The lights were blinding, my eyes took time to adjust themselves to the sudden flash of light.
'I'm back?'
I was back In my classroom.
All of the students were In class and listening to the history teacher.
'It kind of feels a little weird when I find myself In a random seat every time I come back'
I always felt slightly disoriented when I came back and suddenly find myself seated In the front all of sudden.
I turn my head and look behind me.
"Heya~"
Raven was behind me, looking at me mischievously, playing with her silver-grey hair
"..?"
'what's up with her?'
"what's wrong?"
"no it's just..." she twirled her finger around her hair
"you see me on the road and you don't even say a hi?"
She knew?
"I know we aren't friends but it hurts a little when my classmate ignores me~"
Well I'm the opposite.
"well uhm... sorry?"
"apology not accepted"
"why?"
"just felt like it~"
"?"
What the hell is wrong with her?
"You're holding onto a grudge for no reason at all"
"Am I? I couldn't tell"
"Well I could"
"Hey! Cale, Raven! pay attention!"
The history teacher scolded us for talking in class, but he quickly resumed class.
"You got into trouble huh"
"You say that as if I was the only one who got Into trouble..."
"Don't sweat the little details~"
She acts like a brat
I tried focusing and listening to the teacher but-
Poke
"Hey hey hey, you Ignoring me?"
"Yes..."
"Why?"
"Because I want to?"
"But I don't want you to Ignore me"
"Well I do"
"Meanie"
"Am I? I couldn't tell"
"Snake mouth"
"What is that even supposed to mean?"
"You don't need to know~"
"Well I want to know"
"I don't wanna"
"Why?"
"Because I don't wanna"
"..."
I have never In my life wanted to smack someone In the head so hard until I met this brat
Just pretend you don't hear her, she will eventually stop.
Poke~
"Ah~ look at you, trying to ignore me~"
"..."
Calm Calm Calm Calm Calm
"It won't work~ even Gravel can't ignore me"
What is this teacher doing? can't he hear her?!
"Come on~ lets play nice and talk nice"
Poke! Poke! Poke!
If I didn't have anger Issues before I have them now
Raven leaned forward, her voice soft.
"You can't Ignore me~ I'm behind you after all~"
No I can just ask the teacher to switch seats
"You are probably thinking you can switch seats If you ask the teacher right?"
"?!"
H-How the
"Coward"
My body shuddered slightly
"So? what If I am one?"
"Oh I'm not saying anything~"
She leaned forward even more, her lips Inches away from my ears.
"I like that cowardice"
"!!!"
My body shook at those words that came out of her mouth almost seductively.
This brat is playing with me!
"You like seeing people flustered when you speak?"
"What~ did your heart flutter with my words?"
"No it didn't brat"
"Thank you"
"That wasn't a compliment..."
"Well I'll take it as one then"
"What???"
"Who's stopping me from taking your words as compliment?"
"..."
This girl, It's not even been 20 minutes and she's driving me crazy, or is that exactly what she is trying to do?
"Kek"
"I heard that..."
"And what are you going to do about it~"
Poke~
"I could just simply tell the teacher and be done with it you know?"
"Do it little girl~"
My face hardened. She whispered In a soft voice.
"If I am annoying you~ go tell the teacher to switch you like a little girl"
Is she...trying to manipulate me by using my dignity?
"You said I was a coward, what makes you think I won't just tell the teacher"
"It's hurtful to hear that you are considering it, snitch"
"Why am I suddenly a snitch?"
"Why do you want to know?"
She really is trying to be as annoying as possible! She doesn't care even if her logic is flawed!
I clenched my jaw.
"Why are you trying to annoy me?"
"What? you don't know why?"
"..."
"That really shatters my heart you know~"
She feigned heartbreak.
Shortly after, her playful tone dropped, almost as if she never could talk like that and she whispered In my ear softly.
"I just don't want you to ignore me"
"..?"
Why the hell is she so fixated on that?
"Alright fine, I apologize. I won't Ignore you next time"
"Liar"
"Am not"
"You are, next time you will definitely avoid me"
"..."
....Can she read minds?
I paused, but I soon opened my mouth again to voice a question that had been on my mind for a while.
"Why are you so fixated on me? I don't think I ever talked to you except for that one time, what's with the sudden Interest?"
She stopped, looked up at the ceiling before turning her head to the side to see the courtyard.
