[A/N: I am a bit sketchy about this chapter.]
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By the time they had arrived back at the dorm, it was already late. Darkness was slowly creeping into the world only to be shunned away by the million-billion lights struggling to provide false comfort to those who snuggled close.
"Good night," Horikita was the first to say.
Heylel nodded as the elevator reached the fourth floor letting him off. "Good night." Her destination was the seventh floor.
Heylel wanted to go and rest but he had already skipped out on the exercise time so he wasn't really tired today. It could only mean one thing, chore day!
But first, Heylel walked over to 401 and knocked on the door.
It took a good minute or so but the door opened slightly and Ayanokoji's head peaked out. Seeing who had come knocking he fully opened the door, the first thing out of him was, "How did it go with Horikita?"
Heylel smiled, "She will hold the study group tomorrow and I also managed to make her cough up a pinky promise so I think good?"
Ayanokoji took a second to process the words that had left this fellow's mouth, a pinky promise? A pinky promise? He looked up at the white, colourless ceiling imagining both of them…"God, that is so stupid."
Heylel on the other hand laughed, "But it's fun, come on. Now, where's my bag?"
Ayanokoji shook his head, it seemed he didn't need to worry about Horikita. "Want to come in?"
Heylel shrugged, "Why not."
Leading him inside, Ayanokoji let the boy lock the door while he went to the kitchen.
Making sure the door shut behind him, Heylel walked onto the and sat down at the floor table. A few moments later Ayanokoji joined him with a cup of tea for both of them.
"So, how did it go after I left?" Heylel asked about the group.
'I got blackmailed by Kushida,' He thought but kept that to himself, "It disbanded peacefully."
"So, at the end it was Kushida? For convincing Sudou I mean," Heylel took a sip of the tea as he folded his legs.
"I tried to appeal to logic but they didn't listen so I sent in Kushida and…"
Heylel laughed. "Yeah, I played a game of ball with Sudou to scout them out. I also planned to ask Kushida for help but you beat me to it," he narrated, conveniently leaving out the emotional blackmail he tried.
"So, what did you two talk about?" Ayanokoji pushed a topic of interest for him, both of them had potential…
Heylel took a sip of the tea and put on a smirk, "Just on that she should be a little more considerate of people. I want to say more but she would kill me."
"It was that embarrassing?" He asked and the other boy nodded a laugh threatening to bubble out, "She was adorable I tell you…" He trailed.
Ayanokoji's eyes widened, "Adorable?" Was that a crush he was hearing? He thought Heylel was more rational than that, to crush on the ice queen…bold. Well, who was he to say what went on between the two?
Heylel just shrugged as he finished the tea, falling back on the floor, "Man, what a day."
"Really? I thought it was quite fine compared to other days we have been through, take the day we found out about the points for instance—"
"Agreed," Heylel cut him off, "Agreed, that day was worse. But I'm not talking about good or bad, this day was just weird."
"How so?"
Got forced into helping Horikita, then roped into stopping Sudou from attacking her, and afterwards ran after her, went to Karaoke with her and talked her ear off. "Just that it was." Helping that girl yesterday with English had cascaded into such a series of events.
"Is that so? Well, I will say, it was pretty cool how you stopped Sudou," Ayanokoji looked down at him, Heylel did not respond instead he just stared up at the ceiling, clearing his mind. About a minute of silence later he spoke, "I wonder how involved I will be with Horikita after today."
The boy didn't say it but he hoped for the answer to be 'inseparably so.' That would be to the benefit of everyone. The class will benefit from his talent, Horikita will have someone to correct her, Heylel will have someone who can push him out of inaction and Ayanokoji will have her off his back. Last one most importantly.
"Well," Heylel pushed himself off the floor, "If you would just hand me my bag, I will get going."
Ayanokoji nodded and slid out Heylel's bag from the side of the bed. Taking it Heylel left the room, leaving the boy to his thoughts. He didn't feel agitated today, if one discounted the Kushida incident then one could even say it was a good day and it had a good ending to boot.
Though for some reason he didn't feel sleepy. And even an hour later, in the darkness of his room, he couldn't fall asleep, so he got up and left. Soon or later he found himself in the lobby drinking juice and mindlessly watching the CCTV.
"Hmm?"
In the CCTV for the elevator box, he saw Horikita in her uniform, tapping the floor relentlessly, she looked stressed out of her mind. Maybe he should do something? No, he knew who should. Quickly he slapped a picture, sent it to a certain someone and hid so he could see the CCTV for the fourth floor.
