Chapter 53: A Brief Respite (4)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 53: A Brief Respite (4)
One early summer day, the scent of fragrant grass drifted through the air. With the written exams finally over, countless youths poured out into the Academy. The lush green trees sparkled like jewels in the sunlight, and the chirping of birds tickled the ears of the young students.
In a secluded spot among the thickets, a young couple whispered sweet nothings to each other, while on a nearby bench, a group of female students giggled and smiled as they amiably gossiped about their classmates.
However, the atmosphere surrounding the cadets sitting on a picnic mat over here was a bit different. The air had gone beyond cool—it was downright freezing.
The club members' eyes gathered on Chloe. Sensing the sudden shift in the atmosphere, Weapon gasped. Judging by his looks alone, he looked like he could beat a tiger to death with his bare hands, but he was far too easily frightened.
"Chloe?"
"..."
Weapon called her name with a questioning tone. She was clearly Chloe in appearance, but she exuded an alien aura that made her seem like someone else entirely.
Her eyes were chillingly vacant, and her cheek twitched subtly. They say a woman's grudge can bring frost in the dead of summer, and this felt exactly like that.
"Huh? What's up with Chloe?"
"Jeez—get away from me, quick!"
"Hey, what's the big deal? Geomma, you've known Chloe for a while. You must know why she's acting like this."
Saki tilted her head with a puzzled expression. At the same time, Chloe tilted her head at the exact same bizarre angle.
The whites of her eyes completely surrounded her red irises. What did they call that again? Sanpaku eyes? I had only heard of it, but this was my first time seeing it in person. Pressing my hands against the ground, I pushed myself back, slowly putting some distance between us.
"..."
Usually, she had the face of a baby bird and a soft personality, but right now, Chloe's expression was the spitting image of a venomous snake. Her eyes, filled with pure malice, were losing their luster.
"Geom. Ma. Kun?"
Just then, Chloe, who had been staring at me, spat out my name in thin, monosyllabic beats.
A shiver ran down my spine, a sensation I hadn't even felt when facing the Mermaid or the Cow King.
"...You didn't even give me your phone number."
"Chloe, that's because your phone number is classified."
I tried to offer an excuse, but it didn't seem to register. Her small lips just kept moving.
"...Always hanging around other girls instead of me."
"...I do my absolute best for Geomma-kun."
"...But Geomma-kun always makes me sad."
"...Even though you promised to be my prince."
What is she talking about? I could let other things slide, but I couldn't just ignore the parts about "hanging around other girls" and "being her prince."
Chloe's usual stutter was completely gone, replaced by a rapid-fire murmur. Her pupils dilated and constricted repeatedly.
It seemed like two different personalities were clashing fiercely inside her.
'Sigh...'
Chloe was on the verge of going full yandere.
It was a trait I could never get used to, nor did I ever want to. She had been quiet for a while, so I thought she was getting better. I had let my guard down.
"Seriously, what is wrong with her?" Saki asked, tapping my shoulder with a puzzled look.
As soon as she touched me, Chloe's reddish-brown eyebrows furrowed even deeper. I let out a low groan and whispered back.
"...Ryozo, do you know what a 'yandere' is?"
"Yandere? Jeez, why is the pronunciation so hard? Don't you know I'm Japanese? I'm not good with English."
Ryozo stuck her tongue out slightly, putting on a coy expression.
Are you fucking kidding me?
Even I, who knew next to nothing about subculture, knew what it meant. It was absurd that she, coming from its very birthplace, didn't.
...Wait, what language did 'yandere' originate from again?
I shook my head to clear my thoughts. Maybe Ryozo was just playing dumb despite knowing exactly what it meant.
If so, I really wanted to flick her right on the philtrum. Meanwhile, I noticed Chloe's fingers stealthily creeping toward her pocket. She was reaching for her utility knife.
Why on earth does she always carry a utility knife around? I wondered, before remembering how I had made sure to pack my sashimi knife this morning even while forgetting my phone.
"I'm really something else."
I sighed and shook my head. Looking at Chloe's eyes, she hadn't completely lost her grip on sanity just yet. If I wanted to calm her down, now was my only chance.
Even in this tense moment, Ryozo kept tugging at my sleeve with an amused look, repeatedly asking why Chloe was acting like that. I was almost certain she was playing dumb on purpose.
