The Bounty Hunter

September 1st, 2088

It’s the first day of high school and I am dozing off during the entrance ceremony.  The Student Council’s speeches are taking way too damn long.  After what seemed like an eternity, it was finally over and the students were sent to their homerooms.  I took my assigned seat next to the window in the back of the room.  The seat to my right was unoccupied, while the one in front of me was occupied by Reiji.  It was an absolutely perfect set-up, so I was in a rather good mood.  Our homeroom teacher than introduced himself.  He looked to be in his early 40’s with shaggy black hair and a face that reminded me of a bloodhound.  

“Welcome everyone to class 1-C.  My name is Kawaguchi Kurou.  I will be your teacher for this year.  But before we go any further, I will introduce a new student to you all.  By some coincidence everyone here is a graduate of our related middle school, so I’ll let our new student introduce herself first to the class.”  At that cue, the door opened and an extremely pretty bishoujo walked in.  She had long black hair to her waist, big black eyes set in a childish face and pale white skin.  Her figure was petite yet well-developed.  She looked about 5 feet 4 inches tall and was a classic Yamato Nadeshiko.  Naturally, the class broke out into whispers at her appearance.  “Wow, her hair is so amazing. And her skin is beautiful, I hope she can tell me which products she uses.”  “Yes! It’s a cute girl!”  “I hope she sits by me!” 

I too was looking at her curiously, but it wasn’t because of her looks (which were stunning).  Although I appreciate and value good looks as much as the next person, I have spent too much time in the other world to let that be the deciding factor for whether or not I am attracted to someone.  If the average level of looks here is a 5 out of 10, then the average is a solid 7 in the other world.  The number of truly horrible people who I have met that were also incredibly attractive has made me place more importance on personality.  So why was I staring?  It’s because this girl was rather familiar, but for the life of me I can’t remember from where. 

“Hello everyone, my name is Fujimoto Hikari.  I enjoy kendo and kyudo and I like baking sweets.  I hope we can all become good friends, so please take care of me.”  She gave a bow and Kawaguchi-sensei nodded to her “Thank you Fujimoto-san for that introduction, you can sit in that open seat next to Cross-san in the back.”  Looking in my direction, Hikari’s eyes widened in surprise and as she approached me she asked “Is that you Minato?”  I looked at my old childhood friend warmly and I couldn’t help but give a gentle smile “It’s been a while, Hikari.” 

And for some reason there was an even bigger outbreak of whispering in the rest of the class after my response.  “Cross-san actually smiled!  I didn’t think that was possible!”  “It’s too bright!  I can’t look at it directly!”  “What kind of history do those two have?!?”  “NOOO!  The new girl is already taken!  This sucks!”  “NOOO!  Minato has been taken!  This sucks!”  Hikari on the other hand looked a little flustered due to surprise, and she took her seat next to me quietly.  I look forward to catching up with her after school.  First though, I’ll have to find a moment where I can punch Reiji who had turned around and given me a big grin while mouthing “Childhood friend flag, get!”

Hikari’s POV

My name is Fujimoto Hikari.  I am the daughter of a corporate executive and a housewife.  For most of my childhood we lived in Tokyo in a rather nice neighborhood, however there were no other children my age to play with.  It was rather lonely for a few years, until I turned 7 and a new family moved in next door.  They had moved here from the US, and they had a child who was my age.  His name was Minato and we quickly became best friends.  He was a goofy kid who was also a bit of a crybaby.  I would always take the lead whenever we played and he would meekly follow. 

We were always together, going to the same school and staying at each other’s houses enough times to be like we were living together.  Our parents also ended up becoming close friends, so we even sometimes went together on vacation.  Unfortunately, these happy times couldn’t last.  My father is an ambitious man, and the chairman of the company he worked for had no close family he could choose as a successor.  He had been my father’s mentor and wanted very much to pass it on to him.  But some distant relatives had been trying to steal the position.  So my father had been slowly accumulating influence and shares in the company in preparation to become the successor. 

