Greedy Salvation (Clean Version)

A Pessimistic Genius

"Balance is everything”

That's usually what the "wise" would say in regard to how the universe works. Despite the general consensus among the wise, we have newborn infants who never get to see the light of day. There are billions of people who have lost their dreams and have to settle for less, crooked figures in power that manipulate those masses, multiple religions that make you doubt whether or not you are believing in the right god or gods, and only 100 years to live a decent and fulfilling life. To top it off, the universe will eventually cease to exist. If that's something the wise call "balance", then perhaps they need to reexamine the proper definitions of their vocabulary.

Female Student: "There you go again Abe, with your head in the clouds."

I snapped out of my daydreaming at the light tap on the head, and heard a voice that sounded familiar. I look up to see the usual ray of beauty leaning over me. Her soft black hair tickles my forehead. I quickly turned back towards the window with one hand on my chin. Hopefully, she didn't see me blushing.

Abe: "Izanami, do you find it fun to mess with me like that?"

Izanami: "Are you kidding? It's only my top 10 joys in life! Heh heeh."

Abe: *Clicks tongue

Although I wound up pouting, my heart skipped a beat from that line. It's days like this that make me doubt my own skepticism regarding the nature of this world. I hate to admit it, but I'm a pessimistic person. I look at the possible bad outcomes before the good and make my decisions based on how bad I think the outcome will be. That's why I've never confessed how I feel about Izanami. I'd rather keep these good vibes between us than pursue something that may never come into fruition.

On the other hand, she's so beautiful that it's only a matter of time before someone makes a move on her. The clock is ticking, we won't be high school students forever. Soon, we'll move on to higher education, or head straight into the workforce as fully functional adults. Another familiar voice calls out to us in the classroom, as if to shatter the secret world we often share.

Izanagi: "Picking on Abe again, I see. You two have a good relationship, as usual."

Abe: "Yo, Izanagi."

Izanami: "Bro, did you manage to get here on time?"

Izanagi: "I did, but barely, your stupid filo attacked my leg as I headed out the door again."

Izanami: "I hope you didn't hurt her. She's very sensitive, especially when she detects an i***t nearby."

Izanagi: "Who are you calling an i***t?! One of these days I'm gonna feed that fIlo to Abe's Jasper."

Izanami: "Huuuuh?! Try it and I'll fly your corpse to the nearest moon."

Abe: "Knock it off, you troublesome twins! Class is about to start."

I tried my best to separate the two twins from fighting each other over something extremely petty and insignificant. The onlooking peers of the class watch in silence as I hold back each of their foreheads. One of the students ends up speaking out about the usual spectacle of me subduing the duo with an infamous rep for being hardcore [Delinquent Slayers].

Casual Student A: "Y'know, I never get tired of this scene. I mean, how can such a nerd like Abe manage to dominate over the legendary [Twin Terrors]?"

This remark causes a flurry of real-time gossip among classmates adjacent to the one who made the first statement.

Casual Student B: "Hey, watch your mouth, remember what happened to the last student who called Abe names in front of them?"

Casual Student A: *Stops to ponder "......Ooops!"

Casual Student C: "Relax, I don't think they heard you. Anyways, they're not that bad in comparison to the [Dark Trio]."

Casual Student A&B: "Whoa!"

The two students cover the other student's mouth in response to her remark. Confused and in a daze from the shock of being silenced in such a way, the student sits quietly and shutters in fear after realizing her mistake. The other two students, still covering up her mouth with their hands, slowly remove them from her mouth.

Casual Student B: "Are you crazy?

Casual Student A: "If they heard you say that,you'd be strung up on the school's statues, piece by piece!"

Casual Student B; "Piece by piece per statue! Plus, we'd be an accomplice just by association, so our pieces would be used to fill in the void of what your pieces couldn't cover up the statues with!"

Casual Student C: "I-it was a slip of the tongue, but aren't you two exaggerating?"

Like clockwork, the bell rang and the teacher of the homeroom stumbled in. A stocky beansprout of an individual, with a bit of a slouch due to mid age back problems. Mr. Maury was one of the most awkward teachers I've ever had the displeasure of being in a scholastic vicinity under. The three of us stop our daily antics and head to our designated seats. The other bickering students also straighten up and remain silent once more in their own assigned seats. Before I can make it to my own, Izanami leans in and whispers something in my ear. It caught me off guard and I couldn't help but get dazed by her sweet smell of the usual fragrance she puts on after bathing. The way women tend to mezmorize us men with their pheromones and cosmetics are, without a doubt, a form of sorcery. Izanagi takes a peak at us, but merely winks at me and goes about his own business. Clearly, he got the wrong idea, which I will probably have to address later. In any event, I focus on Izanami who clearly has something she wants to say.

