Chapter Ten – Distant and Different
At the moment Yui took a seat for lunch, Arisu guessed that there was something weighting in her mind, even if there was nothing in the lines of her face that indicated such thing. Isuzu also tried to hide her tension, however Arisu saw the corner of her mouth turning down sometimes and how her eyes were restless, signals the others wouldn't have picked up.
But that wasn't what had caused all of Arisu's assumption. After the classes that day, Thoth had wanted to speak with one of them and Yui had stepped forward to know what the matter was, alongside with Isuzu. In the moment they had left, Arisu had made a bet with herself.
"Let me guess" She muttered, poking her meal with her fork. "It sucked and there is something wrong"
"Exactly" Yui gave up trying to pretend things were alright and leaned her face on her hand as she poked the rice that she no longer felt like eating.
"And I owe myself a thousand yen."
Yui sighed. She didn't like to act like this, but there were moments in which Thoth seemed able to suck her energies dry and it was a little stressing that some gods still had behavior problems with all that had already happened.
In the case, Totsuka Takeru.
"He still hasn't joined any club" She explained shaking her head. Right that morning, after classes and when Takeru was leaving, Apollon had tried to suggest, as the President of Student Council, that he should at least try it. His words' effect had been a sigh from the rest of the class and Takeru merely groaning that coming to those stupid classes were already enough.
And right after that, Thoth had called their attention to this very fact (Yui and Isuzu had already given up in trying to explain that "Going Home" club was not an actual club) and that they should hurry up and do something about it.
Arisu rolled her eyes, imagining very well how Thoth had said all that.
"Honestly, does he think we're stupid? We're attending this dump, aren't we?" She looked to the other tables. Loki and Thor ate alone, just like Takeru and Tsukito. The others should be already in their clubs or walking through the Academy. "Does he really need to stay on our back like this? Does he think we forgot the oh, so little and cute detail of what happens if at least ONE person here doesn't graduate?"
And, like that, one more problem. If someone asked her, Arisu was already done with that behavior and could see moments when the others felt the same. It got tiring, there was no way of denying it. After finding out about Hades' curse, she had been thinking if the others didn't have similar reasons that had nothing to do with tantrums or stubbornness, but it was hard to believe it so when Loki was always around with his pranks (though even he had agreed with the clubs, just in his own way and avoiding the general idea) and Takeru practically growling like a dog every time someone tried to talk to him, save from some occasions.
"His textual words were…" Isuzu intoned and made a severe face, imitating the deep voice of the Egyptian god. "Do something about that failure"
Arisu looked from her to Yui. Not that she disagreed, but to imagine Thoth referring to a student as such. No, wait, thinking again, that was just like him and she almost wish she had been there to hear it in person.
"Failure? That's how he calls Takeru?"
"Hades is the Gloomy One, Apollon is Idiot, Dionysus is Drunk" Yui told with a shrug as she recalled the chosen terms by the teacher. "Tsukito is imbecile, Balder is Bimbo, Thor and Loki are the Beanpole and the Dunce"
"Wow, he loves his students, it warms my soul" Arisu commented with a sarcasm-born giggle, eating a piece of meat and cheese before saying. "I wonder how he calls us…"
Isuzu, on another hand, had her eyes place somewhere beyond her sister and Yui knew she was observing Takeru. They had noticed there were moments where she knew the sea god didn't seem that irritated all the time, especially when he was out the class and/or with his brother.
"He gets different" The girl reflected, seeing his having lunch with a smile as he talked to his brother. Tsukito had his back to them, but Isuzu would bet that he had his usual expression (or perhaps lack of). It didn't matter in the end, for Takeru always seemed to be a in a better mood around his brother… It made her wonder if he wasn't as grumpy in his own home.
A particular lightness came to her. This was something she could understand, as different as they were, Arisu and she were close than everything and there were moments when only her sister knew how to make her feel better. Sometimes, Arisu didn't have to do anything, just her presence helped.
As if feeling her gaze, the sea god lifted his eyes. The change of expression was too fast and, exactly for this, interesting to witness. Her attention was at once back to her food, yet for a moment brown eyes touched molten gold, the last heated suddenly by annoyance of such intensity that made Isuzu feel bothered.
"So" She carried on. "We have another issue in our hands. And don't you come with the electrified collars stuff" She added to her sister, who had opened her mouth. The reply was an innocent look that wouldn't fool a baby.
"Well, I thought about creating a new club, that's all" By her expression, it was obvious it would have been something as "idiot's club" or something of the kind. "I'm kinda getting tired of this. Why should we always try solving their personal issues? We're not miracle-workers and we can't help someone to overcome anything if they don't want to." Despite her words, she was not complaining but rather genuine curious about this. It was too weird to cast humans to try helping gods, even after all this time.
"Don't ask me. All we can do is try. I even suggested him to join the swimming club" Yui said, making Arisu turn to her at once.
"Wow, you really love me, don't you?" She asked with a playful irony. Back when she had picked her club, she hadn't even thought or bothered with the possibility that Takeru may join as well, she had just wanted to go with an activity she enjoyed. Yui carried on, ignoring the interruption.
"It was the same day we created the clubs. It was obvious choice. All Takeru said was that he didn't want to do anything if it was to just be in a club" The disappointment in the occasion had been inevitable, once she had been so sure that was the club that would pick up his interest.
Takeru also didn't seem to actually interact with the other gods. He didn't talk to them, merely exchanged words. With her, Isuzu and the others then, it was even more complicated.
So, the swimming club idea had been an obvious idea, sure, but it was an opportunity nevertheless. In a corner of her mind, Yui couldn't suffocate the questioning if the reason behind Takeru's refusal wasn't really just out of… Well, being childish.
