The slap echoed in the room as everyone grew silent. My glasses flew off my face as I stood there with my head craned to the side.
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What great timing you have there.
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My ears started ringing. My face grew hot and my blood seemed to boil. I lost control of my mind and my vision started to become impaired. It was blurry, but for some reason, Eiriko was crystal clear. There was a sense of restlessness that enveloped my entire body. Dizziness and nausea attacked my mind and for some reason, I was fixated on Eiriko.
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At this point, I wasn't in control of my actions. I walked up to her and stared into her eyes. This was the first time I saw fear in her eyes. She looked like an insignificant piece and a waste of human anatomy in my eyes. She probably couldn't see my eyes due to my hair covering them.
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There was a point where she closed her eyes and turned away. It was a reaction that would indicate that something was about to hit her, but before I could see anything happen, my vision grew dimmer until fading to black. There was a sharp pain that erupted in my heart and I had a hard time breathing. The last thing I saw was the classroom floor before blacking out.
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***
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Where am I?
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It took some time, but when I finally regained consciousness, I was greeted by a dimly lit room. There was a low mechanical hum that I could hear off to the right side. I turn my head and see a heart rate monitor and besides it was an IV drip.
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"I must be in a hospital room then…" I said to myself as I tried to piece things together before this happened. I close my eyes and try to recall what happened. All I can remember was that incident with Eiriko, but it all happened in a flash.
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"What happened…?"
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I said to myself… or so I thought.
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"...You're awake Ena-kun?" I look over and see a familiar face that I've seen many times. It was Shina who was wearing a sweater and joggers. She was curled up into her seat as if she was trying to sleep in such a cramped manner.
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"Why are you here Hiyori-san?"
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"To watch over you. I was really worried when you collapsed in class."
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"...So I collapsed in class huh."
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"Yeah… it was scary seeing you become that livid. I never knew you could even get that mad at someone."
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"What happened? I don't remember anything."
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"Huh? You mean you don't remember anything from that moment?"
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I shook my head and told her what happened on my side. "It was like I became an outside observer when it happened. I wasn't myself and I had no control whatsoever. All I can remember was the pain in my chest during this incident."
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"...Do you want to know?" Shina asks. Taking a glance of Shina's face, it was evident that she was scared to recall the event. I gave it some thought before telling her that I wanted to know what happened.
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"Please tell me Hiyori-san. I'm sorry for letting you relive the experience."
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"Then in exchange, I ask for a little bit of your time after our time at the beauty company."
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"I forgot that it was tomorrow. Ok, it's a deal."
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Shina smiles and moves to a chair that is closer to me.
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"After Eiriko slapped you…" Shina begins to tell me what happened that time, "The entire class was shocked and speechless from Eiriko's actions. You stood there for a while. I assumed that you were in shock too from her sudden appearance after telling us your plan. I was about to intervene, but the words you said after being slapped rendered everyone silent.
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The words were just normal words, but at that moment, when you spoke, there was an overwhelming sense of coldness in the world. Everyone felt the chill from the words even though it wasn't directed towards us."
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"My words were that cold?"
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"It was more of your tone at the time, but recalling it… I had goosebumps down my arms and chills down my back."
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Shina's body trembles as she recalls the moment. "...What did I say?" I couldn't help but think,
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Was there really a subconscious dark side of me that manifested from all the bullying that occurred?
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Shina clasped her hands together and told me, "You said…"
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(The next part will be from Shina's POV)
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"Are you satisfied with that?" Haru spoke with a tone of absolute coldness. Goosebumps formed on my arms and my body trembled as I felt a chill go down my spine. This was my first time seeing Haru angry.
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Eiriko took a step back as she tried to stand her ground. "N-not even the slightest!" She said in a defiant tone even though her body wanted to buckle in fear.
