Love Point II - I'm Not Entering Cliché Territory!!

「Why does this person seem dangerous?! 

As if I'll let him find out immediately!
It's not like I wanted to be noticed, anyway!
It's a sin to commit a cliché at the beginning, you know!」

♡♡♡♡♡

Why me?

No, really, how troublesome. This is just too troublesome, even for the first day of high school.

It's already bad enough my best friend had been chasing me down this morning, questioning me on my choice of dress (never mind the fact that I'm at least wearing the school uniform as I should). But now, I have to deal with an upperclassman in my school due to my inevitable clumsiness accidentally targeting her endowed chest. A senior at that, from the yellow spade right next to the school crest on her uniform.

I might as well classify this as shounen instead of shoujo due to this! I mean, only a shounen protagonist would pull this off in harem (which is almost always paired exclusively with ecchi) stories!

"Hitocchi, are you all right?!" As much as I appreciate your concern, isn't it too late to ask me that, Aiko? A delayed reaction, even for you.

Back to the problem at hand, before I get slapped, punched or beat down overall.

"I'm so sorry!" I bowed deeply, arms at the sides and eyes downcast. May God have mercy; if necessary, I'll stay like this. "It was an accident and I didn't look where I was going. You may punish me however you like, but please, I beg for your f—"

"KYAAAAA!!!"

I don't dare look up.

"Ah, Buu-chan?! Did you follow me to school again?!"

Sure enough, when I looked up, the upperclassman was cooing over a white piglet that was in front of her. I could've sworn there were hearts in the girl's eyes.

"Buu-chan!" Aiko picked the piglet up, wagging a finger. "What did I tell you about following me to school? You know pets aren't allowed in school and I don't want you to get caught."

"Guu~" Buu-chan licked Aiko's cheek, either blissfully unaware or uncaring of her owner's lectures.

"Let's go."

I bowed to the distracted upperclassman again, stepping into the school with Aiko and Buu-chan in tow.

♡♡♡♡♡

"Here we are!" Aiko smiled, clearly taking in the surroundings of the school's garden. "I drop Buu-chan here before class and pick her up after I'm done."

"You sure know your way around the place… Then again, you're a grade up from me."

"Naturally."

I looked around the area, exhaling a light sigh. The garden reminded me of New York's botanical gardens. Every flowers in size, shape, and color filled my eyes with a bokeh like spectrum. The cherry blossoms from the trees fell like pink snow, a symbol of new beginnings and spring.

Surely, this place would be better than where I previously was…

Suddenly, my messenger bag rustled.

"Hm?" Having put Buu-chan down to the ground, Aiko approached me, eyebrows raised. "What's wrong? Did you forget something?"

I shook my head.

"No. Just now, I felt something in my b—"

*POP*

"PUUUUU!!!"

"EHHHHH?!"

*CRASH*

The next thing I knew, I was on the ground with something black, warm, and fluffy on my face. From a side glance, Aiko was trying so hard not to laugh about the situation.

"You'd think they conspired together!" She snickered. "Looks like Buu-chan wasn't the only one who snuck out!"

"Obviously." With a snort, I sat up, gently prying the small boar off my face. I frowned, trying to do my best to sound like I was scolding. "Puu-chan, we talked about this, right? What did I tell you for sneaking in my bag?"

"Puu…" Puu-chan replied, giving me the puppy dog eyes while his ears drooped. As I thought, he didn't want to be alone at home and wanted to go out.

"Yes, yes. You silly pig, of course I'm not gonna leave you." Holding him up to my face, I kissed his snout. "Since you're here, you can stay in the garden with Buu-chan. Just be careful not to get caught, okay?"

"Puu!" Wagging his tail, he pressed his snout on my cheek.

"Such babies." Aiko had a cheeky grin on her face.

"Well, they are only a few months old and we haven't had them for that long, Aikkon. So, it's natural." Putting Puu-chan down on the ground while I got up, dusting off my clothes, I looked at my watch on my right wrist.

Hmmm… a few more minutes until the opening ceremony, huh? Time to leave some instructions to our pets.

"Buu-chan, no digging into the soil!"

"Guu!"

"Puu-chan, no eating plants and flowers!"

"Puu!"

"And both of you, don't roll into the flower beds!"

"Guu!"

"Puu!"

♡♡♡♡♡

Ugh. Finally finished with the entrance ceremony.

That was long and unnecessary.

Should've drank coffee or tea before I left the house.

"At least I was awake enough to listen to the principal and the upperclassman..." I muttered, in the locker room as I changed my shoes to indoor ones. "Entrance ceremonies are so excessive and unneeded, good thing they don't have them back home. Well, at least not as formal as this."

