26 F-friend?!?

"Achoo!"

…..? Someone talking about me? That's rare, I bet it's nothing good though.

Whatever, what happens, happens.

Ah! I'm currently analyzing some old martial art tapes in the dojo, didn't have anything else to do while waiting for Toku to show up with his girlfriend.

"Ah, I finally found you. Yuri, your house is huge you know? Do you come from some important family or something?" A voice said from behind me. "And your even looking at tapes in a dojo, seriously?"

I turned my head around and saw a very familiar blonde standing behind me dressed in a simple cream cardigan and black yoga pants.

"Oh Sia, yeah I'm just checking out some old vide—…...Wait a second what are you doing at my house?"

Sia cocked her head cutely to the side at my question.

"I did say 'see you later' yesterday right? So I came over, I wanted to ask you some things face-to-face. This way you can't run away you know?"

…..

"How'd you get in? How'd you even find my address?"

"Ah, I just asked Tanaka-san. Your older brother let me in. Yuri, why is your brother so good looking? He almost made me instinctively confess to him on sight, you know how scary that is? I'm not even into older guys."

".....So that's why…..I should tell Toku, no, he probably already knows….."

"Hey, you okay? Don't worry, I didn't fall for him or anything."

"I see, I give you my praise for that. You got some strong willpower there, or just really high standards."

Sia sat down on the tatami mats in a cross-legged position while rummaging through her small backpack.

"Nah, one look at him and I knew he was an ultra-dense air headed prince charming who doesn't understand the world around him. Not my type."

…..Lyssia…..my respect and awe of your perception and observing skills have gone through the roof!

"Eh? Then what is your type?"

She paused her movements for a second in thought before continuing her search.

"Probably a male version of you, actually."

"Sorry, I'm straight." I immediately responded with a serious flat tone.

"That's not what I meant!? I'm straight as well okay!?"

Whew, although my name is misleading, I'm not into girls at all. It's a relief that my first friend isn't either.

Hm? Friend? Does Sia really count as a friend?

I have no clue, why not just ask.

"Do you count as a friend?"

Sia froze and stared at me with a blank face.

"Yuri, you're pathetically alone you know. Do strangers randomly come to your house on the weekends?"

"Mhm…...sometimes?"

"....Well, I'm ignoring that. I guess you could call us friends, but aren't I more of a slave?"

Oh, I forgot about the contract.

You know, it was pretty weird that I managed to get hold of one from the auction...but if you piece things together, it actually makes sense.

"You're the one that sold the contract in the auction in the first place right?"

"..."

"You know, I found it odd but, I bought it for a measly price of two gold. No one would sell something so rare for such a low price, and only a few days after the release too. I was probably the only person in the auction house at that time with so much gold on me. In addition, it weirdly popped up right when I opened up the auction page."

"..."

"You were expecting me to buy it right? I did feel someone watching me while I was doing odd errands for Abest, you noticed me right away. Anyone that watches me after a period of time should know that I could afford something that's only two gold and that I would buy it without hesitation. I'm pretty sensitive to gazes."

"..."

"Did you feel guilty about my bullying perhaps? Maybe you wanted to be my friend but didn't want to seem awkward? You only brought seven people into the alleyway, knowing full well what my capabilities were, you aren't that stupid. Using your privilege as an important elder, it wouldn't be completely impossible to get your hands on an oath contract. I know for a fact that your acting skills are also very well polished, I remember you were in the theatre club last year."

".....You know Yuri, you're too bright for your own good."

"I could say the same to you, you could have made a huge profit off of that contract. Tsk tsk, you're so shy."

"W-wha—?" Sia stuttered and her face turned beet red. "No! I just didn't know what to do with such a valuable contract, that's all!"

Hm? Isn't there a word for this type of person these days…...ah!

"Sia, could you possibly be a tsundere?!"

"NOT AT ALL. I'M A NORMAL PERSON."

"Okay~! If you say so….."

Fufufu, this is really interesting now. I've always wanted to meet a real tsundere, their characteristics and tendencies are so curious.

"A-anyways, back to the topic. Yuri, is your family rich? You have a crazy place here….."

…

"N-no, I like to think of my family as pretty a-average?"

".....Why do you sound like you're questioning yourself."

"Ahem, it's true that we aren't famous or have important lineage though. I'm just a normal girl living in a normal house."

"What a lie." She sighed while tiredly shaking her head. "Whatever, you can tell me once you feel like it. That's not what I came over for after all."

?

"Hey Yuri, what's your goal in life?"

"Uh, to just be a normal girl."

