Emotionless

4 - Overheard, Overseen

When the bell rang, ending class and signaling the start of our lunch period, I waited in my seat as everyone else left the classroom first. Afterward, I cracked my neck and grabbed my bag, calmly making my way out of the classroom as opposed to the others who always seemed to be in such a rush. I did my best to remember the layout of the school, deciding to find a music room that wasn't in use that I could use later to study and practice my instruments. 

I had a lot of time on my hands, so I was able to learn many instruments over the years, and it was never a problem for me to keep up with my studies. I'm only here for show, so even though I did have to submit the required assignments it wasn't as if this was new material to me, I'd learned plenty. I'm pretty sure I've been in high school hundreds of times. 

I came to a stop on the top floor of the obnoxious prestigious school and watched the students in the courtyard which can be viewed from the window I stopped in front of. Below was a quite large fountain, surrounded with luxurious greenery on one side and the school walkways on another. Taking out my phone, I pressed the first emergency contact and waited for the person to answer on the other side. 

The dial tone rang twice before there was a click, and a woman's voice flooded through. "Louise, how can I help?" Louise - my "mother" answered. 

"Hello," I answered plainly, waiting for her to recognize who exactly was calling her. I knew she'd understand where to go from there. 

"Oh! Hi sweetie! What's up?" Her tone quickly switched from professional to cheerful, sounding almost giddy after realizing it was me. Again, I almost wanted to roll my eyes but I didn't have too much trouble refraining. 

"The large trunk I'd asked for. Where is it?" 

There was a pause, some shuffling, and then some whispers in the background before she bothered to answer. I couldn't entirely hear, but from what I could pick up, she and my "father" were whispering back and forth, arguing about something. Louise sounded panicked for some reason. 

Finally, I heard the phone shift again. "Yes, yes, it is on the way right now!" She gave a small, awkward chuckle before continuing, "Is that all? Is there anything else I can do? Like maybe, talk about the first day of school so far?"

"It's not the first time I've attended school," I answered as simply as I could, more focused on staring out of the window than on the conversation. I'd gotten the information I needed, so I was finished. 

My mindless staring was an easy and welcome distraction to the rambling that continued on her end of the phone. I tuned out her voice, hearing it as nothing more than murmuring as my eyes focused on the courtyard below. "Goodbye," I hardly bothered to understand her rambling before hanging up and tucking the phone back into my pocket. I was fairly certain I'd cut her off, but it didn't really matter. 

Movement outside caught my eye, and I darted my eyes around to look for what it was. The rustle of trees maybe, or the occasional motion of the bushes moving by wind or animals as well, I suppose. Whatever it was snapped me out of it in time to see a figure clothed in dark pants and a light hoddie shrink into the shadows, just beyond the tree line. With this image in my brain, I could finally confirm my main purpose for being here. 

My hand drifted back to my side, ready to shovel my phone out of my pocket once more. 

Another objective has begun. 

...

Haruhi Fujioka:

I can't believe those idiots! Those twins are actually going to drive me clinically insane someday, I was sure of it. With all their prodding and poking, trying to trick me into everything by trapping me with fancy tuna! I growled, scowling as I stalked forward, suddenly in a bad mood because of them...not that that was unusual. They're horrible, I swear.

I could practically feel myself sweatdrop while I let my shoulders sag. Still, they did it because it worked. Curse my love for fancy tuna. For that, I could blame no one but myself.

I was wandering around for a bit in the time I had in between lunch and the start of the next class. I pretty much just wanted to get away from those awful, mischievous twins who are such good friends of mine, despite how much they irritated me. 

I sighed as I walked, and was surprised to hear someone nearby echo the sound. I was on the same floor as the host club room, right around where my bags were pushed out of the window and into the fountain when I'd first (was forced to) join the club. I can't believe how long ago that seems now. 

I peeked my head around the corner, hoping that whoever was there wouldn't see me acting just as weird as the rest of the host club. My eyes met with the new student, the young man who'd joined the class that the twins and I had. He had a dull, faraway look on his face, so far away that it almost felt forbidden to be seeing this guy like this when he had no clue I was here. I better leave...

I was backing away when his head suddenly jerked to the side, looking like he was startled by someone or something. He stared out at a specific spot once more before his hand twitched, then flew to his side, ready to yank something out of his pocket. 

I wasn't supposed to be here. I wasn't supposed to see anything. I wasn't supposed to hear anything.

But I did. 

The moment he jerked his head to the side, I saw the bandage underneath the hair that was usually resting perfectly across his face. I shouldn't have even been there, but my curiosity nudged me to learn more. My instinct, on the other hand, told me he was as much trouble as the host club was, if not more. At the same exact moment that I'd caught a glimpse of the bandage, I heard him whisper, almost like he wasn't even aware that he was talking out loud.

"Another objective has begun."