*ššš*
The atmosphere at Seijo High School instantly turned tumultuous as the bell signaling the end of the final period rang out.
The school corridors were immediately packed with students; some rushed toward club rooms to begin extracurricular activities, while others prepared to head straight home.
As the most popular girl in the entire school, Mahiru could not simply step out of the classroom in peace.
Around her desk, several female students had already gathered to chat.
Mahiru deliberately interacted more within and restricted herself to a circle of female friends, a subtle tactic to avoid unwanted attention from the male students who frequently stared at her with infatuated gazes from a distance.
"Shiina-san, we're planning to go to a karaoke place near the station this afternoon. Would you like to join us?" asked one of the female students, her eyes sparkling with hope.
Mahiru offered her trademark smileāgentle, sincere, and flawlessly perfect like an Angel. "Thank you so much for the invitation. But I'm terribly sorry, I have an important matter at home today that cannot be delayed, so it seems I have to go straight back."
"Ah, I see... That's too bad. But it's okay, maybe next time, Shiina-san!" the female student replied, not feeling offended in the slightest due to Mahiru's exceedingly polite refusal.
Not far from there, Amane, who was packing his books into his bag, observed the interaction in silence.
He could faintly hear the conversation from the direction of Mahiru's desk. In front of him, Akasawa Itsuki was also leaning against a desk while staring in the same direction.
"Incredible, huh..." Itsuki exhaled in admiration, his eyes fixed on Mahiru. "No matter how often I see her, Shiina-san really is on a different level. She's not just remarkably beautiful, but her personality is also incredibly kind and friendly to everyone. That nickname 'Angel' is certainly not just for show."
Amane glanced flatly at his best friend, then slung his school bag over his shoulder.
"Praising another woman so openly like that... aren't you worried that Chitose will be angry if she hears it?"
Itsuki immediately burst into laughter upon hearing Amane's words, clapping his best friend's shoulder casually.
"Hahaha! Don't joke around, Amane. Chitose wouldn't be jealous over something like this. Besides, she also knows that I praise Shiina-san purely out of admiration, just like people who admire a beautiful work of art in a museum. This isn't a romantic feeling at all."
Itsuki then threw his arm around Amane's neck, enthusiastically changing the subject.
"Rather than discussing that, how about we go to the game center this afternoon? There's a new arcade machine I want to try."
Amane thought for a moment before finally giving a slight nod. "Sure. Coincidentally, I don't have anything to do at home this afternoon either."
"Great! Let's leave now before the place gets crowded!" Itsuki exclaimed excitedly.
The two walked side by side, stepping out and leaving behind the classroom, which was beginning to empty.
In the corner of the classroom, Mahiru, feeling she had indulged the small talk with her classmates enough, began to tidy her bag.
After saying goodbye with a final, graceful smile, she stepped out of the classroom with a single purpose in mind: to return home quickly to the apartment, where someone was now waiting for her.
Throughout her walk down the school corridor, Mahiru never escaped attention. Every few meters, there were students greeting her, and she always graciously returned their greetings with a well-proportioned nod and smile.
"Shiina-san! Do you have any free time this afternoon? Want to go grab a parfait with us?" asked a male student who suddenly blocked her path along with a few of his friends, trying their luck.
"Thank you for the invitation, but I'm sorry, I must head home immediately due to family matters." Mahiru declined in an extremely polite tone.
In reality, Mahiru possessed a slight social awkwardness hidden beneath her mask of perfection. Unconsciously, when declining politely, she often made small movements such as bowing her head somewhat deeply or gently squeezing the strap of her bagāa defensive gesture that was defensive yet frequently misunderstood by the male students.
Inevitably, some of them thought Mahiru's apologetic smile was a sign that the girl actually felt heavy-hearted about refusing them, making them feel as though they still had a chance another time to win her heart.
Mahiru quickened her pace toward the shoe locker area. There, she exchanged her school shoes for her regular walking shoes, and then immediately stepped outside, leaving the instructional building toward the main gates of the school.