She didn't want to think as such, but even her own arguments that she didn't know him and had no right to judge him or anyone else, the thought persisted against her will.
Despite her own comments, Arisu didn't understand the god either. That ferocious shine that seemed to never fully leave his tiger-like eyes had became more intense back when they had competed, the girl remembered that. When he won, that fury had burned inside her and Arisu knew this wouldn't ever be forgotten, being one of the first glimpses she had had of their divine nature.
It had been scary, but she also remembered that he had looked quite happy.
Yui had told them how Zeus, upon sealing their divine powers, had said that the Academy would be destroyed eventually if they kept using their abilities without a care and the girl had decided that, in this point, she agreed with him.
"It doesn't matter. Even if we try to create a club to get his attention, he doesn't want to join anything for the sake of being in one." Even the "Going Home Club" hadn't picked up his interest because of this and it was a club without any activity whatsoever.
"I've been thinking about talking to Tsukito about it" Isuzu suggested. "Maybe he knows what his brother enjoys and may help us…"
"And he seems to have more sense" Arisu muttered with a sigh, controlling herself to not look back to the sea god as her own mind started trying to have ideas of what they could do, how to reach to Takeru.
XxX
As Misaki had previously thought, the library seemed endless. The only rule to picking books was to give them back in the right date, which she honestly didn't understand much… In last analysis, the only actual students here were her, the girls and the gods. It wasn't as if they would be stealing the books or things like that.
"Probably because it is a general rule of libraries" She thought to herself. "Since this whole Academy seems to follow human school's rules by a "T"… And also because Thoth is clearly meticulous."
Not that she would be pointing such facts to the Egyptian and give him the chance of giving a lecture on the subject or spent his time explaining something that, in the end of the day, didn't matter at all.
Upon entering, she had found the god sitting in the table on the center reading a large book and asked about the organization and how to find the books she wanted. Thoth had merely pointed directions, but seeing the confusion on the girl's eyes, Thoth had sighed and opted to write it down.
"Yeah, it would be funny if I ended up lost" The girl thought with a giggle she couldn't contain as she looked to the labels on the shelves and back to the note on her hand, marked by a firm calligraphy though the god had written everything with an agility that had left her wondering if she would have to try deciphering his letters. It was quite the contrary in the end. "Lost in a library. It would be ridiculous, if it wasn't for the chance, I mean, would you look at the size of this place?"
Now, among the shelves and shelves, she spied by the books. There was no doubt Thoth himself must have organized them, not only by category, but also by language and title.
"Meticulous indeed! I can't remember ever seeing someone like this. But at least makes easier to find what I want." She reflected as she ran her finger by some books. Despite being old, they looked very well-kept. There was nothing surprising in this, considering that Thoth was, well, Thoth.
"I wouldn't have patience to organize things that well…" She would probably separate them by title and language at most. And it would take her ages to get everything done, for starters.
Finally, her finger stopped in a copper-colored book, whose cover showed two snakes, a white and a darker each biting the other's tail and forming an oval-shape. Inside it, cursive letters announced "The Neverending Story". Truth to be told, she had been surprised when Ren had told her about the fiction section of the library when she had arrived in their room with the "Dance of Dragons" book from the "A Song of Ice and Fire" saga, resulting in the girls starting a long conversation about the story, characters and telling about it to Melissa.
Holding the book in her arms along with the other she had previously chosen, Misaki wondered if Thoth read fiction books and, if the answer was positive, if he had done it out of liking the story or if just out of being the god of Knowledge. It was a too wide category, it implied too much…
Running her green eyes around the maze of books, the girl for a moment wondered if there were mangas here and almost laughed at the idea of the Egyptian god reading those.
Doubtful.
Going back to the circular space in the center of the library, empty save from the table where Thoth still was, she saw he kept reading his book. The idea of interrupting him, considering his temperament didn't please her much, but Misaki wasn't going to stay there waiting for him to pay attention to her.
"Plus, what is going to do? Bite me?" If he didn't like this, then he should let his students to fill a form by themselves and take the books they wanted.
She placed her books on the corner of his table.
"Excuse me, Thoth-sama" She muttered politely as Thoth raised his eyes from his pages, staring at her for a moment before seeing the books she wanted.
"Hm… "Neverending Story" and "The Portrait of Dorian Grey"…" He said without a trait of emotion in his voice, though inside he was somewhat curious to see her choosing such opposite stories. Without saying anything else, he grabbed a small black notebook and started to write down. Misaki kept any comment that came back to her mind regarding the library's organization and lending of books, just hoping Thoth wouldn't sat a thing about her choice of reading.
Anyone who called Michael Ende's book a "silly story for children" then had never actually read it. Hideki had made a comment of this nature once and all Misaki had done had been to challenge him into reading it. After she lent him the exemplar she had, Hideki had given it back in a week during a Saturday before they went to the movies, muttering that it was a "good" book in the end…
The result? They had spent their entire lunch discussing the characters they liked, their choices and the plot. It was way deeper than some of the stuff being published lately if anyone asked either of them.
"Wonder what Hideki would say if he saw me now…"
There was a tug on her heart as she missed her friend.
"Shouldn't you be in the Student Council now?" Thoth asked, bringing her back to the present as he gave her books, his iron-blue eyes placed on her in a way that seemed to stop every movement from the girl. Misaki hated when he did this.
"We don't have reunion today" And even if they did, she didn't know what they would be discussing. Tsukito seemed to be organizing a kind of Moon-gazing event, however he had refused every sort of help by saying it was his duty. "So I have some free time…"
And even if she was in a club, she would be alone in it, meaning she could make her schedule as she pleased.
