After much experimentation, Koremitsu and Hikaru found that it was possible for Koremitsu to maintain a certain distance from Hikaru in more open spaces. However, they could only be distanced a maximum of three meters from one another. In cramped spaces like a porta potty, they would be forced together in proximity - if Koremitsu did not move, Hikaru would be unable to leave the space.
What kind of joke is this? Now we have to stick together just to use the toilet?
The occasional couple of friendly girls might have held hands before going into separate stalls, but sharing the same lavatory was downright unseemly. It was more of an issue for Koremitsu and Hikaru, who were more of acquaintances than anything else, to share a washroom.
Koremitsu’s face felt like it was seething with fire as he recalled the uncomfortable feeling of facing Hikaru and urinating.
There was nothing more troublesome to Koremitsu than Hikaru’s presence. He had to finish his request as soon as possible and send him to Heaven.
The next morning, he walked into school with this steadfast determination.
“This is my first time riding in a bus full of people.”
Hikaru poked his head out playfully from a gap in the mass of humanity on board, as the many passengers inside packed like a can of sardines. There seemed nothing more supernatural than the sight of his face overlapping others’ in such a crowded setting.
He was not concerned about Koremitsu, who had been looking away from him deliberately, and continued to mutter to himself once they each got off the tram and walked to school.
“I used to be a gardening rep, and we’re to bury seeds like Dahlia and Lemon Grass this May. What activity are you involved in, Koremitsu?”
Unknowingly, Hikaru started to call him ‘Koremitsu’ instead of ‘Mr Akagi’.
Just when Koremitsu was about to complain about Hikaru being overly familiar with him,
“That’s because we are ‘designated’ as friends from now on. It will be distant of me to call you Mr Akagi now, right? You can call me Hikaru too, Koremitsu.”
The latter replied immediately,
“So, what did you do? Your joined a martial art club, right? Was it boxing or kung fu?”
“I was the pet raising committee member in elementary school. At that time, I took care of turkeys and rabbits.”
While frowning, Koremitsu gave a slightly subtle answer.
“I see. So you liked animals.”
“Turkeys are delicious when baked.”
“That red-nosed is really cute. Just like a Red Spider Lily.”
Hikaru did not mind as he continued this conversation that did not seem like one.
Had this carefree prince really realized that he had died?
Koremitsu held back from throwing a tantrum at him as he passed through the dignified looking school gate.
Heian Academy was a school that had all facilities from an affiliated kindergarten to a university. The middle school and high school had different gates, but they were located in the same campus area.
As Koremitsu took his shoes from the locker and started changing into them,
“Ah.”
Hikaru let out this voice.
There was a school news report with a photo of Hikaru when he was alive pinned on the notice board on the corridor.
There were pieces of colored paper stuck beside them, with the words of mourning written on them.
“Farewell.”
“I loved you most.”
“I definitely won’t forget you.”
“Your Hikaru, you were once our youth.”
Even till this point, there were still girls crowding over there, red-eyed as they wrote their messages on it.
Amongst them, there was a girl who was crying as she read the messages. While she covered her face with both hands, her good friend beside her comforted her despite being teary-eyed too.
Koremitsu felt his entire body being tied down to the ground.
(I say, even though you don’t have friends, aren’t a lot of people sad over your death here?)
His body felt a sharp cutting pain, and his chest was blazing with heat.
He thought that Hikaru would shed even a tear, but a gentle voice rang beside him.
“You are like a Daisy swaying in the spring breeze. Please don’t cry, tears don’t fit you.”
Unexpectedly, that Hikaru would approach this crying girl and reach his hands to her back.
And then, he embraced this girl like a fragile item in a seemingly experienced manner, (However, his arms were already entrenched within the girl’s body), and muttered in her ears.
“Do you know what does the Daisy represent in terms of flower language? It means to be ‘cheerful’. Here, smile, show me that cheerful smiling face of yours.”
At that moment, Koremitsu was at a loss of words.
What exactly was going on?
Hikaru slowly closed his eyes and let out sweetness from between his lips. As he let out this bewitching voice that could melt a spine, there seemed to be a glow radiating around him.
“…Oi.”
While Koremitsu looked on with a frozen expression, Hikaru again approached another girl, held (?) her trembling little hand and passionately brought his lips to her ears.
“Over here, you who are like a Blue Cornflower, please pull yourself together. Cornflowers represent ‘happiness’ here. Aren’t you normally bubbly and radiating with hope?”