As things got more serious, he started to consider using me in an arranged marriage to gain an advantage.  In preparation for that, I started having to go to all manner of etiquette classes and the like in order to become a suitable lady.  So I saw less and less of Minato, who also started being absent from time to time.  However, we still found some time to be together.  When we were 12, my father ended up having to move to Osaka where the company headquarters were located.  He had just become the chairman and he had to leave for headquarters in order to consolidate his position. 

So I had a teary good-bye with Minato and as I took one last look at his cute, boyish face I realized that I had feelings for him.  I was realistic though and knew that there was a high chance that I would be engaged in an arranged marriage.  And even if I wasn’t, I was moving away and it was possible that we would never see each other again.  But, if by some miracle we saw each other again and I was free to choose, I decided that I would make him mine.  With that determination in my heart, I left Tokyo.

3 years passed and my father was able to gain majority ownership and complete control over the company.  He moved the company HQ to Tokyo and as a result our family was going to move back.  He purchased several lots in the same neighborhood we were in before and built an impressive mansion.  Furthermore, he never had a need to arrange a marriage for me during those 3 years and told me that I was free to date who I wanted as long as he approved of the boy. 

Against all odds, my hopes were fulfilled and I was back across the street from Minato.  I was enrolled into the most prestigious local high school which also happened to be where Minato was attending.  My parents had already told Minato’s parents we were coming back, but they kept Minato in the dark because as they said “It would be fun to surprise him.”  Fufufu, I can’t help but look forward to seeing his expression when he sees his old childhood friend and discovers she has turned into a lovely, refined ojou-sama.  I bet he’s still as big of a goofball as always, it’ll be fun to tease him and watch his cute expressions again. 

A high-spec girl as myself should be able to easily get him to fall head over heels for me.  Such idle thoughts crossed through my mind as I introduced myself to the class.  I had scanned through the students checking to see if I had been placed in the same class as Minato but it didn’t look like it.  Kawaguchi-sensei’s voice interrupted my thoughts “Thank you Fujimoto-san for that introduction, you can sit in that open seat next to Cross-san in the back.”  Wait, did he just say Cross-san?  I focused on the student in the back Kawaguchi-sensei had indicated and was absolutely dumbfounded, although I managed to restrain it from being shown. 

That super ikemen there in the back with the cold and aloof look is Minato?  What happened to the cute crybaby who I used to make call me onee-chan even though we were the same age?  I mean sure now that I look closely, this fierce eye-candy clearly has many features in common with the Minato I knew, but this is still too much of a change for only 3 years right? Right?  I had to double check so I called out to him “Is that you Minato?”  His piercing dark green eyes locked onto mine and I could feel my heart rate accelerate slightly as I observed his serious expression. 

Then the tension disappeared as he broke out into a smile that completely changed his demeanor.  The coldness vanished and that indifferent bad boy vibe changed into one of a warm and caring sweetheart.  My heart started throbbing loudly and I could feel my face becoming red despite my best efforts to stay composed in front of such an attractive smile.  “It’s been a while, Hikari.”  This person is without a doubt Minato… What the hell?  This isn’t how this reunion should be going, you should be the one turning bright red after being surprised by the attractiveness of your childhood friend!  I couldn’t respond and simply took my seat next to him, stealing glances at him every so often. 

Class started and like a rainbow dissipating, Minato’s smile faded and he once again had that cold and serious aura.  I wasn’t able to talk to him during breaks because I was swarmed by my new classmates.  The girls in particular were forceful, demanding to know the extent of my relationship with Minato.  During lunch, I was dragged away by one group and we started talking.  I learned that Minato was known throughout middle school as an anti-social, unapproachable yet extremely attractive loner who only interacted meaningfully with one person.  He never said more than a few words to anyone else, and none of them were close enough to him to call him anything other than Cross-san even after 3 years. 

Apparently, that smile this morning was the first they ever saw.  I couldn’t help but blush at that comment as I realized that he smiled only for me and me alone.  My new friends didn’t miss that and started to happily tease me.  After school today, I’ll definitely be walking home together with Minato.  My heart started beating faster at the thought.  You may have won the first round, but just you wait!  I am a remarkable bishoujo in my own right and I’ll be the one with the last laugh as I make you fall madly in love with me!  And I’ll make you sweat it out a bit after you confess before I say yes as payback!