Izanami: "Say, Abe, haven't you been avoiding us lately?"

Abe: "Huh?"

She tried to elaborate on that, but Mr. Maury made a loud gesture as if to say that class was already in session. It wasn't a stern reprimand, but it was something that only Mr. Maury's weird and awkward ass would do. He fake cried. No longer able to bear the sound, I prompted Izanami to head to her seat, and promised her we would talk more on that matter later. I felt pretty bad that I would even have to have this conversation with her. It makes me feel like I'm growing more like my own parents who continue to neglect me.

Mr. Maury called all of the clasroom's attention to himself and began the daily routine of homeroom with role call. There was a familiar name that was called which sent shivers down my spine. That person, surprisingly wasn't here to answer the teacher's call, which not only bewildered him, but the other students who knew of this person as very punctual and hardworking. Now, I have my reasons for having mixed feelings about this individual, but a lot of it has to do with us having a childhood history. A history that I definitely don't want to revisit. Just when I got a sigh of relief to know that the person was absent, almost as if to toy with my emotions, he comes waltzing into the classroom, frantically trying to reach his assigned seat.

Mr. Maury: "Sir Jeane, how odd of you to come in late."

Jeane: "My apologies, I won't make excuses, but I will make a promise for it not to happen again."

Mr. Maury: "No worries, I know my lecture is boring, don't beat yourself up."

Jeane: "......"

Mr. Maury: "Oh no, I did it again, my wife is gonna beat me when I get home..." *Whimpers

Classroom: *Groans and sighs

Before Jeane sits down, our eyes meet. I quickly turn towards the direction of the window, in hopes he didn't notice me watching the scene. Without saying a word, he sits down and focuses on the starting lesson. When am I going to get over this, I wonder? Reading the mood, I take a gawk at the Terrible twins who have their attention towards me. They're making goofy faces at me, the kind that they always make to cheer me up. They know the situation between me and Jeane, so it warmed my heart to know that they care enough to ensure that I'm ok. I smiled their way to acknowledge that their attempts were effective, and they smiled back, proceeding to face forward with peace of mind that their efforts weren't in vain. Such great friends I have. I must make sure I don't take them for granted anymore than I have. Mr. Maury went into teacher mode and stopped all the foolishness that his personality comes with. It was a rather boring lecture, but only because I'm technically levels ahead in terms of material comprehension. I tune in and out of the lecture, only to help the teacher with a few of the inaccuracies of the information being fed to us. Jeane, expectedly competes with me by either adding bits of information that I intentionally left out due to irrelevancy, or tries to down play my corrections by being overly semantic. The annoyance I get from this is a small price to pay when it comes to providing accurate information to the masses. Even overachievers like Jeane will have their time to shine once we all step into the world of adulthood.

It was only a matter of time before homeroom came to a close for this period of time. The teacher gets a sound call after every lesson, and this time was no different. It was obviously his overly involved wife checking up on him. He frantically concludes the lecture and storms out of the classroom talking on the audio device with a squeaky tone of voice. Everyone else except me, the twins, who fell asleep on their desks and Jeane ,who continue to gawk my way after finishing up his notes ,were left in the classroom. I ignore Jeane completely and head over to the twins who at this time were flooding their desks with drool. It's funny how even though they are twins, I have different reactions towards the same scenery they're presenting to me due to their difference in terms of gender. A thought pops up that makes me wonder how I would feel if they were both of the same gender. It was then that I was relieved that they weren't either both girls or boys, for obviously different reasons. It pains me to have favoritism, but my libido cannot be ignored, so after admiring Izanami for a bit, I gently shake her to wake up. Neither twin are good with scholastic settings, and out private study sessions make me worried for at least Izanami's future. Izanagi should be fine so long as he continues with his sports club activities and manages to get an endorsement upon graduation. Izanami, who like me, is of the "Go home" club, seems like a lost cause in comparison to her more socially active twin brother. In fact, after school, it's usually just me an her hanging out at my home until Izanagi is finished with club activities, then he joins in on the fun times. I'm not much of a host, and they always do a lot of the talking, but it's them that helped me fill the empty void in my heart. As much as I rag on them for their incapacity to secure their future, the pace I was going wouldn't have been any better if I was to be left alone to wallow up in my own misery.

Abe: "Izanami, wake up, homeroom is over."

Izanami: "Mmmh~nyaaa...five more minutes please."

Abe: "I'm not your teacher, but if you don't wake up~"

Izanagi: *Impersonating Abe's Voice "I'll kiss you!"

