Confusing Truth (1)

"You're Vallen, aren't you?"

I turned my head in Alicia's direction, casting her a weary glance before refocusing on the front of the classroom.

"Don't ignore me!"

Alicia slammed her hands on my table, causing me to shrink back into my chair... I'm getting annoyed.

"Hey, I'm asking you—?!"

Kiyona's hands intervened, cutting off Alicia's words. She looked at me with a frown. "You know this girl?" she inquired, squinting.

"...Nope. Never seen her before," I responded sarcastically, rolling my eyes towards the window.

Although I didn't admit it outright, the lie was evident from my expression and tone. Strangely, Kiyona appeared to buy into it.

...Is she an idiot?

"Pfft!" Kim couldn't contain a sound, swiftly covering his mouth. Our eyes met, his expression stiffening before he looked away.

Alicia, seemingly unfazed by our silent exchange, voiced her annoyance.

"How are you able to see...?" she asked curiously, crossing her arms.

"How do you think? It's because I have eyes." I pointed two fingers at my eyes, exhaling an exasperated sigh.

My response triggered a subtle twitch in Alicia's eyebrows. While her facial expression remained unchanged, an unexpected cold aura emanated from her.

—Fweet!

"Okay, stop right there!" Kiyona blew the whistle loudly, causing us to cover our ears... Where the hell did she even get that?

The students gathering in front finally took notice, casting strange looks our way.

—What's going on over there?

—Not sure, but I think I heard that the platinum-colored-haired girl was picking a fight with the guy at the back.

—... Why's that?

—Are you seriously asking me that question?

—....

Whispers circulated among the students as Alicia, realizing the spectacle she was creating, became flustered. She returned to her seat, keeping an eye on my actions.

I didn't pay much mind, confident that she couldn't do anything to me. Perhaps I should have engaged in conversation with the two earlier to avoid such situations.

My thoughts were swiftly set aside as the professor entered the classroom. She stood at the front, scanning the room. Her eyes met mine briefly before moving on to the other students.

"Alright, is everyone here?"

After the attendance check, she launched into her self-introduction, a repetition of the previous regression, word for word.

"Let's start."

I'd already committed her introduction to memory. Could we please move on?

...

..

.

Time zipped by, and the class finally came to an end. Standing up, I neatly arranged my chair and headed towards the exit. However, Kiyona abruptly stopped me, grabbing my shoulder and pulling me toward her.

"Let's hang out again, the three of us!" She said, brimming with excitement.

While I was fine with the idea, I had plans to meet Aerial today. Politely declining, I forced a smile. "I'm going somewhere."

Like an insistent puppy seeking attention, she pulled me closer, casting me puppy eyes.

"Where? Can we come? Please...!"

Too bad I wasn't fond of animals.

"...No."

"Pretty please...."

"No."

Finally, Kim intervened. "He's got something important to do. We can catch up with him later."

Despite her dissatisfaction, Kiyona grumbled, "Ugh, okay..."

Thanks for the late save... Well, I gotta go. Waving goodbye, I headed to the area where Aerial would be.

"There she is... Huh?"

Is it just me, or does she have more files than in previous regressions? Pausing for a moment, I contemplated before deciding to offer help.

"You need help, Aerial?"

"...?"

Turning her attention toward me, looking confused, she struggled to keep the folders balanced. "How did you know my name?"

"Ah... Well, I just guessed?"

How did I come up with that?

"... That's fair," she responded with a nod.

How did she believe that?

After pulling my thoughts back together, I shaked my head to clear my thoughts and took more than half of the folders she was carrying.

"..Thanks, perhaps," she said, turning towards the hallway full of students.

I never thought I'd miss her "perhaps." Shaking my head lightly, I followed her from behind, gazing out the window.

There, I spotted the two from earlier. Kiyona excitedly ran through the students, while Kim struggled to keep up. Despite appearing exhausted, he pushed through the crowd, grabbing Kiyona's wrist.

Now that I think about it... They're just childhood friends, right? I swear I almost mistook them for siblings based on how they acted during class.

"We're here..." Aerial's sudden voice startled me, and I turned my attention back to her. It was then I realized we had already reached our destination.

She opened the door with her free hand and carefully stepped inside, maintaining a light step to keep the folders balanced.

"You can place them here," she said, putting the folders on the table and assisting me by taking some, then placing them down.

Without further ado, she selected one of the folders and opened it to examine its contents. I remained silent, surveying the room.

The arrangement of objects was consistent with the previous regression. A cloth concealed the messier part of the room, while the rest was meticulously organized.

"Hey, umm...." I attempted to initiate a conversation, but seeing her immersed in her task, I held my words.

Fortunately, after a few seconds, she responded. Pointing to a chair, she said, "You can sit over there and wait. I'll have to finish something first before we can talk, is that alright?"

"...Yeah."

Silence settled in.