Sunlight streamed through the window of a small house on the far side of town, landing directly on the face of a young white-haired boy named Gin and dragging him out of a long nap.
"Eeeehhhh… come on, it can't be morning already."
Groaning, he raised a hand to shield his eyes from the sunlight as he slowly sat up on the edge of the bed.
Once he turned away from the light, Gin let out a tired sigh and rested his hand on his thigh, his gaze drifting across the room.
Clothes were scattered everywhere.
"…Okay, this is getting ridiculous." He rubbed the back of his head. "I seriously need to clean this place up. Man, I hope Shin or Sousuke doesn't stop by anytime soon. They'd roast me to kingdom come if they saw this mess."
Dragging his feet at a snail's pace, Gin shuffled over to the piles of clothing and gathered them into a massive bundle before dumping everything into a laundry basket.
After picking up the last stray shirt from the floor, he hauled the basket down the hallway toward the washing room, yawning the entire way.
Reaching the door, Gin kicked it open and dropped the basket in front of the washing machine with reckless abandon.
He grabbed a pack of detergent from the shelf and poured some into a measuring cup sitting on a nearby ironing board.
As he looked up at the calendar hanging above the washing machine, he began mumbling to himself.
"I wonder how the others are doing. Maybe I should visit them after I finish conquering this mountain of clothes." He paused for a moment. "Wait a minute… wh-what day is it?"
His eyes widened.
After staring at the calendar for several seconds, realization finally hit him.
It was a school day.
And he was definitely late.
The lazy atmosphere around him shattered instantly.
"CRAP!"
Gin bolted out of the washing room and sprinted back to his bedroom, nearly crashing into the closet as he yanked out his school uniform and threw it onto the bed.
"No, no, no! Miss Rose is gonna kill me if I don't get to class on time!"
Gin didn't even have enough time to take a proper bath. In a panic, he ripped off his clothes, stripping completely naked before practically drowning himself in perfume and deodorant.
A few seconds later, he hurriedly threw on his uniform, completely forgetting to button the bottom of his blazer and missing one of the loops on his belt.
He grabbed his large round glasses and slipped them on before quickly combing his hair back into a pineapple ponytail.
Barely looking put together, Gin rushed out of the house, slamming the door behind him as he sprinted down the apartment hallway.
With almost zero focus on where he was going, he dashed past several people before suddenly crashing into someone head-on.
The impact sent the other person stumbling backward while Gin slammed face-first into the floor.
"Ow…"
A feminine voice cried out as Gin quickly pushed himself back to his feet.
"Ah, I'm sorry! I'm kind of in a ru—"
His words caught in his throat the moment he saw her face.
Gin froze.
Standing in front of him was Mina Kutsunai.
The jet-black hair, the slightly sweaty face, and those beautiful purple eyes—
There was no mistaking her.
He hadn't seen her in years. Most people believed she had moved away, but now that he thought about it… maybe she had just been hiding herself away.
Or maybe she had simply given up on school altogether.
"…Mina? Is that really you?"
The moment she heard her name, Mina immediately scrambled to her feet and rushed toward one of the apartment doors. She tried opening it with her left hand, only to suddenly flinch in pain.
"Ouch!"
Quickly switching hands, she unlocked the door and slipped inside before slamming it shut behind her, clearly trying her best not to be seen by anyone else.
Gin stood there blankly.
"…What the heck just happened?"
He blinked twice, utterly confused by the bizarre encounter.
A few seconds later, realization struck him again.
"Oh right—I'M LATE!"
Gin screamed and immediately took off running down the hallway again, practically throwing himself down the stairs and nearly breaking his ankle in the process.
"Ah! Ah! Ah!"
Gin shouted repeatedly as he sprinted down the street at full speed.
After nearly half an hour of running, huffing, and groaning in exhaustion, he finally reached the school gates.
Without slowing down, he dashed through the hallways and bolted up the stairs, nearly slipping twice in the process.
Then, with one final burst of speed, Gin launched himself through the classroom door.
Trying to stop himself at the entrance, he instead lost his footing completely, rolling across the floor before coming to a stop right at the teacher's feet.
"You're late, Mr. Tanaka."
Miss Rose spoke with a disappointed expression, her face scrunched slightly as she looked down at him.
Gin slowly lifted his head, taking a moment to admire her beauty despite the situation.
Her jet-black hair was tied neatly into a bun, and she wore sleek glasses with lightly tinted lenses. Silver floral-patterned chains hung elegantly from the sides of the frames.
She had on a black pencil skirt that stopped just above her knees along with a puffy white blouse fastened with a blue gemstone button at the collar.
"…Actually, my dear Miss Rose, I'm one minute early."
Miss Rose glanced up at the clock above the chalkboard.
A small giggle escaped her lips after realizing he was right.
"You lucky brat."
She reached down and helped him back to his feet.
"Alright, you may have made it on time, but your attire is absolutely atrocious."
She circled around him slowly, tapping a ruler against the palm of her hand while examining him from head to toe.
Gin gulped nervously.
"W-Whatever do you mean?"
A smirk spread across her face as she pushed up her glasses with one finger, preparing to unleash her merciless assault.
"Your blazer isn't properly buttoned."
Smack.
She lightly struck his stomach with the ruler where the unbuttoned section was.
"You missed a loop on your belt."
Smack.
The ruler tapped against his waist.
"Your shoes are untied and completely unpolished."
Smack.
This time she hit his leg.
"And you forgot to wear your tie."
Smack.
She poked him directly in the chest before finally walking back to her desk.
Crossing her legs, Miss Rose rested her chin against her hand with a smug smile.
Her purple lipstick framed her face in a way that made her look both elegant and dangerously fox-like.
The entire class struggled to hold back their laughter.
That was, until Miss Rose slowly turned her gaze toward them.
The room instantly fell silent.
Everyone immediately wiped the smiles off their faces out of pure fear.
They knew better than to openly laugh at Gin in front of her. Even though Miss Rose roasted him harder than anyone else, the two were known for being unusually close. This was simply her way of keeping him accountable while teasing her favorite student at the same time.
Suddenly, a girl with blue hair styled into an undercut bowl cut pointed at Gin while laughing loudly. Gold hoop earrings swung from her ears as she nearly doubled over from giggling.
"Miss Rose just called your fit trash, dude!"
It was Shin—
One of Gin's best friends.
And Miss Rose's next victim.
"Oh? Look who's talking. The little girl who failed every single one of my math tests."
Shin simply grinned and shrugged her shoulders.
"Ah, your insults don't work on me, Miss R. Besides, everyone knows math is hard."
Miss Rose's smile widened dangerously.
"You were the only one who failed."
A drop of sweat rolled down Gin's cheek as he slowly backed away, already sensing where this was going.
Miss Rose casually turned her gaze toward the window, adjusting her glasses as if she were bored.
"Oh? So you're quiet now, Miss Fivehead?"
The confidence immediately drained from Shin's face.
Sweat began pouring down her forehead like a waterfall.
"W-We don't gotta do this in front of everybody…"
Miss Rose ignored her completely.
"We all know you use those bangs to cover up that crystal ball you call a forehead."
The classroom erupted into laughter.
Shin clutched her chest dramatically as if she had just been stabbed.
"Okay, okay, I get it! Please stop!"
Miss Rose giggled before striking the table causing everyone to shut there mouth.