"𝖨 𝗁𝖺𝖽 𝗁𝗈𝗉𝖾𝖽 𝗍𝗁𝖺𝗍 𝖻𝗒 𝖻𝖾𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝖺𝗋𝗈𝗎𝗇𝖽 𝗁𝗂𝗆, 𝖨 𝖼𝗈𝗎𝗅𝖽 𝖺𝖽𝗈𝗉𝗍 𝗁𝗂𝗌 𝗆𝖺𝗇𝗇𝖾𝗋𝗂𝗌𝗆𝗌 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝖻𝖾 𝗂𝗇𝖿𝗅𝗎𝖾𝗇𝖼𝖾𝖽 𝖻𝗒 𝗁𝗂𝗆.
𝖳𝗁𝖺𝗍 𝖨 𝗍𝗈𝗈, 𝖼𝗈𝗎𝗅𝖽 𝖻𝖾 𝖼𝗈𝗇𝖿𝗂𝖽𝖾𝗇𝗍 𝗅𝗂𝗄𝖾 𝗁𝗂𝗆."

𝗚𝗥𝗢𝗨𝗣 𝗣𝗥𝗢𝗝𝗘𝗖𝗧 𝗔𝗦𝗦𝗜𝗚𝗡𝗘𝗗
─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──

"..."

Today, Kaiser was being.... surprisingly docile??

Or maybe not docile, but silent?

"......."

Yes, he was being surprising silent today. With his form hunched over the desk, his arms acting as a leverage for his head to be leaned on. Direction faced towards his right, he stared absentmindedly at the scenery beyond the double glazed glass window. This strange behaviour of his not going unnoticed by Maribel who had braced herself in advance for whatever bullshit he had prepared. But all her mental simulations were for nought as nothing noteworthy was even happening to begin with.

The more she pondered over it, his usual exasperating nature had been long absent since their trip to the convenience store. Maribel at first had been grateful for the sudden silence, especially after a long day of school and the betrayal she had undergone yesterday when Lionie had told her club was cancelled on the day of the incident. But now—

Now it was becoming slightly unsettling.

It's like, he has something up his sleeve! Or maybe Maribel was just watching too many conspiracy theories and was now becoming influenced by them. Sigh. But this situation was quite familiar. It was the whole 'calm before the storm' kind of thing all over again. Maribel's gaze followed Kaiser who seemed to be lost in serenity and her baseless thoughts came to a gentle pause.

He was so visibly preoccupied and unusually tight-lipped that even the unobservant Maribel could notice.

"..."

Ah— the silence wasn't really all that bad. It wasn't completely unappreciated. A german lesson devoid of Kaiser's typically condescending remarks was quite nice (and peaceful) for a change, but again, it still didn't feel quite right.

The headache that had formed from her prior rumination became prominent, and with the lack of sleep from her contemplation over the similar looking handkerchief yesterday night, it was only natural that the side effects would soon catch up and avariciously absorb her vigour.

And plus, this was the same bastard that had stolen her drawing and wrongfully claimed it as his; the same guy that had humiliated her in front of the theatre club; the one that had humiliated her on numerous occasions in her german class which led to her being told off. But he also gave me sweets and crisps as well...! But he still fooled me with those sweets!! And he said I smell like curry! Now that last part was Maribel's delusions. In fact, she had brought it up herself.

Mirroring Kaiser's slouched position, Maribel too laid her head on her folded arms. Fatigue seized at her body as her eye-lids grew heavier with each passing moment. It was a shame though.

It's not like Maribel could lower her guard and fall deep into slumber in a room filled with strangers anyway.

Maybe it was the lack of sleep getting to her, but she could then suddenly feel the ghost of a lingering hand in her blazer pocket. And on instinct, her posture grew slightly rigid as a chill ran up her spine. But in her lethargic state, she had brushed it off as some sort of hallucination that came with her current condition. 

"..."

OMG WHAT IF THAT WAS A SPIDER??!

"Maribel! let's play noughts and crosses." Aditi, one of Maribel's close friend and her geography partner whispered, elation hanging in her tone as she beamed cheekily.

"Sure~," Maribel went to pull out a piece of random scrap paper that was usually stored in her pocket for events like this whilst Aditi waited patiently beside her, twirling her favourite pen as she chewed on her seemingly unlimited supply of gum.

"Hmm," weird. Her fingers met with the same crinkled edge of a sweet wrapper and a piece of folded paper. She recalled having this piece of paper before, the one with the required measurements, but she was sure she had given it to Kaiser a few days ago. Maribel flipped it around, examining each crevice and as she opened it, clearly unable to restrict her curiosity, her inquiry had only been appeased with further confusion.

??? Since when did I have this?

Blinking hard with hopes to recollect the memory of when she received this, her sigh of irritation had captured the attention of the taller girl beside her.

"..Ma-ri-bel!" She drawled out each syllable lightheartedly with a slight whine, "hu-rryyy uppp!"

"Shush, you're stressing me out." Maribel complained, pushing her puzzlement out of her mind. Right now she needed all her brain capacity to even tie against the noughts and crosses master, Aditi, who seemed to always trick Maribel with the same damn trick each round.