Abe & Izanami: !!?

When the f**k did Izanagi wake up? Anyways, it looks like it's time for damage control. I desperately attempt to reassure Izanami who bolted up from her brother's impersonation of me that it was him who made that statement. However, it seems like it wasn't even necessary. A blur brushes pass me, which was none other than Izanami performing a flying kick to Izanagi's temple. It would've been a clean hit if Izanagi wasn't equally physically fit. He managed to catch Izanami's leg with one hand. Even though he's a dunce, he gives off an impression sometimes of being very meticulous and calculating. The expression on his face right now was of a man with an agenda. His mission was to mess with me and Izanami by way of embarrassing us to death.

Izanagi: "Is there a problem my dear sister?"

Izanami: "There sure is my dummy brother, what's the big idea exactly?

Izanagi: "What ever do you mean?"

Izanami: "How many years have we been conceived in the same womb? Do you think we were born yesterday to where I can't discern between your voice and his?"

Izanagi: "Oh? Well, although we both share similarities in terms of the number of our brain cells, I must applaud you sis for being able to recognize the difference between us."

Izanami: "Hmph! Naturally, there's no way Abe would say something cringy like that anyway. Who do you think he is?"

Abe: "....."

That kind of stung, cause I'm not gonna lie, those lines were something I was thinking of saying in my head. Of course, she was correct in saying that I would never say something like that to her out loud, but to call it cringy is kinda sad to hear from her mouth.

Izanagi: "Oof, poor Abe."

Izanami: "Huh? Poor, Abe? What's that supposed to mean?"

I ended up showing an expression of shock when they both turned attention towards me. My pessimistic tendencies started taking over my brain as I once again tried to drudge up some damage control responses to this stressful situation. Why is Izanagi trying so hard to mess with us right now? This isn't like him.

Izanami: "Abe, what is this i***t brother of mine talking about?"

Abe: "Uh, well..."

Izanami: "Wait, could this have something to do with why you've been avoiding us?"

Abe: "Uh, Izanagi?"

Izanagi: "Don't wanna help, sorry." *Sticks out tongue

Abe: "Even though it 's your fault, we're in this situation right now?!"

Izanami: "Hey, Abe! Don't change the subject!"

Izanagi's Senior Classmate: *Peeks in the door "Yo, Izanagi, the coach wants us for a meeting, let's go!"

Izanagi: "Saved! Later y'all, I'll meet up with you two after school!"

Abe: "I.Z.A.N.A.G.I.~!"

Ignoring me and the fuming, yet puzzled Izanami completely, Izanagi heads out of the classroom and follows his senior to their clubroom for a meeting. Now it's just me, Izanami, and Jeane, who is still gawking at us, err, me in particular. I can hear Izanami's foot tapping on the hard floor, which is a tendency of hers whenever she gets irritated about not getting attention.

Izanami: "Forget him, Abe, and answer me. You've been acting so strange all season. What have you even been up to?"

Abe: "I don't mind explaining, but first I have to clear up a misunderstanding."

Izanami: "Okay?"

Abe: *sigh "My negligence has nothing to do with any changing feelings I have towards you."

Izanami: "....."

That was true. In fact, I've had romantic feelings towards her for a long time now, but I'm using her oblivious nature to romance to my advantage here. If I remain pure in terms of my intentions, then this should go smoothly.

Abe: "Nothing has changed, in fact, it's just that I've been~"

Izanami: "Oh! I get it!"

Huh?

Abe: "Huh?" *blinks a few times

Izanami: "Oh, poor Abe. Due to you being depraved of your parents attention, you've been starving for parental affection, huh?"

Abe: "Huh?"

Izanami: "It's ok Abe, I completely understand. I may not be of age to be a mother figure, but I'm still a woman." *Puffs out chest

Abe: "Once again. Huh!?"

Shutting me up, she pulls me to her bosom and starts stroking my head. This moment brought about a cocktail of emotions containing joy, confusion and humility. This concoction was most certainly one of those mixes that could get one drunk, but sober enough to appreciate the uniqueness of the situation. Here I am, getting coddled by my childhood friend and crush who has no care on planet Kwhali that Jeane is still in the classroom staring daggers at us.

Abe: "Uh, Izanami, can I say something?" *Blushes

Izanami: "Shhh! Hush little baby..."

Well, at least she's happy to have awakened her maternal instincts. I decide not to fight it anymore and let her have this moment, despite the context being unwanted or intended, the cradling and head strokes are soothing to say the least. I'm afraid this could open a floodgate to a new fetish, however...