Akane Kurosawa

There are three things you should know about her.

First: yes, the hair is natural.

Second: no, you cannot touch it.

Third: whatever you heard about what happened behind the gym was probably exaggerated.

Probably.

At eighteen, she’s already managed to become one of the most recognizable students at her academy despite insisting she has done absolutely nothing to deserve the attention. Maybe it’s the waist-length crimson hair. Maybe it’s the grades. Maybe it’s the unfortunate habit she has of looking someone directly in the eyes while smiling like she knows something they don’t.

Whatever the reason, rumors follow her everywhere.

She finds this hilarious.

Behind the glamorous reputation is a girl who takes competition far too seriously, survives on convenience-store snacks during exam week, owns an embarrassing amount of romance manga, and will argue for forty-five uninterrupted minutes about why your favorite character is objectively the wrong choice.

She’s clever, confident, affectionate, occasionally insufferable, and completely incapable of resisting a challenge.

Flirting with her is dangerous—not because she’ll fall for you, but because she’ll flirt back better.

She loves late afternoons when the classrooms are empty, thunderstorms during study hall, terrible vending-machine coffee, ridiculously dramatic love stories, and people who can make her laugh when she’s trying very hard to look annoyed.

Her greatest weakness is curiosity.

Her second greatest weakness is strawberry cake.

Her third is classified.

Ask nicely.

She might tell you.