"Why do you always have to be a dick?"
He looked over at the girl with platinum hair that faded into bluish ends, her pure blue eyes fixed on him with complete disgust.
Can't believe I'm running into this girl right off the bat.
He looked at her for a moment, then closed his eyes, not having the energy to respond.
"Didn't you hear me?!"
He sensed the danger a half second too late. The hit connected clean against his jaw before he could move out of the way.
"Argh." He grabbed his face and turned to glare at her, but she clearly wasn't done.
Damn it. She's using this as an excuse to take her anger out on me, he thought, realizing this could escalate fast, possibly to the point where she actually hurt him badly.
"She just asked for your name and you're already showing off that disgusting personality of yours!" She reached forward and grabbed him by the collar. He tried to pull back, but the moment his eyes landed on her Meta-watch, he knew it was pointless.
[POWER LEVEL: 7]
"Let go, Ariana," he said, keeping his expression calm and indifferent even though he was clearly on the losing end of this.
[I sense more dark emotions.]
Why are you even telling me that?
"It's okay, I shouldn't have asked, it's my fault," came another voice. He turned to find a blonde-haired girl with a braid holding her hair back, her green eyes visibly uneasy, clearly wanting this whole thing to be over.
"Didn't you hear her? She said it's her fault, so let go," he said, gripping Ariana's spotless, slender white hands and trying to pry them off his collar, but she held firm, staring straight into his eyes, showing no intention of letting go.
"I hate you," she muttered, and then released him. The elevator doors slid open at the same moment and she walked out, pulling the blonde girl along with her.
"The feeling is mutual," he said, loud enough for her to catch it, and he noticed her free hand curl into a tight fist at her side.
Annoying girl.
He stepped out after them, but not before catching the sharp, unfriendly looks from several other students who had been in the elevator the whole time.
Great. More enemies. Just what I needed, he thought, rolling his eyes.
[Everything I said was the truth. You just keep shying away from it.]
"Yeah, right," he muttered, stepping into the classroom and pausing at the top of the tiered entrance to scan the rows of seats below. He could already see the girl who had punched him and the blonde-haired girl making their way toward the front.
"Ariana," he murmured to himself, then moved to find a seat in the middle section, right next to a large window that looked out over a stretch of colorful cherry blossoms. His eyes drifted back to Ariana, then to the blonde girl beside her.
[Why do you hate her so much?]
"What do you mean?"
[I can feel it. That dark emotion gets stronger every time you look at her. Why?]
"Ugh, just let me sleep." He leaned forward and rested his head on the desk, using both arms as a cushion, and closed his eyes.
[You're already hiding too many things. You could at least tell me this much.]
"What do you want?" he muttered, eyes still shut.
[That novel you read. I want to know what's in it.]
So you want to know the future.
[Yes.]
But you already do, don't you. I never told you I was a villain in that story, but you knew. How?
He got no answer.
"Right, keep your secrets," he muttered.
[I have a question.]
What.
[That girl from your past, why do I always sense that overwhelming feeling whenever you think about her? That deep obsession. Where does it come from?]
"I don't know," he said quietly, his head still down. "To be honest, when we first met I didn't like her at all. I hated her the same way I hated everyone else back then. But somehow she got to me. She made me feel things I didn't want to feel, and before I even realized it, I was already in too deep to walk away."
[You must have also noticed it yourself. Those feelings of yours, they aren't normal. It's almost as though…]
Don't say it, he thought, his voice tired even inside his own head. At this point I just want to let things be. What I feel for her is the only thing keeping me going. It's like a drug, and I don't ever want to let it go.