After I confirmed that Manabe and her friends were gone, I entered the room. Karuizawa should've heard the door open, but she continued to cower and cry on the ground. Perhaps she didn't notice me coming in because she was so overcome by fear. So this was how the leader of the girls, so arrogant and headstrong, really was?
A rage starts seeping into students' hearts. What Manabe's group did before was nothing to what we are seeing now. Kei's friends especially look enraged. Like an angry wave, they let loose.
"What the hell is wrong with you! All this because she pushed some girl? How are you not expelled? In fact, that's what will happen after we leave this place. With the number of students who will agree with Kei, when she puts a complaint to the school, your chances of staying here are nill. Enjoy the time you have left. Disgusting freaks!" Screams Satou.
Everyone is glaring at them, the pressure is too much for them and they start sobbing and mumbling apologies. Looks pass between people, most people seem to have agreed with Satou's proposal. Ryuuen's class excluded. While angry at their behavior, the point penalty would be too much. Still, I think they will not try anything if a complaint is lodged.
The only reason they stayed before was Kei not wanting to publicize the event. Now, she will take a pound of flesh as payment for their actions.
Kei looks angry, remembering the state she was brought to. The difference between the person in the past and now is like night and day. Before she would have been scared that people know about this, now only righteous indignation remains.
Looking at the person next to me and remembering what I orchestrated to happen, a feeling of regret washes over me. In the end, my methods had a good outcome, but what I made happen was horrible. I will make this up to her, and thank her eternally for getting me to feel something akin to regret.
Never again will I let anything happen to you. This I vow. For the love, you are giving me and what it makes me feel towards you, not a hair will be harmed on your head.
Perhaps thanks to the advice I'd given to Manabe and her friends, Karuizawa's uniform and the parts of her body that you could normally see appeared undamaged.
Because of these words, people look at me. This will be difficult to deal with and the worst part has not even been shown yet.
"Kyiotaka, did you arrange the bullying?" Yosuke asks me. Face scrunched up in concentration. He is giving me a chance to explain myself before he makes up his mind. The energy in the room is intensifying. The only thing I can do now is...
"The only thing I did was make sure that what happened would not be public knowledge. I knew that something like this would happen, so the only thing I could do was mitigate the pain Kei would experience. If this got out, it would have been way worse for Kei. You understand what she feared the most, no? With this, no one knew about it and I had definitive proof that it happened so I made the bullying stop."
I can make the best out of a bad situation. I can't stay quiet with him directly asking me about it and if I snubbed Yosuke the situation would have spiraled out of control. I can only paint my actions in the best possible light, even if what comes out is the darkest shade of gray. I arranged to bully, even if it was to stop it. The outcome while good, only happened because of a morally bad event.
It does not really matter now, next to me Kei is nodding at what I said. With her continued support and my personal history, the student's reaction to what I said is only discontent. They are not happy with my actions, but Kei herself is not angry at me, so they can not do much.
But the anger is building, I can feel it. There is nothing I can do to stop it. I do not mind though. I went through worse.
The only thing to do is minimize the damage after everything is done.
If her uniform had been ripped, or if they'd cut her hair, it would've been difficult for the Class C girls to go unpunished. While bullying is common, our school's unique setup made bullying much more difficult to get away with. If anything might have been a cause for concern, it was her cheeks, reddened from being slapped over and over. The marks would fade by tomorrow, though.
"Karuizawa."When I called her, she finally noticed me. She lifted her head.
"Why are..." she stammered. I wasn't supposed to be here. She panicked at being seen like that, but couldn't just stop crying and act as though nothing had happened. She would eventually stop crying. She would eventually calm down. If I left right now, what I wanted to happen wouldn't take place.
"What did you want to happen? What exactly are you trying to achieve?"
Wonders someone from Ichinoses class. Their good nature is annoying in this situation. I can't ignore this and let them make their own conclusions. But there is nothing really for me to say to get a positive reaction. I just have to hold steady for now. Keep their emotions at the same level as now.
"Everything will be shown. Please do not ask questions before the video ends."
It is a nonanswer. Who knows, maybe some questions will be staved off because I said this. Most likely not, but stranger things happened.
I continued to wait quietly, without trying to talk to her.
After some time passed, Karuizawa gradually stopped bawling, and she started to calm down. If two people were alone together in a dark, closed room, a sort of natural intimacy occurred. Even if the people normally hated each other, the psychological distance between them would lessen.
