1 International Student

Near the end of spring, with summer on the way, in April, for every school student, it was the start of a new semester.

Kuoh Academy spreads across acres of lush greenery. Its modern buildings look tall and distinctive against the backdrop of the vibrant spring landscape. Cherry blossom trees lined the pathways, their beautiful pink petals fluttering in the gentle breeze. Students bustled about, their laughter and chatter filling the air. 

It seemed like everyone was full of excitement and anticipation for the new semester. From the pristine junior school buildings to the towering college structures, Kuoh Academy was filled with the energy of all the eager children.

Being an institution that had been all-girls till 2 years back, now that it has shifted to co-ed schooling, the majority of the students here are still mostly female. Still, many male students have recently been admitted here.

Additionally, being one of Japan's most influential and famous schools, it welcomes many international students every year as part of its foreign student exchange policy from all over the world.

This year only 3 students have participated in this exchange, 1 boy and 2 girls. And like many others in this Academy, the boy also has extraordinary powers.

The classroom was filled with activity, its walls decorated with different types of posters and art made by students. Sunlight shone through the windows, casting a warm glow over the desks and chairs.

"Good morning class, is everyone excited for the new school year?"

"..."

"Well! Looks like you haven't recovered from the holiday atmosphere yet. Don't worry you guys will be straightened out in a day or two."

"..."

"Okayy.. Let me tell you something exciting. Do you guys remember how every year students from different countries come here to experience life and studies in Japan? This time our class will be hosting one of them!" The head teacher of their class told them the news, hoping this time they would at least have some excitement.

"Really?" Takemoto Tatsuya, a student in the class, exclaimed.

"Is it a girl?" asked Hirai Ryo, his excitement breaking through the sleepiness that had been affecting him.

"A big-booby girl?"

"No, it must be a handsome guy!" Yamada Masumi, the class clown, couldn't help but give his own unique opinion.

"Bro you are a man, why do you want a handsome man in class?"

"A man is more likely to come with the luck of our class."

"No, I think you're just spreading your preferences everywhere."

"Fuck you, you guys are being unrealistic. At least if I think a man is coming, I won't be disappointed like you guys who want women."

"Just admit you're gay."

"I am straighter than your incest-filled family tree."

"Okay, okay... Don't fight you two otherwise, you will stand outside with a bucket on your head!"

"Yes Sir!"

"My apologies respected teacher, this won't happen next time!"

"Sigh…" The teacher sighed at the sarcastic words of the children, thinking that these guys were never going to behave properly. 

"Okay well, let's invite our new classmate into the class! Come in and introduce yourself Mr. new student."

The head teacher of the class, who didn't know how to control his class, said to the boy who was hiding outside the classroom waiting for his instructions.

Click.

The door opened and everyone in the class saw a tall handsome man with black hair, dark brown eyes, and a beard on his face.

"Ha, I said it would be a man!"

"Stop dick-riding him and let him introduce himself, you idiot!"

"Hello, good morning, everyone... My name is Harsh. I would prefer it if you would call me by my name. And, I'm from India... and I hope to have a good year with you all!"

Harsh gave a short introduction of himself, fidgeting with his watch as he spoke. Despite his attempt at being confident, a slight nervousness could be seen as he spoke to the class.

He could see the change of expressions of the students, with the boys going from being excited to indifferent and curious, while the girls were whispering among themselves. While he wasn't narcissistic enough to think they were talking about him, they were probably talking about him.

"Hello Harsh, nice to meet you. I wish you a good experience during your stay here. You can sit next to Gremory-san in the back. There is an empty seat next to the window there."

"Thank you, I know I'm going to have a good time this year under your care, sir."

Harsh said, while going to the back of the class and settling down on his protagonist seat. As he walked toward his seat, he exchanged short glances and nods with several students who were looking at him, acknowledging their presence.

Towards his right sat his deskmate, sat a tall, beautiful girl with grace at her desk, her silky crimson-red hair flowing over her shoulders in waves. She had a warm smile on her face, that expressed friendliness to everyone.

As Harsh settled down and the teacher began talking about the coming year, he couldn't help but notice the smile of the girl sitting beside him. She looked much better than anything he had imagined when thinking of her.

"Hi, I'm new here. You must've heard my name from the introduction, Gremory-san, right? Nice to meet you." Harsh said, trying to open some conversation between the two of them. He fidgeted with his watch again, feeling Rias looking at him. 

