Chapter 2: Rescuing A Loli On The Way

Quillan was unbothered after waking up next to a stranger.

Dressed in casual clothes and carrying his backpack, he finished his call with Gavin, stopped by a convenience store to buy two buns for breakfast, and checked the time: 8:10 AM.

He hadn’t actually lied to Norika Harada—they just had completely different ideas of how he’d get to school. Quillan planned to walk, while Norika assumed he’d take a taxi. How could the speeds compare?

With twenty minutes left and a considerable distance still ahead, he took a quiet shortcut through a side alley to avoid being late on his very first day.

"Ah... What—what do you think you’re doing?!"

A girl’s startled scream rang out ahead.

What’s going on? Quillan quickly stashed his half-eaten bun. Turning the corner, he ran straight into a scene that made him sigh.

A greasy, middle-aged man was grinning nastily, closing in on a teenage girl in a sailor-style school uniform. Terrified, the girl backed away until her spine hit a brick wall, tears of helplessness streaming down her face.

"Heh heh... What a cute little loli. Come on... give uncle a hug!"

The man seemed drunk, emitting a laugh that sent shivers down the girl’s spine.

Just as he lunged and the girl squeezed her eyes shut in despair, a voice broke the quiet: "Hey! Getting this plastered first thing in the morning and cornering a girl young enough to be your daughter—are all you Japanese people this twisted?"

"Mind your own business, brat! What, are you not Japanese?"

The drunkard turned and roared at Quillan. Seemingly enraged, he abandoned the girl and charged at him instead.

Then...

Quillan delivered a clean, sharp kick straight to the man’s face, knocking him out cold before he hit the ground.

Glancing at the girl, Quillan noticed the Saint Sakura High emblem on her uniform. He offered a light smile: "Hey, don’t worry. He just passed out. He was drunk, so he would’ve kept causing trouble if I didn’t knock him out. Does that explain things well enough? Bye now!"

"Um..."

The girl, who had been too terrified to move, only dared to pick herself up after hearing the man was out cold. She quickly jogged to catch up with him. "Thank you! Thank you so much!" She bowed repeatedly as she spoke.

"No sweat, minor thing," Quillan winked. Recalling something, he asked, "Are you a student at Saint Sakura, too?"

"Yes!" She bowed again. "I’m Miyuki Sakurai, a first-year at Saint Sakura High. Please treat me well!"

"I’m Quillan. Please treat me well, too." Mirroring her introduction, he added, "Keep what just happened between us, okay?"

While playing the hero was nice and all, Quillan had zero desire to be labeled a violent freak on his first day—especially after kicking a guy into unconsciousness right in front of heẻ.

"Huh?"

Miyuki stared at him with a blank, adorable expression. It took her several seconds to process his words before looking at him in utter disbelief: "Qui... Quillan-kun, are you a student at Saint Sakura High, too?"

Given how slowly she took to process his simple request after he’d already introduced himself, it was clear this adorable girl was a bit on the slow-poke side...

"Yeah," Quillan nodded helplessly, a faint flush creeping up his face. Attending an all-girls school as a guy was a bit embarrassing to admit out loud, after all.

"That’s wonderful!" Miyuki beamed. With her soft, round cheeks, baby fat, snug white sailor uniform, and knee-high socks, her smile was undeniably cute.

Quillan eyed her oddly. "’Wonderful’?"

"Yeah!" Miyuki clasped her hands beneath her chin. "Word’s been going around that a male student was transferring to Saint Sakura—the only male student in the whole school, and an exchange student from America! Quillan-kun, we’re actually in the same class! I can’t believe I met you like this. It’s such an honor..."

"Ahem... The only male student in the whole school?"

Quillan’s face twitched. Why hadn’t that jerk Gavin mentioned this?

That absolute traitor! Gavin was the one who pulled strings to set up his admission. Quillan had felt something was off when he heard "girls’ high school," but now the reality hit him: Gavin had definitely set him up on purpose!

Right now, that guy was probably waiting by his phone, waiting for Quillan to call and rage so he could gloat.

Realizing Gavin’s game, Quillan instantly calmed down.

If Gavin wanted to gloat, Quillan would do the exact opposite—he wouldn’t call, just to let the guy stew!

So what if it was an all-girls school? What did a real man have to fear?

Still, when Quillan actually stood before the main gates of Saint Sakura Girls’ High and watched streams of girls in sailor uniforms filing in, a wave of nerves hit him anyway.

This is basically the legendary Kingdom of Women!

As he stood there dazed, Miyuki patted his shoulder: "Quillan-kun, let’s go in!"

Quillan nodded and followed behind her.

He braced himself as he stepped through the gates. Near the entrance, a few upperclasswomen wearing Disciplinary Committee armbands noticed Miyuki bringing a male student inside. One of them stepped forward to block their path. "Excuse me, male visitors aren’t allowed on campus. Please ask your boyfriend to wait outside."

"W-What?!" Miyuki’s eyes went wide. Blushing furiously, she babbled, "Senior... you’ve got it all wrong! Quillan-kun... he’s not my boyfriend! He’s a student at Saint Sakura too!"

"Is that so?"

The girl blocking them gave off an icy vibe. Truth be told, her facial features were exquisitely refined, and her flawless skin made her look like a living porcelain doll.

Her gaze, however, was piercingly cold, and her stern expression practically screamed "unapproachable." She clearly doubted Miyuki’s claim, but another girl wearing an armband stepped in: "Amatsuki-senpai, I heard a male freshman was actually transferring in today. Could it be him?"

After sizing Quillan up with a suspicious glare, the icy beauty extended a hand: "Student ID."

Quillan quickly pulled out his ID and explained, "Since I’m the school’s first male student, my uniform is being custom-made, and my student badge won’t be issued for a few days."

"Take it."

Kaoru Amatsuki handed the ID back. Seeing Miyuki waiting for him a short distance away—even nodding politely in their direction—Kaoru couldn’t resist dropping a warning: "Hey. While the school doesn’t explicitly forbid dating—mostly because we’ve never had male students before—if you two are together, try to keep it low-profile."

"W-What do you mean?!"

Miyuki’s face flushed crimson. She made to march back over to explain herself properly, but Quillan caught her arm and gently nudged her toward the classroom building. "It’s no use explaining right now," he advised. "We don’t even know her, and she clearly made up her mind. Just let it go."

"B-But..."

Miyuki opened her mouth to protest that she wasn’t his girlfriend. But remembering Quillan’s cool kick from earlier, her face flushed even deeper. She ended up nodding silently without another word.

She looked for all the world like an obedient young bride.

Quillan arrived at the classroom door, with Miyuki still tailing close behind.

He had felt something was off along the way. Miyuki had kept her head down and probably hadn’t noticed, but Quillan had seen it clearly: a guy walking down the hall was already a spectacle, but having a blushing girl trailing behind him like a devoted wife was just asking for rumors to spread.

At this point, Quillan actually wished Miyuki had kept her previous energy to speak up and clarify things out loud. Stopping outside the classroom door, he turned around to call her name—only for a body to walk right into his chest.

And...

Thanks to their height difference, Quillan’s lips landed dead-center on Miyuki’s forehead.

In an instant, every student in the hallway and inside the classroom froze solid, staring wide-eyed at the two of them.