A/N: Hello you gorgeous readers! Welcome back! I actually don't have too much to say here. One thing is that you do this a lot sooner compared to the last one. I feel that this took a little longer than I anticipated. I've just been very busy with work. This is probably the craziest work summer I have ever had.
One other thing is that this chapter will be split into two parts. My original idea for it would have made it way too long.
Other than that, Enjoy!
Ichika groggily woke up the next morning. As he sat up, he looked around to find himself in his own bed room.
"Wait, why am I…?" He was about to question why he was there, but after a moment, it all came rushing back. He remembered he had finally snapped at his harem and sister. As well as leaving and that he'd had enough of I.S. academy and that he wouldn't let anyone mess with him.
Taking a deep breath, he got up and headed to the bathroom to clean himself up. After splashing his face with cold water, he looked at himself in the mirror. It felt different. He felt different. Like he wasn't even the same person anymore.
He rememberd saying it as a way that he wasn't related to Chifuyu. That He was no longer an Orimura. The thought of her angered him. She never cared for him. Never properly helped him with his I.S. training when he first started. Never helped him when his harem assaulted or tried to kill him. And then there was the fact fact that she replaced him with Laura when she was in Germany during that year.
That last thought not only made him more mad but sad as well. He had just as much anger and hatred towards Laura as he now had for Chifuyu. Laura could have convinced her that he wasn't a good brother. To forget about him. That it was his fault that she lost the Mondo Grosso.
"AHHH!" Ichika violently punched the wall as his anger and sadness boiled over. There was now a hole almost the size of fist.
"Crap!" He looked at the hole in the wall, realizing what he just did. He decided he will fix it later.
After he finished showering, he went back to his room and changed into a set of casual clothes. He looked at his uniform. Since he was now done with the I.S. so he had pretty much no use for it anymore. After getting dressed, he headed downstairs to have breakfast.
Once downstairs, he began to think about what to do today. He was no longer at the academy, meaning he had no real schedule to follow.
As he pondered these thoughts while he was walking into the kitchen, the front door opened.
Turning his head he saw Chifuyu enter dressed in her usual attire, not looking happy. He clenched his fists when he saw her.
He knew that whatever was coming was not good. He'd learned that the hard way all the time for the past year.
"What are you doing here, Ms. Orimura?" he asked, annoyed.
Hearing him address her that way felt very different. Normally that's what she would want him to call her. After the events of last night, however, it was different. It hurt her. Especially when he said that they were no longer siblings.
"Making sure you're safe!" she said.
Ichika narrowed his eyes, thinking that she was implying that he couldn't take care of himself, let alone protect himself.
"Well, as you can see, I'm fine."
Not wanting to say anything else, he continued on his way to the kitchen.
"We need to talk about last night," Chifuyu followed after him.
He turned to face her again. "There's nothing to talk about!"
She then glared at him. "You've been suspended for a week for what you did!"
*Flashback to last night after Ichika left*
Not too long after Ichika left and threatened anyone who would dare to follow him, other teachers, instructors, and even the principal were in the cafeteria examining the damage that Ichika caused. Most of the girls who witnessed it had left already. Mainly it was because they wanted the cafeteria empty while inspecting and discussing the matter.
While mostly everyone left the place, the harem had stayed behind for a minute as Chifuyu really needed to have a word with them.
It took her a minute to collect herself as she was still somewhat processing everything that just happened. At first she just glared at them. They were all shaken by her glare. None of them seem to have the courage to say anything.
"Instructor, I-" Laura was the first to try and say something.
Chifuyu instantly shot her finger up, cutting her off. Laura then clamped her mouth shut.
"What did you do?!" she fired out.
They all jumped at her sudden demand. None of them said anything.
She knew what most likely happened. She still wanted to hear what they had to say since they were clearly the ones responsible for it.
"You girls have really done it now!"
"But we just…" Laura tried to speak again.
Chifuyu looked at her. "I don't want to hear anything from you right now."
Laura was about to ask why but she then remembered what Ichika said. That Chifuyu replaced him with her while teaching in Germany for that one year. Sure she got close to her instructor while she was teaching in Germany, but Laura never tried to get her to forget about her family.
