Lapis Julie (3)
The first place I met Senior Paster was at the Awakener Academy. Among those who entered the academy, there wasn't a single person who didn't know his name—he was that famous.
"Lapis, check that out. It's Poop Dog Paster! Wow... I didn't feel much when my sister told me about him, but damn, he really goes to this academy..."
Of course, it wasn't famous in a good way. Quite the opposite, in fact.
"Paster? Who's that?"
I had zero interest in such rumors, so it was the first time I'd heard the name. When I asked one of my classmates—who'd somehow ended up trailing after me and whose name I couldn't even remember now—she lit up like I'd bestowed some great honor just by asking and launched into an enthusiastic explanation.
"That handsome guy over there by himself."
Where her fingertip pointed, just as she said, was a good-looking man walking with his eyes on the ground. His shoulders slumped, his expression gloomy, his steps heavy like he was trudging through a swamp—despite all those deductions, his beauty didn't fade a bit. Even to my eyes, raised in the lap of luxury by the Julie family, Senior Paster was undeniably handsome.
"He is pretty hand... some, sure. But is he that famous?"
He was handsome, no doubt, but the nickname tacked onto that handsome face was too vulgar for someone famous just for looks. Poop Dog? That wasn't a moniker fit for anyone.
Had he done something unforgivable? Or maybe he really was like a dog in heat, harassing any woman he saw? With that face, it wasn't an unreasonable guess.
But my classmate's answer was nothing like what I'd imagined.
"Lapis, you know this too, right? Senior Ska Rate is still enrolled here at the academy. And she used her entire family's influence to get that Poop Dog Paster in!"
"What?"
"He has no abilities, no potential at all. Not from a prestigious family either. Senior Ska Rate shoved someone so utterly worthless—a disgrace to even call an awakener—into this academy. No one knows exactly why, but the leading theory is she wanted to flaunt the Rate family's power."
"She got someone with no abilities, no potential, and no noble blood into the academy... just to show off her family's power?"
"Yep! Whether it's true or not, we'd have to hear it from Senior Ska Rate herself."
Was that the kind of idea that could come from a normal person's head? But it was exactly the sort of thing the Rate family would do. Beasts wearing human skins, acting solely on impulse with power they didn't deserve. That was the Rate family, our Julie family's long-time rivals.
I shook my head at their inhuman thinking and the sheer force that turned it into reality. Then it hit me—my core question hadn't been answered.
"Wait, what does that have to do with him being treated like a Poop Dog? I still don't get it."
"Oh, that's because..."
Just as my classmate opened her mouth to explain, there was a loud crash—something toppling over big time. Our conversation cut off, and our eyes snapped to the source. There was Senior Paster, sprawled butt-first on the ground in the most pathetic pose, and a woman with fiery red hair blazing like a wild flame.
"Paster, I told you not to wander off without my permission. Why don't you ever fucking listen to your master?"
"......"
"Huh? No answer? Apologize quick and come back to class with me!"
That was the first time I saw Ska Rate and Senior Paster together.
Senior Paster just stared up at her ferocious aura with dead eyes, saying nothing.
"You—you! You're really not gonna say anything? You wanna ruin your academy life?"
Ska Rate, pissed at his non-response, threatened him. He turned his head, snorted softly, and muttered under his breath.
"...It can't get any worse here unless I get expelled. Oh, that actually sounds pretty good...?"
He probably thought it was too quiet to hear from his position. But to an awakener past a certain level, it might as well have been shouted. It reached even me, standing a ways off, so for Ska Rate, nose-to-nose with him, it was crystal clear.
I shifted my gaze to her, eager to see how she'd blow up at that cheeky mutter and cause a scene.
And then I saw a face that didn't suit Ska Rate at all.
"......"
Her expression was pale as death—no trace of her usual composure. Like she'd faced some endless horror.
Ska Rate, the new pillar of the Rate family, looked terrified? Why?
The answer came when I followed her gaze to one man—the one she'd just been bullying with high-handed pressure. Senior Paster. She was scared of him.
What? Shouldn't he be the scared one?
