September 6th
Ven gets up, takes a shower, brushes his teeth and puts on his clothes and accessories. He wears the same type clothes every day, he even has multiple pairs of clothes. Essentially he dresses the same way every day, the only difference is that sometimes the shade of the pants or shirt is slightly different but that's it. He picks up his bag from the couch and opens the door but before he leaves he puts on his headphones, scrolls through his playlist and ultimately decides to listen to a song about a red sun over paradise that we won't forget. He makes his way to school, listening to whatever song comes on random shuffle and continues walking for about 45 minutes. Eventually he makes his way to Black Lily high school, w-wait we're actually going with that name? Oh for goodness sake author, that's not clever in the slightest, it feels like an actual high school student named it! And not the cool, but actually cool students, not some dumbass posers, but the seemingly edgy students that aren't necessarily bad people but people make fun of them cause they try too damn hard. Ok, fine, I admit that as a reference it's good but no one's gonna get it anyway unless I make it way too damn obvious or the reader know one of your favorite artists author! He finally manages to enter school grounds and notices a no-smoking sign attached to a tree nearby, classic school stuff. So Ven spots rains smoking a cold-hard cigarette. He's wearing a green shirt with yellow flowers today, yellow roses to be specific. It looks pretty good actually.
-…
-Don't be surprised, I'm a delinquent, I introduced myself as such.
-You could have smoked literally anywhere else.
-But you see Ven, smoking on school grounds fills me up with that premium,exquisite delinquent energy. It's addictive!
-Your lungs are gonna resemble the aftermath of a genocide in a few years.
-*Decades*.
-Piss off! You're still destroying your damn body!
-Yes, but I feel damn good while doing it. You know what they say, you should always try to enjoy every thing and make the most out of life.
-Except that you're not gonna be able "to make the most out of life" when you're reducing your lifespan! Do you also do drugs?
-Hell no, drugs are bad. İ promised to stay away from them and I don't have any plans of touching drugs in the future.
-What are you doing making a drug…what do they call those things here?
-PSA?
-Yeah that's it! Are you making a drug PSA?
-No I'm just against drugs in general.
-How chivalrous of you.
-Bzzzt. That's not the right context to use the word "chivalrous". Try again later.
-How come?! Chivalry is based on putting a high value on courage, kindness and honor! You possess a good amount of courage to declare that drugs are bad and even though you don't radiate the slightest bit of kindness, you also have honor for being proud of believing drugs are bad.
-But that's the thing Ven, I'm none of those things, I don't have honor,kindness nor courage. But I don't mind if you think I'm at the very least two of those. It feels great when someone you met recently already has a good opinion of you.
-I'm inclined to take back everything I said concerning chivalry. Wait but your answer doesn't have anything to do with the context though!
-Anyways, I finally remembered what I forgot yesterday.
-Huh? It was actually something worth of note?
-Rude, but anyways, what do you think of this school? Your first impressions I mean?
-Nothing much? Isn't it just a generic private high school?
Rains looks at Ven with the most dumbfounded, shocked expression. Which is impressive since his eyes aren't even visible.
-Do you…not know anything about this school?
-It's more than your average private school?
-Motherfucker, NOTHING about this school is average and that's an understatement. How do you not know the reputation and simple details to the school that you enrolled in yourself?!
-I don't know, my father's acquaintance's kids went to this school and it's nearby so I just went along with it. I didn't have any expectations concerning it.
-You didn't even look anything up? I mean it's not like you would find much but you didn't even try?
-No?
-Ok,ok. Didn't they say anything during your interview?
-No the hell they didn't, they or rather sketchy teach asked me some questions, I answered, he gave me an exam, I nailed it and a few weeks later I was accepted.
-Who the hell is "sketchy teach"?
-Mr. Gainell.
-That makes a good amount of sense actually. That guy is always up to something, very good guy though. One time a girl accused him of sexually assaulting her and other adjacent crimes and absolutely nobody believed her, not even her parents and in the end it was revealed that she was making it all up. All happened last year by the way.
Such a casual lore drop. I don't know what I could've expected.
