Another Like Me - Part II (CoTE x OC)

ℂ𝕙𝕒𝕡𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝟚𝟟 - ℝ𝕖𝕕-ℍ𝕒𝕚𝕣𝕖𝕕 ℍ𝕒𝕣𝕝𝕖𝕢𝕦𝕚𝕟

Didn't know you were the violent type, nii-san.

He started it, Ichika. He squeezed my hand first.

You squeezed back way too hard. You almost killed his hand.

Umm, sorry then, I guess?

Nah, who said I was angry? I'm happy you did it. He was starting to get onto my nerves.

I chuckled. "What do you mean? You don't even know him, and he didn't even talk to you. You have no reason to be pissed."

"But he insulted you in front of so many people," Ichika sulked. "I wanted to punch him so bad."

I ruffled her hair affectionately. "You know that kind of stuff doesn't bother me. Besides, you think a first-year who just had his hand crushed by the Student Council Secretary would have any impact on me?"

"So haughty, nii-san."

"Oi."

"Are you really that famous, though?" Ichika asked curiously. "How come that Nanase girl knew you?"

"I'd say I'm pretty famous around here."

"Oh really? But why?"

"I don't know, maybe because I did a lot of stuff in my first year," I recounted. "I beat the Student Council Prez in a race, got inducted into the same Student Council, and I'm kinda the topper of the grade."

"Kinda? Are you not the topper?"

"I didn't write my final exams."

Ichika raised an eyebrow. "Hmm? Why?"

I stared at Ichika for a few moment, before sighing loudly. "I fell sick."

Ichika looked at me like I was the funniest man in the world. "You? Fell sick? And you didn't write your exams?"

"Stop nagging."

Ichika deadpanned. "You gotta tell me. I don't even remember the last time you got sick, of all people."

"Because that was like, five years ago?"

"Exactly," Ichika responded. "The last time you had common cold was almost five years ago, or something."

"The side-effects hit."

In an instant, Ichika stopped blabbering. Her eyebrows went high up, and she stared at me with an unreadable expression. "You..... what?"

"The side-effects," I replied patiently. "It finally hit."

"You're..... you're talking about the..... about the steroids?"

"Yup, those little devils," I said nonchalantly. The two of us walked on ahead in the mild afternoon sun. "Definitely took a toll on me."

"I didn't know those had side-effects....." Ichika mumbled. She grasped my hand tightly in return. "Are you sure you're okay now?"

"Yeah, I'm completely fine," I waved her off. "It's not really that big of a deal. We all knew it was gonna happen at some point, right? You can't expect a human body that has been running on those sneaky bastards for so long so suddenly run on its own for a year and a half."

"Wait, what do you mean?"

"I left the White Room a year and a half ago," I replied. "Which means it's been approximately that much time since I've had any doses. Your body starts thinking that those steroids are necessary."

Ichika nodded silently, and the two of us were engulfed in a comfortable silence. Even after the strangely serious conversation, Ichika did not look perturbed in the least. She continued to have a skip in her step, and was humming a tune to herself.