Asano Gakushuu was the super prodigy praised to be the most outstanding student since the founding of Kunugigaoka. With his plentiful talents together with the special education he received from his father when he was small, his abilities greatly surpassed that level. Recognized both by himself and others as Kunugigaoka's No. 1 top elite, he was the school's young prince who reigned at the top.

For as long as he can remember, his relationship with his father has been that of a teacher and a student, and he has been raised with the forced mentality of being a strong person. The pride and resourcefulness cultivated in this process swelled further in the rebellious age, and now he was all the time thinking of how to defeat his father.

After hours of studying, Asano took a break and started daydreaming about how to treat his father after gaining control. He has been doing this as a motivation for so long, now it has somehow become his routine.

'After I had father under my feet, he'll be the one in charge of warming my waraji sandals in his clothes and putting them out when I go out, and then I wouldn't wear them' he thought to himself as a mile-wide smirk formed on his face.

Just then, someone knocked on the door of his room.

"Gakushuu, here's your coffee."

It was his mother, he told her to come in and place the coffee on his desk. The weird thing was, that his mother didn't have any influence on Asano's beliefs, or his life, even though they lived under the same roof.

She was told by her husband to not by any chance, give their son any affection regarding his educational philosophy, he wanted to raise his son to become his definition of a perfect human being.

Mrs. Asano was a housewife, which means she held absolutely no power in the household. When it comes to demands either from her husband or her son, the only possible way was to retreat to submission. Even worse, she was living with two guys who were overly obsessed with standing above people. This was how their family functioned.

It was near the end of March, white cherry blossoms were blooming everywhere. Asano was soon to start his second school year at Kunugigaoka Junior High, and was looking forward to another year where he could rule over his classmates and some possible new ones too.

"I admit it she's gorgeous but you should see her in person, she's absolutely pale, like...from top to toe. She is absolutely dull and colorless."

They were dining out at a 5-star Italian restaurant, where one of his minions, Seo, mentioned his new neighbor, Arina Avenira, also soon to be their classmate so often lately.

"You think of it as dull, I think it's outstanding, she really shines among the crowd with her paleness, don't you think?" said Teppei as he continued chewing on his saltimbocca.

"Oh and Ren," Seo gazed into his friend's eyes, "You and Asano-kun are invited to a meeting this weekend with Arina. 'I'm excited beyond measure that I'm about to meet two of your lovely friends!' (he mimicked it using his high pitched voice) was what that girl said."

Ren kept a blank face for a second. After processing what he had heard, his eyes went sparkled.

"Really?"

"Yes. Anyway, remember to not scare that poor girl into hysterics by shamelessly fizzing her," said Teppei while pointing his fork at Ren.

Ren flipped his hair, sulking, "I'm so jealous of you guys, having able to befriend a foreign chick. Especially you, Seo, you're too blessed to have her as a neighbor. It's a pity that you still didn't play with her yet, what a waste."

Tired of the minions' unnecessary gossiping, Asano solemnly asked, "Where are the location and the exact time for the meeting then?"

Seo and Teppei turned to look at each other for a second as if they were searching for each other's answer.

"Well...we haven't decided yet," answered Teppei with an awkward smile.

Asano immediately criticized them, in a dignified manner, of course, "You two are inviting people to a meeting, whatever you do, you must do it in earnest. Such thoughtless behavior as not providing your guests enough information about your invitation or any in particular, may not result in a good impression."

Seo and Teppei felt like they have learned something new from Asano again today. However, Seo was overwhelmed by his sudden flashback to Arina's indecisiveness, he felt like he needed to clear that out.

"Our apology, Asano-kun. But that girl, when I asked her if she wants to dine out at a high-class restaurant, she said it's 'boring and unexciting' and wanted to go bungee jumping instead—"

"Bungee jumping?" Ren cut his sentence.

"Then I told her it's a meeting, which means we will sit down and get to know each other. She then suggested that we could go fishing, because if so we could still sit down and have conversations. Then I— hey Teppei, pass me the black pepper." He nudged his bestfriend.

"Here you go," said Teppei as he passed Seo the black pepper mill.