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Haru chuckles and steps towards her with a smile. "Is that so! Then here! Come slap me until your heart's content!" Haru leaned in and showed his cheek as if it was on a grand display towards her, but Eiriko couldn't even budge.
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Haru waited and then said in a villainous, "Oh? You're not going to slap me? Ohh! I get it! I get it!! You don't want to slap this cheek since you already slapped it. My bad madam! Here, this cheek hasn't been slapped yet. Please enjoy this non slapped cheek. Come! I insist!"
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Eiriko was indecisive. In this situation, she would gladly slap Haru to let out her frustration, but this was the first time that she was hesitant to even do a thing. This was the first time we all saw her being scared.
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"Hm? How disappointing." Haru turned around and picked up his glasses. "You know? My life became a living hell when you and Mai decided to bully me. All I wanted was just a peaceful and quiet school life, but no! Even I couldn't have such the simplest things in life due to these self-entitled waste of human anatomy flaunting their way into my once peaceful life now turned into a living nightmare!"
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I didn't know Haru was actually suffering a lot more on the inside than what I had imagined. Why didn't I stop Sarade-san more frequently?
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As Haru continued, I began to notice that even though he was livid, he was also in some kind of pain.
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"Do you know how fucked my life has been since you and your little gal party came into my life? I may don't show it, but I've been suicidal since then! You don't know how many times I've attempted to take my own life to end things just to get some peace and quiet, but do you know why I didn't take my life?"
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I didn't want to hear about Haru's miserable life. I didn't want to realize how much I looked away from him when he was getting tortured so I tried to intervene. "E-Ena-kun, lets-," When I tried to intervene, Haru looked at me with an icy cold glare.
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Never had I ever wanted to reverse time so badly to prevent myself from thinking about intervening. I was hoping a hole would just open up underneath and swallow me up. I didn't want to be seen with that glare ever again.
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"Huh? Are you defending her, Hiyori-san?"
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"No-no! I just-"
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"Then shut the hell up! She needs to know how much she ruined my life! You will never understand what I went through!" Then he turns towards Eiriko's friend Mai, who was sitting at her desk, walks up to her side, and continues, "Should I also involve you too Sanae-san?"
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Mai turns away and cowers, wanting to become as small as she can to avoid him. "You don't want me to involve you?" Haru's cold tone asks the trembling girl. Mai shook her quivering head.
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"Ehh? How disappointing of you Sanae-san. I would love to inform you too about my miserable life, but since you don't want to be part of it, then I'll spare you. Just remember, if you do something to disturb me again, well, you know what will happen right?"
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Mai nods, but that doesn't satisfy Haru. "Hm? What was that? You'll mess with me when Sarada-san comes back?"
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"No! I understand! Please don't! I'm sorry!!" Mai broke under pressure and begged Haru to spare her. "I have your word, so I'll spare you."
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Haru walks away from Mai and heads back to Eiriko. "Now where were we? -Ah yes! Do you know why I didn't just off myself? It was because I am a coward. No matter how many times I've wanted to just jump off a building, I was too scared to do so. That's when I realized that I didn't want to die. I realized that I only wanted my current situation to change."
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Haru…
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Haru then leaned against the wall and I noticed that he was grabbing at his heart. He was in pain and had a hard time breathing. After a brief moment of collecting himself, he turns back to Eiriko and says as he walks up to her, "You know? You're lucky. As a girl, if you hit someone, you can get away with it. You can say it was in self-defense, but as a guy, if we hit someone, its immediately seen as an assualt. At this point, I don't care whatever the outcome is. I'll return your slap tenfold."
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Haru raised his hand and Eiriko braced herself…
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"And then-
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"This is that outcome." I pointed out to Shina who then nodded in agreement. I lay back into my bed and stare at the ceiling.
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"I'll go-" The door to my room opens up, cutting Shina off from finishing her sentence. Entering the room was another person I didn't expect to see at this late of a time.
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It was Ami-senpai er, I mean it was Yoko-san.
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