05: Pretty Little Thing

The bell had rung and once again, classes were over for the day. As all the students were on their way, Celica remained seated at her desk staring at the screen of her phone.

"Ragna..." She looked at his name in her contacts feeling rather anxious to call him. But she wasn't sure if she should. She didn't want to bother him, but on the other hand, she hasn't exactly heard from him since the night she went to go see him. "I wish you would talk to me..."

"Celica?" The young girl turned to see Trinity standing next to her. Celica quickly exited out of her contacts and put her phone in her bag. But, Trinity already knew what she was looking at and who her friend was thinking of. "Why don't you try calling him?" Celica looked away feeling slightly embarrassed that her friend already knew what her problem was.

"...Was it that obvious?"

"Of course. It's all you've been thinking about these past few days."

"I'm sorry... I just can't help it...I guess..." She got up from her seat grabbing her things as she did so.

"EEEKK!"

A sudden scream was heard, alarming all the students. It was coming from just outside the classroom. The students, as well as Trinity and Celica quickly rushed on over to see what was wrong. Upon arriving in the hallway, everyone saw Kazuma pushed against the wall by another student. He was rather tall and much bigger than the fragile looking Kazuma.

"Kazuma!" Trinity called out while wondering what was going on. "What are you doing to him? Let him go!"

"This little shit touched my girl!"

"What?" Trinity couldn't believe what she just heard. Kazuma putting his hands on a girl? The sentence alone sounded completely ridiculous. Especially after the few times she spent trying to get to know him.

"It's true." A girl spoke. "He was walking behind me and then he just suddenly got closer. I got freaked out so I tried to move, but then he just..." The girl's face became red as she looked away from the crowd. "...He grabbed my butt."

"I did no such thing..." Kazuma just sighed as he heard the girl's version of what happened. 'These people...'

"Are you calling my girl a liar!?" The boy's face got closer to Kazuma's which only irked him more as his breath started invading Kazuma's nostrils. He was in his personal space and he hated it. He hated everything that was happening as well. All these annoying kids, their idiocy, this school... He hated it all. If only they could just disappear.

'That would be nice...'

"They're getting to you again..." For a moment, time seemed to have slowed down as Kazuma saw Terumi standing just behind the bigger student.

"I swear I'm going to break your fucking neck!" The student kept going on and on with his threats. It seemed like it was taking forever for him to finish with each word dragging out longer than the last. Why is it taking so long? Just do it already...

'Hurry it up...'

"I said it earlier didn't I?" Terumi had a big smile plastered on his face as he watched the scene. "You're not as calm as you usually are."

'I'm calm... I'm always...calm...'

No one likes a liar

The stone in his pocket started to glow again and there was a sudden malicious aura in the air that a lot of the students couldn't help but notice. Trinity especially felt a sudden change coming from Kazuma as she saw his lips form a smile.

'Kazuma...?'

"So what if I did touch you're little girlfriend? She was obviously asking for it since she made it a point to rub her ass against me. I guess 'Mister Big-Man' over here isn't enough to satisfy her."

"W-What the... What the fuck did you just say asshole!?" Everyone was shocked by Kazuma's sudden change. Even his assailant felt something was off about him. It made him loosen his grip a little as he thought whether he should continue bothering with him or not.

"If you're gonna hit me, then do it already. How long have we been here? And all you've been doing is talk shit throughout the whole time. I mean, your breath is starting to smell like shit from all that shit you keep spouting." His blood started boiling and so he clenched his fist and gave one big punch right at Kazuma's jaw knocking him down to the floor.

"You want to say that again you little shit!?" The boy then knelt down to the floor grabbing Kazuma by his shirt and proceeded to punch him over and over again. At this point the teacher's finally came after one of the students went to call for them. Konoe was amongst the group as well and she saw Kazuma getting beaten by one of the students.

"What's going on!?" She stopped next to her sister as the two male teachers went on ahead to get the student off of Kazuma.

"They're picking on him again..." Celica answered. "But...I wish they would just leave him alone. Bad things will happen if they keep bothering him..." Konoe seemed a bit bothered by her sister's response. Celica did not like Kazuma at all since the first day she saw him. And since that day, Konoe tried to understand just what was it about him that made her not like him. With the exception of Trinity, it seemed like the whole student body didn't like the young kid. Even the teachers thought there was something wrong with him. Was he really that unapproachable? In Konoe's case, she was just neutral about it. She didn't hate him or anything, but she didn't exactly try and make an effort to know about him either. But still, she wondered.

'What is up with that kid?'

"That should do it for now." After rubbing a bit of alcohol with a small ball of cotton, the nurse applied a band-aid onto the small cut that was made just under Kazuma's right eye. "You know, minus the bruises and cuts, you're actually a bit of a looker."

