Chapter 74: The New Transfer Student

Monday morning.

As usual, Kouya woke up right on time. After a quick wash and a simple breakfast of bread, he left the house and headed toward school.

When he passed by the neighboring apartment, the place was silent. Gabriel, that idiot, must’ve stayed up all night gaming again and still hadn’t woken up.

Kouya didn’t bother calling her. He just kept walking alone toward school.

He thought it would be another quiet morning walk like always, but the moment he turned into a narrow alley, he heard a familiar, soft whimpering sound.

When he looked over, he saw a silver-haired girl crouched on the ground. The golden sunlight fell across her long hair, turning it into a stream of molten silver that shimmered brilliantly.

The girl was gently tearing pieces of bread and feeding a white stray dog sitting in front of her. A calm, gentle smile lingered on her lips.

Under the bright morning light, her hair swayed softly in the breeze, and the side of her face looked almost flawless.

It was Raphiel.

Hearing footsteps behind her, Raphiel turned and smiled. “Good morning, Kouya-kun.”

What, did getting scolded last time teach you nothing? Here to get revenge?

But instead of bringing up what happened that night, Raphiel simply asked, “Where’s Gabi-chan? Didn’t you come to school together?”

Of course not. That idiot stayed up until dawn again—there’s no way she’s awake.

“Ah, so Kouya-kun must’ve been too rough, right? Poor Gabi-chan couldn’t recover after that…”

What the hell are you saying!?

Who’s rough!? And why does that sound so damn wrong!?

She meant gaming—gaming! Not whatever filthy idea she just planted!

“Gabi told me you’re always rough when you play games. Isn’t that true?”

No, it’s not! And the way you said that makes it sound way worse!

Kouya exhaled through his nose, trying to turn the conversation around. “Where’s Satania? Haven’t seen her.”

“Satania-Sama is resting at home,” Raphiel said with her usual innocent smile. “By the way, Kouya-kun really is quite rough, you know. You caused me a lot of trouble at first…”

Yeah, that was the point! I wanted Satania to punish you for once, you smug angel!

“So, to keep Satania-Sama from causing any trouble, I… locked her in the room before I left.”

You what!? She’s not a piece of furniture! You can’t just lock her up!

“If she started talking nonsense, it would be annoying,” Raphiel added, sticking out her tongue and winking playfully. “So before I left, I tied her to a chair and put a ball gag in her mouth.”

YOU USELESS TEAMMATE! WHY WOULD YOU—wait. A ball gag!? How the hell do two girls just happen to have that lying around!?

“Oh, it’s no big deal, don’t worry about it,” she said, waving a hand casually.

How can I not worry!? A ball gag? Ropes? What’s next—candles? Whips!? Are you running a dungeon or what!?

Then—clack.

“Oops, my book fell out,” Raphiel said as she bent down to pick up the fallen object, holding it close to her chest.

Kouya’s face darkened.

That was clearly a holy exorcism manual straight from heaven!

What, are you testing me now? Sorry, angel—but that low-level stuff won’t work on me.

Clatter.

Something else fell.

When Kouya saw what it was, his eye twitched violently.

Garlic. Two full cloves.

That crap might work in cheap vampire movies, but seriously? You think I’m that kind of low-tier monster!?

Bang.

As she bent to pick it up, an eight trigram mirror slipped out of her bag next.

“…”

Kouya glared and turned on his heel, walking off in silence.

The silver-haired angel hurried after him. “Kouya-kun, wait for me!”

“Kouya-kun, why aren’t you saying anything?”

“Kouya-kun, are you secretly a stoic type?”

“Kouya-kun, why do I get the feeling you’re thinking something really bad right now?”

…

After a long and painful walk, they finally reached the school gates. Students were pouring in from every direction, laughter echoing in the morning air. The whole place buzzed with energy.

Kouya even spotted a blonde twin-tailed girl in the corner punishing a glasses-wearing boy with her twin-tail attack. Standing beside her was a black-haired girl—and… wait, there was someone else, wasn’t there?

Weird. He’d just seen them a moment ago, but now he couldn’t recall clearly. Just that it was a girl.

When he entered the classroom, most of the students were already there, chatting about their weekends and laughing together.

Given his current reputation, no girls came to talk to him. Kouya didn’t mind—he actually preferred the peace. Gossip was one thing; dealing with people was way more exhausting.

But before long, a quiet voice spoke up.

“Kouya-kun?”

He looked up and saw a black-haired girl standing in front of him, legs together, hands folded politely in front of her stomach.

It was the class rep—Machiko.

Her long black hair fell to her waist, and her expression was gentle but a little nervous. “Um, could I ask you for a favor?”

“What kind of favor?” Kouya asked. They weren’t close, barely acquaintances. What could she possibly need from him?

“Could you help me move some equipment for chemistry class?”

Of course. Always this kind of thing. No matter how many girls there were in class, heavy lifting always ended up on the guys.

So much for gender equality!

“What about that jerk Fatty? Why not ask him?” Kouya muttered.

That guy, though disliked, was always cheerful and willing to help, taking on most of the chores without complaint.

Machiko lowered her eyes. “Um… Sato-kun transferred out.”

“What?” Kouya blinked. No wonder it had been quiet lately.

“Apparently, there were some family issues. I’m not sure exactly, but the teacher said he completed the transfer paperwork on Saturday.”

Well, maybe that’s for the best. Maybe he’ll finally achieve his dream of finding a girlfriend… however unlikely that is.

“Isn’t there another guy in class?” Kouya asked.

“You mean Itsuka-kun? He’s absent today,” Machiko said softly.

Kouya froze.

So that means… I’m the only guy left in the entire class?

How wonderful—no, screw that! Who’s going to do all the dirty work now!?

Resigned, Kouya sighed and stood up, following Machiko to help carry the chemistry equipment.

When they finished, the class bell rang.

“Good morning, everyone. Sorry to take a few minutes of your time,” said the bald teacher as he adjusted his glasses, his tone calm as ever. “Since Sato Itsuto has transferred out, we’ll be welcoming a new student today. Please give her a warm welcome.”

Applause filled the room.

A petite girl entered, carrying her schoolbag. Her uniform was neatly pressed, her posture reserved. Because her head was lowered, her face was hard to see—but the single ahoge on top of her head swayed lightly with each step, catching everyone’s eye.

When she finally lifted her head, the room fell silent for a brief moment.

Not because she was so beautiful that time itself stopped, or that she was unbelievably ugly either.

The new transfer student had a pale, delicate face, with fine, doll-like features. She was undeniably cute, but her lips were a bit pale, and her quiet demeanor gave her a mysterious air that seemed oddly out of place in the lively classroom.

But that wasn’t the main thing that drew everyone’s attention.

The main thing was—

She wore a white medical eyepatch over her right eye.

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