I own nothing, except my evil plot bunny.

Yamaha and Bplats are lucky bastards...just saying.

- Alleire


...o4...

"Declarative Lies"


The textbook I had on my desk felt heavier than usual -yet not in weight. The words that curled against the pages had a deeper press, a firm click to each dull white paper. I've always admired myself for being a person with enough wit to ignore words, making them dance against my imagination and still make sense of them. I never really considered the reality that this may be a mental illness on the verge of controlling my brain entirely, there wasn't any room for that thought because I'd done this as a product of my passive habit of finding some form of escape, flying from reality. But right now the words scratched and clawed more, blunt, frank and scarcely scary. I strain my eyes confused.

"On page 3, you'll see an example of a headset's basic interior." sensei Leon dictates, one hand idly scribbling notes on a bleach white marker board. His voice sounded flat and his face was equally not as pleased. No matter how long I dare to concentrate on his expressions I still can't process why he'd choose to start the first day with a lesson. Whether it was a product of the principal's black mails or sensei Leon ended up on the wrong side of the bed, I'm not sure. But I can honestly say that our Specialized Mechanics subject this year won't turn into a breather for me as it should be, and that started to worry me. Although I'm not an overachiever, and I'm really sure that I'm not an overconfident genius like Hatsune-san, I've had my way with the school's this-and-thats easily, and I haven't encountered a major clunk ever since. But the problem was standing right in front me in black erasable marker. Not even the textbook that gingerly sat on my desk could explain all that gibberish (that's what I saw, even without my bangs over my eyes).

I nervously finger the edges of the book, the pages crumpled along with the beat of my folding and unfolding. My ears catch words that sounded alien to me, and I frown on impulse. My head felt dizzy with all these words and I knew this wasn't a situation for day-dreaming, at least now that my mind is polluted with 'diaphragm', 'C4', 'Antenna', '*9V' and other useless junk. The last thing I wanted to have was a migraine, and I've had enough of head pain since our break.

"Ah, now for a bit of a test, to see if you were actually listening." sensei Leon meekly grins back as he says this, and I know that probably was intended to light up the mood or to appear less than stressed but it did nothing but scare me -the smile appeared more Cheshire on the sides.

I shiver.

"-To make it less expected, I've written all your names on paper and dumped them into this hat. Forgive me if the hat looks like it's been butchered. Let's a pick a name, now shall we?" A horribly patched up red top hat swiftly replaced the wide span of space on sensei's left, with all its feathers and ribbons and loose velvet fabric. He generously spins his hand around inside it, and it I suddenly felt my stomach churn along with every successful revolution. Sensei smiles wickedly as a paper starts to crumble against his palm, his glasses being tainted bright white from the sunshine, but I had an impression it was something else.

At that single moment I'm suddenly brought up on a rumor I heard, ah, right. Some girls from class Cadenza Section 3 had a little heart to heart conversation a little after gym practice on some benches, I was there purely by chance -a chance from Kei-sensei to go have a break. I may have had a bad experience with timing, -I laugh, nonchalantly closing my eyes as I a memory of a ringing bell flies through my ears- but I redeem myself alright when I recall other moments.


"Hey, did you hear?"

"No?! What is it?"

"There's a rumor going around about Leon-sensei, they say he's not human!"

"WHA-?!"

"Yeah, they say he's a WIZARD from another realm, and he's hear in search for a missing princess or something!"

"R-really..? But, I guess the dude IS kinda creepy. But why a princess?"

"Maybe he'll introduce her to a prince!"


I really didn't mind the next later parts, which I deduced as lame girlish hunger for romance before I could even register it in my brain. But really, I prompted my ears didn't need to listen any further. The real crux of the idea was our Specialized M. teacher being a wizard after a lost maiden from some outside world, and taking her from some deluded guy whose probably desperate for love. It was kinda sad -being accused of such a thing when he's been here as long as I can remember. Its the first day and someone throws a rumor of you, being inhuman. I've seen worse, but probably this was real disappointing on sensei's behalf. If it was that much of the truth than the rumor of the principal having an affair with a crazy cat-lady, why now? When it could have started so much long ago when he started his carrier? For now, I'll just let the matter fester, ready in time.

