Stupid FFN won't even allow the full chapter title in the chapter card, so I had to butcher the grammer for it instead!
Chapter 4: Aimu - Childlike innocence with an expiration date
"Everyone! Stop what you're doing, immediately! Tenshi-chan is back!"
"What?! Get the classroom ready! Go go go!"
Late morning, Foundation Star Cross academy, second year classroom.
You could convince most people that my classroom belongs to an ordinary civilian school if you brought them here during recess. Only then do we get a few brief minutes to gather and eat lunch, while discussing the latest media schtick or school gossip. The very idea that everyone here is supposed to kill and steal on a daily basis doesn't come to mind.
And I mean a very few brief minutes. We have one break of 30 minutes between 14 hours of classes, training, and assignments. If it wasn't for the fact that humans require to eat, we wouldn't have gotten those 30 minutes at all.
Of course, the academy scoffs at the very idea of a weekend. If you want to do something more recreational, there's no choice but to sacrifice sleep time. These 30 minutes we can spend without killing our self, are held in such high regard by students that the entire academy would collapse if they tried to take it away.
No matter how bleak our existence is, students need down-time.
But I was a neutral party. I was just soaking it all in at the back of my classroom, lazily leaning on my desk with a trusty juice box to sip from. Pure bliss.
I was the type who could shave off a few hours of sleep per week with no trouble, so I didn't feel the need to make the most off of our break periods. It was the same for Leo, I believe, although she naps at every possible moment, so she might just be catching up.
*Clunk!*
"Everyone, check your bags! Use whatever you can find!"
It's usually calm here.
Usually.
But then out of nowhere, the entire classroom started throwing everything around with the panic of a caught rabbit.
Tables were tossed through the air to get them out of the way. An assortment of snacks coming out of everyone's bags was neatly organized on a table close to the entrance, and the floor was swept clean in less than 20 seconds.
What a ruckus.
It shouldn't surprise you when I tell you I did hog crap nothing. I was as useless as Ginrei always claims me to be, and I was content with that.
Just as everyone in the classroom was done with their self-imposed duties (despite lacking my help,) the door of our class rolled open once again.
"I'm Baaack~! Tihihi!"
The entire room erupted with cheer.
"Welcome back, Tenshi-Chan!"
"You look well today, Tenshi-chan!"
"Look well? She looks fantastic! She always looks that way!"
"We were so worried about you, Tenshi-Chan!"
Right. Tenshi-chan...
"Oh, thank you all. Tihihi." The highly praised 'Tenshi-chan' took the worship with gusto. She even added in a high-pitched giggle that made everyone sigh in content.
"How was your latest mission at Hakusandake, Tenshi-chan?! Are you okay?! Weather in Shizuoka can be so harsh during this time of year!"
"Oh, I was fine. It was amazing, actually! Close to the snowy part of the mountain, they had this café with amazing donuts!"
Apparently the only notable thing to mention about Mount Fuji was the food…
"It was sooo~ good. Just thinking about it made me hungry again!"
"Fear not, Tenshi-chan!" One notably excited girl declared, before pointing to the table filled with assorted snacks and fruit. "We have all come together to prepare this welcome back gift for your return!"
The welcome back gift consisted of the food from everyone's school bags that they were intending on eating by themselves a few minutes ago. And when I say everyone, trust me. I was willing to bet money on it.
Dude, she had donuts. She's going to be fine.
"Really? You gathered all of this, just for me?! Yippy! Thank you so much!" She has said that line so many times, it became a catchphrase.
She stuffed all of the snacks into a schoolbag with trained motions. Upon opening it, you could see that there was a concerning amount of midday snack already inside it.
No doubt she had visited the other classrooms before getting here, which ended in the exact same outcome. The girl was just making the rounds, I suppose.
"So, what else happened during your trip, Tenshi-chan? Come on, tell us all about it."
"Ah." She perked up, as if she remembered something. "Aww, I'm sorry. I'm actually on a super important mission right now!"
"A super-important mission?"
"Super-duper important! Every second counts!"
But not enough to stop you from stealing everyone's meals, I take it…
"What kind of mission is it?"
"Oh, Super-duper secret!" She waved the question away. "So super-duper secret and super-duper important that I have to go no matter how super-duper hungry I am!"
