A busy weekend fshed by in the blink of an eye, and soon it was Monday.

  Another fresh week—another countdown to the next weekend.

  Bokue arrived in css at around his usual time. Most students were already there, chatting in small groups or idly waiting for lessons to begin.

  Though he was among the st to show up, it was still well before the first official css. There were about twenty minutes to spare, and the morning homeroom could be as short or long as the teacher liked. Often there was no formal meeting at all—if there was nothing to announce, everyone would just wait until first period began.

  Given that it was already nearly a month into the term, there was unlikely to be anything new to discuss.

  ????

  Bang, bang, bang!

  Just as the cssroom's morning chatter grew lively, footsteps sounded in the hallway. The homeroom teacher strode in, cpping her hands to get everyone's attention.

  "All right, everyone—back to your seats, please. We have morning homeroom to do."

  That caught Bokue's eye.

  'Morning meeting after all,' he mused. 'Must be something.'

  Sure enough, the students hastily returned to their chairs.

  "Well, I have some good news: our css is getting a new student today!" The teacher csped her hands in excitement. "And by the way… she's a super cute foreign girl!"

  Huh?

  Bokue perked up, half-smiling. A cute foreign girl? He already had a strong guess who it might be.

  "Let's give her a warm welcome!" the teacher said, and the css promptly broke into appuse.

  Cp, cp, cp…

  No prompting needed—just the promise of an "Adorable Foreign Girl" was enough to whip the students into a frenzy.

  A brown-booted foot stepped in from the hallway—attached to a slender, pale leg—and then in came that familiar shimmer of golden hair.

  Soft and bright without being blinding, she gave off an aura of gentle purity. Asia had entered.

  "Ah—truly an Angel!"

  "She's definitely a saint, no, an angel from God to save us single losers!"

  "I believe in love again! So inspiring…"

  The appuse and whoops surged to new heights. If one didn't know better, they might think it was a 100,000-fan stadium concert. Some of the other girls gred at the boisterous guys in contempt.

  "A-Ah, um—hello, everyone. My name is Asia Argento. I—um—please just call me Asia… I look forward to studying with you…"

  Blushing at the explosive ovation, Asia fumbled her introduction. Yet her pretty face and sweet demeanor turned the "nervous mess" into something adorably endearing, amplifying her allure.

  The roaring appuse escated further, sounding like a monsoon pounding on the roof. Students in other cssrooms probably heard it and wondered what was going on.

  With so much ruckus, Asia felt more overwhelmed by the second.

  The homeroom teacher couldn't let it continue, lest the neighboring csses compin. The simplest solution: quickly seat the new student. But where?

  Pcing her near the rowdiest boys would only cause more fuss, and many of the girls already had small friend groups.

  The teacher needed a spot that had at least one easygoing female seatmate—and a mild-mannered male, so Asia wouldn't be overwhelmed.

  "Asia, why don't you…?"

  "Bokue-san!"

  A delighted voice broke in, interrupting the teacher's train of thought. She followed Asia's gaze to see Bokue Keikain by the window, arms behind his head, looking back with faint curiosity.

  ????

  "Uh, Asia, you already know Keikain?"

  "Yes!" Asia nodded vigorously, face beaming.

  "Then… all right, Asia, you can sit to Bokue's left. The girl on your right with the gsses is Kiryuu Aika. If you have any questions about school, you can ask either of them."

  "Thank you, sensei!"

  No hesitation—Asia thanked her and moved swiftly from the front, heading for Bokue's side. The thunderous appuse died instantly, repced by groaning howls of despair.

  It was as if every lovelorn boy's heart had just shattered.

  "Tch… These guys are so noisy and embarrassing…"

  Kiryuu Aika, adjusting her gsses, rolled her eyes at the chorus of masculine wailing. Then she shifted her attention to the new neighbor—the golden-haired nun. Her gaze flicked between Asia and Bokue, a mischievous smile forming.

  "Asia-chan, right? Just now you said you know Bokue-kun already—but aren't you from abroad? How'd you meet? Care to tell~?"

  "Umm, we—"

  Naive Asia almost answered, but Bokue cut in just in time:

  "Hey, hey, no prying into someone's life story the second you meet, Kiryuu."

  His tone was more teasing than harsh.

  Kiryuu smirked, pushing up her gsses.

  "What? I'm just being a friendly neighbor, a normal conversation starter. Especially since Bokue has such a questionable reputation—always hanging around those two uppercssman beauties, the number-one and number-two hotties at Kuoh. And you, Asia-chan, seem so pure and sweet. If you're not careful, you might be devoured soon—"

  "Can it…"

  Bokue fshed a certain "international" hand gesture. Kiryuu just sniffed in amusement, as if recalling some comedic scenario.

  Then something seemed to occur to her. With feigned innocence, she cpped her hands over her mouth in mock arm.

  "Oh—unless Asia-chan's already been had by Bokue-kun? But that's impossible, right? With Bokue-kun's 'Size', you'd never be able to handle it yet, Asia-chan—"

  "Huh?"

  Confusion flooded Asia's eyes. She tilted her head, a question mark practically floating above her.

  Bokue's… size? What on earth?

  "Pay no mind, Asia," Bokue murmured, ignoring Kiryuu's innuendo. He shot the braided girl a gre and turned toward Asia.

  "Anyway, Asia, you can just call me Bokue, no need for '-san' or whatever. Sounds weird to me."

  "Right—okay, then, Bokue!"

  Asia's eyes sparkled as she practiced his name without honorifics—just like Rias and Akeno did.