AUTHOR'S NOTE: I've combined chapters 1 and 2 together in preparation for the next chapter. I've also edited it for content and grammar. I feel more comfortable with writing 8,000-13,000 word count per chapter. I don't know why.
Happy reading for new readers, and happy re-reading for returning readers!
Chapter 1 - Glib and Superficial Charm
"Three hours later and I'm in the middle of the bloody forest. Perfect"
Kaede got off the bus with appalling levels of grace. She caught herself against the double doors and stumbled onto the dirt road. That was a close one. It wouldn't do to meet Obaa-chan with dirt all over her clothes. She tugged the rest of her large luggage onto the ground with maximum effort. It fell with a deep thud onto the ochre-tinted road. Dust flew up around her. Great. She got dirt on her clothes anyway. Kaede turned around and bowed to the coach driver and he nodded at her before pulling away, kicking up more plumes of brown and yellow clouds in its wake. She covered her mouth quickly, but still ended up hacking. It looked like dirt was unavoidable no matter how she looked at it.
She unlatched the handle of her luggage until it reached its limit with a protesting click. The whole thing refused to budge anymore when she tried to tip it onto its roller wheels. Talk about finding heavy duty luggage that was big enough to carry all her clothes, her books, laptop, toiletries and everything else she could afford for her temporary stay! The label didn't lie when it said it could contain up to thirty kilograms, only she was sure she forced it to manage forty, be damned the warranty. This was a fine piece of luggage that she could trust.
Kaede shielded her eyes from the bright rays of the morning sun cresting over the rest of the mountain. She resisted the burning sensation on her retinas and peered into the distance for her destination.
"This… is Polar Star Dorm? The place where student chefs on scholarship live?"
Obaa-chan said it was a charming place, a place for anyone who had spunk to belong to in a close-knit family, but all Kaede thought was how fantastically grandiose it looked. Ivy grew through the crevices of the stone wall, which encased the colossal structure and its courtyard. The mansion loomed proudly behind creaky iron gates, flanked by rows of thick and strong elms crowned in crimson, its boughs swaying gently to the chilly Autumn wind. Its hushed melody resonated in the surrounding silence.
"Oh, Obaa-chan… always skimping out on the details" Kaede muttered jovially.
The Western-styled mansion was another representation of the ego of Tootsuki Culinary Academy from days past laid out in brick. It was overly large and ostentatious to the point of intimidation. It lay in the middle of the large forest clearing as if it had been dropped there from outer space, making no attempt to camouflage into the mountain-side. The mansion was the perfect depiction of Obaa-chan who lived inside. It had grown old, and tattered, the pillars cracking and the plaster crumbling. Yet, despite its faults and failings it was still a thing of beauty.
"I can see why she never wanted to retire" she smiled.
Aside from the over-compensatingly large dormitory, Obaa-chan talked a lot about the chicks under her wings with great affection who resided with her. Their achievements, their talent, their creativity, their mischief and all the stupidity and hair-tearing ruckus she had to deal with daily! What a bunch of ingenious misfits they must be. She was almost jealous. Here she was, just a student who wanted to know more about history than history itself, nothing too special about that. Kaede thought maybe Obaa-chan was exaggerating in her tales because the old bat tended to be very boastful on some days, but judging from the way her eyes twinkled as soon as 'Polar Star' left her old cracked lips, it gave Kaede the impression that their supposed madness was real and normal to be boastful about.
"Let me count the ways"
For example, who the hell lets a kid handle a chainsaw for cutting 'smoking chips' whenever he wanted? What adult allows a boy to frolic in the vegetable patch ninety percent naked? Who lets a person build their own fermenting lab in the backyard? That was just asking for trouble… who knew if a backyard 'lab' wasn't 'fermenting' anything else? Like… She didn't want to think about it. Finally, who the hell lets a kid purposely cook up random crap to fuck up one's palate for laughs because that was just wasting perfectly good food. Apparently, Daimidou Fumio, her Obaa-chan and the current dorm mother of Polar Star did and if anyone had any qualms about it, she would tell them to turn around, bend over and she'd show them when her shoes fit.
That was just the kind of crowd she'd hang out with any day.
"And I'll be covered in all that schtick too… I planned to work on my assignment in peace" she yawned.
Kaede shook it off and took a deep breath of the fresh mountain air and dragged her luggage with her. For the first fifty metres, she felt the burn. Her arms were going to fall off! Kudos to the coach driver who helped her to get it onto the coach. She gave up and collapsed onto her enormous luggage, thinking about what she should do instead. She couldn't be bothered now as she massaged her arms. She could call Obaa-chan on her cellphone to let her know she couldn't make the last hundred metres to her doorstep, but it wasn't like a septuagenarian was going to be any help with a forty kilogram hunk of history project homework and daily essentials. She would just succeed in getting a slipped disc.
What to do…
"Hey, you. You need some help?"
"Eh?" She blinked up in surprise.
She twisted around and was met with a red-headed boy standing behind her a few metres away. He looked at her with a calm and bright face as he regarded her curiously and whistled lowly. Yeah… her luggage was a sight to behold, just like the Polar Star Mansion. Kaede didn't even hear him coming down this beaten track at all as if he had feet like shinobi. Perhaps all this change in scenery was messing with her. Wow. She missed the city life already.
"I guess. Hmmm…" Kaede replied. "You think you can drag this piece of nasty burden another hundred metres or so?" she smirked.
"Won't know until we find out!" He cheered with gusto.
His exuberance took Kaede aback. This red-headed fellow jogged the rest of the way. He must be a student here. Based on the cheap jacket, the worn -out jeans and the old, browning sneakers, he must be on a scholarship. No rich kid from this school would be caught dead in a suit bought off the rack, let alone this semi-hobo get-up. Funny how the long white sash tied around his wrist was pristine compared to everything else. Kaede got up from her luggage, a little bit hesitant in letting this guy drag her luggage for her. Not because she was protective of her belongs, but rather he might hurt himself on her account. But what choice did she have, really? Him or her getting a hernia? She watched his face carefully for any sign of bailing out and kept her hands in her pocket where her cellphone was to make a quick call to the ambulance if the worst happened. Yeah… but how was an ambulance going to get up this mountain in time…
'He looks like he's managing fine'
Once Kaede was satisfied that he was going to be alright dragging a forty kilogram demon, she concentrated on his facial features. He was decent looking, bordering on good-looking. She figured he was ten centimetres taller than her. He had shining golden eyes and a tanned face. On even closer inspection he had a scar over his left brow.
'Scar over the brow… sash on his wrist… red-hair… why does that sound familiar…'
Ah.
"Yukihira…"
The boy jolted.
"Huh? How do you know me?" he said incredulously. He turned to face her, pointing to his face. His brow getting very intimate with his hairline.
"Obaa-chan. She talks about you a lot" smiled Kaede.
"Obaa-chan?"
"Daimidou Fumio. The same old woman who groused you for cooking fatty food in your dorm room without ventilating, I think… Hmmm two months ago?"
