Not My Type

八

"It's her mother, [Mother's Name] [Surname]."

Akane shifted on his bed for the nth time that night. He never thought someone other than Aoi would be the reason for his current insomnia. The fifth mystery's explanation kept repeating itself in his mind-it magnified the feeling rising in his heart. The boy knew what he had to do, but he couldn't bring himself to do it.

"It seemed that her father's early death was the cause for the distance that formed between her and her late mother, who died about five months ago. She spent most of her childhood with her grandparents and only moved in with her mother again during her last year of middle school."

It was a tragedy. The girl who painted with various colors had a life which was almost pitch black. Akane could only heave a sigh, sit up and check his cellphone.

"Her mother blames her for her father's death. This is her motivation for revenge."

When his phone vibrated, Akane picked up his glasses from his nightstand and put them on. Who could be texting him at this late hour? Only five minutes were left till midnight came. His face instinctively scrunched up in disgust at the sight of Minamoto Teru's name in his notification.

Sleep already. You won't achieve anything by staying up late, Aoi.

A string of curses escaped the bespectacled boy's lips. These neighbors really had a knack for pissing people off. Akane didn't even bother typing a reply. He just returned his glasses and phone back to his nightstand before making a cocoon out of his blanket. Although the president was annoying, he had a point. His lack of sleep wasn't going to fix what may come tomorrow. Heck, he wasn't sure if he would actually be able to fix anything.

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"Finally!"

Lunchtime started the next day in Kamome Gakuen. Yashiro and Aoi had their desks connected. The best friends stared at the doorway, waiting for a certain [hair color]-haired girl to arrive. Akane was the same. If, by any chance, [Name] would join Yashiro and Aoi for lunch, he'd take the opportunity to talk to her about what had happened.

Five minutes. Ten minutes. Fifteen minutes. Thirty minutes. Still no sight of [Name]. Akane hadn't eaten his lunch yet, but he found himself walking towards the neighboring room.

"You're looking for [Surname]-san?" The class representative asked. "The teacher said she got sick and is currently staying at home."

As soon as the bell for the dismissal rung, Akane fixed his belongings as fast as he could. He rushed out of the room, not bothering to cast his classmates a second glance. Just as he was about to exit the gate, somebody pulled him back by the collar.

"And where do you think you're going, Aoi?"

It took all of Akane's willpower to keep him from screaming bloody murder. To others, the scene of Minamoto Teru pulling him back inside the school might look playful but Akane knew that he was in trouble; his whole body fell limp. There was no use fighting against an exorcist. If Akane tried using his powers on him, Teru would never let him see the light of day ever again.

Without a doubt, he had a lot of regrets joining the student council.

"Now Aoi, do you think that a school mystery like you-who isn't even dead yet-could compare to a real ghost fueled by revenge?" Teru pressed his foot on Akane's back. "Besides, don't you think you're meddling too much?"

Akane couldn't help but struggle against the beads wrapped around his body. "You-you knew of her situation, yet you still pushed her to her limits! You knew! You knew she'd go to her grandparents' house!"

His accusation made the president let out a chuckle. Much to Akane's surprise, Teru raised his foot. He crouched to the ground, looking down on him with his ruthless eyes. "Hmm? So what? Was I supposed to handle everything for her? Was I supposed to make her weak enough that she'd stop resisting? You know, Aoi, if [Name] stops resisting, she'll die. You didn't know that, did you?"

Teru's words made Akane's blood run cold. Was that why the others told him he didn't stand a chance?

"If you can't bring yourself to save her, then I will."

The blond's eyes widened at this before narrowing in amusement. As soon as the beads wrapped around Akane went loose, Teru stood up. "You have the rest of the week to prove to me you can take her mother on. If you can't, don't even think about saving her." He flashed him the bespectacled first year a kind smile. "Do your best, Aoi."

Until the sun set, Akane and Teru remained in the student council room. The exorcist had given him a crash course on vengeful spirits: how to avoid them and how to keep them from possessing your body. Akane was about to leave when Teru passed him a [favorite color] bracelet. To be completely honest, it was in a terrible state. The bracelet seemed like it would break at any minute.

"What's this sorry excuse of a bracelet for?" Upon noticing the all-too-familiar cold metal blade near his neck, Akane chuckled dryly. "I mean, why would you give me such a precious masterpiece like this?"

"As long as you have it, you shouldn't worry about dying." The corners of Teru's lips curled upwards. "It's something [Nickname] gave me on my birthday, so you better take care of it. She liked me when she was still a child, yet I wonder where everything went wrong."

Akane could guess where, really.

"Err, Minamoto-kaichou, how am I supposed to prove myself to you?"

Teru reached out his arm to take his sword. "Defeat me in a duel."

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[A/N]: Thank you everyone for reading! I'm sorry I haven't updated in a while, I just had things to finish. I mean, it's not finished right now but it will be soon. Sorry if Akane was OOC and sorry if the chapter was boring. Please keep safe and stay healthy, everyone! With all the things going on during this time, I hope that this fic will-at the very least-comfort you.