As if hypnotized, all eyes are on the screen. Human curiosity overrode all speculation if there was any. They want to see what exactly I did.
"Have you calmed down a bit?"
"A little."Karuizawa still didn't stand. She wiped the tears away with her uniform sleeve. I reached out to help her up, but she didn't move to take my hand
"Where's Hirata-Kun?" she asked.
"Sounds like he was supposed to meet you here. I would guess that a teacher called him away. I just happened to be with him when he mentioned you, so I came here in his place."
No questions are asked here since they know that I set this event up. Some students glare at me, I just ignore them. There is nothing for me to say here.
That explanation should have been enough to satisfy her and save me the trouble of further questions. There wasn't any need to tell her the truth right now. First, I needed to get her to relax, and then fill in the cracks of her heart.
"Why were you crying?" I asked.
"Manabe and her friends... I absolutely will not let them get away with that."Karuizawa started trembling as she recalled what they'd done to her. Even if she didn't want to reveal this pathetic side of herself, the trauma was buried so deep that her pain wasn't easily hidden.
"You have to keep this a secret. If anyone finds out, I'll never forgive you," she warned me. Karuizawa's weakness was that she couldn't stand being seen as a victim by the rest of the school. If people found out that Manabe and her friends had used violence, then the school would inevitably expose the details of what had happened and why. To protect her social standing, Karuizawa couldn't afford to let that happen. That was why she'd planned to use Hirata to stop Manabe and her friends.
"As you can see Kyiotaka was being thoughtful with the whole situation. I would have done anything to not have what happened there come out. He kept those girls off of me and in the end, helped me get over what happened. After a while, at least. Please don't be mad at him, what he did help me get over everything."
With Kei's words being heard by everyone, the tension lessens. Students remember that whatever happened helped Kei in the end and she is grateful to me.
"You know, you could get back at Manabe and the others. Since they're girls, even someone like you could win," she suggested to me.
"That's an insane request," I answered flatly.
"What, are you scared of getting even with Manabe and her friends? And you're supposed to be a guy," she chided.
"If you attack them, it'll all be over. You should know from what happened with Sudou that this isn't a simple matter. Don't you get it? An eye for an eye won't solve anything. Things will only get further out of hand. The school will carry out an investigation and conduct interviews. You don't want that, right, Karuizawa?"
Opinion of me is turning positive. That is what I can glean from the students' body language. That will not be so for long, but I can see that my plan should be enough to keep them at least neutral to me in the end. And if I will not achieve that right now, later events will do so anyway. I just need them to not be a hindrance to me. I still need to deal with Tsukishiro and Nagumo.
"So you'll just lie down and take it?" she asked. I knew how to respond, but decided to stay silent.
"But they would... They'll continue to do awful things to me,"
muttered Karuizawa. She started shaking again. In truth, there was no guarantee that Manabe and her friends would stop. Karuizawa could find many ways to escape back at school, but she couldn't continue playing hide-and-seek with Manabe forever. Her classmates would eventually notice a change in Karuizawa's behavior. Karuizawa desperately wanted to fix this situation. I'd been waiting for that desperation.
"It would be terrible if things went back to how they were back in the old days. I understand that you want to prevent it," I told her.
"Huh? What are you talking about?"
Karuizawa should be putting things together by now. Even if it was clear how I knew that Manabe and her friends had bullied her, she should wonder how I knew about her past.
Everyone is probably wondering about that, but societal rules do not allow inquiring about what I mean. So instead they are listening intently, to see if I mention it.
"I meant exactly what I said. You've managed to escape by getting into this prestigious school and rising through the ranks to reign supreme at the head of Class D. But in the end, you haven't really changed at all. You're still that bullied little girl."
"You were bullied?" Asks Satou shocked.
"Yes, I was." That is all Kei says. She is of course uncomfortable with the topic. That is understandable.
"Wh-who are you talking about?!" she shouted.
"You, Karuizawa."I grabbed her arm and forced her up.
"H-hey, what are you doing?!"I pinned her up against the wall and forced her to look me in the eye.
Now it begins. I can't defend myself here, since I blackmail her in the end. I have to rely on Kei.
Strangely, the class does not say anything. They are looking at the screen, some are horrified, some confused. That can not continue of course.
"I get that you did not grow up normal, but this is intimidation you know. How is this helping you Karuiwaza-san?"
