It was fortunate enough that you were able to steer clear of your bastard of a father last night. But now... you still had a school to go to. Dark bags lined beneath your eyes, illuminating the fact that you mainly tossed and turned in bed rather than slept. Too much was on your mind, running a hamster wheel in your head ruthlessly. You thought of when you first began in this world, meeting each of the elites, and how some of them started to grow on you. You thought about this dilemma weighing heavily on your chest and wondered what would be the best course of action to take next.
All that thinking was at a loss, for no good ideas came to mind.
Stifling a loud yawn threatening to come out, you rubbed your bleary eyes and waited for the pedestrian light to turn on. The cool morning air brushed your arms, erupting goosebumps on your skin and leaving you shivering slightly. Maybe the cold wasn't so bad -- it was the only aspect keeping you awake at this point.
The white walking pedestrian flickered, so you quickly attempted to cross the road with the crowd, trudging your feet forward. Suddenly noticing someone ahead of you, you quickened your steps to catch up to them. Breathless by the time you reached him, you captured his attention and the blond whipped his head to the side. Warm brown eyes fell on you, surprise lining in them. A sense of deja vu crept on you, for it visibly reminded you of your first day of school and the encounter with Kouki out on the streets.
"Good morning," you breathed out, raising a brow when he quickly averted his eyes from you.
"Morning," he responded hastily. He made no move to continue the conversation.
This was happening within the past week as well. In class, he would no longer approach you and whenever the two of you would accidentally make eye contact, he would hold it for no longer than a second. It greatly differed from the bubbly persona he always had, always popping up out of nowhere to bother you. He had been a hindrance, but he was also secretly enjoyable to have around. As hard as it was to admit it, you somewhat liked his company. Which was why it was so strange and drastic the moment he stopped doing all of these things. It was as if the roles were switched -- with you as the pest and him being the victim to an annoyance.
His pace sped up and it was so obvious by now with what he was doing. Running after him, you were happy that you weren't so out of breath anymore, since you endurance built up from school. "Hey," you said, keeping your jogging pace. He frowned in dismay, looking mildly uncomfortable, which honestly sent a pang through your chest. Were you annoying him that much? If so, then why did he approach and talk to you for all these weeks? Did he lead you on?
"Do you need something?" he asked, his voice turning unfriendly. You fought the urge to flinch from his tone.
"As a matter of fact, I do. Are you avoiding me?" you blurted, deciding to rip off the band-aid once and for all. This game of cat and mouse was personally exhausting you -- answers were needed, and they were needed now.
He laughed for a minute straight, though it didn't sound so friendly. His head shook and he patted your shoulder once, the notion of it cold. "That's funny. The world does not revolve around you, [Y/N]. Believe it or not, I do not think of you in every second of my day. I have better things to do."
"No... but..." Your voice faltered and you decided it was best to quit.
Why was he being so mean? You slowed down your pace, knitting your brows together in confusion and hurt. He went on ahead, never once looking over his shoulder, as if you didn't exist.
Your fingers curled around the handle of the schoolbag, and you let out a lone sigh as the trek towards school proceeded. Pushing the elite to the back of your mind, you figured there were a lot of other problems to deal with.
The school building began to grow nearer and larger, leaving a lump in your throat. The doors were pushed open, revealing the swarm of body of students in the hallways, pushing to get to the front of the billboard where a bunch of TVs were playing. They replayed clips from last night's talent shows and in one of them, you could see your performance with Sakiko. Flinching at the sight of it, you quickly turned around to leave the scene. This was giving you a bad aftertaste.
Heading to your first classroom, you climbed up the stairs and found the door to the changing room. Sakiko was already there, diligently taking off her uniform and changing into her white martial arts robes. She perked up instantly at the sound of your footsteps like a deer caught in headlights. Calming down at the sight of you, she walked over and leaned into the side of your face. Her cold lips brushed the lobes of your ear and you nearly shivered at the feeling of it. She whispered, "I want to talk to you, but not here. There are too many ears around. Can we head out into the hallway?"
You nodded mutely in response and she leaned away with a small smile on her face. She appeared to be just as tired, but her eyes did not contain any dark circles or red rims. No doubt, she had covered up all her blemishes this morning with makeup.
As the bell had rung for first period, the hallways were deserted of any students. You walked to an obscured corner, glancing back to see her following tail. Releasing a sigh, she leaned against the wall and hunched over, for once not holding onto the perfect posture she wore. "My mother talked to me this morning," she said, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "She knew I saw what happened and threatened me from telling dad."
"What?" You froze in horror at the realization. Sakiko's mom couldn't seem to get any worse than this. But you knew that from the start. When you first saw the woman with her suit, tall heels, and a smile as fake as plastic, you knew how suspicious she was.
The girl nodded, balling her helpless hands into fists. "You know what's ironic about this? I agree with her... I don't want to ruin this perfect facade of our family. I don't want to hurt my father's feelings and cause a whirlwind that will ruin the Ono's reputation. We did so much to get to where we are today. And... and I don't have the strength to tear it apart," she whispered, lowering her head shamefully.
You wanted to protest, to slap her back to reality and tell her that this was wrong -- all wrong. However, her thoughts were relatable to the point it hurt. Change was a hard thing to face. You had gone through it recently, causing mistakes left and right while you stumbled through obstacles. You understood her more than anything, which was why it caused so much pain to watch her be so contently blind. Except, you couldn't force her, because she would have to come to terms with it on her own. She needed to understand that there was no way out of this -- that someday the dirty little secrets would come pouring out, eventually hurting everyone caught victim in the waves even more than it would now. Ignorance was bliss, but the truth was sometimes better.
"What about your father? Did he do anything?"
"No. I was able to avoid him. He doesn't usually show up unless it's dinnertime or when we train together." She didn't know how different your situation was compared to hers though. From what you could see, your parents were not in the best relationship. Obviously, there was no love shared between them and maybe they were even divorced, considering they lived separately, save for this special occasion.
"Come on. Let's head back before we're late," she said, brushing the problem away as quick as it came.
Nodding mutely in response, you returned to the dressing room and quickly tugged on the uniform for said class. Entering the classroom with Sakiko, you inched back the moment other students ran towards her. They went on and on, congratulating her on her stunning performance at the talent show. Just before you could leave her arm's length, a hand latched onto you. Curious eyes turned to you, realization coloring their features. "Indeed, everyone. It is the one and only [Y/N]. She sang the song to my piano. I couldn't have done it without her. She was wonderful, wasn't she?"
Before you knew it, everyone jumped onto the bandwagon in excitement. You were complimented of your voice, your singing, your notes, your outfit, and how seamless you made it look. The group of people grew tighter, their fake smiles gleaming within the light. They only complimented you because Sakiko did; otherwise, they would never pay attention to a mere rank one, no matter how well you sang last night.
You wanted space. Your wish came true when the teacher disbanded the crowd, scolding everyone to get into place and resume practice with stances.
Hurrying away from the warm bodies of people, you found a mat to stand on. At the front of the class stood the instructor, her delicate limbs in place. Sakiko stood on the mat besides yours, her stress fading away as she got into her own perfect stance. You could tell that she truly enjoyed this course -- just as Namiko did for archery.
Perhaps this hour would comfort her from the dilemma that played you two in heartstrings.