I could've sworn I gave this sweet to that brat yesterday... how come I have another one in my pocket??

"...Maribel?" Aditi called out hesitantly, whatever trace of tentativeness that adorned her tone increasing tenfold when maribel curiously looked up in query. "Are you by chance, umm— close to Kaiser..?"

"Hah?" The girl in question blinked, clearly repulsed at Aditi for even amusing such thought.

Anyway, Thursday had grown old, and Friday had been born.

Maribel had gotten more sleep despite her previous confusion of the sudden reappearance of the measurement sheet she gave to Kaiser (in ch. nine). In short, she was too tired to further dwell on this stupid matter. However, now that science period with their joke of a teacher had come to its end, it was time for german lessons again.

Though at first the remembrance of this lesson had dampened her mood, it had quickly dissipated when the thought of having her curiosity satisfied by Kaiser had surfaced. That and also Kaiser's strange but very welcomed behaviour had been exposed. He was much more tolerable now. that was a given though. Since he now no longer opened his mouth to spout any more of the bullshit he usually did.

Whilst taking her usual seat close by the window, Maribel mulled over how to start a casual conversation on this topic. She couldn't appear too intrusive, because then Kaiser would ask her if she had fun stalking him. Something she wanted to absolutely avoid at all cost. But if she spoke too casually or too formally, he'd probably disregard her whole existence which her pride wouldn't allow to let slide.

Maribel might insult him as an automatic response and get in trouble again by their teacher for speaking too much which would only humiliate her even more. Either way, things would only end in my loss.

sigh.

But luckily, grace had been blessed by her side, and Kaiser had made the first move. All that thinking for nothing.

"So," he started off, tone slightly wavering since he didn't exactly know how to act after being so quiet previously. Maribel only hummed in reply as she wrote the date down in her book, eliciting him to continue expressing his thoughts. With her relaxed nature, he too had unwinded his stiff posture and with slight humour to his tone, he questioned, "has your slow ass even began on the costumes yet?"

"..." oh, so this is what it was about. A major part of her wanted to retaliate for being insulted, but the minor part wanted to tease him. And I suppose I am quite slow...?

"But how?" Somebody please give Maribel an oscar award for her theatrics skills because she just put the entirety of the whole theatre club to shame. The precision of perplexity wavering in her sepia eyes had even Kaiser questioning whether he actually did put the paper in her pocket yesterday or not. But even if Maribel had a little amount of luck, it was zilch when compared to Kaiser, 'God's chosen emperor'.

"Huh?"

"I don't even have the measurements, so how—"

"Maribel! It's only the beginning of the lesson and yet you've started again! the both of you! Stay behind after class!" Miss Bertha's scream echoed eerily in the background.

I didn't even do anything though! Maribel bit her lip to express her annoyance at the unjust treatment just shown by their teacher. She defo has a crush on Kaiser. with a nod in self-confirmation, her bizarre theories were unpaused and ran on full throttle.

After what felt like an eternity, the class had finally come to its end. Maribel's stomach churned as she watched all her fellow classmates, excluding Kaiser, pack their bags. The screeching of their chairs unsettling her to the very core and acting as a reminder of the lecture that was yet to come by bitchy bertha. It really didn't help much that right after this they had recreation, ughh. I'm missing my break because of this woman.

Once the students had all filtered out in groups, leaving behind Bertha and the two culpable students, the atmosphere of the room had become unbearably heavy and tense. Maribel clenched her fist, all she had to do was clear out her name, prove her innocence and just leave this damn suffocati—

"Maribel!"

Oh and there she fuking goes again.

Kaiser, who's name has yet to be announced, meticulously observed both Maribel's expression and mannerisms beside her. His gaze thoroughly followed as her jaw became taut, her teeth gritting involuntarily at the action. And whilst her face seemed blank and devoid of any emotions, he could clearly make out the slight quiver in her iris. The gulps she'd take every once in a while to perhaps moisten the desiccation of her mouth.

"First, you enter my class late." The strictest of Bertha only coming when she spoke to Maribel and a few other problem kids, Maribel herself not being classified within aforementioned category but rather in the minority race. "Then you decide to chat in my lesson. not only are you wasting your time, but you're wasting Kaiser's precious learning time, the whole class and I's precious time that we will never get back."

Each of her blows were accusatory, harsh and lacking any consideration for the possible consequences of it. Kaiser chewed on his tongue. Was this guilt? After witnessing her shaky sigh that went completely unnoticed by their teacher, who was preoccupied in her futile lecture, Kaiser could no longer stand still and just— scrutinise her evidently hurt expressions.

"Maribel! Are you even listening to me right now? You're not even making eye contact as we speak, do you know how rude that is?" Bertha's voice was grating. Patronising. Borderline belittling. "There's a certain level of arrogance I feel around you just because you may have scored a high grade once, I don't want you selfishly distracting others from now on."