Chifuyu surveyed the guilt party. "I thought I told all of you that I wouldn't let you have him for this very reason!"
She then looked at Tatenashi. "Has he been like this before or said anything to you?"
"N-No! He's never acted like this before or even said anything about this," she said. "Although, when I woke up this morning, he wasn't in his bed."
"Do you know where he went?" Chifuyu asked.
"I think he just went out for a walk. When he got back, he seemed like he was in a really bad mood. He told me off twice and almost shouted the second time before storming out of the room," Tatenashi explained.
"Speaking of which, he almost seemed like he was close to doing this yesterday," she added.
This made Chifuyu more curious. "What happened yesterday, exactly?"
"Well, we went to his and your house to spend time with him but he wasn't there. We knocked for a couple of minutes, but he never answered. So we just assumed he wasn't home."
"He was at home in the morning before I headed out here to prepare for today," said Chifuyu.
"We thought he must have gone out or something. The only idea we had was the Gotanda siblings. When we got there they said they hadn't seen him. So we left and just gave up after that," Tatenashi explained.
"Did you manage to find out where he was all day?"
"At the end of the day when he arrived we confronted him about it," Tatenashi started.
Chifuyu already didn't like where she was going, but decided to hear the rest.
"As it turns out, he was actually at the eatery and the siblings covered for him. And then Rin here." She pointed towards Rin. "Tried to punch him with her I.S. gauntlet."
Chifuyu then shot a glare at Rin. Rin's face went red and she twiddled with her fingers, avoiding eye contact.
Chifuyu didn't say anything, she wondered if the other girls tried anything. "Did anyone else try anything?" she asked while looking at the others.
"Well, besides getting mad that he spent time with another girl who wasn't us and Cecilia questioning how dense he could be, no, not really," Tatenashi spoke up again.
"He then responded to all of it by saying that even if he is dense, it's better than being a jerk," she added.
That last part gave Chifuyu mixed feelings. Especially with what had just happened with Ichika calling her and all of them out for being jerks.
"He then said that he wanted some space and how we didn't respect that. Me and Kanzashi didn't say anything during any of it, and we both stepped in to stop things from getting any crazier," Tatenashi finished. "Right, Kanzashi?"
Kanzashi nodded in return.
Chifuyu sighed before looking at the five girls. "You girls stay away from him!"
The girls' eyes all widened. "B-But instructor, we can-" Laura attempted to plead.
"Save it, ladies! You all have done more harm than good! If you do anything stupid again there will be serious consequences. Is that clear?!"
Each of their first thoughts were to say that they can fix this. Seeing how angry their teacher, as well as his sister, was with them. And the way she said it made it clear that she was serious.
"Y-Yes, Ms. Orimura," They mumbled, facing down.
"Ms. Orimura," a male voice called from over near the damaged table and floor. It was the principle of I.S. academy, Juuzou Kutsuwagi.
She looked over at him, as well as a small group of teachers. "Be right there!"
She turned back to the girls for a quick second. "Remember what I said!"
They all gave a nod before exiting the cafeteria. Chifuyu walked over to the small group of staff who were discussing the damage.
"Was this damage caused by Mr. Ichika Orimura?" He asked.
She thought for a moment. "Yes. I didn't see it happen but it was kind of obvious," she said.
"Do you have any clue as to why he did this?"
Hearing that question, Chifuyu felt conflicted. She remembered him saying that he had had enough of his harems' antics and he was blinded by rage.
She didn't know if she should tell them about his harems antics and what they have done to him.
"A-All he said was that he had a really bad day and that he wanted to be left alone," she said with hesitation.
That was half the truth, she didn't want to tell them about his outburst at her and his harem for everything over the past year. She thought that it may cause more chaos for the school. She also thought that the girls could possibly get a wake up call from this.
He grew a look of disapproval. "Anything else?"
"That's all that he said. He then said he was leaving. He went home, actually," she said.
The principal turned around for a second and walked a few steps away. A couple of teachers did the same while talking to him.
Ms Yamada, who was part of the conversation, stayed back to talk to Chifuyu.