Yet, Misaki knew better than to express this opinion.
Thoth's stare was still of melted iron that burned her skin and he crossed his arms on his chest.
"Didn't Kusanagi and Hironezumi warn you regarding Totsuka Takeru?"
Misaki frowned, not fully understanding.
"What did he do now?"
Thoth's eyes ran her down and up and the girl at once knew the question hadn't been what he would have liked to hear. The god leaned forward, hands fixated over the table with such a hard touch that his fingers made her think about claws.
His voice was an angry hiss.
"He hasn't joined any club" To Misaki, it could have had some amusement in seeing a teacher so annoyed with something that wouldn't be usually an issue or caused such a reaction. The context they were in, however, took off any sort of amusement this could have had.
"Just shows the mess our lives became, no, really, a god not wanting to join a school club may end up forcing us to stay here for eternity." And the thought gave birth to a cold shiver in her.
"All gods must follow a school life as close to it as possible" Thoth carried on between teeth. "And this entitles taking part in human activities. Totsuka Takeru is not following this norm and there hasn't been almost no progress in his graduation's chances"
The girl wasn't surprised.
"Oh, yeah, that…" She held her books to her chest, biting in the right corner of her lips. "We will try thinking about something." It was all she had to say without provoking the god (and also the only thing she could say). Thoth could try relaxing a little, but she wasn't insane to say so.
"Are you truly thinking about it? Or are you being completely irresponsible?"
Something in his words' tone made Misaki feel her body shaking and realized that her spine was sending waves that made her bones shiver inside her flesh. A seed of bitterness exploded in her, so she bit her tongue in an attempt to avoid the taste to go up her mouth.
Thoth had no way of knowing what went through her mind or the other girls'. Misaki knew he wasn't saying this because she was here picking books instead of being in the Student Council, but this didn't matter and didn't change the fact that he was getting on her nerves,
"Me and the others, we're giving our best" The answer was intertwined with a coldness that wasn't usual in the girl. Thoth continued to study her without showing any reaction for now. "We can't solve everything at once, but we are getting some progress, otherwise, some of those gods would still be skipping classes." And some seemed to have started enjoying some of this life, or at least getting used to it.
There was no way of hoping they would change in such a short time, but there were small details that she had noticed and hoped to be positive signals. Apparently, Thoth didn't share this point of view.
"I do hope you're having progress in this case as well, then" For an instant, Misaki thought he would go back to his reading and ignore her, putting an end to the "conversation"
Wrong.
The god kept his hawk eyes on her, not blinking.
Still bothered by this, the girl found herself continuing in the same tone.
"Right, right" The words tore through her throat without giving her a chance to control. "It isn't as if you've given us any suggestion, you just want to see the results"
Thoth lifted a brow.
A wave of cold that wasn't related to her previous feelings invaded the girl's body when she realized what she had said.
"And excuse me" She said in the same polite, but ice tone and turned her back to him, with fast steps, decided to ignore Thoth should he call her, but she reached the door the moment he did.
The Egyptian god of knowledge watched the blonde leaving, her attempt to hide her nervousness nothing but a failure. Thoth did call on her, but she was already at the door and left. He meant to recall her how such problems weren't what he was here for and how that task was theirs and theirs alone, not to mention she had no right to speak to him in such way.
However, he decided to let it go and go back to his reading. As long as Aihara didn't overstep her boundaries and she and the others did something regarding Totsuka, he didn't care at all, he had more things to do.
There was annoyance, as he wondered if the girl had any notion that time was passing by and the gods' graduation was far more complicated than it seemed as it involved their connection to humanity. Just taking part in extra class activities didn't guarantee they would understand humans just with this, it was a push into the mindset of a human (helped by the lack of powers) being one of the reasons why Zeus had chosen an academic life.
And if just a life that mirrored of a human was well enough, Zeus wouldn't have invoked humans.
Any thought regarding the case was expulsed from his mind when he started reading again. Including that coldness that he had never heard from Aihara before.
Once outside the library, Misaki took a deep breath. As much as talking in such way hadn't been in any sensate (let alone to whom), the tense of her soul had weakened a little after putting that out of her chest (in part). And she hadn't said any lie, right? Thoth called the girls to emphasize a problem and tell them to fix whatever wrong was this time without offering any advice. And being a god, he should be able to explain to them how the other gods thought and felt.
How could they help them understand humans if they didn't understand gods just as well?
Despite his position as a teacher and what one could have expected, Misaki didn't really thought he had the duty of offer support and she knew that helping the gods when it came down to situations like this was what she and the others were supposed to do. But this didn't mean he needed to act like this!
"What he hates, being here or us?" The idea bloomed in her mind and created roots. It made some sense… He was the knowledge god, wasn't he? In his vision, perhaps they should just be ignorant little creatures of limited mind.
"Alright, we are. No problem admitting this, we're just humans and that's it. People think they are amazing, but humanity is not the greatest thing ever." She wondered as she walked through the hallway. "But does he need to be so arrogant and high-and-mighty?"
"Hey, Misa-Misa!" A voice by the end of the hallway called. There was no reason to turn around, there was just one person in the entire Academy called her as such and, as it happened, anything she was feeling in the moment was dominated and erased by another sensation that had nothing to do with the previous. Misaki tried to ignore how that name was a worm that crawled in her ear.
Along with this, she also couldn't avoid wondering if Apollon and the gods were really their friends. They were gods, they had lived too much and would still live on… Comparing the two of them, the girls were less than cockroaches and Misaki knew this and accepted so.
Maybe they were like interesting little animals to them? Pets?
Maybe less than this.
