Amane watched as the group which had tried to rip her off came back with a sour look on their face.
The group was furious at Amane's alleged betrayal, and some even gave her the death stare in an attempt to scare her away.
Overall, it was a typical occurrence for Amane. She had irritated some people, made some enemies, and made some new friends. The day was going exceptionally well.
The unknown girl who had spoken up for Amane before took her seat at Amane's side but she did not look at Amane even once properly.
Her eyes met Amane once before the unknown girl puffed up her cheeks and turned her head to the side.
'Is this some new way to guilt-trip me? How old does that girl think I am? Five?'
Since the unknown girl had no intention of looking at Amane, then Amane didn't want to talk to her either.
She was not the one who needed help in the first place, nor was she desperate enough for that unknown friendship to go out of her way.
If her 'friend' wanted to end things then Amane was more than happy to go along with it.
However, it did not take long for that unknown girl to realize that her tactic was not working. Original Yoko must have started to smoothen things over at this point but Amane didn't see a point in doing that.
After all, she was not the one at fault since she had never agreed to that unfair deal in the first place.
"Yoko, what's wrong with you? You embarrassed me in front of everyone by not showing up at the lunch break today. Did you think that I won't get angry if you did that to me?"
'This girl has some serious balls to say all this to me now. Does she think I will not get angry at her if she pulls this bullshit?'
The unknown girl was still looking at Amane with a betrayed look. Any more of this and Amane was sure that the girl would be able to win the 'best actress' award soon.
"Yoko, do you not care about me? I am serious about cutting things off with me. You will be all alone if I abandon you."
'Oh, so it's this kind of manipulation. I can see why someone would fall for this bullshit if they're native. But not me.'
"You're annoying. Hey, can you follow through on your threat and end things with me already? I have things to do and places to be. I would appreciate it if stop bugging me for my money."
Amane's words were just loud enough to be heard by a few surrounding tables. Everyone instantly froze at her words and tone which was amusing to watch.
But as amusing as it was to stun everyone, it was also getting annoying. Did her current self come across as an 'easy' target?
"Yoko, what the hell are you saying? You want ME to leave YOU alone when it was YOU who begged ME to become friends? You can't just suddenly back out on me like this."
The unknown girl looked not only stunned but betrayed for real. There were tears in her eyes and her voice was cracking as well.
If not for the rage in her eyes, Amane would have believed her lie of a performance.
The girl was more worried than surprised at this sudden twist of events. Amane's sudden decision must have put her in a bide.
"I might have asked you to be friends with me in the past but I've grown up since then. And since I've grown up, I have come to realize that I don't need a shitty friend like you. So please leave me alone from now."
Amane heard a lot of whispers going around the classroom. Most of them were against her and her sudden behavior.
A lot of girls were even going as far as to call her a 'bitch' for ending her friendship on such a cold note.
But Amane did not care much for all that. She was interested in what the formerly dubbed 'unknown girl' would do.
Nadia Herman was not a name Amane recognized from the list she had compiled of important people in her school so she was likely not someone important Amane needed to look out for.
"Y-Yoko, how could you do this to me? I will never forgive you even if you come to me begging on your knees. I will never let you live this moment down."
Nadia was making a scene now. Knowing Yoko's previous personality, this would have been something she would have avoided at all costs.
Was that what Nadia was counting on to get Amane to back down?
'How boring. I expected better from someone like Nadia. But I guess not everyone can be a genius at adapting like Sakura.'
It was truly unfortunate to see Nadia end up like this but this was something she brought upon herself.
Amane was about to tear Nadia a new one when the most unlikely person in the classroom interfered.
"You are a fool to think Yoko will respect you now. Now that Yoko's eyes have been opened up to the value of money and how important it is, why should she let a swindler like you leech off her? You should reflect on yourself and see where your money-making scheme went bad. You should also think about investing money in the future. If you don't know how then I can help you out. Here, my card."
'Wow. I knew that Lady Sah had a money-oriented mind but isn't this a little too much? We were in the middle of a fight here.'
Everyone looked stunned at Faridha's sudden intervention in the fight at first. But as soon as she brought up money they all looked used to it.
It seemed like this was not the first time Faridha had tried to make a profit from such a delicate situation. She was money-minded.