As that thought crossed my mind, a wildly implausible hypothesis—one that somehow felt true—flashed through my head.
No way... Ska Rate actually likes that Paster guy...?
My classmate's voice snapped me out of it.
"See that? That's why they call Paster Poop Dog. He never listens to his master, rebels every day, and always pisses off Senior Ska Rate. She's so mad she forgot how to speak this time... She's not letting it slide."
She shook her head pityingly. She hadn't caught Paster's mutter or Ska Rate's face change, so she was just another mediocre low-rank awakener.
"Who's the pitiful one here?"
"Huh?"
"Nothing. Never mind."
I brushed off my clueless classmate and approached the two in their standoff. Ignoring the trembling, terrified Ska Rate, I extended a hand to Senior Paster on the floor.
"Hello, Senior. I'm Lapis Julie."
"...Huh? Oh, hi. I'm Paster. No family name. Just Paster."
"Then I'll call you Senior Paster from now on. Actually, Senior, there's something I'd like you to hear."
Back then, I was incredibly arrogant and immature. Drenched in baseless confidence without a shred of substance. So I said it to a total stranger—to Senior Paster, no less.
"Forget Ska Rate. Follow me from now on. I'll treat you way more decently than that Rate family thug."
Looking back, I have no idea why I said that. It makes no sense. Even now, I want to smack that version of myself. If I could go back, I'd have skipped the idiocy, comforted him kindly and sweetly to score points instead.
A mistake for the ages.
Senior Paster's face twisted in disgust at my words. He ignored my outstretched hand and just vanished.
Watching his back, I thought he was arrogant for someone with nothing going for him.
And so, our first meeting ended with the worst possible impressions of each other.
Because I wrecked that first impression so badly, Senior still sees me that way... Ah, no. Why am I even thinking this, Lapis? Snap out of it. It almost sounds like I actually like Senior Paster. As if. He's way below my level!
That man! Anyway.
Back when we were at the academy, I saw Senior Paster as an "arrogant incompetent," a "pathetic fool," a "dumbass coasting on his looks." I figured I'd never see him again after graduation—we lived in different worlds.
But then I met him again at Liar's Trap, and that's when my world started spinning strangely.
2.
"Sniff, ugh, heuk..."
Fuck. Is asking what gift to get another girl that heartbreaking?
Well, yeah, it is. If it's from the guy you like.
I was so flustered I was talking to myself, still not adjusted to the situation.
I'd never seen Lapis Julie cry before. She was always ice-cold and rational, her face unchanging except when mocking me. She treated showing emotion like a disgrace. Something about Julie family upbringing. The polar opposite of the Rate family's "do whatever the fuck you want."
That aside, seeing emotion-phobic Lapis Julie in tears was a huge shock. Enough to make me forget all the feelings she'd piled up toward me until now.
First things first—calm her down. I'm not evil enough to kick someone crying without mercy.
Teasing Lapis Julie was off the table for now. Anyway, I had to keep seeing these women until the S-rank dungeon raid in three months. I could apologize later.
Shivering in the intensifying chill, I mustered courage and approached, patting her shoulder.
"H-Hey, Lapis Julie? Let's calm down first. Cool off and talk again?"
"Hic... Th-There's nothing to talk about. Nothing with you, nothing I want to say. So don't talk to me. Heuk."
She flinched and turned away, probably thinking I'd pry about gifts for other girls or confirm if she liked me. Asking that now, when I knew damn well why she was crying, would make me a psychopath.
"No, no. Not that kinda talk. So stop crying and let's chat. Yeah? Any chat's fine."
I spoke as gently as possible and grasped her snow-white hand on her knee.
She jolted like I'd shocked her, then her ears turned beet red. Her mood seemed to lift; the tears stopped, and she nodded quietly.
"......"
Classic strong-pride Lapis Julie—not verbalizing it.
With our hands linked, the temperature rose, and the freezer of a room returned to its usual cool one-room vibe.
Good. Hurdle cleared. Now... what to talk about?
As I pondered, Lapis Julie suddenly gripped my hand hard. Like she'd never let go.