The school days dragged on without major incident for about a week. Joshua's presence never ceased to get reactions from the rest of the students, and the Composer was satisfied that the humans were consistent in their adoration of him, so he didn't interfere. Even negativity was welcomed, as it provided Joshua with a self-imposed challenge to not disintegrate the perpetrators, as well as an opportunity to eradicate the ensuing, inevitable Noise that came with the incidents.
Rhyme's social life was now a bit better, and the high class girls bothered her less once the gossip of her formally dating the richest boy in Tokyo got around. It seemed she had climbed the status quo ladder one rung at a time without truly doing anything strenuous. The innocence of the girl didn't change one bit, as she still held her true friend, Trixie, in high regard and never once snubbed her. She was meek and humble as always, and seemed more embarrassed by all the attention than anything, choosing to downplay her relationship as much as possible.
Part of this was due to the fact that she knew exactly what the tycoon actually was, and she knew how insignificant she was in the true scheme of things. Joshua would never tell her outright, but Rhyme knew the truth. She was an ant to him. An interesting ant, but still a finite being who dared one day to intrigue him with her presence. A presence he could have literally snapped out of existence if he so chose.
Another part of her really didn't care where she stood class-wise. It had never been a concern to her. She was low in the pecking order and was content to stay that way. Unfortunately, due to this fact, one girl in particular was always trying to make her jealous by intentionally hanging on Joshua whenever possible, simply trying to prove her point that class does tell in the end.
Sakura.
Now, the actions themselves didn't bother Rhyme, she knew full well where she stood with the disguised Composer, and she by nature was not the jealous type regardless. The fact was that she knew that sooner or later, Joshua would get annoyed by the constant fakery this mortal emitted. Therein lie the proiblem. The girl was concerned for the flirtatious bimbo's state of being, as the Composer was known to snap annoyances out of existence on a whim if they proved too testing of his immense level of patience. Thusfar, Joshua had demonstrated an intense level of self restraint...but how much longer could even he tolerate the shallow, self-absorbed paper doll that flitted about and assaulted his personal space?
Trixie even thought that Sakura's actions were a bit much.
"If she keeps hanging on him, he's going to reject her. No guy likes being smothered like that."
Joshua, to his credit, played along nicely, but something in his purple eyes clearly dulled whenever he was forced to play indifferent or even teasingly interested. The blond was clearly testing his tolerances.
"Makes me wonder why he doesn't just stop encouraging it." Neku muttered after Rhyme brought her concerns to him after seeing Joshua almost lose his cool after Sakura jumped him from behind and nearly choked him, squealing "Yoshiya kuuuuuun!" into his ear in an annoyingly high and cutesy voice.
"If she keeps blasting his delicate ears, he might." Rhyme said, wincing and sticking her finger in her own ear and cleaning it "Ouch. Even from here she's high-pitched. I don't envy him."
After ten minutes of putting up with the obnoxious advances of the most populer girl in school, Joshua finally silenced her by advancing right back, winking and smirking as he flipped his hair. This had the desired effect of making the screaming banshee swoon, freeing him from her assault and knocking her out for the moment. Neku tensed and Rhyme felt her heart speed up a little as the smirk turned into a very subtle snarl, only noticed by them. He glanced down at the unconscious girl, feigning indifference, but the two saw a clear look of disgust in his sparking amethyst gaze as he turned on his heel and sauntered away.
"This is getting out of hand." Neku murmured. "Josh won't tolerate her much longer. That was his 'you're lucky I didn't end you.' look. I told him to be careful of whose hearts he toys with, but as usual, he didn't listen."
"I don't know, Neku...he never seems to seek out Sakura. She just kinda ambushes him. I'm pretty sure he didn't ask for her attention. At least...not to this extent."
Neku snorted, but seemed to leave it. Instead, he sighed and shook his head "I just hope he stays cool. The last thing we need is a casualty."
Rhyme agreed. Still, she was proud of Joshua. He was used to different fawnings, ones that didn't intrude into his space and if some did, they were clearly no longer around. At least for now, she would trust the Composer as she had so far, and keep hoping against all hope that he would keep his temper.
For everyone's sakes...
