Chapter 1: A Little Story After the Rain

When it comes to youth, people always like to describe it as “only once.”

As if it were some rare treasure, as if missing these few years would leave a lifelong regret in one’s life, so one must burn with all one’s might, fall in love, make friends, and do all the “things one should do in youth.”

Along with that comes a whole set of standard answers: boys should be cheerful and generous, girls should be gentle and cute, as if these were truths engraved into one’s genes, and straying even a little would mean a failed youth.

What a clumsy collective lie!

At the turn of spring and summer, the afternoon shower had just stopped, and clear sunlight leaked through the gaps in the clouds, falling under the gray-tiled eaves of the apartment building.

Amamiya Shizuru stood in that limited shade.

Her long black hair was mostly soaked by the rain, water droplets hanging heavily from the tips, sliding down along her jawline and disappearing into the collar of her white shirt. 

The rain-soaked white fabric clung to her skin, faintly revealing the color of her flesh underneath.

Yet she seemed completely unaware, her expression calm as she flipped through a dry magazine.

If a passerby happened to see her, their gaze would likely linger for a few seconds on her soaked clothes before sighing that she had such an authoritative face, yet carried an aura that said strangers keep away.

“So life itself has no predetermined purpose or innate meaning, which gives us complete freedom. Since there is no innate correct answer, you can define for yourself what meaning is, what value is…”

“I roughly understand the principles you’re talking about, but before that I have a small question. Why did you come looking for me? We don’t seem to have met before, do we?”

Under the eaves of an apartment building, a pair of youthful and attractive young man and woman faced each other, whispering things that others could not hear.

But for Asano, who was in the middle of it, he did not feel any ambiguous atmosphere.

After finishing his exhausting part-time job and returning to the bottom of the apartment building he rented, he discovered a girl with a face as exquisite as a jade carving specifically waiting for him downstairs. 

This scene was simply the kind of plot that only appeared in light novels.

But Asano had a clear understanding. 

Reason told him that the half-soaked girl blocking the entrance to his apartment building in front of him was definitely not a good thing.

He was not familiar with this girl. 

He only knew through some rumors at school that there existed such an extremely beautiful girl who ranked first in the grade, but had a cold personality and eccentric behavior.

Life is full of surprises everywhere, especially for Amamiya Shizuru.

Whether it was reincarnation, or inexplicably turning from a man into a woman.

If her life were placed in Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio, it could have a chapter of its own.

Sixteen years were enough to turn all unfamiliarity into habit, all surprise into indifference, but the personality from her previous life made him never feel that she was a pure woman.

I am just a male locked inside a female body.

She thought this way, but in the eyes of others, she was still an exceptionally eye-catching beautiful girl.

In her previous life she had been mediocre, lived a messy life, and left without a sound. 

If everything had ended there, it would have counted as a kind of release, but she had been reborn into another life, and turned into her current appearance.

The meaning, goals, and ambition she had accumulated before all became, in the blink of an eye, old dreams that had nothing to do with the present.

If it were someone else, they would probably have hurriedly dived into the new life script long ago, doing their utmost to play the role of “girl” well.

But Amamiya Shizuru only felt a sense of relief.

Just like in those clichéd rebirth novels, Amamiya Shizuru felt that since she could live again, then in this life she would polish her life according to her own standards.

And youth, as an important stage in life, she naturally also had her own arrangements for it.

Becoming the student council president of Tokyo Municipal West High School was her current small goal.

Of course, Amamiya Shizuru did not intend to go it alone. 

Even no matter how arrogant she was, she understood that one person’s strength was ultimately limited, so she had found Asano Toru.

“Do I need to explain the words I just said again?”

Amamiya had just roughly explained her life theory to Asano. 

She casually wiped away the water droplets that had dripped from her hair tips onto the back of her hand, and looked up at the boy opposite her.

Unfortunately, Asano’s expression of sighing already explained his attitude.

It seemed that relying only on reasoning would not make this person agree.

But she had never expected that just a few words could make the other party listen to her. 

She even hadn’t realized that for most of the time just now, the other party’s attention had not fallen on her words.

“Amamiya-san, if you need help, you can come find me in Class 1-B anytime. Of course, on the premise that it’s a normal request.” 

Asano slightly turned his face to the side to make his gaze seem less blatant.

He really couldn’t figure out what this problem girl from the rumors wanted with him, and even more couldn’t figure out how she had found his residence. 

As for the half-soaked clothes on her body, he didn’t dare look much…

In reality, Amamiya had been continuously observing Asano Toru for a month.

As a perfectionist, Amamiya’s requirements for an assistant were naturally also very high.

She needed to find someone who had ability, means, and at the same time was relatively steady and mature. 

Such requirements were naturally hard to find at this age.

But Amamiya, relying on her astonishing action power, had really found one, and that was Asano Toru.

This handsome-looking boy was not as flamboyant as his appearance suggested. In daily life, he wandered around the campus like an outsider.

Most importantly, such a guy actually had a significant weakness.

During her investigation, Amamiya discovered that Asano Toru was not a local of Tokyo, but had come here to study from Hokkaido all the way from a thousand miles away.

Now living alone in some apartment in Tokyo, and in order to maintain his daily life, he had to do some part-time work.

And the work he was doing was actually that of a rental boyfriend!

Although she didn’t know how he had gotten this job, as long as Amamiya reported it, Asano Toru’s both school and part-time job would be in jeopardy.

Therefore, Amamiya, who held Asano Toru’s weakness, had been in an invincible position from the start!

This gentleman, you wouldn’t want it to be discovered that you’re doing this kind of work, right?

But until the last moment, Amamiya would not use this kind of method to control others.

Asano’s current reaction was within her expectations. 

Being approached out of the blue and told “come work with me” would naturally make one alert. Since the ideology didn’t work, then change the method.

She closed the magazine in her hand that had not gotten wet by the rain from beginning to end.

Only then did she belatedly realize that the clothes on her body were a bit too wet. 

The rain on the way here had indeed not been small.

But it was no problem. If the clothes were wet, just dry them.

First solve this task and then persuade him.

“Does your place have a shower?” 

Amamiya said.

Asano froze. He had probably not yet recovered from the philosophical discourse just now.

“…Yes.”

“And a dryer?”

“Also have…”