"Back off Marie. He's still underage you know." Konoe reminded her.

"Oh I'm just joking. I'm not gonna put the moves on him so don't worry about it...One more year though, and that's a different story." Marie laughed while Konoe just sighed remembering how perverted the nurse was.

"We're sorry for troubling you with this." Trinity was there as well as Celica, who was standing by the doorway keeping her distance from Kazuma.

"Don't worry about it. Besides, it's my job remember? I'm the nurse for this academy and as such, I'm required to take care of any sick or injured student. So there's no need for apologies." The nurse smiled as she got up from the chair taking off her gloves.

"Thank you." The whole time they were in the infirmary, Kazuma was silent. After what had happened, he wasn't sure how he should behave around them. Truthfully, he was just as shocked as the rest of them. He wasn't sure what came over him when he said those things and it was bugging him the whole time.

'I've never said anything like that before... Was that really me?'

"You know, you could have at least tried to fight back instead of letting him kick your ass like that." Konoe caught him off guard with her words.

"Umm... Miss Konoe, I don't think that's something a teacher should be saying..." Marie was a bit surprised by it as well.

"It's because I'm a teacher that I have to say it. A lot of those kids can be a real pain in the ass. As soon as they see someone who seems weak, they start bullying them. As teachers, the most we can do is give detention, suspension or, in the worse case, expulsion. But even those, most of the time, don't work. Which is why, Kazuma, you need to learn how to defend yourself. If you keep acting like a push-over, then they will continue to treat you as such. I know violence shouldn't be the answer, but sometimes, a good ass-kicking will show them that you're not going to just let them walk all over you." Kazuma saw her yellow eyes staring back at him with a stern expression. She wanted him to be some kind of tough-guy? That would just make things more troubling for him. And he didn't want to be bothered by more nonsense.

"...Can I leave now?" He asked. Konoe had a feeling he would discard everything she said.

"Not yet. I want to know what happened." She could already tell he was getting annoyed by her. But whether he liked it or not, she was still his teacher and it was her responsibility to look after her students. "...Did you really touch that girl?" Silence befell the room and Kazuma shifted in his seat before replying.

"...No."

"Look at me in the eye and answer me." She was rather demanding in her request but she needed to know the truth. As requested, Kazuma stood up and looked back at Konoe. For the first time, Konoe was able to see his eyes. A pair of golden orbs that looked rather intimidating. There was also a strange and unsettling aura around them. Something maniacal...and "dark". For an instant, she could have sworn she saw a menacing smirk form on his face.

"I didn't touch her." His voice brought her back from her 'trance'. With that, Kazuma walked away and out of the infirmary.

On his way to the library, Kazuma couldn't help but think about what happened earlier. To be more specific, his sudden change of character. He never acted that way before. He was always in control. But, today...something changed. It was strange but, during that moment, it felt like he was observing what he was doing. As if someone else was in control over his body. He didn't regain control again until after the instructors pulled the kid off of him. Perhaps Terumi was right. Maybe he wasn't as calm as he thought.

'No... I'm always calm.' He refused to admit.

Finally arriving at the library, he looked around and took comfort once he knew there was no one else here with the exception of the librarians. He walked further in and headed up the stairs going towards his usual spot looking at various books he would pass along the way. As he made a turn to enter one of the book aisles, he came across the girl he supposedly 'touched' earlier standing before him. The two looked at each other for a moment until the girl broke the tensed silence.

"Why, hello again Mister Pervert." She giggled. "I'm glad I bumped into you. I guess it isn't surprising since you do come here often." Kazuma didn't want to be around this girl. Something bad was bound to happen if he stood around her any longer. Without waiting to hear anything else she had to say, Kazuma started to walk away. "Hey wait!" She instantly grabbed his wrist stopping him from leaving. He looked back at her feeling rather bothered by her hand on him.

"Just leave me alone." At this, the girl just chuckled.

"You sure do love to play the awkward quiet type eh?" He looked at her not sure what she was talking about. "Just admit it. This facade you put up in this school isn't the real you is it."

"A facade? I'm not-"
"Oh don't try to play dumb with me. Everyone seen how you suddenly snapped back at Yoji. I was very impressed actually. I wouldn't have guessed you had that side to you."

'Me neither...' Taking him off guard, the girl took a step closer to him and leaned her face closer to his.

