Awakening: Starting With The Villain System-Chapter 62 - 61: Chloe (1)

"Ye—" I was about to answer the girl, a simple 'yes' ready on my lips.

Her offer was a lifeline thrown to a drowning man.

But a sharp, instinctual warning flashed in the back of my mind, telling me to look at Yara. So I did.

The shift was immediate and chilling. Yara, who had been a simmering pot of annoyance and anger directed solely at me just seconds ago, was now staring at the blonde girl.

And her face became even more worse. The tight-lipped frustration she'd shown me was nothing compared to the cold, hard mask that settled over her features now.

It was more than anger; it was a deep, profound distaste, a look you might give something unpleasant you'd stepped in.

The girl, sensing the change in atmosphere, averted her gaze from me to Yara.

Her warm brown eyes widened in recognition, and then, bizarrely, her smile came back even more brilliant than before.

It was like she'd found the one person she'd been hoping to see.

"Ah, Yara! You are here?!" she said, her voice bubbling with a joy that felt completely out of place.

She sounded like she had seen her best friend again after years of separation, her tone dripping with genuine, unforced happiness.

Yara, on the other hand, didn't reply. She didn't move.

She just sat still, a statue of ice, her eyes fixed on the girl with an intensity that could have frozen fire.

"I am sorry, I have been so busy all along, I didn't have time to see you. I am so happy to see you now again!" The girl continued, completely undeterred by the arctic reception.

Again?

The word echoed in my head.

Does that mean they know each other? Really know each other?

The way this girl was acting suggested a history, a familiarity that Yara's reaction violently contradicted.

Yes, they surely do, I concluded. Who would use 'again' if they don't know each other?

This wasn't a random fan greeting a top student; this was someone who believed she had a personal connection.

She stepped forward and, in a gesture that made me inwardly wince, she reached out and took Yara's hand in both of hers, holding it in a friendly, almost sisterly clasp.

Yara's response was swift and unambiguous.

She removed her hand from the girl's grip as if she'd been burned, her movement sharp and dismissive.

She didn't shove her away, but the rejection was absolute.

But the girl didn't seem to mind at all. Her smile didn't even falter.

She just clasped her own hands together, nodding as if Yara's coldness was just an expected part of their dynamic.

She was clearly already used to Yara's behavior.

That, more than anything, was the strangest part.

This girl was a veteran of Yara's frostiness.

As I watched this bizarre interaction, a nagging feeling tugged at me.

Something about this girl seemed familiar to me, beyond just being a face in the classroom.

Her earnest demeanor, that persistent smile…

At that moment, I remembered.

I indeed knew her. She wasn't someone new to me at all.

She was someone I actually saw every single day. 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

She was the girl who sits at the front seat, the one who always, literally always greets Instructor Gari with a chirpy "Good morning, Instructor!" the moment he walks in.

At first, Instructor Gari, a man whose default setting was 'grumpy cynic,' would always answer her with a grunt or act even more cold to her than he did to everyone else.

He was a man who valued silence and efficiency above all else.

He was acting like that so she would give up, since he probably didn't like the disruption, the forced cheerfulness at eight in the morning.

But unfortunately for him, she didn't. She was a force of nature.

Day after day, same greeting, same bright smile, no matter how many times he ignored her or scowled at her.

So after a while, he seemed to have already gotten used to it.

He'd lost the battle. He quit trying to make her give up since she clearly never would.

So now, he just acts like his usual cold self to her, same as he does to everyone, but he's stopped actively resisting.

He'd been worn down by sheer, relentless positivity.

And this was that same girl. The one who could out-stare a grump like Gari.

And now she was here, turning her unstoppable sunny disposition on the human glacier that was Yara.

I found myself leaning back, a spectator to a showdown I hadn't known was happening.

This was more interesting than any history lesson.

But unfortunately I couldn't continue watching on a long run, because the girl soon turned her attention back to me, her bright eyes seemingly noticing my puzzled expression as I tried to piece together her connection to Yara.

She smiled in embarrassment, a faint blush coloring her cheeks.

It was a genuine, flustered reaction, so different from the calculated coldness I was used to dealing with.

"I am sorry, I was so happy I forgot about you," she said, her voice soft and apologetic.

She stretched her hand towards me, a friendly, open gesture.

"I am Chloe. Nice to meet you."

Her hand was warm. I shook it, my own grip automatic.

"Ryan," I simply said. No titles, no explanations. Just a name.

Her eyes widened slightly, as if I'd said something profoundly interesting.

"Ah, that's such a nice name, Ryan," she said, her smile returning in full force.

"Thanks," I replied, feeling a little off-balance. The direct, unfiltered positivity was disarming. "But frankly, yours is way better."

It was true. 'Chloe' suited her, light, friendly, uncomplicated.

Unlike a certain someone...

"Ah, don't flatter me, I don't believe that," Chloe said, waving a hand dismissively, but her smile never wavered.

She seemed utterly immune to both insults and compliments, existing in a state of persistent cheer.

And still again, unlike a certain someone.

Out of the corner of my eye, I looked at Yara.

She still looked indifferent, leaning against a desk with her arms crossed, staring at a point on the far wall.

But for me, who had been sitting with her for a while now, who had become an unwilling expert in the subtle language of her displeasure… I knew she was annoyed.

The tension in her shoulders was a fraction tighter, the line of her jaw was more defined. She was a bowstring pulled taut.

And the worst part was, it seemed to be for simply no reason.

Well, even 'no reason' is a reason actually, with someone like Yara.

Chloe's mere presence was apparently enough to set her off.

"I am sorry for eavesdropping and interrupting earlier," Chloe said, bringing her hands together in a gesture of contrition.

"It's fine," I said, then I glanced pointedly at Yara. "Isn't it?"

I couldn't resist poking the bear, seeing if I could get a reaction.

Yara, just as expected, didn't even spare me a glance.

She simply just took out her phone from her pocket and began playing with it, her thumbs tapping the screen with sharp, irritated motions.

The dismissal was absolute. But I was used to it anyways.

"Ah, you guys must be friends?" Chloe asked, her gaze flicking between Yara's phone-absorbed form and my own amused one.

The question hung in the air.

Friends?

The word felt alien applied to whatever Yara and I were.

But 'allies' felt more accurate, a business arrangement for mutual benefit.

"No, we are more than that," I replied, the words leaving my mouth before I could properly vet them.

It was a vague statement, designed to be provocative.

Well, we were never friends to begin with, but we are practically allies now.

That's what I meant. But the phrasing was dangerously ambiguous.

The reaction was instantaneous. Yara's face suddenly turned a bright, furious red.

She glared at me, her attention ripped away from her phone.

"Huh?!" she blurted out, her voice sharp with disbelief.

Chloe mirrored the sound a half-second later, her own

"Huh?!" more one of shocked curiosity.