"You really said that?" Derrick asked in a somewhat surprised tone, eating his lunch quickly but in a composed manner.
"I always believed the two of you were twins. I mean, I thought he left and came back when I saw you, but when I looked back at the front of the line, there he was, and you also just looked… more tired."
Arthur's plate was half empty. He dragged his fork along the porcelain, the metal screeching back and forth. "Yeah, but do you think I went too far?"
There was no hesitation from Derrick. "No, what you did was definitely just. People like him, who waste their gifts, need to be put in their place. Honestly, I envy you. I wish I could've said it to him myself."
Arthur nodded slowly.
"It's hardly that important right now though," Derrick continued. "We'll be able to beat our frustrations into those lazy brats next semester when we're in the Honor Class."
"Yeah, you're right," is what Arthur said, but he wasn't looking at Derrick. He was drawn to the fairy-like girl sitting across from him several tables away.
"You know, that really takes me back to the night of the second day of classes, when we made that pact together to get to the Honor Class together," Derrick droned on in the background. "I actually believed you were trying to use me for something, but it turned out that you really just wanted a friend who you could lecture on philosophy—which is humorous looking at it from the perspective of the lesser, but I greatly appreciate your teachings."
There were no thoughts in Arthur's mind for the last ten seconds. Or was it twenty? He did not even comprehend time. Even after she noticed him and looked into his eyes, he did not look away until another couple of seconds passed.
She was a friend; but someone I regarded as a child, even though we were of the same age. She was ignorant and immature. She awakened mana one day, not too long after me and Cedric received ours, but they moved away a week later.
What could've changed in her in the year since her family moved?
What has happened to me to start thinking so deeply?
His eyes answered his question for him. Oh, right. What a stupid question.