"Well, fuck off. I want nothing to do with you or your money. You are just making fun of me because I am poor, right? But just wait! I will get my revenge on your soon and then you will pay for what you have done to me."
Nadia looked infinitely pissed off by the end of her yelling. Her loud yelling was also enough to attract the attention of the teacher in the corridor.
"What is going on here? Does the whole class want to get detention?"
The class shook their head as one at the teacher's question. Even children who had been quite excited to see a fight no longer looked excited.
And just like that, things calmed down in the class.
"Hey you, can you change seats with me? I don't think I want to sit with Yoko any longer."
Nadia called out to the person sitting two seats in front of her. The girl looked startled at being called but she was shy enough to be bullied to change her seat.
Nadia gave Amane one last glare before she sat at her seat. And then as if wanting to rub salt into Yoko's wounds, she happily called out to her new seatmate.
'How childish. Does Nadia think this will bother me?'
Amane didn't even pay attention to Nadia for the rest of the day. She was busy trying to get a plan together for the next board meeting.
Finally, things were on track for their business and Amane had short-listed some companies they could co-operate with.
"Hmm, hello, Lady Tsurugi. It is nice to make your acquaintance."
It was her new bench mate who called out to Amane. Again, it was a face she had never seen before and this was becoming a problem for her.
"Oh, hello. I'm sorry to say that I am not good with names and faces so if I forget your name a few times then don't blame me."
Amane could have made another excuse until she got to know the new girl's name but that would be too much trouble for her.
Besides, there were too many people Amane had to remember if she made such an excuse.
So she just made an excuse that was universal enough to be accepted and still not come off as off-putting to most people.
"O-Oh, that makes so much more sense." the shy girl mumbled under her breath before she beamed in Amane's direction.
"Lady Yoko, my name is Aqua. I hope we become good friends."
Amane nodded absentmindedly. She didn't mind becoming friends but she also didn't want to be taken advantage of.
For now, she would allow people to get close but not enough to get into Amane's inner circle. It was a place only those she trusted would be allowed entry.
"Ummm, I heard your conversation just now. N-Not because I wanted to but it just happened. And I wanted to say that I am sorry for misjudging you before. I wanted to be friends with you as well."
"Me too."
"Ah, me as well."
More and more people started joining the circle one by one. Everyone was trying to see if they could use Amane in the future or not.
'Let's see how I should use my new-found popularity. First, I should establish an information network in the school. These children might not seem like much but they can sometimes have some pretty great information.'
This was a good step toward a prosperous future for Amane so she was happy to bask in this glory.
___________________________
'How dare that bitch try to get along with these losers now?'
Nadia tried to smile through the rage was feeling at Yoko right now. As soon as she had let the other girl free, unwanted pests had jumped at the opportunity to make use of her golden fish.
Even the shy girl Nadia had thought of as a 'non-threat' had betrayed her trust. But it was something Nadia would deal with later.
"Hey Herman, you don't look so good right now. Did losing your bitch affect you that much."
"Oh shut up. Everyone knows that Nadia was the one who got dumped, not the other way around. But that will still not save you from paying us back."
Nadia flinched at the threat before she forced a confident grin on her face. She could not show her weakness outright or everyone would know that she was bluffing her way through.
"Yeah, as if. I said that I would get you all your money and I will get it back. Besides, I don't need Yoko to get some cash."
Those were big words to say for Nadia who was already short on cash but she refused to see her reality.
If she admitted that she was poor then she would become a laughing stock of the school.
After being the rich party kid for so long Nadia did not know how to live any other way.
'Let's borrow some money for now and then think of a way out of this situation. I am sure there must be something I can do to earn cash fast.'
Nadia knew that when there was a will there was a way out. That is how Nadia had also managed to fish Yoko in the past.
"Oh shoot, the teacher is finally here. Hurry up and quit down now."
Nadia gave Yoko one last look before taking her attention to the front of the classroom. This was one ship that had all but sank for now.
But if Nadia could get Yoko back to her, she would be golden again. Yoko would be too guilt-ridden to not help Nadia out once that happened.
After all, it was next to impossible to change a person's nature and Yoko was already too bound by Nadia to leave her now. It would not take long for Yoko to crumble.
Nadia was sure that by the end of this day Yoko would call her to reestablish their friendship and come begging back to her.