And thus, Yuuki finally coughed up the truth, or rather, thought that Rio deserved to know. Besties should know everything about one another, both the good and the bad.
Yuuki’s words appeared to have caught Rio completely off guard, as her grip abruptly loosened. “What do you mean?”
“Yui, well, she’s... the seatmate killer.” Yuuki revealed as he got back up to his feet.
Rio furrowed her brow. “The seatmate killer?”
“I think the bento is part of her scheme.”
It was easy to forget sometimes that Yui was, indeed, the dreaded seatmate killer. A gifted actress and natural-born liar, she’d do anything in pursuit of her goals. After capturing her victim’s affection, she’d seemingly lose all interest.
In the past few days her true colors had started to show around Rio as well.
“She’s toying with me too, in other words.”
“N-No. You’re lying.” She said as doubt clouded her eyes. Rio held her head, blinking rapidly. “Wait, wait. I need to process this.” Knowing Rio, her brain must’ve been processing at a formidable pace. Slowly but surely her face painted over with anger. “So that’s why she... she suddenly got all friendly the second we became seatmates!” She finally clutched her head.
Harsh, yes, but necessary for those two to become true besties.
“Even now she’s following some dumb guy around! She made him a bento, a bento for crying out loud!”
“Was the subtle jab really necessary? I’m telling you, she’s the seatmate killer. It’s all a game to her.”
“The seatmate killer... all a game. Y-Y-Yuiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!” Rio gazed up at the sky, her eyes shooting open as she screamed Yui’s name at the top of her lungs. She then rose vigorously to her feet. “It was all a lie, all of it! Her smile, everything! She tricked me! She toyed with me! Curse you, seatmate killer!” Rio clenched her fists, shaking.
Yuuki thought she’d be a little more skeptical but Rio, surprisingly enough, took it at face value. Perhaps she had her suspicions as well.
Rio looked like she was about to put someone six feet under, so Yuuki tried calming her.
“Rio.”
“What? You want some too?” Rio went into “seatmate break your spine” stance.
I should explain everything from the start, to avoid any more weird misunderstandings.
“Sorry, I misspoke. Yui’s actually possessed by the seatmate killer demon.”
“Eh?”
“It’s some deep-seated trauma that’s making her act this way, that twisted her mind. The real Yui is a reasonably good person... probably, hopefully.”
“That means Yui... is not toying with her seatmates by choice?”
“Exactly. It’s the demon’s influence.”
Rio crossed her arms, putting a broody face on. “Hmm, I see. So if we exercise this demon my Yui’ll come back?”
Yuuki didn’t actually know as he had never seen the original Yui himself. It wasn’t going to be ’her’ Yui either way but he chose to keep that to himself.
“I’d imagine so, yeah.”
“And knowing this you…”
“Will watch over her from a distance, biding my time.”
“You’re trying to perform an exorcism alone, in other words? Aah, so you’re a priest, then?”
Priest? Yuuki tilted his head.
Rio abruptly took his hand into hers. “I wish to, nay, allow me to join you in your quest of defeating Lyucifer, priest Yuuki.” She said with a shimmer in her eye.
Guess I’m a priest now.
Yuuki retrieved his hand without saying a word, feeling a bit weirded out.
Rio, awfully enthusiastic all of the sudden, continued anyway. “So, what do we do?”
“We don’t really do anything. We simply watch over her, you see.”
“That’s it? Can’t we speed up the process somehow?”
“If only it was that simple.”
“Ok, tell me, what is the seatmate killer’s current plan of attack?”
Yuuki tilted his head, surprised by the abrupt question. I could go all day but if I had to pick one...
“We’re competing in the upcoming midterms. The loser has to give a yes ticket to the winner.”
“A yes ticket. I see, that’s how she’s trying to ensnare you. How very seatmate killer-y.” She said as though she was a seatmate killer expert. Rio knitted her brow, letting her gaze wander. “We can use this to our advantage. If you win, you can use your yes ticket to reform Lyucifer.”
“I don’t know. What if she’s like ‘here, have a nice concert!’”
“What?”
Why does she have to take everything I say with a straight face?
“I don’t think that’ll work.”
“Ok, how about this then: first you win by a landslide, then you take that yes ticket and rip it up right in front of her face. That ought to inflict significant emotional damage, even to the seatmate killer.”
That does sound rather traumatizing.
Whether or not it’d exorcise the demon was to be seen. What was clear, however, is that Rio knew exactly how to get under people’s skin. That said, Yuuki didn’t want to go too far as Yui seemed a tad... unstable as of late.
“Hmm, don’t know about that one either. We’re still working under the assumption that I win.”
“That’s why I’ll compile notes of ‘things that’ll be on the midterms guaranteed to net you easy points’ just for you.”
Yes ticket aside, this turned out to be an unexpected stroke of luck as Yuuki was just starting to feel the pressure from the midterms mount. Yui challenges me then goes and calls a friend. It was never a fair competition to begin with.
Like a drowning man to a rescue buoy, Yuuki decided to go along.
“Sounds good.”
“Maybe I should hand her ‘no way these would ever be on the midterms, moron’ style notes?”
“Dirty.”
“It’s for her own good. Nothing to be ashamed of.”
“But it’s a competition, our notes have to be the same. Won’t inflict much damage if she starts complaining.”
“You’re right. A priest of your caliber really knows his stuff.”
“Can you not?”
Yuuki wondered if she was even listening as Rio nodded on in admiration, bringing her face closer, somewhat excitedly. “So, how are your studies coming along? Think you can do it?”
“Ehhh, not too great.”
“Why?”
“Let’s just say my studying environment is... not ideal.”
Yuuki couldn’t focus at school because of, well, obvious reasons. At home there was Mina, who’d often interrupt him. There was also the fact that his father, who came back home last holiday, dragged him out to a shinto shrine.
“Study somewhere else then: the library, or study hall.”
“Yes but I also need to keep an eye on my little sister, make sure she’s studying.”
Yuuki also felt a little paranoid leaving her alone at home all day. Even if he did, she’d probably pester him with questions like “When are you coming home? Why aren’t you home? Do you hate me?”
“Alright, guess I’ll just need to handle her and let you study in peace.”
“Eh?”
You only say that because you have no idea who you’re up against. Seeing the determination in her face, Yuuki felt a little, no, he felt nothing but concern.