[12] The surprise was you!

Three days later, it was Monday, and Shiki was again in his usual seat at the back of the living room, watching with indifference as the second hand of the clock advanced at a desperately slow pace.

'This is unbearably boring,' he thought as he let out a sigh. It wasn't that he hated the school itself, but the classes had lost all emotion for him.

In his past life, he had already gone through all this, and in this new life, with [Rasiel] at his disposal, knowledge of the world was within reach of his mind.

He knew the content of each lesson, the exact questions that the teacher would ask, and even the answers that his classmates would give with boring precision. Boredom in each class was inevitable.

"I could send one of my time clones to cover me," Shiki murmured to himself while his fingers drummed on the desk, restless. It was a tempting option, and he almost did, until he remembered how he had ended up in that situation.

Lala told him that she would surprise him if he went to class today. With a cute expression that a boy puts on to ask for a Christmas gift, she asked Shiki to go to school today, instead of sending one of his time clones.

Shiki, of course, could not resist the destructive power of his girlfriend's cuteness, and here he was waiting for the surprise.

Shiki could, of course, discover the surprise with [Rasiel] in an instant, revealing the mystery before it even started, but he knew that it would ruin Lala's fun and efforts, so he didn't.

'Although I can guess it,' Shiki thought, an ironic smile drawing in his mind. Just when he was about to sink into an internal monologue as a protagonist, the door of the classroom slid to the side with a soft squeak.

And just at that moment, the door opened completely, revealing the math teacher, Koharu Shirayama.

Normally, Koharu Shirayama's entrance marked the beginning of the class, and her presence was enough to plunge the students into a respectful silence.

But today, something different captured everyone's attention.

All eyes turned to the figure right behind Koharu: a girl with long, pink hair that cascaded down to her waist, with big green eyes full of enthusiasm and curiosity.

It was impossible not to notice her. She wore the uniform of Toyogasaki High School as if she had been born for it, her presence radiating a vibrant energy that electrified the air around her.

The surprise was drawn on the faces of Shiki's companions, and none of them could look away from the newcomer.

Shiki's lips curved into a sarcastic smile. 'So the surprise was you!' He thought, without being able to avoid feeling a little amused.

He remembered how Lala, in her carefree and charming way, had asked him that same morning to use [Haniel] to make his characteristic tail disappear.

At that time, he had not questioned the reason, but now everything made sense.

However, a question crossed his mind. 'But how did you manage to transfer to this school if you don't have an identity as a person from planet Earth?'

Shiki briefly considered the situation and came to a logical conclusion. 'The most likely thing is that she hacked and built a false identity or something like that,' he thought, with a mixture of admiration and resignation.

With Lala's advanced technology, something like that should have been child's play.

The classroom, meanwhile, buzzed with murmurs and whispers.

"A foreigner?" a girl asked, her incredulous tone reflecting the beauty of Lala.

"How beautiful..." murmured a boy, evidently in love at first sight.

"He has a spectacular body, hehehe!" Risa's laughter, the perverted girl in the class, resounded as she whispered something to her friend Mio, who responded with a complicit look.

Haruna, the president of the class, realized the growing murmur and quickly intervened.

"Don't be rude, and let Koharu-sensei speak," she scolded the class with a serious expression, although in reality, everyone found her attempt to be authoritarian more beautiful than intimidating.

"Thank you, Haruna-chan," Koharu said with her calm and professional tone before turning to Lala, who was watching the scene with palpable curiosity.

"Today we have a student transferred from abroad," Koharu announced to the class, trying to maintain formality.

"You get along well with her." Then he turned to Lala with a kind smile. "Can you introduce yourself?"

Lala, without losing an iota of her enthusiasm, took a step forward, her energy radiating throughout the room.

"Hello everyone!" she exclaimed, her voice full of joy. "I'm Lala Satalin Deviluke, and I'm excited to be here with you!"

"Ooohhhh!" The excited scream of the boys filled the classroom as soon as Lala finished introducing herself. Her eyes shone with enthusiasm when she saw the new student who, without a doubt, was a true beauty.

Some exchanged complicit glances, while others simply could not stop looking at Lala, dazzled by her presence.

However, the girls in the class did not share the same enthusiasm. Upon hearing the murmurs and comments that the boys did not bother to hide, several of them twisted their lips in a mixture of annoyance and disdain.

"The boys are unpleasant," was the thought that went through the minds of most of the girls, who crossed their arms or rolled their eyes at the predictable reaction of their classmates.

They couldn't believe how easily the boys lost their heads in front of a pretty face.

Meanwhile, Lala, oblivious to the divided reaction of the class, continued to smile with the same energy she had brought when she entered.

"Lala-san! Do you have a boyfriend?" A desperate boy threw the question with a tone of voice that resonated throughout the room, as if the words had been dragged from the depths of his being.

The entire class held its breath, looking forward to the answer, implicitly giving their approval to the brave one who dared to ask what everyone had in mind.

Lala tilted her head thoughtfully before smiling with the same sweetness that radiated since her arrival.

"Ummm, yes, I have a boyfriend and we are going to get married in the future," she replied with a calm that only intensified the commotion in the classroom.

Her gaze, usually full of innocence, became softer and her smile lit up even more as she spoke. It was such a pure and beautiful expression that it seemed to be taken from a dream.

