As I sat in the embrace of Shiori, I felt bliss. An escape from the solitude and mistrust that I had wallowed in all these years. Both of those were penetrated by some girl I had just met only a few minutes prior. Regardless, I was happy, and I expressed my thanks to her. I think she got the wrong idea, though.
"So does this mean you'll make me your wife?" I was astounded by the openness of this girl. She could say such things with all these other people around, and with pride. "Let's not rush into things." I said. Marriage was not something that I had planned for the near or far future.
Skip to the next day.
I walked in the doors and everyone was looking at me. I thought "Perhaps the other day when I wasn't ignored by everyone was just a fluke." and they were back to scoffing at me. Instead, as I walked by, girls were blushing. I heard things like "He's cute." and "Who's he?" from girls as they were smiling at me. Treatment that I had never expected to receive. I went to the bathroom to wash my face. As I pulled my face out of the sink and looked into the mirror, I was handsome. My face hadn't changed, but I was somehow more attractive. I could just feel it. Perhaps my self-esteem had risen due to an unknown circumstance? No, because there were girls calling me cute. As I came out of the bathroom and resumed my walk to class, I heard "Is that a transfer?". A peculiar line. Obviously I wasn't a transfer. I was the bearer of the curse that they all knew. Yet they acted like they didn't know me. I also overheard "Is he an idol?". Anyone would assume there was a really hot dude walking behind me. But I was alone. Why were they all acting like I was the cliche "Hot transfer student" from a manga? That's because I had become one.
As I approached my classroom door, my homeroom teacher who, just the other day decided to call my name during roll call when I'm normally ignored, told me "You must be the new transfer student. What's your name?". I told her. Whether this was some elaborate prank, or a miracle, I knew not. But if an opportunity arose where I could start a new high school life and be wiped clean of my previous reputation, I was going to accept it with open arms. But, I didn't know if my school had truly forgotten me. I walked in.
"Who's he?"
"I've got dibs."
"Hot!"
They didn't remember me.
"I'm Kagawa Izanagi."
"Pick a seat, Izanagi.' my homeroom teacher said. As I looked around, I was pondering whether or not to take my old seat or change it. Not that it mattered, no one remembers that Kagawa Izanagi previously sat there. Whoever orchestrated this blessing for me had organized it perfectly, almost. But she caught my eye. The odd one out. The mistake. The outlier. Her. The one who had betrayed me. Perhaps I was wrong in saying she was the mistake. Maybe whoever wiped the school of my previous presence did this on purpose. Was it the price of this miracle? A test maybe? Or could it just be a sick joke? Any way I looked at it, it was off. Her fearful expression. She remembered me.
I sat down in the same seat I had sat in before. Random girls started to approach me.
"Hey Izanagi, do you have a girlfriend?"
"No."
"Then how about me?"
"Sorry, not looking for one right now."
"Move over bitch, he's mine."
"No, you can't claim him for yourself."
So this is how the hot transfer student feels. After class.
I found her.
"Please calm down. I take it you remember me. That's good. I need your help." I said to her. Her dreadful expression didn't change one bit. It remained.
"O-okay. I'll help you. Just please don't hurt me."
"I understand that what happened has you freaking out. I'm still upset about it. This won't make you feel better, but I sincerely didn't intent for that to happen." I may have subconsciously willed the events of that afternoon, but I wasn't yet ready to know if that was true or not.
"R-really?"
"Really. I didn't want to harm those guys. It might have just been self defense instinct. Well, I definitely didn't intend hurt you anyway. You may have tricked me, but I believe that those guys were using you or blackmailing you, and you didn't really want to do it."
"You're right. I didn't want to do it. And I'm sorry. But what about the snakes?"
"I do have a curse. It's not the one that you're familiar with though. That's why I have snakes in me."
"I see. You really don't want to hurt me?"
"No. I just want you to do something for me."
"What?"
"Please keep quiet about that day. I've been bullied constantly growing up, and I've never been able to have a normal school life. I also lost everyone important to me. This opportunity won't come again, so I want to use it to live the normal school life I never had. Please don't ruin it for me."
"Okay."
"? Thank you."
"I can at least do that for you. After all,"
The girl switched from a fearful look to a sadistic grin.
"You saved me a lot of trouble by taking those guys out."
This girl is crazy. Or maybe, just troubled?
"Did you plan to do it yourself or something?" I half joked.
Her grin changed to a nervous look, then a pout.
"Oh no, I wouldn't dare. Those guys just gave me a lot of trouble. They would take my money, hit me sometimes, and do other things to me. They said they would do things to my family if I didn't do what they said. They also were going to take me to a hotel later that day. So, I guess you saved me. I wanted to thank you, but I was too scared that you wanted to kill me too. Also, I'm sorry for calling you a monster, and for deceiving you of course. I really don't care if you're not human. You're really my hero, I guess." Her complete change in demeanor caught me off guard.
"Well, I'm glad I was able to help you. I just wish it turned out differently."
"Me too. But, like everyone else, I want to forget about the past and start from zero right here. Let's get along." She smiled sweetly. I still had my doubts, and trust issues, but she reeked of sincerity.
"Yeah. Let's." I smiled back. "By the way miss, What's your name?"
"Fujiwara Kyouka."