In that moment, I swear, I couldn't move a muscle. It felt like as if I was standing in front of a large dragon. Yes, I know, childish comparison, but you get the point…

His eyes continued to pierce my own vision, sending chills down my spine.

"Well?", he frowned, squeezing my shoulder.

I winced, "I'm—it won't happen again.", I wasn't quite sure what to say. I've heard a lot about Akashi, apart from all the praise he receives, he is known to become too violent at times.

I gulped and closed my eyes tight, "We sh-should get to class…", I muttered as I watched a group of teachers walk close by.

He let go of my shoulder and stood up, keeping his eye on the same group of teachers, catching their attention. He smiled politely at them and looked back at me, "Follow me, I need to speak to you in private."

I gave a shaky nod and did as he asked tailing right behind him as he led me right under the bleachers before stopping and leaning against a foundation post.

"So tell me…", he stared at me with a blank expression, "…Where exactly do you plan on running off to?"

I narrowed my eyes at him, "Excuse me?"

"Your excuse slip fell from Ms. Chi's pocket earlier today.", he sighed, "Fever? You seem fine to me."

"I – "

"If you're going to come up with an excuse to skip classes, at least make it somewhat believable.", he chuckled.

"I needed to do something tonight."

"Do what, exactly? You run and own a flower shop by yourself, you only take orders online and at least a week before the client needs their bouquet or whatever. You live alone, you don't have to watch over anyone besides your dog. So what exactly is it that you have to do?", He continued to look at me with an irked expression.

'What's the harm in telling the truth, right?'

I sighed and looked at him in the eye, "Ms. Chi asked me to do a favor for her.", to which Akashi responded with an eyebrow raise. I took that as a sign to continue with my explanation,

"She told me she needed one hundred bouquets for a dinner party she's holding tonight."

Akashi crossed his arms, "She didn't ask you to make them earlier?"

"Nope."

He sighed and held the bridge of his nose, muttering something to himself before looking at me, staring for a brief moment before speaking, "I'll let you off this time."

"What? Seriously?", I held my forehead in disbelief, "You're not…"

'Remember when I mentioned having an "ex-machina" today? I honestly think this is what today's ex-machina actually was. I just got away scot-free. Though, the more I think about it, it's impossible for me to have my ass saved just like that…'

I stared at his expressionless face, "There's a catch, isn't there?", I watched as his lips formed a slight smirk.

"So, it's true then.", he chuckled, "You are smarter than you look."

"So what's the catch?", I asked, my heart beginning to race.

"I'll speak to you about it some other time. Right now, we should be heading to class.", he sighed as he stood straight and began to walk away, "Fever. Ha."

I heard his tongue click one last time before he was completely out of my sight.

I breathed a sigh of relief and bolted in the opposite direction to get to class.

'If taking a long cut means not having to walk alongside him then so be it.'

The swimming pool is two buildings away from the one I'm currently in, and I'm already running twenty minutes late, 'Shit.'

I ran down numerous flights of stairs panting as I locked my vision onto my watch. It didn't help that I had just come from track and field class either. I cursed under my breath as it seemed that the hallways were endless, and at that moment, I began to think up of possible excuses or probably even a way out of this class. Escaping was no longer an option as I found myself outside the first building.

'One more to go… Better go all the way then.'

I ran inside the second building and found myself face-planting on the ground.

"What the—", I held my forehead as I got up

Bark bark!

"Huh?"

Bam!

A gush of wind came by and a speeding human had just run past me, bumping my arm and knocking me back onto the ground. I turned and saw that the stranger had already exited the building.

'I could almost swear, that was Nigou… Also, whoever was is pretty damn rude.'

I stood up patting my jogging pants as I took a look at my watch.

"Shit. 30 minutes." I bolted to the door, feeling the soreness of my muscles kicking in, "Is it even worth entering class at this point?" I panted, trying to ignore the ridiculous length of this hallway. I shut my eyes, and before I knew it, I was outside, just a few meters from the gate of the pool. I could hear my classmates talking amongst themselves inside, as our instructor blew his whistle.

