Chihaya Anon—
A girl with a bit of a vain streak.
Back in middle school, after becoming student council president, she basked in praise and admiration. Over time, she grew attached to that image of perfection and couldn't let go of it.
To show she was different from all the "ordinary" students, she even announced before graduation that she would be studying abroad.
And to her credit—she actually went.
Fueled by pride alone, she made it to her overseas school.
She thought she could just grit her teeth and power through it…
But on the very first day, during her self-introduction in class, she completely broke down.
Her spoken English was… painfully bad.
That wasn't the only problem, though.
The real issue was—there was no one familiar around her anymore. Her vanity, her desire to be admired, meant nothing to these strangers.
And worse… it hit her:
She would be living completely alone in a foreign country for the next three years.
That was something she simply couldn't handle.
So, she ran.
She ran back to Japan.
To a high school far, far away from where her middle school classmates would ever show up.
But now—
Someone here knew her name.
Knew who she was.
And probably knew the things she said back in middle school.
But now she was a dropout. A runaway. The picture-perfect student council president was long gone.
If that person started telling others about her past—twisting the facts, making her sound like a joke—
The scene already played out in her mind:
"Didn't she say she was going abroad? Why's she back here now?"
"Tch, guess it was just a lie. She's all talk."
"So she wasn't some genius after all…"
No, no, no!
She couldn't let that happen!
Before that person could spread her past around, she had to find him!
Taking a deep breath to compose herself, Chihaya Anon put her best face back on the moment she stepped into the classroom—sunny and cheerful as always.
"Hi everyone! My name is Chihaya Anon. Because of some family circumstances, I'm transferring in at kind of a weird time, but I hope we can all be friends. Nice to meet you!"
It was a flawless self-introduction that won over the whole class.
While everyone was clapping, she subtly narrowed her eyes and swept her gaze across the room.
She'd passed by other classrooms earlier—and heard nothing.
But the moment she stepped into this one…
That voice started again.
[Anon's smile really shows off her sharp canines. Cute in a unique way, but sorry—cheerful sunshine girls just don't do it for me anymore. I'll stick to watching Tomori and Bocchi-chan instead.]
There it is again!
"The seat in the second-to-last row, last column is open. Chihaya-san, you can sit there."
"Okay!" Anon replied with a smile to the teacher. As she walked to her seat, her eyes never stopped scanning.
And the moment she passed Tomori Takamatsu on the left and Alex Shima on the right—
Alex's thoughts betrayed him.
[Was this seat assignment done on purpose? They're really putting Anon right next to me?]
If Chihaya Anon still hadn't figured it out by now, she'd have to be an idiot.
She stopped at the seat and gave Alex a hard stare, her expression turning ice-cold.
Alex froze for a second. Then he smiled at her politely.
Inside, though, he was rattled.
[Why is she staring at me? Do I look that good?]
Anon clenched her jaw, resisting the urge to say something right then and there.
She kept glaring.
Handsome? At best, barely above average.
"Nice to meet you, Chihaya-san~"
"Nice to meet you~" Anon responded with a bright smile to the classmates around her. Then she unpacked her books and got ready for class.
But during the entire class period, she kept her eyes locked on Alex, her mind filled with thoughts of stringing him up and tearing him apart.
Because his inner monologue was just that infuriating.
[Why is she still staring at me? Wait—don't tell me she's into me or something? No way… right?]
[No, no, no—if she is, that would totally mess up the story!]
[And to be honest… if we're talking cheerful sunshine girls, I still like Kita-chan more.]
[Seriously, why does she keep looking at me? Is there a bug on my face or something?]
Chihaya Anon gritted her teeth through the entire class.
She had wanted to use break time to make connections and settle in smoothly.
But now?
Forget that.
Alex Shima needed to be handled.
Immediately.
"Hey, I didn't get a chance to ask earlier—what's your name?" she asked with a charming smile.
"Oh, uh… I'm Alex Shima…"
"Alex Shima…" she repeated to herself, searching her memory.
Nope. She'd never heard that name before.
But that didn't matter. Back in middle school, as student council president, every other council knew her. No way she'd remember every ordinary student.
"Shima-kun, there's something I'd like to ask you. Could you step outside with me?"
"Ask me…?" Alex blinked in confusion.
"Yes."
"Can't you just ask me here?"
"No… no, I can't…"Anon's smile started to crack, but she kept it up.
"Why not?"
"Because… because it's something important."
"…"
Alex fell completely silent.
[Anon wants to talk to me… about something important?]
[We just met—what could be so important already?]
[Wait… no way. Does she like me?! Is this one of those delusions people get?!]
[Whatever. I'll go with her. A quick chat shouldn't disrupt the story too much.]
Chihaya Anon's hand, hidden inside her sleeve, had already balled into a tight fist.
This guy looks normal on the outside, but he's so full of himself it's unbelievable!
Me? Crushing on you?!
Dream on!
"…Alright, let's go," Alex said, acting a little reluctant.
All Anon wanted was to set things straight and warn him: Don't you dare spill anything about her middle school past.
But what she didn't expect was—
Her classmates immediately started gossiping.
"The transfer student just got here and already pulled Shima-kun aside?"
"What's going on? Don't tell me—"
"A confession?!"
"No way, that's way too fast!"
"Love at first sight! It happens all the time in manga!"
"She's so bold!"
"Well, I mean, Shima-kun is pretty handsome…"
Hitori Gotoh, who had already been reduced to emotional rubble just from Anon's "sunshine girl" aura, was now trembling even more.
She had wanted to be friends with Alex Shima—but this newcomer was already fast-forwarding to a confession?!
Tomori Takamatsu, after hesitating for a moment, quietly followed them.
Because just earlier, in Alex's inner thoughts, he had mentioned both Anon… and her.
This definitely wasn't going to be a confession.
At least… she hoped it wasn't.