Request From Archive of Our Own
Ayoshi walked down the hall. It's after lunch. He was getting to class when he was stopped by a group of girls. They had bright tan skin, brightly colored hair, and accessories. He had seen them around the school.
Rokuda Mutsumi walked up to Ayoshi, "Hey there!"
Ayoshi looked down at her as she started reaching out to him with her long-painted nails. He avoided her touch.
Rokuda was a little surprised, "What's wrong, a little shy~?" She asked as she started to push up her chest. Ayoshi ignored her and tried to walk past the group. She started to get annoyed and gestured for the other girls to block his way. They followed her instructions, but Ayoshi kept trying to walk past and they kept blocking his way. She walked even closer to Ayoshi and pressed her finger into his chest. Her nail dug into his chest through his shirt.
Ayoshi didn't understand, but he felt his body being repulsed by her touch and moved a few steps away from her once again.
Rokuda's hand turned into a fist, "Stop ignoring me you freak!"
Ayoshi didn't even spare Rokuda a glance, like she wasn't worth putting in his eyes.
This angered Rokuda even more, "No one has ever treated me this way! I don't like it."
"I don't care what you like, so please let me pass. I need to get to class."
"Well, you better start. You don't want to get on my bad side, you freak."
Ayoshi said, "I don't even know who you are. Why would I care if I got on your bad side?"
All the girls gasped in shock, "You don't know who- who she is?!"
Ayoshi scanned the girl's faces, "Am I supposed to?"
Rokuda spat out with arrogance, "My name is Rokuda Mutsumi, heiress of the Ronshaku corporation! My father is a very powerful and dangerous man, and everyone in the school knows it."
"If everyone is supposed to know it, how come I don't?"
Rokuda's face distorted, "Has that gloomy freak not told you who I am?"
Ayoshi raised his eyebrow, "I don't seem to know who you are talking about?"
"Don't play fucking dumb! That gloomy freak you always hang around!"
Ayoshi tilted his head and with great innocence, asked, "Do you mean Oko-kun?"
Rokuda was taken aback. She didn't know the two were on a first-name basis. "O-oko?"
"Please don't call him that. He has not given you the permission to call him that."
Rokuda's nails started to dig even deeper into her palm, tearing a small layer of skin, but she soon calmed down and grew a smirk on her face. She snickered and said, "I'm not surprised the two of you are friends. Birds of a feather always flock together. Such a gloomy freak, with such boring looks. You should really use a little color. Haha… and I can't believe you actually believe in those supernatural things. So stupid, so naive. Normal people like us don't believe in those things, but what I'm saying is you're not normal. You're just some fucking freak."
Rokuda waited with anticipation for Ayoshi to react to her mean words, but he never did. He just stared at her with a blank look, not caring about her mean words. "Can I leave now?" He asked as he looked at his watch.
Rokuda's face grew ugly, "Let's go girls, this guy is boring. Even that gloomy freak was more fun to mess with, at least he reacted." She turned away, her girls following, ready to walk away when she stopped dead in her tracks.
"You're quite ugly, inside and out. I don't understand why you think you have a chance. No matter how much you bully the people around him, they won't go away. No amount of bullying will break him… he will never like you."
Rokuda snapped around and her entire body shook. She stalked towards Ayoshi, and then a loud sound echoed through the hall.
After it became completely silent again, the person who had been watching the whole ordeal finally walked out from his hiding spot. "Ms. Rokuda, why do we always meet this way?"
Rokuda's arm fell to her side when her eyes met a pair of silver eyes. She started to shake again, but this time from fear.
Megamo looked at Ayoshi's face. Ayoshi's usual beautiful milky skin had turned red from the slap, and vibrant red lines ran across his cheek. He was scratched by Rokuda's sharp nails. His smile became slightly strained when he noticed Ayoshi's face. "I don't understand how many warnings it will take for you to stop this type of behavior, Ms. Rokuda. I expect to see you in the Student Council Room after school for me to give you your punishment."
Rokuda started to walk away and she couldn't handle being looked at by such cold eyes, but before she could get far…
Megamo's eyes turned furious, "But just know, no amount of money your father donates to the school will make up for your mistake. Especially after you've put your hands on another student."
Rokuda's eyes started to water. She couldn't bear the thought of leaving the school.
As Megamo noticed the tears, his strained smile became a subtle smirk. "You may go now, girls."
Rokuda quickly walked away, with her girls trying to comfort her as they walked away.