This was honestly a first for Harsh, he had never interacted with such a beautiful woman before, even someone who was strong enough that he couldn't use his powers on her after meeting her for the first time.

It was a good thing that his powers were not of this world, and no one could feel their use, otherwise with just the difference between the powers of the Gremory heiress and Harsh, she probably would have found that something was wrong.

"Hello, Harsh-san. My name is Rias Gremory, your new deskmate~ ", Rias Gremory replied with a warm smile, her eyes filled with curiosity. Noticing Harsh fidgeting, she found such an action pretty contrasting with his outer appearance and made an effort to put him at ease. "If you need any help, you can ask me. I am also an international student, I've been here for a while."

"Gremory-san, just call me Harsh. I haven't really gotten used to the Japanese honorifics yet." He said, thankful for her kindness. "If you don't mind me asking, you look like you're from Europe. Where are you from?"

"Yeah Harsh! I'm from Ireland," Rias replied, her smile widening when she talked about being a Japanophile. "I really like Japan and I've got some friends here, so I moved here to study. Also, just call me Rias."

"Ireland is an interesting place, they uh- they play cricket," Harsh said, not knowing a single thing about Ireland.

"Not just cricket, they also have many other good things too, like-" Rias stammered, realizing she herself didn't know much about it herself. She twirled a strand of her red hair between her fingers as she spoke, "Well, Ireland has like 10 thousand castles all over the country, which is pretty cool."

"Yeah, sounds interesting..." Harsh couldn't think of anything more to say to that and started looking at the time on his watch again.

Realizing his awkwardness, Rias came to the rescue, "What about you, where are you from? In India I mean."

"Ah, I'm from North India." Harsh replied, glad that they had more time to chat. It seemed like the teacher was about to finish his welcome speech, and classes would be starting anytime soon.

"That's interesting. And quite far from here." Rias said, genuine interest sparkling in her eyes.

"How are you settling in? If you have any problems, you can tell me, it must be quite a change for you." Trying to be understanding, Rias's tone was warm and reassuring.

"Mm-hmm, it is, literally across the oceans," Harsh replied, with a faint smile on the corner of his lips. "But I've traveled to other countries quite a lot, so I can handle some changes. Though this is the first time staying at a place for a whole year, so let's see what happens."

"Well, I'm sure you'll adjust quickly," Rias said cheerfully. "Japanese culture might be quite different from what you've experienced but I'm sure you'll fall in love with it."

"Well, if we end up spending a lot of time together, I'm sure I'll adapt quickly," Harsh said with a light smile while straightening his posture.

Rias chuckled, mimicking him in posturing herself, and said, "I appreciate your confidence in me. But I'm sure you'll get tired of my personality pretty qu-"

*Ding**Ding*

"Who was that?" the teacher asked, irritated at suddenly being interrupted while in the middle of the class introductions.

"I'm sorry, that was my alarm on my watch. I forgot to turn it off." Harsh apologized, standing up and addressing the teacher with a respectful bow. "Please pardon the interruption."

"Ah, don't worry about it," the teacher replied with a slight smile. "Just make sure to silence it for next time."

"Of course, sir," Harsh said, reaching to silence his watch while taking his seat.

"Sir, why did you throw me out of the class last year for the same thing, and now you're forgiving him? It's not fair!" interjected Yamada Masumi, being the comedic relief character once again.

"You are an old student, and Harsh-kun has just arrived at our school today. Now sit down, or do you want to go stand outside again?!"

Ignoring the comedy-drama in the class, Harsh glanced at Rias, who was stifling a giggle. Although their conversation was interrupted, he couldn't help but smile back seeing her laughing. 

It was just in time for the wrap of the introductions, and as the head teacher finished scolding Masumi, he announced, "Alright, everyone, let's head to the school assembly. Follow me in a line, please. Girls in the front and the boys in the back! And don't wander here and there! Let's go."

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Author Note: This is a newbie author here. Just some spoilers: The protagonist is gonna be a descendant of Vishnu (from his avatar Lord Rama). He also has Dream Manipulation powers. Still thinking of whether to link the two powers or keep them separate. Give suggestions. This is also a self insert. And I'm gonna practice writing smut with this one, giving the 18+ warning ahead of time.