"Hi there, Apollon" She stopped, hiding her sensations and turned, waiting for the god to reach her and saw he was wearing the black gym clothing. "Going to the club? How it has been?"
The blonde nodded.
"Yup! It's really fun!" He walked at her side with a smile. "I'm really enjoying myself."
"Really?" The girl remembered that he was the only one in his club. Didn't it bother him at all?. "Don't you get lonely when you're playing?"
She was sure she had seen something in his eyes, even if the god shook his head and dismissed the idea with a wave of his hand.
"Bal Bal's court is right at the side and Suzu Suzu also trains nearby" Which, the girl reflected, wasn't the same thing and even thought in suggest that they would play together sometime or anything of this sort but she interrupted herself before the thought became words. She didn't like tennis, she wasn't interested in the game, but…
"It's that okay if I stay in the court today?" She asked, not having anything to do and, after that talk with Thoth, also not wanting to be alone. In the back of her mind, a voice carrying depreciative censure sounded, shaking chains inside her.
Misaki ignored.
"You know, just stick around" She didn't need to play, and she would have liked to spent time with him anyway. Whatever she had seen in Apollon's face was gone now as if an illusion and the god laughed.
"Why would ask permission for this? What kind of question is that?" The question was genuine and Apollon tilted his head to the side. "You joined the Student Council, didn't you? Didn't you think about joining any other club, Misa-Misa?"
"It's just that I…" The last word dried in her mouth. Ghosts of a voice that she didn't hear in quite a long time (and wished she wouldn't ever hear again) agitated in the lake of memories.
"You will do this…"
The air escaped her. Her throat wasn't closing and her lungs worked normally, it was the oxygen that disappeared and whatever was entering her breathing system was made of shards of glass.
"I've decided. And this is for your own good" That voice, that voice was still inside her. Misaki wanted to reply, to pretend she was fine and tell Apollon that just there wasn't any club that truly interested her. The words were weak, too weak to exist.
"Misa-Mi…?"
"DON'T CALL ME THAT!" The scream was in her mind, but it worked to force her body to obey the mind's command. Her stomach was turned inside out and she felt like vomiting, even if just to expulse that from her insides.
Apollon made a gesture as if to touch her shoulder.
Misaki averted him in a quick movement.
"Apollon…" She said suddenly, interrupting the god with an unreadable tone. "Please… Could you not call me this?"
The sun god looked confused.
"It's nothing, it's just… I don't like it much… Just a silliness of mine." She hoped with all her heart that he wouldn't ask the reasons. How to explain that this name invoked names that she didn't want and how to explain what they meant to her? It would in the end be nothing more than an amount of useless sounds that would make a scenario of emptiness.
This she knew by her own experience and lack of having words enough and the girl didn't want him looking at her in the same way some people had.
"Damn it, stop, enough, it's over!"
"Oh…" Apollon scratched the back of his head, looking awkward at her words. "I didn't know. I'm sorry" He added.
"That's fine, I mean, I know it's nothing but…" And he had no way of knowing it of course, but if she was called "Misa" once more, she was going to scream. Apollon seemed to be thinking and then wondered in soft voice.
"It's fine if I call you Saki, then?"
Misaki would never understand why Apollon liked to call others by nicknames and frankly, she didn't care. Her heart was starting to calm down a little and she knew that, after some minutes, the coldness would leave her bones as well.
Eventually.
"Yeah, then it's fine…" No one had ever called her "Saki" before, actually and a little smile slithered to her face, a fragile gesture and she nodded. "Yeah, Saki is fine."
"Saki-Saki then!" He agreed with satisfaction and relieved that she had liked it. For a moment, Misaki had worried him, shaking as a leaf trying to hold to a branch before being dragged always by a cutting wind to another place and her eyes had become dulled. He didn't know at all what would cause such a reaction, but it was obvious that the name "Misa" was more than involved.
He wouldn't ask for details, no when it was so clear that the subject was complicated to her so he just touched her shoulder, caressing it and part of her back in which he hoped it was a sort of comfort.
Her smile became firmer and that dull mist that turned her eyes into doll eyes seemed to diminish a little.
XxX
Deciding to tale a time before swimming to reflect about Takeru's case, Arisu walked through the Academy, in one of the paths to the Garden that was a hallway with great arc-shaped windows, large enough to someone to sit there.
Even if she tried, her brain was unable to produce any idea of any kind. Even if they created a club, the thing was the sea god would just refuse no matter what.
And what she didn't understand was the reason! He was already attending the classes and the clubs were an opportunity to have some fun, doing something they enjoyed, so why was he doing this?
"To someone who was complaining that the classes were a bore, he isn't taking the chance" She reflected, going down the stairs of white stone and walking through the gardens, the leaves in the trees making veils of shadows over her head.
Passing by the stairs leading to the courts, Ren and Dionysus were working in a bed flower they had picked, near the area where they left the vases. Arisu recalled that Dionysus also didn't show interest in the classes (his habit of taking naps during them also didn't seem to be changing any time soon and she couldn't blame him. If it wasn't for the strength in Thoth's voice, she would end up doing the same), but he looked definitely cheerful there as he talked to Ren. Hell, Arisu had heard him saying that the clubs were better than the classes!
And Loki and Thor, instead of refusing to take part, had merely found a way of going around the situation.
"And what to conclude from all this? Simple, the failure, to use Thoth's term ladies and gentlemen, don't want to have any contact with the rest of the class. And he doesn't want to do anything that involves school matters, even if he's alone." Analyzing the problem sometimes helped to find the answer, but there didn't seem to have a way out unless treating this in a direct manner, meaning talking to Takeru.
