The Downfall of Airin Seira

“Her Majesty has fallen!”

The news shook Hanazono High School to its core.

Airin Seira had entered the classroom without the usual haughty greeting and entourage of drones. She was quiet and alone—different.

Her face was not dipped in makeup, nor was her blond hair styled into drills and adorned with flashy accessories. She had shown up in plain uniform, with dark rings under her blue eyes and flat hair that had lost its shine.

“Maybe she's just going for a new look,” someone had said.

A queen did not need a crown to be called one, after all.

Yet on that same day, Seira had begun to steer clear of everybody—her clique, her crushes, and most surprisingly, her rival, Sakura Yume.

She used to harass her out of envy and hatred. Whether it be to ostracize her or humiliate her, Seira would pull out one dirty trick after another. Not only did she feel inferior to Yume, who was the embodiment of perfection, but she also loathed her for attracting the boys she was interested in.

One of them was Kinryuji Kaien.

“What’s wrong, Kai?”

A voice snapped Kaien out of his thoughts. Dark brown hair swayed as he turned away from the window, golden-yellow eyes blinking in a daze.

On the seat before him was his friend, Aoyama Minato. Light blue hair framed his expressionless face. Droopy eyes of the same color bore into him.

Kaien crossed his arms and averted his gaze. “Nothing.”

Minato raised his brow. “You were staring for some time.”

He sighed before glancing around the noisy classroom. “It's not what you think.”

“Maybe it is. There's still something bothering you, isn't there?” His friend peered outside the window—at Seira, who was eating lunch by herself under the shade of a tree. “About her.”

“Doesn't the same go for you? Don't you think it's odd, too?”

“Kai, it’s already been two months. People can change, even her.”

“You mean, it's only been months. She was a bully for years.”

Nobody would have ever predicted Seira's change in character and appearance.

For so long, she had terrorized students and teachers alike, even driving some to leave the school. Yet now, she would spend lunchtimes all by her lonesome, stripped of her title and power.

“Ah, Yume.”

Minato's face lit up. Kaien looked back.

At a distance, they could see a girl with fluffy, pink hair talking to a tall, white-haired boy.

“That’s… Shirakawa Nao?”

Minato grunted. “She’s with the student council president again.”

‘This might be bad. Airin hates it when Sakura gets close to Shirakawa and the others. If she sees this…’

While his friend kept his gaze on Yume, Kaien’s attention returned to Seira, who went still upon spotting her rival with Nao.

He expected her to intervene as she always did. But instead of bolting and screeching like a madwoman, she merely watched. Her eyes narrowed while her lips thinned into a line.

Then, drool trickled down from one corner of her mouth.

‘Huh?’

Seira dropped her lunchbox and pulled out a pocket journal with a yellow cover. She started writing aggressively, her cheeks redder than Minato's when he was in front of Yume—almost like she was a maiden in love.

‘What’s with her?’

After a moment, Seira beamed in satisfaction. She stood and walked away with her notebook clutched against her chest, leaving Yume and Nao alone. That whole time, Kaien watched in wide-eyed shock.

‘Is she up to something again?’

Minato was too focused on Yume to notice.

Kaien could not ask him what he thought. As for him, he found it hard to believe—also, suspicious. Seira had never acted that way before.

‘Well, maybe she does toward the boys she likes. But she never…drooled, or wrote out of nowhere, or even blushed that hard.’

“Huh? Airin’s gone?” Minato blurted out, having come back from his daydream now that Yume and Nao were not there anymore either. “That’s a first. She’d usually go ballistic over something like this. Did you see her reaction, Kaien?”

“Yeah…”

“And?”

“Hey, Kai! Wanna hang out later?” one of their classmates chimed in, followed by more others surrounding their seats, interrupting their conversation.

“Let's go to the arcade! I swear I'll beat you in that game on my next try!”

“No! Karaoke!”

“We just went there! How about the pool? Let's pick up some cute girls~”

"You can't even get near Yume.”

“S-Shut up! Ah, no, Minato! I’m not into-”

“Sorry, guys. I have something to do." Seeing everyone's look of disappointment, Kaien flashed them the huge, bright smile Seira had used to swoon over but no longer spared even a single glance at. "Maybe next time."

---

“What I think about Airin? She's different now, as I keep telling you, though I still do feel her watching me sometimes.”

“Miss Airin, huh? I guess she did change, but also not? Her eyes were on me during the entire student assembly… In a creepy way, that is.”

“I don't think she's really given up. Not that I'm saying I'm too charming, but she still can't resist staring at me whenever I pass by.”

“I couldn't care less about that stupid girl.”

Aoyama Minato, Shirakawa Nao, Akamine Ren, and Murasaki Shun—all four objects of Seira’s obsession had testified to Kaien.

He had met up with each of them after classes were dismissed. Based on their observations, it seemed she still had them in her radar, just less open about it.

While some were close, their descriptions of her actions around them were unlike what he had witnessed earlier. He had no choice but to confront her about it.

‘And to see what’s in that notebook.’

“There is nothing to worry about, Kinryuji.” Nao’s words after being questioned suddenly popped up in Kaien’s mind. “I know you’re concerned for Miss Sakura, but she herself already said that Miss Airin no longer bothers her.”

‘Right. That’s what this is about.’

He was doing this for Yume, not for satisfying his curiosity. He had to make sure Seira was not plotting against her again.

With that in mind, Kaien made his way toward Seira’s table.

Late afternoon light poured into the quiet, empty classroom. Everyone else had gone home for the day. Red-orange, slanted lines stretched across desks and landed on top of a familiar journal.

‘She’s not even hiding it.’

He reached for it, then paused at the realization that this could be an invasion of privacy.

Even if it was for Yume’s sake, this was overboard. He had never done this before. Compared to Seira’s offenses, though, this was nothing at all.

‘To begin with, she practically doesn’t pick up a pen. Anything that has to do with school goes over her head. Come to think of it, she’s always been a slacker since-’

A memory appeared in Kaien's head unbidden. It was back when he and Seira first met.

They knew each other since they were children, which unfortunately meant he was also the one who put up with her the longest. Even at that young age, she would chase after him persistently and scare other kids away from him.

‘Crazy girl.’ Without thinking, Kaien opened Seira’s notebook. ‘I remember the ugly drawings she left on the blackboard for the whole class to see the next day. They were so terrible it took me a while to realize those were me and her smooching. Seriously, what sort of six-year-old would-’

He froze.

On one of the pages was a sketch of two people kissing passionately. The delicate line work and perfectly captured expressions made the romantic scene feel alive.

Kaien would have been amazed if it were not for the fact that the couple in the drawing was him and Yume.

It was as if history repeated itself. Just this time, it was not Seira who had been drawn together with Kaien, and it was actual art made with real skill instead of stick figures pretending to be one.

“W-What is this?!” he cried, feeling scandalized. “Wait, did she make this?! She can’t be this good!”

He flipped through the pages, his eyes bulging.

There were illustrations of the other boys as well, all of which depicted intimate acts with Yume. The last was her and Nao hugging like star-crossed lovers, and he recognized the background.

“She wasn’t writing earlier?!”

As Kaien continued to cringe and agonize over this unprecedented discovery, he almost failed to notice the chair flying in his direction and the murderous presence behind him.