“Now, today I'd like to introduce you to a new student.”
In homeroom the next morning, the homeroom teacher's words set the classroom abuzz.
It would be natural for a first-year high school student to be a transfer student in April.
Everyone whispered to each other, wondering how someone could come to a new school at such a time of the year.
“Harikiri, come in.”
The door slid open like a curtain, and what emerged was a dazzling, [genuinely] beautiful girl.
Silence ran through the classroom and the sound of gasping breaths echoed through the room.
A beautiful golden girl with flaxen hair and honey-colored eyes.
Her cool face, however, was the embodiment of Asian beauty, with slit eyes and lovely cherry-red lips.
She was tall, with long, slender arms and legs, a slender and short waist, and, in contrast to all this, well-developed around the chest and waist.
There was a beautiful 2.5D girl there, who looked like a materialized version of the body from a sexy MMD video.
Everyone removed the devices behind their ears one after another and looked at her.
They seemed to suspect that she was the MR image that the device was showing them.
I understand that feeling very well.
“Harikiri, introduce yourself.”
She was expressionless, as if she were taking a photo ID, and then, prompted by her homeroom teacher, she said in an indifferent voice.
“Nice to meet you. My name is Harikiri Kiriha. My hobby is…to sleep while listening to music.”
She had a languid demeanor that minimized her contact with others.
Yet, she remained as attractive nonetheless.
She wore no makeup, a rarity among high school students today.
No makeup, no accessories, no costume, not even a smile, and yet she was still an overwhelmingly beautiful and flawless girl.
Indeed, she was what one would call a [genuinely] beautiful girl.
“I belong to the Combat Team of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications' Extraordinary Ability Department. I came to this school to protect a boy named Ikuo Okui. I am his bodyguard.”
When all eyes in the class were on me, she looked at me too.
And the inorganic expression on her face lit up with a fire of emotion.
“Found you♪”
She lifted her eyelids quickly and made her voice sound happy.
I was startled by the sudden approach of the most beautiful girl in the world, and my back straightened slightly.
She shook her head and scrutinized my face from every angle.
“You're my target. Hmmm, heh, you're cuter than you look in the picture. You seem like a harmless guy.”
“Is that a compliment?”
“I'm complimenting you. Most people in this world are nothing but a bunch of toxic people.”
The child-like, unreserved, childish brutality in her voice was disconcerting, but she did not stop.
She put her hands on my desk and brought her face forward.
--Whoa.
From within the range of her breath, she whispered to me with a soft look on her face.
“I'm sure you've heard about me from Director Sayuri, haven't you? I'm Harikiri Kiriha, and I'll be your bodyguard from today on.”
She smelled sweet like honey, the same as the color of her eyes.
It wasn't perfume.
Her breath smelled the same.
It was her own scent.
Then, Bando sitting in the back seat shouted.
“Why would a guy like Okui need to have a bodyguard?”
Immediately, Harikiri's expression cooled to absolute zero.
“Who are you?”
“!!!!!!!!”
Bando's face was stained with humiliation.
That was tough.
Bando had always been the central figure and most famous person in everyone's life since he was a child, and it was normal that even if Bando did not know them, the other side knew about him.
Surely, no one else would ever ask, "Who?" to him. I don't think I've ever heard anyone say that.
“Oh, I remember now.”
At Harikiri's one word, the crease between Bando's eyebrows loosened.
“You are that guy, aren't you? On the first day, you were hysterical about why you, the "Ice Emperor," didn't have a job, and were completely debunked by Director Sayuri. Oh, and I remember she said something about you not being needed if there was an ice machine?”
“!!”
Deep wrinkles gathered between Bando's eyebrows and nose as if carved with a carving knife, and his face turned indignantly red.
If Harikiri's appearance were not to Bando's liking, she would have been hit repeatedly in the head with an ice cudgel right now.
“Wait a minute, you. There is no way Bando-san is less than an ice machine! Bando-san is feared as the Ice Emperor, and even a hundred delinquents out there can't beat him!”
The defense of his cronies, however, was a breath of fresh air to the newcomer, Harikiri.
“This isn't anime. Tanks and combat aircraft are stronger than supernatural people, so people with combat abilities are not needed. But if you can prove that you have no criminal record and no mental problems with using psychometry, you should be able to get a job as a VIP guard, but as I recall, you were very upset and refused it. You are the complete opposite of Ikuo.”
As the students began whispering among themselves, Bando slammed his desk and stood up.
“Don't get carried away just because you're a little cute and have big boobs. Are you trying to say I'm no better than Okui?”
“Obviously.”
While Bando, the ice user, was hot on his heels, Harikiri returned a cool-headed attitude.