Minori Akabane’s facade

She walked the halls of the fortress high school with pride in her step, always maintaining her image as the strong silent woman in the council

"Look out its Minori Akabane!!!"

"I heard she's actually a demon in disguise"

"dude shut up she might hear you!!!"

She regarded the comments thrown at her icily not even looking like she cares and ignores the jab's thrown her way with cool grace… or at least that was what it looked like from the outside inside though she was almost crying

She always regarded herself as a sensitive person, as such she made it a point never to let people exploit that weakness by burying all her emotions deep inside

"am I really that scary?" she asked herself quietly in the library with the comfort of her books. Books don't call you names or judge her as everyone else did

"Nah, at least I don't think so," a lazy voice said a voice in front of her

She jumped. She honestly didn't expect anyone to be here aside from herself with all the fighting going on in the fields, I mean, who in a school like the Fortress would even bother reading?

Slowly looking up as to not seem nervous she looked at the person that answered to her little question of self-doubt

Her composure faltered as she resisted the urge to shout in surprise when she noticed it was Ashima of all people. the rampaging demon, the bane of the council, the brawler of off school grounds. The number of titles people called him for his ruthlessness was almost impossible to remember.

yet here he was, silently reading a book in front of her, not really looking interested in… well, anything aside from the book

"I didn't expect you to be here," she said calmly though inside she was panicking madly scolding herself. What was she doing talking to a committee member? especially the one that gives them the most trouble in battle

As it was, the council and the committee hated each other with a burning passion

Well aside from Sagara… everyone seemed to like him for some reason

"what? Just cause my reputation is all violence doesn't mean I don't have hobbies?" he growled out annoyed, leaving behind an awkward silence

"did you mean it?" she found herself asking before her mind could catch up. Why in god's name did she follow up the question from earlier!?

"hm?" he gave a grunt in confusion as he turned a page

"you don't think I'm scary?" she asked cursing herself for knowing her facade cracked then and there a bit in anxiousness

Minori Akabane was not a people person, she didn't talk much, she kept to herself and had very little people who know the real her. everything else was just an illusion she'd made to keep other's from getting close and taking advantage of her nature

"beauty itself doth of itself persuade The eyes of men without orator." to her surprise he answered with a Shakespearean quote

Seeing what he meant she looked downcast a bit at the implied jab at her who has not even tried to persuade the eyes of women, let alone men

"but…" he said suddenly

Minori found herself hanging on his words for some reason

"External beauty is more valuable if it covers the inner beauty" he finished before locking eyes with her his deep ocean blue eyes meeting her emerald green ones

She found the sight captivating, it was like staring at an untapped part of his soul. one which anyone has yet to even break the surface of. At that moment she wanted nothing more than to discover more about that place where she saw kindness and a gentleness unknown to his usual personality

If she had to describe the boy in front of her, it would be a hidden gem that doesn't sparkle as much as any other mineral but has a value greater than all of them combined

"um… you might wanna close your mouth there Akabane?" his voice snapped her back to reality making her realize her facade was completely broken and had her mouth open in shock and a bit of red dusted her cheeks

He had also moved closer and was looking at her light worry in his face

she found the expression charming and started to daze off again

'I wouldn't mind him looking like that more often' she found herself thinking before a hand touched her forehead

"you don't seem to have a fever," he said noticing her get redder as he kept his hand on her forehead

In an attempt to regain her composure she tried to back away causing her head to hit the wall behind her causing her to wince

"oww!!"

"ah shit! sorry, you might have been uncomfortable with me" he backed away swiftly. though Minori wouldn't have totally minded if he'd kept his hand there, it had felt so warm and gentle she wondered if he was just as warm and gentle if she laid in his arm- stop!!! She stopped herself from thinking such foolish thoughts

"It is fine," she fought to regain her composure again "I just didn't expect you to be able to quote Shakespeare on hand like that," she said cooley easing herself back into her calmer facade

Ashima frowned

"quit the farce," he said bluntly catching her off guard

"what do you mean-" she was about to retort when Ashima stood up and made to leave turning his back to her the sun setting in the window there for effect

"you don't need to act fake all the time," he said quietly enough for her to hear him "and don't worry I don't judge, I'd be the biggest hypocrite in the world if I did" he laughed before exiting

"see ya around Akabane," he said closing the door to the library

"that actually looked really cool" she whispered to herself

Minori had thought her perfect facade could fool anyone even some of her council members fell for it yet the first time she talks to Ashima he immediately breaks it and figures her out when she tries to get her act together

She found herself thinking about his cool exit for a second it was exactly like some of those she read about in romance novels when the girl would notice her intended love interests worth

the door opened again ruining her little moment

"hey, I kinda got caught up in the moment and left my bag here" Ashima entered quickly grabbing his things and rushing to the door

This time she couldn't help it Minori found herself giggling at his blunder

Stopping at the door again he stopped at the sound of her laughing lightly "you should laugh more often I'm sure some of the guys will find you cute" he said closing the door again

Her mind barely registering what she heard, minori just stared at the door.

It opened again

"forgot my eraser sorry," he said before grabbing the said item and rushing out closing the door behind him this time without any cool or romantic words before his departure

She found herself laughing. A sound she didn't know she could still make staring at the door and touching her forehead feeling the lingering warmth of his hands there

"maybe I should drop my facade only if it's just us two though" she muttered

END