Puppet Skin [OHSHC]

Chapter 2

Iiyo imagined that she would hear more snickering at her low income status, but it seemed that everyone was too busy keeping their distance from the hooded figure walking in front of her, who she still thought was creepy, than to pay attention to her. During the few minutes stroll to homeroom, all Nekozawa talked about was his esteem for his club and how he couldn't wait to teach her rituals and the knowledge required in black magic. She only agreed at the spur of the moment so he wouldn't touch her, so she was still thinking of a way out of his club.

In class, he sat in the back corner with a berth of empty seats around him. Iiyo understood that the guy was weird, but felt that it wasn't a reason to completely shun him, but she took advantage of the extra seats and sat next to him because of his people repellent power.

"Fukuda-san, why don't you sit in front of me?" Nekozawa politely offered, with his Beelzenef gesturing to the seat. He wanted her to sit in front of him so it would be easier to pass notes. Nekozawa remembered when he first arrived at Ouran; he had lots of questions, so he thought that she might have some. Being at Ouran Middle School with no one to talk to often left him bored, especially in class when he didn't have anyone to look forward to meeting with. He was pleasantly surprised that Iiyo agreed to join his club, but he wouldn't be surprised if she left later, so he just had to convince her somehow to stay in the club.

"No, I don't like it when people sit behind me," Iiyo explained.

Nekozawa was slightly disappointed, but she was at least sitting by him, and that was still good.

The teacher was late so people just talked until he came, apologizing and immediately told everyone to sit down. The students were avoiding the pair in the back (Nekozawa mostly) so when a student was forced to sit in front of Iiyo, she confirmed it. The student's aura showed disdain, fear and slight disgust, while she felt the slight buzz of his presence. She looked at Nekozawa's aura, and there was only a black mist. The fact that she couldn't see his aura or feel his presence at all made her skin crawl with dread. Iiyo didn't know what was going to happen, and she always hated surprises.

Just as Nekozawa promised, he showed Iiyo where her remaining classes were when lunch rolled around. By then, after several reminders of not touching her or getting too close, he got the message, but even his face showed curiosity as to what the reason was. He didn't ask, because he thought that it would be rude, and Iiyo was grateful for that.

"Thank you for showing me around, Nekozawa-san," Iiyo said formally. "Now I'll be outside to eat lunch, and I'll see you at class." She was about to turn around until she saw from the corner of her eye his hand reach out, and froze.

He had almost forgotten her no touching rule, and saw a bit of anxiety in her eyes. "Why don't we eat in the Black Magic Club room? It's always empty, and it'll give me time to teach you a few—."

"Wait," Iiyo interrupted. "No one goes into your club room?"

"Yes, that's right."

"How many people are in your club?" Iiyo thought that if a club was actually established, there ought to be people in the club room, even if it was for lunch.

"Besides us? None." Nekozawa deadpanned disappointedly.

Iiyo finally understood why he was so excited to have a member of his club, and felt sorry for him because she also understood why no one was interested in joining. However, an empty room was always a good thing to her. "Alright, let's go there."

Nekozawa was surprised. He knew that she had been skittish about his club, and seemed to want to avoid it at all costs, but it was an unexpected change, so he didn't hesitate in leading the way.

When they arrived to the club room, seeing as the room was nearly pitch black, Iiyo became nervous. They were finally in the club room, the one thing that seemed to excite the black odd-ball more than anything, and she was worried that he might forget that she didn't like touching. At any moment, he could go into his creepy frenzy with his creepy grin and hug her for all she knew. The only thing that kept her with the occult president is the thought of having the privilege of having a space of solitude (one other person didn't count). A safe place where no one would bother her. No snickering, judgment, but most of all, skin. No one would be able to get too close to her.

Nekozawa lit a few candles and led the way further into the dark. He had a grin on his face, but he seemed to have some control of his self-restraint. "Here's the table where we can eat lunch, and where I can explain further about the club." It was the first time he would eat lunch with someone else in his club room, so he was genuinely excited.

"Aren't there any lights?"

"No!" Nekozawa yelled. He fidgeted with his cloak, almost ashamed at his outburst. "I mean, there are lights, but I can't stand them. It hurts."

Iiyo didn't know what he meant, but she decided to roll with it and eat via candlelight. Hearing him yell had startled her a bit, but as she thought about it, she did notice that he stuck to the shadows, and kept away from the windows. They both sat at the table with her taking on end, and him taking the adjacent end. Having him sit close by made her nervous again, but she didn't speak upon it, trying to trust that he remembered. Before he could dive into the various descriptions of Black Magic and its origins, Iiyo suggested, "Why don't we just get to know each other a bit?"

He looked almost confused by the notion.

"I'm not going to stay in the club if I don't know about the people—er, person in it."

"Ah, that's a good point. I guess I went overboard with my recruiting methods. For all I know you could have had a flashlight in your hand."

Iiyo was confused on what the flashlight's relevance was, but had no choice but to moved on.

Nekozawa started it off. "Due to your clothing and behavior, I'm assuming that you had gotten a scholarship into Ouran, so what is your scholarship about?"

In Iiyo's mind, assumptions were never a good thing, but since he was correct she didn't mind it too much. At least he didn't say 'I'm assuming you're not wealthy enough.' "It's a Creative Writing Scholarship. It's nothing special, but I'm still glad I got accepted." She took slow bites, trying to come up with questions to ask him. "Why are you so interested in black magic?"

There was no mystery behind the reason why he grinned again. "I was born into the world of darkness. Black magic is my salvation, my reason, and my path to discover the mysteries in which the darkness surrounds. Black magic isn't just spells and witchcraft, it has a culture of its own and I love thriving in it. It's become who I am, and who I will be."

Iiyo had only one thought in her head. Wow, what a weirdo.