"Coward? You mean, me?" asked Teppei again while they were being led by their new homeroom teacher to their class.

"Not just you, everyone here!" said Arina, she was speaking with a disappointed attitude rather than a furious one. "You were like a different person earlier, I didn't know I'd befriended such a coward who felt the need to trample others down in order to feel good about themselves, that's an act preserved specially for the weak, whose lives are driven by insecurity and fear, isn't it Teppei, have you feel ashamed in yourself?"

People around them, including Asano and the rest of his minions, halted their steps upon overhearing her statement.

"I mean not just Teppei, you people, all of you should feel ashamed of yourself, I see nothing than a bunch of cowards (Asano was enraged by her bold comment, to the point he failed to fake his usual tender expression) but since I'm not the type to force my personal beliefs on others, you could keep on being delusional about being strong. It's utterly stupid."

"Ms. Avenira! I supposed you should keep your mouth to yourself! Unlike your innocent face, your words are utterly insolent and disrespectful in the presence of a teacher!" Mr. Gojou Botan—a gay, fat old man—raised his voice indignantly against Arina.

"Excuse her, Gojou-sensei, Avenira-san was just not skilled enough in the way she expressed herself," Asano regained his composure and came in to defend her. He was pulling on his fake smile again, and she slowly started to feel uncomfortable with it.

"Please don't come in my way, I don't need a coward to speak on my own behalf," she said bluntly, wearing a carefree smile while pushing Asano away with her hand. He was furious that he forgot to hide his chagrin from showing off for a split second.

The trio—Nagasawa Juria, Morikawa Mika, and Tanaka Sekai--were secretly enjoying the moment with their hands on their mouth.

"Uh oh, she'll get into his black list for sure," one whispered.

"Your students need someone to speak facts so they could acknowledge it, that's all. Acknowledging, understanding, and execution are three different steps, and I only expect them to stop at step one, or perhaps, Gojou-sensei, you're brainwashed too?"

"That's it, Avenira! Unless you've considered your deplorable action, you're banned from stepping into my class!" Mr. Gojou yelled causing everyone to flinch as Arina lost her temper and crossed her arms.

"Fair enough! I don't want to join you and your cowardly students anyway!"

"Gojou-sensei, please don't take her so seriously, she's a foreigner—"

"Did I give you the permission to speak, Araki-kun!?" Mr. Gojou cut through his sentence.

Before Teppei could answer, Asano raised his arm to declare a statement. "Pardon me for intruding, Gojou-sensei, please reconsider your punishment, the opening of the school year is today, which means you could make a list of rules starting from now on. Any students in our class who dare to break the rule shall receive the equivalent punishment for their action, for now, the rules were not yet passed, you could overlook this time. Plus, aren't we going to take commemorative photos? It'd be impossible if one is missing," he finished his sentence with a convincing smile at the end.

"Mm...e hem," Mr. Gojou cleared his throat, "very well then, but you still have to apologize to me for being insolent!" his sharp gaze leered at Arina.

Asano quickly fixed his eyes on Arina as though he was prompting her to apologize. The foreign girl soon eased her temper as guilt suddenly swallowed her expression. She started to feel bad for yelling at them, so bowing her head to the classmates, she apologized to them first.

"It's perfectly fine, no worries!" was the general reply she received. Mr. Gojou was going nuts as he was not her first priority to apologize to.

"I'm so SO deeply sorry, Gojou-sensei, please forgive me for being impolite to you! I was being too impulsive!" Arina said sincerely, bowing her head to him.

A satisfactory smirk formed on his face as he ignored her apology and continued leading the students to their class.

'Class 2-A' the sign read, and Arina officially entered her new school life. There were two new students who got into class A this year: the Orlas girl--Arina Averina--and another guy named Koyama Natsuhiko. He was looking like a cliché mad scientist, was Arina's initial thought upon seeing him, and she was bothered by his sloppy posture too.

"Alright class, I'm gonna hand out textbooks and announce your seat numbers! Asano Gakushuu, seat number 1!"

Of course, the prestigious Asano Gakushuu, the number 1 was like his best friend that followed him anywhere. He smirked and came to his seat at the front and center of the class.

Nagasawa Juria was secretly praying she could sit somewhere near Asano this year, and as if her wish was granted, Mr. Gojou announced her name, "Nagasawa Juria, seat number 8!"

It was right behind Asano, Juria was so happy she nearly fainted. She dashed to her new seat, almost forgetting to take the messenger bag.

For Seo and Ren, they had no complaint about their seat numbers as opposed to Teppei, who was not feeling content with how far he was from Ami, they were basically sitting across the room.

And finally, "Arina Avenira!" he called, "seat number 12!"

It was in the third row to the right, right next to the window to the hallway. Hearing so, Asano and his minions were worried that she may draw too much attention from her spot. However, Arina herself really liked the spot, she arrived at her seat to notice that the person sitting next to her was the ill-looking guy she sat with earlier.

"Why, hello there, I'm very sorry about the earlier incident," Arina whispered mournfully. "Here, take this," as she secretly handed him some homemade caramel candies and beamed at him. The ill-looking blushed heavily upon receiving it.

The announcement for the seat numbers was over and textbooks were handed out, it was time for taking commemorative photos.

"No! You stand next to her!"

"No, you!"

"But I literally look like a peasant next to her!"

"And I'm be looking like an African for god's sake!"

No one opted to stand next to Arina, the girls were worried their looks would get degraded badly, while the boys were too shy to even come close to her.

"Oh, my, my, lovely people!" called Arina, to which she drew all the attention to her. "Looks isn't important, alright? The thing that matters is that we are making memories with each other! That's truly the most precious thing, ain't it?" she held a hand to where her heart was located, as her eyes gazing afar as if into a dreamy land, smiling brightly, and the other girls delivered a disagreed look.

"Only someone who already possesses good looks like you could say something like that!" they retorted.

"Good looks," sighed Arina dreamily. "You see, good looks is very temporary -- just like how a blossom will wilt as time flies. Oh, how very sorrowful is the end of everything? But you see, a beautiful inner soul will never wilt."

"Arina, come here," said Asano suddenly as he came to grab her arm toward his place at the center. Juria and the other two girls fumed.

"The center! Me -- the center? Oh, Asano-kun, you surely make the best decision," she laughed and stood between Asano and Ren, to their sides were Seo and Teppei, Ami was standing next to Teppei too, and followed by a 'click' class 2-A of year 2015-2016's commemorative photo was taken.