Chapter 2


It was impossible. Impossible for Shiina to understand why everyone was so laid back and cheerful once again after the ordeal that they had gone through. What was there to be happy about? If this had truly been reality, then they would all have been dead by now – never to be remembered by anyone, weaklings in the eyes of the NPC students. Not that she really cared what NPC's thought, but still… the girl was trying to make a point here. Shiina could almost feel Naoi's eyes on her, watching her and yet everyone else as well at the same time. He was keeping tabs, knowing she hated it, and knowing that no one else cared.

He would give her a smirk whenever she uttered the words 'this is stupid', even if it were so quiet that normal human ears would be loathe to hear it. Sometimes Shiina felt as if she were just a sideshow attraction to him – something he'd never seen before and was kind of happy to just sit and watch. This infuriated her to no end, and the absolute worst part about it was the obliviousness of her other friends. They couldn't see how much he bothered her, no matter how hard they were trying to pay attention, or how much emotion she put into her signature words of 'this is so stupid'.

But Yurippe was not a fool. No matter how much Shiina thought they weren't listening to her, or how much she thought they didn't care, Yuri still noticed. The battlefront leader did not do anything about it – yet – feeling that Shiina had to work out her own problems.

Everything came down to a climax one day when Naoi addressed Shiina, who was standing in her usual spot in the back of the room.

"Why do you always say the word 'stupid' in one form or another? Come to think of it… who are you? You look… familiar… somehow…"

His questions were like a punch to the stomach, but Shiina answered quietly and calmly, trying not to let any anger enter her voice. "It is usually the truth."

"Really? Well, in any case, you only answered one question. Please continue."

"I don't feel the need to explain to you who I am. You've been here long enough to know my name already."

"I didn't ask for your name."

"W-what?" Shiina couldn't remember one time in her life that she had actually stuttered out a word like that. "What do you mean? You asked who I was, didn't you?"

Naoi frowned and raised an eyebrow. "Exactly. So, answer the question."

In the front of the room, Noda was nudging Yuri with his axe, looking confused. "Hey? What're they doing over there?"

Yuri replied by stepping on his foot to shut him up, giving him an equally painful jab in the ribs with her elbow. "Be quiet, moron. I'm trying to watch this."

It was too late, however. Shiina had no intention of staying around to ponder a question that she would never answer. Maybe it was cowardly, maybe it was stupid of her, but she wasn't going to stay there any longer. Still… the girl had second thoughts when she turned to get one last peek at Naoi's reaction of her jumping out of the window…

He still had that same infuriating smirk gracing his lips.


So… this was sort of short. I promise to have the next one up soon, and it'll be longer! By the way, I want to thank anyone who has reviewed or is going to review both this story and other stories I've written! It really makes me happy when I see what people have to say about my work (I seriously do a happy dance inside). THANK YOU ALL VERY MUCH!