"Oh! You're her grand-daughter!" Yukihira-san exclaimed loudly. "Souma is my first name. Although you probably already knew that" he rubbed the back of his crimson head with a wide smile spreading on his face.
"Yeah. She talks about all of you guys in the dorm, I feel like I know everyone inside and out" Kaede smirked.
"Oh damn, that means you know all of our embarrassing and uncool moments too. Here me out, a lot of the things I do ain't as crazy as it sounds" he resumed tugging the luggage with him as the two began to make their short trek towards the building.
"Relax. If you don't ask me to eat any of the weird nibbles you make, you are entitled to all the crazy you want" Kaede chuckled.
"It's an acquired taste" he grumbled beside her.
"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. The most important thing is that you're the beholder. You can find beauty in places others dare not to look"
"Wow. No-one's every said that to me before. You have a way with words. What's your name?"
"Daimidou Kaede. You can just call me by my first-name. I don't mind"
"First name basis already? If you insist, Kaede" Yukihira-san shrugged.
She was expecting some kind of honorific tacked at the end at least, but she let it go. Kaede was amazed at how Yukihira Souma continued to drag her monstrosity of a luggage without so much as a flinch. He was unusual, this one, based on Obaa-chan's stories. He had this self-assured confidence and intelligence in his eyes that was both exciting and scary. As if there was a strength in him that hadn't been fully unlocked, waiting for the precise moment to spread its wings from the boy's young body. She knew about Yukihira Souma and all that he entailed. He was the one Obaa-chan was most proud of despite her claiming she loved all of her dorm-children equally. She wait to meet the rest of the Polar Star members, just to feel what it was like to meet the characters of a story she had been hearing for many months.
"Fumio-san never mentioned you were coming. So, what are you here for?"
"Study break"
She was a bit surprised Obaa-chan didn't notify every one of her visit. Perhaps she did and Yukihira-san happened to be absent during the announcement. Based on her preconception of the boy, it was likely he wasn't paying attention at the time.
"So what… You packed your whole study desk?" Yukihira-san deadpanned, gesturing to her luggage.
"Haha! Nah, my history textbooks are the ones that carry the most weight. Everything else is my writing books, laptop, clothes, bathroom stuff etcetera, etcetera"
"Huh" he didn't look like he believed her.
Kaede had always been fascinated with history, ever since her first elementary school trip to Ōsaka-jō also known as 'Osaska Castle'. That school trip was the gateway to all the past worlds and Empires that ruled the Earth since humans learned to record their lives. It was like a magical portal opened for her and she could travel through all of time and space and witnessed the progress and downfalls of humanity. The best part was it was all at her finger tips. All kinds of history was her love. But if she had to place her bets on which part of history she loved the most, it would be modern history. She spent many a night watching documentaries on WWII, WWI, The Korean War, The Vietnam war, The Palestine and Israeli conflict, just to name a few. WWI and WWII were her first tastes in Modern History. How she cried and cried when she read the account of Oscar Schindler and how he saved so many Jews from the Holocaust. In turn she took headache medicine after headache medicine to connect all the dots in figuring out how WWI came about with the least amount of bias as possible. First it was the assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand from Serbia and then pandemonium! Scholars were still debating about the true cause of The Great War because there were so many political, territorial, and economic factors of the war between so many countries to consider in Europe. Not only that, but the Scholar had to look deep into the history of each countries' relationship with one another to garner a true understanding of their motivations in the war. That was about as far as she got.
Modern Japanese History fascinating too. She visited countless museums and free university lectures dedicated to exclusive exhibitions on Feudal Japan and the Shogunate. Additionally, she subscribed to art galleries that might hold free seminars and exhibitions about art from all over the world so that she could bathe in the many different interpretations of historical art pieces.
Until about a few years ago, Daimidou Kaede decided being a museum curator was her ultimate dream.
"Here we are! Home sweet home!"
Yukihira grasped the brass knob and pushed it open with his shoulder. Kaede helped him to lift the luggage over the instep because she didn't want her host to break his back on the last leg. Once they both hefted the thing over, she took a moment to inspect the building her Obaa-chan cared for, for many decades. It was as grand as the exterior, only extremely well-kept with tender love and devotion. That had Obaa-chan's name written all over it. The soft maroon carpet was worn with dark scuff marks, but it was clean. The walls needed a lick of paint, but otherwise the muted beige evoked a lingering sense of calm in Kaede. There was not a speck of dust anywhere and even the air smelt fresh, but still lived-in.
"I'd love to help continue carry your things upstairs but…" Yukihira-san started sheepishly.
"No worries. I'll take it from here. Thank you so much though, I know it was a tough job" Kaede reassured him.
"You sure? Because I was gonna suggest we open your bag and make a few trips. It'd be easier that way. I know girls get antsy about guys rifling through their unmentionables so I could get the girls to come down and help you. They can all meet you" offered Yukihira-san.
"Oh that's actually a good idea. Thanks" said Kaede gratefully.
"Just a tick. YUUKI! MEGUMI! SAKAKI! WE HAVE A GUEST!"
Kaede slapped her hand over her ears. Yikes! He had a set of lungs!
"WHAT IS IT YUKIHIRA!? IF YOU'VE BROUGHT HOME A GOAT AGAIN, I SWEAR TO KAMI-SAMA I'LL— Oh! Hello there?"
A bright orange head popped out from over the railing of the upstairs landing. It was a short girl with round and reddening cheeks and large shouting mouth. Her hair was tied up in two cute buns, reminding her of dango balls which were falling apart. She blinked down at them in pure irritation before morphing into confusion and finally something registered in her curious brown eyes.
"Ah! You must be Fumio-san's grand-daughter, Kaede-chan! GUYS! STEP ON IT! IT'S FUMIO-SAN'S GRAND-DAUGHTER! SHOW SOME RESPECT!"
It clicked. This girl was Yoshino Yuuki. Kaede wondered if she needed to make a habit of covering her ears around these people, or invest in ear plugs.
"Sorry, Yuuki-chan! I was in the bathroom just now"
Then a skinny girl came hurtling around the corner of the upstairs landing like her life depended on it. Waves of ocean-blue tresses flowed behind her, which Kaede could tell was used to being in braids as they fell across her shoulder in a wavy heap. She huffed and puffed as if she had just made it to school on time and escaped getting into detention by the attendance officer. Which one's life did depend on, actually. She also had golden eyes like Yukihira-san but paler, which darted in panic before settling on herself and they widened in astonishment. She looked very anxious and timid as a rabbit lost in the rain. Ah, this must be Tadokoro Megumi. The meek rabbit with a lion's heart.
"Oi Yukihira-kun, the speaker tubes are there so we don't have to yell, you know"
Another girl appeared with arms stretching above her head. Her off-the-shoulder blouse crawled up her shapely body in a languid stretch as the beautiful girl with long and silky magenta hair released a mighty yawn as if she was rudely awoken from her beauty nap. Kaede would die for hair like that. She wiped her sleep tears away and blinked down blearily onto the ground floor at Kaede and Yukihira-san. Urghh… Kaede wished she had her hips and chest size too. Yep this was Sakaki Ryouko.