Asks Amikura, clearly concerned. Huh, so my childhood has this much of an effect, most likely it is Kei's support though.
"In the end, he did help me. For him the process is not important, the result is. So now he is being a big idiot and doing that. Chashibara-sensei also did not help with the whole blackmail thing." Says Kei.
That is a good explanation of my methods. It also answers the question and prepares them for what happens in a bit. Good job.
"I can attest to that. Kyiotaka-Kun did the same to me after Yamauchi-Kun was expelled. He said harsh things, but they were intended to help me." Says Yosuke.
Surprising, but his support is needed. His reputation in our whole year is very high, so his vouching for me is influential. Both of them saying this relaxes the atmosphere a bit. At least in regards to my situation.
"Manabe tormented you just now, yes? She and her friends pulled your hair and slapped your face. They kicked you in the chest, in your stomach, didn't they? That's why you ended up like this: miserable, pathetic, crying on the ground."
"Wha—"
Our eyes met. We stared as if we were being sucked into one another. Of course, there wasn't any hint of love there. Only darkness.
"You were bullied ever since you were little. You were a victim throughout elementary school and junior high. You wanted to act tough so you could stop being bullied. Am I right?"
"D-did you hear this...from Hirata-Kun?"
"Hirata is everyone's ally, for better or worse. He'll help you like he'll help anyone. Even if you got your position in Class D by pretending to Hirata's girlfriend, won't be of any use to you in situations like this. He isn't a good enough host for a parasite like you."
"Before everyone says anything, Karuiwaza-san explained everything to me and I agreed to help her. I was not interested in dating at that time anyway, so it was not a bother." Yosuke shuts that thing down before anything even happens.
I doubt people would say anything now, but it would stay in their minds. Addressing it now makes the thing go away. I wonder why no one asked about the facts that Yosuke told me about her situation. His reputation seems to be that good.
Karuizawa was much smarter than other people thought. She had taken care not to overdo it in the Rabbit group precisely because she understood Hirata's neutral stance. That was probably why she was so reserved at first. However, as a display of her status, she'd started trouble with Rika, which led to this current predicament.
"Even now you can't stop thinking about the situation. Your mind is truly fascinating Ayanokouji-Kun." Says Sakayanagi.
She looks relaxed, probably because she figured what I did out already. She did the same with Kamuro. Well, not the physical part, but I digress.
"What are you... Why are you doing this, huh?!"
"Why? It's obvious, isn't it? You need to understand your situation. Don't you know who's standing in front of you right now? It's not Hirata; it's me. I know everything. I know about your past. I know about your fake relationship with Hirata. I even know that Manabe and her friends tortured you to the point where you started bawling."
I knew everything that Karuizawa Kei wanted to hide. I had her heart in my hands. Right now, I would decide whether she lived or died.
I can hear mutters of creepy and terrifying around me. It was the truth, if I wanted to, I could have socially destroyed her in a matter of a few clicks and well-placed words.
"If you don't do as I say, I can expose you," I added. Karuizawa understood better than anyone how terrifying that was.
"Don't screw with me! Who the hell do you think you are?!" she shouted.
"Someone who knows the truth. Nothing more, nothing less."I moved in so close to her that our faces almost touched. When she turned her face away and tried to avert her eyes, I grabbed her chin and forced her to look at me. She wanted to look away, but with a man's strength bearing down on her, she couldn't move. She closed her eyes as if trying to escape my gaze.
"Dude, what the hell?" Says some guy I do not recognize from Sakayanagi's class. Other students are asking their own questions. The only play is to have Kei defend me here. Class D itself looks strangely quiet though. They are probably thinking about the help I gave to the class. I am too valuable for them to alienate. So even these questionable actions are being mostly ignored, especially because Kei is defending me. Her personality is overbearing in our class, at least on the girls' side.
"Shut up. I am trying to enjoy something here." Says Sakayanagi and any comments from her class die down. It is impressive how with only her intellect she can control her class like a dictator. I can hear Ichinose trying to calm her class down too. The trust she has in me is immense. Ryuuen's class is also non-responsive. They are probably used to something like this. To them, I look like Ryuuen.
"What, what do you want with me?! You're just after my body, aren't you?" she screamed.
"Your body, huh? You know, that doesn't sound too bad."I ran my fingertips across Karuizawa's thighs. She felt so incredibly soft that I couldn't even imagine that she was a person like me. Her skin was silky smooth. The feel of it was incredibly different from my own.
