♡･ﾟ:*｡.:*･ﾟaishi's pov

the teacher stood infront of the class, writing her name on the board.

"my name is sakamoto mariko, i'm your adviser for the whole school year as well as your science teacher. i would expect everyone's cooperation and attention in class." sakamoto-sensei spoke, turning to face us with a stern expression. yikes, she really remind me of my past professor when i was a freshman in college.

"knowing that there are some students that did not study in yoto middle school, i would be expecting everyone to introduced themselves with their name, age, hometown, and an interesting fact about themselves. got it?" i nodded along my classmates. i can see in my peripheral how aqua just nodded, his face and gestures are oddly stoic for someone this age.

well, i guess it's not odd when your mentally 46+ years old and witnessed a gruesome sight when you're a kid which led to his obsession with having a revenge towards the preparator of his mother's death.

"well then, let's start with the person at the back with the blond hair" i almost burst out laughing because i know for a fact that aqua feels embarrassed saying his full name.

i turned my head to aqua's direction as he stood up.

"good morning, my name is hoshino aqua...marine. i'm 16 years old and i was born in miyazaki prefecture but i live here in tokyo. i have a twin sister." that's it?

i looked at aqua before looking at the teacher who seem to accept whatever aqua said.

aqua sat down, still having his very cool and stoic demeanor. he seems composed and nonchalant but nothing escapes my eyes. i saw how the side of his eyes and lips twitch and the tip of ears being a light shade of red. 'aha! so he's embarrassed, how cute-- oh no, aishi, not threading that territory right now haha remember your promise'

i looked up front and met sakamoto-sensei stern gaze, making me froze. crap, i hate speaking in public!

•*¨*•.¸¸☆*･ﾟthird person's pov

aishi stood up, trembling and fidgeting her hands.

"uhm..hi, everyone, my..my name is nakahara aishi, i'm 16 years old currently, and i'm born and raised in takachiho, miyazaki prefecture but...my family moved her in tokyo be...because of our business..." she spoke, stammering and tripping on her words. aishi was relived that her bangs help her avoid most of the look and stares from her new classmates

aqua's eyes sharpened after hearing aishi's hometown. is it really a coincidence that someone who's family name is so familiar to him appear in this school.

he looked at her, his eyes is full of interest and coldness.

"u-uhm, the..the interesting fact about me..is.. i don't really think that it's t..that interesting but i..i know five language: japanese, korean, english, tagalog, and a little bit of french..." a lot of amazed "ooh's and aah's" echoed throughout the room, making aishi blush in embarrassment.

"nakahara aishi, aren't you the one that the principal was raving about?" sakamoto muttered, looking at the extremely shy girl.

"ah, you're the girl with the perfect hensachi right? the principal was talking about you and hoshino here" she added, now understanding why the two was placed beside each other.

aishi was a bit surprised at what her teacher said, making her look at aqua who met her eyes, making her blush and look away.

"hm, keep up the good work, i will be expecting good things from the two of you." sakamoto nodded in approval amidst the excited chatter among the students of class 1-d.

aishi sat down, still blushing because of the sudden attention before combing her fringe with her fingers out of habit.

the introduction continued for the rest of the class. aishi was trying to memorize all of her classmates names for future references while aqua just read his book our of boredom.

the two are minding their own business listening to their classmates. the introductions ended after an hour.

aqua hid his book once the actual discussion of the school curriculum starts. he's not here to make friends, after all, he's  not interested with knowing who his classmates are since it's very obvious that each if them knew each other already since they have been classmates since middle school.

he turned his head to the side to observe a particular student, his seatmate whose very busy taking notes without breaking eye contact with the black board. he can see how fast her hands are, moving from page to page but still having a readable handwriting.

aqua thought that his hensachi score was pretty high already because of his advantage as a reborn person and because of his past career. it's a bit surprising to know that the gloomy girl beside him managed to have the a higher score than him.

'how.. interesting' he thought to himself before shifting his attention somewhere.

time passes by and before all of the students of yoto high school know it, it was already time for lunch.

aqua decided to head out and wait for his sister on the fountain, holding his book in one hand.

aishi, on the other hand, decided to slip away from her classmates and went downstairs, holding the lunch that her mother prepared for her. she was planning to dine on one of the shaded area on the school grounds that is in the middle of the buildings of performance art program and general education program.

aqua easily spotted ruby, who is busy talking to a girl with pink hair. they walked to his direction when ruby finally recognized his brother.

"onii-chan!" she greeted, pulling the poor pink haired girl towards her brother.

"minami, meet my brother, aqua, meet minami kotoboki, she was my classmate!" ruby immediately went on the details how they became friend as minami just look a bit shy and smiling kindly. aqua just stared at ruby, unimpressed.

"and that's the story of how minami and i became friends" she said, smiling happily.

"what kind of story is that?" aqua said blankly before sighing.

"well at least you made a friend" ruby looked at her brother with a curious gaze before speaking

"how about you onii-chan?" aqua looked away before replying.

