It was Monday now and I stood on the roof of the school, waiting with a frown on my face. In my hands was a note I had received earlier that day in my locker from the most unlikely of sources. Each ti I glanced down at it, my frown only grew deeper. This would have been the last person I would have expected to reach out to in the slightest.
The door popped open and a familiar person walked out. He had the sa smile on his face that he always wore. It was sowhat fake and irritated just to look at it. However, I manage to similarly prevent my expression from turning ugly as I faced him.
Hello, Derek, I said stiffly.
Derek laughed awkwardly, scratching the back of his head. I suppose I have a lot to atone for. We used to be best friends.
I lowered my head, frowning as I tried to figure out what his ga was. What do you an?
Derek grimaced. You were right about Akiko. I looked into it, and it seems like she got drunk and passed out at a party and five guys had their way with her.
I let out a noise. That I
Derek raised a hand. I know you were just trying to protect her the only way you could. Turning facts into rumors make it a best-kept secret
H-how did you find out? I asked quietly after a mont.
Derek smiled bitterly. Akiko dumped the other night.
My eyes spun to Derek and my mouth fell open. My surprise was genuine. It was the last thing I would have expected, Akiko leaving her beloved. Was she really that guilty over our relationship? No she told Derek about the rape event. If anything, she cleared my na. She could have said I was blackmailing her, but she didnt ntion at all. This really didnt make any sense.
Why? What happened? I asked.
Haha she uh said she was interested in soone else, and she didnt want to continue to be a cheater like .
Soone else? My eyes widened. Seriously?
Derek made a rough chuckle. Yeah the slut. Thats why I know how you feel. I guess I only started dating her because I was angry at you, so I didnt take our relationship very seriously. However, Im usually the one who does the dumping. This got thinking a bit.
You know I know that you had an affair with Akiko for a year, right? I admitted.
Heh Derek looked down. I thought you might have realized that
You still think were going to be friends?
Derek chuckled wryly. Well, Im not interested in being enemies.
I frowned while watching him out of the corner of my eye. In many ways, I had never gotten the vengeance on him that I had wanted. I had stolen his girl and NTRd him, but she wasnt a girl he cared for, and she was mine a short ti prior. That was hardly an act of fitting revenge. Part of the reason I was okay with this was that we had years of friendship behind us. I was willing to overlook it and let bygones be bygones.
However, if I ever did want revenge, itd be easier to obtain if he wasnt looking for it. Then again, the sa could be true for him. Derek wasnt an idiot, and if he did know I had an affair with Akiko, he could be trying to give a Trojan horse. This relationship was a double-edged sword and I needed to be careful if I wanted to pursue it.
Ill think about it. I said as much as I was willing to, and then turned and headed for the door leading back into the high school.
Hakaru Derek called, causing to stop and look over at him.
What?
Tis are changing. Derek sounded awkward as he spoke. Sothings been happening lately. Call it paranoia, an ominous feeling, sothing. Its better to have allies than enemies, I think. We need to stand up to people like this Jack guy
Jack? I froze for a second and then turned. What about Jack?
Derek grimaced. I heard that your sister was being used by him. Ive done so background on him and hes been with a lot of girls. Likes to take them from guys like you and .
I narrowed my eyes. Derek, do you know the na of the guy Akiko left you for?
Derek nodded slowly. Its Jack.
My teeth clenched as I cursed under my breath. When I heard that she was leaving Derek for soone else, I wasnt so bold as to think it was , but I never would have thought it was Jack either. I had already discarded her, but he picked her up anyway. With her broken off from Derek, I wouldnt have been able to claim any more points from her for NTR. Of course, I had cut her loose first, but I wasnt clear how much this guy knew. Netori told nothing, but she was an open mouth when it ca to this bastard.
No, wait, that wasnt the problem here. The problem was that I knew Akikos darkest secrets more than anyone. She loved Derek dearly. There was no way she would leave Derek to pursue Jack. That was completely ridiculous to even imagine. There was also no way he could have tricked Akiko into dumping Derek without so kind of leverage. There must have been sothing Jack had that made girls abandon all reason and
I slapped my forehead. I was a complete idiot. He was a player the sa as I was. That ant that he had skills in the sa way that I did. Of course, he had tricks, and he was using them to manipulate events. I had been caught up on my own inadequacy that I hadnt realized that he had the sa abilities as . No I didnt know if different gods offered the sa benefits, and besides, he could have picked radically different skills.
The warning bell rang at that point, so Derek and I headed back to the classroom, although I was certainly lost in thought and fortunately, he didnt try to press for any talking. Derek probably thought I might help him attack Jack. After all, Jack wronged both of us. He probably assud for , it was how he embarrassed my sister. As for him, he wouldnt let Akiko embarrass him. He never really wanted her, but now that she was taken away, he would fight tooth and nail to keep her. That was the kind of guy that Derek was.
