riSe HiGhsCHool aU: 9

riSe HiGhsCHool aU: 9

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Commissioned by Ihaxlikenoob

Wordcount: 2500

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Li’s apartment was as sparse as always. Though he was an orphan, he didn’t want for money. He worked part-time as a consultant for many Kendo schools, which netted him a fair income. He was chosen as a scholarship student due to his fame of being an elite, capable young man who elevated entire schools in single visits. If he wanted, he could probably take control of a few schools without any bloodshed whatsoever, take everyone involved in them under his wing, and make some sort of super-sword-fighting technique that can be used in the modern day. 

I’d say something like that’s impossible, but I basically just watched Miyakuro take control of an entire school in a single afternoon after destroying it overnight.

My sense of impossible is pretty much in tatters.

So, back to describing my best friend’s living conditions, despite the fact that he didn’t want for money. It was a simple, studio apartment barely more than fifteen tatami worth of space. Naturally, it was modern and had space-saving built into it and modern amenities, but in the end, it was a small affair that that could probably fit only two-and-a-half of my own room. Everything Song owned could probably fit in the back of a sedan, so that made the entire apartment even more sparse. It wasn’t cold, though. There were little trinkets everywhere that made it warm and personable.

Li had an electronic picture frame that slide through his collection of memories of events and achievements. There were small knickknacks from his hometown out in the country that was famous for their martial arts and rabbits. His fridge was covered in a calendar that he meticulously wrote upon and sticky-noted things to. Then, there were the myriad of blankets readily available to be laid upon the clean floors and his preference for wooden furniture. Really, it was the sort of apartment an old, comfy grandfather would have and I’d always thought that it was great that Song had such a nice, warm apartment.

However, upon going back to said apartment after completing my mission and delaying his admirers for as long as humanly possible, I came to a realization when Coda answered the door with bed head, a yawn, and dressed in purple pajamas.

“You sleep together.” The words left my mouth before even a greeting. Even though Coda wandered away with a yawn, to ascend the ladder beside the door that went up into a built-in bed over the apartment’s only closet, those words left my mouth. And, they left my mouth again when Li came into view. He was also wearing pajamas and inexplicably sleeping in until sunset. His pajamas were blue with red pinstripes. It was cute, but not only did I acquire a cute, kouhai girlfriend since we last met, but the situation itself made it so I could gush over Li as I typically did. Even if he did have bed hair. “You SLEEP TOGETHER!”

“Hm? Oh. Yes, we do.” There had to be some measure of righteous indignation to be had in my body. I risked my life going against Li’s admirers, just so that he could get laid? I mean, that made me an excellent best friend, but as a man… could I abide by the fact he couldn’t tell those girls himself that he was already with someone to such an extent? If he was that invested, then the least he could do risk his life himself and work to surmount the odds with his own abilities and strengths, even if his involvement would’ve made the situation that much more difficult—and, now that I’m looking at his guilt-free, guileless face I’ve realized that I’ve overreacted and maybe made a fool of myself. “Coda-san doesn’t wish to go back to her old life, so she no longer has access to where she has lived before. Those places would merely incite her to take up her old life again.”

Oh, right.

My memories of Coda are primarily the fact that she is cute and that she smiles a lot when near Li. While my logical self remembers and recalls her life story perfectly, but emotional, present self is not capable of such astounding feats of understanding. Cute girls don’t have despicable past lives in biker gangs that took on martial-arts schools of every type and destroyed them in their wake. Coda can’t be a chest-bandaged, white-coat wearing delinquent who uses a metal bat as easily as breathing. That’s as silly of a thought as Li being the reincarnation of Lucifer or something along those lines. So, while I heard those words from her mouth when we first met, I didn’t truly accept them.

Well, I’ll handle my worldview being garbage at a later time, in private, and actually get to the point of the matter, now. 