As this happens it feels like a volcano is erupting. Almost every student here is enraged, all the calming down Ichinose and Sakyanagi did are useless. The girls look especially mad, this is sexual harassment after all. I can only sit and bear it until they are silenced. The being does not like it when all discourse dies down and only screams remain.
The shouts stop after a few more seconds. Precious silence is back.
A white screen appears
"Judge after knowing all the facts."
This is the only thing on the screen for a minute. These moments are precious, the longer this lasts, the more people's opinions will be harder to sway. Hopefully, they understand what I did in the end. The event starts playing again.
"Eek!"She tried to escape my touch. I held her tighter and forced her to look straight at me.
"Don't run. If you try it again, I'll tell everyone at school what I know about you."Those words were like a magic spell. She stiffened.
People are horrified. Still silenced, the only thing they do is stare at the screen in horror. This will be hard to get out of. Some are looking at Kei's reaction to this though. Even now she looks calm as if this does not affect her. It really does not anymore. Some take note of this and start calming down a bit.
"You... Grr..." She sputtered. Rage, panic, fear, despair: How many negative feelings had Karuizawabeen carrying? She now realized that I was completely different from the meek person she knew from school. She probably found it terrifying.
"Spread your legs," I commanded. Karuizawa slowly opened her legs, tears streaming down her face as she did so. Even if she knew that she was about to be violated, she still wanted to protect her position. The pain she felt from her years of being bullied had won out. I placed my hand on my belt buckle and pretended to rattle it. Even so, Karuizawa didn't run. She was trying to accept this. She looked at me with empty eyes. There was no doubt about it. Karuizawa Kei had become a perfect tool for me. I didn't actually care about her body; I just needed to threaten her to see how far she was willing to go, how much she would do. She probably understood that.
"He says it himself here. He just needed me to listen to him and he wanted to see how far I would go. It is messed up, but not in the way you are thinking. Anything he asked me to do was for the class in the end." Says Kei.
This calms things down a bit. Instead of a raging forest fire, it is like a house is on fire. Bad, but it is easier to put the flames out.
"Still, what the hell Ayanokouji. I understand that you grew up in special circumstances and Karuiwaza herself is not mad, there are still limits to what you can do!" Shinohara rages. Others students agree. This is manageable. The best thing to do now is to show remorse.
"I agree. What I did was deplorable and I apologize. While it was not my goal, I committed a terrible act. I am only lucky that Kei has forgiven me for what I actually did." I say. While trying to put as much remorse into my voice as possible. It seems to be working, probably because I actually feel regret for putting Kei through that. Some seem a bit mollified, some do not. No matter how well I try to damage control, it is still controlling the damage. I will suffer socially for this for a while.
"At least you have the guts to admit you are wrong. Still, even if it was not your goal, what you did was messed up. Good for you that Karuiwaza-san has forgiven you, but actions have consequences." That is all Shinohara says to me.
She is insinuating that there will be social consequences for my actions. I do not mind, really. From what I have observed, people I consider friends are not really angry at me. I will still have to talk to them later about it, but since I apologized and Kei herself is defending me, they understand that my intentions were good.
"Alright, enough of this. Karuiwaza-san is defending him herself. The matter has been solved between those two. so kindly stop discussing something you are not a part of and the appropriate parties have talked about." Says Horikita. |
She is probably desperate to keep the fallout small, with what happened to Kushida, this can still turn disastrous. With Kushida it was more of a raw feeling of betrayal though. She faked her whole personality, the allegation just added to it. Well, it does not really matter anyway. With the dominant personalities of our class supporting me and the leaders of other classes doing the same, the consequences are lesser. To be honest, social exclusion is only troublesome because of Tsukishiro. If my father did not try to interfere, I would be fine with most of the student body not liking me. It was like this most of my life anyway.
"Everyone shut the hell up! What do you know about this whole thing really? At least he helped me. Do not dare judge him for what he did. I became a fuller person for it. Sure, he did something bad, who doesn't? I was the one he did this to, and I forgive him for it anyway. If you have a problem with what Kyiotaka did talk about it with me."
After saying all of this, Kei is a bit out of breath. She really dislikes all this criticism of me huh. How sweet.
"Why are you defending him this much Kei-chan?" Asks Nene.
This steadfast defense of me through everything is making things confusing for people. I did a horrible act, yet this person is defending me seemingly against most of the students in our year.
