"Alright, alright~"
Accompanied by a light but pleasant voice, a girl with a brown ponytail gracefully rose from her seat and naturally blended into the group.
She had a delicate, doll-like face, but what was most striking was her unique honey-colored skin—as if she'd just returned from a Hawaiian vacation, or as if she was born with the scent of sunshine.
Karuizawa Kei, the central figure of Class D's gyaru group.
She casually twirled her hair, her uniform skirt swaying gently with her steps, exuding a flamboyant yet sweet aura.
'This tan skin... was it deliberately acquired?'
However, Akira's thoughts turned to his third piece of intelligence.
[Intelligence 3: Karuizawa Kei of first-year Class D is looking for a "fake boyfriend" to act as a protector.]
'Wait... could Karuizawa-san be interested in Hirata-san?'
Akira suddenly realized something, his gaze flitting between the two.
Thinking about it, it made perfect sense. In every class just now, Hirata had actively raised his hand to answer questions, demonstrating his exceptional knowledge.
'He's practically an all-rounder.'
Flawless from appearance to ability. Hirata Yosuke was like the perfect male protagonist out of a school manga—handsome looks, excellent grades, gentle personality, and even after Shimizu Akira had left yesterday, he was the one who took the initiative to organize the self-introduction session.
The complete package—Hirata Yosuke!
'No wonder even the leader of the gyaru group would look at him differently.'
'However, Karuizawa-san's motives don't seem to be simple.'
To be honest, he found it difficult to understand the logic behind this intelligence.
In the class hierarchy, gyaru groups had always been on par with delinquents as top-tier existences.
These people should be thankful if they weren't bullying others. Why would they need protection?
'Unless Karuizawa-san got into some trouble?'
'But that has nothing to do with me.'
Although he wasn't sure what image he projected in the eyes of his classmates, Akira knew very well that based on some of his current performances in class, he appeared to be just an ordinary student.
'Shimizu Akira is indeed not an ordinary student.'
Karuizawa Kei, feigning to adjust her hair, cast another glance at Shimizu Akira in the corner of the classroom.
She quickly averted her gaze, a playful smile on her lips, and continued discussing lunch options with Hirata Yosuke.
"I heard the ramen set meal at the cafeteria is quite good," her voice was light.
In fact, since school started yesterday, this boy named Shimizu had caught her attention.
While everyone else was busy making new friends, only he had chased out of the classroom alone to stop the homeroom teacher, Chabashira-sensei.
'Chabashira-sensei's attitude toward him was too intriguing.'
Karuizawa Kei's thoughts drifted back to the entrance ceremony held yesterday morning.
She clearly remembered that before Shimizu Akira was late, there was actually another boy who frantically ran into the line. Chabashira-sensei merely gave him a cold glance, not even bothering to scold him.
But when Shimizu Akira appeared right afterward, everything was different.
Chabashira-sensei's attitude toward him wasn't strict. It even carried a hint of imperceptible compromise.
Even more unusual, she actually gestured for Shimizu-san to stand at the very front of the line—that prominent spot that should have belonged to the class representative or top students.
'If you dislike someone, you ignore them directly, but special attention often means more complex reasons.'
Karuizawa Kei's grades and athletic ability might only be average, but when it came to "social interaction," she observed more carefully when talking to others because of a major setback she'd experienced in middle school due to a dark past.
Because if she didn't, she even worried that she would completely lose her "gyaru" identity.
Overall, Shimizu-san was already on the same level as Hirata-san in her eyes.
"Karuizawa-san? Are you listening?" Hirata's gentle voice pulled her back to reality.
"Ah, sorry." She blinked. "I was just thinking about something."
"By the way, if there's a conflict between classmates, and one of them is someone you know, Hirata-kun, how would you handle it?" Karuizawa Kei casually brought up the topic.
"Well..." Hirata thought for a moment, then showed a gentle smile. "I'd handle it fairly, I suppose. After all, everyone here is a classmate, so I wouldn't take sides."
"As expected of Hirata-kun, so fair," a boy next to them immediately chimed in.
"Yes, he's really kind," Karuizawa Kei responded with a light laugh.
But a ripple stirred in her heart.
'A good person who doesn't take sides?'
This answer made her feel a strange sense of disappointment.
While Hirata's impartial nature was indeed perfect, with her personality, she hoped her friends would stand by her in crucial moments.
In a romantic relationship, she also hoped her future boyfriend would be a "selfish" person.
What she longed for was exclusive tenderness, something that would make her feel her unique existence.
Because Karuizawa Kei, in essence, was a girl who lacked a great deal of security.
'Sure enough, should I still have that Shimizu Akira play the role of "fake boyfriend"?'
'But if I choose Hirata-kun...'
With his good-natured personality, if he knew about her middle school experience, he would definitely agree to play her "fake boyfriend" without hesitation, right?
After all, he was the kind of person who would unconditionally protect others.
But—
'If it were Shimizu-san...'
Her throat tightened slightly, and an uncertain anxiety spread in her chest.
'Would he really be willing?'
Ultimately, they were just ordinary classmates, not even friends, as they'd never spoken to each other once.
Even if she laid all her weakness and shame bare before him, why should he bear such trouble for her? Sympathy? Pity? Or what?
'He wouldn't care at all, would he?'
The image of Shimizu Akira decisively confronting Yamauchi Haruki suddenly flashed through her mind. That unhesitating stance formed a stark contrast to Hirata Yosuke's perpetually gentle and restrained demeanor.
'If it were him...'
She could almost imagine the scene: if she and Hirata Yosuke were "fake dating," and one day she truly got into a conflict with other classmates, and Hirata still wore that perfect smile saying, "Everyone should get along well"—just imagining it made her chest feel heavy.
'This kind of everyone's boyfriend tenderness—I'll pass!'
Karuizawa Kei took a deep breath.
'It's decided.'
'I'll choose Shimizu Akira.'
Karuizawa Kei suddenly realized an even more realistic problem.
'So what about me could attract him?'