43 Na?veté - Part 1 (2/2)

”Why are you so petty?!”

”Can the two of you talk about something that's actually an issue?!”

”Oh, I've got it! Let's make it so that girls have to wear Japanese school uniforms. I think I might die if I don't live out a high school life filled with cute girls in short skirts! I'm sure everyone else feels the same, right? Thinking about Momo-chan in a skirt makes me wanna… Ughhh! Why was I born into such a kuso country?!”

”Dude I'm running for class president, not Secretary of Education.”

”Oh my goooood, you guys!”

Just as Scarlet cries out in annoyance, the sound of the door opening fills the room.

It was so sudden that any hint of conversation coming from inside of the room completely died out.

”Huh, did Nick-kun get done early?”

That's surprising. He sounded like he wouldn't be back today at all.

But when the door opens, my curiosity turns into genuine surprise.

After all, the one standing in the door is a girl I haven't seen since the rumors began.

Momoka Kudo.

”…”

”…”

For some reason, even though this should be a good thing, the room falls completely silent.

Neither Scarlet, nor Sig speak up despite both of them having so much respect for her.

And, once she closes the door, she doesn't seem to have much to say either.

Wearing her usual apathetic expression, she simply strolls into the room and takes a seat far off from everyone else.

”Ahem.”

She clears her throat, probably to test the atmosphere inside of the room.

But no one else speaks up.

It's like they're both completely frozen in place by her presence.

She scans the room for a few seconds, then finally, her gaze focuses on me.

”I'd like to speak to you in private, Chase.”

”…”

It wasn't unexpected at all. She must want to ask about the posters.

But in private… just what could she want to talk about?

Hopefully it's nothing bad…

”Uh, sure. I don't mi-”

”No.”

Scarlet cuts me off.

It caught me completely off guard.

Not just the denial, but the fact that there was that much hostility in her voice.

Enough to jerk me upright in my seat.

Momoka switches her gaze over to Scarlet.

It's hard to tell what kind of expression she's making because of her bangs, but she doesn't seem too pleased at having been cut off like that.

”…”

”…”

The two of them stare each other down for a while.

A clash of wills, maybe.

Neither of them is remotely interested in looking away for even a moment.

I have absolutely no idea what this could possibly be about, but…

”U-um…”

But before I can say anything, Momo simply grins.

”Hmmm. You really are Hermia, aren't you?”

Her grin seemed to carry some sort of double meaning behind it, but I'm much too far in the dark to make anything of it.

”Whatever that means. Either way, you're helping out with Jen's campaign, aren't you?”

”So?”

”'So'? So I can't leave you alone with the person I'm supporting.”

”Oh~ you're helping Chase, are you? That's strange. I thought the two of you broke up?”

”Who told you…”

She glares at me, and I quickly look away.

Why the hell is she so scary all of a sudden?! I only did it because you didn't! I'm not the bad guy here!

”Well, it doesn't matter. I suppose I can say it with you and Sigmund present.”

She pauses for a moment, then turns back to face me.

”Chase Masters. Drop out of the election.”

What..?

Drop out? Why would she…

”I can understand, and at the very least empathize with why you'd think of this as your only chance at redemption, but you'll only exacerbate things if you go this route.”

What is she talking about?

What could possibly happen that's worth going out of her way to warn me like this?

”Don't listen to her Chase. Even if you don't win, you'll still have Nick and Sig, and even me. You have nothing to lose by trying. Right Sig?”

”E-eh? Ah, um… yeah.”

”…”

Momo pauses for a moment, then looks over at Scarlet.

”Don't fool the poor child, Scar. You of all people should know how dangerous that girl is.”

”Me of all…”

”…”

”You should, right? You wouldn't be pushing for this if you didn't realize how fundamentally messed up she is as a human being. But, you have to be objective about this. You need to realize that this road you're taking runs straight off a cliff. Are you really going to have him go against someone who has such little empathy for other people? Someone who, at the snap of a finger, could decide to absolutely ruin someone's life without batting an eyelid?”

Wait, even Momo knows about her real personality?

Then… why is she still friends with Jennifer?

”So what, you think I should just leave Jen as she is, then? You think I should just sit here and watch Chase get teased and bullied for four years straight? Or even have him transfer or drop out over all of this? Because I don't want any of that! And if you really were either of their friends then you wouldn't either!”