-For real?!
-For real. But anyways, if Mr. Gainell didn't tell you anything he was probably trolling you. This school has a hell of a reputation after all.
-Is this school built on extortion, murder and a long complicated history between family members?!
-No, not that kind of reputation. This school is… weird, instead of unique and special but "weird" is used in a completely wrong way. There aren't any words to properly describe this school after all.
-Cut to the chase already.
-So this ties back to why I said about you not being able to find much on this school, that's cause it's well hidden.
-This isn't a ninja village, why the hell does it need to be hidden!?
-Well, it's not really about the school in and of itself but more about the people that go to this school. They're…special in a way.
Oh so like the academy in that one anime where the MC is a perfect human and outsmarts everyone and everyone makes edits of him.
-Special?
-Let me give you a walkthrough of this school. The whole gist of this school is that it is considered to be very solid, top 20 in the state and top 300 in the entirety of the states. But those details are kinda obsolete, what you need to know is who goes here and for what reason.
-And…who attends this school?
-Well, this school actually accepts anyone but they have a special preference for "special" people. People with interesting personalities, backgrounds, philosophies, those who are considered to be "outside the norm". The school is filled with those types of individuals, including me and you.
Oh hey, it's just like that one high school filled with the peak of hope and despair.
-Don't put me in the same category as you.
-I'm getting the feeling that your rudeness isn't a prospect of your personality but something similar to a mechanism of sorts but whatever, go fish.
-…
-Anyways, some of these individuals include "famous" or "relatively known" people. They are the reason this academy is "hidden", people like them are sent to this school who is known for their anonymity, while most "known" people who are underage get recognized in their schools or in public or get doxxed entirely, this school is completely impervious to that. One such example is loke reckker, also known as "Loki" or, as much as I hate it, "the mediator and the instigator".
Fuck it, i don't have any snarky comments for this one. The name is self-explanatory, this guy is totally the main antagonist! Why in the ever living hell did your parents name you "loke"?! Especially with a last name like that. And why the hell do people call you the "mediator and instigator"? That immediately makes you suspicious! Get this man on a watchlist of sorts, something is up with him.
-He's…a douchebag womanizer. No seriously, he has a mass female following who ride his dick like crazy and most of his male fans are people who regard him as the "ideal man". He sleeps frequently with his fans and the people from this school. Yet the media and his fans regard him as a national treasure. I'll admit it, the guy has immaculate talent and skill in acting, it's an incredible mixture of already potent talent and years of hard work, but he is pretty scummy. Me personally I just think he's dangerous.
-Why? The hell did he do to you?
-It's not that he did something to me, outside of the fact that he's actually pretty hostile with me for whatever reason, but it relates to his answer to the question I ask everyone, the one about bikinis.
-Seriously?
-Yes, I asked that question to almost every guy at my school and I either got ignored, the person in front of me got embarrassed, got told that they prefer every bikini, answered and started talking about their fetishes and so on and so forth. The only guy to give me a genuine answer was loke, and that's why I regard him as dangerous.
-Wait a second, is there a plot related reason as to why you ask that question?
-Yes, I won't explain for personal reasons but there is a reason why I have a fixation on that question. Continuing on, his answer was "well I just like bikinis in general, I don't have a specific preference but I regard some as inferior to others and some as superior, I feel it's completely useless to have a specific preference for a question as minute and meaningless as this one". His answer suggests an elevated level of apathy, deeming a simple question such as this one "meaningless" is a bit weird too, most people have a fondness for questions like this one when they prefer to give an answer. But here's the thing, switch out "bikinis" for "humans" and suddenly the strangeness of his answer is made evident. And it's because of that that I think he's dangerous, those type of people usually have a psyche resembling that of a psychopath or sociopath.
OH COME ON! How obvious can we make this guy out to be a villain, I mean every thing that was said about him just further antagonizes him, at this point he's basically cartoonishly evil!
-So…he's a villain?
