Chapter 14
Carlisle Schultz had a surprisingly diligent side to him.
He was a free spirit who never hesitated to be late, and the academy's notorious wastrel, but he had standards of his own.
For one thing, he never skipped class. Even if he was a little late in the morning, he always showed up at the academy.
And at lunchtime, he always played a game of basketball. Stealing all the attention and interest of the female students throughout the process was another part of his routine.
Well, anyway.
After that, Carlisle always took a nap, and his solitary haven was none other than the academy rooftop.
He liked sleeping there when the weather was cool and a gentle breeze was blowing.
After taking a decent nap, he would attend the afternoon classes when the bell rang, then head to his after-school part-time job once all the classes were over.
That was how it had always been.
“……”
Recently, however, Carlisle Schultz's routine had been disrupted a little. All because of a single person he'd met only a few days ago.
From the very first day of the new term.
Carlisle frowned at the darkened scenery outside.
Damn, I might be late.
I have to go to work.
The aftermath of the morning's incident in the infirmary was probably to blame. He certainly felt a little tired afterward.
Had he been neglecting his exercise lately? It didn't feel that way.
Then had his stamina declined? He was still young.
There could only be one answer.
He'd gotten too absorbed in the other person.
Well, in other words.
Bianca Shamal and he were extremely compatible.
Recently, Carlisle felt as though he had learned for the first time that having sex with a woman could be something truly special.
He had been so absorbed during the act that he only realized it afterward.
It wasn't an act meant simply for his own pleasure. Watching his partner fall apart was enjoyable, too. It had been quite satisfying.
And, definitely.
There had been something fulfilling beyond physical pleasure as well. Some kind of emotional stability that was difficult to put into words.
‘Do I like Bianca Shamal?’
A question directed at himself.
He couldn't make a definite judgment about it yet. But Carlisle thought that was probably the case.
It wasn't that he couldn't be certain. He simply had no previous experience of liking anyone.
Well, but.
Carlisle Schultz had been feeling pretty good lately. Good enough to think about things this positively, anyway.
-What are you doing, Bianca?
Carlisle sent a text to the number he'd gotten that morning.
How had he gotten her number?
When Bianca had been lying there exhausted. He had handled almost all the cleanup in the infirmary by himself, and used that as leverage to get it.
[Why… did you… get my number…!]
At first, she had chattered away and refused, so he had silenced her by covering her mouth with his own. Then he had almost been unable to hold himself back once more, but somehow managed to get through it.
-Want to have dinner together?
He was already late for work anyway.
After thinking for a moment, Carlisle wrote another text.
-No, let's eat together.
For some reason, he felt it would be best to take the initiative with Bianca. If she really disliked it or the circumstances didn't work, she would refuse anyway.
He couldn't understand himself anymore. Her prickly face and snappish attitude kept coming to mind for some reason.
In any case, he waited patiently for a reply. Of course, none came.
Still, Carlisle Schultz wasn't the impatient sort to feel disappointed by a response like this.
‘She's really… cute.’
On the contrary, he thought she was just playing hard to get.
She clung to him in bed and moaned so sweetly because she liked it so much, yet she wouldn't even send a reply like this. He had no idea whether he was wearing rose-colored glasses, but Carlisle chuckled to himself before getting up.
-Enjoy your dinner.
He sent another message and headed out to work.
Even while working, he couldn't concentrate.
Because he kept thinking about Bianca Shamal, and because he was secretly hoping she might have replied.
It was only a simple bar job, so there wasn't much difficulty even if his attention wandered for a moment.
“Good work, Carlisle.”
And so his shift ended.
On his way back, Carlisle happened to spot her.
The person who had been occupying all his attention lately—none other than Bianca Shamal.
Seeing her in casual clothes, almost for the first time, Carlisle was rendered speechless.
A small, white, delicate woman.
He felt as though his preferences were changing.
Carlisle had originally liked tall, mature women, but she captured his gaze anyway.
She had technically been wearing casual clothes when they first met, but this time she was clearly dressed up compared to then.
A gray checkered skirt and an ivory knit top.
Her shoes were a little odd, almost like men's sneakers, but not enough to detract from her appearance.
Carlisle had discovered Vita purely by coincidence.
But why, exactly?
Her delicate features were filled with irritation, as though she were angry at something, and he paused for a moment.
Then, just as he was about to make his presence known to her—
Whip-
A man Carlisle had never seen before suddenly appeared, grabbed Bianca by the arm, and shoved her toward an alley.
Carlisle almost sprang forward on reflex, but approached calmly for the moment. He didn't know what was going on.
And when he saw anxiety in Bianca's sharp eyes—
Carlisle was already moving without hesitation.
***
And this was how things ended up.
“Who the hell are you?”
Carlisle said in a low voice.
“I said, who the hell are you?”
It didn't take long to grasp the situation.
The moment those frightened amethyst eyes looked at him with relief, Carlisle felt pleased, but the blood drained from his head.
The other man struggled.
“What the fuck!”
Carlisle gradually raised the hand gripping the man's collar.
“Explain what you just did to her.”
He was definitely angry. He was relatively calm, but he was angry at himself, too.
If only he had judged the situation a little faster, if only he had run over right away.
He could have stopped her from being shoved against the wall.
To be honest, his mind had briefly stopped earlier. The moment an unfamiliar man approached Bianca Shamal, he had frozen amid all the guesses and emotions that came rushing through him.
Squeeze-
So.
Carlisle Schultz tightened his grip even further.
“Let go of me! Do you know who I am?”
If he decided to fight back, he probably could. But the other man was completely crushed by Carlisle's presence.
He was a typical cowardly punk who acted tough only against the weak. Punks like that were usually quick to judge situations, at least.