"Should we tell them about….you know…." Ms Yamada started.
"I don't want to," Chifuyu said.
Yamada looked worried. "W-Why not?"
"It would likely cause more chaos, I don't want any more trouble than we have now," she said. "And maybe this could be a wake up call for them."
Yamada felt skeptical about it, but reluctantly agreed to it as she knew things could possibly get better after this.
The principal turned to face the two teachers again. "Ladies?"
The two turned to face him and stepped forward.
"Mr. Orimura is to be suspended for a week for causing damage to school property," he said. "He will be losing his right to hold his I.S. full time, as well."
Normally Chifuyu would be fuming at something like this. After what just happened, she grew worried. Especially at the idea of him losing his right to carry his I.S. If there was an emergency or an attack of some kind it would leave him completely vulnerable with no way to protect himself.
"N-No, you can't do that!"
"If this is the kind of behavior he will start showing." He pointed towards the damage. "It would be too dangerous for him to have it."
"It won't happen again! I will talk to him and fix this," Chifuyu said.
The principal looked skeptical.
"What if there's an emergency or an attack? He will be completely vulnerable. That's why he was brought here, to keep him safe from threats," Chifuyu exclaimed, hoping that would convince him.
The principal thought for a second. He knew she was right. Despite the damage that Ichika caused, he wouldn't want to happen to the only male I.S. user.
He sighed. "Alright fine, he can still hold on to the unit. He is still to be suspended for a week, though," he said.
While Chifuyu was still against the idea, it was at least better that he still had a way to. "All right, very well."
"But!" he spoke up again. "Anything like this happens again, he will lose his right to carry it."
"Yes," she reluctantly agreed.
*Back to the present*
Ichika would feel thrilled, but hearing that being suspended for a week meant that they expected him to return eventually. "For a week? Why not forever?"
Chifuyu glared at him. "You're lucky! They were going to take away your right to carry your I.S. I just barely convinced them."
Ichika looked down at his I.S. the Byakushiki on his wrist in stand by mode for a second before looking back at Chifuyu.
"Yeah, well…It doesn't matter. I'm done with that place!" He said with slight venom. "Why don't you go talk to your younger sister, I'm sure you will have a better time with her," he said before getting to the kitchen.
Chifuyu remembered what he said yesterday. That she had replaced him with Laura when she was in Germany for that year.
She then followed him to the kitchen. "She's not my sister! You seriously believe that I replaced you with her?!" Chifuyu said, sounding and looking not as angry, but sad and hurt.
Feeling his irritation starting to grow even more, he turned to face her again. "With what I've seen, it really doesn't sound all that unbelievable."
"What do you mean, exactly?" she replied with her eyes glossy.
"That time when I came across you talking to her where she said it was my fault for being kidnaped. You were WAY kinder and softer to her than you ever were with me," Ichika exclaimed.
"Well…That's." Chifuyu didn't know what to say to that. She thought back to other times where she had talked with Laura and she was indeed more soft with her, but that doesn't mean she forgot her only family.
"Regardless of it all, I did everything I could to be a gentleman like you raised me to be, as well as being the best brother," he started. "And what did you do? You forgot about me!"
"I never forgot about you!" Chifuyu sounded like she was going to break down. "Why do you think I did all of this? Working for what we have here, saving you all those years ago, bringing you to the academy!"
His eyes narrowed. "Don't think for a second that I believe that it's because you care for me."
"But I do," she said more softly compared to a second ago. "All you have to do is come back. I swear things will be different."
Under normal circumstances, Ichika would believe that. But everything that happened over the past year came to his mind. Because of that, he doesn't trust her or the others anymore. As much as he wanted to believe that, there were too many reasons not to.
"I'm not going back to that hell of a school again! Not after everything that you and those bitches put me through!"
This only made Chifuyu more desperate. "Ichika, please! It's the only place you will be safe!"
"With everything that has happened while I was there, you really call that a safe place?!" He said.
"What about the Phantom Task? Or other world governments? Can you really fight them alone?" She asked, hoping that would get him to listen.
"Well, I…" Ichika thought back to yesterday. Before he left he said that he wouldn't let the Phantom Task, world governments, or anyone mess with him.
