The lights were blinding, eyes took their sweet-lavender time to adjust themselves to the sudden flash of light.
'I'm back?'
Cale was brought back Into his classroom.
All of the students were In class and listening to the history teacher.
'It kind of feels a little weird when I find myself In a random seat every time I come back'
He always felt slightly disoriented when coming back and suddenly finding himself seated In the front all of sudden.
Turning his head, he looked and took in the people that were behind
"Heya~"
Raven had eaten up all the space in his image however, looking at Cale mischievously, playing with her silver-grey hair
"..?"
'What's up with her?'
"What's wrong?"
"No it's just..." she twirled her finger around her hair before talking again
"You see me on the road and you don't even say a hi?"
She knew?
"I know we aren't friends but it hurts a little when my classmate ignores me~"
'Well I'm the opposite'
"Well uhm... sorry?"
"Apology not accepted"
'No you're being real difficult'
"Why?"
"Just feel like it~"
"?"
'What the hell is wrong with her? No genuinely'
"You're holding onto a grudge for no reason at all"
"Am I? I couldn't tell"
"Well I could"
"Hey! Cale, Raven! pay attention!"
The history teacher scolded the both for talking in class, quickly resuming class.
Cale faced the teacher, thinking it was the end
"You got into trouble huh"
Of course it wasn't the end
'Is this what Catrina means when she says to stop pestering her?'
"You say that as if I was the only one who got Into trouble..."
"Don't sweat the little details~"
'She acts like an actual brat, actually no. This is my first impression of her, she could for all I know be pretty timid or something'
He tried focusing and listen to the teacher holding that idea but-
Poke
"Hey hey hey, you Ignoring me?"
"Yes..."
"Why?"
"Because I want to?"
"But I don't want you to Ignore me.."
"Well I do"
"Meanie"
"Am I? I couldn't tell"
"Snake mouth"
"What is that even supposed to mean?"
"You don't need to know~"
"Well I want to know"
"I don't wanna"
"Why?"
"Because I don't wanna"
"..."
'I have never In my life wanted to smack someone In the head so hard until I met this brat'
'Just pretend you don't hear her, she will eventually stop'
Poke~
"Ah~ look at you, trying to ignore me~"
"..."
'Calm Calm Calm Calm Calm'
"It won't work~ even Gravel can't ignore me. I would even throw a chair at you to make sure you look at me"
"Is that a confession?"
"Ha ha, maybe? Who knows? It could be? But you'll never know"
Cale tried to stay silent while glaring at the talking teacher
'What is this teacher doing? can't he hear her?!'
"Come on~ lets play and talk nice"
Poke! Poke! Poke!
Her poking turned more vicious, festering the urge of itching the spots that were poked more, turning it into a torture method forcing Cale to keep scratching himself
'If I didn't have anger Issues before I have them now'
Raven leaned forward, her voice soft.
"You can't Ignore me~ I'm behind you after all~"
'No I can, just asking the teacher to switch seats could solve this'
"You are probably thinking you can switch seats If you ask the teacher right?"
"?!"
'H-How the'
"Coward"
Cale's body shuddered slightly
"So? what If I am one?"
"Oh I'm not saying anything~"
She leaned forward even more, already lifting herself up from her chair, lips Inches away from Cale's ears.
"I like that cowardice"
"!!!"
His body shook at those words that came out of her mouth almost seductively.
'This little brat is playing with me!'
"You like seeing people flustered when you speak?"
"What~ did your heart flutter with my words?"
"No it didn't brat"
"Thank you"
"That wasn't a compliment..."
"Well I'll take it as one then"
"What???"
"Who's stopping me from taking your words as compliment?"
"..."
'This girl, It hasn't even been 20 minutes and she's driving me crazy, or is that exactly what she is trying to do?'
"Kek"
A chuckle left Raven's lips at the mush she molded Cale into
"I heard that..."
"And what are you going to do about it~"
Poke~
"I could just simply tell the teacher and be done with it you know?"
"Do it then, little girl~"
His face hardened, and she whispered In a soft voice.
"If I am annoying you~ go tell the teacher to switch you like a little girl"
'Is she...trying to manipulate me by using my dignity?'
He couldn't deny that it was slightly working
"You said I was a coward, what makes you think I won't just tell the teacher"
"It's hurtful to hear that you are considering it, snitch"
"Why am I suddenly a snitch?"
"Why do you want to know?"
'She really is trying to be as annoying as possible! She doesn't care even if her logic is flawed!'
Cale clenched his jaw tight.
"Why are you trying to annoy me?"
"What? you don't know why?"
"..."
He turned silent at her words
"That really shatters my heart you know~"
She feigned heartbreak.
Shortly after, her playful tone dropped, almost as if she never could talk like that and she whispered In Cale's ear softly, making sure no one else could hear.
"I just don't want you to ignore me"
"..?"
'Why the hell is she so fixated on that?!'
"Alright fine, I apologize. I won't Ignore you next time"
"Liar"
"Am not"
"You are, next time you will definitely avoid me"
"..."
'....Can she read minds?'
