Motivated to be lazy

Chapter 35

Looking further into everything that happened with Ryuen, he was being a hypocrite. To threaten my sister only to turn around and say that Shiina has nothing to do with this. My sister wasn't even on the ship. People seem to think of only what's done to them, not what they do to others.

As my eyes danced across the pages, reading every word again in vain, my mind wasn't processing what I was looking at. I was merely passing time, going through the motions to keep up appearances. It was unnecessary, there was no one around.

Putting the book down, I took my phone out instead.

Instead my mind was going through a different story. One of Greek Mythology, something that had died out through the passage of time, now merely some obscure folklore that people knew vaguely of but didn't understand the intimate details of the stories and tales.

Pandora's box, ask anyone what it is and they can tell you that it was some treasure in history and that it shouldn't be opened. Most have no idea why, simply heard of it randomly in passing or some such thing.

Pandora's box, the story of the first woman ever created. A tale of treachery, thieving and subterfuge. A story of revenge.

Pandora's box, a cautionary myth that warns of the dangers of curiosity.

A metaphor of the consequences of a single miscalculation. A single lapse in judgment.

The poem written by Hesiod tells the tale of the titan Prometheus who stole fire from Mt. Olympus and gave it to mankind. Zeus was angered by this and ordered the God Hephaestus to create the first female named Pandora. He then sent her to Prometheus' brother, Ephimeteus who didn't heed the warnings of his brother who warned him never to accept a gift from Zeus.

Ephemeteus married Pandora, too blinded by his infatuation by her. As a wedding gift, Zeus gave Pandora a beautiful jar as a wedding gift. Throughout history, the tale was changed to be later referred to as a box, but the original story said that it was a jar. The only instruction that Zeus had given her was that she was never to open it.

Unable to satiate her curiosity, she opened the box and all of man's woes had flown from the box and cursed humanity for an eternity.

Curses such as death, sickness, vices, sin. In her curiosity, she had cursed her fellow man into mortality.

While I wanted to be alone, it would seem that that wasn't going to be in the cards for me at this hour either as I heard a set of footsteps from behind me. I didn't turn around to acknowledge them, I simply waited and a feminine hand laid on my shoulder before I was joined by Kushida who continued to smile with that mockingly angelic face.

"Good morning, Ayanokouji-kun."

It was one in the morning and yet she was dressed in casual clothing that was far too dressy for someone who just got out of bed. She looked like she was getting ready for a date, a red knitted sweater that was relatively form fitting. A white skirt finished just above her knees and white knee high socks.

"It's just past one, the day has barely even begun. How could it possibly be a good morning?"

"It is when I finally get some alone time with you, Ayanokouji-kun," Kushida purred. "I was quite surprised when Okitani-kun told me you left. I asked him to message me if you woke up. Everyone is so worried about you."

"Is that so," I mused while staring out into the dark abyss.

"It is," Kushida nodded. "So this is what the masterpiece of the White Room is capable of... How terrifying."

Despite the fact that the words left her lips, she looked anything but terrified.

"To think that you would go so far as to threaten Shiina Hiyori... I must say, I never expected that from you."