Students raced to talk to him. He couldn't even remember their faces.

They guided him from the doorstep of his car to his classroom. He wondered if their help was necessary. He had done his best to express disinterest in them, all to no avail.

He was finally relieved from the barrages of self-introductions when his friend Akise showed up. Being with Akise always made him comfortable.

"1-D, huh. Loads of freshers. That's my class!?"

"Yes, boss. You and me. That's our class."

Akise was a part-timer working at his company. But he was downright carefree about everything. He would make Ninomiya spend a lot of the company's money for their selfish entertainment. Ninomiya would hesitate at first but end up enjoying a lot once the deed was on the doing.

He's a real trouble to be with, thought Ninomiya. But it was only Akise who could distract him from his problems.

As friends, they ended up being deskmates. The first class would begin at half-past eight. Akise had lied about it starting at 8, so they could have some free time.

"I was excited, you know. Seeing you in my school, sharing a desk with you. I'm happy you came."

"Yes. You even agreed to repeat a year just to sit next to me."

"Heh heh. I can't let others steal my bank account now, can I?"

Yes, but you didn't have to say it out loud, Ninomiya thought. His bland honesty was eh... Awkward and uncalled for. But strangely enough, Ninomiya liked it.

"Nino, tell me. Are you..." Akise paused for a bit to emphasize what he was about to ask next, "Happy?"

Heh? That was sudden. Was he happy? Ninomiya could only stare at him, with his mind in the abyss, before giving him an answer.

He first thought of Shiori. Then he thought of his father and his late mother. Finally, he thought about their family business. Was he happy?

"Yes."

What he meant, from the deepest corner of his heart, was no. He had lived a life that wasn't what he had asked for. He had not asked for extravagant riches. They could only comfort his body. But no amount of money could comfort his soul.

No amount of spending could shake off his guilt. His birth had killed his mother. And her sister was blind. But here he was, saying he was happy. He didn't think Akise would understand him if he had told him otherwise.

He sometimes wondered if he could be like his dad, solving every problem with money. But his money couldn't cure her sister. When problems couldn't be solved with money, he would just avoid them.

Ninomiya stepped out from his thoughts when the teacher announced his arrival.

"I'll be starting the class 15 minutes before schedule since you're all here pretty early."

The students all groaned in unison, except for Ninomiya.

"Right. So, before we give our introductions..."

The teacher turned his head towards the door. Everyone else followed. A new student?

"Come in, Akame."

Jaws dropped, pupils in their eyes expanded, they all stopped doing what they were doing. Nobody could take their eyes off her.

They first noticed her long red hair, as red as cinnabar. Red eyes, with depth stretching beyond infinity. No, her right eye was blue. Ruby and sapphire. Skin as smooth as silk, radiating beauty which was out of this world.

The way she walked gave them goosebumps. Stern, and disciplined at the same time a graceful teasing. You could tell at once, she was a beauty with brains.

She wouldn't just be the school's top hottie. She would also top the school in sports and academics.

"Alright, class! Stop staring at her like she's already your girlfriend. She probably has a boyfriend who's way more good-looking than any of you."

Akame's fired a sudden look of discontent at him. The rest of the class knew what that meant. Their hopes shot up. She was single!

"Eh? Should I not have said that?"

He apologized to her while trying to hide his nervousness. It was as if she was the teacher and he the student.

"Okay, miss Akame. Be seated. Now, 30 students! That makes the class population a perfect multiple of 10."

The boys made bets in their heads on where she would sit. There were only two empty seats at the back. Should they rush to get there? If they did, their current seat would be vacant. And she would sit there instead. If only they could get their deskmates to abandon leave them...

Even Ninomiya had fallen under her spell. And act quickly, he did. He signalled Akise, who understood immediately. After all, Akise loved their friendship, but he also loved money. So he left Ninomiya's desk and occupied another seat.

Akame noticed what was going on. She would have to sit with him. Ninomiya felt confident that she would.

She steered heads as she walked towards the empty seat next to Ninomiya. Ninomiya expected her to greet him properly. After all, plenty of girls would kill to talk with him.

But Akame ignored his overly friendly attitude as she seated herself next to him.

"She'll talk once she's seated herself?" Ninomiya thought to himself. But she didn't.

The teacher asked all the students to introduce themselves to the class. Ninomiya paid no attention to anyone. He waited for Akame to speak to him. He waited. And waited.

The first-row students were all done with their introductions. It was now the second row's turn.

At last, acknowledging that she wasn't one to talk, he decided to break the ice himself.

"Hi-?" he said with the most pleasant smile he could make, "Hello."

That must have worked, right? But no. Akame shot back with crossed eyes. She was irritated.

"Let them give their introduction. You wait for your turn to speak."

Ninomiya was greatly offended at her response, but he just had to bite the bullet.

Now came the third-row students' turn. And eventually, it was Akame's. She stood up.

"My name is Akame, no surname. Age 16. An orphan in the town of Paragus. Was raised by the local townsfolk and schooled privately by a professor..."

Everyone waited for her to say more about herself. Her hobbies, the type of boy she liked, her favourite music, her home address.

"That's it," she said and sat down.

Then Ninomiya stood up. He only had one thing to say.

"I am Ninomiya."

That was it, and he quickly sat down. He was a no-bullshit guy, and he wanted to make that clear to everyone.

