(Dazai Crowley's POV)
Cerulean Academy, Present Day
Lately, I've been sensing something strange.
It started ever since I first split up with Ester in the hallway and has persisted up till now.
These feelings. I don't know from who or from where but I can tell.
—It's bloodlust, no mistake.
Somebody has set a target on me.
For now, I'll ignore them and continue on.
In any case, I continued on to the cafeteria. As expected, there were many students here.
Well, "food court" would be a better way to put it, considering the sheer size of the building.
There were even various stalls and the like set up, each possessing different menus and various foods that catered to different tastes. It seems like students were able to enjoy a wide variety of foods here.
However, there was one thing that I noticed that was off. The prices. More specifically, on the menus, there seemed to be varying prices per entree per class. For example, for one meal, the price for Class A was vastly cheaper than the price given for Class D. This sort of pattern was constantly repeated elsewhere. There were even certain entrees that were exclusive for only those of the higher classes.
I see now, so the advantages and disadvantages that came with being in certain classes were also defined beyond just basic point distribution. Clearly that was unfair, but it's a good way to stoke competition between the four classes.
Looks like I'll be bringing my own lunch to school from now on, huh. Oh well, in any case, I think I'll just go pick something up from a vending machine nearby. Last I checked, even the food those machines sell were actually of high quality.
Making my way to a secluded part of the court, I finally stumbled upon one vending machine in particular that catered more to my tastes.
Now if I recall correctly, seeing how this school only accepts CP as payment rather than paper cash, I probably need to pay digitally using my phone. Figuring that out, I scanned what was on the selection screen and pressed what I wanted.
Paying it forward, a couple of items fell out of the machine. A can of soda, a small piece of candy and a cold bun sandwich in a bento box was all given to me at a decent price of 15 points.
As for the sandwich, apparently there were nearby mini-ovens and microwaves the students could use for free, so I had every intention of using that to stuff myself full.
—Atleast that what I planned to do at first had it not been for the sharp increase of bloodlust and malice that I suddenly detected. As soon as I noticed something threatening coming my way, I instinctively stepped to the side to dodge.
The mysterious fist pierced the air like a bullet.
Wham!
Now redirected elsewhere, it crashed into the vending machine with great power, pulverizing it on impact.
"Heh. Even after all these years, your reflexes haven't dulled one bit."
As soon as I regained my stance, I looked towards the direction of my assailant. That was when I noticed him. It was a large and tall man whose wide frame and physique would make the average teenager pale in comparison and tremble in fear.
And unfortunately, much to my dismay, he was a man that I knew all too well.
It was the damned ogre himself.
"—Gideon."
"Long time no see, 'ey pal?"
Of all the people that I could've encountered…
Annoyed, I narrowed my eyes at him.
For a moment, I almost couldn't believe it. The very fact that the man who was standing in front of it made everything felt like a fever dream.
Gideon Oswald.
Donning a black cap and a matching colored overcoat, his very presence has struck fear into the foolish hearts of those who were once his opponent.
Glancing a little behind him, I noticed a couple of other students his age hanging around near him with cocky grins and haughty smiles. Henchmen. But they weren't just your ordinary henchmen, but ones who were actually worth looking out for, lest they'll tear you apart if you weren't careful.
Sigh.
"What the hell are you doing here?"
"Heard word from a certain someone that you was here, so I thought I would come say hi~"
A certain someone, huh....
"—I see."
"Aw, what's the matter? Don't give me that look. You'll just make me want to hurt even more."
"Oh, please. Forget hurting. Even if I didn't look at you a certain way, you would still try to kill me."
Gideon smiled.
"Goddamn, right."
He unleashes a powerful right hook.
I dodge, his fist tasting air.
However, that did not stop Gideon from attacking again by spamming a rush of consecutive attacks.
I continue taking evasive action.
Another left hook came in hot, to which I was also able to avoid. However, I was surprised to see that Gideon was being a little more mindful of his surroundings then I originally thought.
Unlike when he destroyed the vending machine, he wasn't allowing the momentum of his fists to get carried away and cause further damage to other property.
Tch, and just when I planned to use that against him later on, but of course, he would know a lot better.
But suddenly—
"—That's enough, Gideon."
"Huh?"
Hm?
A figure emerged from the shadows and grasped Gideon's forearm mid swing, which was enough to catch him off guard.
Gideon glanced back.
"Fuck off, Asura. This is between me and him. I told you I'll deal with you later."
Asura? That's a familiar name.
"Leave my classmate alone."
Annoyed by those words, Gideon swung his left elbow backwards, aiming for his nose.
Forced to let go, Asura stepped back.
Gideon turned around and grabbed his collar.
"Don't tell me what to do, or I'll kill you."
His grasp tightened.
"Don't make me hurt you, Gideon."
There was not even an ounce of fear or intimidation in his voice. Despite having his neck being caught within the hand of a savage beast he dared provoking him further with those words.