Looking down at the Byakushiki on his wrist, He remembered that it had problems with shield energy. It drains for seemingly no reason. It prevented him from winning duels that he should have won. And It overall made it more complicated for him to get stronger.
Thinking of the Phantom Task, he remembered his first battle with a member named Autumn Cuvi, who snuck in via the school festival. When she revealed she was an I.S., the two battled and she managed to take the Byakushiki from him. Luckily, Tatenashi showed up and defeated her, saving him.
The Phantom Task were really tough enemies and they have had a fair number of battles and they were likely many more to come in the future. They were truly unpredictable.
It was tough enough when he battled them with the girls alongside him, but now he didn't want anything to do with them anymore. Taking them on by himself, especially with his not so perfect I.S. would pretty much guarantee death for him.
He didn't believe that they knew where his house was, but it wouldn't be hard for them to figure out. They could easily invade without him noticing and he wouldn't have any back up.
He remembered soon after he discovered he could pilot an I.S. All types of people from other countries showed up at his door asking to study him, as if he was some kind of lab specimen. The academy was able to protect him from that. Before the Phantom Task came along at least.
Thinking of all that again, he realized that what he said last night was kind of an exaggeration.
The world was out to get him, since he is the only male that could pilot an I.S. The academy was really the safest place he could be, even though he hated it now. Learning how to use the I.S. would really be the only way to defend himself from various dangers in the world.
Ichika let out a deep sigh. "Fine," he said. "I'll… Go back."
As much as he didn't want to, it was technically the only place he could be safe if he didn't count his former friends and their antics, but that was a whole different story.
Feeling a little relieved. Chifuyu said, "Good."
"But!" He looked at her again. "On one condition."
"What is it?"
"I want Tatenashi out of the room. I don't want a roommate!" He said.
"B-But why? She isn't like the others, is she?"
"That's what I thought," he started. "But having her around just made more problems with those bitches. Not to mention she and her sister joined the others at times instead of helping me!" He finished with a slight shout.
Chifuyu was worried about that. She had Tatenashi check up on him, because she had difficulties finding time and for personal reasons. She also knew that she protected him from the girls. At least to an extent.
"It's either that or I don't go!"
"Fine," Chifuyu reluctantly agreed. "I will look into arrangements for it."
"Good," Ichika walked to the stairs. "I-I'll get my things."
Ichika walked back upstairs to his room to gather his things. It was really only a few clothes and a couple of miscellaneous items. Feeling like he had enough things, he went back downstairs and walked to the door, where Chifuyu was waiting.
Turning to face her again. "This doesn't change anything!" He said coldly. "I'm not doing this for you or them, I'm only doing this for safety!" He looked away from her for a second. "Since I'm the only one who cares about my safety," he mumbled quietly.
Chifuyu felt her heart clench. She had hoped that he would be cooled down now and that she could hopefully patch things up, but it looked like he wasn't ready for that. Maybe he wouldn't at all, but she hoped that things would get better.
Not saying anything else, Ichika walked out the door, down the path, and started along the sidewalk. "Wait, we can drive," she called out to him.
He turned around. "I'd rather walk."
"Okay, as long as that's where you're going," she said.
Not saying anything more, Ichika made his way down the street. It was a fairly nice day out, so the walk to the train station was pretty peaceful.
After waiting for a couple of minutes, the train finally arrived. As it made its way to the island, Ichika started to feel dread, and all the pleasure from his walk disappeared as the train got closer. He remembered that he didn't have to go back to class right away since he was suspended. So he didn't have to worry about it too much right away.
He then remembered his harem. They could still try something, but he didn't care. They were no longer a part of his life, he wasn't going to run or hide from them, just completely ignore them and not talk to them whatsoever.
Eventually, the train reached its destination. Once he got off, he instantly started his way to his room. He didn't want to deal with anyone and stay in his room since he didn't have classes to deal with for a week.
A few academy girls saw him walking and were surprised to see him back since some of them witnessed his act yesterday and thought that he said that he was done with the place.
Ichika paid no attention to them as didn't want any trouble, he just wanted peace and quiet and that's exactly what he was getting.