"Then I told her there was no place to go fishing here in Kunugigaoka, and for some reason she got mad and yelled at me, telling me to decide by myself. But you know, how should I supposed to know what to decide in order to please her. Ugh, girls! They're so moody." he finished his sentence while sprinkling tons of black pepper on his pasta, so much that it replaced the tomato sauce to become the sauce itself.

"Wait, when did she get mad and yell at you?" Teppei realized the odd and interrogated him.

Seo immediately shot back at Teppei with the look of 'I made it up so play along with it.'

"Ooooh right, right, when girls let you decide, even if she said anything is fine, it's actually not. That's why we didn't have any plan for the meeting yet, haha—" Teppei waved his hands awkwardly. His fake laugh stiffened shortly after he noticed Asano's disdain for their unserious attitude.

"If she already let you decide, then do it. There's no point in pleasing anyone in this situation, it's her choice after all," said Asano firmly as Ren nervously flipped his hair, he actually wanted to consider Arina's approval.

"Well, so how about we meet here?" Teppei said, "Let's meet up nearby, then when we are gathered enough we could go inside."

"Come to think of it, you're not looking like yourself today, Seo. Why do you even bother about others' favor that much?" said Ren, to which triggered Sek a bit.

"So! Saturday, 10 AM, under the cherry blossoms across the street, okay?" announced Teppei.

"Sure," said Seo hastily.

"Move it to Sunday, I will be busy by that time."

Ren was curious about what his friend might be busy with, so he asked, "What is your plan for that day, Asano-kun? Do you need any of our assistance?"

"I'll be attending a meeting with politically influential people, I'll leave a mail to the location, you're free to come."

'What kind of junior high school student would be attending a political meeting!?' they all thought to themselves and failed to keep their disgusted face from showing out.

They have shown their admiration for what Asano was capable of in various ways. It was enjoyable at first but in long term he kind of lost sense of it.

After finishing his bistecca, Asano checked his watch, a smile formed on his face, "Better get going then. I have to keep up with running a seminar this evening."

He didn't bother checking their reaction as he paid for his meal and left the restaurant.

"He's a busy guy, isn't he?" said Ren, who didn't realize he was flipping his hair once again.

"It's just me or does he look unhealthily pale? (fact from Matsui) Like, he be lacking sleep or something," Seo questioned with a forced grin.

***

"A fine dine-out at an Italian restaurant...oh my," Arina heaved a deep sigh, propping her cheek on her palm, "how wonderful is that? Watching people gulping their food is honestly my favorite thing to do. It might sound a bit odd to you, but it's rather satisfying to me. And to taste a different cuisine this time though...I LOVE to experience new things; there's ever so many thrills into it!" the foreign girl said in a dreamy state of mind while watching Seo and Teppei gobble on the cookies she baked and brought over.

They were having a group study at Seo's house as Arina was barely focused on her work. Instead, she was occasionally distracted by daydreaming about random things, although this time it was to watch these two eat.

"Oh? So why did you deny choosing a restaurant?" asked Seo in annoyance.

"Why? Oh, life is very short, Seo, there is ever so much room for new experiences. 'Life is short and the world is wide', don't you just love that saying? If I have to choose between going to a restaurant and traveling to the moon, I'll pick the moon. There are so many layers to the observable, tangible world we often see, but Seo, that's when we have to use our blessed imagination to see beyond things -- that's the best of it. Instead of going to a restaurant to meet up with someone, we can do so by challenging ourselves to an Escape Room, for instance. In that way you will certainly know the person better. Oh why? It's because the things people let out of their mouths upon a first meeting are for a good initial impression only, and I'm not a fan of it. Words are only trustworthy enough if it was proven into actions. And I will admit it might be very difficult. Hence why a restaurant in my opinion won't do it. Nevertheless, I'm perfectly happy to meet and befriend more lovely souls. Do you ever think I'll find a kindred spirit of my own?"

"You're talking too much!" blurted Seo exasperatedly.