Fortunately, Weapon, who seemed to have grasped the situation, smacked her forehead and dragged her back. Watching that, I let out a faint groan of disappointment.
He should've hit her fucking hard.
Ryozo rubbed her forehead and growled fiercely. Did she even realize that Weapon had just saved her from getting a blade to the throat?
While Saki and Weapon bickered, Chloe finally positioned herself to draw the utility knife from her pocket.
Seeing her prepare to pull out a weapon without a single word of discussion really made me reflect on a lot of things.
Why was Chloe overreacting to this extent? I had already confirmed her twisted feelings toward me through her diary, but could helping her just once during the class placement exam really cause all this?
Besides, members of the Auditore family were supposed to undergo training to excise their emotions from an early age. Were the feelings Chloe harbored for me even romantic love? And seriously, do people normally pull a knife on someone they like?
All sorts of thoughts filled my head. But for now, calming Chloe down was the priority.
And the method, of course, was conversation.
Click, click.
Chloe approached, the ominous sound of the blade sliding against plastic echoing in the air. Her pupils, growing cloudy once more, were tinged with a blood-red hue.
Blaming my past self for neglecting my yandere studies on Neotube before bed recently, I steeled my resolve to resolve the situation through dialogue.
I firmly suppressed the urge to pull out my sashimi knife right then and there. I didn't want any unnecessary bloodshed.
Besides, I still felt a bit guilty about cutting her hair before.
Of course, back then, it was self-defense to save my own skin. But communicating with blades wasn't a universal solution.
Solving problems through words when they arose—wasn't that the clear distinction between humans and beasts?
"Crazy..."
Weapon let out a bewildered gasp, his face pale with shock. He seemed to have realized Chloe's eccentricity deep down, but his soft heart—contrary to his rugged exterior—had frozen him in place.
Meanwhile, Ryozo looked back and forth between Chloe and me with wide, sparkling eyes. She looked so incredibly obnoxious, watching with pure amusement as if she didn't have the slightest intention of stopping this.
I'm definitely flicking her forehead later. I can't take this anymore.
Whoosh.
Suddenly, a chilly breeze, completely out of place for a bright afternoon, brushed past my earlobes.
With the blade of her utility knife half-extended, Chloe began to mutter.
"Geomma-kun."
"Chloe."
Step.
"From now on, I'll make sure you only look at me."
"Why don't we talk this out?"
One of Chloe's eyebrows twitched.
"How can we talk when you won't even contact me?"
"Chloe, I wanted to talk to you face-to-face. Communicating through a hunk of metal like a phone is so impersonal, especially between us. Don't you think?"
"...Between us?"
"Yes, between us."
I did my best to counter Chloe's intimidation. Slowly, the color in her face began to return to normal.
Step, step.
I strode toward Chloe. Unprepared for this, she flinched and took a step back. The fingers holding her pink utility knife trembled slightly.
Soon, I stood right in front of Chloe. She slightly raised her eyes to look up at me.
One wrong word here, and I'm getting stabbed.
I quietly regulated my breathing, masking my chaotic thoughts with a calm demeanor. A man's bluff. It was time to show off some bravado.
I racked my brain, scanning through all the yandere-related videos I had watched on Neotube.
Dozens of video clips flashed through my mind like a passing train. Perhaps due to the cognitive overload, I could smell something burning at the tip of my nose.
"Geomma-kun?"
At her call, I shoved one hand deep into my pocket, reached out with my other arm, and gently patted Chloe's head.
"Chloe, thank you for always thinking of me."
"...H-Huh?"
A cute, startled sound escaped her lips as she bit her tongue in surprise. And the light, which had been clouded over, began to return to her eyes.
Time to drive it home.
I leaned in close and whispered in her ear. My tone, honed by twenty years in the service industry, was thick with insincerity.
Perhaps I had trained my facial muscles all this time just for this very moment. My lips felt like they were going to twitch from the forced smile, but I held it together.
"Just like back in the Buffalo Dungeon, I'm always relying on you. So don't feel too left out."
"R-Really?"
I nodded. A deep blush spread across Chloe's cheeks.
"Of course. I'll be counting on you in the future, too."
"Hehehe..."
Chloe let out a silly sound, though whether it came from her nose or her mouth was hard to tell. Soon, her stiff expression melted away completely.
"Phew."
I let out a long sigh of relief. Chloe hopped up and down on the spot, looking absolutely thrilled.