"That's pretty important then…"
"Uh-huh!" She nodded.
"We can't let Tenshi-chan leave while hungry! In that case, how about—"
"-You can have my second lunch as well!" someone else cut in.
"Wha—Hey! That was my idea! I was about to give Tenshi-chan my last bit of food! "
"Really? Ah, thank you sooo~ much, you two! I love crackers!"
Before they could settle the argument, the innocent Tenshi-chan took both offerings at the speed of a respectable ninja.
Maybe I should start asking others for their food. They don't seem to care about keeping it as much as I thought.
"I have to go now, but I'll remember what you did for me today. You're all the best!"
"H-heh. T-thank you, Tenshi-chan." Everyone started scratching their neck, blushing and looking at the ceiling. It made me want to sigh…
"Bye-bye!"
"R-right."
"Bye, Tenshi-chan..."
"O-okay. Enjoy the lunch!"
Everyone sounded so defeated as soon as she walked away.
I'll admit, A part of me was just as big of a fan as the rest of the academy was. The kid makes you feel at ease. At some point, I might've even collaborated with the praising and gifting. It wasn't until I met Leo that it started to die down, though. Since the two are good friends, I received a very surprising description of what kind of person she actually was. Luckily I didn't get roped in with her today. If we did ever meet, I don't think I would—
"Hi!"
Never mind! Forget what I just said!
Right in front of me, opposite side of my desk, stood a little girl with hair that curled up to each side like a lollypop, and eyes even bigger than my own head.
She was also carrying a bag full of snacks, taken from possibly every single student within the academy.
Except yours truly, of course…
"Hi." She said again.
"...Hey?" I simply stated, frozen.
"You're Riku-san, right?"
"Right..."
"Okay."
"And you're Aimu, right...?"
"That's right!'
"Okay..."
"..."
"..."
"Want some lunch?" She offered, showing the pack of crackers she was gifted not even five seconds ago.
"Why do you accept someone's food if you're not even going to eat it?!" I quipped, yet again falling into the role of the straight man too easily.
"Oh. You don't want it? Then I'll eat it." She answered calmly.
"Like you should've!"
"Uh-huh."
She ripped of the packaging like an expert.
*Gulp*
She took the entire thing in a single bite. Didn't even chew. I could just imagine those crackers going down her throat like shards of glass.
What was this girl made of?!
Aimu, more commonly known as 'Tenshi-chan,' is the de facto school idol and cuddly little mascot. Immensely popular to the point of being a suspected hypnotist, Aimu is the only first-year student in the academy's history to enter the Zodiac committee.
She acts as childish as she looks, and is doted on by every single student within the academy. Everyone calls her their little sister. Even if not all are completely smitten, nobody's capable of disliking her. The girl is innocence and playful curiosity personified. Or so they would have you believe.
She doesn't seem to be that bright, though, so nobody suspects a thing.
Must be nice, being that popular.
Whatever the case, this little school idol on a super-duper important task was now speaking to super-not-so-duper me. I found the odds of her task involving me to be pretty bad, but here we were anyway.
I knew I had no reason to be, but I suddenly felt nervous.
"Can I ask you something, Riku-san?"
"Sure, Shoot…"
Everyone in the classroom had returned to what they were doing beforehand, but I could sense their gazes all fixated at me.
If I wasn't careful with how I spoke to the girl, They'd lynch me…
"You know what flirting means, right?"
"Et tu?!"
I dread to think what would come out of this!
"No! Not at all!" I yelled in my defence.
"Huh? Really? That's so strange. I was sure I heard from Ginrei-chan that you were flirting with—"
"Eeeek!"
Begone, you demon! Go away! Shoo!
"A-Aimu! Before you ask me that, could we maybe move to another location?"
"Hmm? I just want to kno—"
"please?! I'm begging here!"
She tilted her head, staring at me like I was mental (Which she might be onto something…) But quickly returned with a bright smile and nodded. "Okay!"
Permission granted. Say no more!
"Hup!"
And run like hell!
I basically kidnapped her. I jumped out of my chair, grabbed the little girl by the waist, and threw her over my shoulder in a firefighter's carry.
She didn't react much. Possibly due to shock.