"I guess It's because you are in front of me" She said In a low subdued voice
"..You're not making any sense"
"There are two people"
"...?"
"One person Is someone you know but is very far away from you, so far away It'd be hard for you to meet them"
"..."
What's with the sudden riddle?
"The other person is someone you don't know, someone unknown to you but is close to you, so close that you'd reach him just by taking a step"
"Which of the two would you go to?"
I stood frozen at the question, I didn't understand her question at all, I couldn't even fathom what the right answer was to such a question
Is it some sort of love quiz? or riddle?
I fell Into deep thought.
go to...not talk but travel...
What would I choose? would I travel to a stranger? or would I travel to a friend that I know?
The answer felt obvious when I thought of it like that but.
"..."
It's wrong, it isn't the right answer.
But I couldn't come up with a better answer than that.
"I wouldn't go to either"
"..?"
Raven looked back at me and tilted her head, confusion etched on her expression.
"What?"
"I said I wouldn't go to either"
"I heard you the first time..."
Then why ask me!
"Pft"
She let out a chuckle, amused by what I said
"I was joking when I said you are a coward, but I didn't know you really were one"
A smile married on her face as she said this.
"But you said you liked my cowardice?"
"Coward"
"I'm not gonna suddenly be brave when you say that you know?"
"And like a coward you chose to run away..."
She is just going to ignore me now?
"The answer was obvious, why did you instead say that?"
"..."
I stayed silent, finally realizing the point of the question. A grin carved itself on Raven's face
"You're afraid of being wrong, afraid of failure. So afraid of it that it's like your life is in danger, now why is that?"
Because one mistake means death....
I was surprised by what she said, it was an observation so unexpected my brain stopped working for a few moments
There must have been a better question to ask than that...
The quiz definitely had meaning to Raven, I was confident of this, she simply found something unexpected about me while answering her question.
"Isn't everyone afraid of being wrong? Of course It's a bit of an exaggeration to say that I'm so afraid of it that it feels like my life is in danger, right?"
She's going of a hunch, or at least playing to see my reactions
I didn't believe for a second she was serious, It wouldn't have made any sense after all.
"Boring~"
I guess the latter was the right one
Raven focused on class, not bothering me again.
I sighed silently out of relief, making sure no one like Raven picked up on it.
"..."
Not long after, I also started paying more attention to the teacher, ready to enact my plan to screw over that bastard of a monster.
Raven is sharp... I'll have to be careful about what I say around her
I noted to myself, the clock ticking in tune with my thoughts
***
Well I'm back?
I was back at Gardenia, In a different spot than last time.
I should go look for Fiend first.
Without Fiend, this kind of plan wouldn't work after all.
The best part about this, is if it works we can abuse it and we technically wouldn't be breaking any rules.
A wicked grin so wide it reached my ears made itself prominent on my 'Innocent' face.
"..?"
[Ah! Cale!]
Fiend waved his hand at me, running over and giving me a pen and paper.
I turn and place the paper on the wall and started scribbling on it.
after a few moments I show Fiend what I wrote.
[You know what to do right? just do as I told you beforehand and leave everything else to me]
I couldn't trust Fiend with my task, it was too important for me to tell him to do it in my stead.
That's why he'd be doing something else.
___________________________
___________________________
A few days prior
[You will get a teacher out in the courtyard]
[..?]
Fiend tilted his head In confusion.
[You will make sure a teacher looks out in the courtyard at the least, I on the other hand will be the bait]
[???]
Fiend became even more confused than before
[The plan is simple, I set up the monster and you get a teacher outside to make him see who is breaking the rules]
This way I learn two things, One. What exact power the teachers use to restrict the 'students'. And two, what exactly the consequences are.
I knew you'd be sent to detention when breaking the rules, but what exactly did it mean to be sent to detention? how would they make sure a rule breaker doesn't stay one?
Would they give him a slap on the wrist? Or would they kill him?
Depending on what happens I'll be able to repeat this process and sent the monster straight back to detention, this would allow me more freedom, which In turn meant I could discover more things.
I would have at least two weeks of freedom, who knows what I might find within that time frame
_____________
_____________
Back to the present.
I stood In front of the doors leading outside in the courtyard, the place where I'll find the bastard In.
"..."
I didn't waste any time and walked out of the doors.
Resolved to get rid of an obstacle.