Megamo turned towards Ayoshi, "I deeply apologize for her behavior, she should have been kicked out of the school a long time ago. However, her father always donates millions of yen to the school and the principal always allows her to stay," he explained. Ayoshi just nodded, not caring for his explanation. He noticed this and changed the topic. "Come, I'll take you to the infirmary." Ayoshi just followed behind as he walked towards the infirmary. When they arrived, no one was in the room. He sighed, "That nurse, he's never here when you need him."
He gestured for Ayoshi to sit on the bed while he gathered things to help with his face. Once he gathered everything, he sat next to Ayoshi.
He had been observing Ayoshi for a while, but he never had a proper conversation with him. He knew how to read people and it was easy for him to see through people, but it was hard for him to understand Ayoshi. He didn't really understand the other. While he treated Ayoshi's face, he started talking, "I'm surprised that you didn't have much reaction to Ms. Rokuda's words."
"Why would I?" Ayoshi asked.
"Most people, no matter how calm of a person they are, have somewhat of a reaction when they're being verbally harassed. However, you didn't even bat an eye."
"I'm used to it."
A crease formed between Megamo's eyebrows. "Used to it?"
"As you can tell, I'm not exactly normal. I was the same as a child, but I didn't try to interact with the other children. I would always just lay on the ground and look at the clouds. The other kids didn't like the way I was. They thought I was weird, so most of the other kids ignored me. However, a few kids chose to express their dislike for me in more extreme ways. Well, as extreme as small children can get. They would bully me, call me names, say mean things, and take my things and destroy them. They always tried to get a reaction out of me, but I didn't act the way they wanted. I would just lay there as I watched them do their little acts. I never indulged their bullying. They soon grew bored and left me alone until my worst bully started to get physical with me. He would hit me hoping that would make me react, but it still didn't work."
"Wasn't it painful?" Megamo asked.
"Painful?"
"Yes, wasn't the little boy's abuse painful?"
"Not really? That actually angered the little boy more. He would hit me until he got tired, screaming for me to react and to scream. I never understood why he seemed to hate me so much. I didn't understand why he constantly tried to get me to react. However, I never cared much for the answer, especially after he had moved away. After that, I was once again left alone."
Megamo felt shocked and he was left even more confused. He didn't understand the other, "Why wouldn't you help yourself? Why wouldn't you try to stop him?"
Ayoshi looked at Megamo like the answer was obvious. "Why would I? He wasn't much of a problem, just a small pest that bothered me a few minutes a day. There wasn't much of a need to deal with him."
"Did you ever say anything to him?"
"No, I just let him get it all out of his system. I thought by saying something it would just make it worse, it was too much of a hassle."
"But you said things to Ms. Rokuda?"
"Of course I did. She was cruel to Oko-kun." Ayoshi saw the confusion on Megamo's face, "I never saw a need for friends when I was younger, but this year I made a few friends, including Oko-kun. He's my friend, so I wasn't going to let that weirdly orange-tanned girl have such thoughts of him or say such mean things about him in front of me."
The more Ayoshi talked, the more he confused Megamo. He had gotten a file of Ayoshi saying that he was this emotionless being who didn't care about anyone, that his life mission was to find his senpai, and he was a danger to everyone around him. His files were always right. Ayoshi had an immense amount of speed and strength. If he truly wanted to, he could greatly hurt someone. His eyes were a bottomless pit, void of any emotion that would terrify anyone. He could leave people with nightmares if he wanted to.
So when Megamo started watching Ayoshi, he saw Ayoshi looking for his senpai. He expected that. However, as time went on, Ayoshi's search started to slow down. He started to see this new side of Ayoshi. Ayoshi had this charm that attracted people towards him. He seemed like this cute, oblivious boy who just loved to eat sweets and drink strawberry milk. He saw this boy who just focused on his club activities and school work. He had hobbies that he liked to do with his friends, or he would just spend idle time with them.
Megamo came out of his thoughts and he looked at Ayoshi's delicate cheek. The swelling and redness had lessened, but a bruise started to form. He gently touched the bruise. He didn't like seeing the bruise. He had started watching Ayoshi to make sure he didn't hurt anyone, but he had soon started watching him because he just enjoyed it.
It's so interesting to watch him, Ayoshi is barely anything like his file. Ayoshi is such a mystery to Megamo. He is like a puzzle box, and he wants to solve him.
He gently smiled and took out a strawberry milk box from his coat that he had started carrying around, "As compensation, please take this."
Ayoshi saw his favorite drink and happily took it into his hand. He started drinking the strawberry milk and said his thanks through his sips.
Megamo chuckled softly, 'Aishi Ayoshi… my little puzzle box. I can't wait to solve you… I want to see everything inside of you.'