Brooding Guy, Quiet Girl

Chapter 16

Chapter 16: "Ribaseke Reiji."

The selection the school gives us at the cafeteria is quite commendable. My previous school back before I transferred here only had some basic stuff you can get by running down to the closest convenience store. Here? Chef-level dishes.

Fillet mignons! Steaks! Fish and chips! Cheese fries! Pizza! Beef wellington! Roast chicken! Towers of burger! Grilled cheese! Freakin' lobsters! Risotto! Crème brule! Coffee! Soda! Toffee! Pasta! All this for the low low price of zero.

Yeah. The spoiled brats who come to this school have their parents pay an impossible fee that apparently even politicians can't hope to foot. Puts me as the odd one out. I'm not like them. I can never hope to pay that much. It'd be easier to be in debt to a bunch of loan sharks.

A bowl of ramen on my tray, I pick out a drink and head out. Man, nothing beats a nice hot soup. Today was really frustrating, so I consider this relaxation! Ah! And not to forget, the delicious brownie! Coated with chocolate fudge, yummy! I love my cakes and sweets!

... Pretend you didn't hear the last bit.

Ah, whatever, dishes in hand, I leave the noisy hall and find the one room of my calling. That's right... The Counselling Club's clubroom. Yes, redundancy was intentioned. Having to join such a shit club has its benefits in the end. Since that damn Alice took my place under the stairs, I hereby claim the claustrophobic hell to be my hideout! To the Reiji Cave!

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This room is only slightly bigger than my new room at the dorm, yet I find such comfort sitting within its confines, consuming a delicate meal laid over the table. Maybe it's that after-rain breeze blowing through those open windows. Or perhaps I enjoy a dusty environment where dust fills the corners of the lockers and cobwebs hang at the ends of the ceiling?

Does the spirit of adventure burn within my will? Having spent my days holed up in that room of mine, a change of scenery does my heart justice. Despite that, I could never keep steady within a crowd. At some point, people have become a fear of mine.

So, all I need is someplace different, yet isolated. A space underneath a flight of stairs, a small and unkempt clubroom... As long as I'm alone, I'll be fine.

"Aw, hell no!"

It's obvious that I'm not the only one who seeks solitude within this school.

The look of utter repulse etches on Reiji-san's face the moment his eyes fall upon me. The bowl on his tray spills its contents as his hands shake uncontrollably, speculations on whether it is rage or fear.

"What are you doing here?!" He drops the tray on the table. "Hey, I gave you my staircase! So use it! C'mon!"

Hm... The both of us always seem to end up at the same place. Our pursuit of loneliness leads us upon the very same path. The very same place.

Meaning, I have to get used to his... intimidating demeanour. He has the appearance befitting a seme yet the reactions akin to an uke. There's a term that perfectly describes men such as him. Riba and seke. The former originates from the English word, 'reversible', meaning his role can be change back and forth, whereas the latter is a combination of both roles. In the end, they mean the exact same thing.

Ribaseke Reiji. Ribaseke-san has a nice ring to it, does it not? I've always felt uncomfortable addressing him by given name, so just calling him that might be...

"Are you even listening?!" I look up, and realize that he had gone into a rant while I was in monologue.

...