"Hello. I'm Daimidou Kaede. It's a pleasure to meet you!" Kaede cupped her hand around her mouth and called out.
"You girls mind giving her a hand? Her luggage is too heavy to carry up the stairs, so we're gonna have to do it piecemeal" said Yukihira-san.
"Sure! We're on it. Let's go girls" said Yoshino-san.
The three girls clambered downstairs immediately with Yoshino-san elbowing her way to the front.
"We've been waiting for you to arrive! I'm Yuuki Yoshino" said girl puffed out her chest and pointed to herself with a million-watt grin.
"I-I'm Tadokoro Megumi. It's a pleasure to meet you" Tadokoro-san bowed deeply at the waist.
"I'm Sakaki Ryouko. Welcome, new roomie" Sakaki-san winked at her.
"The p-pleasure is all m-mine" Kaede suddenly felt very nervous.
This was really happening. She was finally meeting the people she had heard so much about from Obaa-chan. Shit, shit, shit, shit. She had psyched herself up so much and built it in her mind that it was just going to be like meeting new people where she was just going to play it smooth and cool. However, she felt she had known them more familiarly, yet they themselves had no idea. Yoshino-san was a game meat specialist, Sakaki-san was gifted in crafting all sorts of Kouji. Tadokoro-san had impeccable gift of foresight and hospitality and Yukihira-san was an underdog wildcard with power waiting to burst.
"I'm gonna go find Fumio-san and tell her you finally got here" offered Yukihira-san.
He gave her a jovial salute and ran off through the large double-doors on the other side of the huge foyer. Kaede smiled at the girls who were already talking on top of each other to tell her about all the ins and outs of Polar Star Dorms which Obaa-chan had actually already told her over the phone. The boys and girls didn't have separate floors like in other high school dorms and they had a communal bathroom so there had to be separate designated times for males and females to bathe to avoid any embarrassing collisions (and arse-whoopings). They had a unique communications system consisting of speaker tubes made from the speakers of antique gramophones to deliver messages and announcements (or arse-whoopings). Each dorm room was fully furnished, generously spacious and had their own kitchenette, so it always had to be tidy (or they'd get arse whoopings). Breakfast was a six-thirty sharp and evening meals were at eight, sharp.
"Oh. 'The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire… Life, Liberty and the Fall of the Republic'?" gasped Sasaki-san.
Kaede had already unzipped her luggage and her belongings literally sprang out from their tight confines. The girls had started helping take some things out and stacking, and grouping them neatly to bring upstairs.
"Yeah, I packed some light reading. I'm a bit of a history-buff" said Kaede, waving her hands at them.
She didn't know why she was feeling a bit embarrassed about that, but she did.
"Light reading? I'd hate to know what you need to read for a book-report" chuckled Sakaki-san.
"'Napolean Bonarparte and the Legacy of the French Revolution?'" Yoshino-san stacked another tome tucked away in her exhausting luggage. "Kami-sama, Kaede-chii! You're like a female version of Marui!" laughed Yoshino-san.
"Marui-kun?" Kaede asked without thinking.
"Yeah, he's the walking encyclopaedia around here. He's super-knowledgeable and always has the textbook answer to everything. If there's anything you don't know, just asked Four-Eyes, who's being very rude and holed up in his room right now, not greeting our special guest" Yoshino-san frowned dramatically "Almost forgot! Last rule. We carpool at Marui-kun's room every weekend" she stuck her tongue out cheekily.
'Obaa-chan didn't make up THAT particular dorm rule'
Kaede didn't mind that the boy named Marui didn't come down to greet her. She knew from the stories that the boy liked his peace and quiet and was very studious, preferring the company of the textbooks over the raucous mischief the other residents get up to. She also knew he had the biggest room for all the books he owned. Now that she thought about it, where were all the other members?
"Umm… guys. We should hurry. I'm sure Kaede-san is tired from her trip and would like to rest before dinner" said Tadokoro-san quietly from the side.
Kaede had almost forgotten she was there! She was such a meek little thing and she felt her heart flutter in her presence. She felt like she wanted to grab the skinny girl and gush all over her. Her kindness was just exuding from every pore of her skin and the sweetness was giving her diabetes. She wished some of the girls she knew had half the consideration of what Tadokoro-san had just to make life a bit more bearable.
"Right this way, your room is going to be next to mine" said Yoshino-san, who was already bounding up the stairs two at a time with a stack of her textbooks in her arms. "On the other side is Ryouko-chii's room and opposite you is Isshiki-senpai's room"
"Isshiki-senpai?" asked Kaede.
Isshiki Satoshi.
The one person Obaa-chan rarely talked about.
She described him in only a couple of words. He was kind, caring and considerate. But, he was a cunning and tenacious boy and his cooking prowess was phenomenal, which earned him a 'seventh seat' on their school 'prefect team' or something. She forgot the name of it. He took care of the Polar Star plantations with Tadokoro-san. He occasionally helped at the local town's cooking school which was some sort of community project dedicated to teaching basic home cooking skills. He wore… an apron… only an apron… around the place from time to time. She shivered with mild disgust. She didn't get a sense of who Isshiki-senpai truly was from Obaa-chan's tales and it seemed like neither did Obaa-chan. Confusion settled in her heart. The lack of stories about Isshiki-san kindled an itching inquisitiveness in her. She had known her fair share of cunning people in her life, but the way Obaa-chan glossed over Isshiki-san was quite… unusual… as she had never done so with the other Polar Star members, yet he'd been living there the longest. This lack of information about the so-called 'seventh-seater' was as strange as finding the treasure chest one had been digging, revealing itself only to be filled with sand.
'I'll meet everybody else in time'
"We're here! You get the best view of the plantation. Lucky you" announced Yoshino-san, kicking open the door.
Kaede gasped. Yep! Just like in the photos. The room was definitely big enough to be super comfortable and stretch around. Maybe even do a bit of yoga or something. She might need to ask her parents to mail her yoga mat over or just buy a new one. The bed was pushed to the far wall. The mattress was begging to be jumped on. It was a king-single and sitting on a sturdy wooden bed frame. Yeah, she would test out its plush bounciness later. Again, and again, and again if she had to. There was a long study desk facing the window where all the gorgeous morning light can come in and illuminate her work. Perfect. There was a tall and wide bookcase just at the foot of her bed so that was where all her books were going. There was a kotatsu sitting in the middle of the floor on top of a large square fluffy rug for entertaining visitors. Lastly, the mini fridge! She was going to utilise the mini fridge like a boss. All her junk-food and her orange soda was going to be all up in it!
The room had a tiny kitchenette too, which was handy. She didn't plan on using it much though especially when Polar Star Dorm already had Obaa-chan to do the cooking.
Kaede became fast friends with the three girls and were all productive troopers as they helped Kaede pack away her stuff.
"Well, would you look at that. Daigo-kun and Shouji-kun are getting scolded by Isshiki-senpai again" said Sakaki-san, leaning close to the window.