-Hell no, he's just a douche-bag and nothing more, outside of acting there isn't anything special about him and even though I think he's dangerous he hasn't done anything of the sort. Outside of his acting, he's just a basic, everyday scumbag. I'm just informing you so that you avoid him in the future, he likes messing with the "new kids". But he's not here, he has a shoot so he'll start coming to school in like…8-9 weeks or so?
Oh good, I can't wait for his character introduction, I'm sure he's going to be such a complex, 3 dimensional character who subverts expectations with his impeccable writing.
-Another such example is,is,is…a g-girl. Aurora Luciano, "the perfect girl".
A reference? And something the average reader can get at that, good job author! On another note Rains looks terrified, so he's genuinely terrified of girls eh? On another another note, she's Italian? I mean, nothing against Italians it's just that why would an Italian be in a random state smack in the middle of the country? Oh wait, she's "special" isn't she.
-"The perfect girl"? This isn't an anime, why are we giving these type of nicknames to random students!
-I mean…they're not random, but they're a bit normal in a school like this one. This school is filled with weirdos and "interesting people" of the like.
-So? What makes this girl worthy of mentioning to me?
-Well, it's because she might interact with you. She cares about people, so she takes the time to talk with everyone in the school, she does this to get to know the person, and to "help" them. She's essentially a problem solver, she loves to solve other people's problems and issues and does so with a smile. She's optimistic, smart and kind to boot, that's why people call her "the perfect girl" because she doesn't have any flaws, any visible at the very least.
-Impossible. Inconceivable. Blasphemy.
-What the hell are you talking about?
-No such person could exist, humans are flawed, VERY flawed. She might have some god qualities, sure, but no way in hell is she "perfect" or anything adjacent. She has to have secrets, things that she doesn't want to tell anyone, negative opinions concerning people, anything really. She can't be deemed as the perfect girl.
-Well…I do agree on that, calling her "perfect" even though everyone acknowledges her as a great person is a bit too much, but still, it's a title that stuck so, go fish I guess.
-Wait, you said she interacts with everyone, but did she manage to interact with you?
-Well…kinda? I didn't utter a word to her and simply ignored her for the longest time but she just didn't stop trying, even though she saw I was uncomfortable and stressed she persisted which led her to realize that I had a "problem". All the girls knew I was afraid of them so they just left me alone, didn't even question why, not like I'd be able to tell them in the first place. But she didn't stop, until the day where I slipped her a note that explained that my problem wasn't something that could be "fixed" but someone else or be "fixed" at all. She still persuade and I managed to hold a conversation with a girl and argue with her, I didn't go into the details but I managed to explain my reasoning and why my problem was something I could only fix by myself and that right now…I wasn't strong enough to do so. She understood and let go of it, so she's the only woman who I can interact with even if it's a minuscule amount. I respect her, even though I'm terrified of all women and she sometimes checks up on me to see how I'm doing.
-She's probably a shitty person under all of that "kindness", or she's probably trying to remorse for something, that's all there is to it.
Rains looks back at Ven with a complicated gaze, looking like he's pissed.
-You haven't even met her, how can you form an opinion of her strictly based off a description of her?
-Well it's just a generalization, nothing more than that, she's probably like that.
-Again, you haven't even met her. You will, trust me, but I don't like how you're casually writing her off as a generic happy girl who's secretly a problematic girl who's mean. This girl is completely unknown to you yet you're already believing the assumptions you make about her.
-But you also believe assumptions, like how she doesn't have any flaws.
-I do believe that, yes, but it's because I actually met her. Spent at least some time with her. You haven't.
-Whatevs, it's just a generalization dude, it's not that deep.
-Ven, you're kind of an asshole.
-I know right? I'm a horrible human being with a ton of flaws, and that's the truth!
-Maybe, and I don't know you enough to judge if whether you are a horrible person with a lot of flaws but I know this, your rudeness and rashness are not flaws, not real ones anyways.
-Huh?! How the hell did you come to that conclusion?
-You haven't smiled once since yesterday. You constantly sneak in insults that aren't satire or cheeky, just straight up mean that are a bit malicious sometimes. But you yourself don't radiate that kind of malice. You're a pretty nice person actually and it seems like in a short day you changed. That's impossible so you didn't change, you're pretending.
