The person who likes me is a yandere.

The person I spent the most time with throughout the day was my younger sister, Sora...

They possess a severe and unusual physical condition.

That is……

A constitution that cannot survive without absorbing the luck of others.

Through an embrace, she unconsciously absorbs the other person's luck. No direct skin contact is needed; she can absorb luck even through clothing. Qiong is unaware of her special constitution.

She has to absorb luck every day.

Qiong's body gradually loses its vitality—or perhaps it should be said that it loses its life energy—starting from midnight every day.

One time, I couldn't hold Hinata until around noon. She was pale and bloodless, her presence as faint as a half-ghost. She was dazed, sitting on the sofa like a doll, staring blankly into the void. I quickly hugged Hinata, and when she returned to normal, she didn't remember what had happened that morning.

The reason Qiong is so listless every morning before I hug her is because of this. She seems to think that she is always weak in the morning because of low blood pressure.

No matter how much luck Qiong absorbs and how energetic she becomes, once the midnight hour of the changed date arrives, everything is as if reset to zero. The person whose luck was absorbed will only experience bad luck on that day. There will be no situation where luck gets worse every day or bad luck increases day by day.

In an accident three years ago, I developed amnesia, where the closer I am to someone, the less I remember them. My only memory of Sora is this special condition.

I don't know exactly how I discovered this.

I don't know why Qiong has this special constitution.

Having forgotten everyone connected to me, the only thing I remember is Sora's constitution... I think this must be a sign that I should protect Sora.

Although I have lost the memories of the people who were close to me three years ago, and although Sora has a strangely unlucky constitution, I am generally living a happy life.

As long as we're careful, no one will die, and there won't be any major problems. From now on, I can protect Sora on my own. I've always held this belief. Until that girl transfers to our school.

Chapter 8 Yuuki Asuna

Three days passed after the unfortunate seat change. The following Monday.

I wasn't hit by crow droppings and arrived at school unharmed, so I breathed a sigh of relief during morning self-study.

After briefly announcing the day's announcements, the class's homeroom teacher, who was also the sports accountant, suddenly said with a serious expression, "I have something very important to announce."

In addition, "sports accounting" is not a misspelling of "sports club" (Author's note: In Japanese, accounting and club are homophones. Sports club is a category of extracurricular activities in universities in Japan, and it was later used to describe the temperament and personality of people in sports clubs).

"Sports Accountant" is the nickname of our class teacher.

He is a teacher with the unique experience of switching careers from being a certified public accountant to becoming a high school physical education teacher.

"Listen up, everyone. A high school student's day is extremely precious, so precious that it can rival half a day for a male high school teacher in his early thirties who might be confessed to by a female high school student if he's lucky."

...It seems the sports accountant cherishes every day of his life.

"Hey, what's with all that cold staring? I was just dreaming about being confessed to by a high school girl, so what? I switched careers from being a certified public accountant because I wanted to change my boring life. Ladies, older men full of energy and drive are great!"

You could tell that all the girls in the classroom had taken a few steps back.

A man should never show ill intentions, no matter the circumstances. The teacher sacrificed his own interests to teach us important life lessons.

...On another note, was the important announcement referring to the reason he changed jobs to become a teacher?

The sports accountant continued:

"Today we have a new classmate. She's everyone's favorite transfer student."

Whoa whoa!

The classroom was noisy.

It's quite an interesting event in school life when someone transfers to another class.

"Listen up, everyone. The transfer student should be able to restore the existing established relationships in this class to a blank slate, bringing a whole new drama to this class. Perhaps someone will fall in love with the transfer student? Perhaps someone will confess their love to the transfer student? Perhaps someone will fight tooth and nail for the transfer student, engaging in fierce jealousy and rivalry?"

Just how popular are these transfer students?

"Listen up. If you have any problems in your love life, remember to come to me. I changed jobs to listen to the relationship troubles of teenagers."

...Our class teacher is someone who has all sorts of hopes to become a teacher.

"Alright, well then, thank you all for waiting. Please welcome our new heroine, Asuna Yuuki, who has appeared like a comet in Class 2-A of Hokueidai High School."

Does "Please come out" mean she's already waiting in the hallway...? Being introduced like that, we can't help but feel some anticipation for the transfer student. From the transfer student's perspective, showing up in this situation must be quite awkward. She must be very nervous.

—Crackling sound.

She opened the classroom door and walked confidently to the podium, showing no sign of nervousness. The noisy classroom fell silent instantly, as if pre-arranged. We witnessed an unbelievable scene and were speechless. The transfer student was an unbelievably beautiful girl.

Sitting directly in front of the podium, I could clearly see the transfer student's handsome face.

Her pair of almond-shaped eyes, though slightly sharp, actually complemented her tightly closed lips and delicate nose, creating a wonderful balance. If I had to describe her, I'd call her a unique, aloof, and icy beauty... Well, I think I'll refrain from giving any more labels to girls.

The sports accountant pretended to ask the student to introduce himself.

The transfer student, with the composed demeanor of an actress greeting the audience on stage, parted her lips slightly:

"Hello everyone, my name is Yuuki Asuna. This is my first time living in this neighborhood, and also my first time transferring schools... so I'm very excited! I just heard that this school is having a school trip in the fall, which seems to be in about a month... right? The school I attended when I lived in Akanegaoka had a school trip in the first semester of my second year of high school, so I feel like I can participate in two school trips, which makes me very happy. I hope to get to know everyone quickly and create happy memories together on the school trip. Please take good care of me."