"You sure? More like they're grovelling for forgiveness and he's just waiting for them to realise there's nothing to forgive. They think they're bad arse trouble-makers, but really, they're not that big of a deal" replied Yoshino-san.
"Isshiki-senpai would never fault anyone for trivial matters. I don't know why Daigo-kun and Shouji-kun are so apologetic" added Tadokoro-san.
Kaede had finished filling up her drawers with her clothes and undergarments when she realised the other three girls were gossiping at the window. She was still following their conversations, not wanting to miss out on more stories of Polar Star life. Multi-tasking was her thing. Kaede patted her skirt down and pulled up her black thigh-high socks to stop it from slipping. Welp, a few things ticked off her to-do list. Next were her textbooks and then she could just kick her luggage to the side and not touch it for a while. She wandered over to her new desk where all the girls were and leaned over to catch the view from the large, old window from above her new desk. The scenery was gorgeous. She was so glad she came as early as humanly possible. The landscape was every vivid colour, every one of them as fresh as a new painting straight from Rome. The brilliant greens banished every weary thought and the sky lifted her eyes in a way that brought her to admire the strands of drifting white cloud. The trees were deep with late Autumn foliage and the bronze and scarlet leaves rioted in the jubilant way that only the most divine of flames could.
One by one, the girls moved away to continue their chit-chat in Kaede's new room. She could take care of the rest anyway. She peered below to see the other members. Yes, there were two boys bowing repeatedly with prayer hands resolutely poised above their heads and then another boy, a bit older and more adult like standing before them in a pristine set of Tootsuki school uniforms. Judging from the way his shoulders shook, he was chuckling good-naturedly at them and waving his hands gracefully to indicate that no transgressions were met. Kaede leaned down and rested her elbows on the desk top, intrigued by what would transpire next. They were Daigo-san and Shouji-san, she gathered. She guessed that they were the tweedle-dee and tweedle-dum of the dormitory. Obaa-chan expressed vehemently more than once about cleaning up after those boys because they couldn't tell the difference between the laundry hamper and every other surface in their rooms.
Finally, those two boys left the gardens below and all that was left was this so-called Isshiki-senpai.
Something struck her as odd.
'Why does he look so angry?'
She wasn't mistaken. That was definitely anger.
The auburn-haired boy named Isshiki Satoshi was smiling from ear to ear, but the barely imperceptible twist of tension stitched to his lips made his pale cheeks twitch, as if he had been smiling too long and too widely. Out of patience. He uncrossed his arms and it laid by his sides. His thumb was repeatedly tapping against each of his fingers in a fixated rhythm as if it was a habit. She could see his chest rise and fall from beneath his school jacket as he inhaled and exhaled deeply through flaring nostrils. Then he opened his eyes and they were the coldest blue she had ever seen.
Cold rage.
They were sharp icicles and it made Kaede shiver. It wasn't a good feeling and she took note to avoid being within his line of sight whenever he wasn't happy. There was a simmering malice burning those icicles and made raised red-flags in Kaede. How long was he going to stand there like that? Why was he continuing to smile like that? It looked utterly wrong. Whatever it was, his corrupted façade wasn't going to fool her in the future. She didn't like people who were dishonest in their countenance, no matter the reason.
The corner of his lips fell.
There it was. The anger surfaced to the rest of his face. His lips were tight in a dark grimace as he continued to glare daggers in the direction the two boys took off in. His jaws were stiff and she could see the muscles in his neck were bulging with increased tension.
'I should look away… I should look away… I should—'
Her heart stopped.
He was looking right at her!
'How did he-?!'
Those eyes which she was criticising just now were suddenly on hers, with his head tilted up gracefully towards her window. His head moved as if her window was his next target. Those glacier blue eyes were too sharp and too haunting for a second-year student. She felt they were seared into her memory.
How did he know she was watching him!? Her breath stuttered from the sheer incredulity he was shooting at her, almost as if he was offended she was looking at him. He stared back at her before his whole face transformed with the sleight of a con-artist's hand. The sides of his eyes crinkled to mimic a soft and gentle gaze, but they remained hard and cold. His forever smile was back on his face and it curdled a sickening fear in her gut as she let go of the window sill and took a cautionary step back and subconsciously lifted her hands, as if ready to physically defend herself.
'Oh… that's creepy as hell…'
She gulped. His gaze was so intense it imprisoned her movements. They picked out every single small detail of her from the outside to the deepest recesses of her soul and it felt so invasive. There was a false innocence on his lips, and again, she wasn't going to buy that. Curious they were, but not exactly welcoming. The corners of his lips quirked up higher to make dimples.
'I-I don't think I was—"
.
.
.
.
.
.
'— supposed to see that'
Definitely not.
How she looked upon him as if he was a monster…
How amusing. Isshiki Satoshi wasn't a bad person. He was a very good person! He had never done anything bad in his life!…Yet… But he did harbour 'unsavoury' thoughts. Thoughts he believed should never be voiced. Thoughts he suppressed and categorised as 'unbecoming' to show towards his precious underclassmen. Things like irritation, annoyance, threatening, anger, fury and punishment. He was the dependable older brother of his dorm and his underclassmen relied on him, trusted and sought his counsel. They knew him as a jovial, carefree, eccentric and a benevolent senpai whom they were lucky to have.
He was anything but that.
But because he loved his underclassmen so much, he allowed that lovely 'character' to fester and feed itself until he became what they needed, whom they wanted him to be. That way, they wouldn't cross him.
Any negative emotions he felt were internalised because that felt really good. To let it continue to broil just beneath the surface, on the verge of combusting was a thrilling ride. On a few occasions, some of it manifested in front of his underclassmen or he vented it through his cooking. Watching his underclassmen spook out a bit before settling his mask back on and watching them sigh in relief was entertaining. They interpreted it as passive aggression which was fine by him, as long as they never found out how truly…
… terrifying he could be if he wanted.
Satoshi felt eyes on him as soon as two of the rowdiest underclassmen of Polar Star walked away with relief flooding from them. Probably the girls. Shogi-kun and Daigo-kun were playing a game of baseball too close to the cabbage patch and Daigo-kun had hit the ball into a cabbage, uprooting the whole thing. Satoshi was obviously not impressed and the thin wire in him snapped. Did he show it? No. He let it broil in him as he gave the two misfits a light slap on the wrist and a friendly scolding to be careful next time. That was the verbal bit.
'Not to worry… They'll be sorry'
Three pairs of eyes left him, but one remained. Interesting. The itchiness skating across the gut continued to churn frustration within him and it compelled him to sought out the little spy. Coloured him tickled, but he was suddenly shocked to see an unfamiliar set of eyes peering down at him from the residential windows. He lifted his head a bit more to catch the face of this stranger in his dormitory. The ire that had worked its way to his fingers as he still tapped them against each other continued to dance in his chest as he stared back at this girl.
'Oh she must be Fumio-san's grand-daughter. Daimidou Kaede, was it?'
Fumio-san did mention that they would be expecting her today.
