[SS] Try to be more... (OPEN)

His reflection in the mirror stared at him.

"What are you looking at?" he whispered under his labored breath. He didn't care for the answer. There was no time. He was late. Heck, he was late when he arrived at school. It didn't help that he immediately went to the bathroom to wash the sweat off his face. He splashed more water over his face. He had to calm down. Keep it together. The stall behind him opened, and he looked to the person coming out. He thought he was alone. Did he hear him talking to himself? His ears burned. The boy just washed his hands and left. Didn't say a word. Didn't make eye contact.

The other boy was probably laughing at him the whole time. Just too polite to do it to his face.

Keep it together.

He looked at his wrist watch. It was actually a nice watch, if a bit dated. Bright pristine nickle plating. Scratch resistant. The thick metal hands on the face kept time with impeccable accuracy. Abel knew it was because of the finely maintained gears precisely turning together in perfect unison. Much unlike his ruined body. He knew he'd never quite work right. No matter how much treatment he got, or how well he tried to take care of himself, his gears didn't quite fit together anymore. It was amazing that they still turned at all.

Oh yeah, now he was definitely late. He splashed water on his face one last time, even though it didn't really make him feel much better. He grabbed some paper towels and forced himself to leave the sink. From there, he managed to make his way to the classroom.

He just strolled into the class like it was the natural thing to do. He kept his eyes high. He looked to the teacher's eyes with his usual empty glare as he walked in. He locked his stare there, until he turned towards the back of the class. He focused on keeping his poker face together. He was suffering, but he wouldn't let them know it. He sent his eyes to lock with those of the students, if they dared to look up at him. Most would look away as soon as their eyes met.  He had found that by doing this, he could prevent people from staring at him. God forbid they stare at him. He wouldn't be able to handle that. He couldn't take that.

So he stared first. A preemptive attack. He could see them tense up and hold their books up. He looked at them, but he didn't see them. He was far too preoccupied with his own concerns to consider them. He just focused on locking eyes and moving on. Who he was looking at barely registered. He was at least twenty minutes late, and took his time making his way to the back of class to take his usual seat. Finally he sat down with a sour look, but didn't make a sound. He hoped she'd just continue the lecture and wouldn't bother with him.

Trystan was absentmindedly staring out the window five minutes into class. The bell had rung, and Komoe-sensei was in the middle of taking roll. Suddenly, as he waited for his name to be called out, the door to the classroom slid open with a loud bang, before a tall but slightly built, surly, and slightly sweaty individual walked into the room, paper towels in hand. Actually, he took that back - this slightly sweaty individual just started sweating in overdrive. With all of the sweat pouring off of him, Trystan could only assume that their relatively comfortable uniform with short sleeves was still unable to provide the proper amount of airflow for this individual. How unfortunate.

It's no wonder he's so warm under that...poor guy....

However, as he was about to turn away to return to absentmindedly waiting for his name to be called again, he noticed that said individual was giving a self-righteous glare towards Komoe-sensei. The poor under-developed teacher looked to be getting teary-eyed as he continued to glare, his baggy eyes narrowing even further during the process. Combined with his extremely sweaty countenance, he could only watch in half-amusement as their teacher struggled to find the proper words to chastise him. The other half was rather incensed that this individual had the galls to be late to class and then threaten their teacher like this. He might not enjoy his remedial lessons much, but he understood entirely that they were meant to better him. As such, he held nothing but respect for all the teachers who had given him his extra lessons over the years, despite how much the lessons involved had hurt his brain.

Seriously, why does anyone need to do that much thinking?!

However, without giving Trystan much time to ponder other such terribly complicated topics, the individual had turned around to glaring at the rest of the class as he made his way towards his seat. Actually, now that he thought about it, why did he assume that this individual had a seat in this classroom? Was it just because he had talked to Komoe-sensei? He narrowed his eyes as he considered what had happened just now.

A surly individual had just walked in, glared at their kind but under-developed teacher and caused her to break out into tears. He had then proceeded to glare at the rest of the students, and intimidated them all into silence as well. The fact that they were all avoiding looking at him and actually pretending to study even when lessons hadn't even started was testament to that. Adding all of these things together...

