Negotiations

"I don't hate you."

The green girl had stated so wearing a straight face, not hesitating for a second, but just the fact that she had come to me to say that made me suspicious. While still shoveling food into my mouth, as she had said it was fine to continue eating, I showed that I was listening with my eyes.

Reading my expression, she understood my intent and continued on, "But I still feel incredibly uncomfortable having you around. There are even rumors going around that students have seen you coming home late while covered in blood."

Taking a second of silence, she tried to gauge my reaction. It must have been incredibly difficult to do so, as I once again looked like a chipmunk desperately working to survive the winter. It was even kind of impressive that she managed to keep her face aloof. Her expression also carried a different feeling as to what Lindsey did.

In Lindsey's case, I had already concluded that her whole demeanor was more a product of never having practiced social cues than her not caring. In contrast, Suzuka absolutely appeared to not care at all.

Having found no success in decoding my face, which would have been hard no matter what as I didn't care all too much, she sighed, "Haaa... Well, no matter if it's true or not, it doesn't really matter to me. What does matter to me is that you are currently a huge source of anxiety and fear to Akane."

It wasn't unknown to me that her sister seemed to be incredibly scared of me, even though it felt like she had gotten a tiny bit more used to my presence in the classroom. Nevertheless, Suzuka was right, and it didn't only apply to Akane. Just me being in the room planted seeds of angst and discomfort in many of our classmates. To some extent, understandably so.

Once again opening the hatch to let the calories fall down my throat, I finally joined the conversation vocally, "So what do you want to happen? You want me to leave the academy like Bayyan?"

"Honestly, yes that would be preferable. But I know that you won't just leave, there appears that you have a personal reason as to why you are here. Almost as if you were desperate."

An eerily accurate analysis just came out from her nonchalant mouth, creating a slight shiver fall down my back. Before I had the chance to fully react, she placed her hands on the table, clasped together, "I am also assuming that the reason why you accepted the duel with James was for another reason than just spite, it doesn't fit with your personality. Maybe it was to make an impression that you were strong, therefore you shouldn't be messed with."

'She is so damn sharp...'

Picking up my fork, I tried to also keep a nonchalant tone as I took a bite of broccoli, "That might be so, but in what way is that relevant to me being a source of discomfort to Akane?"

"It's relevant because I want you to know that what I'm going to say next is something I am saying while at least somewhat aware of your situation. As I said before, I don't hate you and although I don't like you, this conversation has nothing to do with my personal feelings about you."

"Just get to the point." My eyes darkened a bit as I listened to what she was spouting. I didn't enjoy it when people were stalling and tried to artificially create a setting where their words would be softened, just for the sake of fake politeness. For some reason, this was the first time when I saw her react; she flinched a tiny bit as my face hardened.

Quickly composing herself, she got on with her explanation, "It's obvious that James is trying to make you a symbol of a villain, and that by defeating you he could show everyone that we didn't have to worry as he could protect us." Another accurate observation was casually made by the green-haired detective.

"Honestly, I think it's foolish. His thought process is akin to kids who have dreams of being a hero, of saving the world from evil. It's too simple-minded."

'Wonder how she would react if I told her that that is exactly who he is going to become as long as everything goes according to plan...'

"However, Akane doesn't think the same. She thinks that as long as James can defeat you, there would be nothing to worry about, that he can be the guardian of our class against you, the demonspawn."

My head lowered a bit at her hurtful words. 'I know that they don't like me, but demonspawn? Can't you just call me a villain or something, no need to go that far...'

Not minding my inner thoughts, she surprisingly bowed her head to the table, her hands acting as support as they laid flatly under it. "What are you doing?", I asked, feeling more confused than ever at her sudden action.

"Please, lose this fight. For the sake of Akane, I ask you to lose the duel."

It was praiseworthy, the cold girl in front of me didn't mind lowering her head and putting away her pride for the sake of her sister. On the other hand, we both knew that this wasn't a stage where charity would even be considered, thus I could already predict what would happen next.

"I assume that you already know I would say no, so what kinds of great benefits are you going to lure me with?"

She sat straight again, still with her deadpan expression, almost as if she had never bowed in the first place, "As expected, it wouldn't be that easy." I took another bite of my food while she made herself ready to give me the details.

"As you may or may not know, the Tanaka family is powerful. We might not be as powerful as some guilds like the Union or the Borr's, but we aren't far from it." Although I didn't know much about the Tanaka guild or household, I didn't doubt her words.

"At first, we thought about either inviting you or sponsoring you, giving you a huge amount of resources for your training and the development of your M.G. but sadly this is not possible anymore. Because of your title as the disciple of the principal, it has become an impossibility to support you in any material way, as it would be seen as an attempt to steal you away."

"Then what can you do for me?"

"We can solve the issue of protecting you inside the academy, making it so you do not have to worry about other students."

Her proposal greatly intrigued me. It had been one of the focal points of my ambitions for a long time. At first, James had most likely acted as a sort of safety net for me, as no one would want to get on the bad side of the wonderchild, but now he wasn't present anymore. Adding on to that, now I was no longer shunned because I was weak, but because the other student's deemed me to be a dangerous entity.

It was no longer a question of maybe getting bullied by my peers, it had to some extent become a question of survival. My life at the academy had already been at risk before, but not at the hands of other students or their families, it had been threatened by the fact that we had to do dungeon dives and that the demonkind might attack. Now there was a real possibility that some students might even try to assassinate me.

However, I still had another ace up my sleeve that served as makeshift protection, "Why do you think you can protect me better than the fact that I'm the official pupil of the principal?"

She grit her teeth as she heard the words come out of my mouth. In which way could they help to protect me better than the fact that I was the disciple of one of the most prominent people in District 5? To my surprise, though, she did have one thing, something I didn't expect.

"I will be your ally. Not publicly, but I will stop rumors from spreading, help you with information and even fight with you if needed."

A curveball had been thrown, and a quite alluring one at that. Having her by my side would be a big gain for my part, as she was clearly incredibly intelligent and good at reading other people.

'But it is not enough...'

"I'm sorry, but there will be no deal made, no matter what."

"Alright. Thank you for your time."

She stood up, now knowing there was no chance for me to accept her proposal, and she walked away.

If it wasn't for the fact that there were now added terms to the duel, she might have convinced me to take the deal, but now? There was no way. Not even God could stop me from fighting James, making sure he never fought me again, knowing what kind of beast he would become in the future.