There he saw, Heylel scramble out of 403 and rush straight down the stairs.
Hey, this also counted as wing manning right?
By the time Heylel was down, Horikita had already passed by, so he pushed out and just as Heylel came down he pointed in her direction. An appreciative but silent nod later Heylel was gone too. Now, Ayanokoji followed.
But just as he was about to turn the corner a hand reached out and grabbed him, almost instinctively he moved to break it but stopped after seeing it was Heylel. They were now both standing behind a vending machine.
Horikita was there, in the open, he had seen a glimpse of her.
"Suzune. I didn't think you'd follow me this far," he said.
'Shit, he cursed, had she left in the dead of night to rendezvous with some guy?' He looked up at Heylel, he was dead serious. Maybe their friendship was over?
"Hmph. I'm far different from the useless girl you once knew, brother. I came here to catch you."
'Brother?' Ayanokoji felt relieved that his assumptions had been unfounded. Heylel had been the first boy he had swapped contact with, it would have been a shame to be hated now.
"Catch me, hmm?"
"I heard you were placed in Class D. I suppose nothing has changed in the last three years. You've always been fixated on following me, and as a result, you don't notice your flaws. Choosing to come to this school was a mistake."
"That's… You're wrong about that. I'll show you. I'll reach Class A right away, then—"
"It's pointless. You will never reach Class A. Your class will fall apart soon enough. Things at this school aren't as simple as you think."
"I will definitely! Definitely reach—"
"I told you, it's pointless. You are a disobedient little sister."
Both of them could hear him step closer and Heylel peeked out just as the man with eyes just as emotionless as a serial killer pushed and grabbed her arm—she offered no resistance—and pushed her to the wall.
"No matter how I try to avoid you, the fact remains that you're my little sister. If people around here learned the truth, I would be humiliated. Leave this school immediately."
"I-I can't do that… I will reach Class A. I'll show you!"
"How incredibly stupid. Do you want to relive the pain of the past?"
"Brother, I…"
"You possess neither the abilities nor the qualities needed to reach Class A. Get that through your head."
Ayanokoji waited. Heylel waited. This was a sibling dispute as long as he did not hit her. Then the 'brother' raised his hand—Heylel acted first, no Ayanokoji let him, Heylel was surprisingly fast.
The brother character who Ayanokoji now identified as the student council president had one of his arms clawed in Heylel's grip, an inch or two from Horikita's cheek—Heylel was fast but not enough to ever be a threat, Ayanokoji concluded.
Neither of them had an ounce of emotion on them, no, Heylel did, his black eyes were unmoving, focused, and ever so slightly narrowed, he was pissed off. If looks could kill the President would have been vaporised by now.
"What?" The president looked at his arm and the person holding it, meeting his eyes.
"Heylel! Hey—" Horikita cried.
"Really, senior?" He asked nothing but his eyes betraying anything.
"Eavesdropping is not an admirable quality," he said.
"Fuck off from here then."
"Crude."
They glared at each other in complete silence.
"Stop it, Heylel," said Horikita, her voice strained. None of the two boys had heard her voice like that before.
He let go. Immediately he moved to backhand him in the face, and Heyel pushed forward, the hand hit nothing but air. Heylel's right hand moved to grab the President's face, he tried to jump back to dodge. But Heylel pushed aggressively regardless, grabbing the President's open leg with his left arm and pulling him back in. The President immediately lost balance and while Heylel didn't grab his face, he caught his hair.
In seconds the president was on the ground and Heylel above him, one arm holding his leg and moving to his arm. The other pulled his head by his hair and moved to slam down into the pavement—he stopped, the back of the President's head barely a centimetres' distance from the hard pavement. "Another move and…" Heylel said in the softest whisper before pushing himself off the president, who was frozen stiff. He was a hair's breadth from being in an ICU or perhaps a grave…it was understandable.
Ignoring the man on the ground, Heylel moved to the girl and gently kneeled in front of her. She was shocked too. "You okay?" He asked, having immediately switched gears.
She barely got out a nod.
It took a minute or ten before everyone was calm again, Heylel kept his eyes deathly still on the President who had a tremble in his arm but was at least on his own two feet.
"Why did you attack me?" Heylel demanded.
The President did not look good, he was a trained martial artist that Ayanokoji was sure of. But Heylel didn't fight like a martial artist, he fought like…an animal, yes. An animal. He was aggressive, he was fast, his arms carried strength, and his movement had a self-surety to it as if he were a beast.
