"W-Why are you looking at me as if I were the one in the wrong here?! It was you who said something so strange in the first place, and structured it in such a way, that I could easily misunderstood...So if it's anyone's fault, it's yours!"
Astrid exclaimed in a hurry, when she saw me looking at her as if she were the cause of this entire mess.
"But wait...If you're not a masochist like I thought you were, why did you act like my attacks didn't hurt you one bit and let me thrash you around the classroom like a ragdoll.You could've just stayed down after the first hit, and I would have stopped out of pity...Don't tell me your pride was too high to give in to a girl like me."
Astrid's eyes turned a little distant, and I could sense the faint sense of disdain she had for me when she realised a possible reason as to why I didn't give in, which was completely justified as no one would want to be looked down upon just because of their gender.
"Don't misunderstand. It has nothing to with you being a girl."
I said, and then looked at her sharp black horns, and said with a chuckle
"I wouldn't dare look down on someone who has something so pretty; but deadly at the same time on top of their head, which could easily turn me into minced meat in a matter of seconds."
Seeing that I was complimenting her horns, which all members of the minotaur race held pride in, Astrid let out a smile of approval and looked relieved that I wasn't looking down on her just because she was a girl.
She then looked at me with curiosity in her eyes, and got closer to me and asked
"Then why didn't you stop me when I rammed into you all those times?...Why didn't you simply give in, when you could've this entire time and made it much easier for both of us?"
"F-Forget it. It's not really that important."
I turned my head away to avoid her question.
"Why? Why is it not important? Tell me~ I want to know~"
Astrid didn't let me go and scooted over to the side I was turning my head, and she put her hands on my thighs and started shaking them, as if she was trying to shake the answer out of me.
I didn't know if she simply forgot the boundaries that we had, after what happened between us, or was acting like the ditz she was and wasn't even thinking about it, but she was shamelessly rubbing my crossed legs without even a hint of embarrassment; which felt really good, especially with how close her fingers were going towards my inner thighs.
I turned my head in the other direction, not willing to divulge the answer she wanted.
But she didn't give and simply scooted to the other side to face me, while shaking me like a salter and pestering me like a spoiled child.
"Come on, Luca~. Just tell me~. You can't leave me hanging, after all you've said. I want to know too~"
"Cough...It's really embarrassing if I say it now."
I said after being unable to handle her constant pestering.
Not only was her endless nagging getting too much, she was even getting a little too close to me unintentionally, as she was partly kneeling on my legs that were crossed, with her feet on the ground and her knees on top of my feet.
While at the same time, her pleading face was right in front of me, and her breasts touched my chest from time to time, as she shook me back and forth.
If I'd waited for a little longer, I'm pretty sure she would've climbed on top of my lap, and would've hung her hands around my neck to get the answer she wanted.
"I promise I won't laugh at what you say."
Astrid said with a serious look on her face and didn't seem to have any intention of moving back, as she just partly sat on top of me, resting her soft upper calfs on top of my legs.
Her calfs weren't smooth as I thought they would be, and felt like there was a soft layer of thick blanket on top of her legs.
It didn't take me long to figure out what that feeling was.
"Well, it might seem laughable in your eyes. But the reason I took all those hits was to get even with you."
I finally confessed while looking at her beautiful face, which was right before me.
"Even with me? For what?" She blinked twice.
"For making it seem like you actually liked me earlier, only to treat it as a joke in the end and hurt your feelings in the end." I told the truth as she stared at me blankly.
"I knew that I hurt your feelings when I tricked you, and I didn't want you to feel bad alone...So I wanted you to vent all your anger and frustration you had onto me, instead of feeling bad about the stupid thing that I did."
"...So you let me thrash you around class without any resistance, until I was completely exhausted, to make up for what you did..."
Astrid slowly said to herself, taking in what I said.
"I'm glad you understand." I said with a slight smile.
"So basically, what you're telling me is that the reason you didn't resist, and provoked me to ram you around the class every time you got up, was so that I could get even with you?" Astrid asked in disbelief.
"You could say so."
"That's so stupid!"
Astrid exclaimed and looked at me like I was an idiot.
"There are so many other ways you could've made it up to me for what you did. Why did you have to choose the most barbaric method out of all of them?!"
"I honestly didn't think about it much...It seemed to be the most simple and efficient way to make up for what I did." I shrugged my shoulders casually.
"And more important, it seemed to be the best way for you to vent all the negative emotions you had towards me, so that we could start over fresh, since I didn't want you to have a bad image of me."
"And don't you think my plan worked out perfectly, since you don't seem to treating me as a stranger, with how close you are to me now." I said as I looked at her with a teasing smile.
Astrid blushed when she saw the way she was sitting, almost as if she were trying to climb onto my lap.
But unexpectedly, she didn't move back like I thought she would, and actually nudged her leg a little closer and said with a look of genuine worry on her face.
"But still...Wouldn't have really hurt for you?"
She seemed to have fully realised that I wasn't really as resilient as she thought I was, nor was I a pervert who found the pain pleasurable, and was in actual genuine pain from her attacks, and she looked really guilty about hurting me even though it wasn't her fault at all.
"It hurt! It hurt so much!..."
I replied to her question in an exaggerated manner, as I placed my hand on my chest and acted like I had a heart attack.
But before Astrid could react and ask what happened, I quickly leaned forward, placed both of my hands on hers, which were still on my thighs, and said with an apologetic look on my face
"...But it's nothing compared to the pain you would've felt with the way I treated you earlier, which is something that I sincerely apologise to you for...And I would do anything to make you accept my apology, even if I had to be your punching bag for the rest of my life."
The sudden apology caught her off guard and her ears perked up in surprise.
But the moment I finished my sentence, she blushed for some reason and didn't dare to look at me out of embarrassment, which puzzled me as I don't think I said anything that would make her act that way.
Seeing that I was looking at her weirdly, she coughed to excuse herself and huffed out her chest and said angrily
"That, and all is fine, but I still don't understand why you had to play such a stupid prank on me in the first place...If you hadn't made fun of me at the start, none of this would have happened."
"Oh that. That's because I simply wanted to tease you." I said nonchalantly.