The teacher looked stunned. Ninomiya's introduction was disrespectful, considering how passionately others have done theirs. But he was rich. And everyone knew who he was. So the teacher didn't scold him.

Soon, the introductions were complete. The actual class began right away.

After three classes, they had their lunch break. Ninomiya would constantly scan the area to spot for Akame. Akise noticed this and started teasing him.

When the bell rang, he was quick to go back to the classroom. Akise knew perfectly well why.

Another 3 classes and the school ended. Everyone hurriedly went home, perhaps to tell their friends about Akame and Ninomiya. Everyone, except for Ninomiya, Akame, and Akise.

Ninomiya had played his cards well. Since Akise was repeating grades despite having passed the final examination, he was made the class president. Ninomiya had him make the classroom clean-up duty so that he and Akame would be together. Since there were 30 students, each team had to have 3 members. Naturally, Akise was his choice. He would act as Ninomiya's wingman if the need arose.

"The richest man, cleaning a floor run over by peasants, huh! Interesting. Should be a headliner tomorrow," Akise remarked.

Ninomiya laughed at his joke, "It's all part of the duty."

Meanwhile, Akame avoided both of them. She wiped all the windows and the chalkboard. When she was done with them, she wiped all the desks and benches. She didn't speak with any of them.

Ninomiya kept on searching for an opening, but she wouldn't budge. Akise could do nothing to help. So once they were done, they could only look at each other in silence.

Just then, the school bell rang. Once. It sounded a bit off. The bell wasn't supposed to ring at this hour.

"Well, that's odd," Akise said.

"What's odd?"

"The tower bell. Why did it ring just now? Who could've..."

"Perhaps a lost cat?"

"Perhaps a bird?"

"Perhaps a- person?"

Ninomiya thought he could engage Akame into the conversation.

"What do you think, miss Akame?"

She had already packed her bags and was ready to head home.

"Could be anything," she said. And walked out the door.

Akise and Ninomiya looked at each other.

"What are you waiting for? Just follow her. Quick!"

Ninomiya didn't even call his chauffeur. He followed her right away.

He made sure he maintained a distance between them. He didn't want to make his advancement too obvious. But the gap between them began to close, however.

Soon, they were walking next to each other. It wasn't long before Akame reached her home. Before she could enter the gate, she had to shoo off the tailing dog.

"What do you want?"

Ninomiya couldn't decide on what to say. He had a lot of things to say.

"I... Uh... We..." he was confused.

"If you don't have anything to say, just shoo off already."

"Care to join me fo-"

"No."

She was impatient. Just when she was about to turn, her wristwatch sounded a loud alarm.

They both sensed something was wrong. It was a warning. Akame acted quickly. It was her alarm, and she knew the meaning of this.

Before he knew it, Akame had grabbed his hands. She began dragging him as she dashed aimlessly. She was frightened. She looked left and right to map the surrounding.

Ninomiya didn't know, but Akame did. Her alarm wasn't an ordinary one. It was a radar. And right now, the radar had detected an unwanted presence. A threat.

Loud Bang!

Akame suddenly came to a halt. She dropped onto her knees. Ninomiya finally realized what had just happened. Akame had been shot. The bullet had penetrated her left leg, just below her knees.

But she didn't complain, and she didn't cry out in pain. She was calm. Ninomiya swooped her into his arms and began fleeing the spot.

"Put me down, you idiot. You'll die if you carry me with you."

She took some blue liquid out of her pocket and drank it, the wound healed on spot.

Ninomiya heaved no attention at her words. He was focused on saving both of them from the unknown assailant. They had to run out of the shooter's field of vision.

They both heard another loud bang. Ninomiya fell face-first to the ground.

Suddenly, he could feel nothing. He could hear nothing. He saw Akame's face. Her blue and red eyes stretched in disbelief. She gasped at the unsightly horror that had just unfolded before her.

He finally realized what had happened. He had been shot through the chest. Shards of metals were scattered all over. His school uniform was torn to shreds. The bullet had caused the metal object that was plastered onto his chest to break.

Without warning, the sky turned red with purple clouds. Time had stopped.

Ninomiya's senses came back to him. What had just happened? Why were they being shot? He couldn't believe he got shot.

When he got up as if nothing had happened, he was astonished once again. How was this possible? He just stood there. Akame, still on the ground, was so shocked that she couldn't bring her hands to rub her deceived eyes.

"Who are you?"

It was Akame. Ninomiya can't be a mere human, she thought to herself. No way. He could not have been.

"What?"

Ninomiya did not understand her question at all.

It was then that he realized what lay before him. Akame's left leg, which the first bullet had impacted, showed no sign of bleeding. He could remember now. The sound wasn't that of bones breaking, nor was it of flesh tearing. When the first bullet hit her leg, he was sure he heard metals colliding. And sure enough, her leg was metallic.

Akame was a cyborg.

"No, who are you?"

It was Ninomiya this time. But then, who was he? How did he manage to get up after getting shot straight through the chest as if nothing had happened?

Akame, still in disbelief, had seen it all. Natural laws were just broken before her eyes. The bullet coming towards her had changed its course and went for Ninomiya. No, it was as if he had absorbed it.

After seeing, time freeze the colour of the sky turning purple and the surviving of Ninomiya after being shot.

She knew now. It was simply unmistakable. So, she bowed down on her knees.

"At your service, my king!"

"Huh?"