"Listen, Enki." You cupped his cheeks with your hands before heaving out a breath of air that you didn't even know you held in. "My relationship with Takuma is nothing but a fraud," and as you said that, Enki's eyes lightened up considerably, and thus, you questioned yourself if you should follow what your mind was dictating you to say.
"But,"
Rule number one when it comes to receiving a confession:
Never just shrug off the feelings of the confessor. Never say that what they are feeling isn't love, because that is just undermining their emotions.
"While I do appreciate that someone as sweet as you has taken a liking towards me..."
Rule number seven when it comes to dating:
Never enter a relationship unless you're ready because in the end, both parties will only end up getting hurt.
"I have no plans on getting an actual boyfriend right now." There, you said it. You didn't want to say the magical three-lettered word to someone whom you didn't fancy in that kind of sense. And granted the fact that you did love Enki and you'd do whatever you could just to make him happy, that still didn't change the notion that this was the lattermost point of your relationship with him. Keyword, friendship.
You braced yourself for whatever might come next after your sort-of blunt statement, yet when there was none, you didn't know whether you should sag your shoulders in relief or be engulfed with the jitters because of Enki's lack of reaction.
"It's..."
You closed your eyes shut when he started talking- a coping mechanism, if you might.
"It's... all right."
Huh?
Slowly opening your eyes, you were awestricken when you saw Enki sending a smile towards you, so warm that it made you even more on guard than necessary. "I actually appreciate that you didn't answer my confession right away because of pity." His hand was laid flat on the left side of his chest, right exactly where his heart was located.
"I don't want you to be forced into something you don't want because of your desire to sympathize with me."
This was not what you envisioned to happen. You awaited for a tantrum, a hissy fit because of your rejection. Yet seeing him acting like an adult at the moment, properly responding rather than going into a frenzy as he did earlier, like years of maturement suddenly was injected in his brain, you were, more or less, a proud mom.
Aw, sorry Enki for being son-zoned.
Making a choice of not touching on the topic any further because even if Enki didn't appear to be hurt at all because of you turning him down, you knew that deep inside, there must still be an ache somewhere and you wouldn't want to add anything to that.
"And you did say 'right now', so in the future, there may be a chance of you allowing me to court you. In the meantime, I'll use this time to prove myself worthy of your affection."
With the sides of your lips tugging upwards due to the determination he was exuding, you rumpled his hair with affection.
"I'll be waiting for that day, Mr. Charmer. For now, let's get you to the infirmary."
—
"I saw it," Takuma blurted out of nowhere as you enjoyed the taste of free lunch. Just... why did food taste better when it's free?
"What d'ya mean?' You made sure to swallow your food before speaking. For in this day and age, etiquette matters the most, alongside with status and looks. And as a daughter of a ducal house, you acting like a proper lady with elegance in her blood was a must- even if you didn't seem like it most of the time.
"You know, Enki was the name, professing his love for you," his voice was beneath a whisper, the intensity of his volume was enough to assure you that even if there were people sitting close by, they wouldn't be able to hear what he had said. Unless they could lipread with the use of their peripheral vision, of course.
You sent him a pointed look and he was quick to go and speak for his defense."I didn't do it on purpose, okay? I was on a bathroom break and it's purely coincidental that I overhead your exchange of words with him." He stabbed a spoonful of his food in his mouth afterward.
"I believe you," you replied, not saying anything more. You remembered what happened between you and Kozan and how you, by a twist of fate, had done the same thing as Takuma.
"I swear, I did not- huh, what? You're letting me off the hook so easily?"
"Yeah. I don't see any reason for me to think that everything you have been spouting is mere dishonesty."
Well, you did have one. But you weren't 'that' doltish to say something such as that out loud.
"Hm."
"Hey, what's with yo-"
You were interrupted because of a little bitch heading your way.
"Not this again." You rolled your eyes at the familiar face of the girl who was so keen on making your life a literal hell.
"You!" Clemenbitch pointed her index finger at you. It was near apparent that she was beyond furious. Yet were you curious? No.
"Me?" You gestured to yourself, phlegmatic about the entire situation.
"Yes, you! How dare you go in-between and cause disruption to my relationship with Yukio?!"
You had no idea as to what was contemporarily happening.
Oh well, you'd just go with the flow.
You ignored her completely, choosing to disregard her as a whole since countering would only add fire to the situation.
"And now you have the audacity to ignore me after what you've just done?!"
"Can you please just shut up?" Now, this surprised you.
You didn't expect Takuma to speak on your behalf. Not that you needed him to since you're very well capable of defending yourself from this thing.
Anyone could tell from a distance that Clementine was shocked as well. She was flustered because of a male telling her off, and you would lie if you said that you didn't enjoy seeing her in this state.
Ah, this was it. The satisfaction of seeing someone you hate experiencing this kind of humiliation.
Everyone's eyes were on your table, and you swore, if this girl had even the tiniest bit of self-respect, she would've made this a private thing or would've left the moment people began whispering about her astonishing display of lack of self-preservation.
"D-don't intervene!"
"And why won't I? This is my lover whom you are speaking to in such an ill-mannered way- of course, I'll interrupt this as soon as I can."
Give this man an Oscar. Look at his acting- if you didn't know that this guy was a detective using you for his own benefit and for the greater good of everyone in this academy, you would've fallen in love with him because of the chivalry he was oozing with.
'If I started moving right now, he would stop me as soon as possible,' Morris thought as she bit her lower lip. And then, a smug look appeared on her face, looking like she won the war before it even started.
"Arisa," Clementine called out, and without a word-
Splash
The sound of juice spilling on you and the icky feeling of the liquid causing the cloth covering your body to stick to your skin, everyone gasped the moment this happened.
"Shit." You muttered. Takuma was now fussing over you, before giving you his blazer in place of your soaked ones.
"What is your problem?!" Takuma, even if he didn't like lashing out and using violence on women, was overcome with hatred for this gal and her following and just wished that he could sock all of them on the face.
"What is HER problem. Yukio and I are having the time of our lives as lovers and she just had to interpose!"
You had enough of this shit.
Placing both of your hands on the table to support yourself as you stood up, you scoffed in disdain.
"So you finally decided to act instead of hiding behind your knight-in-shining-armor."
"Slap me."
"What?" Takuma and Clementine blurted simultaneously.
"You're mad at me or supposedly causing your break up with Yukio. Go on, hurt me."
"That's so dunce-like of you! Alright then,"
Thwack
The contact of her palm with your cheek was enough to make you stagger. "Why did you do that," Takuma was about to pull you back yet you stopped him.
"Let me handle this," you lipped.
Back when you were still an adolescent, your father from the other dimension instilled this thought to you.
Don't you ever hurt someone... unless they strike first. You can blame your upcoming actions on self-defense after that.
You cracked your knuckles before pulling your fist backward.
"What are you planning to do..." Clementine slowly walked further away from you yet you were too into the zone to stop yourself.
And soon, the sound of someone's nose breaking soon came as your clenched hand clocked her face.
.
.
.
A certain blue-haired boy was watching from afar, and as he saw the punch that you pulled off, he was sure that the pumping of the blood of his vascular organ amped up.
—
A/n:
I've just woken up when I've started finishing this chapter, so if you see any mistakes, you can blame my still clouded mind.
Also, sorry for not updating for a week (or more than that hehe)! I've been working on art commissions so I haven't really gotten the spare time to write. So with that cleared out of the way, I hope you enjoyed today's chapter!