The girl, who was sleeping in my seat, didn't move an inch after I spoke.
"Hey, whoever you are," I said, "Get off, you're in my seat."
She remained unchanged.
"Hey, you..."
No answer yet.
"Ah..." I sighed, and then... "Wake up!"
Then I kicked the table down to make some noise.
"Whaa!" she finally woke up. "But what... What the hell is wrong with you?!"
"Would you get out of my seat? Please."
"Ah?" the redheaded girl raised an eyebrow as if she didn't understand me. "Your seat? Who the hell do you think you are? Show some respect. Get out of my face before you put me in a bad mood."
This girl...
"I said, this is my seat," I repeated, "I'm asking you nicely to get out of the way."
"Nicely? But if you've come kicking the table, I won't move from here."
"I warn you, I'm the one who'll be in a bad mood."
"Ha! What about me? I told you to get out of my sight, get out of here."
"Ah..."
I took a deep breath, and she settled down on the seat without any intention of listening to me. This girl was trying my patience.
"Well, you asked for it," so on impulse I took her bag and dropped it on the floor, and with my foot I pushed it away a little.
"What?! Hey! Pick up my bag!"
"And by what authority do you ask? Get out of my seat."
"Aaaahh!!!? W-what-what the hell is wrong with you!?"
"I warned you," I said, feeling a vein pop up in my right temple.
The atmosphere was beginning to feel tense, and suddenly that tension was cut off when the girl's cell phone rang with some pop song.
"Ah, Miya-san, what's wrong?" She answered the call looking at me cautiously. "Huh? Where am I? Well, where are you? Here's a weird kid who... wait... What do you mean, you're already in the classroom?! You must be mistaken..." the girl turned her head slightly examining him. "Miya, I'll call you back." Then the girl hung up and said to herself: "Where am I..."
"Welcome to 1-D classroom," I said.
"1-D!? It can't be..." she mused in complete astonishment. "I'm in the wrong room..."
Is she sleepwalking or something?
"You should at least start apologizing. If you apologize, I'll get your bag."
"Me, apologize?" she grumbled. "No way! You're the one who should apologize."
"Forget it..." I regretted my proposal. "You'd better go now and finish this business here. You're getting in my way."
"How dare you, from miserable section D, talk to me like that? You must know your place, Mediocre-san. You're nothing compared to me. You'll get in big trouble if you have the audacity to step up to someone in Section A. Humph! I can't waste any more of my valuable time with a commoner."
And so much for my patience.
My hands moved involuntarily, and I immediately grabbed her by the tie.
"Ah! Wh-what- what- stop!"
She stood up in fear as I forcibly pushed her away from the seat.
I pushed the girl against the bookcases.
"Cut the crap," I said, having already lost my temper. "Don't even think about calling me a silly nickname again. I don't care in the least what section you're from. You don't know me, you don't know what I'm capable of."
"Ah... take off your... your-your hands off..." declared the girl, her eyes wide open and her voice shaking.
When I saw that look of fear, I reacted.
Shit...
I then released his tie, and the girl proceeded to bend down to get her bag, which had been wedged under one of the chairs.
I was stiff, not knowing what would come next when our eyes met for a short time.
The redheaded girl was silent; she got up, fixed her shirt that had been pulled up, and finally hung her bag over her shoulder. All while avoiding eye contact.
"I will remember this," she said in a quiet voice as she walked to the exit. "Tell me, who are you?"
"Rei Satou..." although I acted in a risky manner, I didn't hesitate to respond either.
"Satou, eh? Very good" after reaching a safe distance from me, it seems the girl had regained her confidence. "You really surprised me, I didn't expect anyone with guts in this section."
"Huh?"
Her praising me?
I definitely didn't expect that.
"This was just a slip of the tongue on my part," she continued, "but don't think you'll get away with it next time," she made her warning clear by pointing at me, and with her other hand on her waist.
"I don't care, I don't care about you anyway," I unconsciously showed her a mocking smile. His attitude eliminated any intention of apologizing for my outburst.
"Ha! The feeling is mutual," she exclaimed about closing the sliding door. "Remember this well, if you mess with me again, Harumi Saionji, that smile of yours will disappear in a flash... Ah! Just like now ha ha ha."
As she had said, my smile faded when I heard that name.
"Sa- Saionji?" I asked in a daze.
"That's right, my father is Renji Saionji" she said in a good mood. "There isn't a person in Japan who doesn't recognize him and fear him too. If you mess with me, you mess with him too. So be careful, Sa-tou-sa-n~."
Then the girl closed the door, leaving me still in shock.
My heart began to beat fast.
A slight tremor spread through my hands, until it reached my legs; I placed my hands on one of the tables to continue standing.
Hearing that name again only reminded me of the injustice my parents went through, and also the cruel consequence on my younger sister...
I couldn't believe it.
Perhaps the weakest link in the Saionji family had to study at the same school as me.
A bitter feeling emerged from the past. From the time when I cried over my parents' grave, thinking of revenge. At that time I was just a child who had been touched by one misfortune after another; but, deep down I knew that simply taking revenge on a multinational was impossible.
And now an opportunity appeared.
I know.
Revenge will not bring my parents back to life, much less cure Yuriko.
I'm aware of that. But...
The constant sleepless nights taking care of my paralyzed mother, the long hours in the hospital with Yuriko in the hospital, with the great fear that at any moment she would die... Those are some of the memories that pierce my heart like poisoned daggers.
I can't just forget it and pretend nothing happened.
"Maybe..."
Maybe there's some way I can get revenge on the Saionji Group...
Of course, that redheaded girl is not to blame for what her father and his companies have done. But also my parents, Yuriko and I were not to blame for the negligence that caused our family to fall apart.