From the tallest floor of the tallest tower in the Academy, Amanda Lucifer observed her new intake of students flooding through the portal gates. For three days, the portal will open and she will have a good show to watch for the next five years. Would this batch of students turn out more promising than the last?

The principal was a tall lady who resembled a supermodel with her tall and busty figure. The red suit only served to accentuate all her right curves. Amanda's signature long platinum hair reached past her waist and bounced with every step she took. The clicking of her heels on the polished office tiles echoed coldly in her lonely office, a severe contrast to the atmosphere in the courtyard. With her magic monocle, the archmage inspected all her new students and took note of who would be the potential trouble-making ones.

"Principal, the students are gathering in the hall. You should get ready for your welcoming speech and farewell speech to those graduating us."

Amanda looked over to her tiny bat summon who acted as her personal assistant at times. The archmage smiled. This year, she received even more applications than the previous year but as usual, they only accepted a thousand students and rejected the rest. There were a few familiar names who have been applying for the last two hundred years and haven't given up hope on attending her academy but Amanda was firm and rejected them. Rapists and sex fiends were not allowed to become students in Time Cross Academy. The school was a place that promotes love so the screening process was very stringent. This year, she received many interesting applicants but the principal was expecting for the first couple to be formed before the first mating season started.

"Asahina, check if any of the students are missing. I will be giving the speech in twenty minutes."

The bat follower transformed into a small girl with black hair pulled into cute twin tails and purple eyes. She smiled and saluted. "Yes, ma'am!"

Amanda looked out to the courtyard and spotted the omega snow fox who was forced to attend her academy. The archmage couldn't keep a smirk off her face thinking about how hard his father begged her to accept the application form that had clearly been forged on behalf of his son. Normally, the archmage wouldn't accept such a thing but after hearing the stories from the Snow fox clan and the black snake clan, she made an exception. Now that the die was cast, it was time to watch a good show.

>>Xxx Destiny Aitsuji xxX<<

"Greetings, freshman attending Time Cross Academy. A short introduction of who I am although some of you may recognise me. My name is Amanda Lucifer and I am the archmage as well as the principal of this academy. Your families have agreed to entrust you to me for the next five years. Whether you live or die, is up to me to decide. Heed my rules well and you shall survive. Disregard them and forfeit your lives."

Nobody made any noise when Amanda Lucifer spoke. The authority in her voice didn't leave space for protests of negotiations and the new students swallowed. Some of them like Soubi were already regretting their decision to attend the academy.

Amanda scanned the new faces and smirked at their uneasiness. In Time Cross Academy, she was the absolute authority and her words were the law here.

"Asahina will brief everyone on the rules of Time Cross Academy later for the freshmen. For the students who are graduating and leaving us today, you have done well. For many of you, the last five years haven't been easy. There may have been ups and downs during the period of five years while you were in my Academy. Some of you experienced bittersweet feelings, some experienced your first love. I hope that those of you who experienced true love will learn to cherish it like how you cherish each other. Time Cross Academy brought you together but after you leave the academy, you should choose your own paths to walk, remembering what you have learnt from here. The road ahead might not be smooth. There may be people threatening you and your relationship, trying to tear both of you apart and ruin the family you have but stay strong. I, Amanda Lucifer, will always be a supporter of true love. Should you request the assistance of the Academy, I will be willing to listen to the troubles of any ex-students. For those who have graduated without a mate, do not worry, life always has a plan for you. Remember the teachings of Time Cross Academy and don't let that happiness slip away from you when you find them. Love transcends gender, age and time. Never limit yourselves. With that, congratulations on graduating Time Cross Academy, you can now return to your homes and begin the new chapter of your lives."

The speech ended and cheers thundered across from the right side of the hall where the graduating students were sitting. Many new students nearly lost their eyeballs from shock at the heated make-out sessions of some couples who were unashamed at displaying their affection. The cultural shock was real and the ceremony to send off happy couples made many new students deny reality with their very existence. Soubi was one of the new students who wanted to unsee everything.

"How can they accept this so easily? We're talking about male brides... why are more than half of the student population ok with bringing home male brides? The few that don't have mates don't mind accepting male brides in future and even purchase that potion from the principal in crates for the bridal selection... What's so good about being an omega? I don't want to bear kits!"

Kenma listened to his young master fume with the patience of a saint. He smiled sympathetically. "Apologies, young master. I cannot empathise with you because I'm a beta."

That sentence alone sent Soubi into another round of depression. Yes, his attendant was a beta for his second gender test. Why was it that he, the sole male heir of the Kitsune clan, was an omega? Where did his manly pride go? Soubi didn't tell his sisters about his second gender test because they would surely mock him. Not many of his sisters placed bets on him bringing home a male bride and those who did only did it for fun. Soubi wanted to wallow up in self-pity and die in a ditch. He heard that his most hated rival was an alpha. The world wasn't fair!