Her hair was a very exquisite shade of green. Like the dark verdant colours of the healthiest spinach of his crop. He imagined the different types of shades it would illicit under different kinds of lighting. In the sunrise, it would be green as the revering stained glass windows of an ancient cathedral, inspiring awe for anyone who looked upon it. At noon, it would be the dark and bright emerald green which laid set in a monarch's crown, glittering its majestic clarity under the rays of the sun. In the afternoon, it would be the earthy moss green, like the kind that sat on the stones, softly hibernating where it's wetness would remained from the morning rain, when everything else dried in the sun.
There was a keenness in her eyes he had first noticed but was quickly replaced with a deep wariness as if she was very guilty for seeing something she shouldn't have seen.
She would be right.
Nobody was supposed to see him like this.
He should rectify that. Satoshi offered her his sweetest smile and watched in awe and fascination as she recoiled from him, her rich amethyst eyes widened in fear. How very interesting, that wasn't the reaction he was counting on. This was the first time he'd met anyone other than Eizan-kun who could see through his perfect smile and charm. Both boys and girls swooned at the simple facial expression, but not her. She was clearly a very perceptive and observant one. More than she should be. That kind of acumen could get one into trouble. An obvious defence was put up in her as he continued to stare up, never blinking, never straying away from her violet eyes. He watched on as she continued to internally squirm, conflicted on whether she should exhibit courage at him and show defiance or run away. That didn't mean he didn't take notice of everything else about her. She was a petite woman, probably reaching Arato-san's height. Her hair was chin length and it swayed just below her jawline from the mountain breeze. She donned a beige cardigan with a black sailor's collar and red trimmings. The cuffs of her sleeves fitted snuggly against her small wrists which were connected to hands with long slender fingers. The same slender fingers which had a death grip on her window sill just earlier.
"Hello there! Might you be Kaede-chan? Fumio-san's grand-daughter?" Satoshi called up and offered her a friendly wave.
She took another step back and narrowed her eyes at him. She kept her mouth shut.
'Oh… she won't let herself be fooled now, huh'
Satoshi cocked his head to the side as he released a light chuckle and closed his eyes. Even without looking, he knew she was still there. Analysing him, scrutinising him, studying him for her own protection. She was smart if she knew she would need protection from him, now that she had walked blindly into a part of Polar Star she shouldn't have.
He opened his eyes again and playfully glared at her while his lips transformed into a half-hearted smirk.
Her features were pleasant on the eyes. Very pleasant. He wouldn't mind catching sight of her more often. But that would be easier said than done, now that her first impression of him would more than likely deter her from being around him for very long. He could fix that, just like how he often 'fixed' other things he found troubling or inconvenient. There was a thrumming in his chest he hadn't felt before as he continued to connect his gaze with her fearful ones. It mixed and dance with the internal rage still fighting through him, but he couldn't wait to feel it even more in the coming months while she still resided under the roof of his dorm. This new sensation sent tingles across every fibre in his body. It felt breath-taking. Judging from the position of the window, she was currently opposite his own dorm room. Ah, he'd forgotten what he was angry about now! No matter, it would come back to him.
It always did.
He was almost giddy with this new exciting feeling egging him on to meet this girl face to face. His legs itched to take him back into the dorm, up the stairs and straight into her room to see how else she would react to him.
He dared her.
'Do you want to play a game… pretty girl?'
Satoshi was going to have a fun time as long as the pretty girl didn't breathe a word about what she saw within him. If she tried… it would only be a thrilling game. For him anyway. For her? He wouldn't guarantee anything.
After all, it wasn't everyday somebody caught a glimpse of Isshiki Satoshi's true self and got away with it.
.
.
.
.
.
.
'Breathe in… breathe out… in… out…'
Kaede languished in the taut pull of her hamstrings as she executed the perfect Downward Dog. Her stomach maintained its tight clench as she inhaled and exhaled through her nostrils, just as she had practiced all those years ago. The fresh air swirling from the tall trees waving at her in the distance brought a refreshing calm that could only be achieved from drawing her energy from the earth. After deciding it was time to move onto the next pose, Kaede immediately bent her knees first and then stood up straight and tall. Her muscles sang from her thorough routine. She shook out her joints, her feet sticking to her foam yoga mat before turning side-on, spread her legs apart, making sure her heels were in-line with each other and then holding her arms out-wide as if about to surf. She bent her front knee until she was in her favourite and relaxing Warrior's Pose.
'Breathe in… breathe out… in… out…'
Her syncopation seemed completely spot on this morning. The Autumn mist was cold against her skin. She could fill her inner thigh muscles and her calf muscles stretch deliciously. She knew she could bent further to achieve a bit more of the burn, but she decided to keep it light. After all, she had been out of touch with her physical routines for a few months and wanted to ease back into it. Kaede tilted her whole backwards in the Reverse Warrior pose and sighed when the back muscles stretched, sending a dash of endorphins to her brain. Her eyes concentrated on the sky. It was already more bluish than rough-orange glimmer which was an hour ago.
Thunk Thunk Thunk.
Kaede closed her eyes and listened to the sound of a metal hoe carving into the Earth. She took a deep breath in and pulled all her limbs inwards and once again shook them out. She wiped her nose of a bit of sweat on her sleeve and proceeded to observe the mysterious senpai who thought it was a sane idea to dress in a fundoshi to farm at the break of dawn.
'I didn't believe them when they said that that's his second favourite get-up…'
Kaede leaned over the railing of Polar Star Porch and welcomed the cool breeze whipping through her short locks. Her sweat had long ago evaporated, so her face was free from sticky strands. She inhaled as much as she could and expelled her breath with a long sigh. When her body forced her to wake before her alarm, the world was as silent as it was at night.
'Ha. Mornings look better up here. I could get used to this'
The sun was still resolutely sunken in the horizon like a buoy in the ocean, and Polar Star Plantation was still as dark as some old-school black and white movie. She should do something about her existing lightbulb and put in some awesome soft-glow ones. That way, she wouldn't have to be reminded of the city with its unnatural electric glow.
Thunk Thunk Thunk.
Kaede's eyes automatically moved towards the brunette second-year student diligently toiling away in the cabbage patch. Didn't he worry about dirt flying up into his crack or anything? Surely, wearing a fundoshi was not acceptable farming attire. Kaede narrowed her eyes and pursed her lips. She scrutinised every shot of his movement. He was stronger than he appeared as he had been pounding into the earth with pretty much the same amount of strength. Every now and again he bent over to fuss with something in the dirt, and then moved a metre away to repeat his hoeing. He concentrated fully in his task, as if the most important thing in the world was bringing the best out of his crop. Kaede tilted her head as she rapped her nails on the railing. She scooted back so that she could fold her arms on the railing to rest her head on it comfortably. She watched his straight shoulders. They were well developed for a teenager. Probably from all that farm-work than anything else. Then there was his exposed back which were roped with muscles from repeated bending and supporting of his weight as he threw his body into his work.
"Would you like to join me, Kaede-san?"
Her name jolted her out of her musings. What? She blinked a couple of times and expected to see a pair of amused blue eyes laughing at her in the distance, but all she saw was the same back of the wavy-haired senpai as he pulled himself up straight and wiped his brow with his forearm. How did he know she finished her yoga? Never mind. Stupid question.