"You can't say that since you're here." Aiko grinned, poking my forehead, already done and ready to go. "You're not in America anymore, Hitocchi."

I swatted her hand away.

"Bah! Even if I'm not in New York anymore, I can still say what I want. Besides, it's not like I had a choice when I came to Japan."

We went into the corridor now, looking around and searching for my classroom.

Kyuusai Gakuen, huh?

In English, it's Salvation Academy. It's a boarding school, so students have an option to dorm here. It's also a ladder school, so anyone could skip grades if they had the ambition to. It's not news around here, according to Aiko, if someone graduated early. Some people graduated from the university here before they turned eighteen.

Additionally, it's an international school under the American school system. Instead of 1st to 6th grades for elementary, 7th to 9th grades for junior high, and 10th to 12th grades for high school (which is the Japanese school system), it's 1st to 5th, 6th to 8th, and 9th to 12th, respectively.

"Oi, guys!" We heard an familiar voice calling us, having us turn around and stopping at the stairs. Soon enough, a familiar guy came into view, waving.

That's… missing? Almost didn't recognize him if not for the scar over his eye.

"Where were you?" Aiko huffed, one hand on her waist. "I didn't see you during the entrance ceremony."

"I did attend, don't get me wrong." He grinned, waving her off dismissively. "I just came from the bathroom to check if your makeup is still intact."

"I told you, it will last all day. And it's waterproof."

Ah, so that's why it's not there.

"Making sure. Anyway, Aiko, we're in the same class again. And…"

Here, he went to stare at me. I tensed, sending him a glare.

"…What?"

Then, a loud laugh broke the silence.

"I really thought Aiko was joking!" Slapping his knee, the guy did a double take at me before he bursted into laughter again. "Hitocchi as a boy looks cute! Like an elementary school student!"

"Wipe that dumb smile off your face before I make your lips fat, Hideki!" I growled, cracking my knuckles.

And this is my other friend, Kagesaki Hideki. He, Aiko, and I have been friends since childhood.

Deciding to ignore Hideki and going up to the third floor, my eyes spotted the classroom I was assigned in.

8-♧.

"Found my classroom. I'll see you during lunch, Aikkon, Hideki!"

Waving to them farewell, I sprinted to my classroom. When I opened the door...

My sight was completely black as something fell from the top of the door.

"WHOA!" My voiced echoed all around me as I stumbled, slipping onto something. I lurched forward, trying to keep my balance as I struggled with getting off whatever was on my head.

"Get. Off!" With all my strength, I gave the thing a hard push off.

Oh crap, blind again! The white light of the sun was too bright.

As my vision cleared a little, I saw what the object was.

A bucket?! Who thought up of such a childish prank?!

But there was no time to think of that. The moment I got the bucket off, it flew out of my hands as, simultaneously, I slipped forward again. Since I was still adjusting to the brightness, I didn't get to see where I was heading to.

♡♡♡♡♡

…Oh God.

This is not happening.

Now that I regained my eyesight completely, I found myself hanging onto the window sill. Wait, there's more! I was hanging onto the window sill, outside the school building a couple of feet high up from the ground.

…What did I do to deserve this?

Why me?

Did I do something horrible in my past life for these mishaps? Or has my reputation from middle school begun trying to make itself known?

"…ALL RIGHT, WHOSE BRIGHT IDEA WAS IT TO PUT BANANA PEELS ON THE FLOOR AND A BUCKET ON TOP OF THE DOOR?! WHOEVER IT IS, YOU WILL DIE!" Wow, Hideki's yelling loud enough for the whole school to hear. Too early to be on the prowl for blood, but I guess this is justified.

"This is just too much, even on the first day of school." I hung my head with a sigh, still gripping onto the window sill. Man, I feel exhausted.

If this was a shoujo manga, I'd say it's a parody. This may be the author's way of showcasing the female lead's clumsiness. This is just exaggerating, though…

But then again, there has to be consequences of clumsiness! Because majority of authors only use this trait to make the character look cute! The only person that I can think of, who at least, gets injured from being accident prone is a certain Palmtop Tiger!

"Hitomi, are you all right?!" Looking up, Hideki's face was in a painful frown as he saw me. "Don't worry, Aiko went ahead to get help."

"I'm just peachy, friend." I snorted, a thin smile on my face. "It's not like I got nothing to lose today."

"I'm gonna pretend I didn't hear you running your smart mouth. It's too early for that." He grinned, grabbing my hands and pulling me up. Just as quickly, he frowned again. "Hmmm? This is strange."