"well, its not like i came to this school to make friends"

"ah...this guy didn't make any.." ruby started monologuing with false sympathy.

"i'm sorry for bringing up something traumatic..so i won't ask about what happens in your classes anymore" aqua's eyes twitch in annoyance as his sisters words

"atleast there are people i can talk to!" he replied in defense.

"guys don't becomes friends right away and besides, the general programs works like an elevator school."

"people already have their social groups so it will take time to build deep friendships. i'm not some loser who can't make any friends on his first day, ok?"

aishi was just sitting on the back of the fountain, listening to music and eating her lunch when she heard aqua's voice nearby.

she looked to her back and saw the twins and minami talking near her. she just shrugged and continued to eat her food.

"aqua, you're awfully opinionated about this.." ruby then turned to minami. "minami, please be aqua's friend too.."

minami just laugh and put her hand on her nape. "sure, that's fine"

aqua looked at ruby with exasperation. "don't share your friends."

"that's enough about me, start worrying about yourself" he added. "you're in a special environment that's different from what you're used to."

"that's right.." minami said, looking pensive. "when i think that everyone around me is a pro...i get pretty nervous ya know" her (fake) kansai accent coming out.

ruby smiled and decided to comfort her new found friend. "there's no need to be nervous, this is neither a training school nor a film studio. it's just a regular high school..." she said, smiling kindly. "you can act normally."

minami looked at ruby with shining eyes as she muttered, "ruby..."

aqua sweatdropped. "i'm sure i heard that exact line somewhere before.."

"anyway, i saw a lot of attractive people at the entrance ceremony but, i haven't seen many whom i actually recognized" aqua let out a sigh, crossing his arms.

"there's no need to be nervous..." ruby butted in, shaking her head.

"nope, there was...one amazing person.." she closed her eyes before exclaiming.

"frill shiranui was there!" the two girls huddled up before ruby continued. "she was in a hit show last september. she's a multi-talented performer who can sing, dance, and act!"

"frill shiranui is the first person when people think of when they hear 'pretty girl'!" ruby was reduced to being a fan girl.

"well, of course i know about her but... i didn't realize you were so passionate about her" aqua replied, sighing again.

"she's my favorite!" ruby happily exclaimed.

"hmm.."

"don't 'hmm' me, we're talking about frill shiranui" aqua looked at his sister before looking away.

"i don't care, my favourite always has been, and always will be ai and ai only.." he replied, making ruby look at him with a pout.

"well, it's the same for me but, that's that and this is this." ruby continued to rant before her attention was caught by someone.

"oh! look over there! that's her!" ruby exclaimed, fangirling again.

as the three of them walk towards frill, aishi was just packing up her lunch. she ate a lot, causing her to sip on a drink that helps with digestion. she carefully wrapped her lunch in a delicate cloth before standing up to fix her hair and clothes.

aishi then placed her headphones on her neck and planning to walk to the trashcan to throw some plastic and the empty bottle on her hand.

as frill shiranui leaves, ruby was a bit surprised and embarrassed because aqua and minami managed to get acknowledge by the pretty girl but she was just met by a good luck.

she was about to whine and fake cry on her brother when she saw the familiar black haired female in front of the trashcan.

ruby immediately ran to her direction, leaving the two behind her, shouting. "aishi-tan~!"

aishi looked up to the direction of the sound and froze when she saw the trip walking up to her.

'fuck, shit, xxx, xxx, xxx ｡⁠:ﾟ⁠(⁠;⁠´⁠∩⁠'⁠;⁠)ﾟ⁠:⁠｡' aishi cursed in her mind while still having a calm and reserved smile.

"o-oh, ruby-chan, hello." she spoke softly as soon as the girl reached her.

"aishi-tan! you got accepted too? that's so fun!" ruby exclaimed, holding the girl on her shoulders and shaking her because of excitement.

aqua, being kind for once, pulled her sister away from the shaken girl.

"y..yes, yes, i..got in.." aishi replied, visible dizzy from being shaken.

"ah! you're in the general education program right?!" ruby exclaimed, her eyes shining as her gaze went to her brother then to aishi and back and forth.

aishi nodded, brushing her hand on her skirt as she stood in front of the two.

"onii-chan! it's time for you to make friends! this is--" aqua cuts her off as she excitedly rambles.

"--nakahara aishi, i know her, we're classmates" aqua replied, looking at the timid aishi infront of them.

"ehh??? really???" ruby said, her smile widened as she looked at aishi who just nodded, smiling quietly.

ruby then grabbed aishi's hand and hold it up. "then aishi-tan! please befriend my brother!"

"huh?"

"e-eh?"

✶⊶⊷⊶⊷❍⊶⊷⊶⊷✶

word count: 1945
a/n: this is the longest chapter that in this book lmao, i really don't like writing the scenes where i need to look at the manga for reference. thank you for reading my book and don't forget to vote or comment if you want!