"Oh, yeah, sure, because this will work so much" Arisu told herself with sarcasm as she sighed. Yet, there was no other way. Running her eyes around, she noticed a figure of bluish hair under a tree, back to her. At first, she though Takeru was merely asleep but soon saw that he had a notebook leaning in his legs and was writing something.
The slight exasperation she had been feeling, along with her focus was broken and swept away by a natural curiosity.
That was weird.
The girl had seen writing before during classes, but how he rarely looked at Thoth and sometimes started doing that even before the teacher started saying anything started to make it seem that whatever it was, it hadn't a thing to do with studies.
An annoyance sigh was heard.
"Do ya want to say something or are you going to stay there spying on me?"
Despite all, the accusation made a warmth go up the girl's face nerves.
How did you know I was here?" The question escaped, passing by any other sort of comment that could have appeared in her mind. Takeru closed his notebook, clearly irritated and turned his face to her scowling.
"Do you think those dog collars Zeus forced on us limit us to the point I wouldn't be able to tell when there is someone behind me?" He scoffed as if the mere idea was pathetic. "Don't underestimate so much, girl"
"And I wasn't spying on you!" She retorted, crossing her arms. Well, since she was here, she should at least try making some decent talk. Taking a deep breath and telling herself to be calm and not let his hostility to have effect, Arisu took a step forward. Golden eyes full of ferocity followed her movements.
"So now there is another name to staying hidden watching someone and hoping they won't notice your presence and trying to see what they are doing?"
"Believe whatever you will" She replied, shrugging. "But I wasn't spying and I was just wondering what you were doing."
Takeru evaluated her and decided to not dignify her with an answer. Arisu just decided to go on and placed her hands in the pant pockets.
"Well, so?"
"So what?"
"Well, so, what are you doing?"
"How is that of your interest, girl?"
"Hey, easy there, just trying to talk, boy." She lifted her hands as if to show she was unarmed. "You don't have to tell me or anything."
An amused expression appeared in Takeru's face when he gave her a stiff smile and crossed his arms, the notebook still in his bend legs.
"Why don't just do whatever you came to do?" Before Arisu could even ask what he was talking about, the god continued and not giving her a chance. "You want to talk about those clubs, right?"
"Damn it" She couldn't deny that, in the end, that was the objective. The idea of lying passed by her mind and she soon understood that there wouldn't be any good in this. Takeru would just get even more irritated.
"Well… I thought about it. Why you don't want to join any?" Trying to take the conversation towards a safer territory was her only option and there was no way of dealing this as a mere "problem". What she had to do was try comprehending his reasons.
"Isn't going to class already enough?" He repeated the question he had made when Apollon had suggested the same thing. Arisu just sighed.
"If it was, we wouldn't be asking, duh!"
Takeru however wasn't done and studied her up and down slowly. His eyes were gold ice and his grin was as if he could see through her and lie that was going on in her mind. Under this intensity, Arisu could only be quiet as he continued in a tone that was that of a whip.
"Be honest, if it wasn't because we all need to graduate, was there any chance that you would be here now? You're just worried about yourself!"
"It isn't like this…" It wasn't, right? Suppose that it wasn't necessary that all of the gods graduated and that just the ones who failed would remain in the Academy… Would she be worried about Takeru? Or any of the others?
Takeru was clearly amused.
"Oh, no? Because I'm remembering of you clearly saying that you wouldn't be spending time here if you had any choice"
"That again?" The girl couldn't believe that he was recalling something that had happened weeks ago. Besides, Arisu doubted that Takeru had been hurt! Well… Offended, she could believe, but…
"Words and acts never can be undone, Arisu. You have no way of knowing how they affect others" She heard her father's voice floating from a river of memories. How old was she when he said that? Six? It had been during a fight she had had with Isuzu? No, no, it had been with the son of a neighbor…
"You know I just said that because I was angry" Her voice lowered and became a muttering. "And I didn't mean to offend you or any of the others and I'm sorry if…"
"Spare me" The god dismissed with a wave of his head as he would to send a fly away. "I couldn't care less for your apologizes or what you said or didn't say"
"Then why did you mention this at all?" If it wasn't for the things being said right now, Arisu would have been annoyed. But now after the things he had said, Arisu was lost, her emotional system unable to even remember how to be indignant.
"The point is that the truth is this: What you want" He gazed over her once more, with eyes of someone who is seeing another version of something whose essence, he had already seen more than a thousand times. "This is the only reason why you want to make sure I graduate"
"You do remember you'll also be stuck here forever, don't you?"
In reply, Takeru shrugged to show he considered him his business. But it wasn't… All could end up here paying for this and Arisu doubted Takeru truly wanted this, despite his uncaring behavior.
"Have you stopped to think that you're being selfish?"
The god replied at once.
"And have you stopped to think your being as well? And that this hypocrisy of yours is really enervating?"
Arisu felt as if she had been punched.
Hypocrite?
The god noticed her expression and carried on with a cold smile that was more of a wolfish grin.
"You're not actually caring for anyone here besides yourself. And your sister" He added, as if recalling they were related. "So, don't you come to me pretending wanting be friends with whoever it is, rat. That's for you and those other humans just as well"
"My name is Arisu" It was the only quietly answer she could make, barely realizing she was talking at all. Even if she felt offended, the feeling was weak when compared to another. Takeru chuckled.
"And your surname is Hironezumi. Besides, I told you that day, didn't I? You looked like a drowning rat."
"Wow, haha, Takeru, I've never heard this in all my life. Points for the originality, impressive." The sarcasm dripped from her words. She couldn't think about anything else to say, suddenly weak. It was the deal in the beach all over again, differing just in the reactions… Again, she had tried to do something and again felt as if she had failed.