“I’ve done all I can back at school We have bought you time. We got you what you needed, so that you can form a response that doesn’t end with the school exploding.” Now, of course, that wasn’t the only part of the problem. While I’d been able to forget about the chance encounter I’d had on the day of Li’s one-and-only defeat, those memories returned to me the moment I mentioned them aloud. I remembered a pure white uniform and eyes that looked at me like I was walking garbage. Yep, that stranger’s as traumatizing as I remember. “But what’re we going to do about your challenger? You know tall, silver-haired, and mean? Not Creighton. The other one that kicked your butt. Also, again, not Creighton.”

Li Song was about to speak in regards to the cool, despotic creature that walked into our school and turned our life upside down and inside out when a girl walked behind him, wearing white pajamas, and also with bed hair. 

On an emotional level, I didn’t recognize her. The girl seemed relaxed, carefree, and fun to be around. Really, she gave off the vibe of a countryside girl who’d be fun to have around at parties and at arcades, because she’d be some sort of hidden tiger that destroyed both hearts and minds, while leaving behind defeated opponents in her wake. The aura she had was carefree, open, and filled only with the intent to do something fun and exciting, as though she intended to live her life to the absolute fullest and without regret. 

On all levels mental and sensory, however, I did recognize her. She was the aforementioned, crazed creature that forced the whole mess to occur in the first place! She’d come into the school, beat up Li, and had him go home because he didn’t want to reveal Coda to the world! Without a doubt, my eyes and brain told me that the I looked upon the villain of this story, the big bad, and the irredeemable creature that wanted to sink Coda x Song! Someone, I undoubtably could never get along with.

Yet another level entirely took control of my body, before I could voice either of those chains of thought.

What could supercede both my mind and my heart, you may ask?

My spirit, of course.

“LI SONG, DID YOU SLEEP WITH TWOOOO WOOOMEEENNNNNN—

Thankfully, since Li is my best friend, he saw that I was overcome by emotion and dealt with me accordingly.

By knocking me out, before I embarrassed myself further. 

…

Spread on the table was Li’s very late breakfast. I’d half-expected him to eat a regular, Japanese breakfast, but that was a foolish idea that didn’t consider his circumstances. Given his body and lifestyle, his breakfast was more similar to Western foods than Japanese. The center of the table was filled with scrambled eggs, heaps of toast, and breakfast meats. There were tall glasses of milk and even idle boxes of cereal. I didn’t know how his small kitchen fit everything on the table, let alone cook it all in a reasonable time, but it was more than evident to me that none of it was going to go to waste.

In fact, I was sure that it wasn’t enough, because Coda and Hisano were both eating through their portions and grabbing more faster than I could take two bites. While I was conversing with Song, they were actively discussing what to get for lunch, and what to eat between then and now. People with extreme metabolisms and talent are truly unfair… but my jealousy and slight nausea at all the food being consumed was overridden by a single fact. 

As always, everything was Miyakuro’s fault.

“No, no, no. That’s oversimplifying things, Issei.” Li was trying to protect Miyakuro, but I’d been wondering why that slimy, rat bastard had been so willing to help. Even with Angela threatening to break his ankles and strap him down, he’d usually never agree to help anyone, unless he had something to gain on the matter. Regardless of the fact that Li Song was the only human being he didn’t actively try to put down and kill with words, that fact didn’t mean he’d help him out of the bottom of his heart. “It was planned with good intentions, as for me to understand someone similar to myself, but it backfired quite badly and set into motion a series of events that Miyakuro regretted immensely.”

“All I’m hearing is that Miyakuro’s a jerky jerkface who’s a jerk.” Never before did I want a wider vocabulary just to insult someone better in front of a group of people that I liked. Naturally, I’ve spent enough time around Miyakuro to know how to really insult someone, but that fact has backfired on me, because I actually care about what people think about me. Miyakuro just says what he wants, because he couldn’t care less about what people thought about him for his words. However, if I called him a rotten bastard who deserves to be forever brought into Bear Hell in front of Coda, Li, and Hisano… wow, I can’t even think of how I’d feel if I did. It’s just never happening. Okay, apparently, I’m in front of three people who I’d protect from bad things forever, if I could. Wasn’t this supposed to happen when I had kids? “This could’ve all been avoided, if he introduced this girl to you like a normal person, instead of putting it into her mind that she needed to be your eternal rival and defeat Coda!”