"Shit." I ran around the building and entered through the back, which led straight to the locker rooms. I sped to my locker and changed as quickly as I could before speed walking to the pool area, trying to look as casual as possible.

'Looks like everybody did their laps already…' , I thought to myself as I looked around, and saw my classmates.

"So it seems only Ms. Hazukashii isn't around this hour. However, she did in fact attend the last period, right Akashi?" The instructor held his chin as me mumbled a few words to Akashi as he nodded.

"An extra 50 laps it is then." The instructor sighed and held the bridge of his nose, "Quite disappointing. The youth these days, really. They need to take their classes seriously, and stop cutting."

I cleared my throat, "S-sir, I'm right here..." I raised my hand and tried to regulate my breathing.

"You're all red! What happened to you?" The instructor remarked as he took several steps towards me.

Akashi sighed and blocked his way, facing me, "I'll deal with her. You can go ahead and proceed with the rest of the class.", he turned his head towards the instructor as he gave a polite smile, "Rest assured, I will let her do the extra 50 laps."

"W-well, okay then, if you say so, Akashi." He muttered and walked away, blowing on his whistle, signaling that everybody should get changed and leave.

I shut my eyes tight as Akashi turned to face me once more, "Really, Hazukashii? Taking the long way, delaying yourself even more?", he chuckled, "No matter, since you're late, you're going to have to get punished."

A pregnant pause filled the air as we listened to the students walk to the locker rooms.

"I'll leave everything to you, then." The instructor waved his hand and placed his clipboard on the bench behind me, as we walked out of the building.

He placed his hand on my head, "Open your eyes, Hazukashii. You're going to need to see if you're going to dive and swim 100 laps."

I breathed a deep sigh and opened my eyes, looking directly at him, "Alright then.", I took his hand off my head and walked towards the ladder leading up to the diving board.

'My fear of heights is making this way more difficult than it's supposed to be. I'm relying on you, adrenalin.'

I mustered up the courage to climb the ladder without whimpering, every step leading me farther and farther away from the ground. I shut my eyes tight, feeling for the next bar as I ascended. When I finally reached the top, I sighed in relief before holding my breath and slightly choking at the thought of jumping.

I clenched my fists and walked closer to the edge of the board, eyes closed tight.I took a slight peek and tried to get myself used to the height.

It was as that moment that I wished I hadn't stood so close to the edge.

"Jump.", Akashi's voice caused me to jerk and fall off the board, making me land front-first into the water. The painful splat against the water upon impact, made everything feel so blurry, and caused me to float around in the water for a few moments before swimming to the edge of the pool and climbing out.

"Out of a hundred? Twenty. However, I'll give you an additional thirty point for the entertainment value", Akashi flashed a mocking grin as he wrote my score on the instructor's clipboard, "At least you passed, though you're not done yet."

I felt my skin stinging, I winced and coughed up some water I had swallowed before I spoke, "Well aware of that."

I saw his eyebrow twitch as he walked passed me, "Just get in the water. Fifty laps."

"Fifty? I thou—"

"Do you want to do one hundred laps?", he stopped in his tracks and turned to face me, slightly annoyed.

"No, no. I'll uh… I'll take the fifty." I stuttered and entered the water, submerging half of my face, "Thanks…" I mumbled, creating bubbles as I did so.

Akashi took out a whistle in his pocket, "Ready. Go.", he signaled from across the room and whistled.

Ten laps in, and my vision became slightly fuzzy. Twenty-five laps in, I felt myself losing the feeling of my arms and legs. After the 50th lap, I rose from the water and almost collapsed, only to be caught by Akashi. I couldn't help but lean against him as I slowly drifted to sleep.

Beep!

Beep!

Beep!