Realizing the situation had settled, Weapon also breathed a sigh of relief. For some reason, Saki just twisted her lips in a grimace.
What's her problem now?
As the tense atmosphere subsided, the pleasant vibe of early summer returned.
Only then did I loosen my grip on the hilt of the knife I had been clutching tightly inside my pocket. My palm was drenched in sweat.
* * *
After their rather chilling gathering ended, Weapon and Saki headed toward their respective dormitories. Although they lived in different buildings, the dorms were right next to each other, so they walked in the same direction.
"That Kang Geomma guy..."
Weapon muttered as he walked. He hadn't known Kang Geomma for very long. However, whenever an incident occurred, Weapon always seemed to be right there.
Because of that, Weapon thought he had a decent grasp of Kang Geomma's personality and methods.
The president is changing.
An eerie sense of incongruity washed over him. When they first met, Geomma had just been a classmate with a cold impression, but lately, his eyes held a deep, chilling coldness. His increasingly heavy aura made it seem as though his humanity was slowly eroding day by day.
Weapon tried his best to act bold in front of him, but he often felt a chill run down his spine.
Today was a perfect example.
Just moments ago, Chloe had suddenly unleashed a terrifying, murderous intent. Weapon guessed that she would go through fire and water for anything related to Kang Geomma.
Chloe's affection for Kang Geomma was so blatant that even a passing child could see it. Yet, Kang Geomma always seemed to struggle to maintain a proper boundary.
...A twisted love.
Weapon shook his head to himself. Since she came from a family of assassins, it was only natural that she lacked common sense when it came to emotions. Though she was far from ordinary, Chloe was always devoted to Kang Geomma.
But that Kang Geomma guy...
A faint shiver ran through Weapon's entire body.
Kang Geomma had comforted Chloe when her mood suddenly shifted. To a casual observer, his words and actions seemed gentle, but Weapon had seen it clearly.
Kang Geomma had been clutching his sashimi knife with the hand shoved deep inside his pocket. It was undoubtedly so he could draw his blade without hesitation if things went south.
The president uses a mix of conciliation and violence.
He preferred persuasion and conciliation through dialogue whenever possible, but he knew how to utilize the fear of violence in an emergency.
To some, he might look like a villain, but that was strictly the quality of a ruler. And the president seemed to possess that quality at the mere age of seventeen.
Kang Geomma will definitely become someone great.
He possessed unrivaled martial prowess among his peers, combined with both mercy and ruthlessness. Though they currently ate meals together and chatted about trivial things, Kang Geomma would eventually become someone he could only look up to.
At that thought, a strange sense of excitement welled up from deep within Weapon. Having finished his thoughts, Weapon turned his head. Saki was tapping away on her phone screen with a sullen expression.
"What's up with you?"
"What about me?"
"You've been wearing that pouty face for a while now."
"None of your business."
Saki replied coldly to Weapon's question. He briefly considered flicking her forehead even harder than before, but barely managed to restrain himself.
From what Weapon had seen of Saki so far, she rarely revealed her true thoughts to others. Yet, strangely enough, she occasionally showed a candid side when she was with Kang Geomma.
Weapon had no way of knowing her true intentions. He let out a short sigh and changed the subject.
"...Whatever. What are you doing on your phone anyway? Are you searching up the written exam answers because you think you got something wrong?"
"Are you going to keep talking nonsense?!"
Saki narrowed her eyes and glared coldly at his playful tone. Startled, Weapon looked away toward the distant mountains and whistled aimlessly. Keeping her eyes fixed back on her phone, she muttered casually.
"I'm deleting some videos I uploaded to Neotube a while ago."
"What? You did Neotube too?"
"It wasn't anything professional. I was just bored, so I organized some trivia and uploaded it."
"Man, you always sleep all day, yet you're surprisingly diligent with this stuff. So, how many views did you get?"
Saki turned her phone toward Weapon with an annoyed look.
Soon, the videos Saki had uploaded and their view counts reflected in Weapon's eyes. The videos averaged nearly 500,000 views.
"Happy?"
Saki snatched her phone back. Weapon muttered the titles of the videos she was deleting with a puzzled look.
"Carl Sagan's Cosmos, The Dangers of a Bubble Economy, Protocol for Encountering a Yandere..."
They were all filled with incomprehensible topics.