"Not everyone is like this, as you think. Not everyone is selfish and hypocrite" The god gave no signals of having heard her, standing with his notebook under his arm and walking away.
Arisu watched his back unsure of what to say or feel before she sighed and decided to go back to the building. Was it true what Takeru had just said? Was she being false? If it was enough to have at least one god graduating to send them back home, would she be putting effort for Loki, Takeru or any of the others or would she be focusing herself in someone who clearly had higher chances, such as Balder or Apollon?
"It is not like this, right? I mean… Maybe at first, when I didn't know them, but it's different now, isn't it?" She did like some of them and this was a genuine feeling, wasn't it? Apollon was fun and always seemed to have a way to cheer the others. Balder was kind and he cared for the others, she felt she could talk to them. Even Tsukito, who used to be quiet and just following the group, wasn't an unpleasant guy with his calmness (though no one could ever guess what he thought of them)…
Hades, by his own nature, was somewhat frightening as the feeling of death never lefty him, but he seemed to be less scary lately even when he reminded them to not get too close… Dionysus was also a nice guy and…
But… Did she like them for real? As friends? Or she was merely peacefully living together, for lack of choice?
Was Takeru right? She was being false? Actually thinking about herself, as he had said?
Of course she wanted to go back home.
There were moments, especially when the vulture of the consequences haunted her mind, that it pulled a long line wrapping images of home and her family. Not wanting to seem like a whining little girl, Arisu wouldn't say anything about it, but those were the times when all the beauty of the place faded and in place of colored glass, the girl saw bars in the windows and the building was a cage that cut her away from all she had wanted to do and people she wanted to see…
Her fingers brushed the strange pendent and she pulled the string until she could see it. The dark handle and the silver-like blade… How had Zeus called that again? She couldn't remember.
Upon returning to the Academy, Arisu noticed a figure of fire hair. With Takeru's words inside her creating roots that grabbed her organs, she wasn't at all inclined to deal with Loki and his tricks.
Hiding behind a tree, Arisu watched him pass by the hallway before she entered through one of the stone arcs behind him and went the opposite direction of the Nordic god.
In a way or another, they had to convince Takeru, but her mind was still too much in what has just happened. Arisu would have liked to see that nothing of this was true, but…
She was sure that she truly liked them (some at least) and that this affection, even if starting with something fragile and that still had weak traits, it wasn't illusion. Okay, so then they had started forming a relationship out of need, but this didn't imply that…
A face appeared in front of her.
Arisu backed away with an exclamation of surprise.
Silver eyes studied her.
It was Loki.
"How did he…? Wait, what…? Oh, great!" She reflected and decided it wasn't worth trying to understand now. The god played with his hair, as if was his habit, as he looked at her with his smirk.
"And what would be doing, wandering so distracted?"
Arisu shrugged, watching for any movement of the prankster god. Loki leaned to her, in a way that made him seem a cat inspecting something that had caught his attention for a while. Arisu backed her head away, the god still standing in front of him.
"Excuse me?" She asked, trying to pass by him. Loki just tilted his head.
"By the way you waited for me to pass by and then came straight turning the hallway, I could even think that you're avoiding me" He commented as one who wonders about the chance of rain for later. Arisu blinked, not having a single idea of how he had noticed this.
"Maybe I want a bit of peace. And why would you care?" The question made her sound too much like Takeru and left a bitter taste in her mouth. Loki either didn't notice or pretended to not mind, impossible to be sure.
"And how would I interfere in your peace?"
"In the same way you're doing now" She muttered, unable to stop herself. It was as if it was part of his very nature to bother her without any reason than due personal taste. A part of her tired mind evaluated how it was like the kid who could end up either as the class' clown or the bully. Arisu ignored.
Sincerely, she thought Loki was the first option. As annoying as he was, she couldn't picture him as someone who would bully others.
"What?" The god held his chest with a false air of shock, blinking as if he had been hurt. Perhaps it would have been funny in other occasion, but he soon went back to the mocking grin of always. "Oh, you almost hurt me. I would like to know what makes you think like this"
"You started it" The girl replied, not caring and just wanting him to leave her alone. Even if she tried to ignore him now, she didn't think it would have any effect.
"Me?" Loki asked in surprise and shook his head. "Not at all, I was just walking and minding my life when you started talking to me"
Arisu's jaw dropped as she couldn't believe what she had just heard and couldn't understand. Why did he act like this? What he hoped to achieve?
"I didn't do that!" The reply was full of exasperation. Arisu definitely wasn't in the mental state to deal with such things.
"Of course you did, otherwise, why would we be here talking?"
"No, I didn't, so much that I…" She interrupted herself before saying that she had avoided crossing paths with him on purpose and opted for another tactic. "Okay, let's say that I had started talking to you, which I didn't, why would you listen to me at all?"
"Because I have a huge, charitable heart?" The god leaned to her in a half bow, hand on his chest and an amiable expression. As always, the changes in his features were as quick as a lightening falling from clear skies. And yet, underneath, there was something dangerous due to his narrowing eyes.
Arisu controlled herself to not say she was surprised he had the capacity to learn such a long word or how "charitable" was a term that wouldn't ever be associated to him. Those answers, the girl knew, would only work as an incentive for the Nordic and Arisu was too tired to deal with him.
She just wanted to be lefty alone for a while so she could figure out her own emotions, she wasn't asking for much.
