"Then kiss me now,"
"What? Now?" Her cheeks burned more intensely now. Her hands fidgeted involuntarily, an unconscious attempt to distract from the blush.
"You owe me a favour for joining."
What will she do?
Will this pawn of mine actually kiss me?
I don't believe that she'd actually do it now.
I don't think what she has for me is actually love. That night was probably just lust, nothing else. After all—
She leaned in close without warning, her lips brushing my cheek—
I stiffened abruptly.
"Alistair!!! What Club did you choose——" A voice cut cleanly through the moment.
She froze. So did I.
We pulled apart instantly, the tension snapping like a thread drawn too tight.
Standing just a few steps away, arms folded, was Freddie.
His gaze shifted between us, and his expression fell slack with shock.
"Huh? Alistair?"
The silence that followed felt heavier than before.
"ALISTAIR IS GETTING HIT ON!!!!ETHANN!!! PAX!!! TANKK!!!!! OPERATION—!!!" Freddie suddenly shouted.
Everyone's gaze landed on us.
"Kaori," I nudged her. "Erase his memories."
"Already on it,"
From my eyes, I could sense Kaori sending a sliver of restoration astralis towards Freddie to 'restore' his mind, as well as 'heal' him of his impure thoughts.
"What's wrong?" Ethan, Pax, and a tall, burly man with wild, spiky blue hair, whom I assumed was Tank, rushed over.
"Alistair is getting…eh? What am I saying?" Freddie stopped mid-sentence.
"Damn it, Freddie!!" Tank cursed.
"Freddie, you're so embarrassing!!! Shouting like this for nothing!!!" Pax frowned.
"Calm down, guys. Freddie seems to be having a hard time," Ethan tried to calm the group down.
Watching them all beat up Freddie, something in my heart cracked a little.
Sometimes, it's nice to have friends like these. Even though they could be blockheads at times, they are still a bunch of funny fellas.
"Shall we continue later?" A faint smile tugged at her lips as they brushed my ear.
By the time I turned my head, she was already gone.
Back in the classroom, that scene kept replaying in my mind.
I can't believe she would do that. My precious little pawn, I wonder, would you die for me?
I would love to find out.
My precious chess pieces seem to intrigue me more now.
Just how many of them will do as I say?
"You got hit on," Crystal said. The way she said it didn't sound like a question at all. It sounded more like a statement.
"No, Freddie saw the wrong person," I stated coolly.
Both our gazes were fixated on our books.
"If you keep denying it, I have nothing to say," Crystal didn't elaborate.
"It's been a month, why are you still doing this to me?"
"There's still one more day till May the first," Her words were quiet, but cleanly cut through the air.
"Class, settle down," Ms Seraphine walked into the classroom. "I will now show you your scores on this month's quiz."
As expected, I scored 50 again.
"Aww, we all did pretty badly," Someone murmured.
Our class average had decreased from 65 to 58. We even had three students failing the quiz.
"The school is too kind. Because of the hefty sum they gave us, everyone is focusing on enjoying their high school life to the fullest instead of studying." Crystal said disapprovingly.
"Yeah,"
~~~~~~~~~~
"Eh? When did you change into this?" Reine looked up and down at my outfit. I wore a black overcoat, paired with a grey turtleneck, and chinos underneath it.
"Just now," I replied.
"Then I probably change too. Actually, I wanted to get something like this," She gestured at my outfit. "For a long time. But it's okay! Just wait outside my room, I'll go find something."
"Wait," I grabbed her hand.
"Hm?" She looked back at me.
"You wanted something like this, right?" I asked.
"Yeah, why?"
"We can go shop for this instead. You can just buy one and immediately change into it."
"That's not a bad idea! Let's go!" Reine exclaimed as I dragged her into a shop.
"I think these three will suit you," I threw a brown overcoat, a black turtleneck, and a pair of black chinos at her. "Try it,"
She went inside the changing room.
