Yes, I Was Waiting.
Yes, I Was Waiting.
Four hours after that incident occurred.
Until she returned to the mansion, Shizuku kept looking down at her right hand the entire time.
Calluses had formed, and scars remained where the skin had torn.
"...."
As the wound stung, memories of what had happened just a few days ago resurfaced.
The experience of thoroughly trampling someone who had looked down on her in a Kendo match. That moment was still vividly swirling in her mind.
"...Haa."
Shizuku took a deep breath and looked at her reflection in the mirror.
Lethargic eyes, showing no emotion whatsoever.
......Originally, she wasn't such a cold, bloodless human being.
However, the continuous provocations and mockery from others, along with the unresolved feelings pent up within her family, accumulated until things turned out this way.
Of course, the fact that she had to trample them just as severely for the crime of disgracing her family remained unchanged.
If she did not punish someone for disparaging her—who was practically the face of the family—right to her face, then what had she been preserving her dignity for all this time?
But as she looked at her hands, which had been covered in someone else's blood, an inexplicable fear struck her heart.
It was weird. It was strange.
"..."
Harming people isn't right. In any manner, it isn't pleasant.
..........She shouldn't be feeling refreshed, though.
Throwing off the strict family discipline and expressing her emotions as she pleased—this feeling.
This sensation of wielding all the resentment she had harbored against those who suppressed her against someone else.
The relief of feeling comfortable.
A sense of liberation she couldn't break away from, even while recognizing that it was wrong.
"...."
...It isn't right.
The family's rule that one must maintain dignity as a baseline was still ringing in her ears.
Even so, she couldn't stop.
Even the master who had taught her Kendo would tell her to stop immediately if he saw her like this.
Every time she committed that act—the only thing that let her catch her breath—it was true that she felt so afraid her hands would tremble.
If someone else had taught her how to feel this emotion, she would have given anything for it.
....This was an emotion that couldn't be obtained without relieving it through unleashing violence upon others.
However, that answer was denied by what had occurred four hours ago.
Because someone had made her feel this emotion, leaving her heart in confusion.
'....Pretty.'
The image of a certain man flashed in her mind, speaking those words while casually stroking her hair.
The Student Council President. Akira.
"..."
Then, suddenly.
Shizuku slowly raised her hand and stroked her own hair.
As that warm yet awkward heat lingered, her expression changed strangely.
She placed her hand over the spot he had touched, attempting to recreate the situation.
"...Eut."
Shizuku's fine eyebrows twitched.
Just as she was looking back and forth between her hand that had touched his and the lingering peculiar sensation—
-"...You worked really hard. Pretty."
Her heart beats even louder.
It's far worse than the anger she had felt back then.
Blood rushes to her face. Her body feels like it's floating up.
It was a sensation she had never experienced in her life, so she had no choice but to be on guard against it.
Yet, while experiencing it, she feels a sense of liberation at the same time.
The feeling that that man's presence inside her is rapidly growing larger.
Pretty. That single phrase of his lingered in her ears in particular.
Beautiful. Pretty. Words she had heard until she was sick of them, but it was the first time she had heard them from someone who was looking directly at her hand.
Even if it was the same word, it felt unfamiliar somehow.
"....It didn't seem... like a lie."
....It was strange.
Having dealt with countless people on a daily basis, she was skilled at reading the emotions of others.
Even if a person lies, the body does not lie.
The gaze wavers for a split second.
Breathing quickens just a little bit.
Fingertips unconsciously tense up.
Lips dry out. Pupils dilate.
But. The man she encountered today at the Student Council Office was different.
In the eyes looking down at her hand, there was no pity.
No sympathy. Nor false goodwill.
Not a single breath was disarranged.
Nor did his gaze waver.
As if he really was a person who thought that scar was beautiful.
That was why.
She couldn't understand it even more.
He was someone with whom she hadn't exchanged a single private conversation for an entire year.
What on earth was the attitude he displayed today?
That wasn't a distance between students; it was already a distance similar to lovers.
....Of course, considering her past experiences with the opposite sex, it wasn't completely incomprehensible, but...
Shizuku's intuition was telling her otherwise.
That something had changed.
-Ttok-ttok.
At that moment, a quiet knocking sound awakens her from her thoughts.
Someone who doesn't speak first, but only knocks.
Just from that, she could instantly tell who the person was.
"Come in."
Shizuku said without taking her eyes off her hand.
Soon, the door opens.
Heavy yet concise, the sound of footsteps entering with quick, brisk strides could be heard.
"...What brings you here?"
Shizuku asked without even looking back.
"How was school today?"
Her father, Kazuki, asked.
