What is this situation? It shouldn’t be possible.

As I entered the classroom I found myself in a situation that horrified me to my very core.

All the seats were already taken.

In our school there were no rules against changing seats. You were allowed to choose where you wanted to sit for the day. But even then the whole class had their seat picked, everyone would sit at their usual tables.

Today, my seat was taken by someone who didn’t even belong in our class.

As I look around my suspicion becomes reality, the only seat empty is the one next to Akane. It’s their doing, those three… I glance around where they usually sit and there they are looking down on me as they laugh and boast what incredible plan they came up with.

They should know this already, I’m not that easy to trap.

After all the agony I have been through, time for it to finally pay. I was saving this card to get out of a situation like this and I’ll finally be able to use it.

Attending school everyday has paid off, I can skip school today.

As I turn around to face the door I just walked in through, I feel something on my shoulder holding me back.

“Where do you think you are going?”

I look back to see what was grabbing me, it’s a hand, a woman’s hand. That grab strength was definitely manly, did they switch hands? More information enters my eyes, a sleeve of a checkered shirt is visible on her arms while her torso is covered by a waistcoat. Either she’s wearing a smaller waistcoat than what her size should be or it's a man’s waistcoat, the buttons are struggling to hold together. The more I move my head upwards the more I recognize this person. That face which can fool anyone to think it belongs to a 20 year old, those long black hairs with the front hair tied back and the back hair allowed freedom, and those oval lens of specs that are the only thing between me and her brownish-red eyes that have murderous intent as the main feature.

It’s our homeroom teacher, Saeka Kitagawa.

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“Think you can just skip school?”

“If I wanted to skip school I wouldn’t have come all the way here, but see I have no place to sit. It seems fate decided for me to skip school.”

“Don’t use fate as your shield. I can see it in your dead eyes, you just don't want to be here”

Don’t look at me with those dangerous eyes of yours, and my eyes aren’t dead - your’s are too alive.

“Where do you suppose I sit?”

“I see one empty seat right next to Sawatari-san. That should work fine for you.”

Is it my imagination or did the aura surrounding her get colder? I’m getting shivers deep within my spine. One thing is clear - this woman is dangerous.

“Sawatari-san, would you let this dead eyed punk sit on the seat next to you?”

“I don’t think you need to ask for my permission, Kitagawa-sensei. He can sit wherever he wants to.”

Stop talking about me like I’m a stray. If you don’t want me around you, say so. That smile you forced on your face is way too noticeable.

“I’ll find somewhere el-”

“Be grateful she is letting you sit around you.”

Before I could say anything I realized my head had already tilted down, my body reacted on its own in accordance with the hierarchy. Does that mean I too subconsciously considered Akane the queen.

Since I’ve already bowed my head I’ve also lost the right to say anything against the decision that was taken without even considering my will.

As I walk toward the indicated seat I can feel almost everyone staring at me, I understand why. That seat has always been empty. Even though Akane Sawatari is popular she doesn’t have many, if any, friends. I’ve always seen her alone in class, even during lunch you won’t find her anywhere as her place of choice for lunch is the locked rooftop. Akane probably talked to Kitagawa-Sensei to allow her to use the rooftop key.

Which means right now I am the alchemist who was forced to transmute a human. I’m gonna break a taboo that I was forced to break.

Looking at Akane is like being showered with ice shards which starts with lowering your body temperature, slowly, starting from the limbs. As each limb freezes, the skin dries, becoming stone, each ice shard now penetrates the cold dry skin, soon enough even the blood freezes. The whole body can feel the blood freezing, reaching the heart.

Those cold, uninviting eyes of her with that smile that would be seen as comforting and inviting, the smile that only I can tell is forced.

She is smiling but she is not happy.

Does she not want me to sit there that bad? She shouldn’t even know me, so why do I see hate on her face?

As I’m about to sit down I hear a cold, almost unrecognizable voice.

“Don’t get any ideas. I already have a boyfriend.”

“Everyone knows that. It’s only for today anyway, you don’t have to worry.”

Tomorrow everything will go back to normal. I just have to do this today, it’ll be fine. We both won’t speak to each other, not even look at each other. I’ll just tell those three idiots their plan failed, that I couldn’t tell Akane anything. I’ll convince them to give up.

As for Kitagawa-sensei, it’s possible those three talked to her to make sure I sit here, next to Akane today. But nothing will happen. Akane will make her choices and I have already made mine. I won’t get involved.

Just today, don’t look at her, don’t even think about her, endure today and from tomorrow I won’t have to see how much pain Akane is enduring. I’ll move forward with my life. I will forget about what I saw. Just ignore it for today.

I won’t get involved with her.

Today will end.

Tomorrow everything will be back to normal.