I wonder if people see us as a couple. We're almost wearing the same type of clothes right now.
"Ta-da!" Reine exclaimed. "How does it look?"
"It looks pretty good. Your outfit matches your black purse perfectly." I commented.
"You think so?" She rubbed the back of her neck, hoping to hide the burning heat in her cheeks.
"Yeah," I scratched my ear. "Let's pay for it now."
"Ding! Thank you for your purchase!" The machine rang as soon as she swiped her phone on it.
"Yippee!! I finally got it!" Reine ran to catch up with me.
"Yeah," I looked up at the blue sky. "So why did you ask if I was free after school today?"
"Oh! There was a promotion for two people dining in at the cafe over there. For anything you buy there, you'll get anything of your choice free!!" Reine grinned.
"But why me? You could've asked Lauren, Celeste, or even Annabelle."
"Um," She shuffled her feet, her head lowered. "It was a couple's promotion…I could only bring a boy there…um…."
"I see."
As expected, couples filled the cafe while enjoying the promotion.
"Haha, you're so funny, Joshua!" A couple laughed as they left.
"There's a table over there," I nudged Reine.
"So, what do you want?" Reine opened the menu.
"I'll take the strawberry parfait and a cup of coffee," I pointed to the ice cream.
"Haha, Alistair, you actually have a sweet tooth, despite looking so cold," Reine giggled. "Waiter, we'll have two strawberry parfaits."
"You're having the strawberry parfait too?"
"Yep! I also love parfaits, especially strawberry flavoured ones!!!" Reine beamed.
"I thought you were supposed to be on a diet," I raised an eyebrow. "You just told me the other day that you were only going to drink protein shakes for the next seven days. Are you going to give up already?"
"Hehe, this one's a special occasion, it doesn't count," Reine gave me a cheeky smile.
"Sigh,"
Reine looked more like a little child than a Celestblade right now.
"Hey, Reine,"
"Yeah?" Her mouth was covered in ice cream.
"What club did you choose in the end?" I stirred my cup of coffee.
"Oh! I chose the basketball club," She replied. "You?"
"I think I chose the entertainment club,"
"Ehh…" Reine said, deep in thought. "I didn't know you could act, let alone dance."
"I've been reading books on acting since middle school, but I'm not very good at dancing. I can only waltz a little."
"Really? It's okay," Reine comforted me. "I heard someone from your house had danced with Princess Arielle during the last Royal Ball, so you probably have some good dancing genes within you, don't worry!!" She smiled.
"But, I also heard that there was a kiss scene, you know? A KISS SCENE!!! And it was Princess Arielle who initiated the kiss!!!!" Reine exclaimed, as she stood up abruptly, a faint warmth colouring her cheeks.
"Calm down, Reine, everyone can hear you."
Reine reluctantly sat down.
"So, is it true? I didn't attend the ball."
"Who knows? I didn't either."
"But surely you must have heard it from your family, right? Like when eating with your whole extended family on weekends,"
"We rarely eat together on weekends."
"What?! Don't your parents drag you over?? This is so unfair!!!" Reine rolled around on the floor like a little kid throwing a tantrum.
"It's just my two sisters and me back at home, so our extended family doesn't care whether we come or not. I've never met them before."
"Eh? So where are your parents?" Reine asked.
"They…they went somewhere far away, somewhere I can't reach…" I looked down at my melting parfait.
As dumb as she is, she'd probably won't understand what I mean.
"Oh,"
"..."
I've done it again.
The silence is deafening.
"Eh? Alistair, Reine, you guys are here too?"
We both turned our heads to see Annabelle.
"Haha, I just remembered that I left my books in class, oops," Reine laughed awkwardly. "Alistair, if you want, Annabelle can accompany you for a bit, bye then!!" She waved goodbye and disappeared.
Reine set me up.
Why am I with this woman right now?
"Since Reine left, I'll leave too," I took my cup of coffee and walked towards the exit.