As he was passing through the campus, he spotted a very specific group of girls exiting the building. His harem. He looked at the time, it was the morning break so maybe they were getting some fresh air. Ichika just continued looking ahead, down his path not wanting anything to do with them.
"Hey, it's Ichika!" He could hear one of them say, which he hoped wouldn't happen, but being the only male here he stuck out like a sore thumb.
The others looked and noticed him. "Ichika!" What sounded like Houki's voice called out. They all walked towards him.
Ichika didn't even turn to face them, just continued walking. Unfortunately, they followed after him, which only made him more mad.
"Ichika, please!" Charlotte pleaded.
Annoyed, Ichika turned to face the group. "I've got nothing to say to any of you!"
"Well, we have something to say to you!" Houki said.
"If you plan on apologizing and thinking I'm going to instantly forgive you, you're sadly mistaken!" Ichika responded coldly. "So forget it!"
He then looked at Tatenashi. "Tatenashi, you're no longer my roommate! You're out of the fucking room!"
Tatenashi was both shocked and confused. "W-What?! Why?!"
"You being in the same room as me has caused me nothing but trouble," Ichika spoke coldly to her. "And I've realized that you and even your sister," he motioned to Kanzashi. "Are no better than the rest of the bunch here!"
That only made her more confused. "Me?! How?"
Ichika gave her a hard look. "You made me late on that day we first met." Pointing to Charlotte for a second. "And caused Charlotte to shoot at me!"
Charlotte's face went red out of shame and she turned her face away.
"You set me up in that damn Cinderella play where everyone here was clearly trying to kill me!" He said, rapidly pointing at the others.
Pointing his finger up to point at the sky. "You also set me up in the sky with those balloons! Where they all tried to shoot me down!"
"Well, those were…" Tatenashi knew that was all true. She didn't know what to say.
"I could have literally died and you just didn't care! I thought you were supposed to be my bodyguard!"
"I-I am!"
"Well you're doing a terrible job!" He barked.
"And if either of those wasn't enough, when I accidentally chased that cat into the girls bath where Cecilia was, both you and your sister joined the others who assaulted me instead of understanding that it was an accident!" Ichika exclaimed angrily.
Both sisters started to feel guilt and regret washed over them as they both remembered that day.
"Speaking of your sister." He looked at Kanzashi. "You said that I was your first friend?"
Kanzashi worryingly nodded.
"Well, not anymore!" He fired.
Kanzashi felt heart shatter into pieces. To her, Ichika was her prince that helped her break out of her shell. After the events of yesterday and what he just said now, however. She realized that this is how Ichika must have felt all of those times she and the others had hurt him.
Tatenashi stepped forward, looking almost as hurt as her sister was. "No! You can't do that…"
He turned to her. "Oh, yes I can!" He barked. "Me trying to partner with her for the damn tournament only caused them–" He swiftly pointed his finger to the others. "To go crazy and hurt me… AGAIN!"
Tatenashi jumped when he shouted the last part.
He looked back to Kanzashi again. "There was also that time in Kyoto where I took your and Charlotte's picture," he pointed to Charlotte. "With you two sticking each other's skewers in the other's mouth as a funny picture, and you both thought I was just trying to do something wrong and shoved the two skewers down my throat to choke me!"
At the time, they both saw it as him trying to be perverted by getting them to do a dirty pose. Thinking of it now made them second guess it for obvious reasons.
"We're done!" He snapped at the two sisters.
Both of them looked like kittens that had been kicked. He looks at Tatenashi again. "I don't want you as my roommate! I don't want you as my bodyguard!" He thought these two sisters were different, but it was clear that they were just like the others.
"Also, I quit the council!" He said.
Tatenashi grew more worried. "No! Ichika, you can't…"
"JUST WATCH ME!" he shouted back.
Tatenashi took a step back. She didn't know what to say or do. This wasn't the Ichika she or any of them knew before. There seemed to be no way of convincing him.
Ichika looked at the girls one last time. "We're done here!"
He turned around and was about to continue walking to his room. Charlotte, who seemed to be becoming more and more desperate, stepped forward after him.