"Umm, no I'm fine"
Isshiki-san twisted around to deign her with a look of abrupt intensity. It registered in her subconscious that they clashed spectacularly with his mop of vivid auburn hair.
He chuckled lighltly and his arctic blue eyes crinkled shut. She wondered if he could hear her reply from such a distance because she didn't think she had put that much effort and energy into her words as her head lolled up and down her folded arms securely draped on the railing. At best, it was probably muffled. She bowed her back inwards even more and jutted her rump out, as her body called for one last stretch before packing up the yoga mat entirely. Even if Isshiki-san didn't hear her, she was sure he already knew her answer. She wondered why he bothered to ask? He sure was creepy as hell… No… creepy was too 'cute' a word. More like 'disturbing'. He had the same shell as the other humans, alright. He was totally charming and handsome even, but his wiring was all screwed up because who in their right mind would wear a fundoshi out in the farm in this day and age?! He was one chemically imbalanced molecule away from wearing his birthday suit to harvest turnips.
"Is that right. You've been watching me for some time and I wondered if you wanted to help out" he called out. He was still facing away from her.
He was one to talk, she hadn't felt anything but his eyes on her ever since she got here. When she tried to confront him about it he merely said he thought she was 'interesting' and a 'delight' to have around. None of the Polar Star members thought there was anything wrong, so she chalked it down to an annoying oddity. Kaede grumbled in her arms and then pulled herself up straight. The past week, he proved to be more than just an oddity. A two-faced con-artist. It was mind-boggling that his underclassman didn't seem to be… aware… of his duplicity. Maybe they were and it was okay with them. She didn't want to try asking them, just in case she came off as rude in her new temporary home, but for some reason she seemed to be the only person under this roof who could tell when Isshiki-san was furious about something. He never did or said anything to suggest he was angry, even his aura was settled and calm, but there was something emanating from him that made her skin prickle and quickened her breath. Something that sent warnings in her head to get the hell out of there as soon as she sees his lips tug into a cold smile.
"I'm just curious about your clothing choice" she replied.
"Ah yes, the fundoshi is more liberating than one might think. I find it's more breathable and it helps me connect to the spirit and kinship of our forefathers who have helped to cultivate the land"
What?
Kaede raised her eyebrows at the oddly profound statement. His eccentricity really did have semblance of reasons then, aside from the confusing emotional imbalance she was noticing. It was best she didn't question too much about it. She had a feeling that if she dug too deep, she wouldn't be able to get out. Isshiki-san finished up his gardening and hefted his hoe onto his shoulders. He strode across the field towards where his towel and other bita and pieces were which were neatly organised and lined up on the other end of the porch.
Kaede rolled up her yoga mat as well, but continued to watch him from the corner of her eyes. Lately she'd been feeling the need to. She knew he was pretending not to notice her, but part of her badgered her not to give in to this annoying little 'you-blinked-first'-esque game. This guy noticed everything around him. Whenever she was nearby he made it a point to acknowledge her, whether it be greeting her in a chipper manner in front of others, or just smirking at her from the distance. Kaede never meant to hide, but he made her feel like she was hiding half the time as he often gave her a teasing sharp stare whenever she paused at the doorway of the common-rooms and kitchens.
Each time it sent very unpleasant shivers down her spine.
Isshiki-san finished scrubbing his bare feet clean of the dirt with the water hose and towelled his legs down thoroughly. He picked up his things and proceeded to walk back into the house. He paused and turned back to her, his blue eyes catching hers instantly.
"Aren't you coming in?" he asked.
"Yeah, in a minute"
She wanted to avoid walking too close to him, hello, especially when he barely had any clothes on.
He smirked and hummed in response.
He knew.
Kaede waited for two minutes to pass before she too entered the dormitory. It was peaceful when the other students were still slumbering which was why she found mornings were the best. Unfortunately, she wasn't the only person who thought so. The senpai of the dorm also had a penchant to rise before Obaa-chan to start his daily tasks. If anything, for the first few dim hours of the morning, it felt like it was just always the two of them in the house. It was a daunting and chilling thought. It was like there was a soft echoing heartbeat somewhere in the house, that she couldn't quite hear properly, just out of reach at the same time, utterly there. Kaede climbed up the stairs to the bedroom landing with her yoga mat in her arms. She could hear the shower going, which was obviously Isshiki-san washing the rest of the dirt off his body. She deposited her gear in her newly furnished room and changed her clothes into her favourite dress and long cardigan. She slipped into her house slippers. Kaede grabbed her 'Caesar: Life of a Collosus' and she trotted downstairs, finally feeling famished, wondering what she was going to cook up for a quick breakfast.
'Omlette. I want omelette'
The large house creaked under her light footsteps. She could only hear it creak and groan in the mornings, but never in the afternoons. It was a big kitchen and the hotplates were enormous. Kaede rummaged through the large industrial fridge. She loved omelettes and now that she was living on something that closely resembled a farm, she thought this was more than perfect to go with the farm theme. She stayed clear of Yukihira-kun's pickling stuff as she sought through the options. She hummed and smiled as she took out all the ingredients she needed and set it on the table.
'Obaa-chan says it's best to leave the ingredients at room temperature before cooking'
She was no cooking afficiando, so she took her Obaa-chan's advice to heart. Kaede leaned against the kitchen bench and flipped up her book right up to the last page she was on while she waited for her ingredients to be at room temperature. She had no idea how long that would take, but right now her book was filling up her stomach just as well as she devoured the words lifting off the pages. Her thoughts were purely on Julius Caesar for the time being. She had the honour of studying the Shakespeare play and it was the first time she was thrown into a state of pure cognitive dissonance. Such conflicting perspectives jumbled her mind and fought with her morals as she had agonised over whether she though Julius Caesar was a great leader or a ruthless dictator based on Shakespeare. Or was he just both? Either way, she was completely enamoured in researching about him in any text she could find. This text in her hand was so far the most interesting and if she wasn't careful, she could literally starve herself and she wouldn't even notice.
But now there was always something else that would steal her attention against her will.
The only announcement of his arrival was a slight drop in the air-temperature and the descent of absolute silence drowning out the ticking of the clock. Without turning, Kaede knew he was there, lurking in the shadows of the doorway.
"If you're not careful Kaede-san, I think the cream will go off by the time you finish the chapter you are on"
She decided jokes really didn't suit him. She slowly spun on the spot, but kept her eyes on the words, which was losing it's usual captivating nature by the second. She gave a cursory glance up to see Isshiki-san leaning against the doorway of the kitchen with his arms crossed and his ankles crossed over each other. His moist hair glittered under the artificial lighting and it rested on his head neatly as if he combed it properly rather than letting it hang to dry. He was wearing a button up shirt, except… the first few buttons were left open and Kaede sucked in a small breath as she watched a stray bead of water divet past his clavicle and disappear under the fresh fabric. The heat creeping up her face was immediately extinguished as she remembered the last time it was just the two of them in a room, Isshiki-san behaved very differently compared to when surrounded by his underclassman and Obaa-chan. When he was with others, his mannerisms were all correct, but she knew deep down, his emotions were reversed.