"Well, my dear Seo. I couldn't help it, you know. When you have too many ideas at the same time you ought to express them in words or else you might forget them. But I must admit too that I'm rather a pathetic forgetful person and that made me cherish people with good memory more than ever. Isn't it just lovely to have a good memory? How else a person lives if they won't remember the joyful, precious moments that happened in their life? You can debate whether it's a positive thing since there are some memories that are too dreadful you won't feel remorse about passing them away. But what else can I say to those shallow minds? Without remembering those dreadful things you won't learn anything from them, and they will likely occur to you again. So don't you think there are no dreadful things at all in life? For me they are a blessing all along. Oh, no wonder how lovely life can be."

Seo and Teppei went speechless.

"But at the same time it can be pretty boring," sighed Arina, eyeing down the study materials, "Sitting in a room and studying. I know that studying is a great exercise for your brain, but it only applies to subjects like math and such. The rest all have to rely on your memory. Meanwhile, your memory could've been reserved for more meaningful things, don't you think? But there's a way to break it outside of the box, I'll tell you now. This room we're studying in is like a box, and we could've easily gone out far - far - far away to a great big field, or in the deep, deep woods and I'd breathe in the fresh air of nature as though it will be my last chance to breathe. And then I'd just feel the motivation to study."

Seo and Teppei carried on with their speechless dialogues.

"I suppose you two don't feel the same way, judging from your funny expressions. There's nothing romantic about math, unless you use it for science, and I hate it to death. Isn't it a sin to hate something?"

"Yes it IS!" snapped Seo. "You do nothing but talk and talk pointless things! Instead why don't you use that energy to focus on your study!? There's no helping if you hate these subjects as you have to pass them nevertheless!"

"I suppose conquering your most hated thing is very much a glorious thing," said Arina wide-eyed. "And don't be very worried, Seo, as I've got enough energy to talk about these splendid ideas and to carry on with studying and it will never run out even in my wildest dream."

"But please keep the talking down a bit, Arina," suggested Teppei. "The entrance exam is very near already, so we need you to focus your energy on one thing only. Or else, Arina, our efforts of tutoring you will be wasted if you won't get into class A."

"Hmpf! Or just let her drop to E class! It's very likely anyway," Seo mocked the foreign girl, as she suddenly felt a stab of fear for failure. Oh no, what if she really won't be able to get into class A?

"Say, Seo, you really do have a point. And I shall etch your words into my heart to motivate myself, but, oh," Arina propped her chin on both her hands and gazed dreamily to nowhere, "Now that we just arranged a meeting with your lovely friends, I couldn't help but imagine all kinds of stuff. It always feels good to look forward to things. I'm very convinced with myself that I'm going to like them, as I never dislike anyone before. I'd like to know them both -- know them well -- well enough to call them nicknames. But I could never expect someone to feel about me the same way. Though even if they won't like me, I will still like them nevertheless."

But deep inside, what Arina was thinking about was how she will deal with new people questioning her identity. Things would've been easier if she wasn't so reckless to slip her real name and origin out of her mouth that day when she first met Seo. Her father had reminded her countless times and she just casually let it slip away. Hence why having a good memory was such a blessing for a person like her, as she couldn't help but blame herself every single time recalling it.

At night she went to her closet and spent more than an hour picking the perfect dress for the meeting, then, went to the bathroom to do her extra self-care routine, and during then, practice her expressions and postures in the mirror, feeling determined to be as beautiful and lady-like as possible.

'Oh no, my dear, you're no different than others, there's no way out of it. It's like something out of human nature already,' she told herself, feeling guilty for wanting to make a good initial impression and hide her flaws.

But the whirl of excitement for looking forward to things was still there despite the anxiety to overcome new people's curiosity over her origin, as Arina smiled in delight. Oh, wasn't it lovely to have such imaginations?

Before going to sleep, the thrill of meeting the school president and the student council's secretary swallowed Arina, which led her to be sleepless for the rest of the night, constantly giggling whilst imagining the fun scenarios of encountering them in her head.

'All the best for tomorrow, sometimes a good impression is indeed very important. People won't be willing to step into a threshold of a house they don't find appealing, and that thought comforts me quite well,' she thought.