While the surprised reactions of my classmates and the people passing me down the hallway made me reconsider, I decided that the rumour of being a child predator was preferable to the rumour of being Leo's boyfriend.
There was a difference between earning everyone's contempt and earning everyone's desire to erase my very being.
I didn't stop until we were all the way outside, turning a corner once we were past the school gate, just down the outer school fence.
I placed Aimu down to the ground, and she landed on her feet with a playful tap.
Meanwhile, I was vividly dying on the inside.
"Hihi. You run fast!"
"I was running for my very life!" I gasped, fighting for air.
"Why? I only asked if you and Leo-chan were flirting."
"Stop!" interrupted her. "Flirting does not mean what you think it means! You're not using that word correctly!"
She tilts her head again. "I thought you said you didn't know what flirting means?"
"I lied through my teeth!"
"No, you just said it normally."
"That's not what I—never mind…"
It was a close call… Thank god she only mentioned Ginrei inside that classroom, or else that electric chair down in the basement would've had me in it right about now…
Also, Leo-chan? Leo is older than her, right?
"So you're not flirting?"
"No!"
"Then what are you?"
"We're simply… Geez, girl. Don't you know this stuff? How old are you?"
"Oh, oh! I'll be sixteen by the third semester!" She balds her fists and made a competitive look. "I'm finally getting closer to drinking that yellowish liquid that my father likes!"
"That can't be right. You'd have to be twenty for that. This isn't the west or- Wait, you're fifteen?!"
She looked like she's eleven! And she acts even younger than that!
"You're fifteen, but you don't know the term 'dating?!'"
"Dating? Like, when two people go to dinner, and one walks away without saying anything, so they force the other to pay on their own?"
"No, I didn't mean that, although you're not wrong either!"
"So, when you're in a boy-girl relationship, you're actually 'dating?'"
"Yes…"
"So you're dating Leo-chan!"
"Woah, keep it down! Your voice is pitched enough!"
"Really? Okay, then I'll whisper it! So-you're-dating-Onee-chan..."
"Right..."
"Why can't you say it loudly?"
"Because it is only a rumour on campus right now. And nobody suspects that I'm the one who all those rumours are referring to."
"So?"
"So, with Leo's every increasing popularity, if word comes around that the rumour is actually true, and the person to blame for it is me, it'll cost me my ass."
"'Cost you your ass?'"
"Err— I meant, I'll be in big, big, trouble!" I said in the most innocent voice I could muster.
For a fifteen-year-old, her vocabulary was respectfully modest.
"Oh! I get it! My dad always says that whenever I do something bad. But... other students aren't able to ground you, are they?"
"No, They don't ground me…"
Put me in the ground, maybe.
"But you are flirti—Dating, each other, right?"
"Nice safe." I said, giving her a thumbs up. "But yes. Did you come all the way to see me just so you could ask me that?"
"Oh! I just needed to be sure! See, I need to tell you this in person if you're really flirting with Onee-chan."
"Dating." I reminded her. "So then, what was it you wanted to say?"
*Ahem*
she cleared her throat, smiling brightly through it all. It melted my heart. I know I was a sceptic before all of this, but I could see myself giving one of my juice boxes to her if she asked me to.
What a frightening power to behold.
She looked at me with nothing but ease and fortune. One could just see the benevolence flow of from her expression. I felt quite at ease.
"Riku-san," she said pleasantly.
I smiled in response.
"Please don't speak to Leo-chan any more. Because I don't like you."
"..."
...
…Give me a few seconds.
I had to recover mentally from this.
"Bye now!"
She was leaving.
…
…
…
…
"…Wha— Wha— Whawawawawa…?!"
Perhaps Kurohoro was right; I too would consider myself to be in a permanent vegetive state right now.
"Wait, no! That's not how this story ends!" I smacked myself awake.
I tried to stop Aimu and reached out for her shoulder.
"Bye now!" She said again, and dodged me. "Tihihi!"
This was all just a game to her?!
I made another lunge, but Aimu sidestepped yet again. She faced away and started running, mocking me along the way.
"Na nana na na!"
Holy crap, she's fast! If I don't do something right now, I'll never get a hold on her again! I had to close the distance now!
