Chapter 96: Stuck With Kiara

He said and Decla’s brow twitched.

"There’s a group that does that. Kinda like a special justice group that keeps an eye on the most creepy, annoying-ass dudes, and you just happened to be listed there."

Eloris said this while stuffing down another bowl, causing Declan to raise an eyebrow.

There’s such a thing?

"You know, you even broke a record. You were added to the hateful list in less than twelve hours after your arrival in the second year."

"I can’t wait until you anger some more people and the big sharks in the group place you on the Cripple List."

"They’ll waste your sorry ass," Eloris said with a wicked cackle, and Declan hummed as he looked to the side, toward the far left.

"So that’s why I’ve been feeling like some people are watching me, huh?" he mused, noticing a dude who had initially been looking at him quickly turn his gaze away.

He had noticed people watching him earlier that morning while walking along the road, and that feeling had intensified during Source Optimization class and on his way to the cafeteria.

But he had shrugged it off as just another eye charmed by his divine, heavenly handsomeness.

Who would’ve guessed it was some creepy dudes monitoring his actions and posting information about him in secret groups?

"What? Finally scared now?" Eloris asked, and Declan turned toward him with a raised eyebrow.

"You know, if you made a video of yourself kneeling and kowtowing while showing how much you regret your wayward actions to the second years..."

"They might just pity your ass enough to remove it from the wicked list," he said, smirking evilly, but his smirk paused when Declan asked:

"Are you all gay in the group too?"

"What?"

"All of you are my haters who hate me because I either kick you too hard in the head or something similar, and you all would let that slide because of some apology letter?"

"Sounds like some gay shit to me."

Declan said, his brows rising in disgust as Eloris’s brows quivered in disbelief.

"You bastard. You really won’t calm down until you’re one foot in the grave, huh?"

"Just keep being wayward, you hear? I’m sure you’ll join the other morons like you in the wasteland soon,"

He said as Declan took the last spoonful from his bowl and adjusted his belt because of his bulging stomach.

"I’m not wayward. Y’all just can’t stand someone being better than you, so y’all get mad."

’Fine by me, though. After all, you’re all just EXP for me to level up.’

He completed the thought as he picked up his bowl, walked away from the table, dropped the plate off, and left the cafeteria.

Eloris watched all of this with quivering eyebrows.

He had expected Declan to show at least some fear after hearing that he was being monitored by some unknown group in the shadows, yet...

But then he scoffed.

"Cocky bastard. You’ll be getting humbled soon."

______________

Class was done for the day, the things he needed had been bought, and his stomach was full.

When Declan landed on his sofa, he felt quite satisfied.

Though the day had been hectic, at least he had gotten things done well enough.

Coming into the second year three months late should have caused him far more headaches, but he had at least been able to gather all the notes he needed.

Unfortunately, he wouldn’t be able to go through them tonight.

The time was already 1:45, and class would begin in less than six hours.

He wanted to get some rest for the next day of classes.

Maybe on a day when he had only one or two subjects, he could go through the notes, or better yet, he could do it on the weekend when there would be no classes at all.

Grabbing his device, he quickly set the alarm before lying down, and soon, a soft snore was the only sound to be heard in the dim room.

_______________

Five days later...

Just as Declan had feared, he hadn’t gotten a single night to study his notes until today, Saturday.

He knew there were no classes the previous night, so he allowed himself to keep snoring until the sun was well above the horizon.

Only then did he yawn like a well-fed cat, quickly getting himself dressed before bouncing out of his room.

For five days now, he had been stuck in the same home-to-class, cafeteria, back-to-home cycle, and today, he had decided it was time to break away from the annoying routine.

First, he would go to the cafeteria, and secondly, he would take a little walk around the second-year area and visit somewhere he had never been before.

Then he could return and quickly review the notes he had gathered over the past few days.

He had gotten the notes for every topic, so all he needed to do was read them, and that was exactly what he intended to do today and tomorrow.