Kaiser cursed himself, inwardly shaking his head at the sudden displeasure coursing through his veins. But even his attempts were rendered futile. Because despite his upmost effort in disregarding Maribel's countenance, his gaze had instinctively moved to her hands that were resting by her thighs. The familiar fidgeting, where Maribel scratched at her thumb's nail bed, had become prominent in his line of sight.

"I'm sorry miss.." Maribel's voice was low, contrary to the usual way her tone would rise in a slight pitch when she spoke about the stories she enjoyed. The very same stories Kaiser enjoyed listening to when narrated by her. this time, her voice was much more scratchy, as if brambles and nettles had been wrapped around her vocal cords which would explain the quietness it possessed. Was she gonna cr—

"Well sorry doesn't cut it! How many times have you given me those empty apologies? Hmm?!"

Balancing himself on his other foot, he sighed loud enough to catch the attention of bertha who had seemingly forgotten about him. Blowing air into his cheeks in boredom, he scowled to express his distaste at their teacher's nagging. "You finished yet?"

"...."

"...."

Silence greeted him by Bertha who was obviously dumbfounded at the sudden turn of events and Maribel who had her head inclined in penitence.

"K—Kaiser!" She screamed in disbelief, and when realising her sudden increase in tone when speaking to Kaiser, she coughed into her fist to dissipate the bad air before 'correcting' herself. "..The both of you,"

Kaiser had to hold back to urge to roll his eyes unimpressed at the lady's prissy behaviour, and another pang of guilt weighed down on him when he noticed the dullness passing by Maribel's burnt umber hues. As if she had expected bertha to solely point the blame on her. "One day you're acting like gossiping aunties,"

Upon hearing her start, Kaiser didn't miss the way Maribel froze at the random analogy, her eyes blinking hard in befuddlement as she bit her lips to, hold back her laughter? A weight had been lifted off when he saw a slight glint of humour twinkling in her previously dull eyes.

"And the next you're acting like bickering children! I just— I can't even— words cannot even begin to describe my incomprehension right now!" Bertha fisted her hair as if insanity had been engrossing the crevices of her mind.

"..."

"Maybe I should just move you two apart.." Bertha spoke lowly to herself, and Kaiser involuntarily reeled back at her words.

Processing each of her syllables carefully and confirming that those were her exact words, a sudden qualm of desperation possessed him. The usual nonchalance of his brows were gone, now knitted in a frown of aggravation as he spouted out words in last resort. "Yeah, she never fails to piss me off all the time."

"..." Maribel gaped at his words, expressively dumbfounded at his damn audacity, since when the hell did i piss him off??! "No miss! he's the one that—!"

Before she could even finish defending herself, Bertha exhaled like the boogeyman in a child's closet, releasing a stank breath as she held her temple to soothe the ache that was forming from the two arguing. "Enough! Do you two still fail to understand!?"

Quickly dismissing her words, Kaiser turned to Maribel and blew raspberries at her like some damn shitty brat. What???? Maribel turned to him, incredulity evident in her shaking pupils as bertha dragged her hand across her face. "Miss?! How can you let thi—"

"That's it! The both of you!" She yelled for nth time, using whatever fervour was left over from how drained she was after only speaking with the two to obtain their equally elusive attention. "I've completely had it!"

At her sudden exclamation, Kaiser gulped in anticipation. The rate of his heart spiking with great expectancy. Is she gonna finally—

"I was originally going to move you two away from each other! But after further consideration, the two of you will sit next to each other for the rest of this academic year until you learn to get along!"

"But miss—!" Maribel pleaded out in desperation which had knocked Kaiser off the shelf. Does she not want to sit next to me?

"Maribel! I wanted to be nice and just leave at that, but with your persistent attitude, I'm now assigning you both to be partners in the upcoming group project that you will get finished in a month's time!" She huffed out, pinching her nose in annoyance.

"Only a month..?" Maribel's face turned a comical blue, perfectly matching the hues of Kaiser's dyed hair, whilst the other inwardly sighed in relief. Sure one month seemed quite long for a project, but this was a group project. And group projects were always, well, a hassle.

"Is there an issue with that?!" Maribel was quick to shake her head repeatedly as she muttered a quick 'no' under her breath.

"Good, the topic can be about any form of German National Importancw and you will present it in front of the whole class after christmas break. Have I made myself clear?"

Maribel had nodded dejectedly whilst kaiser expressed his agitation by tapping his foot in impatience.

a/n: blud has somewhere to be.

"Then you can both leave."

At her permission, you would typically expect Kaiser to rush out of the room and get to where he needs to be, however Maribel had took that position. Rushing out of the room with her belongings to meet up with friends, that she was 100% sure, abandoned her after waiting for eons. Kaiser on the other hand, had walked much slower, contradicting his prior haste and by the time he reached the door he looked over to the seemingly stressed teacher.

"In this class filled with idiots," he began, mulling over which words to say to be more impactful, "without a doubt she's the smartest."

"Huh?" Bertha seemed perplexed, she could've sworn he hated Maribel, but now he was acknowledging her? "Kaiser..? You can't just call your classmates id-"

"With that in mind, don't think for a second it was because of you she's intelligent. The others in this class don't stand a