Time Flies

Prologue - Thalassophilia

Silence.

The 600,000-meter campus illuminated the night, with the neon lights of nightclubs, karaoke bars, restaurants, and many more. Students walked the streets, dressed in winter-appropriate clothing, with many more exploring the campus nightlife, enjoying themselves.

A lone student sat on the mechanical penthouse on one of the many buildings, eyes gazing upon the irradiated sky, polluted by the skyglow from the campus that veiled the scintillating stars. His knuckles were caked with the ichor of his former delinquent adversaries, while his body remained pristine of serious harm.

He sighed.

"What do you want, Karuizawa,"

He gazed downward and was greeted by the humorous sight of his golden-haired odalisque jumping up and down with her arms raised up.

"Kiyotakaaaa!" she cried out, "I've been jumping for the past five minutes! Pick me up!"

The now-named student thought about returning to ignoring her mou-ing, but grasped her slender, delicate hands with his strong and rough ones, pulling her up.

"You're wet," he acknowledged her as she sat down beside him.

"Ouch!"

She slugged him in the stomach, but she was the one that felt the pain.

"And you're hard— wait, that's not what I'm here for," she started as she cradled her aching fist.

She continued, "Why did you suddenly release me from my side of our deal? And why did you save me even though you didn't have to?"

"Don't think about it anymore. What happened today, what's happened so far. You can think about that stuff later. The only thing that's for certain right now, in this moment, is that your curse has been lifted. Manabe— no, no one will dig up your past again. As for what's to come, well, you can just keep going the way you always have,"

"I hurt you. I won't ask you to forgive me. But please remember just one thing. If something like what happened today happens again, I will save you with the best of my abilities."

"Kiyo...taka..."

"I released you from my contract because I have no use for you anymore. My objective has been canceled, and I have no need to pursue it any longer. Think nothing of it." Kiyotaka said coldly, looking into her eyes.

"You're lying," she responded flatly, gazing back into his abyssal orbs, meeting them head-on. She had no flashy, special skills like the more impressive students on campus — not the academic ability of Horikita, the indomitable strength of Sudou, the magnetic personality of Ichinose, the ruthlessness of Ryuuen and Sakayanagi — all she had was the willpower to keep pressing on through her trials and tribulations, and her seldom-seen intuition.

"There's something that's troubling you. You mentioned an objective that has been canceled. What happened to you?"

"Drop it."

His face darkened, and he glared even more intensely than before, yet she still took them directly. After a while, his glare lessened and the darkness dwindled.

"You probably won't believe me," Kiyotaka sighed resignedly, "It's a story so absurd that you'll probably assume it's a joke."

"Try me, Kiyotaka."

And he told her his life story. He talked about his life in the White Room. His own trials and tribulations he faced, his realization at the futility of his and his companions' situation that got worse and worse over time, his isolation after all his companions eventually broke down. He told of his meeting of Matsuo, who was the first father-figure he ever had, his introduction to normalcy, Matsuo's desire for him to experience freedom, his escape from the White Room, his enrollment into Advanced Nurturing High School, his desire to see ordinary people stand up to geniuses. His isolation from his peers once again, unable to understand how to make a friend because he could not relate to others. His attempts at being a good person, going unappreciated and insulted by classmates, including herself. His awful treatment by Chabashira-sensei and Horikita herself, basically spitting on his emotional growth, leaving him frustrated and realizing the futility of him being able to be a better person. His own clique, the "Ayanokouji Group", becoming "friends" with him just to only find out more about him. His meeting with his father and the fate of Matsuo and his son.

And then he finished. All was said calmly. Kiyotaka had no tears left to cry, for he was just an emotionless husk of what he was before.

Yet, she shed tears for him.

Karuizawa tackled him, tears streaming down her face, her hair and clothes drenched from the bullying she received that he "saved" her from thirty minutes prior. He couldn't help but be surprised, his arms naturally embracing her lumbar.

"I believe you."

They stayed in this position for many minutes after, silent.

Her tears had dried, leaving her cheeks warm and eyes reddened, and he used a towel to dry her hair and clothes the best he could.

"Karuizawa...no, Kei," Kiyotaka said, looking into her celeste-colored orbs with his dusk-colored ones. He had decided to place faith in another human barring Matsuo for the very first time.

"How can I enjoy life here with the remaining time I have left?"

"I have an idea, Kiyotaka."

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Hello. Yeah, I wanted to start a fic purely based on slice-of-life, unlike my other story which will be interrupted by the plot. I got the idea from the image at the header. There is no deal with Manabu, and other events will be altered. Also, most of the common characters won't appear much, if at all. No Sakayanagi, Ryuuen, Ichinose, Horikita, Kushida, Ayanokouji Group, or Idiot Trio until before the epilogue.

...Yeah, I have to finish my school work.