I wonder how Gideon will react. Knowing him, he will probably choose violence.
"Tch, fine. Whatever."
Wait, what? He backed down? How unexpected.
"It's not like I'm in no rush anyways. No, quite on the contrary in fact. Moments like these are experiences that I would much rather savor."
Suddenly, Gideon looked towards me with a glare.
"Don't think this is over, Dazai. This place will be your hell. I'll make sure of it."
I didn't respond.
And just like that, Gideon took his men and left.
"Hey. What are you going to do about this vending machine? You practically destroyed it."
Oh yeah, speaking of which, I don't really care what happened to the machine itself, but I should be reimbursed for the trouble he caused me.
After all, I lost some valuable points thanks to him.
"What about it? You know these sorts of things happen all the time. If they find out it was my fault, I'll just tell them it was a harmless mistake."
"And by that, you mean paying off the school, right?"
Gideon stopped for a moment.
"I don't know what you are talking about."
With a shrewd smile, he and his crew walked off.
Asura sighs.
"Atleast, they're gone."
"You good?"
"I should be asking you that. He didn't hurt you or anything, did he?"
"No. I'm fine."
Asura chuckled a little.
"Of course you are. After all, he didn't land a single hit on you. Impressive."
I raised my eyebrow.
"You were watching?"
"A little."
"I see."
"I gotta say though. You got some incredible reflexes. You get that from martial arts?"
"No. I used to play sports a while back. That's all."
"Just sports, huh. Sorry, but I can't imagine that. I saw how you were moving back then. It was as if you were predicting Gideon's every move."
"You're probably just thinking about it too much."
Besides, it's not like I'm lying either.
Yes, granted, I did learn a variety of martial arts a long time ago which is certainly one factor. However, my reflexes did indeed come from the sports that I played.
It just so happens those sports I played wasn't exactly...—humane.
However, despite presenting to him the truth, albeit halfheartedly, Asura still wasn't fully convinced.
Sigh.
"Fine. If you must know, Gideon and I went to the same school before. I saw him get into a couple of fights, so I memorized his attack patterns."
Another ambiguous white lie.
"Ah, now was that so hard to admit?"
I mean, I would rather not talk about my past with others if at all possible, but oh well.
"So what. Does Gideon have a vendetta against you or something? He seemed like he hated you."
"Gideon has a vendetta against everybody."
"Hah. That's true."
"In any case, the name's Asura."
"I know. You're that guy from our class. Quite the introduction you made there."
Asura sheepishly smiles.
"What can I say? I'm a ladies' man."
I rolled my eyes.
Asura. Not only is he my classmate, he was also one of the few who chose to abstain from the vote. Besides that, at first glance, there was nothing about him worth mentioning.
He had purple hair and sharp orange eyes. Anything beyond that is simply the looks of an average man. He had a decent physique, but didn't seem like the type to work out often, nor did I sense any special power or magical talent exuding from him either. It's also possible his academic ability is low. But that's just personal speculation. In any case, there was a reason as to why I was being so judgemental about him.
It was about his encounter with Gideon.
One thing is for certain, he holds an incredible resolve and has a high tolerance for fear. After all, no normal person could simply persuade Gideon into backing down so easily with words alone.
Which brings me to my final conclusion.
—Asura is not somebody I should underestimate.
Suddenly, my stomach growled. Again.
"Pft, somebody's hungry, eh?~"
"Hey. Don't laugh at a man's stomach."
"My bad, my bad. You were trying to get something to eat earlier right?"
"Yeah. I paid for it and everything. But Gideon went up and destroyed it all. Sigh. What a waste…"
"Damn. Well, as much as I want to bring him back here and have him reimburse you, he's not the type of person to apologize."
"Tell me about it…"
"Oh, I know! How about I pay for your next meal? My treat."
I raised my eyebrow.
"You sure? Some of the stuff in here is expensive."
"I'm fine with it. I've been saving up my points since last year so I got plenty to spare."
"Well, if you say so."
As a man, I'm not exactly used to having my meal paid for me. However, seeing as how I'm curious to know more about Asura, it would be wise for me to use this opportunity to get to know him some more.
Taking him up on his offer, we later decided to make our way out back towards the food court. From that point, he took me around a couple different joints to which he personally recommended. "This has the best food in this time of season", "the drinks here are quite refreshing", "this is cheap if you want a quick bite", "you can't go wrong with this", advice of that nature was happily provided to me along the way.
In the grand scheme of things, I suppose this sort of information wasn't going to be all that important, however, I still appreciated it.
Eventually, we stopped by this one small cafe with hazelnut colored walls, which contrasted the neutral white color scheme of the food court.
A cafe inside a school cafeteria.
I think my head is hurting.
Although the cafe wasn't by any means large, it held enough space for a couple dozen students. And considering how quiet and remote it was compared to the loud and bustling main court, it seemed to serve as the perfect place for students to come by and relax or study during lunch.
—Or in Asura's case, meeting a friend.