Summer break
came to an end, and school started anew with all the promises and
problems that came with change.
In this case
problems came to Christina a few days into the new term. It came in
the form of some seniors with more time on their hands than brains.
Christina
passed the vending machines outside the cafeteria and headed for the
stairwell to their new club room. In her tow Hitomi-chan and Noriko
followed, which gave the three of them the airs of a high school
queen with her entourage. Entirely unintended as Christina and Noriko
ran into the beauty from Ulf's class just moments earlier.
Christina was
about to climb the stairs when someone suddenly called to her from
the corridor.
“You there,
the idiot who don't know proper Japanese!” Apparently a someone who
suffered from a defunct short term memory given how the last attempt
at bullying Christina eventually went down.
She walked
over to the senior who made the call. “Can I help you big sister?”
she said using children's Japanese. This time she didn't plan to
allow anything to degenerate as far as it had done late spring.
The speaker
and her friend rolled their eyes, and behind them a few of their
classmates started giggling. “You? Help us?”
Morons.
Don't they ever learn when they're beaten? Well, it's time to kill
this one immediately. She hadn't expected anyone to try bullying
her so quickly after the last attempt. “My Japanese is bad. You are
ugly. I can learn Japanese surprisingly fast, but can you learn to be
beautiful?” Christina made an effort to put on her best smile while
the two seniors in front of her blanched.
The corridor
had gone eerie silent when it was clear that a freshman had not only
accepted the challenge but also delivered a counter-attack. Christina
decided to make the most of it and walked close enough to the two
girls that she had to bow slightly to look down at their faces.
Behind her she
heard Hitomi-chan gasp. She was an airhead, so it couldn't be helped,
but she was an exceptionally beautiful airhead. Christina doubted
even the seniors would dare to push this too far if two out of the
three celebrated freshmen beauties were involved.
Christina
listened to Noriko laugh her heart out. She must have come to the
same conclusion. The sound of a sharp slap told Christina she had
cajoled Hitomi-chan into a high-five. Good girl, Noriko.
A tiny package
filled with brains and good looks. How did you become such an
important friend to me? It was strange, especially as Noriko was
hell-bent on stealing Ulf from her. But I can respect that. You
told me so to my face.
Well, time to
maim these girls for a long time coming. Definitely so now that
Noriko had set up the scene for Queen Bitch with retinue going to
shop. I almost feel sorry for you, but I'm not taking any more
crap.
“My, my,”
Christina said and turned her attention to the other girl. Christina
grabbed her arm before she had time to protest. Yes, it was a skin
condition, and one she knew the girl had fought for a long time.
Pretending to
study the arm Christina thought of a killer. And had one. She looked
the girls straight in her eyes and summoned up all false concern she
could conjure. “I'd recommend Tanshin's premium moisture lotion. It
could almost help even someone like you.” There's no way she can
afford anything Tanshin's.
The eyes
Christina held locked with her own filled with tears. “You
bastard!”
Christina just
smiled falsely. Relentless. I have to be relentless. “You
know, I can ask my agency for some. They'll give it to me if I tell
them I need to help a destitute friend with a skin problem.”
The third year
capitulated and sagged. Both friends had to rely on each other for
support as they walked away through the corridor in defeat.
“What the
hell?” Christina heard from another third year who had stood
there waiting for a freshman to be humiliated.
“What
happened?” Noriko asked.
Christina
turned to answer, but Hitomi-chan beat her to it. “Kuri-chan was
really awful.” Hitomi-chan shuddered before she continued her
explanation. “She saw how dry skin that girl had, and then she
suggested that the most expensive lotion I've heard of won't be
enough to fix it.”
“Sums it up
pretty well,” Christina agreed when Noriko gave her a questioning
look. No wonder Hitomi-chan knew. She's got the looks to explain
an avid interest in cosmetics.
“Kuri-chan,
I don't agree with what you did. Couldn't you see how much treatment
she was using already?” Hitomi-chan said.
You've got
it easy. No one ever tried to bully you. Christina placed her
hands on Hitomi-chan's shoulders and bowed down to meet the beauty's
eyes. “I did. I'm a professional after all. I did exactly what
would hurt her the most, wouldn't you agree?”
She received a
glare filled with distaste. “Just remind me never to make an enemy
of you,” Hitomi-chan murmured before Christina let her go.
They climbed
the stairs. In a way Hitomi-chan was right. With her sudden fame came
a need not to make an enemy of her, something the seniors just
earlier hadn't understood. But what about friends? Those she had were
all in the club, and she couldn't even call all of them her friends.
She was
respected. Christina truly felt she was, but that was her
meticulously arranged beauty in action, and when that wasn't true she
still held the position as president for the club. Together with Ulf
as vice-president there were very few complaints about how the club
was run.
So why was it
so much easier to attract resentment than friendship? She was since
long openly a couple with Ulf, so it couldn't be that the seniors
thought she was pilfering their hunting grounds.
“Noriko,
wait!”
And the only
one anyone could have thought she would pilfer just showed up below
them. The latest addition to their club, Nao-sempai who had just
transferred in from Irishima High. He was Nao-kun when they worked as
models but Nao-sempai in school. Class 7:2 where the girls were going
hysterical over the new addition to the class. And he had his sights
on Noriko.
“Not waiting
for the likes of you,” she called downstairs and hurried up.
Christina
shook her head and climbed another step. If what Ulf had told her was
true this was going to be even more fun to watch than Yukio and Kyoko
earlier. Nao-sempai had already confessed and been rejected once.
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