Chapter 8 - Chapter 1.7 - Compass

[E: READ THIS! IT'S IMPORTANT!For both the new and returning viewers, the story's changed significantly.If you're seeing this, that means I'm done revising the story up until this part. The next ten or twelve chapters may need a bit of a fixing or two. You might see some inconsistencies here and there, for example: the writing style. After all, the difference between the writing style I have now, and the writing style two years ago are like heaven and earth.I do feel like I'm erasing a part of history that made me who I am today... But if it makes a good story, then so be it.Enjoy ;) ]T/W: Strong descriptions of violence, blood, impalement etc. in the latter part of the chapter. Viewer discretion (?) is advised.It started small, things like students occasionally whispering during lectures or checking their phones under the desk. But a week later, things got even worse.Students began arriving late every single morning. Some even skipped entire periods, or didn't bother coming at all. Others grew bold, enough that they'd openly scroll through their social media feeds during class. Drip marks started forming in Sudou's bench from sleeping too much with his mouth open.And then, there was Yamauchi."You know," I leaned back in my seat, barely paying attention to Chabashira's history lecture. "I wish I could erase memories. Just... permanently.""What brought that up?" muttered the guy behind me.I tilted my head toward Yamauchi, who, for some inexplicable reason, was shaking and grinning to himself in his seat. "Let's just say there are things I wish I could unsee."Ayanokouji followed my gaze."Ah." His eyes widened for a fragment of a second before he closed them and nodded slightly, like he knew exactly what I was talking about."Care to share with the rest of the class what you two are discussing?" Horikita's voice cut in.As the person sitting next to us, it wasn't strange for her to overhear our conversation. She seemed annoyed because we were probably distracting her from taking history notes. If anyone still cared about rules in this class, it was her."Nothing worth mentioning," I replied."Uh-huh." Horikita raised an eyebrow and glanced toward Yamauchi, who was now balancing a pencil on his upper lip, fortunately. She sighed audibly. "Honestly, it's like half the class has completely given up.""You're not wrong," I said. "Although 'completely given up' might be giving them too much credit. That implies 'them' putting effort in the first place." I directed toward a certain individual."I can still hear you," Ayanokouji said flatly."Good. It's not like I was being subtle."Horikita shot a glare at us but didn't say anything else.Meanwhile, Chabashira was standing at the front, halfheartedly writing something on the blackboard. She knew that the class wasn't paying attention. Her expression was as unaffected as usual... But it screamed, 'I've accepted my fate.'"Hm?"One of the moments when she went silent during the lecture, I caught her looking at us; more specifically, me.She just stared at me. She didn't say anything, and neither did I. Our silent exchange lasted all of two seconds before she turned back to her lecture. It wasn't the first time today.What's up with her?"Hah~" A yawn escaped my mouth as I began focusing my gaze at the blackboard. Just then..."I heard Karuizawa-san is dating Hirata-kun!""Are you serious? That's so cute!"I heard the whispers from the girls in front of me. Without moving my head, I glanced over to Karuizawa and Hirata. Being one of the few people in the front rows, Hirata tried his best to focus amid the chaos. And, his new girlfriend Karuizawa, was too busy being part of said chaos.'Superficial,'That's the perfect word I could use to describe their relationship. It wasn't a like-like relationship like any other normal high school relationships. It was out of desperation, from Karuizawa's side. By dating the most popular, and influential guy in the class, Karuizawa would be sure to get a head start in the power hierarchy.Desperate, but smart.For the time being, I should only keep an eye on her from the distance. It would be wise not to rush things yet.🄾🅄🅃🅂🄸🄳🄴🅁The garden behind the first-year building was quiet, and near isolated. It was perfect for eating lunch alone in peace.I skipped cafeteria that day, not because I didn't feel like waiting in line to buy one cream bread. It was for a different reason.I was lucky enough to find an empty bench right beneath the shade of a cherry tree. As soon as I took a seat, I opened my lunchbox. The sharp scent of spice from my homemade beef curry immediately filled the air.For a moment, I simply stared at the lunchbox, taking a moment to absorb the majestic sight of my masterpiece.Should I take a picture? Maybe I should upload it on an SNS like a trendy teenager?Kicking all those thoughts out of my head, I grabbed the plastic spoon.Why a spoon? Well, I could use chopsticks just fine. But for some reason, I enjoyed not having to constantly worry about dropping the pieces."Ittadakimasu." I clasped my hand together, dug the spoon to pick a good chunk of curry. Right as I was about to take my first bite...