Another monotonous day enclosed within this classroom is finally coming to an end. You'd think that the clear glass windows that surround the room would bring life to the atmosphere with natural light, and perhaps it could, but there's nothing but grey skies today. A double-edged sword.
I'll lighten up later–right now, he is about to close his drawn-out explanation. I won't miss my one chance.
"Alright, looks like everyone is settled. Are there any questions before I dismiss…"
After scanning left to right, up and down, the professor's eyes finally meet the lone hand in the room, the lone man in the room–me. And that is why I strategically chose to sit in the front row; it's nigh impossible to ignore me without making it incredibly obvious. The class also isn't that large, about medium sized, so everyone knows about me in some capacity.
Realizing this fact, the professor shakes his head dismissively.
"Sorry, but there's nothing I can do for ya. Looks like I'll have to fail you, Zateon."
"But sir, that would be completely unnecessary! I assure you, I can complete the assignment on my own just fine–"
"The requirements are that you work with a group–any individual projects submitted will be rendered invalid and result in failure. This project weighs the most on your grade–fifty percent."
"I understand that, professor, but what I do not understand is how I am supposed to join a group when absolutely no one is willing to work with me? Please take another look around you if necessary; every single student as well as you know the obvious!"
The professor let out a sigh, not even bothering to mask his annoyance. There are also little voices mumbling behind me, which I am sure are complaints and swears, but I don't care. I will not let this go without a fight–I endured too much to get to this point!
"Fine, let's try it this way. Attention class, would any group mind welcoming Zateon to collaborate with them? I'm even willing to throw in a couple of bonus points."
And in an instant, the class–every single individual person–averted their eyes, not daring to look at the professor or me. Some are even snickering. To that, I roll my eyes discreetly.
"Tch, what a shock…"
"Oh well, that's the best I could do; I can't force anyone to cooperate with you. If you cannot meet a basic requirement that is completely your responsibility, then I'll save you and myself the time and just–"
"Excuse me Professor Pii, I'll be his partner!"
"?"
Suddenly, in a really obnoxious fashion, a loud, boisterous wolf demi-human barges into the classroom, commanding all of our eyes to acknowledge her and her alone. With the way she barged in, in conjunction with her very casual attire, she gives a feeling of headstrongness but I'm unsure if I could ever take someone like her seriously.
With her hands on her hips, she walks straight past the professor–much to his bewilderment–and directly to my desk…wait, MY desk? To me?! There's no mistaking it, she is looking dead at me. Now, she's stopped, right in front of me.
And I can't look away.
"Kay?! Since when was it ever acceptable to interrupt my lecture? Furthermore, you have no business here since you do not even take my class!"
"I said that I'll be Zateon's partner. You know, for the group project?"
"I heard that! The issue is–"
"There should be no issue, right? The requirement was that he works in a group. You never said that it couldn't be with a student from another class."
"...fine, I'll allow it. I'll expect nothing less than the highest quality from you two–and especially the rest of you. Class dismissed."
As everyone immediately began to sprint for the exit, there I remained in my seat, paralyzed by the gaping expression of mine reflecting in Kay's amber eyes.
__________________________________________________________________
Sometime after class…
"Lovely weather today, huh? I much prefer the coolness of a cloudy sky over the annoying sun beaming in my face, you know? How about you?"
This girl has been blabbering from the moment we left the classroom. By "we" I'm really only referring to myself–she just tagged along and refused to take the hint and leave. Looks like we're in a spot with very few roaming students.
This should be far enough.
"Okay, you can knock off the act already. What could you possibly want from me? Be upfront."
"Hmm? What do you mean? I'm offering to help you; it's not really deeper than that. You're going to fail otherwise, no?"
She says casually as she looks at me with her right hand on her hip, and her left rubbing her exposed belly button. Her insistence on maintaining this facade, trying to appear as innocent as possible, is only causing me more frustration. Just how committed is she?!
"Just tell me, who put you up to this?! Why are you even bothering me?"
"Oh, I'm sorry for the confusion…where are my manners? My name is Kay–we can skip the family name formalities. As you can tell, I'm a wolf demi-human, 2nd year."
Following what she considers a proper "introduction", Kay sticks out her left hand towards me; yes, the same hand that was just touching her belly button. Naturally, I can't help but to stare at it blankly in hesitation. But if basic courtesy is extended to me, then the least I can do is return it.
–Verbally, that is.
"I'm Zateon…a regular human. A first year student soon-to-be retained. Now will you just tell me what's the deal?"
"Silly, that's exactly what I'm here for! We're going to move up together!"
"Why would you care? No one here is naive enough to not understand the climate. Of course I would be suspicious of your intentions. Even if you mean well, please just focus on your own life–for both of our sakes."
I already knew that my reaction time would be slow compared to the average demi-human, but yet the empty hand of Kay that was left unattended suddenly woke up and aggressively snatched my hand, forcing a handshake–a really rough handshake.
"What are you–?!"
"Then it's a deal!"
"Didn't you hear what I just said? Are your listening comprehension skills insufficient?"
"Yeah, this is my life, so I will focus on it like you asked. I'll give you space to brainstorm and prepare; we can meet at the commons tomorrow at noon or close to it."
"The commons? That busy place is one of the worst places to do anything academic!"
"Hmm, I suppose so, though that's where my friends and I like to meet…! Then how about my dorm? Yeah, let's meet there! It's usually quiet and relaxing, perfect for focusing!"