Carlisle asked coldly.
“Are you supposed to be somebody?”
He had seen punks like this more than once or twice.
“I don't give a damn who you are.”
He had seen plenty of worthless guys get drunk and throw their weight around without knowing their place.
“If you're so confident, then tell me.”
So Carlisle said it with golden eyes like a beast staring down its prey.
At this very moment, however.
Nathan, caught by the collar, instinctively realized it.
‘What the hell… is this guy…?’
He had run into a madman. He struggled, but it was completely futile.
If he said anything, he would get hit right then and there, whether it met the man's standards or not.
Sometimes, a person's expression and eyes said more than countless words ever could.
This guy was looking at him as if he were about to beat him to death.
On top of that, indeed.
The ash-gray hair and golden eyes, the impression that was far from ordinary at a glance, and the aura radiating from his body.
Nathan already knew a famous guy with those characteristics.
‘Could it be Carlisle Schultz…?’
Though he attended a different academy, he was supposedly one of the strongest guys around—famous enough that Nathan had heard plenty about him. Nathan's knees went weak, and he became mute with fear. When a guy like this lost his temper, nothing else existed in his sight.
Pow-
Then.
A fist flew toward Nathan's face.
“If you have no excuse, take it.”
The impact was enough to knock the soul out of him. Literally.
“Count. One.”
“Kgh, kehk…”
Even if he had resisted, Nathan was certain at that moment that he would have been beaten like a dog.
Damn, he's strong. What a lunatic.
“S-sorry. It was all my fault…”
It felt like one of his teeth had been knocked out.
“If you don't count, I'll add one each time.”
An opponent who didn't bother with questions or answers.
Nathan was so startled by those words that he had to open his numb mouth.
“…O-one—!”
It was humiliating, but he was even more terrified. As Nathan cowered, the other man suddenly spoke.
“And you should apologize to someone else, not me.”
And then, two.
Wham-
The impact violently shook his vision.
“Tw—!”
Nathan couldn't finish the word and collapsed to the ground.
***
Wham-
“Two…”
He tried to say two, but stars swam before his eyes.
Nathan's mind was dazed, and his consciousness gradually drifted away.
“Stop, Carlisle…!”
A startled woman's voice.
As he fell, Nathan inwardly cursed the owner of that voice.
‘Ah, fuck… You could've stopped him a little sooner.’
Still, just as he was thinking that it was fortunate he had taken one less hit—
His body was pulled up again.
Wham-
“Three.”
“Kheorgh-!”
Nathan's pupils went unfocused as he felt the lower part of his pants grow warm. Then he collapsed to the ground.
Thud-
Afterward, Carlisle didn't even glance at the fallen Nathan. He turned toward Vita.
And immediately enclosed Vita in his arms.
“Are you all right…?”
His voice resonated low, and his arms felt strangely warm.
But Vita hesitated for a moment at the sheer dramatic change in his attitude.
‘Now that I think about it, Carlisle's… really strong, isn't he?’
It wasn't that she was scared, of course!
Ahem, well.
That was precisely why he was worthy of being called Vita Shamal's rival.
Vita had definitely been a little surprised just now.
Thud- Thud-
Nathan was obviously the one being hit, but it felt as if Vita were the one taking the blows.
“I thought you were going to kill him!”
Carlisle chuckled at Vita's words. It was a non sequitur, but at least she seemed all right.
“Don't worry. A person won't die from something like that.”
“How do you know?”
“I know a way.”
Their conversation sounded like banter, but—
The situation had actually been quite serious until just moments ago.
“Really, you're all right?”
When Carlisle asked again, Vita nodded.
“Nothing happened.”
‘Not thanks to you.’
The latter remained only an unspoken thought.
Vita could have handled things even if Carlisle hadn't come. At least, that was what she thought.
But that feeling from earlier, that momentary sense of helplessness—
‘No. It's pointless.’
Vita shook her head, forcing the thought away. She didn't even want to understand what that emotion had been.
Well, anyway.
This time, at least, she was grateful.
Of course, what came out of her mouth was the opposite of what she felt inside.
“I could have handled it myself.”
“Hmm, really?”
Unexpectedly, Carlisle readily agreed with her.
“You would have.”
His serious golden eyes met Vita's.
“Still, if you're ever late again, call me anytime. I'll run right over.”
Vita felt strange.
‘Why would I call you, of all people?’
‘Why are you telling me to call you?’
She had countless questions, but for some reason, the atmosphere made it feel very strange to say them aloud.
Things had naturally fallen into this sort of flow, but Vita suddenly began to feel conscious of the situation.
The situation in which Carlisle Schultz was holding her close and refusing to let go.
But she didn't know why this situation bothered her.
She didn't even dislike being held in Carlisle's arms.
Vita wondered for a moment what the reason could possibly be.
When Nathan had touched her earlier, it had felt quite unpleasant.
But why?
Why didn't she feel that way with this guy?
She thought it over carefully, but still didn't know the answer.
How long had she remained in Carlisle's arms with that strange feeling?
Vita was staring blankly when Carlisle led her away. At some point, he had taken Vita's hand.
“Come on, Bianca.”
Vita was startled and tried to pull her hand free, but Carlisle was holding it tightly. Instead, mistaking Vita's action for something else, Carlisle simply pulled her into his arms again and slowly stroked the back of her head.
“Just come with me.”
“W-where…?”
“You'll find out when we get there.”
Muttering in confusion, her hand held, bound by the strange atmosphere—
Vita followed Carlisle.
‘What is he plotting this time?’
She thought that to herself.
If she didn't even think about something like that, the situation would be far too strange. But somehow, it didn't feel all that unpleasant.
Vita thought this situation was truly strange. More than words could express.