In class, I glanced Akikos way, but she didnt pay any mind at all. When I glanced into her notebook while dropping sothing off in the trashcan, I saw the na Jack written hundreds of tis in it surrounded by hearts. Jack definitely used a skill on her. If I had to guess, it was a skill like Manipulation. He cheated with a lot more won than . While I spent my ti banging Akiko, he had stolen a dozen girls from their boyfriends. He could be level three or even higher. It wouldnt be surprising if he had more points than .
By passing notes back and forth in class with Derek, I learned that the guy was hated by most of the school at the mont, but everyone was too afraid to touch him. Besides being big and possibly tied to a gang, he also had a lot of leverage. He seed to know secrets about everyone who threatened him. Was that dirt scribe? Derek also had written an angry note saying that he had been seen with Tory, but I already knew that to be the case, so I was able to keep my cool. After the tenth ti passing notes, the teacher caught .
Stay after class, Hakaru. Mrs. Fukumi ordered.
I could only cringe and wait accordingly while a few people around the class muttered. I was already gaining a reputation as a teachers pet. Since Mrs. Fukumi and I had our little altercation where I unknowingly revealed she was having an affair with my father despite the both of them being married, shed been extrely light with my grading. In return, I hadnt pushed the issue either. I an, if my dad found out I was blackmailing the teacher, hed kick my ass, so it didnt seem worth it.
After the bell rang, Derek gave one look before he said, Call you later.
I nodded but kept my face pretty nondescript. We werent really friends, but I realized that Derek did a lot more background checking than I did. The fact I was able to keep my relationship with Akiko out of Dereks suspicion was kind of amazing. It probably had mostly to do with the fact there were just too many rumors floating around between the two of us, and Akiko was an exceptional liar who kept him duped. Still, he was useful for spying on Jack, so I was willing to use him for a little while.
I remained in my chair and waited for the class to clear out. Mrs. Fukumi remained behind as well. I didnt think it had anything to do with passing notes. Derek was just as guilty as I was, and given her unique treatnt to , it was even more likely Id be singled out unless she had sothing to say. So, I waited patiently and she finally walked up to my desk.
Hakaru, you shouldnt be passing notes in class. I know Ive been looking the other way a lot recently, especially hearing several rumors about you associated with a certain girl nad Akiko. Ive even heard youve started working at a ahem a hotel.
I looked up at her and activated Dirt Scribe. Her thoughts actually caused to freeze. What she was thinking wasnt sothing I expected at all! She took my silence differently, and then imdiately waved her hands.
I of course dont believe any of these rumors! My daughter has always spoken highly of you.
She was still a bit scared that if she rubbed the wrong way, Id run to mom and spill the beans. Well, she wasnt wrong. However, what she wanted from also wasnt sothing that made particularly angry. She apparently didnt know that I worked for her son, so Kira hadnt told her yet. Well, that was fine with . Working after school wasnt specifically prohibited. Sothing the western invasion pushed. They said getting kids in the workforce early made them more productive when they finished school.
As for what my teacher wanted, her thoughts were a bit disjointed as she didnt really want to tell , but she was closing in on an anniversary with my father. She was surprisingly sentintal about it and wanted to find out a way to impress my father. She suspected that he was losing interest in her and was returning to my mothers side. This wasnt true, he was actually sleeping with other won, but she didnt know that. Thus, she wanted to get so information out of to help her plan the perfect weekend getaway.
On that note, I recalled that the father was leaving the whole weekend next week to a conference before Halloween. That conference turned out to be a trip he was taking with Miss Fukumi.
The thing is Miss Fukumi put her fingers together, blushing slightly. The thing with your father
I sighed. Dad likes good alcohol, but he doesnt really know the difference. The fancier the bottle, the happier he is. You could buy an empty bottle of expensive liquor, fill it with sothing cheap, and then seal it, and hell treat it as a treasure. As for places he likes, hes been wanting to go to this hot spring hotel outside of town forever but hasnt gone because it has a co-ed bath and Mom said it was indecent. If you took him, itd be sothing his wife had been holding him away from for years.
Ah! Miss Fukumi exploded in a blush, Th-thank you please continue to keep our secret!
My teacher gave a bow, and this ti I blushed. She really was completely being used by my dad. He probably told her to pick and reserve the spot for their trip so that it could be exactly the romantic weekend she imagined, but in reality, he probably just figured hed sucker her into paying for it all.
I shook my head and ran off to work. Deacon and I watched the store for a few hours, cracking jokes and watching people bang on the monitors. I handed him a few pieces of information on girls I wasnt that interested in. If Deacon wanted to try to blackmail high school girls without a goddess backing him up, he was welco to see where that took him.
Eventually, Deacon took off to go smoke so weed, and I was left watching the store alone. That seed to happen a lot. He used to just randomly shut the store down. Simply being reliably open during the hours it said had done wonders for the business, or so Deacon said. When things quieted down, I sat in the backroom. There was only one room being rented by two couples. They were watching a movie now, but the guys were pulling around second base and heading for third.
Thinking back over the day, my mind kept wandering back to Jack. Maria, Gina, and now Akiko. What level was he at? I couldnt keep hiding, and I didnt want this asshole to just get away with it all. I had to eventually start making things happen. With a breath, my eyes snapped open.
Netori. Its ti to talk.
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