"Your dorm? A girl's dorm? Are you trying to set me up?!"
"Our dorm has a study lounge on the first floor; did you really think I was going to let you into my room? How naughty of you–you're a little dirty-minded aren't ya?"
"...I still didn't agree to such a meeting in the first place. And I still don't plan to."
"How often do you get to talk to a demi-human on campus, let alone one willing to cooperate with you? I love helping underclassmen–demi-human or not. Let me aid you, okay? Free of charge as well as any favors."
The more she tries to convince me, the more suspicious I become. Though it is true that no demi-human has ever offered to willingly work with me–let alone pretend to. I want to cleanly reject her altogether, but that would work against my best interests.
I don't want to fail, not without at least giving it my all. The satisfaction from defying the odds they've stacked against me is alluring, but at the same time, Kay could have been sent to ruin me with my guard down…
I have never felt more conflicted in my life; my body won't move. I'll have to force my lips apart.
"I...I–"
"Here's my contacts; think it over by tomorrow, okay? See you!"
With her quick reflexes coming into action once again, Kay manages to wedge an index card–that's written in messy sky blue ink–between my fingers, then enthusiastically waves as she runs away.
My body is still frozen.
But my eyes can wander…
…
…
I never really took the time to notice it, or care to, but that's quite a nice clock up there on that lamppost. It's perfectly constructed to blend in naturally…
Four twenty-three.
"It's already past four o'clock; I completely forgot!"
________________________________________________________
Inside a room, a rather cramped dorm room, a wooden desk built-in below a mattress is occupied by Zateon who feverishly types and clicks on the keyboard and mouse of his PC.
His current portrayal is at odds with the room itself, which is perfectly in order without a single thing disorganized.
The one who noticed this contrast was none other than the young woman who just appeared on the screen, crossing her arms with slightly puffed cheeks. Her pinkish, slightly oversized t-shirt droops downward a bit, exposing her collarbones–and faint bruises.
"Hmph, you're awfully late. If you hate me that much, you could've just told me, you know. To do this after all we've been through together…"
"Oh stop being so dramatic, Klia. You know as well as I do that is far from the truth."
"I know I know, let a girl joke, will you? Geeze."
"Maybe you should learn the definition of 'joke'."
"Coming from you, Mr. Killjoy?"
In unison, Klia and I share a laugh–a gentle one. This is the only time we ever get to feel such an emotion, and it truly feels like medicine to the soul.
"Anyway, what was the hold-up? You are never this late for our rant sessions. Got a girlfriend or something?"
"Eh, kinda…"
"?!"
"What's with that face?"
Suddenly, the lighthearted grin was wiped off Klia's face and replaced with absolute bewilderment as though I were speaking a foreign language. I swear, it looked as though she spit something out too.
"N-nothing, I just never heard you joke like that before! Very funny, you–"
"Seriously."
Well…I admit that my tone was a bit of dry humor, but I truly meant what I said.
"A human girl…I-I can't believe you managed to find another one at such a huge university like this! I look forward to meeting her and–"
"She's a demi-human. A wolf to be exact. For some reason, she insists on–"
"Zateon, you NEED to break up with her now! This is the most obvious trap even a fourth grader like my niece could see through!"
Klia frantically moves closer, much closer, to the camera to the point of taking up my entire screen; I can even see her untrimmed nostril hairs! Even worse than that, her loudness and rapid speech is overwhelming the mic. So much for peace and tranquility!
"Whoa whoa, calm down, you are blowing my ears off! Just let me finish explaining first. This random girl out of the blue decided to help me with my project so that I don't fail. She is hellbent on doing it, and seemingly befriending me in the process. I didn't trust her initially–I still don't completely even now–but if this is the only way to prevent failure, then so be it. I got dealt an unwinnable hand, I have no choice."
"...so you two are not dating or anything remotely romantic like that?"
"Of course not. Why ask questions with obvious answers?"
"Then why did you say 'kinda'? I only jokingly asked if you had a girlfriend, and you said 'kinda'! Like, what else is that supposed to mean?"
"Because the situation is too complicated even for me to fully understand. But to be clear, bottom line, we are far from friends, let alone romantic partners. Now can we move on from this pointless topic? I hope you see why I advised you to work on your jokes now, by the way."
For a brief moment, Klia sits still silently, though I know that her mind is anything but. After digesting my responses and sorting out her thoughts, Klia relaxes her body and returns to form once again–the way we started.
"Fine, that's a relief. Regardless, you should still cut her off. These animals don't care about us; the nicer they seem, the more sinister their true motives are. Tell me about this girl–I'll get her off your back for good! I have several methods."
"No need, I think you've done more than enough over the semester. I will not help you get into deeper trouble with the demi-humans. Don't you need to focus on passing too? Heaven forbid we end up in separate years."
"...sigh. Why do you have to be so logical all the time? I can't even bring myself to study this weekend."
"That's what our calls are for. We have 39 minutes left–let's use the rest of it to unwind our hearts. Go ahead, vent to your heart's content. I just know that you had your share of frustrating events today."
"Oh you wouldn't believe what happened. A dragon demi transferred into our dorm, and she had the nerve to 'accidentally' burn one of my textbooks. So do you know what I did? I…"
And before we knew it, time passed–well over 39 minutes.