And so, he floated around and appeared amidst the girls who were crying, stroked their hair(?) and held their hands(?).
“To you, who is like a Buttercup in the wild, you look cute when you smile. Ah, the one who’s like a Snowdrop there, the same goes for you as well. If you cry like that, your beautiful eyes will melt if you cry like that. Will you stop crying if I kiss you?”
He held the face full of large rolling teardrops with both hands as he approached with a gentle expression. At this point, Koremitsu could not take it any longer as he freaked out and yelled.
“STOP IT RIGHT THERE, YOU BIG PERVERT!!”
Hikaru was taken aback as he looked over at Koremitsu.
Koremitsu stormed furiously at Hikaru.
“What love messages are you spouting there!? Think of your own predicament here! This isn’t the time to talk about such squirmy things behind other people’s backs here! Are you an idiot!?”
Hikaru did not seem accepting of Koremitsu’s frustration as he argued back.
“To me, I can’t imagine myself leaving a crying girl alone like that. If you see a wilting flower, won’t you not feed it with water and fertilizer and take care of it well with all your strength?”
“Like that has anything to do with me! I was a pet feeder! I wasn’t a gardening rep!”
“Then, if you see a wounded cat, you should cradle it gently and treat its wounds, right?”
“Of course not. Stray cats will just lick their own wounds.”
“There are some wounds that can’t be treated just by yourself…hey, Koremitsu, the others are looking at us here.”
The moment Hikaru pointed this out, Koremitsu froze.
Of course, there was no way anyone else could hear this person’s voice.
He looked around with a stiff expression, and found that there was an empty space of 2m radius formed around him unknowingly.
The girls stopped crying as they cringed with horrified expressions. The moment their eyes met Koremitsu’s, their shoulders jerked, and they looked away.
(Don’t I look like some dangerous guy who’ll yell without warning on the corridor?)
He had originally decided to act decently so that he would not be nicknamed anything embarrassing like ‘The Red Devil’. Would it not be ruined now?
“Ah…erm…”
He wanted to salvage this situation somehow, but he could only give off cold sweat, and was unable to say anything.
Slowly, his face was burning up.
This is bad. Is my face red now?
“I…I’m not talking to you guys—at all!”
He snarled with a flustered expression and hurriedly left the scene.
“Don’t mind, Koremitsu. Your reputation won’t be shaken just by entering the school and yelling on the corridor out of a sudden. Besides, you’re the 27th king of delinquents who single-handedly beat up an army of delinquents here. There is no worse reputation than this now, so please relax.”
(What kind of consolation is this here!?)
He swore in his heart not to speak to Hikaru in front of anyone again.
Due to the shame and regret, his expression felt 3 times scarier than usual, and his eyes looked 10 times sharper than usual. He reached the classroom, opened the back door, and found a petite girl standing in front of him, nearly passing out in the process.
“Hah…good, good morning…Akagi.”
This plain-looking bespectacled girl had a short twisted braid behind her head, and she was the class representative. Koremitsu did not know her name, and the other classmates called her ‘rep’ too.
He remembered the first day he stepped into this school after that hospitalization.
“I heard that he’s the legendary delinquent…”
“Students from other schools came looking for trouble with him during Middle School, and there was a bloody incident…”
“He beat 10 people to near death.”
There were all sorts of various rumors.
He was avoided by his classmates who believed these rumors that kept getting ridiculous, and she was the only person who went to talk to him.
But even so,
“We-well…I’m the class representative…pl-please take care of me, Akagi. If, if there’s anything you don’t know, you may ask me.”
Her face was extremely tense, and she was so nervous that her greeting voice was shrill as she. “Thanks. Where’s the canteen?” but just as Koremitsu was about to answer back,
“Th-the-then, in that case, I’ll make my move.”
The class rep added on and darted back to her seat like an escaping rabbit.
He saw her with her hands clasped together; shuddering at her table, obviously praying in her heart that he would not talk to her. If he actually asked her back then, she would have probably screamed and hid herself under the table.
Even though it ended up this way, she still fulfilled her responsibility as a class rep, and whenever her eyes met Koremitsu, she would greet him “Good, good morning.” Or “Good, goodbye.”
Normally, she would walk away immediately afterwards, but this time, she remained where she was, and did not leave as she asked tentatively.
“Akagi…you attended Lord Hikaru’s funeral yesterday, didn’t you…are you familiar with him?”
It seemed that she too was present at that time.