O-Oh no!

All of a sudden, everything made sense now. Standing up noisily, Trystan crossed his arms over his chest, and returned a glare of his own, locking eyes with the individual as he passed by in the next row. As their eyes met, Trystan unfolded his arms with great flourish, then pointed towards the individual with his hand, before bellowing out in a great voice.

"BEGONE, TERRORIST, OR FACE THE WRATH OF THIS ONE'S JUSTICE!"

Both students arrived late and both made their way into the classroom in a awkward way that it was very hard not to notice them coming in late as though it was a natural thing to do. To make matters worse the latter one had the galls to come in late and glare at everyone as though he had no business being in here which made matters worse when the gentle Komoe sensei took it as "Your class is boring annoying go and die in a ditch." and tears swelled up inside the child teacher who... technically wasn't a child.

The first to come was the "You Made Her Cry" stares from all around the two seated next to each other. Year 1 Class 7 made it a rule that everyone in class will respect and listen to what Komoe sensei had to teach them so it came as no surprise when the two major delinquents arrived it was surely expected that this uncomfortable beam would be showered onto them now that Komoe sensei was on the verge of crying.

It was a daily cycle and it had been ever since they enrolled. Which is why...

Today they were being watched in secrecy by an officer of Anti-Skill/Phys Ed Teacher Yomikawa Sensei who was sitting at the back of the classroom as they entered oblivious to their surroundings and the oni waiting to pounce on their heads with the force of thousand suns.

"Divine Punishment!"

A sharp pain jolted into the back of their heads as she slashed through the air with a giant harisen. It came as a surprise considering both came from a background that involved violence that neither of them were able to detect the attack let alone dodge it, feeling the full brunt of the force smashing into the back of their skulls as it inflicted a loud crackle against their heads. If Yomikawa Aiho was a samurai in the Sengoku Period wielding a odachi katana, there was no doubt that it would have made a clean cut, in saying so she would have made a decent executioner for the shogunate. None of that mattered though, as they felt a lightning bolt enter their heads refusing to leave them unharmed.

"What's with your glaring and you with your outbursts! the least you can do is tell Komoe sensei how sorry you are!"

This was rich coming from a teacher who just resorted to using brute force, albeit it was calculated force as neither have passed out from the blow.

But neither of them could openly complain. This teacher was the oni sensei of the certain highschool and arguing was pointless. Reporting her evil deeds to the principal was even more pointless as her actions were often seen as necessary evil. Today was an unfortunate day for the both of them and before they had the time to exclaim their apology at their cute teacher they were put into submission choke hold and led out of the classroom in pain, yet it was a questionable pain as the top of their heads were buried in Aiho's chest. If that usually bothered most female teachers it didn't seem to affect Yomikawa one bit. More of the pain seeped in as they gasped for air.

"That's fifty laps around the school for you two!"

Rather than crying Komoe sensei was in shock at what just happened. But by the time she called out to Yomikawa sensei they were gone.

"Yomikawa sensei! Don't kill them..."

Something was different with this class. Normally they would look away. Normally, they'd tell themselves it wasn't their business, but not these kids. These cheeky brats glared right back, even if the teacher herself was on the verge of tears. No, probably because she was on the verge of tears. He realized it too late.

He could feel their eyes on him. It made him sweat. He swallowed hard, and struggled to maintain his stoic gaze. His furrowed brow twitching slightly as he struggled to maintain. Keep it together.

Suddenly, he heard a strong and commanding voice. He turned to the next row to see what was clearly a man and not a boy, standing and yelling at him. He didn't hear what was said. All he could hear was the heat from those glares. That probably doesn't make much sense. How do you hear heat? How do you feel heat from stares? If it doesn't make sense to you, that is because you are sane.

Before he knew it, the man had finished saying something. So distraught with that heat, he didn't listen to a word. He just stared blankly at the man as he continued towards his seat. What did he say? Why did he say it in the middle of class? Didn't he realize how disruptive that was? Was he talking to him? He was looking right at him. They all were looking right him. Oh for the grace of god, were they looking at him. He looked angry. They looked angry.

