"Airi! Come sit with us!" Airi looked up to see who was calling her. It was Scarlett, the one who was with the other at the cafe yesterday.
Airi once again looked behind the people she left behind, but they didn't look at her back. So with no other choice, Airi went towards Scarlett to take a seat.
"Cheer up, Airi. It's their bad luck they couldn't keep such a wonderful girl beside them. Just forget about it."
"Yeah, what's wrong with being a bit spendthrift huh?" a guy named Simon added to Scarlett.
With the mention of it, Airi gave them a sharp look. And somehow, they couldn't dare to voice out anything else.
Soon the bell rang, and Clara came into the classroom. "I am going to have your roll call real quick, and then I got some important things to declare." After she was done with her regular roll calls, she cleared her throat a bit to grab everyone's attention to her. "So, I have two things to declare. The first one is to those who are competing for the position of Student council president. I have sought the names of anyone interested, but as no one submitted theirs, so I think it's alright to assume that there is no one interested." Clara called upon Airi before adding further, "I have selected Airi as the representative for your class, and since class representatives are automatically enrolled as a candidate, so Airi is going to compete as Student council President. Airi, you can start promoting yourself from today, but be careful, No Violence I am going to tolerate inside the campus. And no provocations as well. Though I know, you won't do something low like that."
Airi gave a glance to her friends, who were sitting far from her, turning their faces away.
Clara continued on with her words. "And second, while the entire student council thing is going on, I would like to give you another task which would definitely carry you significant marks. Being a P.E. teacher, it's time to make you people do some real work. So, starting from tomorrow, let's meet on the ground for your homeroom. And I am hoping for everyone's participation, especially those who think that they are going to get their marks without moving a muscle or brain cells," at the end of the declaration, Clara gave a warning look to Maria, which Maria totally noticed, but seemed to give no attention to it.
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At lunchtime, Airi glumly sat on her seat, thinking about this morning. She really liked spending her lunch with those three, so when everything between them got wrecked up over a simple election, she was feeling depressed and angry. "Why they have to be this angry over something simple? I just didn't want to be termed as a coward or weakling, was that wrong of me?" Airi couldn't understand where did anything go wrong. "Argh! I don't know anymore!"
"Yo, don't want to get lunch?" Airi looked up to see Maria standing near her desk.
"Just go ahead, why do you care?" Airi tried to ignore her.
"Woah, I was just being a bit considerate you know? The way you got dumped by your friends, sure that was harsh. And to think you thought them as your best friend, such a poor soul… ouch!" Airi grabbed Maria by her collar, almost strangling her. "Just keep your mouth shut, get it? How I stay and what I do, that is nothing to be concerned about by you. So just get going on your own job." Airi's eyes were looking so furious and bloodshot even Maria got scared. She never thought of getting this kind of reaction from her, despite knowing how much dislike Airi had for her. And the way Airi behaved all of a sudden, didn't go unnoticed by a couple of classmates present there.
Suddenly realizing that she got too much out of control, she hurriedly removed her hands from Maria's collar and composed herself. But things went already way past repairing, now that those classmates started gossiping on their own. Airi couldn't figure out what should she do to change the image that was about to get ruined. She nervously looked around her to figure out the thoughts they were having by their facial expressions, and of course, they had a confused and a bit of a startled look on them.
Of all things that could happen, she least wanted her anger to come out of the surface. Only the person close to her knows about her anger, and how difficulties she faced for managing her anger and get a grip on it. To her, being approachable makes people stay in the center of attention, and by being a bully, people would get terrified and keep themselves away from her. That's why she hated bullies. Because, she was almost on the verge of being one, and she had to keep a tab on herself almost every single moment so that she doesn't become one. She learned to act cute to become approachable to all, and loved by them. But just a single slip off some friends who she really wanted to treasure, her stability in mind got wavered, and her real self slipped out bare.
'Now I did it, everyone is going to think I am the same as them… there is no way I could make myself separate from those pathetic weirdos…'
"What are you guys looking at? Just do your own thing!" Airi had her head hanging down to avoid the curious gazes of the students surrounding them, but suddenly Maria's voice made her raise up her head. "Oil your own damn machine, and don't you dare utter a single word about it, got it?"
Maria's threat sure works here well, maybe for her father's power. Whatever the reason is, the threatening worked, and all of them removed their gazes from Airi. "Now they won't dare to voice out even a single alphabet, worry not," Maria raised a hand to put on Airi's shoulder, wanting to reassure and comfort her.
"Shut up, weirdo." Airi smacked her hands, which made Maria shriek. "Ouch, can you just not be violent with me? Look, I really want to support you, of course, I am not doing any charity work. I do have an ulterior motive."
Airi looked back at her with a disgusted look on her face, "There is no way you don't."
"Yeah yeah, I get it. So will you listen to me now?"
Somehow, Airi gave in to her. "Speak."
"Yeah! Now you're talking. Let's head to the canteen, hum?"
"Okay…" Airi couldn't even finish her words, while Maria dragged her out of the classroom, grabbing her arm.
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Airi sat down on one of the vacant seats in the canteen, while Maria brought two milkshakes for both of them. "The lunch surprisingly feels great when having someone's eyes practically bore into you, right?" Maria giggled with a low voice. Despite having a rude choice of words, and talking foul, Maria had a strange girly kind of high-pitched voice, which was making Airi more and more annoyed whenever she was talking.
"I wish that would work on you. No matter how much obvious I become, you keep chirping like an annoying little bird and get thrilled. What are you, a masochist?"
Hearing Airi's remark, Maria laughed out so loud that everyone in the canteen turned their eyes with a strange look. "Oh, my God, you know this kind of words too? Damn, you definitely aren't the type of girl you show yourself to be. Ahaha, this is funny. And to think you gave a huge lecture to that stupid piece of human for being pretentious, you sure are a surprise."
Airi kept poking on her drink with her straw. "Rena complained to your family about it?"
Maria nodded her head sideways, "No, just to me. She grumbled a lot to tell me how disappointingly she lost to you. If not, then why do you think I am trying to cling to you?"
Airi stopped in her movement for a bit. She looked up to meet Maria's eyes, "What do you mean?"
"Pretty simple. I want you to keep me by your side. I want you to beat my sister so badly that she forgets to keep the rein in her hands and wrap people around her fingers. I know you can do it. So, I am going to help you in whatever way it takes to make that happen. In return, just do that for me, and keep me by your side."
Airi kept her eyes straight to her eyes while she stated her demands and wishes. Airi seemed to wonder hard on Maria's words, as she kept silent without uttering any words. Suddenly, she got up from her seat, took the drink, and walked away from her.
Maria got surprised to see her reaction. She definitely thought Airi would pair up with her. But here she was, ignoring her as if she never said anything.
"Damn it, why this girl is so annoying!"