Black Flower

Black Flower Chapter 4

Black Flower Chapter 4

Pain

Strange things were happening around me, but not in the way you might expect. There were no ghosts, no monsters either. Often, when I would do my rounds on lunch break, people would...actually greet me. Sometimes they nodded at me and I nodded back, sometimes they smiled and I smiled back, some even went ahead and said: "Good afternoon Miss Aoyama!" Strange things indeed. Slowly, I was starting to be known as Aoyama Tomoko the Disciplinary Officer, and not as that creepy girl who brought her phone on her first day of school. Strange how just a few weeks ago, I would be largely ignored or even avoided, and now I'm being regularly greeted everyday by people I've never met before. I felt proud, I felt like I really had accomplished something important.

"How are the rounds going, Officer?"

I looked to my left to see Yakeru had fallen in step with me.

"Oh quit calling me that you. Yomi does it and it's already too much."

"She likes to tease you." he chuckled. "But more seriously...look!" he said as he pointed to his cheek.

The red hand had finally disappeared. I couldn't help but let out an unladylike snort of laughter.

"So with that gone, this whole thing is officially behind us now huh?" I asked.

Things were now way better between Yakeru and I, since that...issue. We even discovered a shared taste for metal music.

"Oh it is. And it has been since that uh...mark even first appeared." he replied. "Alright, I have some business to attend to. See you later, Tomoko." he said before walking away.

Now that I knew the real Yakeru, I couldn't help but feel Yomi was a little...harsh on him. But then again, it did convince him to admit his mistake and apologize, so all was well in the end. As classes were about to resume, I went to my locker to gather my things, only to find a smiling redhead leaning against the one beside mine.

"Yomi? Classes are about to resume, shouldn't you get your stuff?" I asked.

"Of course!" she just replied, before unlocking the locker just beside me.

"Isn't...huh? I thought your locker was at the other end of the hallway." I said, mildly confused.

'"It was indeed!" she exclaimed. "But I huh...used my influence to have it changed."

"Used?" I said, eyebrows raised. "Don't you mean abused? "

"Oof. Harsh." she answered with one of her trademark confident smiles, and walked off to her own classes.

I sighed, but also smiled. It seemed like such a petty thing to do, almost childish even. And yet, I felt good about it. I liked the idea of seeing Yomi right beside me at the end of classes.

Today our teacher gave back an assignment we had given in not so long ago, and my results were more than satisfying. My grades had started getting significantly better lately, and yet I wasn't studying any harder than before. Maybe it was just thanks to my overall better mood this year.

When classes finally ended, it was just as I imagined. Yomi was right there, at her new locker, smiling at me when I walked up to my own.

"I hope Rin won't hold it against me." I said. "As far as I know, your locker used to be next to hers."

"Oh she won't, don't worry. She's cheering me on with it actually. She finds our relationship rather adorable, in fact." she replied, rummaging in her locker for her stuff.