Chapter 3: Unknown progression

Our classes for today were almost over and we were called for cleaning duty. Miette was told of her new duties and she wasn't happy about it.

She was asked to clean the shoe locker of our class with 2 other people, Echirou being one of them. I bet he’s crying his ey-

“GOD IS REAL GUYS, I JUST GOT PAIRED UP WITH MIETTE-SAMA. OH IS THIS DESTINY? IS THIS A SIGN?” Echirou seemed to be high above everyone.

(Sama? His Japanese roots kick in when he’s … I don't know)

There were tears, but in other’s eyes. Is she actually this famous already?

“Uh, egchiu? Who is he ?” I heard Miette finding his partner, I am glad only Echirou will be her par-

“OI, SOMEONE BRING SOME WATER, TYLOR SEEMS TO FAINT AFTER HEARING HE’S MIETTE’S PARTNER”

None of this was true as I saw Erik holding down Tylor in a headlock but these guys can literally do anything to grab any female’s attention.

Sure….

I only had the duty of cleaning the boy's locker room. I don't know why there were 2 girls with me on the same duty but I did all the work and asked them to throw the trash. A girl entering the boys' locker room will be a little embarrassing for them and for us too. Well, the main reason is that I don't want anyone to see me with those girls inside the locker room. Even though the school is strict, it's still a school with people spreading rumors about each other.

After completing my work I decided to check on Echirou if he had completed his work. Also taking my shoes to leave and call it a day.

“Why are you doing it so slow? Are you even a man?” a sharp, identical, and highly annoying voice went through my ears, stunning them for a bit.

*phew* here we go again.

“What the hell is going on? Why is this gorilla screaming ?”

Maybe saying this was one of the biggest mistakes of mine.

“What the hell did you just say?” she was actually angry.

How funny is it that I was the one making jokes here. Never been this close to anyone but that annoyance I felt because of her was unreal.

I took my shoes and wore them.

“Are you finished? Let's head home then, I wanna discuss something on the way." I asked Echirou. But…..

“Wh-wh-wh-why a-are you ask-asking me-me???”

I tilted my head a little and saw a very shy Miette with her hands covering her face.

(What the hell? I will just act like I didn't hear any of this.)

“OI Echirou, you hear me ?”

(What do you think of this, you female gorilla? You got ignored. HAHAHA

What the hell am I doing fighting with a stupid girl? Am I not the one who doesn't do anything out of character?)

“Echirou? Oi?” there was no response.

I saw him lying on the ground. The dispersal time is about to happen and students will be flooding here in no time.

“The hell was he doing?” I directed my question towards Tylor but he seemed out of it too.

“Can you care to explain what was going on here? Miette?”

“Huh!” she turned her head around.

What the actual fuck is wrong with this girl? I will just leave this shitty brat here alone.

I picked up Echirou and slapped Tylor out of it. He was a dumb guy so manipulating him into walking out was a piece of cake.

I was just about to walk out when I felt a strong stare at my back. Don't ask how but I just felt it. I turned around to see that Miette was seated there looking at me.

“Wh-what?”

I felt a strong push in myself to go towards her and I unknowingly did.

I sat in front of her and saw that she had some tears in her eyes. Can be a method to manipulate me into sympathizing with her.

“I don't wanna go to that prison anymore. If I don't complete this, they will put me back there right ?”

“Yeah”

“Can you hel-”

“No”

“B-But I alo-”

“This is a task given to us as the lesson of cleanliness, if you just want others to do your errands then you are at the wrong school sweetheart”

(The ‘sweetheart’ was so unnecessary)

“I never did my work, not because I couldn't but because nobody ever let me do it.”

Her feeling of self-realization seemed real and she was getting deep into her story. Brutally speaking, I wasn't interested. I just wanted to get away from there and reach home.

“There is no crying over spilled milk, right? We should think about what we can do next, firstly we need to clean the remaining area within the time given for cleaning, or else that coffin will wait for you." When I made that remark, she seemed to bite her nails.

To which I continued, “I will help you this time but you have to learn it yourself as there will be no next time, no, there should be no next time”

(I said I wanted to go home, why did I even decide to help her?)

I made the last line seem like a threat and she quickly got up and looked at me with determination.

It took us about 15 minutes to complete the work, well it would have taken only 5 to 6 minutes if she knew the basics of cleanliness or the equipment used.

We both went out together to check on Echirou and Tylor. Both of them were still astonished and reacted as such when they saw Miette.

“Ahhhhh! She’s here again, I will not lift any more shoe racks. I’ll die”

“Please spare us, ma’am, I beg you”

Why the hell are they overreacting, or is it…..

“What did you make them do ?” I asked Miette while looking at Echirou and Tylor

“Uh, I just asked them to clean ____ the shoe rack”

“What? Say loudly”

“U-unde-r, the shoe-shoe rack” Miette made them lift the shoe rack. Wow

I just grabbed my bag and decided to leave when…

“What do you want now? Can’t I just go home peacefully ?”

Miette stood there holding my bag.

“I, I wanted to thank you, Reo. For this and that too.”

(That? Ah, that confinement.)

“Be grateful, and learn how to clean” With these simple words, I bid my farewell.

Or maybe it wasn't farewell.

Why is it that sometimes we get closer to the thing we want to get away from? This life really has its own puzzles but as long as it's not a hassle I don't mind living it.

“What now? Can I go home?

She didn't seem to leave me. I wonder what’s up.

“What about these guys ?” she pointed at Echirou and Tylor.

“They will snap out of it and reach home, even though I wanted to talk to Echirou. A certain someone just made him do something nasty.” I remarked.