-…
-I'm guessing something happened last night and I could certainly be wrong about that, but I'm not wrong about you pretending to be a horrible, insensitive person who lies often. I'm the master of imitation and lies after all, I know a bit about those things. So I know I just need to ask this question to really understand you: Ven, are we friends?
-Too early to tell.
-"Friends" could mean a lot of things and it's a matter of perception really, someone you met 5 minutes ago could be your friend but you could also consider someone you've known for 5 years as a friend just after those 5 years. Time isn't the issue, your feelings are.
-And what'll happen if I don't answer?
-That's an answer in and of itself and you know it. I'll know the implications.
-Well…I do think something but I'm more stuck on something else, what is a friend?
-Like I told ya, it could be a lot of things depending on your perception.
-But there has to be a concrete definition right? A "true meaning" of sorts to the word "friend". It surely can't depend on something as simple as someone's perception of it. Is a friend someone you hang out with? Talk with? Share your feelings with? Someone you can have fun with? A shoulder to cry on? An important person? How do you even make that friend? At what point does that become your "friend". My question is "what is a friend" sure, but I also want to know "how can someone be a friend"?
-Ven, when was the last time you had friends?
-Middle school, but I'd hesitate to call them friends.
-Same here, but they were actually pretty good people. Point is, the both of us didn't have any friends for a long time, meaning that we both don't have any idea as to what the answers to those questions could be. This means that we're in a similar situation, you and I.
-And? What are you trying to say?
-I'm saying that we're similar, meaning that we can understand each other better. So i want to do just that. I want to see if there are even more similarities between the both of us. That's why I think we could be great friends.
-…What a coincidence. I was just thinking the same thing.
-So, we both think that we could be great friends with one another? So let's be great friends then.
Ven looks at Rains, even though I'm fairly new at this narration thing, Rains looks like he felt something that he hasn't felt in years, and that gaze is probably reflected in Ven's face too. He then holds up his left hand in a fist.
-Another fist bump? Be careful, you're gonna crash the stock market.
-Then I'll crash it gloriously and rebuild it in an even better way! But I decided that a normal fist bump is boring so let's spice it up shall we?
Rains gets in a punching position and Ven does the same. They then proceed to punch each other fist, creating a whole 'nother universe.
-YEOWWCH! That hurts like an amateur hooker's head game!
-YOWZERS! How the hell do you know what that feels like?!
-I'm making an assumption! Also did you yell out "yowzers"?
They both start to laugh out loud, probably bothering the people passing by as the bell rings, what convenient timing.
-So, will people think I'm in a "bad" crowd since I'm usually hanging around you?
-Probably. But my reputation isn't as bad as that. The most I did is smoke in school and that's the extent of it.
-My little delinquent.
-Piss off and shut your mouth!
-Shit off and shut your lungs!
-You have the spirit but you got it all wrong but whatever, go fish.
-Hey, you were right! Something did happen last night.
-What happened?
-I won't go into the details but remember how you asked if I was "mad"? Well I might be…just a little insane.
-Aren't we all?!
End of the day
They're just outside the school, Rains is squatting and smoking a cig and Ven is leaning against the wall, both of them are very chill.
-So Rains?
-Wassup?
-Are you gay?
Rains stops walking for a second and looks at Ven calmly.
-…OK, listen YOU little scamp, just because I have a phobia of "them" does NOT mean that I'm gay! Do not get that idea! I am not in denial and no just because I deny that I'm in denial doesn't mean I'm in denial. Don't let the Streisand effect affect you.
-Ok, ok chill. I didn't mean much from it.
-So what about you?
-I…well I know I like girls but I've never really "liked" a girl before. But I also know I like "women" more than girls.
And for all the people reading this, please don't ship these two together. They literally make their preferences known. The author hates shipping culture, especially the ones that don't make any sense.
-Well, this week'll probably be boring so brace yourself k?
-Yeah let's just time skip to the weekend. It's time to introduce her anyway.
-H-HER?
Haha, Rains fell on his ass.
End of chapter