"Hikari is so cold and aloof; he's hardly the kind of guy who helps new students fit in. Let me be the one to sit in front of him."
Sasaki Yukina chimed in quickly, "No, no! I should swap places with Yoshida-San. My seat is way better."
Then Hamazaki Reina piped up, "You two are thinking too small. My seat is perfect for Yoshida-san. Saki-chan, let's switch."
Once the three gyaru girls started bickering, the rest of the class jumped on the bandwagon. Seven or eight more girls clamored to swap seats with Yoshida Saki. After all, while it wasn't officially decided, Hikari's looks had already earned him the unofficial title of most eligible bachelor.
Even if he kept a low profile, the girls in the class were very aware of him.
Amid the chaos of the girls' chatter, Tsukishima Kyouko raised her voice sharply. "Silence! All of you, zip it."
The gyaru trio and their enthusiastic followers immediately quieted down, their earlier confidence replaced with sheepish looks.
"This isn't your living room where you can rearrange things as you please. Everyone will sit where I say. Yoshida Saki, move to the seat I assigned you."
The sudden outburst startled Yoshida Saki. She quickly nodded and stammered, "Y-Yes! I'll go right away."
Once she reached her seat, she placed her bag down and let out a small sigh.
'Wow, Hikari-kun is really popular,' she thought, glancing at him from the corner of her eye.
'Three gyaru and so many other girls were fighting over this seat. Does that mean I'm… lucky?'
Her gaze lingered on Hikari's profile. He was absurdly good-looking—better than any protagonist from the otome games she had secretly indulged in.
'Maybe… maybe I should take this chance to make a friend?'
Mustering her courage, Yoshida Saki turned around to face him. Her voice was soft but determined. "Hi, Hikari… Hikari-kun, right? Nice to meet you."
Hikari looked up from his phone briefly, his tone polite but distant. "Nice to meet you too, Saki-san."
An awkward silence followed.
'What do I say now?' Yoshida Saki panicked internally. She had wanted to make friends with him ever since she saw him vault the school gate earlier that day. It was so cool, and he was so handsome.
'It has to be fate, right? Being seated like this? Right?'
Gritting her teeth, she pushed through her nerves and tried again. "Um… Hikari-kun, what kind of books do you like to read?"
This time, Hikari glanced up again, as if mildly surprised by the question. "Recently? I've been reading The Spring and Autumn Annals."
"Spring… and Autumn…?" Yoshida Saki blinked, completely lost.
'Is that a new light novel? Or maybe a manga?'
She hadn't heard of it, and it left her fumbling for what to say next. Yoshida Saki, who barely had any experience with small talk, was now out of her depth.
'Ah, this is so embarrassing.' she screamed internally, her confidence plummeting.
Noticing that Hikari had already gone back to typing on his phone, she decided against pressing him further. Instead, she sulked quietly, propping her chin on her hands and staring blankly ahead.
'They were right. He's cold and distant.'
'I made the first move, and he didn't even try to keep the conversation going.'
'Ugh, this is so frustrating. I don't even know how to make friends properly.'
'Forget it. We're just not compatible.'
Her mind buzzed with complaints, though she kept them to herself. She glanced at Hikari again.
'So handsome, but so cold.'
Her timid nature and years of insecurity left Yoshida Saki teetering between wanting to connect and retreating behind her walls. After a single failed attempt, she was already reconsidering the whole idea.
Meanwhile, Hikari had barely noticed Yoshida Saki's internal turmoil. In his view, her questions were polite, and his responses were equally courteous. To him, it was just normal interaction between classmates.
Besides, he had more pressing matters to handle.
[Akane: "Hikari-kun, Coach Togo just returned to the baseball team. He's been giving me that creepy look again."]
[Hikari: "His injuries healed already?"]
[Akane: "Yeah, he seems fine now."]
Hikari furrowed his brow. The recovery speed of someone like Coach Togo—one of those lurking figures from the underground world—was unnervingly fast.
[Hikari: "Has he done anything besides looking at you?"]
[Akane: "Not directly, but every time I'm near the baseball club, I can feel his eyes on me. I think he's scheming something again."]
Hikari's expression darkened, ["Keep your distance. Call me if he tries anything. I'll handle him."]
Across town, l Akane sighed with relief as she read his message. For days, she had been on edge, her nerves frayed by Coach Togo's presence. But Hikari's reassurance brought her a rare sense of peace.
'If that scumbag dares to act, Hikari-kun will protect me,' she thought, a small smile playing on her lips.
"Ah… Hikari-kun is so reliable. If only he were my boyfriend…"
Her thoughts drifted as she compared herself to others close to Hikari.
'Does he like that Natsuha Shinomiya? I've seen him walk her home a few times… I'm so jealous.'
Akane's heart ached. She wanted the kind of safety and warmth that Hikari exuded, something she doubted she could ever have with her current crush, Katase Shouya.
Shouya had been spending far too much time with Coach Togo despite her warnings. Every time she told him to be careful, he seemed to do the opposite, acting as if he enjoyed making her worry.
Her admiration for him was waning.
'Shouya isn't even in the same league as Hikari-kun,' she thought bitterly.
Seeing how stubborn Katase Shouya was—ignoring her warnings and staying close to someone as despicable as Coach Togo—Akane Nanao's impression of him had begun to sour.
Her fondness for him, once steady like a trickling stream, was now rapidly declining, like water slipping through her fingers.
In the past, whenever she thought of Hikari, she couldn't help but compare him to Shouya. Even though Shouya often came up short, she would feel a tinge of guilt, reprimanding herself for making such comparisons.
But now? Akane rarely compared them anymore.
Because, in her eyes, there wasn't even a contest.
Hikari was leagues ahead. His looks alone were far superior to Katase Shouya's; his strength unmatched, and his decisiveness and courage incomparable.
Above all, Hikari had something Katase Shouya could never offer: a sense of safety.
When she was near Hikari, it felt like she was standing in the safest place on Earth. There was an indescribable comfort, a warm reassurance that no matter what happened, he'd protect her.
That was something no one else could give her.
So, at this point, comparing Hikari to Shouya felt like an insult—to Hikari.
"The promise I made with Katase… maybe it's time to let it go," she murmured to herself, her voice tinged with resignation. "I'll find a chance to talk to him about it later."
For Akane, the idea of holding onto an agreement with someone like Katase Shouya now felt meaningless. She could no longer ignore how distant he had become—not just from her, but from the person she once admired him to be.
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