"This thing mostly shows secret things that have happened, it does not let you understand relationships between people. How can you judge his whole person after this when you celebrated the fact that he is so smart? Or that you were seemingly so sad for him when his rough childhood was revealed? You do not know Kyiotaka at all. In this one instance, he was cruel yes, but how many students as he helped over his time in school? Do you know the insane pressure he must have felt after being threatened by a teacher to return to a home that seems very abusive? Under that pressure, one can do unthinkable things. He apologized to me anyway, this is none of your business so back of." Kei rants.
Her face even turned red out of anger. If we were in a cartoon, smoke would be coming out of her ears.
This seemingly unending barrage of questions makes the students think. Like a hose of water, Kei put the burning house out of its misery. Now, the situation is calm. It is hard to say if everything is truly calmed down, but for now, the situation is over.
Revealing my true self to her was a big risk. If Karuizawa reported me to the school, I'd be in enormous trouble. However, she feared her past and losing her current social status more than anything else. That was why she'd go so far as to offer up her body if someone requested it if it would protect her secret.
"I'll never bow to you. I won't be bullied by the likes of you. You just want to mess with me! You think you can do whatever you want, you pervert?!" she shouted. Karuizawa roared with anger as if it was welling up from deep within her heart.
" Well, whatever. It's not like this is the first time someone's used force against me. So. Did you know about that, too? How do you think I should act in an impossible situation?" she asked. Still trembling, she gave a thin smile and looked at me with intense darkness in her eyes.
"After a while, I gave up trying to resist. That's right; I was everyone's victim. I became cold, robotic. I could cry, scream, or thrash around, but it didn't matter. I couldn't do anything. All I could do was take it."Karuizawa, as if accepting it all, lifted her skirt and touched her panties. I grabbed her slender arm and pushed her up against the wall.
"What happened to you?" I asked.
"What happened? All sorts of things. Everything and anything. They put tacks in my shoes or stuff my desk full of roadkill. When I went to the bathroom, I'd get splashed with dirty water. They wrote words like 'whore'on my uniform. They pulled my hair and punched and kicked me. Anything you could imagine, basically. I was bullied in every way. Countless times.What I've just told you was just a fraction of what I've experienced. These were the 'gentler' ways I've been bullied, too. It makes me want to laugh. So, why aren't you laughing? Why don't you laugh at the pitiful loser who's been bullied all her life?"
With everything being said, more and more faces start looking pale. Some look at Kei like a new person. Respect is expected after hearing all that she suffered and who she is now. Even someone like Sakayanagi is looking at her a bit differently. Kei is just trying to keep calm, she knows that her scar will be shown.
Even after everything she'd suffered, she still got back up. She seemed ready to fight again. Her resilience had motivated her to enroll in this school. Still...the experiences she'd recounted weren't enough to explain everything.
"What else have you suffered?" I asked.
"Huh?"
"Have you told me the whole truth?"I believed that something critical had shattered her spirit before this. There had to be some other reason behind her abnormal fearfulness, something that Karuizawa wanted to hide so much that it was worth giving up on her body.
Some look at me like I am crazy. After everything I have heard, something else has happened to her? Those are probably the thoughts of most people. Since the clip is continuing, no one says anything. They have figured out by now that important things are still happening.
"What are you hiding?"
"Wh-what?"Karuizawa turned her head from me and lowered her eyes to look down at her left side. I noticed that, of course. I reached over and touched that part of her body, over her uniform.
"S-stop!" she shouted. Her shouts echoed within the enclosed walls of the room. I grabbed her uniform and pulled it up. There, on her beautiful skin, was an ugly scar. A deep scar, one that had been created by a sharp blade.
Kei curls up a bit. I still do not know how she got that scar, but it must be a truly horrifying experience. Silence is the only reaction possible. No one dares to say anything. If people's faces were a painting after seeing her scar, terror would be its name.
"This is it? This is your darkness?"
"U-ugh!"This wasn't the result of simple bullying. A serious scar like this had come from a life-threatening attack. Even though she was burdened with that horrible past, she remained tough. She got back on her feet. Over the past few days, I'd keenly observed Karuizawa Kei. To protect herself, she forced people to become her allies. She protected her status, even if that meant being disliked.
"Despair comes in many forms. And you've experienced despair. Haven't you?" I asked. Karuizawa's dark eyes met with mine. People who carry darkness within are attracted to one another. Slowly, they erode each other. Those who conceal deep darkness will readily embrace the darkness of others.
