#69 The pool 1

I and Kei were currently walking towards our destination, the pool. I noticed her secretly glancing at me from time to time. At first, I planned to ignore it, however, after around 5 minutes I couldn't take it anymore.

"What is it?" I asked her without even glancing at her.

"Huh? Well...I noticed that you have a problem with catching a tan even in such hot weather, however, it also looks like you look paler than usual. Are you really ok?" Kei moved before me to stop me and faced me with a guilty face.

"If you are really feeling ill then please don't mind me and go home. I don't want your health to get even worse just because of me." She said with a guilty and worried expression.

It seems that she misunderstood but I must admit that my skin is paler than usual. Maybe it has something to do with my training inside The Golden Cliff. I secretly focused my eyes and the yellow ring appeared around my vertical pupils once again. I looked at my hands and perhaps I spotted the reason behind it. The faint yellow and greenish particles were floating around it, perhaps around my entire body. They were probably protecting me from the sunshine. Maybe they are also the reason behind my better resistance to all kinds of weather.

Anyway, what a sweet girl, even if she misunderstood, she still prefers my health over her comfort. This could easily be my ticket to avoid this class gathering but... *sigh*

I couldn't help but sigh when I saw her expression.

"As I said before, I am feeling ok, maybe even too energetic. So don't worry about me, I wouldn't place your comfort before my well-being, you can be sure about that." I shook my head and gave her maybe a cold reply but at least I was honest.

"Mmm! You really don't know how to speak to the girls to make them feel better!" She pouted her cheeks and looked slightly angered by my reply.

"That's just who I am, deal with it." I smiled and ruffled her hair before walking forward to our destination.

Men, women...why should I treat them differently? Both of them are human beings that deserve equal treatment.

"Huh?! Hey, wait!" Kei who remained froze in place finally woke up and chased after me.

"Are you planning to swim once we are there?" She asked me when she caught up to me.

"Maybe, but that's not what you actually wanted to ask, right? I have no reason to hide my scars anymore, I was only afraid that it would make the distance between me and others." I said with a poker face.

"Wha? Sometimes, I think that you are too smart yet stupid when it comes to women. But isn't there quite a distance between you and some people in our class? Why did you even want to prevent that when you aren't even making friends with others?" She seemed a bit surprised how easily I guessed what was her real goal.

"I don't think I am that stupid when it comes to women...maybe it's just because you are little girl, haha. And allow me to explain it to you. There are certain posts inside every class, there are loners, perverts, nerds, leaders, and others. It just depends on which post you will take, you wanted to take a leader post which is ok. However, every post has its advantages and disadvantages."

"You! We are of the same age, little boy!" She replied with an angry tone however, I noticed her taking a glance at my lower half of the body before looking away with a red face.

"Did you just...whatever. Now, if you will allow me to continue my explanation... You can obtain such posts usually with a first impression but what post would I get if they saw my scars? Mafia boy post? This could easily ruin the integrity of the entire class."

"And just because you have one scar it wouldn't make you mafia girl, alright?" I immediately said when she opened her mouth to speak which silenced her.

"Do you mind if I ask you something sensitive?" Kei asked me with an uncertain expression.

"Go ahead but I won't tell you anything private about my body" I teased her for her previous action.

"Wha?! Who would even want to know that?!!" She gave me a hateful look before her expression turned to a serious one.

"When I previously asked you about your guardians. When I mentioned your aunt, you seemed to be extremely angry..." She slowly said while cautiously watching my reaction.

I indeed lost it previously but this time I had to even think for a while to remember "my" aunt and even when I remember her I didn't feel anything.

Is this also a result of my training at The Golden Cliff? I actually feel like my connection or anything I felt towards that woman completely disappeared. Maybe training there didn't only enhance my strength and stamina, maybe it also enhanced my mind. If that is the truth then it can't get any better, after all, it's always best to keep your mind calm before deciding your next actions, feelings tend to mess with your head and then you make stupid decisions.

"Felix-kun?" Kei's voice woke me up from my thoughts.

"Ah...yes, I would like to apologize for that ugly sight of me." I gave her a genuine calm smile.

When she saw my reaction she opened her mouth and wanted to say more but she decided against it.

"Hehe, it's alright. It was refreshing to see that you can also express your feelings, I almost thought that you were an emotionless walking mannequin, haha" She laughed a bit.

Do I really appear to be emotionless? I think that she just said that to make me feel better.

---

"Wow, Karuizawa-san and Walker-kun together, what an odd combination." Ike being an idiot immediately voiced out his thoughts but everyone around him was also interested.

"Both of us are living in the same dorm building, is it so unbelievable, that we came together?" I said with a disinterested expression.

"Alright, alright, since everyone is here, how about we go in?" Hirata clapped his hands a few times to gather the attention and said with his almost usual friendly smile but this time it wasn't too forced or faked.

I guess he is slowly growing up and doesn't force himself to be friendly with all people just because of the guilt he feels towards his friend.

I noticed that Matsushita was looking at me with a slightly awkward expression so I nodded at her with a gentle smile and she quickly smiled back at me.

I had very limited interaction with her lately so I guess she was feeling slightly awkward and didn't know how to face me.

Everyone looked surprised when they noticed my eyes but I simply said that it's because of the contact lenses but that only gained attention of nerds like Ike.

"Walker-kun, where did you buy them?! They look really cool. Do you think they would look as cool on me as on you?" He started showering me with numerous questions.

"I brought them with me when I enrolled here so I doubt you will find them here but I wish you good luck." I simply said without even looking at his annoying face.

----

Inside the changing room.

"Haha, finally we will be able to see all the girls in their swimsuits!" Ike happily exclaimed while laughing.

Sometimes he is really scary.

I threw him an annoyed look before focusing on my things.

"Hehe, maybe even more than that." Yamauchi mysteriously said to Ike and he immediately spaced out with a lewd look on his face.

Fuc*ers! Trying your luck again even though you were almost caught in the previous attempt?!

We agreed to meet up outside so those who were done changing into their swimming trunks left first. Everyone left, leaving me and Ike alone who was the last to change because of his spacing inside his imagination.

I approached Ike who was done changing and was about to leave the changing room with an excited expression.

I placed my right hand on his shoulder from behind and stopped him from taking any additional steps.

"Hm? Walker-kun?" He seemed surprised by my action and he tried to turn around but my grip was strong enough to keep him in place without moving. When he noticed that, he just helplessly turned his head to the side to at least look at me from the corner of his eye.

"He..he. I heard you and the other boys will be having some fun later." I released a creepy laugh from my mouth.

"?! Haha, if Walker-kun wants to join, he is more than welcome, haha" He nervously laughed.

"Have you forgotten what I've said to you during our previous visit of this pool? If you will make any trouble, forcing me to act...hehe"

"...then what?" He asked while his entire body was shaking from the coldness he felt from behind him.

*"It will be better if you will never get to know"* I creepily whispered and patted him on his shoulder a few times before slowly walking out of the room, leaving him standing there stunned.

"He is even scarier than Sudo-kun...It felt like the tip of the dagger was touching my back the entire time...Scaaary" Ike once again shivered before following after me.