Abel was suffering, but he had learned to not cry out. All that did was make you look weak. If they thought you were weak, you wouldn't be useful. If you weren't useful anymore, they got rid of you.

He just turned away like it was nothing at all, and focused on getting to his seat. Each step was like walking through the mud of a thick, sweltering swamp. All he had to do was make it to that seat. Keep it together. The stoic glare on his face did not betray the internal conflict of his fragile psyche, but he knew that there was no way he'd make it to that seat.

Just as he had reached his limit, he felt the swift blade of an angel of mercy. Stricken down in the midst of his suffering, he was set free. His body went limp, but instead of falling, he was pulled into a the sweat embrace of her heavenly bosom. He gasped for air, awed by her presence. He listened to divine blessings of this angel as she carried his fallen body out of the room. For her it was nothing, but for him he was being carried out of hell.

Then, he was released. He fell from heaven, and came back down to the earth. The delusion was over.

"That's fifty laps around the school for you two!" A divine mandate, handed down from the sweet angel.

No, it wasn't that. Keep. He had to remind himself. It. No such thing as angels. Together.

When she had released him, he had fallen to the ground and face planted where she had dropped him. As air returned to him, he struggled to review his memories. Trying his best to sort out what had really happened and what were just the delirious dreams that come along when descending into a state of mental psychosis.

He remained where he lay, and reached into his pocket. Angel or not, she was mad about something or other. He didn't bother questioning it. Chances are, he probably deserved it. He remembered that attack. Even if he hadn't been using Level Downer to temporary reduce his level to 1, he probably wouldn't have been able to detect her with his ability. She was too good. He wasn't in the right state of might for combat. It didn't matter. It was already over.

She wanted him to run laps. He could probably do it easily. He didn't want to. He pulled out a crumpled up paper and held it up behind him, towards the angel.

"...Feeling sick..." was all he said in response to her order. The paper was a doctor's note, excusing him from P.E. and physical activity. God only knows what series of symptoms he played up to get the note, but it was real and official. The question was, would she care?

She read the notes and was tempted to crumple it up again into her fist but held back while giving him the look of mixed sympathy and curious doubt. Abel looked sickly enough to warrant a permanent sick leave but he'll get what's coming for him today she thought. Yet that thought was short lived when the tiny Komoe sensei jumped in between them blocking Yomikawa sensei.

"Now now Yomikawa sensei~! The class is about to start I think you should go back to your own classroom!" A wry smile reflected on the child sensei as she convinced her colleague.



To Abel and Trystan's relief, Yomikawa grudgingly obliged and went back to her class without further problems...

===============================

1 hour into the lecture.

"Recurrent Spontaneous PsychoKinesis Syndrome or more easily pronounced RSPK Syndrome is a term used to refer a condition that affects Espers, wherein an Esper loses control over themselves, causing a subconscious and uncontrollable outburst of power."

Komoe's explanation always involved cute drawings and over exaggerated movements to try and paint her lectures for the students to understand easily. True enough, it worked wonders as it was difficult not to get a good laugh when Komoe sensei waved her arms into the air to personify the effects of a great explosion when she explained the outburst of power. Few students chuckled and laughed at the cuteness factor of over 9000 as she continued with her lecture.

"Because RSPK Syndrome occurs when espers cannot perceive reality properly due to mental stress or trauma, this is due to the fact that Espers had their brains intentionally damaged and re-wired in order to attain a Personal Reality. Power Curriculum Program rewires the "circuits" of the student and makes them different from normal people so that if they become traumatized or incredibly stressed, they may lose control of themselves and are then unable to view their personal reality properly, which would lead to the RSPK Syndrome, which in turn, if two Espers have the same AIM dispersion, would resonate and cause a destructive earthquake-like phenomenon."

"Divine Punishment!"

Trystan balked as a loud something crashed into the back of his head. The force was enough to leave him stunned, and he could feel his eyes tearing up from the pain. Just what had he been hit with? He turned around only to find the fabled devil teacher of legend Yomikawa-sama herself standing behind the two of them, a paper fan in hand. He was shocked that the teacher had managed to catch him off-guard like this, but even more shocked that a paper fan could hold this kind of whomp!