Asuna's voice is as clear and beautiful as the tone of a harp, and it is very pleasant to listen to.

...Asuna-san used to live in Akane-no-gaoka?

It's the town I lived in before I lost my memory three years ago. What a coincidence. Finding something in common with the transfer student makes me secretly happy.

The frivolous Sukekawa immediately shouted, "We should be asking you for your guidance!" The whole classroom burst into laughter.

It's understandable that frivolous classmates would be so excited.

I suspect every boy in this classroom wants to kiss Asuna-kun's Yoshizawa.

Sitting diagonally behind me, Baba En had already eagerly pulled out blotting papers, frantically removing sebum with an intensity that made me want to warn him that if he kept blotting, his skin would become too dry. Matsumoto by the window was desperately trying to style his hair, while Ube (the chubby guy) in the hallway seemed to be sitting in an air chair. Perhaps he's trying to start losing weight now?

On the other hand, the girls were gazing at Asuna with admiration and adoration. Girls tend to overreact to people who are even slightly more attractive than themselves, but when faced with someone whose looks overwhelmingly surpass their own, they surrender and transform into creatures filled with longing.

anyway.

It's unbelievable that such a beautiful girl transferred to our school. The boys in our school, I must say, are really lucky.

On the contrary, the boys at Asuna's former school—the one that made the beautiful girl transfer away—were truly unfortunate. There must have been quite a few boys who liked her, but had to bite their fingers and watch her leave before they could muster the courage to confess their feelings.

"What club did Asuna participate in at her previous school?" a girl asked abruptly.

The sound of boys in clubs praying drifted from the classroom. They probably all wanted to spend their club life with Asuna. Yonezawa, sitting behind me, muttered to herself, "Bodybuilding club, bodybuilding club..." Of course, she would never join such a tough club.

"...I had to help with the housework...so I didn't participate in any clubs at my previous school. I'm sorry, I'm a transfer student who can't immediately become a combatant no matter which club I join."

Disappointed sighs echoed throughout the classroom, but if Asuna joined any club, many new members would surely flock to it... It would be a good thing if it didn't cause any further trouble.

With a nonchalant air, Sukekawa raised his hand and shouted, just like a primary school student who had solved a math problem, "Me! Me! Me!"

"Now it's time for questions, right? I'll ask everyone the questions they want to know... Ahem, does Asuna have a boyfriend?"

The classroom fell silent once again.

For the people in the classroom, this problem was indeed more concerning than the scope of the next exam.

"...Boyfriend...?"

For the first time, a look of confusion appeared on the mature and composed face of Asuna.

"Hey, why are you suddenly asking transfer students questions? Don't make your intentions so obvious... Come on, Asuna-san, your seat is ready, please sit down."

The sports accountant, dreaming of being confessed to by a high school girl, moved the desks and chairs he had just prepared—from the hallway—into the back of the classroom and wiped the chair surfaces with tissues. You're probably the one with the most obvious intentions.

If Asuna had simply smiled gently, changed the subject, and then walked to her seat at the back of the classroom, that would probably have been the best way to end things...

But Asuna's face showed an expression quite different from a smile, as if she had some unresolved knot in her mind, and she remained motionless in front of the podium.

The culprit who raised the question smiled jokingly at Asuna, who looked a little off, and said, "...Let's leave it to your imaginations. Well, I'll try to imagine it right away." This brightened the atmosphere in the classroom, but I noticed something while looking at Asuna from the seat directly in front of the podium.

The profound expression on her face remained unchanged.

Perhaps it was because of her face that our eyes met.

—Huh?

The moment their eyes met, Asuna, who had been wearing a stubborn expression until now, broke into a gentle smile.

Why are you laughing?

I had just thought that when Asuna gazed into a corner of the classroom and murmured softly, as if in a dream:

"...I...had...only one boyfriend."

She answered the questions she could easily dodge, earning admiring glances from the girls and a complex mix of relief and pain on the boys' faces.

If Asuna's words are true, then she doesn't have a boyfriend right now.

This is indeed good news for the boys.

But the presence of their ex-boyfriend weighed heavily on them.

Most of the boys in this classroom—including myself—are people whose age equals their lack of experience with girlfriends.

If Asami's boyfriend is a male of the same age...

—In the endless day and night, I was engrossed in the delusion of "What should I do after I have a girlfriend?"

—When discussing with friends the truth or falsehood of unsubstantiated rumors such as "I've heard that women can also experience intense sexual desire."

—When I heard my friend declare, "If I ever get a girlfriend, I'm going to throw away all my pornographic books," a decision made from the depths of his soul.

—When he sees a guy who, despite no one asking him, insists on protecting his self-esteem as a single man by spouting nonsensical nonsense like, "A student's duty is to study. Having a girlfriend would only be a hindrance," all to defend himself.

While we were helplessly wasting our time, there were boys having romantic moments with a beautiful girl like Asuna!

What kind of guy would date a girl like that?

He must have used up all his luck in his next life, and now he's in deep trouble.

If it weren't like this... I'd feel it wasn't fair.

Chapter Nine: You really don't remember me?

The boys grew increasingly resentful, feeling jealous and envious of the mysterious guy who had once been Qianhai's lover. Even the sports accountant forgot his position as a teacher, muttering to himself, "...His ex-boyfriend?" We male students were all condemned by almost the same emotions... Just then—

Asuna, standing in front of the podium, nodded as if she had made up her mind.

"...My ex-boyfriend is...Qianyu."