"Ichika, please! We can fix this. What hurts you, hurts us!" She pleaded. The others agreed.
Ichika stopped dead in his tracks when he heard that last part.
What hurts you hurts us!
That sentence echoed in his head over and over again. When he first met her, he did believe that. He thought the same for all of them. Really thinking about all the times they had hurt him through either assaults, insults, accusations, threats, being blamed for everything, and even almost being killed. They never even seemed sorry about doing so. They hardly if not ever apologized even once.
"Hahahahaha!" Ichika laughed bitterly, realizing what she said was completely bullshit.
Charlotte was both shocked and confused that he was laughing. It wasn't what she expected.
"W-What's so funny, Ichika?!" The others were all wondering the same thing.
Ichika spun around to face the group. "Are you kidding right now?! What hurts me hurts you?!"
Charlotte was even more confused. "What do you mean?"
"All of you have hurt me more than the Phantom Task or any government ever could! You have assaulted, insulted, harassed, threatened, and have even attempted to murder me over an accident or something that wasn't even my fault, or for no reason at all!" Ichika exclaimed angry, similar to how he did yesterday.
"All of this shit and none of you ever seemed sorry!" He added.
"Especially you!" He pointed at her. "You shot me with your I.S. and you never regretted it!"
"I do, Ichika!"
"Well, I don't believe it!" He said. "You only say that because I called you out on it! I was hoping you would realize it was wrong right away and apologize immediately after, but you didn't."
Charlotte was out of words. She didn't know what to do. None of them seemed to know what to do or how to get through to him.
Turning his gaze away from Charlotte, he looked at the rest of them.
"You don't appreciate anything that I have done for any of you! I have even risked my life at times to save you!"
He looked at Charlotte once again. "You for example. I said that I would protect you and you've never appreciated it!"
"Ichika," she paused for a second. "I appreciate that so much…"
"WELL, YOU DON'T SHOW IT!" He shouted. Charlotte, as well as the others all jumped as he shouted.
"It's happened so many times! Like that one time in Kyoto. After the battle, I woke up and you all looked at me with your arms crossed and not happy! I get that I was reckless, but still, you weren't even happy about what I did!"
They all remembered that day. They even remembered when he was still unconscious they all admitted their feelings for him, and hoped that he would be okay.
"Actually, before that there was the World Purge!" Ichika started. "You were all trapped in those fantasies and I got you all out! And again, you didn't appreciate it at all!" He finished.
He looked at them, he saw that they looked like they were going to say that they did, but Ichika shot his hand up. "Don't say it! I don't believe you!"
They all stopped in their tracks.
"Actually, that reminds me," he started. "Those fantasies you all had. Is that how you see me?!" He asked, bitterly.
Except for the two sisters, the others' faces all went red as they remembered that Ichika saw them like that, as well doing some questionable things with him.
Ichika looked towards Houki. "Houki, yours wasn't that bad, but you treated the fake Ichika better than the real one!"
Her face went red out of shame.
"Not only that, but when the fake me accidentally fell and grouped you, you straight up murdered him! That sounds exactly like the thing you would do to me!"
"Ichika, I…"
"Save it, Shinonono!" He cut her off.
Houki turned her head down now feeling more ashamed.
Ichika looked at the others again, mainly the ones who had those fantasies about him.
"Always call me the pervert, and there you are having odd looking fantasies about me!" He said. "But you know what? Regardless of that, you all treated the fake Ichika better than the real one here!" He said, while motioning to himself.
"If you just treated me nicely, then none of this would be happening!" He finished.
"Ichika, please! We can change-" Charlotte tried to say something again.
"BULL! SHIT!" He shouted. "I'm not falling for that!"
Just then Ichika got an idea. He decided to tell them that he knew about their feelings for him and that he always knew. It was going to be risky and it will likely make them mad, but it will likely force them to give up. And show them that he is not interested.
"You all like me, don't you!" He said. "You did everything because you were jealous that I was interacting with another girl, didn't you!"
"What?!" The seven of them said in unison.
"I know, I always knew!"
"This whole time you-" Charlotte tried to find the right words.
"Yes, I always knew about your feelings!"
