It’s been days since Sheena and I quarreled. We didn’t fix the problem so even if we saw each other at the school, we couldn’t bring ourselves to talk again like usual.

Right now, I am walking towards the cafeteria to buy my usual chocolate roll bread for lunch when I saw Sheena walking together with Ralph.

“What the… Don’t tell me…”

I followed them as they walk towards the roof top. There, I saw them having a conversation very happily while eating. Suddenly, the pearl on my cross emitted a violet light, making the surrounding filled with that color and returned to normal after a few seconds. Three days left, huh. Who am I kidding? This is now hopeless.

“Looks like…I lost,” I whispered in a sad tone.

Sorry, Dad. It looks like you will be disappointed to me. It is my first mission yet…I failed miserably. Well, I am not the only exorcist so I think there is still hope. Maybe we can still find someone who can do this mission better than me.

Suddenly, the cross emitted a red light and formed these words:

[Go to the cafeteria and buy lunch.]

[Go to Sheena and confess.]

Silly me. Why am I giving up already? I’m still here. It’s too soon to give up!

“The second choice!” I shouted and ran towards them.

“Or?” Sheena said with a surprised expression after I stopped before them.

“Why are you here?” Ralph asked after giving me his usual smile.

“Isn’t it obvious? I am here to rescue my one and only princess,” I said seriously and looked at Sheena.

Clearly, she got surprised from those words.

“How embarrassing! How did I say those words so seriously?” I thought to myself as I try my best to maintain my serious expression.

“Hehhh~ Princess, huh. Does that mean that you also like her?” Ralph asked, clearly amused on what he heard from me.

“Like? Are you kidding? Of course not,” I retorted with slanted eyebrows.

“Huh?” Ralph reacted with a sudden confused face.

“I love her,” I continued and once again looked at Sheena.

“Oh? Then, what are you planning to do?” Ralph asked.

This guy, he is still wearing that usual expression even at a time like this.

“This!” I said and grabbed Sheena’s hand.

“Or?” Sheena mumbled with a confused look.

“Let’s go,” I said and pulled her along.

“Or, wai-wait.”

We then ran away from Ralph and stopped after we reached the back of the main building.

“Why?” Sheena whispered after I let go of her hand.

“Huh?” I reacted, not clearly hearing what she said.

“You saw us right? Isn’t it...too late for this?” she said in a cold tone while looking down.

“The word over is only for quitters who always give up. As long as you have the conviction to do what you really want to, nothing is impossible,” I muttered and made a smile at the end.

“Huh?” she reacted after looking at me with slight widened eyes.

“You don’t need to be that surprised. Is it that weird for me to say that line?” I asked with squinted eyes.

“…”

“Anyway, even if that double-faced fellow is now your boyfriend, I don’t care. I will do anything to get you from him."

“…”

“Sheena, I love you. That’s all I want to say.”

“…”

“Am I talking to a stone? I am already confessing, you know. Is it still practice time?” I asked, making my eyes even squintier.

Before I know it, Sheena is now hugging me. Because the top of her head is just under my chin, the fragrant smell of her shoulder-length hair enveloped my senses. I didn’t know that she smells unbelievably good when she is this close.

“Ralph and I...are not really dating. We’re just pretending,” she said with a somewhat shaky voice. Is she crying?

“Huh?” I reacted in a surprised tone.

“After we fought, I immediately talked to him and said that I already have feelings for you. After a few days, he noticed that we are not meeting anymore so I told him what happened. That is why he proposed this plan to fix our relationship.”

“So this is his plan,” I whispered after listening to her story.

“...”

“What if he has an ulterior motive?” I asked.

“He is a nice guy you know. He can never think of that.”

Well, I think he is aiming for the lucky break. If I gave up, he can eventually start his moves after Sheena moved on. It is the usual ‘take advantage’ plan. If I chose the first choice earlier, it is Ralph’s win. But…

“That may also be the case. Not that I’m saying for sure that he’s really a nice guy,” I muttered, slightly embarrassed about what I’m saying. “Anyway, I didn’t notice that you have feelings for me. I really have no clue until today.”

“Jeez...I already love you since we’re kids, you know,” she followed with a smile.

Jeez. I’m still oblivious even though I’ve watched different love stories already. I drew back and looked at her face.

“Sheena, starting now, I will love you more,” I said while staring at her with seriousness in my eyes.

“Or...” Sheena whispered as she looks at me with slight blushing cheeks.

I held her chin using my thumb and index finger and kissed her lips. After awhile, I drew back and stared at her face. Crap…my vision is getting blurry. It looks like this mission is a big success.

“Farewell, Sheena,” I muttered with a smile.

After a couple of seconds, the surrounding became pitch black.

One down and three to go.

When I opened my eyes, I found myself still in the situation I am earlier; my forehead is still touching Sheena’s. I stood up and looked at my father and principal.

“Orel…” both of them said with a worried face.

As an answer, I gave them a thumb up. Then, the light enveloping Sheena finally disappeared.

