Chapter 02: Meeting

Yuu continued on his way with his best "I'm just a normal guy, I swear" smile.

He had done nothing wrong to attract unnecessary attention from the Student Council President, Sona Sitri. After all, maintaining his status as a minor character required a certain amount of discretion, didn't it?

Besides, how would they find out that he had a few tricks up his sleeve?

He thought he could get away with it. Big mistake.

Just as he passed the pond where Sona and Tsubaki were watching the pervert trio like vultures, the President frowned in his direction. She approached at a steady pace, with a stoic Tsubaki at her back like a faithful shadow.

'Seriously, miss, I was thinking of a completely innocent plan of world conquest. Why did you come to falsely accuse me?' Yuu thought sarcastically.

'This forced plot of meeting a heroine doesn't excite me at all...'

It wasn't as if he was the first strange guy in this place. For one thing, there were those guys who walked around in T-shirts that said "Lolis Lovers" and kept looking up girls' skirts, only to fall to the ground in the end.

I wouldn't even ask why they came out with smiles on their faces after every beating... ....

Then there were the demons, walking around like it was nothing. Out of all the weirdos in Kuoh, why did he have to draw attention to himself?

As he pretended to wipe away some fake tears at his bad luck, Sona suddenly cornered him.

With that serious look, Sona reminded him of a certain bespectacled tsundere who always ended up punishing a certain pervert in red... Ah, wait. It was actually her...

"You're the new transfer student, Yuu Izumi, right?" She said in a serious voice, although her smile was hardly noticeable. "Welcome to Kuoh Academy. I am Sona Shitori, Student Council President. I hope you will feel at home."

Though her tone was polite, her eyes behind her glasses showed coldness. Yuu wondered if he had done something to make her uncomfortable.

"Right, my name is Yuu Izumi. Nice to meet you, Sona Shitori," Yuu replied with a smile.

"By the way," he added and looked curiously into her eyes, "have we met before? I guess this is our official introduction."

"As Student Council President, it is my duty to get to know all the students." She adjusted her glasses and narrowed her eyes. "However, I must admit that your case makes me curious, would you accompany me?"

Yuu shrugged calmly. He sensed no malice in Sona's actions, but he was curious what she was up to, "Sure, take me. Where are we going?"

"First, you should fix your tie," Sona said, taking a quick look at Yuu's messy collar and frowning slightly. "Students with the wrong uniform get sent home, and since it's your first day, you probably don't know that. I think I'll make an exception for you, just for today."

"Ha, I appreciate it, but I really can't do it alone. I've been fighting this thing for about 15 minutes, can you help me?"

Sona raised an eyebrow in disbelief. "Are you serious? Anyone can tie a tie. Don't tell me you're such a klutz."

Her look seemed to say, "Don't even try, I won't fall for your tricks."

To add to the awkwardness, several curious students stopped to murmur about the handsome new student and the always-cold president.

Sona adjusted her glasses and gave Tsubaki a meaningful look.

"Tsubaki, why don't you take over? We don't want the new student to miss his first day, do we?"

"Who, me? But Kaichou..."

"I don't see another Tsubaki around here, do I?"

Tsubaki groaned inwardly. She knew that the President only wanted to get out of this situation to avoid embarrassment. But she shouldn't have sacrificed her like that! For a moment, Tsubaki wondered if her Kaichou really appreciated her....

She let out a dramatic sigh and approached Yuu. With deft fingers, she began to undo the mess that was the knot of his tie. 

"I am Tsubaki Shinra, Student Council Vice President. I'm sorry for the trouble our esteemed Kaichou has caused," she said with a hint of sarcasm. She just wanted to accuse her president of something.

Sona glared at her as if to say, "Hey, I didn't do anything!" But Tsubaki didn't even flinch.

Tsubaki's delicate fingers worked over Yuu's tie, though she blushed slightly under his intense gaze. The 185 cm tall man was watching her intently from above, which made her blush even more. 

However, Tsubaki's cold temperament and beauty shone through like the jasmine perfume in her hair. Yuu couldn't help but silently admire her.

'She really is beautiful,' he thought. 'Well, what could one expect in a world where girls are so beautiful?'

At that moment, louder whispers could be heard:

"Look at her fixing his tie. There's definitely chemistry between them."

"Tsubaki-senpai is so lucky.... I wish I could get that look from a cute new guy!" Another sighed dreamily.

"But if he's so tall... How will that work, does he have it big?"

"Tch, that jerk. He hasn't even been here a day and he's already flirting with the vice president." A guy snorted in jealousy.

"Oi, dude, chill. It's no big deal."

"How can you not be jealous? Look at him, all handsome and tall! I bet he's rich too."

"Are you jealous of Tsubaki-senpai or that guy?"

"Sh-shut up, you idiot!"

"It'll be many pages before those two end up together! I hope the author doesn't hesitate."

"Geez, those two would make good fanfic club material, if you know what I mean."

The students' murmurs did not go unnoticed by Tsubaki and Yuu. The poor vice president blushed up to her ears when parts of the conversation reached her sharp ears.

"... They seem to like to interfere with everything around here," Yuu pursed his lips into a forced smile.

"They're usually quite nosy, it's best to ignore them..."

Then, to everyone's surprise, Yuu softly took Tsubaki's hand. Before she could react, he planted a quick kiss on her knuckles.

"Oooh! How romantic!" Sighed a random mob girl.

"Tsk, smug." Snorted a random mob boy.

A hint of pink blossomed on the Vice President's cheeks as her features hardened into her usual stoic mask.

This boy was too bold! For a few moments, Tsubaki was tempted to hit him... but there were too many onlookers. She had to act in a manner befitting her position as Vice President.

"Don't worry, Vice President. I just wanted to give them something juicier to talk about," Yuu said with a half-smile at her reaction. Then he gracefully stepped back. 

"By the way, thanks for your help, Tsubaki." His smile broadened and he winked at her. "You have very skilled hands."

"You..." Tsubaki gave him a piercing look.

Yuu held back a chuckle when he realized that he had managed to change Tsubaki's usually icy demeanor. It amused him to crack a woman's stoicism bit by bit. Although this time, it happened rather quickly...

Meanwhile, Sona approached with a frown. "Tsubaki, behave yourself. Your serious girl persona is going down the drain thanks to that blush."

"And you, Izumi-kun, stop flirting shamelessly with my vice president in front of me."

Tsubaki coughed shyly to hide her embarrassment. How could she act like this just because of the boy she had just met?! She had a reputation to uphold! Soon, she was back to her usual calm self.

Sona glared at the irritating transfer student while she scolded Tsubaki for her carelessness. Yuu just smiled calmly, as if he had nothing to do with the matter. He knew that he was playing with fire by tempting the student council president like that. 

"My apologies, Sona. I was just expressing my gratitude to her."

"Is that true...?" Sona said suspiciously. "I have my doubts about your 'real' intentions, Izumi-kun. Anyway, there's your tie. I hope you'll behave like a 'model' Kuoh student from now on. It would be a shame if... you had to repeat the year because of your mischief. Anyway, come with me. We'll be late."