Cale paused, but soon opened his mouth again to voice a question that had been on his mind
"Why are you so fixated on me? I don't think I ever talked to you except for that one time, what's with the sudden Interest?"
She stopped, looked up at the ceiling before turning her head to the side to see the courtyard.
"I guess It's because you are in front of me" She said In a low subdued voice
"..You're really not making any sense"
'Because I'm in front? Just what the hell did that mean?'
It was obvious she was avoiding it
"Just tell me why and stop avoiding my questions"
Cale urged, and Raven only knitted a smile while also glancing at a wild sleeping Gravel
'Ah my brother, I know I am helping you make a friend but it seems he is just a little bit too fun to talk to, maybe he should also be my friend?'
Raven's thoughts stopped at those unfunny jokes and turned to a conflicted expression
It wasn't like she held a sudden interest in Cale or anything like that, far from it, after all.. she was already in love with another boy
"There are two people"
She spoke in condescending tone
"...?"
"One person Is someone you know but is very far away from you, so far away It'd be hard for you to meet them"
"..."
What's with the sudden riddle?
"The other person is someone you don't know, someone unknown to you but is close to you, so close that you'd reach him just by taking a step"
She finalized her question
"Which of the two would you go to?"
Cale stayed frozen at the question, he didn't understand her question at all, he couldn't even fathom what the right answer was to such a question
'Is it some sort of love quiz? or riddle?'
His working cogs in his brain fell Into deep thought.
'Go to...not talk but travel...'
'What would I choose? would I travel to a stranger? or would I travel to a friend that I know?'
The answer felt obvious when it was thought of like that but.
"..."
'It's wrong, it isn't the right answer'
But he couldn't come up with a better answer than that.
"I would travel to a friend I knew"
In the end, it didn't matter, wrong or right held no meaning, just the answer and the process to what led one to choose that option
"..?"
Raven looked back at Cale and tilted her head, confusion etched on her expression.
"What?"
"I said I would go to a friend I knew"
"No. I heard you the first time..."
'Then why ask me!'
"Pft"
She let out a chuckle, amused by what was said
"I was joking when I said you are a coward, but I didn't know you really were one"
A smile married on her face as she said this.
"But you said you liked my cowardice?"
"Coward"
"I'm not gonna suddenly be brave when you say that you know?"
"And like a coward you chose to run away and choose the most basic and safest answer..."
Raven expected to hear creativity but instead heard something that should have been within expectations, which in fact made the answer more surprising to hear precisely because she thought a creative one would be made
"..."
But this also revealed something unexpected, something she decided to take note of and not voice to Cale, because... She was the same
Cale only staked in his silent demeanor. A grin carved itself on Raven's face
'The quiz definitely has meaning to Raven. I am confident of this'
Raven focused on class, not bothering Cale again.
Cale only sighed silently out of relief, making sure no one like Raven picked up on it. Afraid that she would start talking again if he did
Not long after, he also started paying more attention to the teacher, ready to enact his plan to screw over that bastard of a monster.
The clock ticked in tune with his thoughts
***
'Well I'm back?'
Again, he was brought to Gardenia, albeit In a different spot than last time.
'I should go look for Fiend first'
Without Fiend, this kind of plan wouldn't work after all.
'The best part about this, is if it works I can abuse it and technically wouldn't be breaking any rules.'
A wicked grin so wide reached his ears
"..?"
[Ah! Cale!]
Fiend waved his hand at Cale, running over and giving him a pen and paper. The paper torn from a textbook he found in the restrooms, of course Cale did not know the origins of the textbook
He turned and placed the paper on the wall and started scribbling on it.
After a few moments he showed Fiend what was written.
[You know what to do right? just do as I told you beforehand and leave everything else to me]
'I can't trust Fiend with this task, it was too important for me to tell him to do it in my stead'
That's why Fiend would be doing something else.
___________________________
___________________________
A few days prior
[You will get a teacher out in the courtyard]
[..?]
Fiend tilted his head In confusion.
[You will make sure a teacher looks out in the courtyard at the very least. I on the other hand will be the bait]
[???]
Fiend became even more confused than before
[The plan is simple. I set up the monster and you get a teacher outside to make him see who is breaking the rules]
A classic 'caught red-handed!' trope, though overused still fun to see unfold
'This way I learn two things, One. What exact power the teachers use to restrict the 'students'. And two, what exactly the consequences are when the rules are broken'
He knew you'd be sent to detention when breaking the rules, but what exactly did it mean to be sent to detention? how would they make sure a rule breaker doesn't stay one?
Would they give him a slap on the wrist? Or would they kill him by slowly torturing him in some chamber?
Depending on what happens Cale would be able to repeat this process and sent the monster straight back to detention, this would allow more freedom, which In turn meant he could discover more things.
Like gear or supernatural items like the dwon
'I would have at least two weeks of freedom, who knows what I might find within that time frame'
But he would first have to be the tasty meal of the monster and make it follow him into a cage
_____________
_____________
Back to the present.
Cale stood In front of the doors leading outside in the courtyard, the place where he would find the bastard In.
"..."
He didn't waste any more time and walked out of the doors.
Resolved to get rid of an obstacle past its due date.