I shot my eyes open to the sound of my phone's alarm. I sat up and turned it off, immediately feeling my stinging skin and sore body. I looked around and found myself in the infirmary, my bag along with my school uniform sat in a chair to my left. I looked at the time,

'12:55 pm'

"How are you? Akashi brought you in, saying you weren't feeling well. Looks like I'm going to have to make another slip for you.", the nurse sighed, "This time, it'll be for real. Are you sure you can work on those bouquets in time for the event?"

'Crap, I completely forgot about those.'

I smiled, "Of course I can! If this body won't let me, I'll force it to!"

"Be careful with yourself. He also brought in your stuff, in case you haven't noticed yet. Also, about your dog…" She trailed off.

"How'd you know about my dog?" I asked, earning myself a slight giggle from the nurse, "A majority of the staff knows, Hana. Don't worry, they're fine with it. So yeah, Akashi volunteered to bring it home."

"What do you mean?"

"He said you shouldn't be pushing yourself, and that it wouldn't be worth the extra effort to climb up all those stairs to go get him.", she explained as she wrote down my excuse slip, "I understand that though. After all, if something were to happen to you, chances are the blame will be put on him, being the President and all."

She smiled and handed me the slip, "A second excuse slip will seem rather sketchy, you're going to need to have this one signed by Akashi. He's in the student council office."

I took the slip from her hands and slowly got out of bed, "Thanks miss…"

"No problem, though you're going to want to change first." She smiled and pointed my uniform on the chair.

I nodded and drew the curtains, I took a sniff of my shoulder and arm for chlorine, finding it weird that the scent wasn't there, all I could catch was the faint scent of soap, and Akashi.

'Did he seriously give me a quick shower while I was unconscious?', my face fumed at the idea. I shook my head and stripped off my clothes.

'I don't know if I should consider that sweet or creepy. Ah, I suppose it was merely him trying his best to keep himself from looking like a bad President…or something.'

Once I had finished changing, I drew the curtains back and carried my bag, holding the slip in one hand.

"Well then, I'll be going then miss." I smiled and bowed before exiting the room.

I walked along the hallway, looking for the council office, ignoring the awful feeling of my body. It took some time, and several breaks, but I eventually found it.

Knock knock

The door opened, and to my surprise, I find Itsumo standing by the door with puffy eyes.

"Woah. Itsumo? What happened?", I asked, only to be ignored as she walked right past me.

Akashi was sitting by his desk, sighing and holding the bridge of his nose, 'I wonder what they fought about.'

"I.."

"Come in."

I entered the room and walked towards him, handing him the slip, "The nurse asked me to let you sign this.", I cleared my throat, "Thank you, I guess, for a while ago…"

He looked up at me and took the slip, reading it, and smirking, "That's more like it. Aren't you going to thank me?"

I raised my eyebrow, "Thank you for what, exactly?"

"I gave you a legitimate reason to go home.", he smiled, a hint of amber glimmered in his red orb, "Though I honestly thought it would take much more than just running a few hundred meters, falling off a diving board, and swimming a few laps."

He chuckled and signed the slip, handing it back to me afterwards, "Oh and by the way, I'm saving those extra fifty laps for next time."

I gave a polite smile and exited the room.

Clank!

I turned my head to the sound of metal hitting the doorframe, only to find a pair of scissors piercing the metal frame.

"I don't recall saying you could leave." His red orbs were no longer how they used to be, he had a darker look in his eyes. His heterochromia piercing deep into my own vision. It was almost like he was this whole other person.

I believe that was the first time I encountered what they called the Emperor Eye.

"Hana! Seriously! You need to get out of that chair and eat lunch with us!" Itsumo's voice woke me up from my flashback.

She went up the stage and took my arm as she dragged my off my chair, "Seriously, you have less than forty minutes left! Even Nigou went ahead already!"

I chuckled and stood up, "Well, well, what happened to 'it's okay to be late' Itsumo?"

She puffed up her cheeks, "Come on, Hana! That was years ago! Were adults now!"

"Right" , I said mockingly and giggled, "Let's go have lunch then."