[Music Recommendation: "Usui Takumi" theme (Kaichou wa Maid-sama OST)-available in Youtube or Spotify] ~ Please listen to it in a loop while you read this part to experience the utmost beauty of this chapter ~

"Haaaaaaaaahhhhh…"

That was probably the longest sigh I had for this month… or year? We're back to Kaiden's car and as soon as I got in, I slumped my butt on the seat and crossed my arms—not even putting my seatbelt on.

'Am I too old or I just really keep on meeting people with lots of issues and attitudes? From the first day of school, I got weird stares from people I don't know, then my classmates turned out to be a bunch of prejudiced kids, not to mention, those bullies which was probably one of them, too—or it could be somebody else entirely that I wasn't sure of. And then this… Haaah… What is wrong with my surroundings?'

"That's a long sigh," Kaiden commented, as he put his seatbelt on and started the car. "Are you really okay?"

"Well… I calmed down a bit thanks to you but—Can I… rant for a moment?" I said, still irritated. Poor Kaiden. It seemed I got used to ranting my frustrations on him whenever bad things happen. Realizing that, I quickly took back what I said. "Actually—No, I'm good. Let's just go."

"Pft! Feel free to rant. There's no need to hold back. I'll listen, and maybe rant with you, too."

"Pft! Ha-ha-ha! You? Rant? That's new."

"Of course, I do. I rant and complain all the time—every morning, in fact."

"That's because you hate mornings!"

"Yeah. It's the same."

"Ha-ha-ha! Okay, I'll rant."

"Go on."

I took a deep breath before starting. Inhale. Exhale. Okay.

"First, something I badly wanted to say since earlier was… Why in the world is she such a DRAMA queen? That… A-aaa… What's her name again?"

"Ashley."

"Yeah! That... DramAshley! URGH!" I grunted loud in my anger. "Honestly! What is wrong with her? What did I even do to her?"

"She's just jealous of you. Because you're younger and more talented."

"HUH?!"

Come to think of it, Kaiden was right. Even my enemies at school, they're just angry with me because I'm close with him, right? Truly, envy… was such a deadly sin. But if I were them, I'd use other people's success as motivation for me to strive forward and be better at my craft, rather than be bitter about it and badmouth other people—or bully them.

"The best thing to do with such envious people is to not mind them. Because they are foolish. And the foolish will never understand how the wise think."

"Woah!" I gasped in my shock. What Kaiden just said… that was so on point! And deep for his age! I knew he was a genius but experiencing it first hand was just WOW!

I clapped my hands, amazed by what he said.

"That was amazing, Kaiden. It can be a famous quote in itself!" I exclaimed. Then I quickly took my phone from my bag and typed in what he said. "I don't know where I'll use it, but I'm taking notes. Don't worry, I'll give you credit."

"Ha-ha-ha! Are you putting me in your book?"

"He-he… Actually, I already used you as reference."

"Oh, I see. Is he a villain?"

"What?" I asked, laughing. "Do you see yourself as a villain instead of a hero type?"

"Hmmm… Yes? I'm not that kind to be a hero."

I raised my eyebrow, obviously doubting what he said.

"If you're unkind, then there's no one who's kind in this world."

"You're only saying that because I haven't been bad to you. What if I treat you badly?"

"Badly, how?"

"Hmmm…" Kaiden pondered for a moment, and smirked. After that, he didn't say anything and started driving.

"Hey! What does that mean? I'm getting curious! Tell me!"

"Put your seatbelt on."

I followed him and continued pestering.

"Please tell me! Now, I'm curious and I won't sleep until I get answers."

"Do you really want me to tell you?" he teased.

"Yes! Please, tell me."

"Aww… Too bad. I prefer doing it than saying it."

"Prefer doing it?…" I unconsciously repeated what he said, trying to crack it as if it was a mystery code or something. "What kind of bad thing is that? Is it really, really bad? Or you're just teasing me?"

"You'll know when it happens. It might even make you cry."

"What?! You're going to make me cry? So it's that bad?"

"Pft! Ha-ha-ha! Yeah."

"That's a lie. You're not really… going to make me cry, right?"

"I wonder…"

"You're just teasing me."

"Whatever you believe in."

"But you've always been kind to me," I pouted. I just couldn't imagine him being nasty to me. "You won't really do that, right?"

"Don't worry, you'll survive it. You might even like it."

"Huh? Now, I'm more confused."

"You're too innocent to imagine what I'm thinking so don't bother," Kaiden chuckled. "Anyway, where do you want to go next? It's still early. We can go on a date."

"But that's—Wait, what?! Really?" My eyes lit up when I realized what he just said. I felt my mouth stretched wide in a grin. "Yes! Let's go on a date!"

"You're awfully happy."

"He-he-he… There's somewhere I badly want to go with you, to be honest."

"Where?"

I tapped on my phone and opened up the map navigation app. I typed in the place where I wanted to go, and voila.

"Just follow the directions my phone will say."

Kaiden smirked. "I see. So it's a surprise."

"Uh-huh. And there's no turning back."

"Uuhh… Should I worry where we're going?"

"Don't worry, it's a safe place."

"If you say so."

And so, Kaiden followed the navigation until we reached the place that I badly wanted to go. We passed by many tourist spots, restaurants, parks, and many other places along the way.

"You have reached your destination," my phone said.

"This is where you wanted to go?" Kaiden lowered down the car window to see the place better. His face, unamused. It seemed like he already caught on to what I wanted to do.

"He-he-he… There's no turning back."

"Riiight."