âPretty words are not always true,
And true words are not always pretty.â
~Uknown
Speech Code ~ #8A0808| Thought Code ~ #045FB4
"Because no one deserves to be treated that way Miss Iphianassa. If there's one thing my siblings and I don't like, it's those who prey upon others." The sentiment was nice, but it was hard to believe. It would be amazing news to know that there were still people out there with such a high moral peak, but it was also extremely unlikely and doubtful. She found herself giving him an incredulous glance, and it didnât help that he had called her Miss Iphianssa. What was with this guy and his formalities? Must be a culture thing? Iâm sure he means well but come on - guyâs making me feel old as hell, calling me Miss.
"What are you talking about Iphi?"
The sudden voice jerked Iphignea from her thoughts and she whipped around, almost spilling the remnants of her lunch onto the ground. She just barely managed to catch it in time, but was unable to hide her blazing red face. What she had asked Natsuo had been a private rant; she had lost her control for a minute and begun to demand these answers from him, but she had never intended for anyone else to hear them. Embarrassment of course ensued, engulfing her features. She wasnât upset with Kazumi for listening to their conversation. It wasnât like it had been an intentional thing; she had simply overheard, and clearly Mafuyu had. Hopefully the other woman hadnât heard the beginning of what she had said.
"Miss Iphianassa here seems to think that by being around her, our reputations will be shot." Oh Gods, can this get any more mortifying? Now I sound like a whining pre-teen looking for attention! Here I go, fishing for some attention, tossing my metaphorical hook into the water, she groaned internally. It was the last thing that she had wanted to be seen as by anyone, and hear there were now three people who had witnessed her inadvertently admitting to her own insecurities. How humiliating.
"Oh my, it's sweet of you to worry, Iphi, but the last thing we ever worry about is our reputation. And we could care less if you have limited means when it comes to currency, which I always never liked, it causes more problems than solutions. Seriously, the day humanity decided to put a cost on something was the dumbest decision humanity has ever made. Also, as for you not being pretty? Girlfriend, have you ever looked in the mirror? You're very attractive. Isn't she Natsuo?" Okay, wow, that was a lot to take in all at once, her azure eyes blinking blankly as she soaked in her response. At least Kazumi had said that she didnât care for material things, and apparently Natsuo didnât either. Whether or not she was telling the truth was an entirely different situation altogether, but for now, Iphignea decided to take her doctorâs advice and try to look on the brighter side of the situation - that Kazumi was telling the truth, and that she definitely wasnât lying. But boy, oh boy, that last part of what she said - and why would she ask Natsuo! Instantly any color that had begun to fade from her cheeks was back, her naturally tan skin helping to hide the flush only a bit. Her hands shot to her uniformâs lapels, lifting them as much as she could to hide her cheeks, and she dropped her head slightly so that her hair could help shroud her face, her sudden shyness evident in her demeanor. She couldnât help it; something about these two new students just made her feel less aggressive, more demure. In an effort to cool herself, Iphi snagged her water bottle and began to take a drink from it, enjoying the cool liquid as it passed her parched lips.
"Yes she is.â
A series of coughs escaped Iphignea as she choked on her water. As she fought the liquid going up her nose - the last thing she needed was to spew water from her nostrils in front of these people - more coughs racking her chest, she waved her hand as though to try and convey that she would be okay in a moment. She was completely caught off-guard by Natsuoâs response to his sister; he thought that she was attractive? What was this, a joke? There was absolutely no way, in either Hades, Earth, or Olympus, that a man who had looks that were so akin to that of the Greek God Adonis would ever find her even remotely attractive. This definitely had to be a joke. What, did they decide that on their first day that they would find the weakest link in their classes to target and make a mockery of that person? Iphigneaâs had tightened around the bottle at the thought, her anger sizzling a bit under the surface. Just who did they think they were?
But then there was that little voice, buried so far underneath her surface of ice. She could see this little voice in her own mind and it was as though she were there as well, hands curled into fists as she battled over whether or not to chip at the ice, at the solid block of frozen water, her eyes locked on a doppelganger of herself only feet away in the solid substance. It called out to her, begging her to listen to reason, begging her to remember what her parents had taught her over the last decade; begging her to remember what her doctors had tried - and failed many times to - instill within her.
That not everyone was evil, and not everyone was out to get her. Not everyone had an ulterior motive in approaching her.