Seeing my own thoughts like this is weird. I am weirdly poetic sometimes.
"Wh-what are you...you..." she stammered. If her past held her captive, then I had to forcefully free her from her shackles. Even if we weren't close, I could feel the darkness from her, through her skin. Yes. There were profoundly dark things left in this world that even Karuizawa didn't yet know about.
"Are you saying you have experienced worse things than Karuiwaza?" Someone from Ryuuen's class asks. While I could ignore the question, I can build up some sympathy for myself again. The whole situation with Kei is still very raw in people's minds. I look at him.
"What I can say is that I have suffered through a different type of darkness, in ways worse and in ways better than what Kei has experienced. Suffering should not be measured against itself anyway. You will probably see more of what happened to me, so be patient till then." Most likely they will not, but letting their imagination run wild is good for me. It will make them invent scenarios comparable to what Kei has described herself.
"I promise you one thing. From now on, I will protect you from bullying. I will be much more reliable than Hirata or Machida," I told her.
"Wait. You meant that you can stop Manabe and her friends?" she asked.
"Right now, you should understand what I'm saying. If the wind blows, a tiny flame goes out. However, a larger flame only grows bigger. It becomes so strong that it won't go out, not even in the face of wild winds or pouring rain. You will help me, and I will help you. Kindness has nothing to do with it. Do you have any problems with this arrangement?"
"First things first. I'll get rid of your anxieties for you," I added. I pulled out my phone.
"I have a way to stop Manabe and her friends."I showed her my phone. On the screen was a photo of Karuizawa being bullied in the emergency stairway.
"That's—" she began.
"If I send this picture to them, they won't get carried away anymore. If they still decide to harass you, perhaps by spreading rumors, then I will step in and put a stop to it. With this."As far as Manabe and her friends were concerned, this incident should have been enough to satisfy them. If they got carried away and tried to hurt Karuizawa further, they would end up causing trouble for Ryuuen.
Even though this was a self-serving thing, people look at me a bit more kindly. Still, no one speaks, after everything, people do not really want to discuss anything for now.
Then they would be in jeopardy themselves. I let go of Karuizawa's chin and spoke in a flat, emotionless tone.
"All I want is for people to cooperate with me. I want you to assist me in the future, doing whatever I need."
"What? Assist? What do you want me to do?"
"If things continue as they are, Class D will never overtake Class A. While the individual students within Class D certainly aren't incapable, we lack a sense of unity. Our class is scattered. However, if you control the girls for me, the situation will gradually improve."Her social pull made her an even more valuable ally than Horikita.
Kei looks proud at my statement. I can still see that this whole ordeal has exhausted her mentally.
"What are you trying to..."Up until now, she'd only ever seen me as a lowly, unobtrusive guy. Seeing my true self must've terrified her. But I was done explaining. Besides, the less I talked, the more terrifying I would appear. The less she would resist.
"Now, the first thing I need. We must guide our group to victory in this exam."
"How am I supposed to help lead them to—"
"You can because you're... Right?"
"So you were not the VIP?" Ask Keisei, probably to distract everyone from what happened a bit.
"Yes, sorry for not telling you then," I say.
"It is fine, we did not really know each other anyway." He replies.
Haruka looks a bit proud, that Keisei is saying stuff like this. Hopefully, my actions have not made her view me differently.
Though I didn't articulate the keyword in that sentence, Karuizawa seemed to know what it was. She looked me in the eyes. The truth resonated deep within her, in her heart. She tried to look puzzled, but that was just an act. After all, a parasite couldn't live without a host. By finding a new host, Karuizawa only had one way to go on living: with me.
With this last line from me, the video ends.
"Senpai, your eyes are really scary you know?" Says Amasawa.
So that is what she was concentrating on the whole time? This girl...
"We talked about this before. I have them from my father as you know." I say. Is this her warped attempt to lighten the atmosphere?
"I know, but while scary, they make your face more attractive senpai. Takes away all the gloominess." She says back. What can I even say to this? This is what she took from the whole event? I just shake my head. Some look at Amawasa, shocked at her brazen attitude, even after what was played.
A/N: Sorry for the long period of no updates. This chapter has been a task to get through. I had no idea how to write the interactions between the characters. After this, I should be able to update with more frequency, since nothing really complicated is going to come up for a while. Hopefully, the chapter did not disappoint.