COTE Oneshots but Bad

"Darkness in my Eye" Kouji

Kushida Kikyo was a lying snake, that he had no doubt.

His dark brown eyes narrowed, leaking a trace of darkness that he usually tried to hide at all costs.

Noticing it, he quickly composed himself and slipped on his usual indifferent mask, his eyes having never left sight of the seemingly cheery beige-haired girl giggling with a group of girls.

Her fake smile was flimsier than the piece of plastic convenience store onigiris are wrapped in, yet somehow nobody seemed to notice it aside from him.

It only reaffirmed his idea that the class he was in was full of defects. Hopeless students who only got in because of whatever weird standards ANHS had set in admitting students.

He bet his left pinky toe that they were just foil. Meant to remain hopeless after the secrets behind the point system they so uncaringly took advantage of slammed in their face. Meant to struggle but barely get anywhere, to have their morales crushed to dust and blown into the wind. Meant to live miserably for three years until they are pushed into the real world, where they'll eventually find their footing because they've already gone through hell and are more mentally prepared than most.

Did they truly think the 100% employment rate was for everyone? That it was going to be hand-fed to them without needing them to work for it?

Dozing off in class, having shopping sprees every three days, buying dozens and dozens of gadgets and toys that will all be set aside to collect dust...

Pathetic.

Ayanokouji's gaze slid to the black-haired sitting in the seat next to him, reading a book.

There were a few less-rotten apples in the batch of bad apples, however-

-And one was Horikita Suzune.

She undoubtedly had a terrible superiority complex, but the fact remained that she did not wantonly spend her points despite Chabashira's words that sounded as if everyone was going to get 100,000 points every month.

Of course, had that been her only redeeming point she would've been hopeless. Being frugal wouldn't matter much in the long run. With how their class was behaving, they were going to run out of points sooner or later- those cameras were there for a reason.

She paid attention during class and took quality notes, which, as low of a standard as it sounded, was something many other students in their class quit doing after three days in which they realized the teachers couldn't care less whether they goofed off or not.

In that way, her superiority complex was a little justified when you considered the people she was forced to be around.

If he could just curb that complex of hers, she could be a wonderful leader.

She had everything she would need as one in her arsenal- confidence, self-reassurance, no hesitation in sharing her thoughts...

She could be good. It was just...

He quietly sighed to himself before looking away.

Her complex was so deeply ingrained he would have to take drastic measures to get her to see other people could be her equal, which was time-consuming and required a lot of effort.

He just wanted a simple peaceful life. Was that so much to ask for?

└──────┘

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"Ayanokouji-kun!" An irritatingly cheery voice greeted him from behind as he walked down the hallway, "Do you have a moment?"

No. He doesn't.

"Can I help you?" Ayanokouji said after a moment of silence, turning around to face the beige-haired girl.

Her plastic smile made him want to rip it off her face and he had to forcefully stomp down the urge to do just that.

"I was wondering... if you and Horikita-san were close?" She peered up at him with an obviously forced embarrassed smile, "I've seen you talk a few times before, so..."

"If you have something to tell her, just tell her," he said blandly, his eyes darkening ever so slightly in annoyance.

"Ah, about this... she has uhm, rejected my advances... every time..." Kushida looked down at her feet, seemingly trying to appear pitiful.

It was too bad her tactics didn't work on him.

Should he applaud her for being able to make him feel so irritated? He had never even felt this way even when facing his father, and that was saying something.

... Perhaps he just disliked fake people. Even though his father was someone he disliked, at least his father was upfront about his ideals in front of himself.

Had the feeling in his chest not been so annoying, he would've been willing to have her around and hopefully discover just how much more emotion she could make him feel.

Alas. He feared he may lash out and unleash all the built-up rage within himself if he hung around her too long.

"Maybe she doesn't want to be your friend," Ayanokouji said dryly, idly noting the way Kushida flinched at his words, "And no, I'm not very close to her. She thinks I'm bothersome, actually."

"A-ah, is that so?" Kushida's smile wobbled, "Well, thank you for letting me know. But..."

"Ayanokouji-kun, could you please try to help me, even just a little?" The beige-haired girl pleaded, clasping her hands in front of her chest, "She at least talks to you sometimes, so I figured you'd be the best person who can help me connect with her."

"I just..." she looked away, "don't want Horikita-san to be lonely, you know? I know she thinks being friendless is fine, but having no support pillar is going to be hard for her sooner or later. I want to help. I want to let her know she has someone she can rely on, even if she doesn't like me that much."

She was so good at pretending it sickened him.

"... I'll figure something out, but I make no promises," Ayanokouji muttered after a moment.

He couldn't deny her now. She had too much social influence- even if most of her relationships were superficial at best. Making an enemy out of her so soon would not benefit him whatsoever.

"Wonderful! Thank you so much, Ayanokouji-kun!" Kushida cheered before stopping and covering her mouth, seemingly embarrassed, "Ah! I don't have your contact. Would it be alright with you if we shared our contacts? I'm so sorry, I should've asked earlier..."

"It's fine," Ayanokouji pulled his phone out of his pocket, unlocked it, and handed it to her.

His finger twitched.

... He had to get away from her as soon as possible. Or else he might really lash out.

Kushida quickly finished adding herself to his contacts and handed his phone back.

"Ehh, I'm your first friend, Ayanokouji-kun?" She giggled, "I'll cherish it!"

Disgusting.

Ayanokouji gave her a stiff nod before turning around and walking away.

"I'll see you around, Ayanokouji-kun!" her happy voice called out from behind him, and for a split second he was tempted to send her a glare to ruin what she thought was her victory.

No. Too early. It was only one week into the school year.

He sighed again and held himself back once more.

... One day. When the time is ripe.

A/N:
I don't think this trope has hope. Every time I write "darkness" I cringe and delete it hoping I can replace the word with something else. If you replace "darkness" with some emotion it could make a lot more sense, like anger or something.

Also, I don't dislike Kushida. It's just in these tropes (from what I've seen, at least) Kushida is usually the target? Or the entire class. I ran with the Kushida one because I wanted this to be at least somewhat canon. It clearly did not work out lmao.