The senior raised his eyebrow.
"What do you mean?"
"You're a girl, right? So-"
Cutting Noir off, the senior frowned and crossed his--her hands over her chest.
"So what?"
The senior's eyes kept twitching as she waited for Noir's response. It was clear she felt offended by his words.
On the other hand, Noir wasn't entirely wrong. Because she wore a uniform intended for male students, it was bound to create a misunderstanding.
"I'm sorry if I offended you. But I didn't expect you to be a girl because of the uniform."
After saying that, a thought popped up in his head.
'Oh wait! If a female student is disguised as a male student. Maybe one of the potential protagonists will have a harem scenario! Is that not so?!'
"There is no rule that says female students can't wear a male uniform..." the senior said. Her voice became fainter with each word as Noir was already lost in his thoughts.
Noir examined her appearance.
'A medium-length black hair that's left unkempt. A body slightly shorter than me, who is only 170 cm. Milk skin. And red eyes... summing it up, she's that one female character in a harem story who has less screen time in the story.'
Sighing, the senior stepped on Noir's feet.
"Are you listening to me?"
"Ah yes, of course... senior."
Ring! Ring!
As the academy bell rang, Noir used that chance to escape from the nagging, tomboy senior.
"Sorry, senior. I need to go. I have a Combat class soon. See you next time!"
The senior sighed, letting Noir go on his way. In the first place, she only did that because she thought it was fun to tease her junior once in a while.
Looking at her junior running hurriedly, she couldn't help but smile. After a while, as though remembering something, her expression grimaced, and she walked away.
As Noir fled from his senior, he occasionally looked back in case she followed him. After finding none, he finally slowed down, transitioning from running to walking.
Glancing behind for the last time, Noir smirked.
'Fotia Ustrina...'
Noir etched that name down in his mind.
***
Arriving at the indoor training ground, Noir found himself staring at the floor while the instructor scolded him for being late.
"I'll let you off since this is your first time. But if you're doing it again in the future, you will get a penalty. Understand?"
Noir nodded. "Understood, instructor Majin."
"Good," letting out a sigh, the instructor ordered Noir to join in the line of students.
It was already a known fact that Virgo Academy, being the one standing on the top, was very strict when it came to their student's disciplines.
The professors and instructors here never tolerate a student who were late in the class. Not even if they were late for a second.
That didn't mean that all the staff in the Virgo Academy were 'demons' (according to the student's perspectives). Even the 'angel' professors and instructors were the same when it came to discipline.
As Noir passed the row of students, trying to get into one of the lines. He could hear students laughing at him.
Fortunately, that was all there was to it. Noir's classmates didn't go as far as to mock or ridicule him because of one mistake.
It was rare to see that behavior coming from a student.
'As expected from the student of the best academy. They're all well-behaved, aren't they?'
Well... they knew that if they were trying to openly mock Noir in front of the instructor, they would get disciplined as well.
When he reached the end of the line, the instructor finally started his class.
Instructor Majin did not talk a lot. Instead of starting his class with a bunch of words that his students might find boring, he started the practical lesson immediately,
"Let's start this class's first lesson with a spar!"
Spar. For students who were eager to show off their skills, that word alone was enough to incite the flame inside them.
"However, since this is a 'Combat' class, the use of Resonance is forbidden!" Instructor Majin said, emphasizing the word Combat. "I want to see your pure skills and techniques."
Staring at his students and stopping briefly at Noir, Instructor Majin continued.
"This way, those with non-combat Resonance could shine in my class."
With that, the Combat class officially started. The instruction from Majin was for his students to be in pairs of two, meaning he asked them to choose their own sparring partners.
As everyone paired themselves with each other, Noir was left alone, getting ignored. When he thought no one wanted to pair with him, a familiar face approached him.
Silver eyes with a beautiful pattern on them, resembling the view of the northland mountain range.
Argent Silverstar.
"Noir!"
Smiling at her, Noir greeted her back.
At that moment, he could feel people were throwing gazes at him.
Although there was no hostility in their gazes, the way they looked at Noir and Argent didn't harbor positive feelings either. It was a mix of jealousy, curiosity, and an as-expected reaction.
"I didn't know you were a Silverstar," Noir said.
That was a lie but also a truth.
Initially, he didn't know who the fainted silver-haired girl was back then. It was only when the memory integration happened he recognized Argent.
Argent raised his eyebrow. Her face was a mix of disappointment and confusion.
"Really? Does a price for..." She leaned in, whispering. "... revelation is having your memory about me erased?"
It was at that moment Noir realized he had made a mistake. There was no way Noir, who was obsessed with being a Resonant, did not know about Argent and her Silverstar clan.
"Just kidding. You know, acting as if we're not close," Noir winked.
Realizing Noir's code, Argent nodded while her eyes were excitedly wide.
Faking a cough, Argent went along with Noir's play.
"You seem vacant. I assume you're not paired up yet?"
After deliberately sighing, Noir nodded.
"As you can see," he gestured around him. "I'm single."
Taken back by Noir's choice of words, Argent choked.
"I-I see... then, let's pair up with me?"
Noir put his hand under his chin, giving it a thought, albeit the obvious answer.
"Sure, why not?"
After everyone was paired with their sparring partners, Instructor Majin immediately called for three pairs to spar simultaneously.
"Oh?"
Unexpectedly, the first three pairs were all the potential protagonists.
Kyle was in the east ring. Joshua and Astor were in the center ring. Lastly, Felix was in the west ring.