”That's just naïve. If you cared about Chase then you would let him off with what he's managed to salvage so far instead of betting his sanity on this pointless stunt. And Jen? Haha… Why do you still feel so strongly for her after all the things she's said to you? Are you just that far gone?”

”Far gone..? What are you saying? Are you even her friend?”

”I am, as I have been for the past three years. And if you want advice from someone who's watched her closely over that period of time, I can safely say that getting involved with her is nothing but trouble. If either of you values your sanity then please, just quit while you're ahead.”

”No.”

She sighs.

”How pointless. It's a good thing the decision isn't yours to make then. Chase?”

”…”

I have a decision to make here.

Actually, I wouldn't even call it much of a decision.

After all, Momo is one hundred percent right.

Getting involved with Jennifer is trouble. After what happened between us in that room, I can't think of her as anything but a manipulative monster in human flesh.

Plus, with the interview tomorrow, it'll all be over. Scarlet's definitely not going to be able to do anything about that.

In fact, Momo coming over here might just be her way of saying ”if you back out, I might be able to stop her.”

There really isn't much of a decision to make, is there?

And yet…

”I'm sorry Momo.”

”…”

She doesn't look too shocked.

”… Can I at least hear your reason?”

”Well…”

I scratch the back of my head.

”It's kinda embarrassing but… The truth is, it's probably you. You might be one of the main reasons I've found the strength to fight so hard.”

”Me?”

”Yeah. It's because of what you said to me when we played Chess back then.”

”Ah…”

Yeah, those words.

The ones that I've been replaying in my head to carry me through the past three days.

”I can't give up just because everything is pointing at Jennifer's victory. I have to keep trying. She might completely ruin my life at this school, but I'd rather take the risk than just lie down and die like livestock.”

I smile.

”Besides, I have an oath to keep. I can't just back down here.”

”…”

She doesn't respond.

She stares absently at the ground, probably taking in what I just said to her.

”Of all the times for the chicken to learn how to fly…”

She grins.

”You're the biggest idiot I've ever met, you know that? There's a world of difference between taking a calculated risk and ruining your own life.”

”That's fine. I'm tired of running away.”

”Haha, I really wish you'd listen to me…”

”Shut up Momo. He made his choice.”

”…”

Scarlet…?

”In the first place, why are you even here? The bus is probably gone by now, right? There's no reason to miss your ride home just to warn someone you barely know. Or what, are you going to pretend that this isn't just to help Jen's campaign? That it's because you 'bonded' on Monday?”

”I'm surprised, Scarlet. This is the first time I've seen you this angry. Are you really that upset that I spent so much alone time with your boyfriend?”

”Seriously…?!”

”I can't imagine another reason as to why you haven't spoken to me since that day, nor why you're being so unreasonably aggressive right now. You must get jealous quite easily, no? That's no good. Guys don't like girls who do things like that.”

What the hell is going on right now…?

”Shut up and leave already.”

”How vulgar of you. For your own sake, I hope you don't use language like that with him. If you aren't careful then he might end up leaving you for someone like-”

Slap!

I didn't even see her arm move.

It was just suddenly stretched out into some far off direction.

And…

Momo's cheek is now a bright red.

Her neck is craned to the side from the force of the impact.

”Someone… like who, Momo? Tell me. Why don't you let the rest of the class know what you were about to say?”

”…”

”… like Jen.”

”Oh, really?”

What the hell?

Did it really become this bad because of what happened on Monday…?

This is…

All my fault, isn't it?!

”Just get out.”

”Chase, listen I really think you should recon…”

”I SAID TO GET OUT!”

”…”

It was so loud that I felt myself freeze up.

It's completely out of character for her.

To hear her voice echo so loudly in such a small room…

Scarlet…

”Hehe…”

But, Momo merely laughs.

With strands of her hair messily scattered over her face, with her neck still slightly hanging from the blow that was dealt to her, she laughs.

That she'd even consider smiling in such a situation just goes to show how much she's steeled herself.

But still, in a way it's unsettling.

The girl known as Momoka Kudo who seemed so above it all was suddenly being trampled over by someone she considered to be close to her.

To laugh despite something like this… I can't even imagine what's going through her mind.

”That didn't hurt.”

”Yeah? Like hell it didn't.”

Scarlet…

”No, it really didn't.”

Momoka moves her neck back in place, then tucks some of her hair behind her ear.

”What hurts is that you don't think I'm trying to do what's best for both of you here.”