"..."
Shizuku did not answer.
Silence flows for a moment.
Kazuki walked over slowly, pulled out a chair, and sat beside her.
As for her, she understood what this action implied.
"...Didn't the personal servant report everything to you?"
Shizuku couldn't bring herself to say it was good, even as lip service.
If she took her eyes off her hand, that stifling feeling might well up again.
Having lived a lifetime under constant surveillance, to think he was trying to control even the inside of her heart.
"Shizu, I won't speak at length. You don't seem to want that either."
Shizuku blinked a couple of times, then answered with silence.
His voice was subtly different from usual.
Others would never understand it, but it was a tone different from when he conversed with anyone else.
Deeply infused within it was what he valued most—anxiety for the family and oppression toward her. Always.
Shizuku was able to see right through that subtle difference.
It had become all too familiar now.
"There will be a dining gathering tomorrow morning."
Kazuki said.
"..."
"You are the face of the Ichinose Family. As it is a gathering of important figures, you must never show an unrefined appearance."
"...I see."
Words she was sick of hearing. From the moment she was born. To this very moment, breathing and living. Every single moment, she had heard such words.
"Especially after what happened in the last match. I trust you know full well that you must not show even a single flaw."
"....Yes. I know."
"Since the first step of the new semester is important, you must pay even more attention."
As the reality of having to live a life bound by shackles once again hit home, Shizuku's complexion darkened as well.
Accordingly, words she couldn't find the courage to utter began to spill out.
".........Must it... really be like that?"
"..."
"Is that the only way this family stays safe?"
If she lives like this, hidden tightly and putting on an embellished facade...
Would the future really be bright? Is it okay like this?
People forced this image upon her, calling it perfect, but.... the stifling feeling was just the same.
Because living while being forced to wear clothes that didn't fit was far too painful.
In truth, it wasn't as if she asked back because she didn't know the reason.
But she wanted to hear the words coming out of his mouth.
She wished he would utter at least a minimal excuse.
"As you already know full well.... Shizuku. You are the future of the Ichinose Family."
As expected, he spoke like this.
Shizuku was not surprised by that fact. Yet, that didn't mean she felt nothing.
Tension enters her hand. A sense of suffocation is felt.
Suddenly, she wondered why she had to listen to things like this.
What kind of malice did he hold to torment her so much?
However, there was no way he would ever understand this heart of hers. Probably for the rest of his life.
"....I will trust in you."
Delivering nothing more than a cold notification.
In the end, Shizuku killed her emotions.
Suppressed them inside, endured them. She kept enduring. Just as she always had.
"....Yes. Please leave now."
///
The next day.
Student Council Office, 6:10 AM.
However, in reality, it was closer to an unofficial meeting to coordinate the school's future direction and the interests of each prestigious family.
Shizuku wanted to avoid conversation as much as possible.
But staying silent in this place was not permitted either.
"Come to think of it, Ichinose-yang."
The man sitting opposite her opened his mouth.
"I enjoyed watching the last Kendo tournament."
"......"
"As expected of a young lady from a prestigious family."
He was a man backed by the support of a high-ranking family.
He was smiling.
Shizuku caught the sarcasm hidden in his smiling expression.
Certainly, after yesterday's incident, reading the emotions of others had become even easier for her.
"Thank you for the compliment."
"However."
The man continued.
"The opponent in the final was a bit disappointing."
"Since all the strong contenders dropped out during the preliminaries."
"..."
Meaningless mind games and provocations.
Shizuku was already thinking that she didn't want to sit at this dining table for long.
She was exhausted.
Facing and sitting across from people like that.
Forcing a smile while listening to rude remarks.
She hated the situation where she had to force a smile at a rude opponent.
Simply put, she disliked everything about it.
And what was most stifling was that she couldn't show these feelings. The fact that she couldn't leave added to it as well.
The conversation continued.
The school's future direction.
Current issues of concern.
And.
The nerve war and information warfare between prestigious families that did not surface on the outside.
Just keeping up with their conversation was exhausting.
It felt like constantly wearing uncomfortable clothes.
As time passed...
The stifling pressure crushing her chest only grew larger and larger.
Therefore, she carefully closed her eyes and placed her hands gracefully on her knees.
She no longer wanted to continue a conversation like this.
At that moment.
-Chwa-ak.
Shizuku felt water poured from the opposite side.
When she closed and opened her eyes, more than half of her right forearm was already soaked.
His hand had intentionally knocked over her water glass.
"Ah, my bad."
Shizuku looked at him. There was no need to bother confirming his intention.
Yet, without erasing his pleasant smile, he apologized superficially and called for a servant.
