Chapter Eleven: Break Time ft. Degenerate, Gaslighter, and Suicidal Maniac
Monday.
It was lunch once more.
This time, in the hallway,
Resting their backs against the walls of the hallway were three males each with boxed juice in their hands.
"By the way, is it just me, or you've changed."
Shidou was the first to speak after taking a sip.
As he spoke,
Tonomachi pushed himself off the wall slightly, rubbing his free hands under his chin as if in thought.
"Mmhm. Now that you say it. Sensei's a tad bit different from how he was two weeks ago."
…that.
Morgan blinked, his head tilting slightly, as he continued sipping.
In the next moments, however, he turned his gaze toward Tonomachi.
"How so?"
"Let's see…"
Tonomachi began, crossing his arms and closing his eyes in contemplation.
"Mhm. How to put this. Aaa. Right. Before, you looked like someone who had no motivation at all. Or something along those lines."
Regardless of whatever he said, Tonomachi was the type to always speak honestly.
However, Morgan's lips twitched at the remark.
Was it really that bad?
He sighed inwardly.
Okay, he'd admit it. When he first transferred in, he probably did come across that way.
Between the anxiety, the paranoia, and the constant caution, it wasn't surprising.
Still, it wasn't like all that had just disappeared.
While the anxiety still remained,
Rather, it was for what's to come in the future. The unexpected changes and the likes.
Now however, so far, nothing out of the ordinary—
He paused, then remembered about a certain incident.
…Okay, maybe something changed, but overall, nothing much had really changed.
"So, you didn't notice till now, huh..?"
Thoughtlessly, those words had slipped out of Shidou's lips, which caused Morgan and Tonomachi to stare at him.
Exasperated.
"You deadass are not one to talk. He doesn't even realize it."
Morgan's voice came out flat, with disbelief lacing his words.
"Che. I thought I was the only one who noticed. But even you too, Sensei… that guy's a lost cause."
Tonomachi clicked his tongue, slouching a little as he shook his head.
Both of them sighed in unison, raising a hand to their foreheads in mock despair.
They facepalmed, tilting their heads slightly before resuming their quiet sips from the boxed juice in their hands.
As they did, the straws made faint slurping sounds as they drank in synchronized disappointment.
What on earth was going on?
"Erm..? Morgan? Tonomachi?"
Shidou's confused voice broke the silence as his eyes darted between the two.
It took a few seconds before they finally responded. And even then, they didn't turn toward him.
Their gaze was at the classroom's door right in front of them.
Each classroom had two doors. One at the front, and the other at the back.
The three of them were currently positioned by the back door, which stood partially open.
From that angle, they could clearly see inside, more specifically, her.
A silver-haired girl sitting at her desk, quietly eating.
The same girl who always spoke the bare minimum and did the bare minimum.
"Even now, he still doesn't notice, does he?".
Morgan muttered.
"I don't think so."
Tonomachi replied, shaking his head once more in resignation.
As they spoke, the silver-haired girl's gaze lifted, drifting briefly toward the hallway,
She was looking in their direction,
… rather, toward someone among them.
Shidou.
And yet, Shidou remained oblivious, too busy studying the exasperated looks on his friends' faces.
'What are they even talking about?'
Curiosity finally got the better of him.
He followed their line of sight,
leaning slightly forward to peek through the doorway, and then… met Origami's eyes.
But the moment he'd looked, she took her gaze away from him.
"...?"
"Do you understand now?"
Morgan finally murmured beside him.
True to himself, Shidou only scratched his cheek with a nervous smile.
It showed the male was still lost on it.
Both Morgan and Tonomachi groaned.
Pah!
Once more, both facepalmed.
"Tonomachi, you should be very familiar with this sort of thing, right?"
"W–wait, don't tell me–!? That guy is…"
"Yes, he's the chosen one."
With wide eyes and trembling arms, Tonomachi looked over.
It felt more like an inside joke Shidou couldn't understand.
However, he knew it had something to do with Origami and him.
While he connected the dots,
No… that couldn't be it. That was ridiculous.
So he shook his head, trying to laugh it off.
But now, he didn't understand his friend's actions.
"Honestly speaking though, you're not one to talk."
Tonomachi suddenly glared at Morgan who raised an eyebrow. "Huh?"
When Tonomachi thought about it more, the words just slipped out.
"For you, it's that goriless. And lately, you've been talking quite a lot with Ai, haven't you?"
Morgan rolled his eyes.
He was originally curious about what sort of allegations he'd face, but it was this.
"You fool. I'll gladly throw Shidou down the stairs if that Goriless ever develops romantic feelings for anyone."
