"Leige-sama, so you finally decided it was time to grace us with your presence." the teacher sneered, putting what Leige thought as unnecessary stress on the "-sama" part. "Well, not that it matters, since the lesson has just finished."
Even he could almost feel the contempt rolling off of her in waves, suffocating the previously relaxed and harmonious atmosphere that clearly was because of his absence.
Although he himself wasn't too bothered by this clear exclusion, having experienced distance with his classmates in his past life, he was pretty sure this wasn't going to be healthy for anyone's mental health if they were in his position.
All eyes were on him as he made no effort to retort to the teacher who he felt was near beyond saving, choosing to quietly return to his seat that was conveniently now next to Angelica.
The purple-haired girl avoided his gaze and noticeably shuffled away a little in her seat as he pulled out his own chair.
The quiet tension that Leige himself ignored and instead read what was on the big black board behind the teacher made Angelica increasingly more uncomfortable.
She felt conflicted.
On one hand, she felt extremely wronged as Leige had blasted her with false accusations and insults about the difference in class between them, especially since it was her biggest insecurity.
After all, class was everything, and it was also the one thing she could never change.
She was always going to be born a commoner, a commoner's daughter, and although she did not grow up in the true slums and was from a middle-class family, to the naïve and ignorant people in this academy it would be akin to the dirtiest of the slums, uninhabitable.
Right now, everyone knew she was not wealthy. However, they didn't know the extent of how poor she was compared to them, and therefore although she was not accepted, she was not discriminated against.
Therefore, when Leige had continously poked at her biggest insecurity, she had lost her temper and attacked him with all she had.
So on the other hand, she was actually feeling immense guilt about hurting him so bad that he needed to recover for more than a few hours, especially since she wasn't used to the expensive equipment and magic that could make him heal impossibly quickly and leave no signs of previous injury.
However, the real crushing point and centre of her guilt was how good she felt after she had injured him, after he had been carried away and the rest of the class had cheered her on.
It felt as though she had finally done the right thing, as if this was the only way for her to be accepted, to be liked.
It was important to understand that to a girl like Angelica, who had been relatively popular in her middle school and her village, sudden exclusion from everyone else in this Academy because of something she would never be able to change was completely new to her, and it hit her harder than a truck.
And the euphoric feeling from being cheered on by the very same classmates who had been so distant from her for what felt like the longest time, even though it had been less than a year since they had joined this Academy, had only worn off after Leige had re-entered the classroom.
But she knew it wasn't right.
Her parents had raised her to understand that gaining respect and authority by trampling on others was the worst way to do so, even if it may be the easiest way, and that even though following that path would be easier at first, it would never pay off in the end.
Therefore self-discipline and her own moral compass was key to refraining from the temptation to bathe in the glory of being accepted by the class who were so hard to move in any other way.
She had retained that philosophy all throughout her life, yet now she was hesitating because she had finally tasted a little bit of the easy road that she had been preaching against, and she had finally understood what temptation meant.
Looking around at the class, and finally back at Leige, she jumped a little when he spoke.
"...Angelica?" the reason Leige had not spoken for so long even though most people were getting ready to leave the classroom was because he was wondering how to address her.
To add a honorific like Miss would be too formal considering he was of much higher class than her, and to use her full name was problematic because he had forgotten it.
"Yes?" Angelica winced as her voice sounded, loud and haughty in contrast to the quiet and calm voice of Leige.
She had genuinely meant to sound soft, but it seemed she was a little incapable.
Maybe talking haughtily to Leige had become a conditioned reflex.
However, Leige didn't seem to mind, or notice, because he carried on without so much of a reaction.
"I owe you an apology for my rude words this morning, they were completely false and for the intention of riling you up, which I again should not have done. I realise you were hurt by my words and that I am completely in the wrong for this, and I hope to make it up to you by never saying such things again. I hope you can forgive me."
Leige paused, looking at Angelica, who was staring at him with wide, bulging eyes and a gaping mouth.
Tilting his head, he ran through his apology in his mind. Had he said something wrong?
He had expressed remorse, empathised with the offended party, admit responsibility, offered to make amends and asked for forgiveness.
It was all what an apology should contain, yet he felt as though she had been staring at him for too long to only process his words.
He reflected on himself again, thinking back to the last time he apologised, which happened to be to George.
Since this was his second time ever apologising for being a dick, he felt as though his skills had improved since the first time he had not performed the five steps to a sincere apology, and therefore was probably lacking.
However, Angelica was still staring at him, and so he stared back, wondering if she was just kind of dumb or genuinely was not processing his words.
A giggle made them both turn around.
Behind them was Yumi, who cheerfully had her hands clasped behind her and was leaning in with a bright smile on her face.
"See Angelica, I told you he would apologise! He isn't that kind of person, really!" she addressed her joyfully before turning to Leige. "Silly Leige, you sounded like you were a machine with that apology, there was no need to go that far! A simple 'I'm sorry' would have sufficed, really....I think."
Angelica finally blinked, only realising that her eyes had been extremely wide that whole time, making tears come to her eyes.
She quickly wiped them away, only to find that the tears hadn't ceased, they were only growing.
Confused, she wiped again only to realise she was crying.
She groaned in embarrassment, quickly scanning the classroom to ensure that everyone had left.
She hadn't asked to be such a sensitive person!
It was just that...
This was the first time anyone of higher class had ever apologised to her in her whole life, and although the person who apologised was a complete and utter dick and therefore the last person she had expected, combined with the guilt she had felt before and her whole experience at this Academy, she had gotten unexpectedly emotional.
...Well, it wasn't really unexpected considering how emotional she was as a person.
"Is she crying?!" as she frustratingly wiped tears that never stopped coming from her eyes, the hushed and panicked whispers of the two became clear to her.
"Was my apology that good?" Leige's uncertain quiet voice entered her ears, but before she could retort Yumi did it for her.
"I mean, to be honest it sounded like a robot."
"Oh."
"No no no Leige don't get sad I didn't mean it like that!"
"I'm not s-"
"It's just that in my opinion a sincere apology should come from the heart, not from the brain... You know?"
"Not really, no." didn't all apologies come from the brain?
"I mean like.... A heartfelt 'I'm sorry' to me is more meaningful than a formal essay, you know?"
"But mine wasn't a formal essay..."
"No no no Leige don't get sad don't get sad it was really good-"
"I'm not s-"
"It's just that it sounded a bit insincere, so next time lets make an apology together, ok?"
"...Ok..."
"Hey Leige, why do you sound so doubtful?!"
Angelica sighed, causing both of them to look up from where they had crowded their heads together to whisper.
"Angelica, here's a tissue!" Yumi reverted from whispering to her natural cheerful voice as she handed her a tissue, which Angelica gratefully took. "Are you ok?" she sounded genuinely concerned, which nearly set Angelica off again.
Yumi was too good for this world.
Two people were being nice to her in this Academy. Two whole people. Not one, but two.
After a whole year of what felt like isolation, even their stupid whispers felt like a breath of fresh air.
"I- I'm only crying because some d-dust got into my eyes, t-that's all!" she hiccupped, knowing how unbelievable she looked, yet she tried to hypnotise herself into thinking it was a reasonable excuse.
After all, she needed to know that Leige really wouldn't say such things again, because to have two people being nice to her felt like too much of a dream and she didn't want to be naïve and believe in it, no matter how much she wanted to.
After all, it could be that the very next day, or even in the mansion where she worked as a maid to earn enough money, Leige would revert back to his true self again.
So she would give it some time.
But during that time, she would be able to hang out with them, and they could all be friends, right?