He was throwing a subtle cue not to remain consistently silent.
"I apologize. I accidentally..."
Contrary to his words...
His eyes were not smiling.
Shizuku swallowed hard and reached her hand out toward a handkerchief.
The soggy sensation felt thoroughly unpleasant.
She hated the stifling feeling.
She wanted to break out of here, but it seemed she had to engage in more talk.
She simply didn't have the courage to endure the aftermath that would storm in after stepping out alone from here.
"However, I was a bit surprised."
"By what?"
"I didn't know the young lady was such a meek person."
Shizuku's fingertips hardened ever so slightly.
"Meek, you say?"
"Ah, not in a bad way."
He was still smiling.
"It's just that it's a bit different from the rumors."
-Ttuk, ttuk, ttuk,
Clear drops of water trickled down along Shizuku's pure white knuckles.
Offering to wipe her wet hand himself as a gesture of apology, the man raised the corners of his lips into a sinister smirk.
"I heard that the young lady of the Ichinose Family never bows her head first to others, no matter how unpleasant the matter."
Only now did Shizuku seem to understand why concern had washed over the faces of those around her. They had known he would pull something like this.
Despite that, the reason they had no choice but to keep their mouths shut was that they didn't know in what manner he would mess with her.
Regardless of the era, the ways to provoke others are diverse. If one shows even the slightest sign of composure breaking, the opponent digs into that weakness.
And.
He was currently searching for that weakness in Shizuku.
"..."
"Yet today you are quite quiet."
His gaze swept down Shizuku's wet forearm.
"I must have misheard."
Shizuku did not answer.
At that moment, the corners of his lips went up just a tiny bit.
As expected.
It was like this.
The man grabbed Shizuku's arm.
Then, upon seeing her hand, he paused his words for a moment.
That gaze swept over the back of her hand.
Passed her fingers.
And rested on her palm.
"......"
The man's expression changed strangely.
"Even to the Ichinose Young Lady..."
He smirked.
"There's an ugly side, it seems."
"......!"
At the blame thrown directly at her face, Shizuku's emotions surged in an instant.
Her chest felt suffocated.
She was choking for breath.
As if even looking at it was unpleasant in itself, the man tried to hand the handkerchief over to another student.
Shizuku's fingertips trembled.
She had to endure it.
She had to hold it in.
-Deolkeok.
-Kwadangtang!
When something happens too suddenly, there are times when the situation cannot be understood immediately.
It was a sight so detached from reality that the mind couldn't process it.
Right now was precisely that kind of situation.
-Kwadang.
Opening the closed door, the opponent who had been sitting in front of it trying to hand over the handkerchief was sent tumbling onto the floor.
Swept up in a shock so great that they even forgot to breathe, every single one of them was looking at one spot.
A clock pointing to 7 o'clock.
The revealed face of the Student Council President.
"What is everyone doing here? This is the Student Council Office."
A silence so intense one would wonder if time had stopped.
Fallen on the floor, the opponent couldn't even properly grasp what had just happened and could only look up at the Student Council President. The emotion coming from his bloodshot eyes was vivid.
What was the standing that came with the backing of a high family?
Even against a fellow student, if they made a mistake, there was the power to fabricate a crime and kick them out of the school.
Just bumping shoulders while walking past could be held as a fault to blow things out of proportion.
However, rendering all of that useless, the opponent was unable to utter a single word in front of the Student Council President.
-Tak tak.
The Student Council President, Akira, brushed off his soiled chest.
"...."
"I'd appreciate it if everyone other than the Student Council officers left."
It was a calm voice.
But at that single sentence.
Shizuku was swept up by a strange sensation.
It was an exquisitely perfect timing.
The moment Akira opened the door and walked in.
Shizuku no longer had to sit in this spot and continue the mind games.
No need to force a smile.
No need to counter the opponent's sarcasm.
No need to pretend as if nothing was wrong.
Simply.
She just had to be led out by him.
Shizuku looked down at the hand holding her arm.
And suddenly.
Was it a coincidence?
"..."
Shizuku immediately shook her head.
Right now was 7:00 AM.
It was the time when the Student Council's routine began.
In the first place, there was no way a man who had been so strict even to himself for an entire year would come seeking her out knowing she would be here.
Moreover.
There was no way he would have paid attention to such minute details either.
....Naturally, it's a coincidence.
The line that cut right into the thoughts she was trying to conclude made Shizuku's breath momentarily freeze.
"Ichinose, weren't you waiting for me?"
"....!!"
Yeah, I was waiting for you.
Those words.
Came to her mind so naturally.
"......"
Shizuku barely held back from opening her mouth without even realizing it.