"So all this time you…" Houki stuttered. "Tricked us?!"
Houki felt anger rise in her. If he knew about their feelings that means that he lied to them.
The others, mainly the five, all felt the same thing. That they have been lied to that he didn't know their feelings for him.
Tatenashi and Kanzashi were just as shocked. They felt the same way the others did. They both looked at the others and they stared at Ichika, looking like they wanted to tear him to shreds.
Without thinking, the sisters stepped between the girls and Ichika who looked like he was ready to activate his I.S.
"Girls! Don't!" Tatenashi pleaded.
"You're just going to make it worse!" Kanzashi followed after.
By a miracle, the girls managed to restrain themselves. The sisters then turned to face Ichika.
"Ichika, you're going to have to explain this!" Tatenashi said.
"Yeah!" Rin added. The others all agreed. They all wanted to know the truth from Ichika.
"Simple! Every time I talk to or interact with a girl, all of you harass, hurt, and even try to murder me!"
The girls thought for a second, he wasn't wrong. It's what they did whenever they got jealous. And there was definitely a chance that every girl in the class and even school would be the same.
"And there's another reason that I actually just realized!" Ichika started. "Why would I ever want to date someone who treats me like that! Beating me! Insulting me! And trying to end my life over something so petty!"
"But, Ichika…" Charlotte tried to say something again.
Ichika shot his hand up to cut her off. "No, I'm still talking here!"
She stopped.
"You were all right about me. I was dense! Not because I couldn't see that you were all trying to pursue me, but that I couldn't see how horrible you all are!" He said. "I will never date any of you! I choose nobody! No matter what you say or do, it will never happen!" He finished.
They all felt their hearts shatter into pieces. They were already heartbroken from yesterday's events, and now it only felt worse. Unfortunately, Ichika had one more trick up his sleeve.
"If that still doesn't get through to you!" Ichika then fished his phone out of his pocket. He showed them a photo of a random bride and a groom.
He points at the groom in the picture. "Let's pretend this is me," He said. "But this!" He then pointed to the bride in the picture. "This will never be any of you! None of you are worthy of that dress! Neither of you are worthy of those flowers! Neither of you are worthy of that ring!"
Rin then remembered something. "Ichika, does this mean you…"
Ichika looked at her. "Yes, I remember that damn promise! But you know what?! Promise broken!"
Rin felt as if she was going to sink into the ground. Normally she would violently lash out at him, or even try to kill him. But with everything Ichika has said and was clearly different now, she somehow couldn't bring herself to do it.
Ichika then looked at Charlotte again. "Same thing for you! Find someone else to protect you! And maybe you can learn to appreciate it!"
"Ichika, no, I can…"
"DON'T!" He cut her off with a shout.
He looked at the group one last time. They all looked like they were about to cry. "We're done!"
With that Ichika aggressively grabbed his bag and walked away from the group.
"I-Ichika!" begging in unison for him to come back, but he ignored them.
He got to the dorm room building, it didn't take long to get to the room that he never thought he would go back to. Putting a couple of his things back into the places he took from when he left the previous night, he laid down on his bed.
Well, I have a whole week pretty much to myself.
Ichika began to wonder what he could do since he was suspended for a week. He absolutely wanted nothing to do with his former harem or any girl here for that matter.
The Gotanda siblings were the first to come to his mind. They seemed to be concerned for him when he first told them about the girls and his school life. He then decided to try and give them a video call and tell them everything that had happened.
Getting out his laptop, he booted it up and rang them. After a minute, the ringing stopped and the two siblings appeared on screen.
"Hey, Ichika! What's up man?" Dan greeted him.
"Ichika, how was the first day back?" Ran added.
Ichika could only sigh. "Well, it's complicated. I have been suspended for a week."
The two instantly grew concerned. "Suspended? What happened?" Ran asked.
Dan thought the same thing. "Did those psychos do anything?"
Ichika then rubbed his temples. "Well, yes. But I did something too."
This only got them more curious. "What do you mean what did you do?" Dan asked.