Crack

That was the unmistakable sound of the hearts of almost all the male students in the class breaking into a thousand pieces.

The atmosphere, which had been full of enthusiasm and hope, was filled with an air of desolation. The boys' faces were contorted in a mixture of disbelief and emotional pain.

Without warning, Lala turned to Shiki, as if she had just remembered him in the middle of the conversation.

"Shiki! Did you like my surprise?" she exclaimed with enthusiasm.

Without waiting for a response, she crossed the room with surprising speed and sat on Shiki's lap, curling up against him while her cheek rubbed affectionately against his.

"..." The entire room was absolutely silent, as if time had stopped. The open mouths and the exorbitant eyes of the students said more than a thousand words.

"What?!" The collective scream broke the silence, followed by immediate chaos.

"Death to the handsome boys!" a group of boys shouted, while tears of blood gushed from their eyes as they saw their last ray of hope vanish in front of them.

"It can't be..." some girls murmured, dejected by the news that Shiki already had a girlfriend. But despite their disappointment, they couldn't help but feel that it made sense; after all, Lala was an exceptionally beautiful girl, one who seemed to come from another world.

Shiki, ignoring the chaos and murmurs that remained in the classroom, turned his gaze to Lala.

Despite the tumult around him, his expression was imposing but soft. With an affectionate caress on Lala's head, he answered honestly, "Um, yes, I liked it."

"Hehehe," Lala laughed, clearly enjoying the attention and affection, no matter what the environment around them.

Her laughter was contagious, and although many of her classmates were dejected and frustrated, the couple seemed to be in their own little world, oblivious to the general discontent.

The smile shared between Shiki and Lala, full of complicity and love, only intensified the feeling of discomfort among their companions. The public demonstration of affection only accentuated the bitter disappointment they already felt.

When the class finally continued, the atmosphere remained tense and distracted. However, time continued its course, and everyone's attention slowly moved toward daily tasks, although the echo of the event continued to resonate in the room.

After the last bell marked the end of the class, Shiki and Lala decided to escape the hustle and bustle of the school. They headed toward the roof to enjoy a moment of tranquility, but on their way, they met Raku, Shuu, Onodera, and Ruri.

"Shiki, are you going to have lunch?" Shuu asked, with a friendly tone.

"Um, we were going to have lunch on the roof," replied Shiki, who was already used to Shuu's jokes.

"Hmmm, then you were going to have a date with your girlfriend, huh? How naughty," Shuu said with a malicious smile. "What does it feel like now to have more rumors circulating?"

Shiki, already accustomed to his friends' jokes, only smiled ironically. "I don't care too much; they're not that serious either."

Raku joined the conversation with a mocking laugh. "Before, there was a rumor that you were delirious and had eighth-degree syndrome. Now you'll get the title of pretty boy who has as a girlfriend one of the cutest girls in the school. In other words, you will be the enemy of all male students."

While Raku and Shuu continued to joke and make sarcastic comments about Shiki, Lala, Onodera, and Ruri had a lively conversation as they went up to the roof.

The roof of Toyogasaki High School had become Shiki's favorite place to escape the hustle and bustle of classes and enjoy a little peace.

After sitting quietly for lunch, they talked about several common topics.

"So, how did Suzuki-kun and Lala-san meet?" Onodera asked suddenly, with curiosity in her eyes.

Raku, Shuu, and Ruri also leaned forward, interested in the couple's story.

Lala smiled as she remembered the meeting. "Shiki saved me from a group that was chasing me."

"Harassment!?" Raku exclaimed, his eyes wide open. The idea of harassment was quite serious and worrying.

"No, no," Lala shook her head, her expression relaxed. "They were my father's guards who were trying to take me back home."

"Did you run away?" Onodera asked, amazed. "Why?"

"My father paired me with someone for an arranged marriage, so I decided to run away from home," Lala explained, with a mixture of determination and slight mischief in her voice.

'A young lady from high society escaping from an arranged marriage? This sounds like the plot of a manga!' Raku, Shuu, Ruri, and Onodera thought in unison.

"And then, I met Shiki. He took care of the guards, giving them a good beating, and then won the approval of the head of the guards for us to get married in the future," Lala continued, summarizing the story without going into "strange" details but with a sparkle in her eyes.

The four friends looked at Shiki, as if they were waiting for the outcome of an exciting romantic manga.

Shuu leaned towards Shiki with a look of admiration. "You are the protagonist of a romance manga! Teach me how to get a girlfriend!"

Shiki frowned, clearly uncomfortable.

'I don't have enough experience to give you advice!' he thought, while he looked at the idiot.

Ruri, with an expression that mixed fun and exasperation, pinched Shuu's rib.

"Stop talking nonsense," she whispered to him, while Shuu let out a little scream of surprise.

"Oh! Oh! Enough..." Shuu begged, writhing and trying to escape the pressure of Ruri's fingers.

Shiki watched the scene with a funny smile on his face.

The conversation continued between laughter and jokes while the group enjoyed their time together. The comments and anecdotes of each one made time fly by. When lunchtime came to an end, everyone got up to go to their next class.

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(A/N: I tried to correct the spelling errors with a page. How about now? Are there still many errors? Remember that I don't speak English, so I can't know).