“A-Anyway, that Zeno’o guy... Is he strong?”
“If you mean physically, I’d saaaay, he’s about 8 times stronger than me when he’s trying. And I’m number three here.”
Reito looked at her with a dread filled straight face. “I’m dead. Didn’t think I’d be plannin’ a funeral today...let alone my own...”
Evie waved her hand back and forth in an attempt to sway his growing anxiety. “Don’t get all down and out. I’m sure you can pull through. Although, you don’t seem to have any stand-out defining features, besides the nick through the eyebrow. You’re kinda scrawny-looking, and you have about as much presence as a... Ah, well, I’m sure you’ll be fine,” she cut her listings short and gave him an innocent smile.
Reito clicked his tongue. This is one of those moments where it’d be fine to deck a girl in the face, right? Really considerin’ it...
“What’s with the look? I get you’re under some pressure, but try to stay upbeat. Here you go. Better, yeah?” She brought two fingers to the corner of Reito’s mouth to force a smile.
“BAAAAAH! SCREW IT!” He roared in an annoyed tone, tearing away from Evie. “...After I stood up to him, there’s no goin’ back, anyway. Sucks, but I guess I've gotta try a bit after all.”
“Do you even have a plan? Kara won’t pull any punches.”
“Nope. Was actually gonna wing it; not like I got much to go on. Oh! If ya tell me about his Path, I can probably scrape somethin’ together on the way...” I mean, not like Luffy fought Rob Lucci with any plan in mind; and that turned out...sorta well.
“Not a chance. It’ll be way more fun to see how you fight without info,” Evie denied his request with a playful tone and shrug.”
Then don’t ask me that, then! GRAAAAAAGH! I CAN’T STAND HER! Reito growled, inwardly. “Whatever. Plan or no, gotta make a call. Ciao! Hopefully, see ya never!” He yelled as he left her alone in the classroom.
“He’s certainly interesting, alright. I haven’t had that fun teasing anybody since Maestro. On the slim chance he comes out on top, I should do something nice for him. Maybeeee...treat him to a burger or two?” She said to herself before taking off after him. “Wait up, Tochi!”
***
A large dome with three entrances stood in front of Reito, dwarfing him—the cheers of students emanated so loudly from inside it, that he could hear it from the outside. He sighed, reached into his pocket and grabbed his phone, dialing a number and holding his phone up to his ear.
“You’ve got Shizuka! Who’s callin’~?” His friend’s voice came through the speaker.
She answers like I’m not the only one who could be ringin’ her. “Sup. The first day went about as well as you’d expect—a buncha borin’ lectures with a robot of all things as a Teach. Gym classes and a buncha other dreg I don’t really care about. Oh, and one of those Student Council guys ya mentioned earlier liked me so much, he wants to cave my face in. So, I guess he’s my first match. His name was Chikara Zeno’o, I think...? Should be fun.”
“Cool, sounds like it went pretty well afte... Huh...? HUUUUUUH?! YOUR FIRST MATCH IS WHO, NOW?!”
Shizuka yelled through her smartphone with a worried expression. Her scream, attracting the attention of people around her as she broke into a sprint.
Reito pulled away from his phone’s speaker. “Dude, come on; eardrums ain’t a replaceable thing.” ...Are they...? “Anyway, gimme a warnin’ next time, ok?”
“Do you really think this is the time for your snark, you cynical ass?!” She said, trying to force out a lighter tone.
“My bad. Just helps me cope with the constant, “This’ll hurt!”, or “This guy’ll kill me!” thoughts I had runnin’ through my mind,” Reito sighed.
“You are aware that if you’d actually listened to me, you wouldn’t have caught the attention of a fucking Student Council member of all people! Leave it to you to find a way out of putting in effort!”
“Okay, okay. I get it. As usual, I should’ve listened to ya. Shizuka smart, me, dumb. Didn’t expect things to go this off the rails because of it, though... Guess not everyone took too kindly to my lax charm,” he shrugged.
“You're unbelievable... Look, I know I asked you to accept, should something like this happen, but...even the Treasurer of one of the lower schools is a bit much right now. And your Path-”
“The way I see it, is just a liability—I'm better off just relyin’ on physical ability.”
“If you're that pessimistic about it, might as well forfeit.”
“No can do, Shion. You wanted me to go through with this, so I'm doin’ it; shit odds or not. I owe ya a few, anyway. This'll shave off abooouuut...ten percent of debt, I'd say.”
“Even when you’re trying to be sweet, you sound like an asshole. ...Okay. Fine. This means you’re gonna give it a 100% right?” She smirked.
“Don’t get ahead of yourself, full effort’s still a no go. Maybe...an even 55%. Fair?”
“Well, guess you’ve gotta start somewhere.”
“That bein’ said, I’ve got about ten minutes before showtime. Don’t be late. In the meantime...”
“TOCHIIIIIII!”
He sighed. “I’ve got a midget kunoichi to deal with.”
“Hmm? What’s this about a kunoichi?”
“Fill ya in later, if my mouth’s in workin’ condition after this. See ya in a bit,” Reito said, ending the call as he turned to Evie and addressed her in a flat tone. “So...is you tailin’ me gonna be a regular thing?”
“Yessy! It’s completely natural to wanna hangout with a friend, after all.”
“I don’t recall me ever referin’ to you as anythin’ close to the word, ‘friend’. In fact, pretty sure I remember wantin’ nothin’ to do with ya. And, anyway...why would ya wanna be friends with some nobody slacker like me?”
“Well, I’d saaaay, You’re kind of interesting!”
Reito’s shoulders drooped. “Interestin’, huh? ...Like dissectin’ a frog...in science class?”
“You could say that, yeah! But another reason is...well, I can tell you’re a good guy,” Evie answered him with a tone devoid of playfulness.
“Dunno about that one. You sure you’re not talkin’ about some other guy named Reito? Or is this just a joke at my expense? Cuz I ain’t laughin’.”
She shook her head. “I wouldn’t joke about this—I can tell. The way you looked when you stood up to Kara, you were thinking about someone, right?”
Huh? How does she know that?! Mom and Granny told me girls can read your mind, don’t tell me that’s for real?! “Y-Yeah, right! Do I look like the type of guy to stick my neck out for someone else, half pint?!”
“Mmmm...not really, no. Truth be told, you look kinda scary. Like a scruffy alley cat, y’know?” She walked in front of him. “They do say looks can be deceiving, though, right? Either way, you’re gonna give it your all for that person, even though you probably won’t win. And that’s pretty cool in my book. It might not seem like much to you, but I think if I can find at least one redeeming quality in someone, I’d enjoy being buds with them. Make sense? Plus, you like ninjas, so you can’t be too bad!” She told him, shooting him a kind smile.
Reito’s brain was fried at that point. His entire face was enveloped in red as he stuttered in search of a counterpoint. “You... I- Tha- Not the...case,” He slowly turned away from her. “...Nevermind. No comment. Just get movin’ already; I’ll be late if I listen to ya spout nonsense all day,” he said, walking off.
Evie threw her hands behind her head and followed suit. “Roger that, Tochi!”
Seriously... Damn midget. Why’d someone like you hafta be one of my first run-ins here? Talk about crap luck... He sighed.
As he was walking, he couldn’t help but
take out his phone again to look his face hyper focusing mostly on his eyes.
Do I really look like an alley cat...?
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