Sine the chill that racked through my spine from a certain voice scarred me to attention. Oh no.

"M-i-z-k-i~"

I dread the day I'd suddenly be called up for a lesson I could barely get a hold off, because I know how humiliating the aftertaste would be. I could picture fate with its wriggling manipulative hands giggling at me by then, pale face and wide helpless eyes starring back at sensei. "A-ara-" I stutter, raising slowly from my seat. I personally didn't know what I was going to say, but I had an idea on what to expect, and it was the least I could do to damper that little girl bawling inside me. I'm pretty sure she's crying, from all the pressure.

I'd admit, yes, the stares from the others were like arrows on fire.

"Hana-san, since the hat told me its your time, here's your question."

I force something out of my throat, but fail significantly. I settle on cracking my neck, bending it as much as I can as to give an impression of me nodding, and then I lather and rinse and repeat the process to complete the gesture. Honestly, I had no idea what I was going to say. Right, time to summon a number of deities, let's see...

"I'm going to go easy on you, though. First days shouldn't be so terrifying, but don't expect this to continue up 'till tomorrow! Alright, name me one part of a basic headset we just recently went through." sensei had his lips pursed up just barely, but I know he was smiling. He should do that more often, since it made him look human. Not that he was anything else to begin with, anyway. But that's all the more irrelevant. The air that lingered felt immensely heavy, and at some point, I could actually hear breathing. Something snapped in my mind though, and I suddenly blurted a word out of memory.

"A-antenna."

A swirl of noiseless wind sweeps against the classroom, my eyes widened in response since it felt like everyone just died from hearing me speak. Was I really given a voice that deadly? I've been told I was a natural at singing, at that my voice had an awkwardly beautiful ring to it, but I didn't expect it to be able to reach these type of lengths, much less it be deemed shocking.

"Correct," sensei finally says, folding the paper and shoving it back where it used to be, "You guys need to learn how to not stare informally. Class dismissed." And just like that, he left, in the silence of it all. I had an urge to flip my table just then, maybe throw it out the window and watch it crash against the floor down below. I wouldn't care if hit something or someone on the way -I needed something to extinguish all that anger somehow. A rough slap suddenly meets my back, throwing me down as it did, and I fell involuntarily face first against my desk, my hair flushed against the wood and a laugh escapes the lips of my attacker. Whoever did that certainly possessed a lot of upper strength. Such is my pain that I start emitting a dark aura, black with purple swirls that reflected the shadows covering my eyes as I glared back.

Surprise, surprise, I expected it to be him.

"I'm sorry! Ack, don't kill me or anything!" Yuma bickers, defensively closing his arms around himself. "I might as well." I sneer, ringing my wrist. I wasn't much of an athlete, never, nothing close to that. But at the age of 10 I was forced to learn defensive martial arts, as opposed to learning to some type instrument, or reading books or playing dolls with a few tea-time mates. It was out my parent's extravagant worry, and me being born a girl. "Don't hit other people like that recklessly, its immoral." An unpleasant crack regulates from my wrist as I bend it a little, revolving it around a small circle as a small wicked smile makes it way to replace my frown. "I should be saying that to you...!" he barks back, his arms swaggering from a protective V to an X the instant his back meets a chair.

I release an involuntary laugh from the back of my throat, holding my hand up and watching him cower under my bangs. "H-h-ana-sama! Please...!"

slap!

