Echoes of Solitude

Normal Life

"I will be the tyrant king. The one who will lead you all, and you will all obey me. You will all sacrifice yourselves under my name in order to achieve victory. Do you numbskulls understand?" Ryuuen-kun declared his rule over the class.

Why...? Why must we be forced into conflict with one another? Not only are we forced to make enemies of the other class, but the relationships between classmates are also put at strain.

I don't like it. I don't like fighting one bit.

What was so wrong about living a passive life, where we didn't have to hurt one another?

Why couldn't it just stay that way...?

I should have seen it coming. I've had my doubts, but I wanted to desperately cling to this life, and shook those thoughts off. I wanted to make friends, and finally have fun with people. I didn't want to be alone.

But even so... I can't do anything about it. I can only hope that through the upcoming struggles, Ayanokouji-kun and I can remain the same, and enjoy our friendship. That way, I won't have to be lonely.

I glanced over to Ayanokouji-kun, as if confirming to myself that we can remain the same.

Immediately, a shock went down my spine.

"Ayanokouji-kun...?" I subconsciously called out his name.

In my opinion, Ayanokouji-kun isn't anybody unordinary. He always keeps a straight face, and his expression unchanging.

However, something is different.

His expression remained the same, but I was drawn into the darkness within his eyes.

Why...?

Why do you have such a look in your eyes...?

I then realized that, for the first time in my life, I couldn't get a read on somebody.

———

My normal life has returned.

I layed in bed, staring at the white celling of my room.

For the past month, I have lived a relatively peaceful life. But as soon as freedom came, just as quickly, I was trapped in another cage.

Perhaps there is no such thing as freedom, and we can only live in the illusion of such a thing existing.

Or maybe, our freedom is entrapped by the malice of human nature. After all, since human history has began, we have always been in conflict.

Yet, I continue to exist within the illusion called freedom, and cling to it. After all, I have no interest in involving myself in such conflict.

How long will I be able to live this life peacefully?

It seems it won't last long, as my phone buzzed as I received a text from an unknown number.

"Get outside. Now."

"It seems you have the wrong number. I don't know who this is."

"Ayanokouji Kiyotaka. Come outside. Benches by the pond."

It seems whoever this is, it certainly is directed towards me. It seems I gained unwanted attention. If I were to decline, this unknown person may start pestering me.

If I block their number, they may just start harassing me in-person, creating more unwanted attention for me.

I got up from my bed, and headed outside. I started walking towards the pond, which wasn't far from here.