Dark By Default 42 The Midas Touch

-John Wolcot

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Room 12-A8. This cla.s.sroom never ceases to amaze me at some point. Every time I open its door expecting nothing inside, something is in fact, inside. Something that is least expected...and this is by far, the worst.

I opened the door, and from there I saw the entire cla.s.s, which seems to have found one common enemy, Celes, who is still looking confident as ever. The atmosphere was very stagnant and you can sense the feeling of hatred from it, yet as to why that was, I have no idea and I certainly have no intention of knowing.

I continued to walk with s.h.i.+ro in my hand as if I saw nothing. I am not planning to take any part in this. Celes would also likely understand my actions. I should just grab my stuff and get out of here. I had enough surprises for the day. s.h.i.+ro, who is following me also behaved, seeing how serious the situation looked like. But, even if I chose to ignore this, not everyone from this crowd has the same intention towards me...

"Who is that kid with him, her sister?"

"Are you dumb, that little girl is clearly j.a.panese!" two guys started discussing.

"It looked like Ms. Celes Reignsworth knew him, so is he also choosing the Chaos Armada?", murmured a cla.s.smate.

"Duh. Isn't it obvious?", answered the other. It was pretty useless why they're whispering... I can still clearly hear it.

Upon apprehension, I now have an overview of the situation. This bunch, have decided to join the Mirage Armada (which is quite obvious, not to mention that I already foreshadowed that things would turn out like this) and maybe they found out that Celes was on the opposing team. While I have to maintain a low key profile, I also want to take no part in such discord. If they want to act as heroes who would save humanity from peris.h.i.+ng, then they can. If Celes wants to act like a villain, she definitely can. And I, too, deserve the freedom to do what I want to do.

I walked towards my desk to get whatever that I left there, without looking at anyone else. I looked straight towards the path that I wished to take while the atmosphere continued its intensity. And there, at my desk's small compartment, I retrieved my wallet and the mp3 player I always have with me, filled with cla.s.sical music ranging from the composition of Mozart to Beethoven. Well, electricity might be not subsistent outside, but I can just find a way to recharge the batteries later. I quickly placed the things on my bag, as I was planning to hurriedly get out from the predicament. Yet, unfortunately...

"Hey! Say something!", a four-eyed cla.s.smate said, wondering how I can ignore their presence as if I was the only one present at the moment. Well, I am not compelled to reply to that say-something-dogma. I should just hurry up.

"Ignoring us huh? You asked for this you fricken narcissist!", he charged at me with all his might with a little punch right off the bat. I was ready to defend myself as it should not have been a problem. A simple evasion should have had done the trick. Yet, someone stopped him.

"Stop this, Glen. " a cla.s.smate intervened. If I remembered correctly, he introduced himself as 'Zen Wolfenschtien' back at the introductions. He had no trouble stopping that charging tackle as he was taller, probably the tallest one in this cla.s.s and had a stark body build. Well, I can't find myself being the Damsel here, and I probably don't need a prince charming.

"Hey, you! Jaiden right?" the guy exclaimed.

Hearing that, I made s.h.i.+ro took cover on my back as if I was protecting my own flesh and blood. I will not answer him anything. Acting mute should not be a bad idea either. He can keep on talking, I'm just here to get what I want.

"Hey listen to this, you can't believe it. Miss Prima Donna here is in favor of severing her own race, isn't that plain stupid? RIght?", he asked while I was acting very distant, even facing away from him.

"Hey, you're with us right?" I continued to give a cold shoulder.

"You're in favor of saving our folks back home right?" he, added.

"Hmmm. We figured. You also are with Reignsworth here. Too hard to leave your girlfriend friendless?"

There's that abominable misconception again. It took him a whopping 54 words before realizing how serious I am in not giving any response.

"If you're really gonna keep on ignoring me, you leave me no choice you know...You see, I'm one of those herrschers that Hermes talked about earlier."

Then suddenly, I sensed this rapid energy coming my way. I hastily let go of s.h.i.+ro's hand and gently dragged her hands away. I let out my pen to defend myself and the next thing I knew was that I got smashed pretty strongly into a wall, by a single kick with potent momentum.

"Oni-chama!" s.h.i.+ro shouted.

So he really is a Herrscher huh...How did I know? The pen in my hand, it became somewhat heavy and the high-kick's point of contact became gold. Hmmm. The power to turn anything it touches into gold, this is Midas' touch. I presume his deity must be Midas...an ancient King cursed with a very n.o.ble ability. It was a split of a nanosecond when I felt that the kick is beyond ordinary. Should I have failed to defend in that spur of the moment, I should have become a statue of gold by now.

"Hey Zen, stop that! " Mr. soon-to-be representative, Daerenji Nakamura reprimanded.

"That's his fault for ignoring me...You know, it would not hurt to give you rich kids a lesson!"

He then got ready to attack me again. He took off the navy-colored glove he was wearing and from there you can see an 'M'-shaped yellowish insignia, probably the symbol of the contract he had between a deity. But what made me somewhat laugh was how he stated he can give me a lesson...even though I don't need one.

This guy should be thankful, that I managed to get s.h.i.+ro to let go of my hand. If by any means the girl would have been hurt, I will show no toleration. Good thing she seems to be fine.

I then got back on my swagger, but this time I was somewhat irritated, while everyone continued to watch the farce on the background probably fearing Zen's ability, with ladies supporting him, who just publicly announced that he is a Herrscher. So this is what he was talking about when he first introduced himself. He said, he came here for what the university has to offer, and 'for some other reasons'.

I cracked my back and scrub the dirt away from my uniform, almost like being disgusted by the most recent someone who touched my clothes.

"Tsk. You truly are a narcissist. Well, you asked for it!", with the endeavor to turn me into a pile of gold with his single touch, he drove towards me with enormous speed, but what he doesn't know is that... calling me a kid and a narcissist was a very serious crime, when in fact I was the most mature here while acting with complete humility.

Celes, getting acquainted with the context clue as to why I'm not answering anything was becoming ready to summon her sword 'Trancy', but that would put her into detriment even more. It's not an act of gentle mannerism, but I'm getting tired of getting saved by someone, a girl at that! Well, 'Low-Key Profile' or not, I must stand for myself or else I'm gonna be a constant plaything by these potential plunderers when we set foot outside the city gates. While respect out of fear, is the most despicable type of respect one could have, I don't mind.