Why is Annabelle so obsessed with me?
"Wait!"
I turned my head back slightly.
"Could I at least walk with you?"
"I don't mind."
"What do you actually want from me?" I eyed her.
"To be your friend," Annabelle answered. "Do you really not like me that much?"
"..."
What is Annabelle trying to do?
"Hi, Annabelle!!" A girl with long, wavy, strawberry blonde hair, with hair up to her waist, waved to Annabelle.
"Hi, Isla!!" Annabelle waved back. "This is Isla Newton from class 1-B," She told me.
"Eh? Annabelle, is this your boyfriend?" Isla studied my face.
Isla, huh. That's a cool name.
"Not at all! He's my classmate, Alistair Nightfall." Annabelle grinned. "Alistair, this is Isla from 1-B. She's the one who formed the Class 1-D, B alliance with us!" She gestured to Isla.
"I see," Isla stopped studying me. "Haha, excuse me for interrupting your…date," She teased.
"Oi!! Isla!!!" Annabelle shouted, running after her.
Annabelle Emberhart…just what do you want?
Well, I already have a rough idea.
~~~~~~~~~~
"Why are you here tonight?" I let out a long, tired sigh.
"To finish what I started," Kaori watched me intently as I hung my coat.
"It was a joke, I didn't expect you actually to do it."
"If you say a joke like that with a straight face, I'll think you mean it, you know?" A soft, almost exaggerated sigh escaped her.
"I apologise, I didn't anticipate you'd be such a dimwit, especially for someone in 3-S."
"How mean!!" Kaori huffed, clearly flustered rather than truly angry.
"Hey," Kaori dragged her finger across the dining table.
"What is it?" I spun around to meet her eyes.
"Would you be mad if I continued from just now?" Kaori leaned closer and pinned me against the wall.
"Hey, what are you doing?"
Kaori was shorter than me, so I couldn't crawl out from under her arm.
What should I do?
More importantly, why is she doing this?
All I want is a normal high school life before I avenge my parents, so why do I always get involved with dramas???
"I apologise, Kaori, I already told you it was a joke," I lifted her hand and crawled out.
"I'm not letting you escape!! O verdant thorns that heed my call—bind and break all who defy the stars, 「Verdant Bind」!
Huge green vines erupted from the floor and tied me up.
"Gah!" I coughed.
"You can't escape now," She leaned closer, voice low.
"Kaori, what are you doing?!" I struggled to breathe.
Damn it!!
Her astralis is too strong, and I've already leaked out more than half of my astralis to get in here!! Somebody, help me!
"I hope you won't mind getting assaulted here," A sly smile tugged at her lips.
Kaori lifted my chin and studied my face.
"Even now, I can't tell what you're feeling or thinking." Her laugh was soft, teasing, just enough to make my heart skip a beat.
I can't help but be worried about what she'll do to me. Would she kill me? Or will she…?
"That doesn't matter now," She tilted her head, watching me carefully, like a cat amused by my discomfort.
Before I could react, she closed the distance, her lips pressing against mine with quiet confidence.
My free hand hovered for a moment, then lightly rested on her head.
"What was that pat for?" She tilted her head, a teasing glint in her eyes.
"Thank you." I lifted my hand.
"For what?" She looked confused.
"Nothing,"
And with that, she left my room.
Haha.
You may have planned to manipulate my heart, but unfortunately for you, I have no heart that can be manipulated. It's the same with smiling. Because it means letting your guard down, showing another person who you truly are. Even if just a little. So don't be so quick in judging me. Because after all, you only see what I choose to let you see,
Kaori, Kaori. I wonder, how much do you know? I want to know the true extent of your abilities. I want to understand your every action, the reason you move each piece.
I might be wrong, Kaori.
Will you stand as my opponent?
Will you face me as an equal, or will you face me as a mere pawn defying the wishes of the hand that moves it?