As the reasoning slid through her mind, she calmed herself once more and let out a breath, but her mind immediately returned unbidden to what Natsuo had said. Yes, she is. He ⊠He thought she was pretty? Another blush entered her face, but behind her hands was the ghost of a small smile at the thought, and uninvited, another thought crossed her mind. He thinks Iâm pretty ⊠Unable to think of anything else to say in this situation, and knowing that it had been long enough that she really should respond, she managed, âI ⊠Thank you,â she said softly, to both of the siblings.
âSee? If you're not feeling comfortable about your looks, maybe I can help you out there. I do great make-overs. Anyway, let's eat before we need to get to our next classes." Iphignea jumped, almost guiltily, but she quickly fanned herself and returned to her normal resting bitch face expression. At the offer of a makeover, Iphignea made a sound with a shrug, but whether or not it was one of agreement could be argued. The offer sat with her though, and she was definitely tempted to take Kazumi up on it. If anything was obvious with a first glance of the new student, it was that she had a sense of style - something that Iphignea was sorely lacking in. Her closet consisted mostly of black or deep red items, a majority of such were pants and tops, with maybe two or three âfancyâ pieces thrown in there. She snorted a bit at the thought of her current wardrobe; it left quite a bit to be desired.
"People can like you even without material things, you know. It's not all about money, in the end, and people shallow enough to only stick to a pretty face aren't worth your time anyway. Not that you aren't pretty, Iphi.â She found that pretty hard to believe. Money made the world go round, and if it werenât for money, you couldnât survive. Anything worthwhile costs money, and if you didnât wear the latest clothes or carry the newest bags, you were considered an outsider. He wasnât wrong, though, in his last statement. It was simply a matter of finding the people who didnât care about materialistic things. Those people, though, were hard to come by.
With that, she returned to her meal which was now luke-warm at best. Oh well, might as well enjoy what I can of it.
"Miss Iphianassa, was something troubling you earlier? I saw you looking at your phone and I can only assume you got a troubling text message." Ah, here he goes being nosy. Good things canât last forever, can they? Iphignea really couldnât stand nosy people - those who put their noses into other peopleâs business. Plus, there he went calling her miss again. But she also couldnât deny that both Natsuo and Kazumi had been pretty helpful and nice to her so far; and he had just said he found her to be pretty, so it was unlikely that he was asking with nefarious purposes. Still, it wasnât exactly her business to be sharing, so she would have to pick and choose her words carefully.
As she began to pack up her empty lunchbox, she spoke.
âWell, first of all - stop calling me miss. Iâm sure youâre saying it with the best intentions, but damn, youâre making me feel old,â she rolled her eyes, tucking the box into her bag. With a flick of her arm she zipped it shut and dropped back to sit beside it. She threw up her hand to hold up two fingers. âSecond of all, youâre a bit nosy now, arenât you?â she tilted her head to the side, almost seeming to be teasing him. âYou should tread a bit more carefully when asking people that youâve just met questions that could be seen as personal; it may be a cultural thing, but here in Japan, people tend to be fairly reserved and prefer to keep most matters to themselves and within a tightly knit circle.â A third nimble finger flicked up. âAnd last but certainly not least; to answer your question, I simply received a text message from a close friend of mine whoâs in the high school about a rather disgusting pest infestation that they have in their classroom,â she said this with a sweet smile, but her eyebrow twitched, betraying her underlying anger just at the mere thought of Kenji. âBut donât worry - itâs nothing that a little bit of ass-kicking canât solve.â Her smile seemed to darken a bit, a small chuckle escaping her. âThat little ****** is gonna wish he never saw the light of day. Iâm gonna cut off his **** and shove it up his *** until he ***** his *** and wishes he ******* his ***** instead,â she happily delivered, cracking her knuckles as she spoke. A somewhat maniacal laugh escaped her as she envisioned exactly what she was going to do when she got a hold on the nasty little vermin that Kenji was. Oh the fun that she was going to have kicking his ass into next week and shoving his head up where the sun didnât shine for him.
Realizing that she had slipped back into her naturally aggressive self and exposed her easy rage to the trio, Iphignea suddenly laughed sheepishly, relaxed her hands and used one to rub at the back of her head. âBut you guys donât need to worry about any of that. Itâs not like Kenji's going to tell anyone about getting his ass kicked by a girl, and I wonât hurt him badly enough to send him to the hospital. I know my own strength,â she reassured them, flapping her hand in their direction.