His gaze would feel icy.
His smiles would look sinister.
His gestures would be impatient.
His charm would be sickening.
His words would be shapr.
… his true emotions were loud and clear.
Again, he made sure she knew that she was the only one seeing this unnerving side of him. His true self, she had surmised. Why did she have this honour? Kaede wondered what she had done to entreat this sickening behaviour, but the sensible part of herself advised that she shouldn't try to figure that out. It would be like opening Pandora's box. She so wanted to, but knew only the bad stuff would come of it.
"I was just about to make some omelette" she replied as neutrally as possible. She snapped her book shut and put it off to the side.
"Allow me"
He strode briskly into the kitchen and immediately picked up the carton of cream she had left out. Kaede felt a string pull in her and held her hand out.
"No, no. It's fine I can make it myself. I eat omelette in a certain way" she said hurriedly.
One thing she learnt was that she should never owe anything in anyway, especially somebody who was a duplicitous as Isshiki-san. It was always the dishonest ones that would screw innocent and well-meaning people in the end and nobody would call her the fool of she took precautions like a paranoid old woman. Isshiki-san looked shocked for a flash before his eyes melted into a strange sort of glee. Any flash of emotion at this point was a warning sign for Kaede that something weird was going to go down. She cursed herself for her ill-luck for just wanting to bloody make her own omelette! His grip on the carton remained steady as he regarded her and Kaede thought for a moment that he was just frozen in time as he burned her through those glacial orbs which then instantly shielded up with a condescending benevolence. He slowly released the carton of cream and Kaede watched with bated breath as he stepped back and held his arms up in mock surrender. His eyes never strayed from hers.
"Alright then, I'd be interested to know how you make this special omelette of yours" he said, his voice dipping lower than what she thought was normal.
Why… the hell… would he want to know?
"It's nothing special" she muttered.
"I would like to watch"
"You're a top-rated chef, so I don't know what on earth you would learn from watching me"
"I wouldn't know unless I try, hmm?"
He was directly in front of her in an instant and she barely heard him move. Apprehension similar to when she watched him morph into a cold rage under her window a week ago when she first arrived at Polar Star, encased her as his lips twisted up at the corners. He was so close to her that she could smell his soap. It left a pleasant tingle in her nostrils, but it was nothing compared to the overbearing atmosphere of being a new lion in an established pride.
Isshiki-san cocked his head to the side.
"I insist"
Kaede knew better than to say anything she would regret right now. After all, there was only the two of them downstairs and she genuinely feared he might do something and make it look like an accident.
Kaede snapped her amythest eyes towards him in a last glower as she huffed away from him and went about her business. She searched for the right utensils and prepared her ingredients, trying and failing to ignore a pair of icy blue eyes watching her closely like a hawk. Well, he didn't like being blown off didn't he. He sat at the kitchen bench with his arms crossed over his chest and his knees crossed. She had almost stepped on his metaphorical toe just then and she could tell he wasn't happy about it. She didn't know if it was a defiance worth celebrating, or something she should add to the list of 'Don't do that to Isshiki-san unless you want to leave Polar Star intact'
Oh no… she went as far as to comparing him to an assassin… maybe that was his past life? No wonder she got the weird vibes from him. She could only hear the sizzle of her omelette gently cooking in the pan. She had her spatula at the ready, turning over and over in her hands until she deemed it was cooking enough before plating up. She couldn't even hear Isshiki-san behind her. It was like he was never there. But no, no, no. She could still feel his eyes stabbing into the back of her head.
Finally, she flipped her omelette over with most of it still sticking to the pan and then just dumped it onto her plate with a splat.
"I see you like your omelette slightly under-cooked"
"Yes, that's how I roll" Kaede replied.
She watched his reaction and only found amusement. He never actually looked at her cooking method, did he… He just wanted an excuse to be creepy, she was sure. He got up with a loud scrape of the stool and sauntered towards the coffee machine. Kaede dug into her omelette on the opposite side. The silence was starting to bug her.
"Daigo-san showed me around the Plantation yesterday" informed Kaede.
She tried to break the silence. He said nothing as he sipped his steaming mug of coffee on the other-side of the kitchen
"He showed me Yoshino-san's chicken coop, Sakaki-san's kouji lab and Ibusaki-san's wood-smoking workshop".
Kaede was halfway through her omelette when she couldn't take the stifling silence and the burning question that was just bubbling up her throat like bile. She gave herself a mental pat on the back for not letting her voice quiver. She couldn't pretend to be 'okay' and be composed in his presence for this long without cracking. She was so ready to belt out the one, specific question hours ago, days ago! But she couldn't when there were other people around. Everyone had made sure she felt welcomed so she didn't have a moment to herself to track down the elusive senpai of Polar Star to demand an answer. It was starting to dawn on her that the interactions she faced with him were heavily engineered by his cunning. She only found him when he wanted her to find him, and he was always there when she sure as hell didn't want him to be. Isshiki-san was charming and socially intelligent, the perfect armour and weapon. He didn't play by the rulebook as the rest of the ordinary people like herself and so he won at ease. But that didn't mean her rulebook had a few edits. She had her own safety to think about and if all the other Polar Star residents were blind to it, or were in cahoots with it then she would be damned if she was going to play ignorant.
"What did you do to Daigo-san's arm"
She twisted to pin him down with her own set of deadly eyes and repay him of all the times he seared her from his gaze. The lower half of his face was hidden behind his coffee mug and she glared at the cool gaze he bestowed on her. His mirth frosted up and she could see a minute twitch of his brow. She saw no guilt, only annoyance. She was in for it now. His eyes were cold and she felt snap frozen. He brought his coffee mug down and placed it on the kitchen bench with a loud thud. His lips were firmly shut and she felt like a frog trapped in a net.
A few days ago, Daigo-san had been nursing a bandaged arm while giving her a grand tour of Polar Star Dormitories and its lands. It was covered in gauze. He initially didn't want to talk about it, but Kaede wouldn't have any of that. When she finally had pried the answer from him, he said he had an accident in Ibusaki-san's wood-smoking workshop, but the hesitant smile as he bad tried to brush it off as something minor was completely off. She remembered that as soon as Isshiki-san walked past them on his way to his plantation on that bright and sunny afternoon, Daigo-san had changed the subject quickly. His exuberance had ramped up two-hundred percent as if he was over-compensating for something.
Isshiki-san was never anywhere by coincidence when it came to her. She also remembered that time Daigo-san and Shouji-san was scolded on her arrival and she put the two and two together.
"What did he say" asked Issihiki-san.
What the hell?! He wasn't even hiding it! Kaede narrowed her eyes and almost snarled. His self incrimination filled her with anger, as if he couldn't be bothered or even want to defend himself. Any sane person would respond with 'What are you talking about?' right? She could only lick her teeth in aggravation as he tilted his head to the side, smiling at her innocently with that smart mouth, almost goading her, tempting her to call him out on his very deliberate answer.