“He did it!” both of them shouted with very happy expressions. They held hands and jumped like fools to celebrate my success.

“Can you please kindly stop that?”

“Did you see that, Dan? He’s so amazing, right? As expected to my son,” my father boasted with a laugh.

“Dad, why isn’t she waking up?” I asked while looking at Sheena.

“Don’t worry because it is normal. She will wake up after an hour or two,” my father answered with a smile.

“Doesn’t she need a doctor right now?”

“Well, after she woke up that is.”

I looked at Sheena once again and said, “Get well soon.”

“Don’t worry...she will,” my father followed.

“By the way, I unlocked the three colors, including the violet one.”

“Already? That...that’s good news. I am sure that you will become a very strong exorcist someday. The red light is the ‘routes of fate’. Beware because the one that you will pick will decide what will happen in your mission.”

“But why would this cross offer contradicting choices? Isn’t it more convenient to just give the correct answer?”

“Because…isn’t it more exciting that way?” my father replied with a genuine smile.

“Jeez,” I reacted with a sigh. “Then, what’s the orange one?”

“The orange light is the ‘strength booster’. It boosts your strength to the limit and after you deactivated it, all of your muscles will feel the side effect.”

“Well...I experienced it already.”

“Orel, how about my goddaughter?” the principal asked with a very worried face.

“Jeez, Principal. You already know that I am saving the hard ones for later, right?”I replied.

That’s right. Aimy is the hardest target here. I am not even sure if I can make her fall for me.

“Don’t worry because my son can make anyone fall for him so just wait a bit there,” my father said to the principal.

“Didn’t you say earlier that making Aimy fall for me is impossible, right?” I asked with squinted eyes.

“Y-you know I’m just kidding,” he replied and forced a laugh.

This father of mine…

“Well, how many hours have passed since I entered her mind?” I asked.

“One second,” my father answered.

“Huh?” I reacted, surprised from his reply.

“The mission of exorcist doesn’t consume time in the real world so it just took a second in our point of view.”

How convenient.

“Are you tired? Wanna rest for a bit?” my father asked with a slight worried tone.

“No thanks. The sooner this is resolved, the better,” I replied and wiped my face with my handkerchief.

“Then, who will be the next one?” my father asked.

I looked at all of the girls once again and replied, “Meryl.”

“Meryl?” my father repeated.

“The one with the long hair,” I said while pointing at the said girl.

“Orel, good luck. You’ve got my genes so there is nothing to worry about.”

What is with that encouragement?

This is the real start. I am sure that this will be hard.

I went before Meryl’s bed and did the usual start.

When I opened my eyes, I found myself before my classroom’s door. Well, Meryl is the target after all. I need to enter now.

“OT!” Meryl shouted just after I stepped inside.

“...”

“Why did you escape yesterday? Do you know how hard it is to clean with only two people?”

While listening to her, I continued walking and eventually reached my seat. I immediately sat down and looked at her.

“Are you listening?”

This girl is Meryl, the irritating class representative of this section. In appearance, she has a long straight hair (long enough to pass her hips), her looks are above average but not in the level of showbiz icons and her body is well-endowed for her age. She also has a headband with a red ribbon design on its left side. Every day, she is always disrupting my peaceful and quiet life. How? She is always inviting me for lunch; she is always inviting me to walk with her when going home and other pointless things just to make me open up with the whole class. If I can define her briefly, she is just a “happy-go-lucky” high school girl, always smiling because she really enjoys her high school life. Always has a positive outlook in life and doesn’t have any problems, the complete opposite of me. That is why I find her very annoying.

She is always striving to make me her friend in order for me to open up with the whole class, but why? Is it really just because of her duty as a class president or because…

“Meryl, do you have a crush on me?” I asked with my usual serious expression.

Her face suddenly became red and replied, “O-o-of course not!” in a flustered voice.

“Then, why are you always talking to me?”

“Is it wrong to do that? I just…want you to have a friend...like me.”

“Friend, huh,” I whispered after noticing the two girls approaching.

“Meryl, let’s go to the Gym,” one of the two girls suddenly said behind Meryl.

“Go ahead first,” she replied with her usual smile.

“Then...okay,” both of them replied and left the classroom.

This girl...why is she always refusing the invitations of her real friends if I’m with her?

“Is there a reason why you don’t want to befriend anyone? It is not that hard to make friends after all,” Meryl asked curiously.

Because of that sudden question, I remembered an event from my past, something that happened to me in 6th grade.

“This is mine, right?” Nick said while holding my paint brush.

“Isn’t your brush a little worn out?” John asked while staring at it.

“He bought a new one that is exactly like this, right?” Hance replied.

“That...that is mine. My mother gave it to me last month,” I defended in a nervous tone.

“Well, I don’t care anymore. Here,” Nick said and threw it at me.

He is smiling but his eyes weren’t. He is looking at me like he is looking at a thief. But I didn’t steal it. It’s just a false accusation but they didn’t believe me.

