than before. He used to need only a few subway stops to get there, but now he had to walk over ten minutes just to reach the nearest station. Fortunately, he could still call a Didi.

He got out at the school gates and watched the car drive away before turning and stepping onto the campus he had been away from for half a month.

Just as Morning had said, Xiao Ling's school was large, and the surroundings were quite nice.

There were hills, streams, and lakes. Towering old trees grew lush and green, and the teaching buildings were surrounded by a sea of greenery.

The senior cats strolled leisurely around campus like members of the disciplinary committee on patrol, looking to catch a few students breaking the rules as an initiation offering. To keep the senior cats from reporting them, the students they caught could only bribe them with the snacks in their hands.

The senior birds, meanwhile, were picking out breakfasts at random from their juniors' hands. You know, they never ate food handed to them in charity; they generally just snatched it. The poor juniors only had to let their guard down for a moment before their unreasonable seniors took a bite out of their breakfast.

Xiao Ling entered the teaching building with the steady stream of students. Luckily, he hadn't run into any trouble with the senior cats or birds along the way. He had no offerings on him for those two overbearing groups of seniors to enjoy.

He had arrived at the school gates at around seven thirty, but by the time Xiao Ling stepped into the classroom, the hour hand was almost pointing at eight.

He found a seat and settled down, ready to enjoy a nap before class. But he had barely laid his head on the desk when a punch jolted him back up.

"Fuck your mother, Ye Qing!" Xiao Ling turned around, ready to go off on his blind-as-a-bat best bro right then and there. "I'm trying to fucking sleep! What the fuck did you punch me awake for?!"

"You're mad and crying." Ye Qing sat down beside him as naturally as could be and formed a Dust Release hand sign, taunting him. "Got a problem? If you do, suck it up!"

Ye Qing and Xiao Ling's appearances were polar opposites. The former was sunny, confident, and handsome, and thanks to his modest accomplishments on the piano, he also had an air of refinement. The latter, however, went for a gloomy look. He wasn't bad-looking, but he neglected his appearance and gave off a chilly air that seemed to warn strangers to keep away.

It was hard to imagine that two guys who looked so different could get along, let alone share the same tastes in anime and gacha games.

"Oh, right, did you pull Dania?" Ye Qing switched to asking about the game. "I was going to ask how your pulls went the next day, but you went and took half a month off, so I couldn't even ask."

"Couldn't you have asked on your phone?" Xiao Ling asked, puzzled.

"I'm busy! I've got classes and a competition to prepare for. Who has time to text you? Not everyone takes half a month off to date five girls at once!"

"Would it kill you to drop that subject?"

"Yep, it would."

Xiao Ling covered his face helplessly. "I'm definitely not dating five girls at once... At least, not right now!"

"So it's possible, then? You've got some nerve, man. You're even trying out the whole feudal emperor thing."

"You're unbelievable..."

Xiao Ling couldn't be bothered to explain and waved him off. "All right, I really need some sleep. I got up at six this morning. Your dad's tired as hell."

Ye Qing was about to keep bothering Xiao Ling when a set of footsteps suddenly approached him from a distance, accompanied now and then by gasps from the other students in the classroom.

By the time Ye Qing turned around, the owner of those footsteps had stopped right in front of him.

With that one look, Ye Qing nearly blurted out, "Holy shit, Aemeath!"

That was because the girl before him, with her distinctive pink high ponytail and flawless face, looked as though she had been carved from the same mold as Aemeath from the game.

This beautiful girl who looked so much like Aemeath could draw the eyes of the entire classroom just by standing there, as if she had been born to be the center of attention.

She wore a pink off-the-shoulder short-sleeved top with a pleated skirt, white over-the-knee socks on her long, slender legs, and a pair of light brown leather shoes. On her left thigh was a garter, one of the signature cute features of anime girls. She was tall and curvy, as though some two-dimensional beauty had kicked down the dimensional wall and stepped into reality.

She looked so beautiful when she smiled, with bright eyes and pearly teeth, radiant as the stars. It was as if one glance into her eyes could place a person among them.

"Hello there, classmate!" Aemeath herself politely greeted the sunny, cheerful young man in front of her and made a request. "Could I ask you to give me your seat? I want to sit with my honorary fan~ Please, pretty please?"

Honorary fan?

He and Xiao Ling were the only two people in this area, and since she was asking him to give up his seat...

Fuck, she's here for Lao Ling?!

The sunny, cheerful young man was no longer sunny, much less cheerful.

"Wait a second, I remember there's an empty... seat next to him."

Ye Qing looked to Xiao Ling's other side. At some point, a Kind Peach had also laid her head down there, and she seemed to be sleeping soundly.

Dania: Catching up on sleep. Do not @ me.

"Uh, no big deal. I think you could still sit in the... back?"

Fuck! Where were there any seats left in the back?! They were all taken, and every single one of the girls sitting there was a country-toppling beauty. And what was with that pair of elf ears on the one in the middle?! How the fuck were they moving?!

"Sorry, classmate, it's all full here~" Sigrika stuck out her tongue playfully.

Lynae and Chisa, meanwhile, chose to smile silently at Ye Qing.

"See~ There aren't any other seats, classmate. Please be a dear and give me this one~ Pretty please~" Aemeath launched her cute offensive, pressing her hands together as she pleaded.

Good news: she was acting cute for him.

Bad news: it was so she could sit with his bro.

Without a word, Ye Qing mechanically got up and gave up his seat, then trudged over to a spot against the wall in the last row and sat there like a monk entering nirvana.

It's just a seat, isn't it?! You can have it! Isn't it enough that I'm giving it to you?! (crying.jpg)

(I've burned out, turned to pure white ash.jpg)

"Hehe~ A great success!" Aemeath sat down beside Xiao Ling in satisfaction, her voice carrying a hint of excitement and slyness at her plan's success. "Well? A-Yu, are you surprised? Didn't see that coming, did you?"

"Starting today, we're all your classmates!" She gently tapped the tip of Xiao Ling's nose.

"That's great. I was worried I wouldn't have time to spend with you all." Xiao Ling rubbed classmate Little Ai's head as though petting a cat.

Damn, who said going to school was bad?! School is awesome!

I love going to school!