*Clatter!What the-?The sound of something dropping nearby shattered my peace. I turned my head around, more out of instinct than curiosity, and noticed something."Ahh...! I was looking forward to it, too!" a girl whined while clenching her fists in frustration, as if throwing a fit. Standing a few feet away from me was... someone I knew.Third year, Hashigaki Satsuki, the president of the archery club. Judging by the scattered rice and side dishes across the ground, I could only guess that she had dropped her lunchbox. Her expression was something between shock and irritation.I realized it would be best to stay silent and not be spotted by her right now. I don't want her to feel more embarrassed than she already was. That's what any sane person wou—"...Ah!" she let out in panic.As if realizing she wasn't alone, her eyes suddenly locked onto me. She froze and stood there, like a deer caught in the headlight. And there I was, curry stuck on my spoon right before my mouth as I blankly stared at her with what I could only assume was my default deadpan expression."...""..."For a moment, neither of us spoke. It was awkward."Levent...kun?" she instantly slapped a smile on her face. A strained, forced, but somewhat passable smile. "W-what are you doing here?"I lowered my spoon, glanced at the lunchbox in my lap, then back at her. "Solving world hunger?""Pft! Right. Dumb question." She shook her head."And, what about you? What are 'you' doing?" I asked, just for the sake of it."Well," she looked at the ground where her bento was scattered. "Causing world hunger...""...Right.""Haha, guess I got a little too excited for lunch." She let out a small, nervous laugh."That's one way to put it.""It's fine! I've got this under control. Totally under control."She crouched down to pick up her scattered dishes. Her hands moved quickly, but her eyes kept darting back toward me, as if hoping I'd look away. I didn't.I sighed and placed the lunchbox on the bench before standing up."Need a hand, senpai?" I asked.She glanced at me, her smile twitched slightly. "Nope! I'm good. This is nothing. Happens all the time.""That... sounds like a problem, actually." I deadpanned."It's not," she said quickly, brushing some dirt off a piece of food before sighing and tossing it back onto the ground. "Okay, maybe it is."I walked over and knelt down beside her, helping to gather what little could be salvaged."Rice doesn't do well with dirt, does it?" I remarked, picking up a grain stuck to a blade of grass."Thanks for the insight," she dryly replied.Once we'd gathered everything, it seemed like a neat little pile of unsalvageable garbage. I mean, it was still edible... But still..."Guess I'm skipping lunch today." She sigh-remarked."You don't have to," I stood up and motioned her toward my bench. "Come on. I can't let you have this. I've got more than enough."Her eyes widened, as embarrassment crept across her cheeks."Oh no, I couldn't—""Sure, you can," I interrupted. "Don't worry. It's not poisoned. Probably.""That's... reassuring."She let out a nervous chuckle. "Thanks for the offer, but no. I refuse to take pity food." she insisted, holding up her hands like a cross."It's not pity food. It's curry.""Same difference.""Look, you can either sit here and starve, or run back to the overly crowded cafeteria to buy food... Or, you can simply have half of my 'culinary despair' to satisfy your stomach. Your choice.""Culinary despair?" Her lips twitched, making her forced smile a bit genuine."It's a family recipe.""Is that supposed to sell me on it?""No. But it's spicy enough to make you forget your problems for a while.""Haha! What's with that?" She let out a small laugh, shaking her head in amusement. "Alright, fine. I'll take it. But only because you're forcing me. It's not like I wanted to eat, y'know?"What.. she's a tsundere now?"Whatever helps you sleep at night," I replied, handing her a spare spoon from my lunchbox set as she sat down.🄾🅄🅃🅂🄸🄳🄴🅁"This looks... intense."She eyed the curry like it was a dangerous animal."It is," I replied. "You're looking at the result of years of disasters. I've burned down more dishes than you've probably eaten in your life.""Are you bragging, or threatening me?" she deadpanned."Both."She snickered before digging down at the curry, and, well... The effect was immediate. Her face immediately turned bright red, not because she was blushing or anything."Wow, you weren't kidding about the spice, huh?" She let out sharp exhales, fanning her mouth with her hand."That's the point. I did warn you beforehand." I replied whilst gulping down my own share with no reaction whatsoever. "Curry is supposed to be spicy."She snorted, coughing slightly as she reached for a bottle of water in her bag."Do you eat this much spice regularly?""Not really. Depends on the mood." I replied. "It kinda grows on you,""I don't follow," she gave me the skeptical eyes."Just keep eating... You'll get used to it before you know it."She took a big gulp before taking another bite. What followed next was..."Liar! My tongue is burning!" she yelled."Hm... Was I wrong to assume that Hashigaki-senpai would be tough enough to handle this much spice?" I audibly muttered."Very funny, Levent-kun." she deadpanned before digging back in. For a while, we ate in peaceful silence.To be honest, it didn't feel bad, to have a partner to share a meal with. Even better if it's a beautiful girl like Hashigaki Satsuki.Soon, not a single trace of curry was left in the box. Funny thing is... she finished way before I could.She leaned back on the bench, letting out a satisfied sigh. "Alright, I admit it. That wasn't bad. I guess you weren't lying when you said it gets tasty after getting used to it." she said."I'll take that as high praise of my culinary