One day, one of my classmate’s recorder, Al, gone missing. It is our recitation in our subject Music that day so she started crying after a while.

“Maybe someone stole it,” Nick suddenly said and gave me a glimpse.

I know that he is suspecting me again. When the teacher asked if her recorder has a trademark on it, she said that it has a letter A written on it.

Our teacher checked our recorders but failed to find it but after that, Hance said, “How about checking all bags, ma’am.”

Because Al is still crying while being comforted by the other girls, our teacher decided to check all our bags. In my surprise, our teacher took out a recorder in my bag. It is Al’s recorder.

My classmates then started on commenting out loud.

“Orel is the thief?”

“Why would he do that?”

“That is Al’s recorder after all. Maybe he is really admiring her that he decided to steal her belongings.”

“Is he that desperate?”

“What if his parents are thieves too?”

All of my classmates gave me a mean look. When I looked at Nick and the others, they are laughing derisively. I know it. They put it in my bag on purpose.

“A-polo-gize!” All of my classmates chanted repeatedly in a loud manner.

I couldn’t forget the feeling at that time. I realized how small I am as my classmates say “sorry” continuously. I don’t know what to do. Will they believe me if I told them that I didn’t steal it?

“Quiet! Orel, apologize to her,” our teacher said in a scary tone.

Because of her scary glare, I couldn’t do anything but go to Al’s seat and bow my head.

“Sorry,” I said in a low voice.

“Don’t repeat this ever again, Orel. I will not report you to the Guidance Councilor because I am quite kind but...you know what will happen if you repeat it again, right?” my teacher said while looking at me with her scary eyes.

What can I do at a time like this? If I said that it is just a set-up, they will not surely believe me. I’m just nothing. I don’t have any friends while Nick is popular among my classmates. I’m sure that they will go to Nick’s side and not on mine. Even my teacher is convinced that I stole it. The only thing I could do is cry after I have gone home.

After that, the bullying started. Someone hid my shoes, my things got lost, and some purposely stained my clothes by pouring juice on my uniform and other awful things I don’t want to recall again. I couldn’t do anything. All I could do is cry after reaching my room at my house. I can hold it until I’m still at school but not after I got home. I don’t want to tell it to my Father because he is busy at work. It will just be a trouble for him.

I’m really weak at that time. Well, thanks to that, I realized a fact. Humans are ugly creatures. They will do anything they know right even if it is wrong. To them, hurting someone without knowing what really happened is just a process to attain true justice. The only important thing to them is what they think that is right. They judge others they didn’t know and they will only believe in that impression made by them. I don’t want to associate with them. That is the strongest catalyst that sparked the start of change in my beliefs.

Because I wandered in my thoughts, it took a while before I replied.

“Tch. Humans have different experiences in their life. Whether they will let it affect them is fully up to them,” I answered.

“Not that ‘tch’ again. Does that mean something?” Meryl asked with a pout.

Well, that is a habit of mine that I always do when I am irritated. That means that…you’re irritating.

“It’s nothing.”

Suddenly, the cross emitted a red light and formed these words in front of me:

[Meryl, let’s go to the Gym.]

[Meryl, I like you. How about you?]

Hey, at least give me a break, ‘routes of fate’. Well, time to work I guess.

All of my classmates are already at the gym because our Math teacher called us there to do something. Well, I already know what will happen because this is my second loop here. Now, what should I pick? Well, the question here is…should I confess to her right now or wait for the right timing?

Do you want to know the reason why I chose her as the second victim that I should save? A Class Representative is unbelievably obedient to her job for some reason...in the anime that is. Luckily, Meryl is exactly like that so as a loner, I have an advantage when I decided to ask her out. Because of her duty, she will always create conversations and events between the two of us, making it easier to make my moves. She will be the one who will chase me and not me. It’s convenient, right?

“OT?” she said with a puzzled face because of my sudden silence.

If I keep on being stubborn, nothing will happen. The time that we spent with each other is already sufficient so confessing now will be the right choice. Even if I got rejected, it’s fine. What I want is for her to notice me as an admirer of her and not just a loner in the corner. That is why the second choice is what I’ll pick.

“Meryl…” I said with a serious expression.

“What’s wrong? Your squinty eyes are scaring me, you know,” she commented with a slight bothered face.

My eyes are always this scary, thank you.

“I like you. How about you?” I followed without changing my expression.

Her face’s color suddenly turned into red and said, “Wha-wha-wha-what? B-b-but...why?” in a flustered expression.

“You heard it right. I’m not joking. I’m serious about this. I want to know your answer...this instant.”

“B-but…” she whispered and her eyes couldn’t stay at one place anymore.

I stared at her eyes with seriousness so she can tell that I am not joking. After seconds of silence, she suddenly replied, “I’ll...think about it!”

“…”

Before I even say something in return, she suddenly ran outside the room.

“I just hope that I chose the right choice or it is already over this early,” I thought to myself and sat down on my chair again. “But first…I think I should skip going to the Gym. It’s too tiring to walk.”