Chapter 77: The Center of the Storm

Being the guy who sits next to the beautiful new transfer student is like being the zookeeper for a unicorn. Everyone wants to see it, everyone wants to talk to it, and everyone hates you for being the one who gets to be near it. The moment the bell rings for our first break, my desk is surrounded.

"Matsuki-san, where in Korea are you from?" "Your hair is so beautiful! Is it your natural color?" "What kind of music do you like?"

Aiwa is a fortress of shy, polite smiles and vague, one-word answers. She is clearly overwhelmed by the sudden, intense attention. Her eyes keep flicking towards me, a silent plea for help. I, however, am trying to become invisible, a feat which is proving to be impossible.

After a few minutes of this relentless interrogation, she does something that seals my doom. She turns her back on the crowd of admirers, faces me directly, and gives me a small, grateful smile.

"Hinamata-kun," she says, her soft voice cutting through the chatter. The entire class immediately goes silent, straining to hear. "I wanted to thank you again for the other day. It was a funny accident, was it not?"

"Uh, yeah," I say, my collar suddenly feeling very tight. "No problem."

"I was so happy to find someone else who appreciates the classics," she continues, her eyes sparkling. "It made me feel a little less lonely in this big city."

This is not helping my case. The collective death-glare from my classmates intensifies to a near-lethal level. I can feel Kenji's aura of betrayal burning a hole in the side of my head.

Before I can formulate a response that does not result in my immediate lynching, the classroom door slides open. It is Rina and Haruka.

Their arrival is a clash of titans. Rina, the school's beloved, clingy little sister, and Haruka, the cool, beautiful ice queen. They have clearly heard the rumors of the "goddess-level transfer student" in my class and have come to investigate under the thinnest possible pretext of "borrowing a textbook."

They stop dead in the doorway. Their eyes lock onto the scene: me, at my desk, with the beautiful, purple-haired Aiwa smiling at me, her entire being radiating a soft, gentle charm.

Rina's smile becomes a tight, brittle thing. Haruka's eyes narrow to competitive slits. Their shared, possessive 'Rui-dar' is screaming.

"Onii-chan," Rina says, her voice a little too sweet, a little too high. "Who is your new… friend?"

"This is Matsuki-san," I say, gesturing awkwardly. "She just transferred here."

Aiwa, seeing the two intimidatingly beautiful juniorclassmen glaring at us, immediately shrinks back, her confidence vanishing. She gives a small, timid bow. "It is a pleasure to meet you," she whispers, her gaze dropping to the floor. She looks like a small, harmless bunny rabbit that has just stumbled into a den of wolves.

Her down-to-earth, shy demeanor is the worst possible thing she could have done. It offers no target for their aggression. It just makes them look like bullies.

Rina's eye twitches. Haruka's hand clenches into a fist. They both look from the timid, beautiful Aiwa to my clueless, trapped face. And in that moment, for the first time in their lives, Rina Hinamata and Haruka Ito are united in a single, powerful, and utterly terrifying emotion: pure, unadulterated jealousy. My life, already a circus, has just added a third main ring.