He wanted to answer that they were not really on close terms, but beside him, Hikaru nagged, saying that they were designated as friends.
“We are close friends here, Koremitsu.”
Since when are we close friends here!?
There has to be a limit to your brazenness here! Just when he was about to yell out, he immediately gritted his teeth and frowned.
That was a close call. I nearly shocked everyone again.
The next moment however, the class rep jumped like a hare again.
“So-sor-sorry for asking you in such an interrogative manner. It’s fine, you don’t have to answer here!”
Her face turned face and she ran off. (Um... What?)
He looked angry when he gritted his teeth and frowned, and it was no wonder that she was terrified. He saw her return to her own seat, and her short braid was trembling as she continued to pray like the last time.
“A girl like her who gets shy easily is really as cute as a plum blossom changing colors.”
Hikaru said with a relaxed expression.
(No, that’s not being shy. She… looks terrified no matter how I see it.)
Koremitsu wondered that if he were to think about anything enthusiastically like Hikaru, he would probably die with a smile too. At this point, he felt envious and yet a complicated feeling of not wanting this experience to befall on him as he threw his bag onto his table.
Koremitsu’s seat was at the closest seat to the corridor at the last row.
He glanced slightly at the seat opposite the narrow aisle. The girl seated at that seat did not look happy this morning as she pouted and frowned as she fondled her cellphone.
She sent messages by moving her fingers quickly in a sliding manner.
She was always using her phone, whether it was before school or during the breaks.
Her bright tea-colored long hair slid down her slender shoulders, covering her temples and nestling upon her ears. However, her fingers did not stop. Her fierce looking eyes were pointing up more than before, and she looked thoroughly engrossed as she stared at the screen of the phone.
She completely ignored this savage looking delinquent beside her.
It was one thing for Koremitsu to be troubled by how everyone was fearful of him, but it was not interesting for her to completely ignore him. She did not even make a glance at him, let alone greet him. One would wonder what her problem was.
This girl sat beside the frustrated Koremitsu was still minding her own business as if nothing had happened. She had a strong-willed heart that matched her utter fearlessness.
(No, I guess this person here is also mistaken to have a violent personality because she’s born with fierce-looking eyes and left alone as a result. This is why she’s been using her phone to spend the time. She’s probably someone very lonely.)
The moment he had this thought, the fire in his belly seemed to have subsided.
But to Hikaru beside him, it seemed that no matter how that girl did not care about anything around her, no matter how she ignored Koremitsu’s presence, these were all points of attractiveness.
“A girl that’s thoroughly focused on doing something is just like a crimson Hibiscus. Is she sending a message to her boyfriend?”
While Hikaru was trying to peep on the contents of the phone,
“Oi, stop it.”
Koremitsu warned him softly.
The moment he said that, the girl beside him stopped her fingers that were typing at the keys, and turned to glare at Koremitsu.
Her eyes were giving off a sharp glint, like a cat not willing to be approached
He wanted to explain that he was not talking to her, but he did not say so.
In the end, he ended up glaring at her, something he did not want to do.
A male classmate yapped away loudly as he sprinted to the classroom door.
“Oi! The delinquent king suddenly went crazy at the shoe lockers! It seemed that he yelled at the sobbing girls leaving their messages at Lord Hikaru’s notice board, “WHAT ARE YOU CRYING ABOUT, YOU BUNCH OF LEWD FEMALE DOGS! I CAN LICK YOU ALL UP IF YOU REALLY WANT HIM THAT MUCH!” that’s really barbaric, satanic—ack!”
He probably let out the ‘ack!’ at the end was because he sensed the killing intent radiating from Koremitsu’s body.
At that moment, he was soaked in cold sweat, at a loss of what to do.
“No…er-erm…the delinquent king here doesn’t refer to our master delinquent in this class…i-it’s from another class…well, erm, about that…I’M REALLY SORRY!”
The boy knelt down on the podium to beg for forgiveness, and his pale-faced classmates witnessed this scene.
(I’m the delinquent king no matter what now? What are you apologizing for, you idiot bastard!?)
While Koremitsu’s heart sank into despair, the culprit Hikaru said with amazement as he gave a look of lamentation,
“Wow, this is the first time I’m seeing someone kneeling down for forgiveness. It sure has an unforgettable impact to me. I’ll definitely do this to a girl next time.”
While the commotion was processing, the girl sitting next to Koremitsu continued to frown as she sent her messages.