“If you say so Reo” she sighed and let go of my bag.

“Well then, see you later.” with this, I finally started to move.

I heard footsteps behind me and to my surprise, I saw Miette walking behind me.

Well, it could be that her house might be on the same path so I didn't go out of my way to ask her why she was on the same track.

I kept on walking without invading her personal space.

It was getting on my nerves that with each turn I took she was taking the same. To check if she was actually following me, I took a deliberate wrong turn.

I used the 4 right/left turns rule to check it. If you ever see a person or car following you and it's highly suspicious, just take 4 left or right turns, if they still follow you just know that you are in danger. Or maybe your homies are trying to throw you a surprise party :)

At the end of the 4th turn, I saw that she wasn't following me. *phew*

(What if she got abduc- SHUT UP BRO. What am I even thinking ?)

I finally reached my home to celebrate the end of my unlucky day. Well, my home was never something I looked forward to as before Nexus’s invasion 7 years ago, it was hell. If I’m being honest it still is but I have learned to

live in it, peacefully.

I am a peaceful guy, no, I am a harmless guy. You can only be peaceful when you have the capability to cause destruction and you choose not to do so, but I am not destructive, which makes me harmless.

Yes, I am a harmless guy.

“I am back home, Mom” I said.

“Huh? No reply?” this was an unknown thing to me, she's not saying anything?

I looked for her while taking my clothes off, as I am a thin clothes or comfortable clothes guy. The heat of July is deadly right now. The Nexus has been doing too much for the world’s progress. It might have helped us develop new advanced technologies but has caused too much global warming. Though for the past 5 or 6 months they have been trying to mend that issue. Nexus seems to be a really smart organization as it thinks of everything ahead of time. They made every possible invention with current technology. Many issues have been resolved, and we have finally found a way to make seawater drinkable. The problem of deforestation has also been cleared as the countries that were eradicated are now used as plantations and crop yields.

They are doing pretty well for the world. Their space missions are what fascinate me the most. Their latest achievement was finding the solar system nearest to us which has living conditions on almost 4 out of 23 planets orbiting the star.

I was thinking about the organization while walking towards the kitchen which was joined with the dining table.

“Ah- you should take more, it's delicio-...AH, Reo! You are back.”

In front of me were seated 6 people out of which I was familiar with 4 of them.

My mom, serving everyone the food she made, my dad, who was smiling looking at the other man and the food, my sister who was sitting on the couch as she has high social anxiety, though she's working on it and I am proud of her. The last person I knew in my house was the last person I wanted to see right now.

She was watching me with her mouth open and wide eyes. It took me a second to realize that I had opened all my buttons and my abdomen was visible clearly. Not only that, my bottom also loosened as I removed the belt but I am sure she didn't see my underwear.

I quickly turned and dashed towards my room.

(What more can happen today? The fuck is she doing in my house? Those couples may be her parents. How the hell did she get here with her parents?

Ahhhhhh!!!! My school life would be doomed if she told everyone about me and my thin body.)

I quickly changed into my finest home clothes, well finest were also equivalent to rags but they would do just fine.

I made it clear to ignore everything, I washed my face and saw that it was all red from embarrassment.

*phew* I can do this.

I patted my cheeks and went down for lunch.

“Hello uncle, hello aunty. Myself Reo, sorry you just saw an awkward side” I said so with the most pleasant face I could make and looked towards Miette sitting there with a constant shock on her face.

I also sat there in my seat and started to taste the food.

“Nice to meet you Reo….. we were just discussing your classmates. I heard that there is a guy named August-”

“Eh, ahem *coughs*.... What ?”

(This bitch even told this? Man, I might get a beating this way.)

“You happen to know what happened right? So what is this August like?”

I should better calm down and answer naturally.

“Ah, August is a bright student with high academic and sports achievements. He just has an issue with his personality but overall he is a good student”

(Did I just describe myself as him? Man, I might get busted.)

“Oh, Miette, you should stop talking to that guy okay? Even though he is a good student, he has a personality defect as mentioned by Reo. Choose your friends wisely, unlike last ti-”

“I got it, Dad, I got it” She seemed startled by what his father was about to say.

I am getting curious but I dare not make an enemy out of Miette.

“Let's eat first, my mother cooks really good food.” I decided to shift the topic and we ate our lunch.

While I was keeping my dishes in the sink, I asked my mom about them to which she said that they are their new neighbours who live right next to them.

This was enough information to deduce why she was following the same path.

Man, can this be any worse?

“Reo is a responsible child, if you are worried about Miette then you can send them both to school together.” my father added to my hassles. I should just rename this book to "The Disastrous Life of Reo B." at this point. I think I have heard of this manga.

“Well, I think she might be uncomfortable with me”

“Well, I think he might be uncomfortable with me”

We almost said so at the same time.

Was she also trying to not let this happen? Damn, she's a good person. But this stupid being will cause me a problem. Your intentions were clear but sadly if we both feel like we will make each other uncomfortable then nobody will be uncomfortable if we talk it out. Soon someone will-

“Well if you both feel that way then maybe you can go together. I mean Miette is also thinking that she will make you uncomfortable and you are thinking the same. So why don't you both go together from now on ?”

(Knew it would be you, Mom.)

“I don’t mind but ask her if she's okay with it.” I gave her a clean sheet to lie on yet…..

“I don't mind either”

(“You idiotttt, you should have denied going together. Oh god!!”)

“Haha, then that's settled” The guys were really happy about it for some reason while I only looked at Miette with hatred in my eyes.

This wasn’t an unknown progression, this was highly unwanted.