Beware of Shirakawa Nao

Bodies crashed down, hands clenched and thrust, voices pierced through—it was a sight typical of a boxing ring, except this was a school hallway.

The situation had escalated in mere seconds. A fistfight broke out between the group of delinquents and, of all people, the student council president. The scene was inconceivable —

And quite barbaric.

“Guh?!”

“Argh!”

“Hyagh!”

Seira watched aghast as blow after blow was exchanged. ‘H-How brutal... Is this still even shoujo? It shouldn't have such explicit descriptions of violence, should it?’

Trembling in apprehension, she looked at the instigator who’d practically taken the form of a vicious beast, Nao.

The students broke the rules, but the standard course of action for disorderly behavior of this gravity was to inform the faculty staff. There was no need to get aggressive, and he himself was an advocate of more peaceful methods of discipline.

Yet here he was punching faces without reservation.

“Uhhh… P-President…?”

“Ah, Miss Airin!” called the student council member from earlier. “Please stay there. When President Shirakawa gets like that, there's no stopping him.”

“It's a normal occurrence?!”

“Well, to tell the truth… He’s actually quite short-tempered. Ah, but it's rare for him to go this far! He must be in a really bad mood right now.”

As for why, it was obvious.

Seira understood at once. She judged too early and mistook this character's personality as calm and mature.

In reality, Hanazono High School's number one role model student was more than what he seemed.

Nao was like a volcano—serene on the surface, belligerent beneath. He had once been dormant but had now erupted.

'Poor President. He has his heart broken, so he's here breaking bones.’ Seira continued observing Nao, but with a new perspective this time. ‘I'd rather he just get sad or angry than hold a bloody carnival, though.’

There was no actual blood, but there were corpse-like bodies all over the floor. Standing in the middle like a war champion was Nao. Even in this ferocious state, it appeared the sheer charm of a male lead never went away.

‘Kyaaa! He looks like the strong knight in a fantasy romance book!’ Seira moved from her spot to get a closer look, seeing that Nao was finished with his rampage. ‘All that’s missing is a lady in need of saving. What a shame-’

“P-President! Help me!”

Suddenly, the other student council member cried out in distress.

A boy had grabbed him by the collar. Seeing this, Nao clicked his tongue. It was one of the delinquents he had fought.

‘I-I take that back! I don't mean for anyone else to get hurt, and that's not even a lady!’

“Y-You freaking monster! Why did someone like you become the school president?!” the boy exclaimed.

The other scoffed, “Because someone like you exists in this school—someone like a monster, like me.”

“So, you admit it?!”

“I don’t. I show it.”

‘President, you're just heartbroken. What's with all this monster talk?’

The delinquent growled, then began to drag the student council member away with him. It seemed he had lost all patience.

However, Nao could not afford to charge when someone was caught in the crossfire. He had to wait for an opening.

Quiet tension crackled between the two sides.

Meanwhile, Seira had snuck out of the scene without anyone noticing. She couldn’t just stand still at this rate.

‘Like a monster, huh? Do all characters with extraordinary strength think of themselves as that? Well, in that case…”

She lifted a chair from a classroom, then carried it all the way back. In her rush, she completely forgot about her surroundings. Even when a figure passed by her, she ignored it and kept running.

“Airin?!”

Seira glanced behind and saw her classmate. “Oh, Kinryuji Kaien!”

“What do you think you're doing with that?!”

“I'm borrowing it!”

“For what exactly?!”

“Miss Airin?!” Nao appeared right ahead of her, along with the delinquent.

“Who the heck?”

“In the name of Airin Seira…!”

“Huh…? Huh?!!!”

“...I will punish you!

As soon as he saw the chair, he released his hostage to try to dodge. But Seira did not throw it; she was still holding it. At the last second, she swung the chair in the direction opposite the victim.

And it flew straight to the troublemaker.

“AHHHHH!!!!!”

Needless to say, not all strong people were monsters—villainesses, too.

---

The incident with the delinquents was promptly resolved.

Before the teachers and other faculty members arrived, Nao had threatened them to keep silent. Few knew about his violent side, and he wanted it to stay that way. As the student council president, he had an image to maintain, but it seemed that was unnecessary for Seira.

“I don't mind if you think poorly of me now, Miss Airin. I myself don't have a good opinion of you,” he had told her. “And though I must thank you for your help, what you did is vandalism, which is something I cannot overlook.”

Even though Seira had saved the day, instead of commendation, she ended up with more student council work.

Kaien had reprimanded her. Nao was exploiting her. But also, the student council member she'd rescued had become her fan.

“Hello, Miss Airin! Are those the clubs’ budget reports? Let me carry them for you!”

“Hey, um… I know it's been weeks since I became an assistant, but…” Seira trailed off, stepping out of the student council room with a stack of folders in hand. “...Sorry, who are you?”

“Please just call me Jin! It's okay if you didn't know me. You're Miss Airin, after all! I'm glad enough I can talk with you.”

To students like Jin, Seira was intimidating. No one approached her of their own accord, except for her clique. But after the incident, this underclassman started hanging around her.

He was short for his age, with pumpkin-orange hair and eyes. Though younger, he'd already been elected as the student council secretary. He was somewhat weak-willed, but he was serious about his work.

They walked together to the clubs. Since Jin offered, Seira gave over the papers. He looked proud of it.

‘Heh, little boys who act all manly are adorable,’ she mused quietly. 'Speaking of, I know someone who’s not being adorable. Kinryuji Kaien hasn’t changed how he treats Sakura Yume! Why?! They’re supposed to be going out now, aren’t they?!’

Being the student council’s assistant had Seira a lot busier than she would've wanted. She conducted uniform inspections in the morning and finished paperwork in the afternoon. There was neither time nor opportunity for her to sit Kaien down for an interrogation.

‘They've got to be dating, otherwise my hardships would be all for naught! The President is still nursing a broken heart, and he’s taking it out on me! He hides his bloodlust behind a smile, then bosses me around more than he already does! Seriously, that's no monster; that’s a demon!’

Truthfully, she was exhausted.

‘Operation: Shoujo' had an unknown status, and she was running out of inspiration for her illustrations. In times like these, she would rant to a friend. She used to be surrounded by fellow otakus before. But to her dismay, no one here shared the same passion as her.

“Good afternoon! We’re from the student council,” Jin greeted as they entered the first clubroom.

“Hey there, Secretary! For the budget reports?”

“Yes. The school festival is just around the corner, after all.”

“President Shirakawa sure is diligent. We still have three months left!”

Seira immediately made way for Jin to handle the discussion with the club president.

Other students often tended to be conscious of her presence, so she would try to blend into the background as much as possible. She decided to stroll around in the meantime. As she walked further inside the clubroom, she could not help but notice the bookshelves lined up at the side.

‘Right, they’re the literature club.’ She scanned each cover idly, only to stop short. ‘Hold up! Is that what I think it is?!’

There was a comic collection. It wasn’t shoujo, but it was black-and-white rather than colored. It was similar to a manga.

‘Or maybe it is?!’

Learning that there was no shoujo in this life had been world-shattering for her. She wasn’t into television dramas or romance movies, and she preferred graphic novels. Watching cartoons and animated films was a hobby of hers as well.

But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t find any shoujo.

‘I have this now, though! This is close enough!’ With excitement, she reached toward the bookshelf. ‘I don’t care if it’s shonen, josei, or seinen! Just let me- Eh?’

Another hand suddenly grabbed the comic at the same time Seira did, causing her to turn in surprise and come face-to-face with someone familiar.