"Look, Loki… Could you please let me be?" She sighed with a more calm tone. "I mean, go bother someone else, I just…"
"Like who, Amaya?" He pointed with his chin towards the gardens and shook his head to the idea. "Naaah, she isn't fun at all"
Arisu was about to answer, but closed her mouth, seeing what he meant by that: Ren didn't use to react. When Loki did something in class or near her, the girl didn't show anything to it (the most she would do would sigh or at least have a smile if the prank ended being funny) and chances were, by what Arisu could bet, that if Loki tried to do something more direct to her, Ren would act the same way or ignore him.
Now she wished she had this control.
And Dionysus, who was with the black haired girl now, was so easy-going that he probably wouldn't have a long-time reaction either. Depending of what Loki did, they could get a fright, but that would be it.
The Nordic raised his hands at the head's height and shrugged.
"But it appears you're not fun today, either"
The phrase joined Arisu's thoughts, forming a notion which she didn't like at all. So that was it? She was a source of amusement to when he got bored here?
"Like Takeru is a "problem" to be solved when he acts like that?" A voice hissed in her mind, the poison spread by her blood, bathing her inside until there was nothing left.
"Look, know what?" She asked in a barbed mutter. "I don't know if you have this notion, Loki, but not me or Ren are here to be your little toy. So excuse me if I have more to do than give a damn if you consider me fun or not. So leave me alone!"
The god blinked as he played with his hair, shaking his head as his eyes never left her. The smirk remained, not reaching his eyes.
"Oh dear, how feisty are we today" But he didn't do anything to stop her when Arisu passed by him, something the girl was grateful for.
She needed to be in peace for a while.
Loki still studied her as the girl walked away and, as always, there was nothing in is features that revealed the true nature of his thoughts or feelings.
XxX
After dinner, there was still a time before curfew time (something everyone doubted that the gods were obeying by letter) and Ren took the chance to spend a time near the gardens, seated in a windowsill of the stone arcs in one of the hallways.
She had nothing in mind, just an attempt to relax before going to bed.
With the corner of her eyes, she caught sight of Hades afar, walking probably to the gates for his star-gazing time. It was curious since he used to leave by sunset…
He saw her sitting there and Ren waved in silence. After a moment, Hades waves back as well before going his way.
The girl turned her attention to the trees ahead, the moonlight dripping between leaves and covering in white-silver. Shadows were soft dark tones of green and blue, becoming black far away. And as always, the sky was a fan with veins pulsating along the stars.
The silence wrapped her body along with the aroma brushing her skin as a mother cradling a child.
For a while, Ren just remained there, still and quiet, letting her mind wander, thoughts following a suave line and, many times, existing only in her subconscious since the girl wasn't even paying attention.
A movement in the shadows in the end of the hallway brought her attention back from where it had nestled. Between the arc-shaped windows, the moonlight fell in the floor in intervals of shadows and light. Usually, Ren wouldn't think the crescent moon had enough light, but as so many other things, it was different here: The sky always seemed well illuminated no mattering the moon phases.
A small thing approached, a white glimpse.
A bunny.
Slight leaning back and still having her balance, Ren watched the animal. Yui had mentioned it, it should be Usamaro, Tsukito's familiar. The white fur reflected the light and he had a sort of white and red string tied to his neck.
The creature approached quickly, near the wall. His long ears shivered sometimes as if he heard things that a human could not. His eyes were little golden drops that inspected around.
When he passed by her, Ren turned her head and saw Tsukito some steps away.
The god kneeled and the bunny jumped to his arms. Once Tsukito stood, he walked over to where Ren was. As always, to look at he was like looking at the moonlight itelf: There was no sign of emotions.
"Good Evening, Amaya Ren" He greeted formally. For what she had noticed, he tended to call all of them by first and last name.
"Evening, Tsukito" She nodded in response. In his arms, the bunny was still, sometimes brushing his little head against his owner's chest, who caressed him. It was the first time the girl saw Tsukito expressing some… Well, affection. "What are you doing?"
"Planning" It was the answer. Ren tilted her head, hoping he would give more explanation than just this. "The moon-gazing event" He clarified.
"Isn't it too early?" Ren remembered that they had agreed in an event of this nature, but there were weeks until there. Still caressing Usamaro, Tsukito shook his head.
"I must plan all details, therefore, it is best if I start early to make sure my duty shall be fulfilled with success"
Ren found she had no response to this. She understood his notions of responsibilities being high, but there were limits and this sounded like a bit of overdoing…
"But Tsukito takes things seriously, anyway…" It was more than a month that they were here and, not for the first time, her mind was assaulted by a wonder of how the gods saw all this. Some were easy to guess as others, like Moon deity standing near her, ere impossible.
"I hope things will work out" She commented quietly, to which Tsukito nodded and both let silence wrap around them once more, Tsukito turning his eyes to the moon as Ren watched the fields.
It wasn't an unpleasant silence that was born between them, but just that none had anything to say.
Some moments passed by before Ren asked.
"Do you know why your brother doesn't want to be in a club?"
Tsukito didn't even take his eyes off the sky while telling.
"Totsuka Takeru does not appreciate getting involved with others. Even in the case of him being the only member of the club of his choice, he doesn't like to be forced into activities unless if there is a true need for such" He knew his brother didn't see the reason to join a club, despite being part of their duty here as you could practice any activity you wanted when you wanted.
And he didn't see how this was supposed to help him understand humans.
Not that the Sea god didn't think he understood what he needed about humans, a view Tsukito shared.
And now that they need to spend a year not only studying humans, living with five of them but also live as humans…
"Do you… Know of something that could help him?"
"Kusanagi Yui made the same question" And he told her the same he had told the caramel-eyed girl when she had come to him after lunch: Never having been in a similar situation before, no, he didn't. It wasn't part of his brother's nature to back down or give in unless there were better incentives or that he changed his mind on his own.
