Seth and Nila walked out of the classroom
"So, what are you going to talk to me about, maybe about the weekend?"
"It's not completely unrelated, but it's not here, come"
Seth and Nila came to the little-used restroom near the basement.
"This place is not very safe, it might be the only place in the whole school where nobody visits. Or are you going to do something to this innocent me (!)"
He put his hand dramatically on his forehead. Seth grinned
"No, of course not, but if you want to, that's different."
He approached Nila and smoothed her hair with his hand.
"As I recall, you helped me in exchange for finding out what it was that made Lucy have stupid dreams"
Nila smiled, blushed softly and looked directly at Seth with a sly look in her eyes.
"I did it, didn't I?"
"Yes, you did." He walked lightly over to Nila.
"So, Nila, do you want to know?"
"Actually, yes I do, but uh, why is Jake like that? Is it your fault?"
"I didn't ask that, but I mean, it's kind of my fault. Do you want to know how it happened?"
Nila was caught between the wall and Seth. She lifted her right foot, placed it against the wall and clasped her hands behind her back
"I wonder how a person can end up like that. I know you fucked his mom... or did he see it?"
"No, but I made him see"
"How did you do that?"
"I recorded the whole thing, then edited the video and sent it to him." Seth smiled sheepishly.
Nila's surprise was evident on her face
".....You're a monster" Nila missed eye contact, but there was no look of annoyance or disgust on her face. She was just surprised.
"Monster? Sounds to me like you like the idea." Seth and Nila stood close enough to feel each other's breath.
"...I'm not sure, I mean I must be regretful or ashamed, but at the same time I helped you do it"
"Yes it was a big help, thanks again"
"So what do you want to talk to me about, do you want something?"
'A lot'
"Actually, yes, I came to you with an offer. I want you to be my accomplice."
"Accomplice?"
"Yes, just like last week, help me steal people's lovers from them."
"... You're not serious... are you?"
"I'm as serious as when I knocked on Erica's door - she's Jake's mom by the way- and I want you to help me steal Lucy from Yome."
"Are you out of your mind! Do you hear what you're saying!?" Nila reproached angrily
"My mind is as sharp as ever and I stand by my words"
"I'm not gonna do this bullshit just because you want Lucy's body!"
As Nila started to leave, Seth slammed his hand against the wall, blocking Nila's way out
"Her body? I admit, it's a great incentive, but it's not what I want, you got it? What I want is more."
"What?"
"I know you're not stupid Nila, on the contrary you're very smart and you choose to ignore the truth because you don't want to understand, but you know I slept with Lucy that night"
"...Yes, yes I know"
"Then why are you playing dumb?"
"It would be more fun for him to confess, it's the first time he hides something from me so stubbornly...you took her already, what do you still want to steal"
"I admit I really wanted those curves at first but now" Seth shook his head "Not now, I want her smile"
Nila's eyes widened, her voice was low "Her..... smile?
Seth grinned broadly "Yes I want her smile, her heart, to laugh only at me, to call my name at night, to think of me when she still with Yome"
"But why-"
"Have you ever noticed her reactions, Nila? It's all so sweet, the way she thinks about people, the way she forgets to speak in extreme emotions, Then suddenly she spoke Russian with that red face, I want it all."
"Is that how much you want Lucy?"
With a soft, mischievous smile, Seth leaned close to Nila's ear and whispered
"Oh no it's not just her, I want you, your head that thinks a thousand things in a second, be mine Nila and help the others to be mine too" He bit her ear
"Ah~" Nila covered her mouth with her hand and pushed Seth back
She spoke in a shaky voice "W-who do you think you are, I've known many men who want a harem, but this is the first time I've seen someone express it so openly." She was holding his bitten ear while saying these words. "Where does this stupid self-confidence come from!?"
Seth chuckled "I just really want it, and you know, can't get what you want without trying ... hmm you know I'll tell you what, why don't you think of me as Casanova? He's been with many women, but he loved them all, why can't I take him as a role model?
"Why? Why!? Law! Law and above all morality!"
"Morals? How many of these morals do you follow, Nila? You sent Lucy a half-naked photo of you and your boyfriend."
"So, uh," Nila blushed slightly
Seth grabbed Nila by the shoulders and brought her in front of the time soiled and cracked mirror -the one he himself had broken a little to the right- and he, behind her
"Look at yourself, Nila, can you see yourself in a future defined by those morals?"
Nila was staring intently at the mirror without taking her eyes off
"What do you mean?"
"I'm asking where you are years from now. Maybe you finished school and got a good job, maybe you got married and had a child and..... And that's it."
"What do you mean, THAT'S İT!?"
"That's it, after a while you will stop having sex and when your child is born and your life will be that child, your morning, noon, evening, night will all belong to that child, maybe your husband will only come home late at night and sleep and sleep all day on the weekend and you will miss the old days and your life. I want to give you more."
Nila was still staring at the mirror and Seth in it "You ... you don't know this, you don't know the future"
"Yes, but I can guess, just like you, just like everyone else."
"You can't guarantee that this will happen!"
"And can you guarantee that it won't be you?"
"...."
"Morals won't carry us very far, Nila, no one or nothing will, but I will be on top."
"Top? Where will you be?"
"Me Oh that's a good question, I'll be on the tallest building in this city, wearing a silk dressing gown, with a wine worth more than the annual income of most of the people in the city, watching the city beneath my feet, and of course I won't be alone, there will be many people around me, drinking that wine with me and waiting for a refill, so I need help, a trusted confidant, an accomplice, and I want you to be one of those wine drinkers"
"How... how can you be so sure!?"
"How?"
Seth ran his hand along Nila's arm, reaching for her hand, lifting her arm, folding Nila's fingers and shaping her hand into a weapon. Then he whispered softly
"For the heavens are with me"
*CRACK!*
The area on top of the mirror where Nila had been aiming cracked and shattered noisily. The sound shook Nila as if she had awoken from a deep sleep.
"Hah! What the-"
Seth spoke in a soft voice
"Now I want to ask you again... no, I'm request you, will you be my accomplice?"
"Can I... think...? This is so... sudden"
"Aren't the most important decisions of our lives always sudden? Either answer now or think with the child in your arms, 'What would it have been like if I had accepted that offer?"
Nila rubbed her arm "I-"
_______________________________________
Seth and Nila returned to the classroom. Nila had a neutral expression on her face. The day was quiet. On the way home, Lucy asked Nila
"...Nila, are you okay? You've been weird since you talked to Seth"
Nila looked at Lucy with a warm smile.
"I'm fine, Lucy, in fact, I haven't been this good in a long time."