"Wait, why me!?"
Shidou's voice cracked as his jaw dropped open in disbelief.
At this point, he more or less understood what they were talking about.
Inferencing from the exchange, his earlier assumption had probably been right.
But dammit!
Why did this suddenly turn into him being the sacrificial victim in Morgan's imaginary scenario!?
"Pigs would fly the day that one develops feelings for another male."
Morgan added once more.
Throughout his entire sparring sessions with her, he realized,
she was the type to get turned on by battle rather than the normal way.
Battle junkie.
"You know, if she hears of this…"
"Worry not, I'm no fool, the coast is clear."
Morgan however wasn't being insultive.
If anything, it was a praise.
Sure, calling someone Goriless might sound insulting, but in their context, it was… almost a compliment.
Well… almost.
After all, there really wasn't a better word in the Oxford dictionary to describe her.
… right.
If Lioness worked for Lions, then Goriless worked just fine in their minds.
Heck, it wasn't just him or Tonomachi who used the nickname.
Though, the others used Gorilla instead.
"The name Goriless, is like a medal of honor. If you looked it up in the dictionary, her name would be the definition."
"No honor is greater than that right."
With eyes closed, as though he were preaching, arms parted slight, he overglorified the word more.
"Besides for Ai, she's usually this friendly to males who are not Tonomachi, though."
Tonomachi stiffened. It was as if an invisible arrow had just pierced straight through his chest.
Splurt!
Invisible blood burst forth dramatically in his imagination.
And… if the boxed juice he was drinking had been real blood, it would've been a fatal wound.
"Hey, you're not completely hopeless too."
When he looked up, Morgan's expression was one of pure pity.
That only made it worse.
For some reason, it also annoyed him.
"What's with that pitiful expression."
"Deja vu."
Shidou muttered under his breath, remembering the same look being directed at him this morning.
Morgan gave a small shrug.
"Hey, I consider many things in this world pitiful, you see. Even myself included."
Going so far as to risk his life was also one.
He couldn't be the pot calling the kettle black.
That would be the highest level of hypocrisy otherwise.
"... ahh, forget it. That aside, I heard we'll be re-starting sport activities sooner or later."
"Eh? At this time."
Tonomachi nodded.
"Hehe. That means…"
A grin slipped across his face, dark and ominous, followed by a low 'kukukuku…' under his breath.
He didn't even need to finish the sentence before Morgan and Shidou both shot him an unimpressed stares
one that silently seem to say, we know exactly what you're thinking.
"You bastard..."
Tonomachi suddenly blurted, seeing their judging stares.
"Are you telling me you don't get turned on by women? We're talking about bloomers here, you know!"
"...Tonomachi, you're contradicting your character, you know, I thought you only liked 2D girls."
"Gah, this is this, that is that. Or don't tell me you're impotent!?"
Tonomachi suddenly shouted, causing Morgan to freeze.
In the next moments.
Before Tonomachi could even blink, a sudden tug on his tie yanked his head back.
His knees were swept clean out from under him, and he crashed onto the floor with a muffled thud.
"Gah! Wait, I—ghk!"
Morgan didn't stop there. He gave the tie a final twist, enough to make Tonomachi wheeze.
"You deserve it."
Shidou quietly muttered, crossing his arms.
Certainly, Tonomachi went too far with that one.
He honestly wouldn't have complained if Morgan decided to toss Tonomachi down the stairs while he was at it.
"Shidou—ghk! you betrayer—!"
"You bought it upon yourself."
Eventually, Morgan released the tie, dusting off his hands as though he'd just taken out the trash.
Luckily, there were only about a few around.
Even then, those people were deep into their own conversations to bother with them.
But then, Morgan felt a gaze on him.
"Anything to say, Shidou?"
"Erm. No?"
Shidou flinched as his eyes darted left then right.
He wasn't exactly scared, but at the same time, he also wasn't stupid.
Though, he had to admit, he was a little curious.
While Tonomachi had struck a nerve there, he was also curious on what Morgan's type was.
"Fine. I wouldn't go as far to say anything about character or the likes, that'd be me lying to you."
Morgan shut his eyes.
He then opened it in the next moment sharply.
"I love my woman with an hourglass feature."
A pause.
There was a pause between the three male.
Shidou and Tonomachi both stared at Morgan with faces blank with exasperation.
"Wow, that's even more degenerate than I imagined."
Somehow, Tonomachi managed to croak, rubbing his throat.
"You know that's the greed the bible talked about."
"Oh please, stop speaking like you've read the bible."
"I see the vision though."