Kusanagi had looked disappointed, but thanked him and didn't insist anymore.
In Tsukito's case (not that he had told her this, after all it had nothing to do with the actual subject), he had joined the Student Council for necessity. Once he had to live as a human student, he had judged more sensate to be involved in an activity that could actually help him to have a better understanding of human schools. It had been a choice made out of logic, he would cooperate and try to do his duty (as imposed as it was) in the better way possible and that would be it.
Ren nodded in thanks for his reply and her dark eyes left the fields to go to the stars.
"He hates it here, doesn't he?" Her words sounded more like she was pointing a fact that actually making a question.
"The situation is quite unpleasant for him" Tsukito commented, though this was an understatement valid to his brother and himself in reality.
"Him and all others" Not only they were here by force and without a chance for protest, they were being caged into human existence and there was no way this wasn't unpleasant for immortals. Let alone the basic fact that no being likes to be forced into anything, the girl reflected.
Yet, she did wonder how each of them actually felt. Arisu had asked her, in the day of Sports Event, if she believed the gods despised them or saw them as "mere mortals, involved in something far bigger than them"
Back then, Ren had said what she thought: It was too early to have an opinion. Even now, she tried to think the same, a month wasn't that much, even under such insane circumstances…
Ren and Tsukito still stayed in silence for quite a time until the girl decided to head for the girls dorm.
XxX
"And you fought him? Are you insane in the head?" Misaki asked among giggles that were a mix of shock, surprise and admiration, the only reaction that seemed possible after what she had just heard. That Yui had accepted the challenge of a god to sword fight… Not that she didn't believe the other, but even with their shackles, they were still above normal humans!
"He won" The girl replied with a smile, as the fact didn't bother her at all. When Takeru had challenged her, saying that if she won he would join a club and otherwise she had to leave him alone, she had just hoped to show that humans weren't all weak and that her words weren't empty. And also because it hadn't been like she could back down, as it would have confirmed his ideas! "But in any case, we're running together tomorrow"
The new provoked even more of the girls and Melissa's attention, the doll chewing one of the cookies Misaki had been eaten as she read and they asked in confusion.
"What does running has to do with sword practice?"
"Well, it helps resistance. It's healthy" Yui added. When Takeru had pointed out he ran by mornings, she had heard the between-the-lines invitation and couldn't have helped a smile. For the little she had caught of Takeru, it was even strangely appropriated that he would say it like this, than in a more direct way.
The others were having a similar reaction to which she had pictured. None of them had expected Takeru to accept something of this nature and yet he had been the one to suggest so.
Arisu and Isuzu exchanged glances. Once Isuzu had been back from her archery practice, she had met her sister and at once felt there was something bothering her and a lot. Arisu had tried to avoid it, saying it wasn't anything only to give in once Isuzu gave her a knowing look and some words. In the end, she told her what happened and what Takeru had said and how Arisu now wondered not only how the gods saw them but also how she actually saw them, not sure if Takeru was right or wrong.
This had led them for a long talk, Arisu thinking he could be right and bothered by this and insecure of herself. Isuzu, who knew her sister far too well, made some questions and in the end, disagreed.
Perhaps in the beginning she had approached the gods out of obligation, it didn't imply that a change of feelings was impossible.
"Besides" She had said, "I don't even know if we can think in a normal way, all things considered." And it wasn't as if there were easy answers (or that she had them, for that matter). It was best if Arisu took a time to think and figure it out on her own.
"It's something at least" Isuzu commented smiling, sitting in her bed with her back leaned in the wall. At least the Sea god was willing to spend time with someone outside the classroom who wasn't his brother.
"It's not the same as joining a club" Yui confirmed with a shrug. "But with this, perhaps we'll be able to talk without his hostility"
The idea was enough to make Misaki, Arisu and Ren left their doubts in the depths of their minds for now, burying them under other thoughts, unaware that Yui and Isuzu's minds were flowing in a similar direction. For now, those doubts still could be silenced, but they still existed and could agitate at any moment, touching their consciences.
They were gods.
What were their true opinions regarding humans?
And what were their true opinions regarding them?
Ana: Took a little long with this one, but here it is! Hope you guys liked!
Misaki: Well, Takeru seems to really despise humans if you ask me...
Ana: All the gods have a reason to be here. Just give it time...
Arisu: Time or a punch in the head?
Ana: How would that resolve anything?
Arisu: It wouldn't, but it would make me feel better!
Takeru: Do you know what used to happen to humans who disrespected us? I've never heard of one who had guts enough to lay a hand on us, for starters...
Ana: Hey, hey! Break apart! Geez... You'd think that by now you guys would be at least tolerating each other...
Takeru: Pff, right.
Loki: They're amusing, but that's about it.
Tsukito: Doing my best to graduate doesn't mean I'm enjoying this either.
Isuzu: ... You guys are impossible. At least the others are trying to make the best out of it.
Ana: Well, let it go. Already in chapter ten people! I do wonder if someone is already thinking about the future ships...
Arisu: I hope not.
Ana: Oh c'mon! It's part of the fun!
Misaki: No, it's not!
Ana: ... And you call the gods impossible. Geez...
Cameronemma: Don't worry! Yes! I'm so happy for this! Dionysus became one of my favorite Greek gods after I studied him in Greek Theater and Myths at college! At first, he was still a more of side-character, but with time I found myself loving to write him!
Ren: He is a nice guy. And at least we can have conversations with him.
Ana: I'm glad the new game has a route for him. I haven't played, but I hope they will make a new season of the anime and give him more screen time, it would be so cool! Hope you've liked this chapter!