"I see, so you're failing already."

"E-eh??!!! No matter how you look at me, I'm perfectly normal!"

"Hm? No matter how you look at it, your thoughts on 'normal' are extremely warped."

"..."

T-that might be true...

Sia held up the object that she had been looking for in her bag. It was a small hologram projector that can play recorded clips into the air called an RYKube-T, it came out just recently after Kai finally got Toku interested in them for a bit…...but that has nothing to do with this.

Sia placed the small sleek black cube onto the tatami mats and gently pressed the top, projecting a video of my classroom into the dojo.

…...That's creepy, I can see myself sitting there…...oops, Ryuu came and hit me.

You know, watching yourself getting hit from a third-person view is more disturbing than I thought.

The video kept playing and Sia watched without a single trace of any expression, she must have seen it quite a lot already.

...

For some reason after just a few minutes, I'm starting to get really uncomfortable…...the video feels too different from the real thing.

I glanced over at Sia and noticed that she was still staring at the bullying that was happening in the hologram.

Now that I think about it, how did she manage to get this in the first place...? Maybe a small micro camera that she set up before or after school, I wouldn't be really surprised. She does seem like the type of person that would do that.

"Hey Yuri, I can tell from this video that you're not a masochist, so why do you let them bully you?"

Do I seem like a masochist?! T-that tramples on my self-dignity a little…..

"If you aren't going to answer then I'll be going, the only reason I came here was to ask you."

"I'm not! Never in my life have I thought pain feels good!"

".....Soooooo....why do you let them hurt you then?"

"Eh? No, I just....have my own reasons for letting them do stuff. It doesn't trouble me that much in the first place….."

Suddenly Sia stood up, took her bag, and headed towards the door.

"Yuri, if that's your answer then maybe you aren't so bright after all."

?

"I'm your friend now right? So you should think about what I might feel after watching you get harassed in public in front of peers, doesn't feel really good."

"Uh.."

"And even worse, you aren't even standing up for yourself when you have the ability too! Does that means you accept that they're better than you!? Even if you have some stupid reason, I doubt it matters a whole lot! You know what, if you still don't get it then I'll just have to find a way to stop the bullying instead. It's my responsibility after starting it anyway, I feel guilty about it. Humans shouldn't be treated like that at school, I know I'm being a hypocrite but I apologize. I was blinded by my anger and jealousy back then, I won't do it again."

"..."

T-this…..I've never had to deal with friendship drama before. What do I do in situations like this? Should I just stay quiet….?

"You know, I've been having nightmares for weeks now. And you're in every one of them."

I don't like where this is going…...nightmares aren't my cup of tea.

Sia kept talking to me with her back still turned and facing the door.

"I swear Yuri, I'm don't tend to get scared easily, yet when I just see replays of myself in your position getting bullied every day, I got pretty damn scared."

Uh….okay.

"I'll do whatever I can I repay you, I got you into this mess while you should have been enjoying normal high school life. Even if I have to take your place, I'll do it."

…..I know I should be crying out forgiving words or something, but for some reason, this sappy drama isn't really right down my alleyway.

It's just too.....mushy?

If you know what I mean.

"Y-you know Sia, you're one of the school's most popular girls, I doubt a cute and smart girl like you would be bullied…."

Crap, I think I made things worse, she's starting to laugh hysterically like characters in those popular movies and anime.

"HAH! Hehehe…..Yuri, you need to take a good look at yourself! I know lots of boys bully you, but most of them still have major secret crushes on you, do you know what they call you in secret?"

…...Scary people out there….calling me names…...

"The Fallen Goddess! You're no doubt the most beautiful, athletic, and smart girl in the entire school you know. People even call you a goddess, that's honestly the only reason girls bully you at all, jealousy."

…..That's nice and all, but the 'fallen' part ruins it for me. Makes me sound like Satan or something, do people think of me as some demon? Maybe it's because of my hair...

"Anyways, I'm leaving, but I'll make sure to stop the bullying once and for all after a few weeks. You have my word, I just need to gather more reinforcements and evidence..."

W-wait! No no no, this sounds like it will attract way too much attention than needed!?

Before I could unfreeze myself from my spot on the ground and stop her, Sia was already gone and leaving the property.

Dang, she really is fast, no wonder Akane got her to join the track team.

Well whatever, what happens, happens! My motto is to not sweat the details, I'll cross the bridges when I get to them or build them myself.

I doubt this is something I should think too deeply into.

I guess I'll get ready to meet my little bro's first girlfriend, this should get interesting.