"What's with your glaring and you with your outbursts! the least you can do is tell Komoe sensei how sorry you are!"

He admitted that perhaps his outburst might have been inappropriate...BUT THE MAN WAS OBVIOUSLY A TERRORIST! He had to let them know before it was too late! Perhaps Komikawa sensei would listen to reason and use her obviously formidable harisen-jutsu to help him subdue this miscreant! Yes, that's what he would do! As he prepared to

"That's fifty laps around the school for you two!"

F-Fifty? That certainly was a lot of laps but more importantly...THE TERRORIST WOULD GO FREE!

Or was this a hidden consent for him to take this terrorist out while behind the school buildings somewhere out of sight? Deciding that this was the case, Trystan nodded his acknowledgement of the 'punishment', his classmates' pleas for the devilish teacher to spare the two of them her wrath completely ignored. However, before he could grab onto the terrorist's arm to drag him outside to his untimely demise, their kind teacher, Komoe sensei, who he had the utmost respect for, moved in to intervene on their behalves.

"Now now Yomikawa sensei~! The class is about to start I think you should go back to your own classroom!"

Despite this act of kindness, Trystan clucked in annoyance at having lost the chance to dispose of the danger to the school. However, this clucking only served to irritate his fellow classmates, who had gotten the impression that Trystan was actually clucking his tongue at Komoe sensei. Luckily for him, as it was only a small noise, the effective area of the glare-of-you-made-her-cry was only from the few classmates around him.

---

One hour into the lecture, Trystan was taking notes on RPKS Syndrome...

Or was it RKPS Syndrome...?

He scratched his head, before squinting at the chalkboard and correcting the numerous abbreviation mistakes he had made just now.

R..S...P...K!

He turned to glare at the terrorist.

This one's got his eyes on you, you scoundrel...!

Abel knew the angel would want to punish him, even with the note. He expected she'd have to find another way to do it, though. However, instead it seemed that she was forced to back down by another.

With just a few words, the small figure had managed to subdue the angel. Surely, this creature must have been some kind of devil with immense powers both wicked and unkind.

Keep it together. He had to keep telling himself. The delusions were going to a weird place.

He slowly dragged his hand up and let it drop to the floor. He eventually managed to push himself up off the ground and followed his teacher (whom was not a devil) back to class. All the while, he was blissfully unaware of the secret agreement his classmate and the other teacher may or may not have had.

He wasn't quite sure what had happened. It had happened so fast, but somehow this other student got caught up in his punishment. Feeling a bit sorry Abel wondered if he should apologize. He lost his window of opportunity to do so, as soon as they reached class. The lecture seemed to being right away, and it felt like an environment that you couldn't speak out in.

Finally able to take his seat, that's exactly what he did. He sat in class, slouching slightly. His hands did not move. He neither took notes, nor fidgeted. He had a blank look on his face that didn't react to any of the cuteness or entertainment the teacher worked so hard to work into her lesson, but at the same time his eyes didn't wander out the window or to the classmate glaring at him.

Aside from that one glaring at him, most seemed to be done with him. Of course, a few were probably still ticked off at him, but sitting in the back let him slip out of sight and out of mind for most. A lot of them were pretty focused on Komoe's lesson anyway. However, there was that one still. That one who had been caught up in the angel's judgement. He really was mad. He really should have apologized.

Abel tried his best to keep his concentration on the lesson, but he could still feel those eyes on him. The anxiety began to build up inside him, though his stoic gaze did not betray these thoughts. His gaze did not leave the teacher for an instant. He didn't even blink. However, the internal conflict was so intense, that he could not focus on the lesson at all. He heard the words, but he did not listen to them. The blank stare was just that. Blank.

Oh well. It didn't matter much anyway. It was just one lesson. He had already missed many days, because of his various conditions. What was one more? Whatever it was, the lesson probably had nothing to do with him personally. Probably. Seriously, what was the worst that could happen?

It's not like paying attention to this lesson would save his life someday.