“Miyakuro did intend for it to happen as an aggravating situation for me to handle, but he did not expect its repercussions… so, I must admit that you’re correct that he played the main part in creating our current situation. However, you must remember that he’s also done his best to fix it.” Grrr… damn you, Li! This is the part where you need to disagree with me, so that I could vent my anger, my anguish, and my pain! How the heck am I supposed to release all this pent-up frustration with you just being super nice!? This isn’t fair. Argue with me, dammit! “He came to explain himself moments after you left to help me, then everything was settled and fixed due to his actions. In the end, I believe that Miyakuro sufficiently absolved himself of any wrongdoing… and that the remaining situation is something of my own making, which I must confront and handle myself.”

“Yeah, isn’t it good and stuff that Song here’s going to handle his situation? It would’ve happened anyway, you know?” Hisano spoke up. Her exact situation still didn’t make sense to me. She and Li were connected somehow. Valerie was involved too, but Miyakuro handled things like talking to her. Everything about her was a big mess that didn’t make any sense. All I knew was that she was as good at fighting, that she was somehow related to Song, and wanted to meet him. Then, the situation with him being beaten for the first time happened, as well as her desire to challenge and defeat Coda. Maybe there’s corporations and other schools involved, too. I don’t know. Everything about her was just complicated. I needed at least two diagrams and a wiki page to understand her situation perfectly. “Besides, that’s all you need to worry about now, right? I’m good. Coda’s good. There’s no crazy lady’s out to kill me that three of us need to team up to beat, or something. My case is closed!”

I really appreciated problems ending solidly, but that still left the situation school, which wouldn’t be a situation if none of this ever happened.

“Issei-san, your love and concern for Li is evident, but you must control your emotions. You must not equate your affection for someone to hate for another.” Oh. No. I’d forgotten. Around Coda my thoughts weren’t safe. I can’t even gripe and moan in my own head without her reaching over the grasp my hand and smile at me so nicely. Don’t do this to me, Coda-san. I’m a human being. I need things like spite and disgust, so that I can strive to protect my friends from things I don’t like. If you take that away from me, how am I supposed to protect my friends forever? Okay. I’m kinda getting at what you’re going for with this. That’s creepier the more I think about it. “Good. Please, remember that, so that you can live a peaceful and fulfilling life.”

Li looked at Coda gratefully, before turning back to me.

“As Hisano said, what has happened is of my own making, therefore I will confront it and face-it head on. I understand that I may fail, that such a thing is very likely, but I won’t waver.” Li’s eyes met my own without the slightest hint of fear and hesitation. Conviction made his eyes like steel, even as he sat calmly across from me with his plate untouched. “I’ll take on what is ahead with all my ability, so that I have no regrets.” 

What the heck is a regular, normal human being supposed to say to those words? I mean, in the end, what’s up with what I’m trying to do in the first place? Li’s has a lot of admirers who he wants to keep around him, because he wants a large family, many children, and fulfill his dream of revitalizing his hometown. How’s he going to do that if he just keeps dancing around the issue around the people he’s interested in? He could get hurt in the process, but what’s there to regret about telling the truth and being plain about what he wants? 

Nothing.

I know him.

He’ll tell everyone the truth. He won’t connive or string anyone along. He’ll do his best following his morals and code. Even if the outcome is an utter failure, he’ll get back up after shouldering all the punishment and make amends, therefore not even regret will reach him.

So, there’s no reason for me to oppose him in what he’s trying to do.

Except… except for the fact that I wasn’t brave enough to do the same.