However, as she approached the school gates, Mahiru's pace slowed slightly.
In front of the gates, a crowd of female students appeared to be gathered boisterously, as if watching a performance or the sudden arrival of a celebrity.
Faintly, Mahiru heard excited whispers from several female students near her.
"Hey, look at the guy across from the gate! He's so handsome, right?!"
"Yeah! Seriously, he looks like a model or an actor! That side-parted hairstyle suits him perfectly, he looks mature and authoritative."
"Who is he waiting for, I wonder? He's only been looking toward our school gate this whole time. The girl he's waiting for is so incredibly lucky!"
Mahiru instantly lost interest upon hearing the contents of their conversation.
Her "Angel" mask might demand her to always act friendly, but in her heart, she was not at all interested in topics of romance or handsome men that teenagers her age obsessed over.
However, when she stepped past the pillars of the school gate and directed her gaze ahead, her irises instantly widened.
She recognized the handsome man who was currently the center of attention and the subject of heated discussion among the female students around her.
Silver hair neatly styled in a 7:3 part, a tall and upright posture, and a well-fitted suit of clothesāit was Charlie Avalon.
Right as Mahiru recognized him, Charlie, who was leaning back casually, also caught sight of the girl among the crowd of exiting students.
Straightening his posture, he raised one hand casually, then greeted her with a voice clear enough to be heard by the people around them.
"Shiina-san, over here."
Instantly, the atmosphere in front of the school gate became chaotic.
The quiet whispers immediately turned into an unbearable, nosy clamor.
The female students around Mahiru began to gossip enthusiastically, nudging each other's arms, speculating about what kind of relationship actually existed between this extraordinarily handsome stranger and the "Angel" of Seijo High School, who was famously known to be untouched by any man.
Seeing Charlie standing there as the center of attention, Mahiru let out a short sigh.
She walked quickly to approach the young man, setting aside her "Angel" mask for a moment and putting on an utterly cute poutāa rare expression that not a single student at this school had ever seen before.
"Why did you actually come to my school?"
Charlie merely shrugged his shoulders casually, unfazed by the piercing stares from dozens of pairs of eyes around them.
"You said it yourself this morning that we would go shopping together after school, didn't you? Since I don't know the streets around here, I thought picking you up at the gate wasā"
"But it didn't have to be right in front of the gate either."
Mahiru cut Charlie off before the man could finish his sentence. She glanced anxiously toward the crowd of students who were starting to pull out their phones.
"Whatever, just follow me quickly right now."
Without waiting for a reply, Mahiru immediately turned around and walked away at a brisk pace, leading the way and leaving the school gate area.
She absolutely did not want anyone else at school to find out about the secret that the two of them were currently living together under one apartment roof.
One could only imagine what kind of storm of rumors would hit her if that were to leak out.
Once the two people walked further away and disappeared around a bend in the road, the uproar in front of Seijo High School's gate broke out completely.
The female students simultaneously let out sighs of admiration, staring straight at Charlie's gradually receding back.
"Wow... no wonder Shiina-san always rejects all the guys at school. Turns out her standards are that high." Whispered one of the female students. "Only a man that handsome and cool is truly worthy of standing beside our Angel."
On the other hand, the sight became a heavy blow to the male population.
The rows of male students instantly suffered a mass heartbreak. Their souls seemed to fly out of their bodies upon realizing the possibility that the Angel they had been worshiping from afar all this time actually already had an adult male figure who succeeded in occupying her heart.
The domino effect of the incident at the gate was by no means small.
In a very short amount of time, hot rumors regarding "The Angel Picked Up by Her Handsome Boyfriend" had spread with wild speed in the school's secret chat forums, complete with various speculations and theories fabricated by the students.
Meanwhile, along the quiet sidewalk of the street, Mahiru continued to walk at a constant pace, completely unaware that her fictitious love life was currently becoming the most burning topic of discussion in every corner of the school.
[Note: I forgot that Amane and Mahiru aren't in the same class. Since the story has already been written, let's just assume that they're classmates.]
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