He had been in fights. Definitely. And he had learned to fight like that not by training under instructors but rather by beating people into the ground.
An interesting opponent to face for sure but Ayanokoji already knew how he would make Heylel eat the dirt if he tried anything.
"It–" The President stuttered. Finally, he took a deep breath, "I wanted to test your skill."
Heylel moved his hand through his hair, heaving an audible sigh, "Idiocy, retardation and a sudden bout of madness are all better excuses for attacking someone than 'test your skill,' I hope you remember that going forward senior."
The man swallowed hard, "And you should remember to control yourself—"
"Get lost, don't come near Horikita again. Not as long as she is here or until she gives permission. Got it?" Ice was warmer than the tone he used as he referred to the girl behind him.
The President didn't answer, instead, his eyes moved to Horikita, "It is good that you have a friend, Heylel right?" His eyes returned to him, "You should get trained. Otherwise, you'll kill someone someday. Violence is a useful tool, but currently, you have too little control over it." He took a breath, "You will find that sometimes you want to apply your violence very surgically."
Heylel sighed, "You are correct. As much as I fucking hate you right now, you are correct."
The president nodded, "Good. Out of control as you are, at least you see your flaws. Which class are you in?"
"1-D."
A look of understanding passed through the president's eyes. Then he turned around, "Good luck then Class 1-D. I hope you three don't disappoint." And with that, he left.
"Three?" Horikita asked.
Ayanokoji cured as he walked out from his hiding spot, Horikita immediately identified him, "Ayanokoji too!?"
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"That was reckless," Were her first words when her brother departed. Heylel rolled his eyes and tossed a can of juice to her. She caught it, "How did you know?"
Heylel shrugged and pointed to Ayanokoji who was seated on a bench opposite her, while he went over and sat down next to her, a soda in hand. She followed his direction and Ayanokoji raised his hands in mock surrender, "Caught you in cameras and decided to call for him."
She nestled the can in her hands, "He is my brother. Manabu Horikita, third year and current student council president."
A silence settled in after that, one that Heylel didn't like, "He was strong. Very strong."
"He's ranked fifth dan in karate and fourth dan in aikido." She started and finally popped her drink.
"Ugh, dodged a bullet there, if he hit me it would hurt," Heylel said, not understanding a word Hotikita had said, hell, he had never heard the words, 'Aikido' and 'Dan' before.
"You say that as if you did not just beat him into the ground," Ayanokoji quipped.
Horikita even tentatively asked, "Have you ever trained before?"
"I have trained in back street brawls," Heylel shrugged, forgetting to mention that he was talking of a person who was legally dead…probably?
She huffed, "I could tell. What did you do in life before here?"
He chugged the whole drink in one go and tossed the can into the bin, "Stuff that would have landed me in a correctional facility if I got caught. Thankfully that didn't happen." Ignoring the looks he got he asked her, "So what's your goal Horikita? You know mine, stay out of the limelight."
"Get to Class A and prove Brother wrong," She drank another sip, then she looked at him with a smirk on her lips, "You seem to be failing in your goal though." Even today when the picture came from Ayanokoji, he opened it without thinking and the 'read' sign appeared next to it. He couldn't pretend to have not seen it after that now could he?
His luck was truly rotten. However, how could he play around getting a random picture from Ayanokoji of all people?
Her tone combined with her smirk annoyed Heylel. He chopped her head. "Ouch," she moved her hands to rub it. Then he said, "Who's fault is that?"
"And who told you to get involved in everything?" She tried to put annoyance in her tone but there was none to be found, instead, she made a helpless expression, "I owe a lot to you it seems. Tell me if there is something I can do."
He nodded and looked at Ayanokoji, "What about you?"
Ayanokoji crushed the can in his hand before dropping it into the bin, "I just want to avoid trouble"
Horikita shook her head at that. "I wonder if that is your defect, Ayanokoji."
He raised his brow, "Do elaborate."
"The decision to not utilise what you have, maybe that is why you are in class D," She explained.
Ayanokoji nodded, "Maybe." Then to shift the topic he asked, "Are you satisfied with how it all ended today? At the study group, I mean."
A yawn broke out of her, letting it go away she shook her head, "Of course not. We will get to it tomorrow."
"Good, I was worried you had given up on them," He said.
She shared a look with Heylel and both decided to keep their mouths zipped.
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