"After seeing that, I wonder what other things about you you're hiding." She giggled. "The name's Keri." Kazuma felt his face turning red. He didn't trust her of course, but he wouldn't deny that she was indeed a pretty girl. Her pale face being so close to him as her sapphire eyes gazed at him. Her long black wavy hair reaching down to her lower back. Very pleasing to the eyes. "Say... Why don't we get to know each other better?" A mischievous grin formed on her face before she pulled on his arm dragging him along with her deeper to the back of the library. She eventually stopped when she came to an open window. She went over to it and took in the wonderful view of the tall trees surrounding the campus grounds.

"Such a wonderful day." She smiled and then walked back towards Kazuma taking him by surprise when she leaned in for a kiss. Upon their lips touching, Kazuma stumbled backwards in reaction to this strange feeling he wasn't accustomed to.

"W-What are you doing!?" He asked feeling rather confused.

"You're so cute!" She laughed teasing him a bit. "You've never kissed a girl before have you?"

"N-No... Why did you... Just what are you doing?" He struggled to get his words together. "First you make it seem like I sexually harassed you, and now you're trying to..."
"Aww don't be like that. What happened earlier today was just a joke."

"A joke?"

"That's right. I just wanted to bother you a bit seeing as you're always alone." So making him deal with that buffoon of a boyfriend, and getting punched in the face was her idea of a joke? Beautiful girl or not, Kazuma was not liking her at all. "Come on. Don't take it so hard. I was only playing." She wrapped her arms around his and purposely pressed her breasts up against his arm. "Play with me." She gazed up at him with her lustful eyes.

"Sorry... I'm not interested." He forced his arm out of her grip. Keri, however, was not pleased by his response.

"I'd reconsider if I was you." Her lustful stare had quickly changed to a demanding glare. "Or else touching my ass will be the least of your problems." Is she serious? Was she really blackmailing him just so he could become her little 'sex toy'?

'Why do I have to deal with something like this?' The situation was getting rather too much for him to handle. Admittedly however, he was a bit interested in this 'play time' with Keri. He had never experienced something like this and frankly, he was still a growing, teenage boy. But something told him that this girl was trouble and whether he was curious or not, he'd rather not deal with her. 'What should I do?' Dealing with Keri at this moment was still a problem. Clearly she wasn't going to take 'no' for an answer.

"You know you want to. Why not have some fun? Make the most of your time here..." She started to unbutton her blouse and pulled it down a bit revealing her breasts still being hidden by her pink bra. Kazuma looked away feeling rather embarrassed which only made her smirk. "Don't look away." She walked up to him and gently grabbed his face to look at her before she kissed him wrapping her arms around him.

'What am I doing? I shouldn't be messing around with her!' Kazuma was struggling with himself mentally. His mind knew she was trouble, but his body was behaving the exact opposite. He slowly wrapped his arms around her waist being absorbed by her kiss. His mind was little by little, becoming completely fixated on her, and her body as his hands started to move around her examining her figure. He had this strange, 'craving' feeling for her though. But...something had changed again. He became a bit aggressive as he pushed her back to the wall and started kissing her neck traveling his lips up and down. She sensed something was different about him. The atmosphere had drastically changed with this new 'aura' invading the air.

"Kazuma?" He pressed his body more into hers before lifting her up to the window and bringing her bra down to lick and suck on her right breast. A light moan escaped her lips but then she looked behind her and saw the view outside. More specifically, the long way down from the window to the ground. She was pretty high up considering it was a 10 story building and she was getting nervous. She started to tighten her grip on Kazuma's shoulders as she felt her heart beat getting faster. "W-Wait... Can you stop for a second?" He then suddenly pressed his lips against hers kissing her but with a bit of force that almost knocked her back some. "Watch it! Are you trying to-!" At that instant, Kazuma pushed her and in less than a second, she was gone from his sight. He heard her scream for a moment, but that was soon cut short when he heard a loud 'thud' coming from the ground. He looked out the window and down below to see Keri laying lifeless on the ground surrounded by her own blood.

"Such a shame though. You were quite the pretty little thing. But, I just can't tolerate controlling girls like you." He snickered before walking away.

Author's Notes: Sorry for the really late update. Classes started for me once again and between work and school I didn't really have enough time to upload a chapter.

Anyway, I'm glad there are people who do like this story so far. Knowing there's people who still want to read this makes me happy ^.^ Writing Terumi's character always makes me smile. He's just so fun! Speaking of which, I know Chrono Phantasma came out in Japan. If some of you have played it or read up on the story or whatever else, PLEASE DON'T SPOIL ANYTHING FOR ME! I haven't played it yet and would like to avoid spoilers as much as possible! So if anyone has questions about any characters from CP making there way into this story or anything else in regard to CP, that might be spoilerific, please don't message me… At least not until after March 2014 *.*

I'll try and upload whenever it's possible and as always reviews are much appreciated!