After taking a deep breath, Ichika told them everything that had happened from when he left the eatery that day to right now. The way the girls confronted him when he ditched them. The nightmare he had. How he avoided them all day yesterday. That he snapped and smashed the table in two. And that he left the academy and that he was suspended for the week.
They were both absolutely shocked. They never expected all of that to happen. They only grew more concerned.
"Are you back at the academy right now?" Ran asked.
Ichika sighed again. "Yes. I don't want to be here, but it's technically the only safe place I can be from the rest of the world who is out to get me. Especially the Phantom Task."
There was no way they could not be concerned for their friend. Especially since the entire world was after him, including terrorists.
"What are going to do about those psychos?" Dan asked.
Ichika didn't want to think about them. "I'm done with them! They are no longer a part of my life. If they mess with me again, I swear to god I'll-" Ichika trailed off in his sentence. He didn't want to blow up in front of his friends.
"S-Sorry, this is all just really complicated…"
"It's fine dude. Take it easy," Dan said as he tried his best to comfort his friend.
"Yes. Just take it easy and be careful," Ran added.
Like the other day, Ichika felt comforted by the concerns of his friends. It even helped him calm down a bit. He looked at the time, he didn't have any plans for the week as the suspension was unexpected, but he felt the need to get some rest.
"It's been nice talking to you guys, I'm gonna go now and get some rest. I appreciate both of you."
The siblings felt relieved to see him looking somewhat better again, but were still concerned.
"Of course man. You can call anytime."
"Yes, we're here for you!"
Ichika couldn't help but smile. "Thank you guys! See you later."
"Bye!" The two of them said, before the call ended.
Ichika closed his laptop and sighed after flopping himself on his bed.
"Well, what am I going to do now," he said out loud to himself.
Suddenly there was a light knock at the door.
Ichika sat up. "Who is it?"
There was a moment of silence before a faint voice answered from the other side of the door. "It's me, Tatenashi."
Ichika frowned. "What do you want?" He didn't want to see any of them right now.
"Chifuyu called me about the… New arrangement you wanted. I'm just here to grab my things."
Ichika remembered that he didn't want Tatenashi to be his roommate anymore. That is what he demanded from Chifuyu if she wanted him to come back.
"Come in."
Tatenashi gently opened the door. As she stepped in, she looked both sad and a little nervous. She looked like she wanted to say something but tried her best not to.
"I don't want to hear it," Ichika said, as he saw she wanted to say something.
Not saying anything, she went and grabbed various items of hers, clothes, make up and other miscellaneous things. When she finished, she slowly walked to the door. Suddenly she stopped halfway and turned around, looking at Ichika desperately.
"Ichika, please listen! I know I messed up, but I never meant you any harm. I was just trying to have fun with you," she said, hoping he would listen.
Ichika stood up. Surprisingly, he didn't tell her off. He crossed his arms. "Look at me, Tatenashi. Do I look like I'm having fun? Do you see me laughing right now?"
Tatenashi was about to open her mouth to say something, but Ichika continued.
"Look around, Tatenashi. Look around. You were right, it's fine to have fun, but you have to know how, and you don't know when enough is enough. Now go!" Ichika pointed at the door.
Tears started to form In her eyes. "Ichika…Please."
"OUT!" He shouted, pointing at the door again.
Tatenashi looked down with her eyes closed to block her tears. She slowly walked towards the door.
Suddenly, she spun around again, holding her finger up, her mouth open ready to say something.
"OUT!" Ichika shouted again.
She stopped. Tears started to flow down her cheeks as she turned around again. She then slowly exited the room.
Once she was outside in the hallway, she saw the others and her sister, obviously they were trying to listen in.
"It's no use," she said in a sad and pained voice, looking down.
The others did the same. They all turned around and slowly walked away.
Ichika collapsed on his bed again. "What am I going to do now," he said to himself once again since he has a whole week ahead of him.
So what do you think of that so far? The next part will be out soon. I'm on vacation at the end of the month. I probably won't be working on the next chapter very much as I will be spending time with family.
After that, I hope to get some action going in this story, which I'm sure you are all waiting for. I'm also going to try and watch the anime, since I haven't seen it yet. Hopefully that will give me a hand with visuals.
Until then, peace!
