I was walking towards the bike stand after finishing the call with Yume.
Something was puzzling me.
It had been more than a month since I transmigrated.
I both mine and Yuuta's souls seemed to be almost completely assimilated but there still remained a small portion that didn't merge.
It was like an irritating itch and nothing more, but still it was bothering me.
I tried tracing my memories but there wasn't any major event I could recall.
However when I was tracing Yuuta's memories with Yume, there was a slight change from some point.
I wouldn't really call it a good or bad change, but just that... well it isn't exactly definitive.
Yume got more and more grumpy and started getting thorny around Yuuta.
And Yuuta felt less bothered by other stuff and got more closed up.
Haah, this is surely going to trouble me.
What a troublesome sister.
But I cant help it being bothered by her, after all she is too cute to leave alone.
I walk with my bike towards the gate with my stupid thoughts.
Ah, there was Akane talking to her friends.
I walk closer to her and signal her that I'll be waiting for her there.
I get to the gate, but before I put on my headphones...
"Yo Kazama, fancy seeing you here. Who are you waiting for?"
I look up and ugh!
Not this fucker.
"Yo Shibata. Nothing just waiting for Tachibana."
I reply with mild disappointment.
The person I was talking to was Ryo Shibata; blond hair with a kind of cool look, green eyes and quite the popular character in the class.
I think he was part of Akane and Amasawa's class.
One look at him and I could say he was the equivalent of a second-in-command to a charismatic but kind-of-stupid army general.
Now I did promise not to look at the people in this world as characters, but it becomes a difficult task when one with so many cliches pops up.
I mean just look at his fucking name and tell me it doesn't sound cool.
Anyway, his popularity and all seem okay but his real quality is his perceptiveness.
I've seen his eyes wander here and there quite carefully.
His responses also seemed like the 'right answer' like the ones you would usually find in an exam paper's answer sheet.
Boy have I seen him wriggle out of a sticky Q&A gossip session like it was a walk in the park; the bastard didn't even sweat.
Of course I would capture the unnaturalness in his heavy ass facade with my superior eye sight; though I don't know what is behind there, nor do I care.
There is one thing I like about him and that is he keeps up appearances.
I haven't seen him look sloppy or lacking at anytime in the few times we have met.
"Why? Did something happen? You did say you had a girl you liked from another school but I'm pretty sure it was a smokescreen."
He came around and slung his arms around my shoulder and inquired.
He was smart too.
I didn't mind that about him either.
But the issue with him was that he was just too interested in me.
One of the reasons was probably my mask.
He couldn't see through it.
But that wasn't the issue for him.
He probably feels that my mask is too natural and can't believe it.
He can't believe it I'm being genuine.
Of course as time passes he may realize what he is seeing is the truth, albeit a half-truth.
And it pretty much is true.
I really don't keep up much of a facade and say it straight up, but I am not insensitive to not read the mood and blurt out my true feelings every time.
Too many lies weigh you down.
And too heavy of a mask will be seen by the likes of these people.
After all I really don't have a weakness so what should I even hide.
I mean, the only major lie I have said is 'my love interest is from another school' which should be a reasonable lie for others to accept if they consider me wanting to protect Akane's identity from being exposed.
And about Akane, even if someone found out Akane is my girlfriend, it wasn't like it was the end of the world; just that I wish to enjoy some private time with Akane without the prying eyes of others.
It is a thrill to sneak around under the eyes of others.
I didn't get to date in my previous life but sure as hell did I miss on something special.
It hasn't even been 3 days and I am enjoying these little thrills with Akane like an addict.
"I wanted to buy some cake for home and Tachibana also wanted to have some. The others were busy so they couldn't come."
I closed down some of his probing with valid facts without ever talking about mine and Akane's relationship in the eyes of the others.
The before Mai Sekizawa got engaged, I probably looked at him as a tool to be used for information collection.
Maybe I got some Kiyotaka Ayanokouji in me?
Though he might be a little too sticky, he doesn't seem bad.
I look towards him as he has his hands over my shoulder.
I look at his perfectly good looking face with well styled hair.
Hmm, is that wax?
I should try it sometimes too.
Might not be bad to groom myself better.
Though I might not be able to control the number of girls that confess to me.
To imagine I would have to reject them all, I truly am a sinful man.
But I love Akane and none of them are worthy to enter my eyes.
Haah, its troublesome being this amazing me sometimes.
Though I do need to constantly improve myself to be worthy of Akane, I can't be allowing her to have a lousy boyfriend.
.
Hmm, but I see that facade of Shibata's.
It somehow irritates me.
I am not curious about what he is hiding behind it, but seeing that facade crack might just be a fun thing to do.
How might his real face look?
How does he look when he has a stupid face?
I really might just be twisted somewhere and am probably using my obsession as a cover whenever I tease Akane.
"Yo Kazama. I am sensing some dangerous vibes from you. Bye, I really need to go home now."
Shibata tries to run.
He really is too perceptive.
I hold on to him to not let him escape and...
"Bye Shibata. We'll have fun the next time we go out."
I give him an evil grin before letting him go.
He runs away before I can say anything else to him.
I wait a while before leaving with Akane.