Instead of another grab, a move that was too slow and precise, I would try to take her by surprise with something more unexpected—
—By jumping straight on top of her, throwing my palm forwards with all the strength I could muster, and smacking Aimu right on the back of the head.
"Ora!"
She never saw it coming!
Aimu collapsed and hit her head right onto the pavement.
"Phoey!?"
She ate dirt.
"Ha! I got you this time!" I yelled triumphantly, pumping a fist into the air.
"Wh-what are you doing?!" She yelled, lifting her head off the ground and covering her face.
"Aha, so now you turned around and face me?" I grinned.
"Anyone would turn from being smacked on the head!"
"Err… Oh, right. W—well, sorry for smacking you?"
Whoops.
Lost my cool there for a bit. Since I'm the older one here, I should be the one to show patience and forgiveness.
What a bad rep.
"B-but life is full of pain. These things happen." I said, all sage-like.
"You could've hurt me!"
"When life gives you lemons... You know?" I tried again.
"I saw stars just now!"
"Yup..."
She wasn't buying it.
"Don't come after me anymore! I don't like you!"
"Why not?"
"Because you smacked me on the head!"
you said that before I smacked you, though..."
"Then it's through karma from our previous lives."
"You hold on me a grudge beyond our lifetimes? That's dark, kid."
"You and I were mortal enemies in our past lives! I must have been the reincarnation of a fallen angel, so you were the child of a devil!"
"Whoa, that's pretty cool. I kinda wish that wasn't all completely made up now."
The kid would make for a great screenwriter someday, at least.
Or a comedian.
"I can't believe someone would dare to hurt the school's own idol! I'm telling the department of schools about you!"
"You're tattletaling me to the ministry of education or something?"
"The department of schools is a very incredible organization, you know! An underaged citizen like you with no influence, your life hangs in the balance! They only have to lift a single finger and your life will be over forever until your tragic young death!"
"You know a shinobi academy isn't directly controlled by the ministry of Japan, right? We fall under our own rule of shinobi laws and guidelines, with its own secret government."
"…"
"So there's not much you can do with governmental laws, you see?"
"..."
She fell silent.
Guess she realized she was talking crazy things.
"..."
"Then I'll tell on you to the super-secret-government-organization-school-thingy!"
"Give it a rest, brat!"
Maybe I should give her a second smacking after all!
"Look, just tell me why you're saying I should stay away from Leo. You remember that, right? It happened a minute ago." I tried again.
"Because I don't like you!"
"Yeah, I've understood that so far! I'm trying to ask why that is the case!"
"Just because."
"Just because? You're holding a grudge towards someone and actively tell it to their face, just because?"
"Yep!"
"You're more cold-hearted than you seemed to be..."
"I'm not cold-hearted! I'm a reborn, fallen angel with the heart of the heavens!"
"Angels love everyone, no matter their character. You straight out told me you hated me."
"Well, I said it in a very sincere manner."
"By smiling at me and telling me to piss off!?"
"I was very compassionate." She defended herself. "An angel sees everyone as equal."
"Listen, you can't go around assuming you can say anything as long as you're being sincere. That's not how the world works."
"Shut up! It's not like a deadbeat like you knows how the world works, either!"
"I'm the older one between us two, so I'd say my point stands."
"I'm not a little kid!"
"really now..." I chuckled.
"I'm a really, really grown adult that does adult things too!"
"Like… I think adult drinks are tasty!"
"I see your point, but I kind of want that to be a lie for completely unrelated reasons…"
Drink responsible, kids!
"I have very adult features!"
"Good for you. This is the part of the conversation that I'm going to pretend never happened."
Aimu has grown in at least some physical departments for someone of her age.
And that is the only standing comment I will make on that topic: moving on—
"Kurohoro-Chan says that it's a good thing that someone like me at least looks so well-developed, so there!"
Kurohoro must be having field days with this girl. The insult flew right over her head…
"If you're so grown up, why does everyone refer to you as 'their little sister?'"
"Because I'm their greatest sister in every way! I'm Tenshi-chan, and they're my onee-chans!"
"You called me Riku-san, though. With an elder honorific."
"I'll never become your little sister, that's why!" Aimu yelled as loudly as possible.
She might be the first person in Japan to use the honorifics system completely wrong, and still disrespect someone by using it correctly…
"So stay away from Onee-chan!"
