“I want to know you!”

Emilija whips her head at her friend with shock. “Akari!”

“Ah…” Akira blushes deeply. “You do?”

Akari keeps going. “Let me protect you from this campus!”

“For real?!” Emilija spouts.

“Really?! P-Protect me?” Akira pauses, his heart racing. “Th-Thank you! But… that’s only going to burden you. Th-Though the thought really touches me, I have to say that so I—”

“Akira!” Akari shouts, losing her mind.

“Akari!” he reciprocates.

“L-Listen, I wanted to… help protect people at this school, and you’re giving me that opportunity. I’d… like to have a positive contribution to this place. And besides, I’ve…” She gulps. “I’ve grown to care about what happens to you. I don’t want you to get hurt.”

Akira adorably covers his face, and trembles. “Oh…” He hunches his back, making him look even smaller.

“Sorry!” Akari spouts. “It’s just… I-I think it would be unfair if…”

“D-Don’t worry, I…” He adopts a small grin with a chuckle. “I’m honestly not used to this blunt warmth.” His eyes widen as he realizes the strings attached to his words. “W-Well,” he adds, “it’s mainly that I don’t see many people who wear such tenderness on their sleeves. It’s refreshing to see, heh heh…”

Akari frowns. You’re not used to warmth?

Akira continues meekly, “I-I’ll let you protect me, but I have a request. A selfish one…”

Akari nods. With a calmer voice, she says, “Tell me. It’s okay.”

“C-Can you help me become stronger? In other words, can you… I guess in a casual, non-binding sense, train me?”

Akari smiles. Warmly, she says, “I have a few conditions.”

Akira smiles back. “What are they?”

“You have to become stronger from your own motivation, not from another’s.”

“Ah…” Akira becomes more and more impressed by Akari’s wisdom. Indeed, the drive for strength must be his own. He can’t feel forced by anyone else.

Of course, with his family, the matter is complicated… And Akari already has a sense of this.

Still, she wants to give Akira a chance. And, with her guidance, Akira hopes he can find the right mentality.

He nods, and both their smiles grow ever softer.

“Another thing,” Akari continues. “Promise me you’ll only use strength for your own wellbeing, and to help others. In the end, those are the main reasons anyone should aspire to have a strong body.”

Akira nods once again, his eyes glowing.

“The last thing… Promise me you won’t push yourself too hard.”

“Push myself too hard?”

“There’s nothing wrong with lacking physical strength. Take care of yourself while you work hard.”

Akira pauses.

He has differing thoughts on this matter, after all.

Hesitant as he is, he still gives her a positive reply. “I’ll do my best,” he declares.

Akari smiles. “Then I guess I can give you a little help when the year starts, hm?”

Akira beams back. “You’re too kind!” But then, he mumbles, “I can't believe you’re so nice to a hopeless man like me…”

“Huh?” Akari’s face suddenly heats up. Her eyes widen with turbulence and shine. “You’re far from hopeless!” she insists.

Akira gasps.

“I’ve seen what hopeless men are like. You’re anything but! Besides, I’m…”  And she ends with a murmur, “I’m looking for campus friends. And you’re…”

“Ah, I’m sorry!” Akira exclaims. “It wasn’t appropriate to bash myself like that. B-But, then, can I call myself your first new friend on-campus?”

And with that, Akari chuckles. “Yeah! Let’s be sure to get in touch when we move in.” Ask his number! Ask his number!

With a wink, Emilija rejoins the dialogue, “Then why don’t we all exchange numbers?”

Emilija! Akari’s heart is forever in her debt.

“Oh, excuse us, Emilija!” Akira turns to her. “Akari and I got caught up in conversation.”

“Heh, no worries!” The pseudo-wingman wraps her arm around Akari’s neck and points her finger at her, spouting, “I’ve been trying to get this girl some new friends for who knows how long!”

“That’s embarrassing!” Akari laments.

With a laugh, Akira continues gleefully, “Here, I’ll give you my number!” He whips out his phone and closes the distance between him and Akari.

Indeed, from six feet away to just before her… The two stare at each other. They blush once more, as the standing Akira is roughly the same height as the sitting Akari.

He’s so tiny, Akari thinks. I’m so much bigger than him. Am I not truly abnormal…?

I’ve learned from my high school days that men don’t like women who are taller than them. It’s not like I’m even looking for a man, but that’s not the point.

When all the beautiful ladies that exist in this world… are dwarves compared to you, it’s only natural to feel insecure. And it didn’t help that I was an absolute monster in high school, the blood and spit I’ve spilled granting me the reputation of the strongest, in spite of my womanhood.

But really, I’ve never wanted any of this.

I want to protect people. I want to love people. I want to be beautiful. To be womanly.

Akira… He is so adorable. My polar opposite in form, with a captivating purity and cuteness. An infectious joy even with that melancholy… He appreciates me, even though he just met me. I want to know this man. I wonder… if he can change me.

“Oy, snap out of it!” Emilija slaps Akari’s back, causing her posture to shoot right up.

“Are you okay?” Akira gazes at her with an overwhelming empathy.

Akari, embarrassed, simply mutters, “P-Please excuse me… It’s just some baggage.”

Akira frowns. “Akari…”

“I sent a greeting text,” Akari comments, trying to change the topic.

Akira looks at his phone. “Oh, I got it! You’re officially my first friend at college then!” Even with his concerns, he gives the girls a tender smile. “You’re next, Emilija!”

After working out contact with Emilija, Akira returns his attention to Akari. “I did want to say that… Whatever baggage you may have, it’s not something you have to shoulder on your own.”

She murmurs, “It’s… nothing really.” Petty self-esteem issues. Regrets about the past. It is nothing that involves him. At least, not right now. Not when we’ve just met. If I am too much of a downer, will he even stick around?

“When people say that about their issues, they’re usually lying to themselves,” Akira states.

With his comment, Akari trembles.

For a moment, the two just stare at each other once more.

Until Akira waves his hands, shouting, “Sorry, that was quite out of line!” 

“Ah… B-But you’re not wrong!” Akari exclaims. “I don’t know about myself. But at least that’s not inherently… a bad observation.”

“W-Well, like I said, we’re friends now, so please talk to me about anything! I-I’d hope to be able to offer some helpful advice.”

Akari cannot help but think, Such a pure soul he is…

Just then, the door to the interviewer opens. Out comes that aggressive man, blandly announcing, “The runt is up next.”

The bastard walks up to the trio, with Akari panicking in her mind, Why is he coming here? Why is he coming here?! She rises, by instinct, out of her chair.

And then the man smacks his hand onto Akira’s crown.

Hearing Akira yelp, the aggressor barks with a sadistic smile, “The runt means you—”

Immediately, Akari seizes the bastard’s arm, forcing his hand off Akira. The aggressor smirks, and Akari scowls with sharp eyes, squeezing his arm.

Emilija grabs Akira’s hand and rushes him away from the scene.

And now, a skirmish shall commence. The first instance… of the blizzard fighting for her flurry.