The sound vibrates against the empty walls of a sun drenched classroom, (now empty, hmm, the others leave real quickly...) a sharp and crisp echo of an unintentional action. I've realized at that point that I was probably a coward for letting my emotions fester and appear less intense. But just then, my hands were moving on their own. And I was equally surprised on how I decided to settle things, like how Yuma was touching his blaze red cheek, eyes wider than ever. "Ah-what was that just now?" He tells me, gingerly rubbing his cheek. My voice feels fidgety, hitching from uncertainty. Yuma's eyes suddenly soften, and a ghost smile lingers against his lips. "You...scarred me just then-! Don't make malicious expressions when-!"

slap!

I watch in silence as his cheeks catch the afternoon sun's light, revealing the bright red hand print making its home up on his other cheek. I couldn't smile, I couldn't laugh, I couldn't show any form of emotion. I just felt odd, and the oddity of the situation was really contagious, like it was forcing me to do things I didn't feel like doing. I felt my eyes shift for a moment, under the hazy darkness of my bangs. I wouldn't call it insecurity, no, it was an emotion more similar to...

"Shut up." I settle my sight on the pinkette, my voice dripping in, unintentional, automatic poison. "Just...sh-shut it..I don't think I'd be able to handle it, anymore." My hands linger on the strap of my school bag and my mind is racing, 'Run...!' kept repeating itself, over and over like a broken record, stuck to play forcibly. Memories from just 5 hours ago swirl in my head, and I start to feel dizzy. He blinks, once, twice. His mouth now a flat line, pressed, but from where I stood I noticed his lips were cowering, just a bit, like he was struggling with what to say.

"Mizki...I-" He begins with down-cast eyes, a single hand rubbing against his left cheek. "I...m...sorry." The audibility in his voice had a strained feature to it -I can hear that part clearly, from my experience of my own voice too, straining it to make it audible in front of class. "I'm sorry..." I heard him repeat, only this time, it was fainter and on the verge of crumbling down back into his throat. There was a stinging sensation in my chest, and I sheepishly look down, expecting a sharp dagger twisting at my heart, but really, I knew there wasn't anything to see.

"I'm sor-" I stop him from advancing his words with a press of a single finger against his mouth. Surely enough, Yuma turns quiet. "Hey, a word of advice," I speak up, tilting my head slightly. Honestly, the stability in my voice was surprising, why can't it be like this at other times? I push up the corners of my lips, this could be my chance to patch up some holes. I...wasn't used to all this attention...I need to get my simple life back.

"By all means, stay away from me."

I smile back at him, just a tiny one, before grabbing my bag out the door without looking back. The bleach white hallway echoes with the distressed sound of a door that shut, fading away and being replaced with the sound of my steps. Tick-tack-tick-tack, on and on, heavy against my feet. "I can't be like this..." I say, clutching at my chest with a single hand.

"I just can't."

A wide crowd of students fill the hallways and cram the exit. But I successfully dragged my feet out the door, to the safety of the outside. From the corner of my eyes I could see one of the windows from our class, Yuma's silhouette was no longer visible. Then again, it shouldn't matter. And so the sun sets in a lovely orange sky, and as I start my way home, I make sure to stand firm, make it a habit to run and to not notice. "Yeah, I'll make sure..." I smile to myself, starring up at the wonderfully painted canvas that stretched above. Then, I laugh as I walk away from it all.

To think I'd assert to such declarative lies, I'm so pathetic.


Image owned by Pixiv Mangaka Ayu

And ta-dah! I give you chapter 4. A long one too, but I had fun writing this xD, for real. Especially Mizki's expression when Yuma unintentionally slams her to her desk, hehe.

xD Remember guys, Mizki is a loner here. Its a natural reaction at first to want to revert to loneliness out of desperation, ._. since she isn't used to such intimacy. Don't worry though, my next VY fic will be slightly less...dramatic. Bwahahaha -shot.

Err, reviews? I'd love to hear them ^ ^ while writing up my fifth chapter.

Written in Mizki's POV. Yuma's POV? o w o Who knows-? (laughs, then gets shot again.)