"He said… he said he badly grazed his arm when he was helping Ibusaki-san move logs around… with you" she responded.
"Then what makes you think I did something to him"
"Intuition"
Kaede gripped her fork tightly to the point it rattled. She prided herself on her ability to infer from situations. Years of reading contrasting and conflicting history textbooks honed that skill. She prayed to Kami-sama that she wasn't doing something too stupid. She seriously wondered if Isshiki-san took a perverse pleasure in attaining positions of trust and respect amongst his beloved peers, because if he had actually done something to Daigo-san's arm, then that meant he had no morals. No morals meant no restraint. No restraint meant she was his game to be eaten. Isshiki-san peeled himself off the kitchen bench. He abandoned his coffee and stepped towards her. The heavy thud of his feet seemed to drag time slowly. Kaede remained in her seat and all she could do was wait for him to arrive in front of her. Once he did, she concentrated on his nose, she couldn't for the life of her bring herself to look into those frozen, tempestuous-filled eyes, lest she break out in a cold sweat. It was too hard to imagine this was the same boy who walked around naked under an apron and wore a fundoshi to work outside with a stupid smile on his face.
His nostrils flared.
"Did you know that when a spider makes its web, it actually tunes it like a guitar string?"
Wait… what just happened? Was Isshiki-san pulling a fast one on her? The one-eighty in topic left her baffled, but knowing the auburn-haired student in a short period of time, this had to be leading somewhere unpleasant and it was going down a dark winding forest path with no escape. She gulped at his rhetoric.
"When one of the strings are not tuned correctly. The spider fixes it right up until it's perfect" he continued with his soft voice.
"What if it can't?" asked Kaede.
She would go along with this, just to the edge of the forest, nothing more because the wolf was waiting in the thick depths ready to eat Red Riding Hood. She could smell the hint of coffee on his breath.
"The spider will tear the string apart and replace it until he could make it dance for him"
His voice dropped to a whisper. He said he and him, not it. Personal pronoun, denoting a humanised reference. This was the moment Kaede knew that she had to stay away from him at all costs. No more treading around him, no more putting up a front and showing him that she was not bothered by his insistent stares. No more defiance and short bursts of courage. She could see past his façade which fooled every man and his dog, and that was enough for her. She could feel the sweat drench her skin, the throbbing of her own eyes, the ringing screams in her ear to abort and get the hell out of there. Her fingers curled into a fist, nails digging into her skin. She couldn't hear her own rapid breathing, but she could feel the oxygen flooding out of her lungs. Despite everything screaming at her to stop her foolishness, she pursued for the truth.
"What… did you do to Daigo-san's arm"
Unexpectedly, Isshiki-san's fingers alighted to her exposed neck, cold as a cadaver despite nursing a fresh cup of coffee earlier. Her heart hammered in her chest and her throat instantly constricted. He ran it from behind her ear to the edge of the collar of her dress and audibly sniffed like a wine connoisseur taking in a fine vintage. Then he withdrew. Isshiki-san stepped back and her world instantly felt free. It wouldn't be for long. He smirked at her coldly.
"Nothing he won't learn from"
Then he was out the kitchen door without so much as a glance. Kaede shuddered and her fork clattered onto her plate of half-eaten omelette. He did something. He somehow had hurt Daigo-san! This boy was utterly deranged and she was the idiot who prodded the spider! What did he mean when he said 'Nothing he won't learn from'? Learn from what, exactly? Deep in the recesses of her mind. Nobody in this Dorm gave any impression of Isshiki Satoshi of somebody who was capable of physically harming another on purpose. Obaa-chan had a mentaly dilapidated madman living under their roof! Fear tortured her gut, churning her stomach in tense cramps. Fear engulfed her consciousness, knocking all other thoughts aside. Fear overwhelmed her body, making it drastically exhausted.
'What the fuck am I going to do? Why am I the only person who can fucking see it?!'
The soft pattering of clumsy feet broke her out of her thoughts. For a split second, she thought that it might be Isshiki-san coming back for his coffee or finish her off, and she tensed up, but a burst of red hair filling up the doorway made her sigh in sweet relief.
"Yo! Morning Kaede-san! You're an early riser like Isshiki-senpai, huh?"
It was Yukihira-kun. Oh Kami-sama she had never felt so good in her life. His bright and gentle face instantly filled her with ease and peace, it almost brought her to tears. It was just a shame that Isshiki-san's name had to be on his lips first thing in the morning, so she wasn't going to dignify his question with a comment. She settled with just a simple nod. Yukihira-kun grinned at her like a big shining sun and zeroed in onto the fridge. She felt her lips twitched up into a reluctant smile at his antics. He must have passed by Isshiki-san on the way, and yet here he was unaffected by anything and brimming with all the positivity in the world. It only went to show how much of a wolf Isshiki-san was, disguised amongst the sheep. He rummaged through it like a caveman, searching for something to make up his breakfast before he settled with some left-over rice, some spring onions, a tub of left over vegetables and a can of spam. It looked like he had a hankering for fried rice or something.
"Well lucky you, at least when we're all gone, he'll keep you company"
She choked on her spit.
"What?!"
Yukihira-kun sprang up like a startled meerkat, giving her a befuddled look.
"I mean… excuse me?" Kaede corrected herself.
He went back to what he was doing
"Oh, all of us first years will be gone for the Rapport-Building Training Camp in a few days. It's for five days. Didn't anybody tell you?"
Yukihira-kun couldn't be anymore nonchalant as he finished oiling up the pan and tossed in the diced onions, garlic and spam. She could her the pop and crackle of the onions and garlic coating the mystery-meat, but she couldn't smell anything at all, the gravity and shock of his statement literally stunted one of her senses.
"No… Nobody" her voice wobbled.
"Funny, I thought Fumio-san of all people would've told you by now" he shrugged and got busy with prepping tossing in the vegetables next. The crackling sound intensified, but the deafening pounding of blood in her ears over-rode everything.
"Wait a second. You said all the first years, right? That means… everyone but Isshiki-san" she trailed off, counting on her fingers for how many first years were in Polar Star, scared of how Yukihira-kun would inevitably confirm her answer.
"Yep, it will just be you and Isshiki-senpai in the Dorms for a while"
The path along her skin where his fingers traced tingled with a foreign sensation.
Aside from Obaa-chan, it was just going to be...
Her…
And Isshiki-san…
Alone
So my OC is Kaede the city girl and history-enthusiast! I hope you like her! Molding Isshiki's unsavoury traits through Kaede's persepctive is tricky. His character is pretty slippery for me to grasp at times, but I'm enjoying the challenge of bringing out a new side to him which I think has been hinted a few times in the manga... and I'm just... making it more extreme.
They've had an 'introduction' to each other of sorts. Isshiki's already got Kaede on the back foot with his little games. Yikes. What hellscape will she be subjected to while everyone is away? Only the diabolical Isshiki-senpai would know...
There will be triggers later on in this story, so I warn you now.
Let me know what you think and I'll see you next time!
Signing off
-TripWire-dono