"What is it?"

"…Did you gain weight?"

…Ahhh, so he really wants to get his lips fat. And more.

"Do you REALLY want your death warrant to be signed, fool?" I gave him the meanest glare I can manage. "This is no time to make jokes! And don't tell me that when you're into the Kendo club!"

"Juuuuust saying that you ate a little too much recently. Even if you're light, it's still a couple of pounds. And I'm trying to lighten the mood here, can you blame me?!"

"I don't want to hear that from you! Mind your own business, you lazy jerk!"

"Oh, come on! Besides, you're small, so a little weight gain would do you good. You're too skinny."

"I swear if you don't sew your mouth shut any time soon…!"

"O-Oi! Stop thrashing around, Hitocchi!"

"Make no mistake, it'll be off with your head by the time I get back up there!"

Geez, this person…!

"Ah…! Hitocchi!"

"…Eh?"

…Oh.

…OH!!!

Because I didn't listen, my hands slipped from Hideki's. As if time slowed, I felt the air at my back. All I could hear was the whistling of the wind filling up my ears. My life was flashing before my eyes. 

In this situation, I can't do anything. All I can do is leave it up to divine intervention, if there really was such a thing. But given how high up I was, it was either I get severely injured or die from impact. 

I closed my eyes, waiting for the inevitable.

Then, something warm surrounded my body. In midst of the silence, a voice called out to me.

"You'd best be careful. Next time you fall, I might not be here to catch you."

Huh?

Opening my eyes, the scene before me was ethereal. The sun shone, still bright as ever, and the cherry blossoms petals still fell like a storm. And in looking up, I met… quite a nice face. A bit on the feminine side.

The eyes were what stuck out to me most. Soft gray with a hint of blue.

On the chest of their uniform, next to the school crest, was a yellow spade.

So, this person is a senior…

With a jolt, I found that I was in this person's arms, in a princess cradle of all positions. Ahhh, how embarrassing!

…But in the scenario, I can't complain. I don't want to put this person in danger either if I end up thrashing about. My face grew hot and I looked away, trying not to squirm. Thankfully, she was silent, perhaps sensing my discomfort.

Seriously... am I dreaming?

♡♡♡♡♡

From there, we landed safely in the shrubbery below. The stranger crouched down, allowing me to get out of their hold.

…WASN'T THAT JUST A CLICHÉD SCENE OF THE SHOUJO HEROINE NEEDING RESCUING JUST NOW?! NO WAY! I WAS CARELESS! BUT THIS IS REAL LIFE, THE SITUATION COULDN'T BE HELPED! BESIDES, THIS PERSON IS A GIRL! 

…Of course, now's not the time for that!

"T-Thank you very much!" I bowed again and again, face hotter if possible. "I'm sorry for causing such trouble!"

"No worries." Standing up to her full height, she smiled at me. Wow, she's tall! "As long as you're not injured, it's no trouble. Besides, it would trouble my heart if you were to take such a hit."

Before I could make a reply, a bunch of voices surrounded us.

"Who is the brat that plans to steal Kei-senpai away from us?!"

"KYAAA, but the kid is cute, though! Like a shouta!" (OI, DON'T MAKE ME BITE YOUR HEAD OFF!)

"No way, he's in the way of our OTP, RaiKei! THEY ARE A PERFECT BL SHIP!"

A few girls were with us now, glaring daggers at me.

"Ladies, ladies." The stranger, now called Kei, flashed them a warm smile, both hands up as if in surrender. "No need to be threatened. I, out of the goodness of my heart, have saved our fellow schoolmate out of a dangerous scenario. No need to feel jealous because I will always be in your hearts."

And she gave them a wink.

"This is why Keiya-senpai is the best! Eeeee!"

"Whether you wear the female or male uniforms, there are no complaints here! You're still beautiful!"

"My heart's melting from your charm!"

"We can never stay mad at you, Kei-senpai!"

"RAIKEI FOR LIFE!"

Lord, I have to make note to bring earplugs. Noisy fangirls.

…Hang on.

Kei is short for Keiya? BL? And that flirty personality…?

…WAITAMINUTE.

I made a double take at Keiya, who was surrounded by a rather apparent fanclub.

*BOOM*

It hit me just then.

…WHAT?!

WITH THAT FACE AND IN THE FEMALE UNIFORM, KEIYA'S A GUY?!

HOW COULD A PRETTY BOY BEAT ME IN LOOKS TOO?!

THIS IS THE WORST!