”…”

”You were my first real friend at this school, Scarlet. I didn't click with anyone else. When I first spoke to you I honestly thought were an interesting person. ”

She walks past Scarlet, who now seems to be frozen in place.

”Untainted by all the superficial things that high school is all about. Completely oblivious to everyone's desperate attempts at appearing cool or popular. You tried to talk to me about my books, and you opened up about your interests the first day I met you. I genuinely appreciated how upfront you were about that.”

She takes the seat Scarlet was in moments ago, which is right next to mine.

”Which is why I'm genuinely sorry for introducing you to Jennifer.”

”…”

”For some reason, I thought your honesty might be able to change her. For some reason… I don't know what it was, but I thought that it would work out somehow. Thinking back on it, I must have been insane to entertain that idea for even a second. Because instead, you ended up getting swallowed up by that monster of a girl. I felt terrible about it. I can only imagine horrible things she must have said to you that made you change so drastically. But… even after she changed you, I still enjoyed the time I spent with you. Whenever we spoke, I could tell that deep down, you were still the same girl I became friends with on the bus that day.”

She pauses for a second, staring down at the ground beneath her feet, then she looks back up at her friend.

”I love you, Scarlet, I really do. I just wish I hadn't done you such a huge disservice.”

She turns to face me, and places her index finger and thumb along my chin.

”That's why, if I'm going to leave you with one more piece of advice, it's this: Don't do Chase the same disservice that I did you. He's a good person. I know that better than you think. The two of you need to run away while you still can. Jen isn't someone that either of you can beat.”

”…”

Once she's done, she hops out of her chair and heads back to the door.

”Bye-bye, Chase. If you manage to get through this alive, then… let's play another game of chess, 'kay?”

She waves me good bye then leaves through the exit.

”…”

”…”

”…”

The three of us are silent.

There's nothing I can say right now.

Scarlet probably feels the same.

I know she regrets it. I can tell.

What I can't tell is why her emotions are running so rampant all of a sudden.

Nor exactly why the two of them let their friendship degenerate into this.

”I'm… gonna go home.”

Oh god, I completely forgot he was there.

”Sure man. Are you okay?”

”Yeah, I just… don't feel too good right now.”

He's smiling, but it looks forced.

I'm not sure if I should talk to him or not.

It must have been hard for him to see the girl he loves like that.

”Okay, well I'll let you know tomorrow what Scar and I come up with, okay?”

”Actually… I think I'll head home too.”

”…”

Well, today's meeting seems to have been a failure.

”I see… I'll lock up in a few minutes then.”

”Yeah.”

After a few seconds of silence, Sig finally gets his stuff together and exits through the door.

Scarlet on the other hand, doesn't seem to be moving an inch.

She's just staring blankly at her brand name handbag.

It almost looks like she's deliberating over whether to pick it up or not.

”…”

For some reason, the sight fills me with a deep melancholy that strikes at my very core.

”Hey Chase…”

”What's up?”

”Was I wrong?”

”…”

”Yeah.”

”I see…”

She clenches her fist.

It must be frustrating for her to lose her temper like that.

But still, I can't understand it at all.

”Why did you have to go so far, Scarlet? Even if you disagreed there's no reason to treat your friend like that, right?”

”…”

”Has it been like this since Monday with you two?”

”Yeah…”

Great. Like I thought, just one more thing to worry about.

”I think you should apologize tomorrow. I think Momo was just looking out for us in her own way.”

”Momo, Momo, Momo…”

”Huh?”

”She only lets the people she likes call her that, you know.”

”Ah, I didn't know that. I guess it was her way of showing gratitude then.”

”… I'm leaving. We'll come up with something for Jen tomorrow.”

”Uh, sure…”

She picks up her hand bag and walks off to the exit.

And I'm left even more bewildered by her sudden soured attitude.

”… Great.”

I slump into the table with a sigh.

Momo's visit just made things that much worse for us.

Sig feels bad, and for some reason Scarlet seems to be in an incredibly awful mood too.

At this point, it's hard to tell if it was the confrontation itself or the fact that she was asking us to give up that made everything so depressing.

”I wonder if an anime-themed speech would cheer them up…”

I laugh as I do best to dispel my awful mood.

Nah, it's neither of those things.

I think at least on a personal level, that I'm just terrified.

Terrified of what Momo came here to warn us about.

I can't help but be worried about what Jennifer has in store for us tomorrow.