The graduation ceremony for successful couples was full of mushy actions like carrying the male bride in a bridal style out of the portal or taking commemoration photos of each other french making out at the photo booth. There were even cheesy festival stands that sold couple wishing charms that a couple wrote their wishes on and tied it to the magic willow in the Academy's garden. The freshmen and graduated students were given a break after the principal's speech to enjoy the festival until the afternoon and explore the academy campus. After a farewell lunch, the graduating students will start packing to leave within the next two days. In this short time frame, many single seniors started exchanging contact details with the new students and Amanda watched it happen from her office.

"How are this batch's first years like?" she asked.

Asahina bowed. "None of them look like they would violate the rules. I will go through the rules after the farewell lunch. Are you sure you want to give the graduating students an opportunity to mingle with the new students?"

Amanda smiled. Usually, she would give the academy's graduating cohort a chance to mingle with the first years. However, there was a special request from one of her very promising students to introduce this as a way to soothe the hearts of lonely singles who didn't manage to find their mates on campus during the last five years. Amanda approved the request without questions. Long-distance relationships were also a type of love that can be very strong if both parties can overcome it. She was also rooting for a lonely beta who just turned omega in his last semester. Already she could see him meeting a junior alpha wolf and smirked. She smelled a new red thread story forming but that would be a tale later. For now, Amanda Lucifer was busy. She had to sort through the students who applied to different classes suitable for them. While she was a hardcore romantic, she was also a strict educator.

Asahina saw that her boss and owner was busy and bowed before taking her leave. The bat familiar decided to patrol the campus ground to uphold its rules and regulations.

>>Xxx Destiny Aitsuji xxX<<

Soubi chose to hide in a corner at the back of the school to escape that weird pink hearted atmosphere. This wasn't normal and his poor omega heart couldn't take it. There were also too many alphas present who looked like they were out to get him like all his omiai candidates. The snow fox told Kenma to enjoy the festival without him and Kenma gave his young master a worried look before he was sent away.

Soubi breathed a sigh of relief. The back of the school was very quiet and nobody was here. It gave the overwhelmed snow fox time to think. Throughout the welcome speech, Soubi had been discreetly trying to find familiar faces. It had been three years since he last saw his childhood friend even though they still exchanged letters regularly. Unlike him, Sei had been busy working at his older brother's store trying to learn the ropes of helping out with his family business. The hateful snake was only three years older than him but already, he was more independent than Soubi could ever hope to be.

A part of the young fox demon missed the black snake. Being in such a big school for five years was hard even if he had Kenma by his side. After all, there were many things that he would be embarrassed to talk about with his guardian.

As if Amanda had heard his wish, the black snake demon that Soubi had been dying to see appeared. His midnight-black hair shone and his yellow eyes burned like the sun. Soubi froze when their eyes met. It had been three years since they last saw each other but Soubi couldn't recognise Sei anymore.

"Sei?"

The black snake demon smiled. "Are you surprised to see me again? It's a miracle how you're still so small and cute. Nobody would believe that you're eighteen this year, you still look the same as when you were fifteen. Did uncle not feed you properly? Do you not eat meat?"

Enraged that the first words out of Sei's mouth were to insult his height, Soubi snapped and threw a fist at his friend's direction. The snake demon was much taller than him and looked like the ideal man that any girl would drool over.

Sei laughed and caught the fist easily before pulling the cute snow fox in and stole a kiss. Soubi's brain short-circuited when their lips connected. the snake demon blinked when he didn't receive a reaction out of his childhood friend and crush. Could it be that the Soubi didn't register the kiss?

As the snake demon leaned in once more to kiss Soubi, the snow fox regained his common sense and struggled with all his might in panic and pushed the alpha away.

"Y-y-y-you! What do you think you're doing?!" he shrieked and collapsed onto the floor in shock. Soubi felt his heart hammering with force enough to break out of his ribcage and hyperventilated.

Sei tilted his head to one side and took in the flustered sight of his crush with great pleasure. Then he smiled angelically and replied.

"I'm seducing you, of course. You didn't think that I attended the academy out of coincidence did you? I'm here to take you home with me as my bride."

At a complete loss for words and a brain meltdown from hearing Sei's answer, Soubi held back tears, screamed in frustration and high-tailed out of there. Sei watched the terrified fox make his escape and laughed. He was looking forward to the next few months they would be spending together at Time Cross Academy.

"Now that he is finally aware of me, it's time to step up my game. I wonder if he will run away if I told him that I only bullied him because I loved him. No no, better not do that yet. I don't want to ruin the chance that otou-sama and Kitsune-sama gave me. Let's find Kenma first," Sei reasoned and went the opposite direction of where Subi escaped to. For now, everything was going according to plan and the first day hasn't even started.