At this very moment, Aier and Donna, the two girls, had completely tumbled into each other.
Aier’s eyes snapped open, and she immediately tried to struggle to her feet.
However, in that split second, a pair of slender yet surprisingly strong arms wrapped around her like vines, holding her tightly!
Eh?!
Right now, Donna was completely frozen.
The soft warmth in her embrace, the faint fragrance unique to Aier lingering at the tip of her nose—these instantly shattered all coherent thought in her mind.
A huge, indescribable sense of happiness exploded in her brain like fireworks! Almost instinctively, she tightened her arms, pulling Aier even deeper into her embrace.
She even unconsciously rubbed her cheek against Aier’s soft golden hair, her whole being sinking into a dreamy, intoxicated state. Her orange-gold eyes curved into crescent moons in bliss.
So, so comfortable~
“Guh! Pl-Please let me go.”
Aier, in her arms, let out a shy little voice, especially with classmates watching from all around—making her feel even more mortified.
Aier’s words were like a bucket of cold water, instantly yanking Donna down from her cloud of happiness!
She snapped back to her senses, suddenly realizing what she had just done.
She was actually in the classroom! Hugging Aier tightly! And even rubbing her hair!
“Ah!” Donna recoiled as if she’d been burned, her fair cheeks flushing a furious red, the color spreading all the way to her ears!
Flustered, she took a step back, her gaze darting everywhere but at Aier’s eyes.
“I… I… um…” she stammered, “I-I was just afraid you’d get hurt and I’d have to take you to the Medical Room again. It’s not like I wanted to hug you on purpose! Absolutely not! Don’t—don’t get the wrong idea!”
She practically shouted those words, then, like a startled rabbit, forgot all about eating together and dashed out of the classroom door at Hundred-Meter Sprint speed, not looking back even once, leaving only an orange blur fleeing in panic.
Aier stood there in a daze, utterly bewildered.
The lingering softness on her cheek and the fruity scent made her heart skip a beat.
Does this count as… being saved?
At least she didn’t have to go with her to the Dining Hall, so Aier actually felt a bit relieved.
Aier lowered her head, absentmindedly nudging a small pebble on the ground with the tip of her shoe, making soft clacking sounds.
Her heart was a mess; what had just happened in the classroom left her feeling anxious and unsettled.
Even the classmates around had been whispering—she didn’t need to hear to know what they were gossiping about. Blushing, Aier had also fled the classroom.
Now, she was wandering aimlessly through the Campus, breathing in the fresh air, finally managing to calm herself down a little.
“Hey? Junior Schoolmate! Finished class already?”
Just then, a familiar voice with a hint of bright laughter sounded from behind her.
Aier’s steps faltered, her heart skipping a beat.
That voice… instantly dragged her back to that night when she’d been tormented into a daze by Xie Yier’s teasing.
No way… how is there another one?
One ran away, and now another shows up.
Aier wanted to cry—she almost reflexively sped up, not even turning her head, pretending she hadn’t heard anything.
Please, just let me go~~~ Aier wailed in her heart.
“Hey hey hey! I’m talking to you, why are you walking faster? Don’t you know your Senior Schoolmate is feeling hurt?”
The footsteps quickly drew closer, and a hand with an irresistible strength grasped her arm, easily pulling her back.
Senior Schoolmate Mary’s pair of deep green eyes, similar to Aier’s but even more profound, were now studying her flustered face with great interest.
“Ahaha… Senior Schoolmate, it’s, uh, been a while…” Aier forced out a dry smile, “I… just remembered there’s something I need to do, gotta run! Let’s chat later, okay?”
As she spoke, she tried to subtly withdraw her arm from the other’s warm grasp, her body inching backward, her gaze already searching for an escape route.
For some reason, even though this Senior Schoolmate always seemed gentle, Aier still felt an inexplicable sense of pressure.
Just like… when facing Xie Yier!
Aier didn’t know if she was just overthinking it—after all, this Campus Goddess-level figure looked harmless enough. Yet, that instinctual mouse-meeting-cat feeling just wouldn’t go away.
But no matter what kind of person Senior Schoolmate Mary was, Aier had already decided she wouldn’t get entangled with any other girls.
The Golden Canary just wanted a peaceful life!
At that moment, Mary raised an eyebrow. Not only did she not let go, she actually covered her chest with her other hand, her stunning face instantly misting over.
“Junior Schoolmate, are you treating me like some kind of monster you have to avoid at all costs?”
Her voice carried just the right amount of a sob, glistening tears trembling on her long lashes, paired with those same green eyes—the effect was devastating.
A beauty in tears, truly heart-wrenching.
“Ugh…”
Aier was suddenly overcome with a wave of inexplicable guilt.
She was instantly led by the nose.
Aier hurriedly waved her hands in comfort, “How could that be! Senior Schoolmate, you’re so beautiful and funny, how could you possibly be a monster?”
She frantically searched her brain for all the comforting lines she’d learned in her previous life, just wanting to stop this sudden “storm” as quickly as possible.
Who knew how many Guardians of Flowers Mary had in the Academy—if word got out that she made the Goddess cry…
Wouldn’t those supporters tear her to pieces?
“Then… why are you avoiding me?” Mary’s tears vanished as quickly as they came. Now, only pure, slightly childish confusion and grievance remained in her green eyes.
“It’s… it’s for some personal reasons, Senior Schoolmate, please don’t mind.” Aier replied vaguely.
Aier really didn’t want to explain any further—today’s scare from Donna in the classroom had already left her frazzled.
“Personal reasons?”
Mary tilted her head, and, combining it with Aier’s deliberate distancing from other girls, she suddenly drew out an “Oh~~~~”, a flash of understanding passing through her emerald eyes.
“I get it… Junior Schoolmate, are you one of those Man-loving Heterosexuals?”
She pondered—here in the Empire of Dawn, if a girl avoided another girl like the plague, unless there was a grudge, the most likely reason was incompatible orientation.
Come to think of it, before meeting Aier, Mary had never imagined she might like girls herself.
The noble sons who pursued her at the Academy could line up to the school gate, but she’d always found them neither interesting nor attractive.
She’d never even considered she might actually be a Copper Girl.
But on enrollment day, when she met Aier, with the morning light falling on her soft golden hair, her profile as serene as a painting—
Mary felt as if something inside her heart had been gently scratched.
So it wasn’t that men weren’t her type—it was the gender that was wrong.
At that moment, Mary’s heart was suddenly enlightened.
Only today did she realize she was the same!
But just when she finally found herself moved, the adorable girl she liked avoided her like the plague… Why couldn’t she be the one? Goddess, this is so unfair!