Gion walked out from behind Zephyr with her hands behind her back, a smile on her face, and greeted the people below.
"Hello everyone, my name is Gion. I had some trouble with a few of my classmates here a few days ago. Please don't take it to heart. I look forward to your care in the future~"
The crowd below exchanged glances, the female students remained silent, and Jessica even eyed Gion with a hint of hostility.
There was no reaction from the male students either. Momonga and others subconsciously glanced at Carl, making the scene a little awkward.
Zephyr couldn't help but feel a headache coming on. To be honest, he wouldn't have wanted Gion to enter Marine School if Tsuru hadn't personally approached him.
He knew very well what was going on with the students under his command. Among the female students, Ginny was undoubtedly the "favorite of the group," but the male students were entirely led by Carl.
Though Carl was the youngest among them, aside from Akainu and Borsalino, his strength far surpassed the others.
With such strength, coupled with a composure that belied his age, almost no male student was dissatisfied with him.
Gion had managed to offend both Ginny and Carl at the same time. To be honest, Zephyr wasn't sure how Gion would survive at the school.
Looking at Gion, she didn't seem to notice anything wrong with the atmosphere, or perhaps she sensed the resistance but didn't care at all.
From the beginning to the end, her eyes remained fixed on Carl, who was standing in the front row, her large, enchanting eyes glimmering with interest.
Jessica nudged Ginny with her elbow and whispered, "Ginny, this Gion keeps staring at Carl. I feel like her motives for coming to school are a bit questionable!"
Ginny furrowed her beautiful brows. She had noticed this as well, but Gion had already apologized that day, and the matter was resolved.
She wasn't one to hold grudges and didn't want to lead others into isolating Gion because of that battle. She found that beneath her.
So even though Gion's behavior made her uncomfortable, she still said, "Okay, after all, she will be our classmate from now on. It would be too rude if we didn't express anything like this."
After she finished speaking, Ginny began clapping, and as soon as she did, the other girls followed suit.
Carl, noticing Ginny clapping energetically, couldn't help but shake his head with a chuckle, and also clapped symbolically.
His influence was much stronger than Ginny's. The previously scattered applause suddenly became intense, with Hina being the most enthusiastic.
Gion tilted her head, the smile on her face growing brighter.
Zephyr also breathed a sigh of relief, and after giving Gion a few words of advice, he immediately announced the start of formal training.
Everyone dispersed, but Carl, Akainu, and others stayed behind, exchanging their training experiences from the past few days.
Gion stood alone, with no one approaching her. She didn't have the star-studded treatment she had at the branch, nor was there any attention from the loyal people.
But she didn't feel any loss. She gently kicked a stone at her feet and walked slowly in Carl's direction.
However, before she had taken a few steps, Ginny stepped in front of her again, with a friendly smile on her face, saying,
"Gion-san, where are you going? The girls are over there. You just arrived, so I'll take you to get to know them first."
With that, she took Gion's hand, and Gion didn't resist, letting Ginny pull her quickly in the opposite direction of Carl.
Looking at Ginny, who seemed a little anxious, a playful expression appeared on Gion's face as she chuckled,
"Ginny, please walk slower. It's not easy in high heels."
"Oh, I'm really sorry, but I saw you wear high heels when you fought. Wouldn't that affect your movements less? You're quite tall too. You shouldn't wear such shoes in the future; it's too inconvenient!"
"Haha, I think girls should wear high heels to look more feminine. Let me tell you, it's very effective on men!"
"Huh? Really?"
Ginny's ears twitched, and she stopped walking. She looked down at the black high-heeled shoes on Gion's feet, which made her exposed insteps look so white and flawless.
Looking at the plain white training shoes on her feet, Ginny couldn't help but ask,
"What do you mean by 'effective'?"
Gion pursed her lips and smiled. Ginny was still quite innocent in her eyes. She leaned close to Ginny's ear, her red lips parting lightly,
"Of course, it hurts more when you kick someone. What were you thinking, Ginny~"
Ginny's pretty face turned bright red, whether from embarrassment or ticklishness, and realizing her gaffe, she buried her head in her chest like an ostrich, staying silent.
Gion looked down at Ginny's pink head with a victorious smile.
Not far away, Jessica saw Ginny's reaction and thought Gion was bullying her. She ran over angrily, blocked Ginny behind her, glared at Gion, and said,
"Hey! What did you just do to Ginny? Let me remind you, Carl is over there. He hates seeing Ginny being bullied!"
Gion couldn't help but glance at Carl. He was holding a sword, practicing slashing passionately with the light sword Borsalino had made, oblivious to what was happening here.
After admiring Carl's battle for a while, Gion slowly turned around, put her hand on her waist, and said with a smile,
"You seem to have misunderstood something. Ginny and I were just having a great conversation. If you don't believe me, ask her."
"Hmph! It better be like that. If you dare to bully Ginny, even if she doesn't say anything, I'll tell Carl and let him deal with you!"
"Oh? So what's your relationship with Carl? Are you childhood sweethearts?"
"I... What kind of relationship can I have with Carl? It's just an ordinary classmate relationship!"
"Is that so? But when I heard you talking about Carl, I thought you had a very close relationship with him..."
Jessica's expression froze, and she quickly looked back at Ginny. She was relieved when she saw Ginny had no reaction.
Immediately after, an inexplicable anger surged within her. She grabbed Gion's collar, revealing a large area of white skin. Luckily, there were no male students nearby; otherwise, there would have been a scene of nosebleeds.
Jessica looked directly into Gion's eyes and said coldly,
"Stop spouting nonsense here. No matter what, Carl and I are much closer than you. I'm just worried about Ginny, that's all!"
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