However, he had only just shut his door and taken a step toward the elevator when he found the muscular giant of a woman standing directly in front of him.

"Uh, Kiara?"

It was her.

A tomboy dressed in a fiery red hoodie with matching trousers, lazily reclining against the railing directly opposite his door.

She rose upright the moment she saw him step out, her crimson eyes locking precisely onto his blue ones.

"You’re finally out..." she said, making it clear that she had been waiting specifically for him, and a chill ran down Declan’s spine.

Just what did a headache like her want from him on such a good day?

"Uh? And why are you here?"

He asked, unconsciously swiping his card toward the scanner in an attempt to slip back into his room, but before he could even reach it, she grabbed his shoulder and dragged him forward.

"Why are you trying to run, lecherous hypocrite?" She said as Declan exhaled tiredly.

’Just why? It ought to be a peaceful morning.’

He was soon dragged into the elevator, watching as she tapped the buttons.

"And where are you dragging me to again? You know, it would be a great coincidence if it just happened to be the cafeteria."

He asked as she took her finger off the button and the elevator doors gently closed.

"The cafeteria?" Kiara asked with a raised eyebrow before a glint crossed her eyes.

"Don’t tell me you’re a foodie."

"No, I’m not."

"Good. You don’t need food so early if you’re not one," she said, causing his brows to quiver.

’And there goes my cafeteria plan.’

DIIIIING!

The elevator opened not long after, and she stepped out with Declan following behind.

There were a lot of students moving around in the main hall, something that was especially rare during weekdays, and they eventually found their way through the crowds before arriving at the entrance of the second-year dorm building.

"You can fight, right?" she asked all of a sudden, causing his brows to furrow at the bizarre question.

"Uh, actually, I’m a Mech Institute student, so..."

"You? Joining the Mech Institute?" she asked, her brows furrowing in disbelief.

"I actually did, for real, though," Declan replied, noticing her disbelief.

"That’s dumb," she said, and his eyes dimmed.

"You’re a good fighter. Core Defense is your clear suit, or are you secretly hiding a nerdy underside of yours?" she said, her nose wiggling as he rolled his eyes.

"I just like Mech more than... causing trouble," he said, causing her to erupt into loud laughter.

"You’re the notorious Newcomer troublemaker, you lecherous liar," she claimed, and he sighed.

"Can you stop calling me lecherous?"

"Why not? It’s what you are, remember?" she said with a huff.

"I’m not lecherous, and that was a mistake. Besides, Evie isn’t my girlfriend. She’s just a friend,"

He added, causing her to hum in disbelief.

"Whatever. You already broke Lyx’s heart, and I’ll be making sure you don’t slide out of that so easily,"

She said, grabbing his shoulder and resuming her dragging.

Declan could only sigh.

While he could easily free himself from her grasp if he wanted to, she was strong, though not stronger than him.

He simply couldn’t bring himself to do it because of the guilt he felt.

The story was simple:

There was a girl called Lyx. She was a really cute and beautiful girl who had somehow fallen in love with Declan.

It had been one of those cases of love at first sight.

Declan had noticed her lurking around like a fly, never really daring to come too close, yet somehow always appearing in whatever corner he happened to look toward.

He eventually learned that she was too shy to muster the courage to ask him out, but someone had helped her overcome her fear.

That person was Kiara, who had motivated the girl to gather her courage and approach him.

However, when Lyx finally met Declan and blurted out her proposal, he had erupted into laughter because of her stammering and how red her face had become, and that had sent her running away in tears before he could even give her a reply.

Now he was dealing with a headache named Kiara, whom the girl had gone ahead and cried to, and she had promised to make his life as hellish as she could.

Ever since then, he had been trying to evade Kiara, unable to face her because of his guilt, but he just had to be cursed enough to become her neighbor in the second year!

As for why she called him lecherous... that was something he didn’t want to recount and would rather keep secret between himself and Kiara.