skills." I puffed my chest."Don't let it go to your head," she said, smirking. "Stop eating this much spice. You'll get holes in your stomach."My chest deflated back to how it was before. "I'll think about it."She chuckled. "Thanks for the lunch, Levent-kun. I owe you one.""It's fine," I said while closing the lunchbox. "I'll call in the favor when you least expect it.""That's certainly not ominous at all." she deadpanned."It's exactly what I'm going for."She snickered a bit more before looking me in the eyes, which admittedly caught me by surprise..."You know," she suddenly said. "You're a strange guy, Levent-kun."I raised an eyebrow at her comment. "Arasso (Is that so?)""Well, you don't talk much, for one. And when you do, you're very... blunt."Hm, now that I think about it, I guess I get too comfortable whenever I'm in the zone."Well... This is just how I am.""Fair enough," she said, smiling. "But you're also surprisingly nice. For someone who seems like they'd rather not deal with people.""...Nice, huh?" I repeated under the breath. "That's a new one."Hashigaki tilted her head, studying me for a moment. After a while she suddenly commented."You're also surprisingly good at cooking. Who taught you how to cook anyway? Was it your parents?"..."No, it was out of hobby.""Hobby?""Yes. YouTube-sensei and Internet-sensei is the best.""Haha! You're something else, Levent-kun." she laughed again, before standing up and fixing her skirt. "It's been fun.""...Yeah. I guess it was."Shaking her hand, she gave me a final smile."Hoping to see you again soon, Levent-kun."She said before heading back toward the main building.I, on the other hand, remained seated in the garden for a while longer. The sunlight, the sea breeze, the sound of waves crashing, the birds. I preferred this natural quiet environment over the artificial one inside the campus.Eventually, though, the bell rang, and it was time to return to the classroom.🄾🅄🅃🅂🄸🄳🄴🅁The class periods were lengthy and boring, as they were supposed to be.I had already solved every problem that Sakagami could throw at us, and still had time to idly observe the class. The equations on the board weren't challenging; the only challenge was staying awake.High school was the same across any timeline... dull and boring. Quite frankly, I hated going back to high school for this singular reason. Sure, knowing the answers saved me a lot of effort. But that didn't save me from the time I had to spend sitting through all the sessions practically doing nothing.In moments like these, I could almost understand Ayanokouji. The boredom must've driven him to craft schemes just to pass the time.Speaking of Ayanokouji, even though we made a deal not to inflict friendly fire, that doesn't mean he was against the idea of helping me. I've established a sort-of cooperative communication with him, which was quite fortunate if I'm being honest.The girl who was one seat behind me on the right, Horikita. She was quite literally the most important side character in the entire series. Not nearly as important as that duck-faced Ayanokouji, of course. But still... you get what I'm trying to say?Her biggest role in all of this was... her usefulness as a camouflage. To be a good believable puppet.Yes, that's pretty much it. That's all she's ever been good for.Horikita was academically capable, cool, composed, and had a massive ego issue in the early volumes. All necessary features of a puppet leader. For that reason, Ayanokouji had always manipulated her into being a leader, and used her status to play his cards from the shadows.I intend to do the same, but with a different approach."Marabu...""Hm?" Ayanokouji raised his head."The Student Council President. What was his name again?" I feigned ignorance.From the corner of my eye, I saw Horikita who was diligently solving Sakagami's math equation. On the surface, she seemed completely uninterested. But the slight pause of her writing, and the tightening of her grip on her pen exposed her.It was intentional for a reason."Horikita... I think they had the same last name, didn't they?""I guess so..." Ayanokouji shrugged."Well, whatever it was, I've actually been hearing a lot about him," I continued. "He's an interesting third-year. Highly respected, perfect in academics, athletics, leadership... Apparently, he's proclaimed to be the best student council president in the history of this school. Such a golden boy, no?""Well, I guess that's how all prodigies are. It's not hard to see why he's admired by both the school and students.""I suppose so," I shook my head. "Though I can't imagine how living in the shadow of someone like that must feel.""Shadow, huh?" Ayanokouji raised his eyebrow."Constantly compared, and the expectation to match or even surpass them. Yet, no matter how hard they work, the legacy looms over their head. It's like trying to outrun a shadow that's always two steps ahead. And...well..."This is aimed at you. So, listen all you want, closely."In this case, it's almost funny how different our subjects are. Almost as if they're not even from the same family."Scratch!Behind me, the faint sound of pen scratching the surface of the paper had stopped entirely. I didn't bother looking back.Ayanokouji didn't react much. He simply flickered his gaze toward the person without moving his head, before turning back to me."Interesting perspective." He remarked and returned to his notebook where he later wrote:[ Are you sure this is how you plan to do this? ]I simply nodded.It was subtle, almost imperceptible to others who wasn't looking. But there was a tension in the air, like the moment a rubber band is stretched to its limit right before it snaps.It was 'Perfect'.