Prelude

He entered the classroom, and he saw her instantly.

Kenji Harima's smooth, angular face squinted in an admiring smile as he regarded her, and as he did so, she seemed to notice him as well. She offered a similar smile in return, shrugging her shoulders with a stifled giggle.

Tsukamoto Tenma stood up and approached him from the desk where her and her friends had gathered. Her long, black hair flowed out behind her easily, perfectly. The two short ponytails danced happily on the sides of her head as her small figure brought her nearer to the young man she called her boyfriend.

Her face was fair, more or less a common appearance, as most other guys at the school were concerned—only Harima appreciated her comely face, adorned with a couple of dark blue eyes.

Although seeming perpetually light and happy, her eyes denied their youthful appearance, as they held an unseen sadness wrought of bitter experience.

Harima could hardly find his breath. He had always thought Tenma cute—far cuter than any other girl he'd known before—and her beauty had increased for him in their time together, as he had come to appreciate the depth of the young woman even more as they grew ever closer.

Now, combining that honest respect and love with the physical image proved too much for him.

He fell over her with a great, crushing hug, interrupting her words with kiss after kiss, lifting her with ease right from the ground and burying his face in that mane of black hair. How tiny Tenma seemed in his arms, for Harima stood about two and a half heads taller than her and was nearly twice her body weight.

Smiling widely, Harima scooped her more comfortably into his arms, spinning her to the side and sliding one arm under her knees.

"Are you making fun of me?" asked Tenma with strained embarrassment, suppressing her titter, and she snuck a glance at her friends, who blushed and snickered amongst themselves, taking in the sappy scene with typical girl's gusto.

At the desk, Mikoto Suou, Akira Takano and Eri Sawichka sat together, their attentions stolen by the sentimentality of the scene. Mikoto and Akira smiled wistfully at the scene but Eri watched it in anxious humor, for she had recently tried to seduce Harima in the ladies room.

"Making fun of you?" Harima echoed Tenma incredulously, and he laughed again, all the louder. He kissed her again, and then launched into a spinning dance, swinging her all about, and Tenma gave a long squeal, which became a delighted laugh.

"I love you!" he proclaimed proudly, and he kissed her hard on the cheek, which drew some stares, as Harima had been renowned as a tough-guy type, a classic delinquent.

Tenma rolled her eyes in mock weariness of Harima's claim. She looked up at him.

Harima was giving her a long, expectant look.

The eldest Tsukamoto knew what that look meant. She bent up and planted a peck on Kenji's cheek, then settled back, smiling at him. "Put me down now?" she asked.

Harima paused, as if to consider the proposal. He shrugged. "Okay," he said simply, letting Tenma easily down to her feet.

On her feet again, she turned to him, and she stepped into him, grasping Harima's hands. They stood there for a moment, staring deep into each other's eyes. They leaned in and connected their noses, shaking their heads from side-to-side softly, thus achieving what is commonly referred to as an "Eskimo Kiss".

"Looks like Tenma's found herself a love-puppy," remarked Mikoto mirthfully from the side, giving Akira a playful shove on the shoulder.

"Indeed," agreed Akira, letting a private smile cross her lips.

They enjoyed the spectacle for a few moments before the bell rang, and door opened up.

"Enough of that," said Mr. Tani, the homeroom teacher for Class 2-C, urging Harima and Tenma to stop their love-fest.

Quiet chuckles sounded throughout the classroom at that statement, and the couple dislodged from each other's embraces. As they took their proper seats, they regretted nothing, sneaking sly, loving looks at each other.

The two had hit it off just a little more than a week before, interestingly enough. They had found each other in the midst of the aftermath of a traumatic event in Tenma's life, as she had been raped by her long-time crush Karasuma Oji. Harima had subsequently stopped Karasuma during the rape and he and the assailant were forced into a struggle to decide the young Tsukamoto's fate; Harima had won out in the end. Tenma had fallen in love with Harima as a result, and Kenji had loved her for a substantially longer time before she realized it. They had finally revealed their feelings toward one another while they watched the sunset on the evening after Tenma's despoilment.

The two lovebirds sat next to each other, and they reached out, seizing their lovers' hands and giving a gentle squeeze.

Haruki Hanai turned up his sharp nose as he saw the girl's ankle disappear into the portal. He was the Official Class Representative for Class 2-C, as was his most prized title. The young man was also a martial artist of no small skill, and he was quite astute in his studies.

There was one major flaw to his character, however, and that was his obsessive personality—especially when it came to a particular girl.

Hanai had just finished following his love interest: Tsukamoto Yakumo. Whilst following her from afar, she had entered the girl's bathroom, effectively cutting him off from his chase.

He couldn't help it—he had to leave her to her business.

Haruki Hanai adjusted his bulky rectangular glasses and stroked his short hair, righting himself, as he had come to discover that he had adopted a slouch as he had stalked Yakumo.

He knew that his behavior was growing slightly more and more rash, but he knew that it was for the best that he did so.

Hanai had to protect her from that animal, Kenji Harima—a most despicable delinquent in class 2-C. That rat bastard was getting too close to Yakumo, he believed. He had decided to check Harima by knocking him down a flight of stairs, but only a few days later, he learned that he had taken Yakumo somewhere again.

He turned the corner in the hall easily, making his way to his designated classroom. On his way there, however, he overheard something that piqued his interest more than a little.

"You know that Tsukamoto girl, don't you?" asked some girl a few yards away.

Hanai, engaging his creep-mode, stalked quietly closer to eavesdrop.

"Yeah," came the expected answer from some other girl. "What about her?" she asked.

"She was getting cozy with that Harima guy during class today," the first girl explained excitably.

"Oh?"

Hanai turned pale, his face twisting in monstrous incredulity as the words reached his ears. He steeled himself and picked up his pace, trudging up closer behind the two girls.

"Yeah, they were hugging and kissing —right in front of everyone!" she said excitably. "They are so cute together, it's unbelievable!"

Hanai stopped in his tracks.

Hugging?

Kissing?

Yakumo and Harima?

Fuck that noise…