The Story of the Seven

Chapter 16 - It's Time To Elope

Women are strange creatures.

I thought about that sincerely from the bottom of my heart when I saw Amane in the morning.

First of all, she was 15 minutes late when she can bounding toward our meeting place like a hound. Second, she had bed hair, the buttons on her uniform were poorly done, her sox mismatched, her makeup rough and uneven, her eyes a teary red. And third, she had a toast clutched in her mouth, just like how a dog clutches a bone in its mouth.

"Amane, you look absolutely gorgeous today. Did you study for the midterms?"

Smack!

"Alright, I'll take that as a no."

"Coulf I cofy yow anhwers?" (Could I copy your answers?)

"What are you saying?"

"Ahem. Could I copy your answers off the test?"

"Don't blame me if you get expelled."

"Then maybe I'll settle with ignoring reality."

"That's not going to improve your grade, though."

"Why do you bully me so much...."

We were bickering back and forth as usual, when ......

"Excuse me young lady, is this your address?"

A man wearing a black coat approached Amane and held a notebook in her face.

"Who are you in the first place? And why do you want to ..... Wait, what? "

Hearing this reply, the man made a beeline toward a nearby motorcycle, hopped on it, and sped off.

"What was that about?" (Haruto)

"I would like to ask that question; that creep somehow had the address of my relative who lives in a nearby district."

"Huh, that's creepy. Are you getting stalked?'

"Maybe, but I'm not scared. See this keychain on my purse?"

"Yeah, the neon red water bottle keychain?"

"That's a mini MACE can, so you know, if that creep tries to do somethin' to me, I'll just MACE him."

"Have you ever sprayed it on someone for fun?"

"No way, what kind of person do you think I am?"

"Someone who seems to do that....."

Amane aimed the MACE can at me.

"Ahem, someone who seems to not do that kind of thing."

"Good boy."

"Please don't pat my head."

"What, you don't like it?"

"Yeah I don..... why do you look so bewildered all the sudden?"

"There's this big public clock behind you, and I just read it, and it said we're five minutes late for school. It's just that my eyes are broken, right?"

"Yes, in fact, after reading the clock, I have come to an adequate conclusion that we are five minutes late to school, and we have an approximate 800m still left to reach school."

"Are you in so much shock for missing the test that you're talking like a nerd? Come on, since we're already late to school, let's just ditch it altogether."

While I was still slightly numbed by the fact that I am missing one of the most important days of school, Amane dragged me to a nearby subway station.