🄾🅄🅃🅂🄸🄳🄴🅁The final bell rang.Students bounced off their seats and left the room chatting and laughing. Ayanokouji gave me a final glance before hopping off and walking out of the room.I didn't bother to hurry behind him. I took my sweet time packing all the things. There was no reason to rush.When I was done, I stood up and looked around. By that time, there was nobody inside the class... except the two of us.Horikita, as expected, remained seated with her gaze fixated at me. I tried reading her expression, but her bangs were getting in the way. I didn't expect the anime cliché about darkening foreface to be implemented in 'real life adaptation' as well.Then again, this is an anime.And it didn't take any Sherlock to figure out what was going through her head at that moment. She was lowkey, pissed."Do you have something to say?" I asked, casually.For a moment, she was silent... She was probably letting the silence hang to increase the tension, which would be ineffective if I simply walked away.But that wasn't the time for a joke. It was a crucial moment."You've been making some interesting comments all class. About my brother. About me." she finally said in a soft, but sharp tone."Oh?" I raised an eyebrow, deciding to test her more to see how much more she could be aggravated."Well, I was just making observations. You certainly seem to pay attention to our conversations." I mock-remarked."Observations, huh?" She stood up, and calmly began gathering her things. "If you have an issue, it would be better to address it directly instead of hiding behind indirect attacks.""I don't think it was that big of an issue though? What on earth are you on about?" I began gaslighting her."You made comments that pushed too far into my personal boundaries." Horikita's hand trembled.When I looked at her arm, something was glistening because of how sharp it was. A compass. Horikita held it so tightly that I half-expected it to bend out of sheer force."Personal?" I tilted my head slightly, unfazed by her indirect threat. "Wow... When we asked about his relationship, you never confirmed that Horikita Marabu was your brother. And now, you are trying to gatekeep him?""...Don't you dare." she whispered in a dangerously low and strained voice. "You don't know anything about me."Her face was apathetic as always. But the pulsating vein on her forehead was unmissable.I dropped my backpack on a nearby table. It was going to take longer than expected."Do I need to know anything?" I emotionlessly replied. "It's not exactly a mystery. You're always boasting about superiority this, superiority that. And how every single one of us around you are nothing more than feeble insects. But deep down, you know...that's just the way you escape reality.""...""Why are you silent? Does the bitter truth hurt?""That's... not true.""It is the truth. If you think otherwise, then I guess you can go whine about it to your onii-chan."Horikita gritted her teeth. Her face contorted with rage that I'd never seen before."You've said enough."That was the moment she snapped.She closed her distance. Grabbing the steel compass, she lunged at me with great speed. The compass dived directly toward my left arm. In a blink, the sharp point of the compass dug deep into my skin.It all happened in less than a second.It hurt, really badly. Sharp pain rushed through my arm like electricity. I could even feel the pointy end of the compass grinding and grazing against the bones of my hand."...Hmm."But I didn't even flinch. Instead, in a swift motion I caught her wrist, and locked the weapon into a still position.Horikita, through her clasped teeth, was breathing hard (more appropriately hissing through her teeth). It was obviously an act out of pure impulse and rage. It proved that even someone as cool and composed as her had a breaking point.But soon, she snapped out of it and realized what she had just done."Aozaki...kun?" she locked eyes with me in confusion. I simply closed mine.I took a deep breath and exhaled. When my eyes opened, they were the narrowest they've ever been."Aozaki-kun!?" Horikita's breath caught in her throat as she realized what I was about to do.Slowly and deliberately, I twisted her wrist. I tightened my fingers over the cold metallic body of the compass, and pushed it deeper into my arm, making the wound look far worse than it was.It was excruciating beyond description. The compass felt as hot as a metal rod that's about to reach its meting point. Without delay, I gently directed the compass through gap between the bones of my palm in order to reduce permanent damage.Both our hands were being overflown by my own blood that was spraying out from the wound. The sight of fresh and warm blood made her eyes widen. The feeling of bones grinding against the weapon while plowing through my palm, made her hands shake uncontrollably in my grip."What do you think you are doing?!" she yelled, trying her best to free her hand from my grip."I don't think anything," I replied coldly. "You're the one doing this, not me.""W-What?" she let out. But it wasn't just out of shock. There was something else there too— realization.I slowly raised our arms, in a way that'd make it easier... for the cameras to see.Current balance: 1,297,125 ¶¶