"Girls in Laguna high easily fall for strong and handsome guys. It's outlandish. Observe your day."
Those were Bernis's words, which Ike treated as some sort of joke. First of all, he believed there wasn't anything special about this face. Ike might've lost a lot of weight because of the accident, but nothing changed. He simply lost the fat that was covering his face.
But Bernis didn't lie that the girls in this school were ridiculous.
When Ike returned to the classroom with Ashley and Bernis, his desk and even his chair were full of gifts. He stood beside his desk, staring at the gifts with blank eyes.
"Told you." Ashley slapped his back, bringing him back from his trance. "Popular."
Ike turned his head, only to see her grinning at him whilst walking up to her spot. His eyes veered toward Bernis's back; the latter already sat in his seat.
"Well…" Ike raised his brows briefly, picking up a small box that made him smile. "... I sort of like the attention."
In his previous life, even though Ike was known across the globe, the attention he got wasn't anything like this. And by that, he meant that the ones chasing after him weren't cute girls expressing their innocent little hearts; those who were chasing after him were after his heart, literally.
The women he also knew weren't as simple as these students. They were worse than Ashley's annoying trait. Holly would look like a literal holy saint compared to them.
That day, Ike took home all the presents and had an unboxing session in his home. The next day was the same… and the days after that.
***
"Oh, wow… I like this one!" Ashley popped a chocolate candy in her mouth, making her eyes twinkle. "Not too sweet — just enough sweetness. Wow! I can eat it all day!"
Ike kept a poker face, watching Ashley do the honors of opening the piles of gifts on top of the coffee table in the living room of his home. It was the weekend; a Sunday afternoon when people were having family days or quality rest.
"What the hell are you doing here? Bernis too. What is he cooking in the kitchen?" he asked, evidently not in the mood for anything.
"Huh?" she blinked. "I told you we will come here on Sunday. You said, 'cool'"
"I didn't…" her brows rose as he trailed off. "Well, I guess."
"See?" Ashley chuckled and then happily picked up another present. "Anyway, I thought you liked this stuff? I didn't know you were just stacking them up here."
"I thought so too." Ike rested his jaw on his knuckles, frowning. "I realized it was only fun for a day or two. More than that, it felt like a chore."
"Hehe. I know, right?"
He quirked a brow while she opened a random present. "Have you gone through it as well?"
"Me? No. Girls and boys are different."
"Because?"
Ashley paused and gazed up. There was a genuine wonder in his eyes, telling her he wasn't feigning ignorance.
"You're weird," she blurted out.
"Again with that."
"I mean, girls and boys are different. We are built differently."
"That's all?" Ike cocked his head to the side. "I thought you'd go deeper than the difference in people's genitalia."
"Haha! Sorry, sorry. I didn't mean it that way, but what I meant by that is that if a guy displayed dominance in strength, many from the opposite gender will find him attractive. Girls — not all — but most of them like having someone reliable to protect them," she explained in a knowing tone. "For girls, on the other hand, is different. If a girl or a woman showed superiority in strength, it doesn't attract guys that much. It's the opposite."
"Guys won't do making chocolates to express their hearts. It would hurt their egos and pride," she continued. "Girls want someone to protect them, but guys want someone who needs protection. You can say most of them were smart."
"Or cowards." Ike shrugged. "Boys can never handle a strong woman. Men would."
"Hehe." The corner of her lips curled up. "It's not like I am in search of a boyfriend. I told myself to focus on my study; relationships will split my focus."
"I don't think you're that focused."
"Haha! Duh?" Ashley just laughed it off, continuing to 'help' Ike in opening the presents.
As she continued, Ike watched her in silence. His eyes fell on the gifts, items, and wrappers before him, and sighed.
"What a bother…"
**** ****
"Literally a bother." Ike snapped his tongue in irritation, disposing of a load of presents on his desk and seat. "This… is driving me crazy. At this point, they're not any different from those annoying demons who never knew when to stop."
The first two days were fun, but this was already the second week. He thought the gifts would reduce, but he thought wrong. It was actually the opposite.
Ike shook his head, turning on his heel to return to the classroom before the first class after lunch break started. But just as he took a step, a short but continuous faint sound caressed his ears. He turned his head, arching a brow.
Curious, Ike followed the sound. The closer he was, the louder and more distinct the noise was. When he made a turn to the back of the school, all he saw were three students and then another one on the ground. Ike scanned the three as they looked back at him upon sensing his presence, and then his eyes landed on the person on the floor.
"What?" someone asked in an intimidating tone, but Ike just gazed at the student on the floor. The situation didn't need a percent of a person's brain cells to know what was happening in here. The three bullies slowly faced Ike with their chins up, showing their confidence in a fight.
"I'm not like anyone who jumps into an unpleasant situation. That is not my job." Ike raised his hands nonchalantly. "I just checked out of curiosity."
The three bullies assessed him from head to toe, watching the guy turn around to leave. They smirked, believing Ike was intimidated by the thought of fighting three guys at once. Little did they know, Ike simply had no heart or was even in the mood to play anyone's hero.
But as he walked away, his steps slowed down as the sound of kicking and grunting continued. But this time, that wasn't what caught his attention.
"How dare you snitch us to a student body, ah?!" said a student angrily, kicking the student on the ground in the abdomen. "Do you know how much trouble you put us in?"
"I'll fucking kill you today — you better know how to pray to go to heaven."
"You should've quit school after putting us in disciplinary action, hah! Fucking loser!"
Ike looked back at them, only to see the three guys shower another student with merciless kicks. The latter was originally curled into a ball with his arms protecting his head, but the more kicks he inflicted, the more his posture loosened.
"I see…" Ike rocked his head in understanding but turned away. That sight was something that wasn't new to him, but he realized one thing. "This world changed in many things; some were good, others were so-so. But this thing they call mercy… heh. Did they think people like them change so easily?"