Chapter 178.

Chapter 178. The Angel of Death’s Real Name (3/5)

“Present them,” I called her bluff with a straight face. It was the same sort of response one could give when someone said, ‘suck my balls.’

Do it, bitch, I dare you. That was what I told her with my eyes.

“Y-You… do you have no shame?”

“Can shame fill my belly when I’m starving without a shred of food at home? If not, I have no use for it. Someone famous like you has probably never experienced what it’s like to beg for food to survive. You couldn’t possibly understand how useless shame is when you’re in that sort of position, now could you?” My mother had been in such a position before. Be it begging or using unscrupulous means causing a scene to get the money for some food. I’d witnessed it first hand and even been forced to do so myself at a point in my life.

“T-That is…” She bit her lip, frustration visible in her eyes.

“That is what?”

“Nothing. If you say you can do it, prove it.”

She removed her right shoe with her left foot and raised it up.

When I saw her seriously do it I wanted to curse this venomous woman out.

“Well? Are you going to do it, or not? You won’t get that autograph if you don’t.”

Hoh. So you want to play hardball? Fine, fine. I see how it is.

I forcefully got up changing out positions on the couch. She fell on her side and I pinned her down.

“W-What are you doing!”

“There are some guys out there with very strange fetishes you know. Have you never heard of a foot fetish? What if seeing your bare foot flipped that sort of switch in me?”

“Lies, there’s no way that sort of thing happened.”

“Oh? If you say so. I guess I’ll just need to prove I have such tastes by kissing your foot as you wish me to. With your footwear, I wonder how it tastes and smells.”

I grabbed her right foot, held it up in the air, and turned toward it. Right as my face approached it without a shred of hesitation, I felt someone tug on the back of my shirt.

“S-Stop! It was a joke, a joke. Please just kiss the back of my hand instead.”

I turned back to look at her, she had her head turned to the side. She looked quite embarrassed. She appeared to be the one experiencing shame when she suddenly found herself in the submissive position.

“Hmm, the back of your hand, you say?”

“Yeah, please do that instead.”

“What? Did you suddenly become conscious of the fact that you were wearing a shoe instead of open sandals or something?”

“Shut up. This is seriously embarrassing, I won’t forgive you for this.”

“As you wish.” I turned around and held the hand that she’d grabbed the back of my shirt with.

I raised it up to my lips and kissed the back of it.

“There, is that enough for your autograph?”

“Yeah, yeah. It is, so let go of me now,” she grumbled, not daring to look me in the eyes.

I released her and allowed her to sit up. I plopped down right beside her not caring about how close we were on the couch. I wouldn’t concede my seat on the couch here to anyone. If she thought she could get me to forfeit it to her by gluing herself to me to make me uncomfortable, she had another thing coming. Rosa had already done something similar when it came to my desk back in class, I wouldn’t fall for the same trick twice.

“You’re a bit close… can you give me a bit more space?” She asked.

“I was here first, the one to move away and give space should be you. Don’t expect me to give up space to you on the couch I occupied first.”

She looked annoyed. It was obvious she wanted some more space on the couch to herself, which she could obviously have if she moved away on her own, but being the celebrity she was, she’d never received such poor treatment. The other party was always the one to concede to her so she couldn’t stand the idea of giving an inch.

“It’s fine, I have more than enough space like this,” she grumbled.

“Oh, is that so?”

“Yes.”

“You could have more space if you just moved over a bit though.”

“I have enough space.”

“Hahaha, you really are stubborn.” I couldn’t help but laugh at her.

“Speak for yourself.”

“Even when you detest me so much, the idea of conceding anything to me is something you can’t accept. The one with too much pride isn’t me, but you. The pride of a celebrity on too high a horse. The fact that you’ve met someone who doesn’t treat you like a princess like everyone else does annoys and irritates you to no end, does it not?”

“If you know that, then don’t bring it up. It’s extremely unpleasant being easily seen through by you every time we meet. It feels like I’m an open book and can’t hide the ugliness in my heart in front of you at all. I can’t stand that you know so much about me.”

“It’s a much easier task for me to see through a venomous woman’s thoughts than an innocent pure-hearted woman’s thoughts. Celebrities all fall into the same category. They look pretty on the outside to the masses, but they’re all disgusting on the inside.”

“They may not all start off that way, but the end result is always the same. The money and fame eventually gets to their heads and they lose sense of who they once were. Their roots become obscure to them and their  origin gradually becomes nothing more than a faint memory of the past.”

“What would you know? You may be able to see through my true thoughts and personality, but you don’t know anything about my past.”

“You’re correct. I don’t know how you came to be the way you are, I only know the end result that came of it. So? How did you end up with such an awful twisted and warped hidden personality, Ms. Angel of Death?”

“How? What do you care?”

“If I can find a way to resolve things and fix this wretched personality of yours by learning of your past, I figured I might be able to get you off my back and return to my peaceful lifestyle that doesn’t include you in it.”

“Hmph! As if I’d tell you anything.”

“Hoh. So you’re not going to tell me why you know what it’s like to beg for food when you’re starving?”

Her body froze up when I said that.

“How did you-” she shut her mouth and didn’t finish what she was going to say.

“I found your reaction to my words earlier a bit strange when I brought it up. I was actually just firing a shot in the dark just now, but judging by your body language and slip of words just now, it seems I hit the target dead on.”

“...” She didn’t respond.

“I see. So you don’t want to talk about it. Well, that’s fine, I won’t pry any more than that. I’ll just talk to myself for a bit.”

“Perhaps there was once a little girl born into poverty who dreamed big as a child. Perhaps she used whatever means she could to climb her way to the top. Even if she had to backstab others or sell her soul to the devil to do so, she would do it. She worked like crazy day and night for years on end, and one day achieved her dream of stardom, climbing out of poverty with her own two hands. Now that she’s reached this stage in life she wishes to cover up her humble origins, to shine like a star without a single blemish on the name she built up. A perfect existence in the eyes of her fans, all the while hiding the past she feels ashamed of.”

“...”

“You know. If such a girl truly existed, I’d hold nothing against her. In fact, I’d admire her from the bottom of my heart for being able to work so hard and reach where she did. Even if she played dirty to get to where she is today, so what? There is nothing she needs to feel ashamed of in my opinion. I respect her and the path she walked, no matter how much mud she covered herself with.”

“If you ask me, such a girl smeared with mud is far more beautiful than you. Celebrities who want to appear perfect and hide their true nature, those types are truly the ugliest people I’ve ever laid my eyes upon. There is no such thing as the perfect human, to try and become such an existence is moronic. Humans on a fundamental level are flawed creatures. Every human is flawed, they were simply designed to be that way. Flaws give birth to endless possibilities for growth. Perfection eternally hinders and halts all growth.”

“If that little girl was perfect, she would have never achieved her dream in life. For a perfect being would have been content with themself as they were from the very beginning. They would not be dissatisfied with who they were and they would have never sought out growth because there was never a need to do so as they were already perfect from the start.”

“Anyway, consider the cheap story I just came up with on the spot as compensation for your autograph. A little kiss on your hand could hardly be considered an equivalent exchange. I don’t like owing people."