The students at Rakuzan High were astounded by how nicely he treated her. Akashi Seijuro was a scary person and people knew that well. The way his eyes bore into your soul when you made eye contact with him and the way his words were always cold as ice made almost everyone avoid him. No one would ask him for help, and he didn't feel the need to socialise, either way, so he kept his distance. That is until he met Kuchiki Amber.

He could only describe her as his polar opposite. She was cheery and warm, and everyone wanted to be her friend since the first day of school when they were having their orientation camp. He was very familiar with her family name although his family had never been in business with hers. The Kuchiki family was well known for being stockbrokers and he has heard about some of his father's investors learning about his family's company through brokers from the Kuchiki family.

The first time the two talked, it was when the class had to work in pairs on a project and she had come up to him. It no doubt took him by surprise since he thought no one would willingly come work with him. He had even tried staring her down while she talked to see if she would ask for a change in partners, but she didn't seem nervous or scared around him at all.

"How strange," Akashi smirked, resting his cheek on his hand, "You… You're not the least bit intimidated. I know you're not dumb, I'm sure you know that none of our classmates talk to me."

Amber blinked a few times before a soft smile graced her features. Akashi tried to spot any bit of malice or ill intent in her face, but he could find none. She was genuinely smiling at him. "I'm aware. I wanted to work with you cause I didn't want you to be alone! I felt you're already busy enough with your family's company opening another branch in Osaka so if there's anything I can do to ease your load, I would be happy to help!"

The girl tried her best to control her giggle when she saw the way his eyes widened for what felt like a fraction of a second. Akashi wasn't expecting her to know about his company especially since they had never talked before that day. "Hmm… Thank you, but I think I can manage my half of the project without a problem. Or do you think I can't do it?" He taunted and the girl gasped dramatically.

"Akashi Seijuro not being able to do something? I think the day that happens is the day the sun explodes!" She laughed, "Of course I think you can do it! Scratch that, I know you can! I'm just saying if I can help so you have some extra time to relax, I would be happy to."

The redhead couldn't help but smile. He heard the class murmuring around them, most likely due to none of them seeing him smile before but he just couldn't help it, not when her laugh was just so contagious. He snapped his attention back to the project at hand and continued discussing how they should allocate the work and it didn't take long before he felt her eyes on him. "Something on my face, Kuchiki?"

"Oh, no. I just… You have a nice smile. You should do that more often!" She chided and damn did she remind him of the :3 emoji whenever she talked. He wanted to squish her just to determine if she was real or if she was just a figment of his imagination that he conjured up to make himself feel wanted but he decided against it. "And don't worry! I was listening to everything you were saying. I should be able to get my portion done in 3 days as well, so we'll still have 3 days of buffer time before the submission date in case we need to amend anything."

"Good, I don't like repeating myself," Akashi said, silently sucking in a breath to control himself. God forbid this girl made him blush, especially not in public. The bell saved him, indicating that classes were officially over for the day, and he quickly packed his bag. Just before he left the classroom to go for basketball practice though, he managed to throw one last quick remark at her.

"You are an interesting one, Kuchiki Amber."