Obstinate Elitists

36

You weren't exactly sure if it was a good idea to join Eito in his conquest to beat "the system" but it was a bit too late to opt out now. Sunday morning he had called you out of the blue to invite you to meet the girl building the app. Through the phone, he sounded off though. You had a feeling it was because of that one encounter with Ginjirou. Well, at least you were still on speaking terms with him. That's right. The last time you spoke with the red head elite was days ago.

"Thanks for picking me up again," you told him the moment you opened the car door. His hair was down from his ponytail, like the last time. Wearing an oversized T-shirt and baby blue jeans, you admired how nicely put he appeared in them. Maybe Kouki was known as the fashionable one, but Eito knew how to pair pieces together pretty well too. "Sorry if it's a hassle. Next time I can get my own ride."

You sat down on the passenger's seat and closed the door behind you. Once you were situated, he merely shook his head. "No, it's fine. I wanted to pick you up." The words he uttered were sweet, but the tone of his voice only left you cringing. [e/c] hues flew to his hands, noticing the way they were gripping the steering wheel. Yeah... there was no doubt about it.

"Are you mad about what happened with Ginjirou?" you asked him.

He sighed, his eyes never leaving the road. "[Y/N]... I just feel like it's counterintuitive to become friends with the elites when we're trying to take them down."

You understood where he was coming from. What if they found out and felt betrayed? Even so, a surge of anger waved through you in that moment. You weren't even sure why you grew so angry. "We're trying to take the system down," you corrected him. "They have nothing to do with the system. Those are two different things."

He opened his mouth as if he wanted to argue with you. But he was smart enough to shut them and nod reluctantly. "You're right..."

The rest of the car ride fell into phases of silence and inquiries about the mystery girl you were soon to meet. Much to your surprise, the neighborhoods of large mansions fell into smaller, normal sized buildings. Staring out of the window in awe, you were suddenly hit by nostalgia of some sorts, for they reminded you of where you used to live in your past life. It had been a while since you last seen homes that weren't humongous, privilege manors that sheltered the egotistic. It nearly led you to believe anything smaller didn't exist in this world. Of course there were. Of course there were people living paycheck by paycheck, working in small diners and minimum wage jobs. Of course there were the homeless, or the orphans, or the ones in debt.

You just never sought to look on this side of town, so you could continue to live blissfully away coddling in money and luxury. Your stomach churned at the thought of this, guilt overturning your senses. The car swerved around the corner, passing an alley between old buildings selling antiques. In the shadows you could see two children, dirt matted with nowhere to go. They were no older than ten, and hunger was prominent in their gazes.

"We're almost there," Eito muttered. You could only nod in response, sinking your form into the comfort of the seat. This was getting a little too real.

It took another five minutes and eventually, the car pulled into an apartment's parking lot. Eito quickly found an open space to park his car. Once that was done, he unclasped his seatbelt, so you followed his lead. Getting out of the car, you stuffed your hands into your pockets, eying the brown, bricked building up and down. The place looked gloomy, especially with the cloudy weather today. The cold bit into your skin and you shivered.

"You okay there?" The male noticed your hesitation and frowned in concern.

"Just peachy," you replied, praying it sounded sincere. He didn't say anything so you assumed he bought it. The two of you headed into the apartment, where he punched in a code to unlock the door. The reception room was shabby, the walls ruddy and the red carpet old that smelled of something ancient. A woman sat behind the counter, half asleep. She was probably the receptionist. Eito went up to the elevator and pressed the up button with his thumb.