Chapter 104: Disgust & Despair
Eirin took a deep, steadying breath, pushing past the nausea, past the fear. Her voice, when it came, was clear, calm, and unwavering. "I said disgusting."
One of the girls, her face inflamed with rage, aimed to punch Eirin, her fist already drawing back. But Leila, her eyes fixed on Eirin, held her back with a firm grip. "We... disgust you? These people?" She pointed to herself and her companions, her voice laced with outrage.
Eirin shook her head, her gaze steady, meeting Leila’s challenge directly. "No, you don’t disgust me. Your mindset does," she said, her voice holding an unexpected steel. The truth, unvarnished, hung in the air. "If you think Shade’s a demon, then why are you obsessing over him?" The question was a logical trap, a mirror reflecting their own hypocrisy.
"Because he looks good! Duh!" one of them retorted, her voice dripping with obviousness, as if Eirin were truly dim-witted.
They should be thankful that the librarian was nowhere in sight, or else, they would have been kicked out by the sheer volume of noise they were making, their angry shouts echoing in the sacred quiet of the library.
Eirin shook her head again, holding back the torrent of her true thoughts, the sharp judgement that threatened to leak out through her mouth. Their superficiality, their blindness, was astounding.
"Are you saying that you don’t like Shade because he’s a demon?" Leila asked, her voice tight, a final attempt to pin Eirin into a corner of judgment.
Eirin sighed, a long, weary exhalation. She looked at Leila, then at the other girls, her expression softening, a hint of pity in her eyes. "No, I don’t like him because he’s rude. I don’t care if he’s a demon, or any of that sort. That’s not why I don’t like him. I don’t like him because he’s not nice to me. That’s it." Her words, brutally honest and devoid of romantic pretense, left the senior girls dumbfounded, their faces frozen in expression of utter shock.
"Can I go now?" Eirin asked.
The seniors were left astounded, their faces frozen in expressions of utter shock, rendered momentarily speechless by Eirin’s unexpected words. Her quiet sincerity, devoid of fear or fanaticism, had dismantled their constructed drama.
"If that is all," Eirin stated, her voice calm and clear, "then I’ll go now." She gave a slight, respectful bow, before turning and walking away, leaving the five senior girls gaping behind her, their power momentarily neutralized.
As soon as Eirin exited the grand, echoing hall of the library, she heaved a deep sigh, the breath escaping her lips in a rush. "That was scary," she muttered to herself, shaking her head as she walked back into the bustling hallway towards their classroom.