"Euh... No?"
"I order it!"
"Euh... No..."
"What? You can't do that! It's an order from the school idol herself!"
"Just because people pamper you don't mean you've gained a higher stance in power."
"I bet I'm more popular than you!"
"Yeah, no duh."
"So!"
"So...? popularity doesn't equal authority!"
"I'm in the zodiac committee!"
"That's..."
True, that one does equal higher authority. I don't know what rights she has over me, but a restraint order isn't one of them, at least. I'm sure. I think. I hope…
"Onee-chan is a nice person who I enjoy being with! I don't need people like you to corrupt her mind!"
"Corrupt? Am I contagious?!"
No answer. She just stuck her tongue out at me.
I did the same thing back at her, of course. Couldn't just let the matter stand like that!
"Blrg! You're stupid, that's why!"
"Blrg! Some angel you are!"
There once was a high school student that lived in central Japan, who is rumoured to physically assault little girls in earnest, berated their intelligence in earnest, and blew raspberries at them like a toddler, also in earnest.
Wait, that high school student is me!?
"At least you're an earnest type of guy, Riku-san! I couldn't stand a person who'd half-heartedly assault little girls instead."
"Not that you can stand me either way, so does it really matter?"
Aimu made a show of looking like she was in thought, holding a finger to her cheek and humming excessively.
"No." She eventually answered with a smile too cheeky for my taste.
"What a weak punchline! There's no need to sacrifice two whole paragraphs for such an expected statement!"
"Phoey! I don't allow this!" She fusses. "Every word that an angel makes, fallen or not, is an entire book's worth of narration!"
"I doubt a book like that would sell."
"Well, the people can have my words for free!"
"That's even worse!"
*Bzzzz*
Our kerfuffle was interrupted by the school bell—Recess was over.
I had to get back to class.
"Ha! You have to go! I win! Now you're not allowed to talk to Leo-chan ever again!"
"You won? How'd you figure that?"
"You leaving! I'm the last one standing." She puffs up her chest triumphantly. "So I win."
"What?! Under what rule?!"
"The fallen-angel jurisdiction of final heaven."
"There is no such thing! You just made that up!"
"Yeah, duh! It wouldn't be an Angel's jurisdiction if it wasn't made by an angel in the first place."
"Does your jurisdiction support travel-exclusion?"
"My jurisdiction doesn't support losers!"
This final heaven of hers must be quite the exclusive deal…
Still, I gave up on fighting it. It's not like I could afford to miss any classes. Jurisdiction or not.
"By leaving, you've agreed to never talk to Leo-chan again!"
"I would leave if it meant I'd never have to talk to you again…"
"Fine! I knew you were a demon-monster-man who can't even listen to the mandate of heaven! Then I'll keep pestering you until you accept the mandate and go away!"
"That's quite the threat!?"
Gods no!
"I'll keep talking to you!"
"Ugh."
"I'll pester you every day!"
"Ugh!"
"I swear by the account of the heavens that I'll convert you on the righteous path of a sorrowing loser who doesn't rag others with their existence by realizing they're dirt and shouldn't talk to anybody! Amen!"
"Uuggh! You give angels a bad rep!"
I was almost afraid that her claims about being an angel were true. Surely, heaven didn't follow her idiotic principles as well, right?
Oof…
Aimu suddenly returned to her normal, pleasant smile. "I will. Tihihi! I'll see you tomorrow, Riku-san!" She said, before turning and skipping away around a corner.
"How about you don't?" I said after her.
"…"
…Aimu left first.
According to The fallen-angel jurisdiction of final heaven, I won the argument because I was the last one standing.
Somehow, the victory wasn't that much of a concern to me.
Or to Aimu, for that matter…
Later that day, after school had ended, I told Leo that I met Aimu for the first time.
I didn't completely give away that she tried to shoo me. Still, Leo chuckled. She amusingly said that I didn't have to worry about her. Like she read my mind.
Why, though?
"Didn't you notice, Riku?" Leo said. "Whenever Aimu gains a new friend, she starts meddling with everything they do."
I didn't quite get why that would be a reason for less concern. But just like she had declared after our first meeting—
—Aimu made it her mission to look me up every school day from that point on.