Mitsumi handed Hikari a canned drink once again, her usual cheerful smile lighting up her face. "Here, I know you always forget to bring your water to school. And it was my fault that your entire monthly allowance is gone. So, from now on, I'll be treating you to drinks. That's the least I could do, right?"
Seriously? Seriously?! Seriously?!!
Hikari took a deep breath, composing himself before accepting the drink. "Thanks, Mitsumi," he said, keeping his voice neutral. "But you don't need to do that. It's my fault I always forget to bring my own water."
"Even if you bring water, I'll still treat you," she insisted, still beaming at him.
That smile. That innocent, genuine smile. It made him feel uneasy in a way he couldn't quite explain. Maybe it was the sheer kindness in it—kindness he wasn't sure he deserved.
Before he could respond, a voice interrupted the moment. "I think I'll eat my lunch here. There's a pretty nice atmosphere in this section of the classroom. Wonder where it's coming from?"
A teasing tone. A voice he recognized all too well.
Sekai Totsuke.
Hikari suppressed a groan as he turned to see the brown-haired, black-eyed student sauntering toward them with an infuriatingly casual grin. Sekai Totsuke, the so-called golden boy of their class, the one who was effortlessly good-looking and talented at basketball. The one who had ruled the academic rankings until Hikari transferred in and took the top spot from him. That, of course, had made Hikari public enemy number one in the eyes of Sekai's admirers, which was practically the entire school.
To make matters worse, his name—Kurayami Hikari. Dark and Light. People had always found it funny, like he was some kind of contradiction in human form. They laughed at it, mocked it. Everyone did.
Everyone except Mitsumi.
Hikari narrowed his blue eyes at Sekai, feeling a strange prickling sensation at the back of his mind. His body tensed involuntarily. "Sekai Totsuke, why are you here?"
"Nothing much," Sekai replied smoothly, setting down his lunch box. "Just came here to eat. And to ask where you disappeared to earlier. I know you snuck out of the classroom. How you got out and back in without getting caught, I have no idea. But one thing's for sure—you cut class, didn't you?"
Hikari clicked his tongue, already tired of this conversation. "No, I didn't cut class. There was an emergency, and I had to rush out of the school. Then I came back using the window. Sounds good enough? If you're done talking, why don't you go back to your seat?"
Sekai whistled. "Oh, that explains it. But still, managing to get out without getting caught by Sakamoto-sensei? He's an expert at catching students who cut class. That was pretty cool."
"I told you, it was an emergency," Hikari repeated, stabbing his chopsticks into his food with more force than necessary.
He didn't know what it was exactly—the smugness in Sekai's voice, the way he just waltzed into his space uninvited, or the over-friendly manner that felt anything but sincere—but something about him always set Hikari on edge. He had already hit rock bottom thanks to this guy. Now, every interaction with him was just an annoying reminder of that fall.
"Hikari, calm down! You might become a shadow or something," Mitsumi whispered in his ear, her voice tinged with worry.
That snapped him out of it. His fingers, which had unconsciously begun to curl into fists, relaxed. He exhaled slowly, forcing himself to rein in his emotions. "Thanks, Mitsumi," he muttered under his breath.
A quick glance at his right hand confirmed it—just for a second, the legendary sword of shadows had begun to materialize. A silent, dangerous response to his rising frustration. He had nearly lost himself. Again.
Phew. That was close. Hikari inwardly said as he heaved a sigh of relief.
Sekai either hadn't noticed or chose to ignore it as he continued eating. "So tell me, who was the one that took down that criminal from the news? You were attacked by that criminal, right?"
Hikari didn't flinch, but he had to give himself credit for keeping his expression blank. "I hit him with something hard on the head. Then he fainted."
Sekai's eyes widened, then sparkled with excitement. "I knew it! No wonder the police and investigators hid the truth from the media. I mean, no one has ever escaped from that guy before. That's insane!"
Then, with an almost cruel smirk, he added, "But you know what? If you had died at that moment, I wouldn't be satisfied with my school life, but at least I'd be back on top again."
There it was. That friendly yet cutting tone. That fake camaraderie hiding a knife underneath.
Hikari let out a sigh, pushing his empty lunch box aside. "You don't need to beat me in academics. You already have everything, you greedy idiot. What else do you want?" He shrugged coolly.
The moment those words left his mouth, the entire class fell silent. The air shifted. Conversations halted, and all eyes turned toward them, like deathly stares that spoke a million words.
Sekai Totsuke rarely spoke to Hikari directly, and when he did, it was usually a setup to make him look bad in front of everyone. And now, Hikari had just done the unthinkable—he had spoken back. Moreover, he had called him a greedy idiot, which was a punch in the gut for Sekai.
The tension in the classroom thickened, like a storm cloud rolling in.
Somewhere in the back of his mind, Hikari wondered: What happens when you fall past rock bottom? Maybe you hit core-bottom or something. Then again, he was pretty sure he'd already been there for a while now.
Not wanting to give Sekai the satisfaction of seeing him react any further, he leaned back in his chair, arms crossed, staring at nothing in particular. He had learned the hard way that snapping continuously would only drag him down even further. He could get angry, sure—but anger made people reckless. And reckless people made mistakes. He wasn't about to make that mistake again.
Sekai, however, wasn't done. "Hikari, you're acting like I'm the bad guy here. You're the one who came in and stole my spot at the top. What did you expect? Flowers and applause?" He scoffed, but there was an undeniable sharpness to his tone now.
Hikari didn't answer. What was there to say? He hadn't stolen anything. He had just studied. Just taken the entrance exam like everyone else. And yet, ever since then, he had been treated like an outsider. Unwelcome. An anomaly in their perfect little hierarchy.
He could hear the whispers spreading through the classroom, the murmurs blending into an indistinct hum of judgment. He could already guess what they were saying. They always said the same things.
Why does he act like he's better than everyone else?
Does he think he's some kind of genius?
He should just transfer somewhere else.
None of them knew the truth. None of them knew that he had only taken the exam seriously because his father had promised to double his monthly allowance if he got a perfect score. He hadn't planned to make enemies. He hadn't planned to become a target.
But here he was.
Mitsumi, bless her soul, tried to defuse the tension. "That's right, where's his flowers and applause? You couldn't even get a perfect score in the entrance exam, Sekai, stop being so dramatic. It's just school rankings."
Sekai chuckled, shaking his head. "You always take his side, don't you, Mitsumi?"
"I take the side of common sense," she shot back.
Hikari almost smiled at that. Almost.
Instead, he just stood up, gathering his lunchbox. "This conversation is going nowhere. I'm heading out."
Sekai's smirk widened. "Running away?"
Hikari didn't even glance back. "I'm just tired of pointless conversations."
And with that, he walked out, leaving the classroom whispers behind him.