Chapter 7 - what silly nicknames are for

    "There she is, what took you so long?" Pollux and Khai were waiting for her in front of the school gate.

    "Sorry, cleaning duty today." She mutters.

    "Miss Krakatoa has cleaning duty every Tuesday, mentally noted~" Khai interjects.

    She glares at him with a grumble to which he returns a wide grin.

    They walk back home, mostly in silence until Khai decided to speak up.

    "Seriously, how do you hit your head that bad?" Khai looks at Aster with visible concern.

    No reply.

    "Also, not gonna lie, you look pretty badass with that bandage. Kinda like Ereh Yeager!" He smirks, strawberry milk lollipop sticking out of his mouth.

    "Shut up." Aster snarls. 

    Actually, her wound has already healed due to her quick healing ability but it would be suspicious if a wound that major was to be gone so quick, so she's stuck with a stupid bandage around her head for at least another week.

    "Would it really kill you to act like a decent human being?" Khai glowers.

    'I don't have to. I'm not a human being anyway.' She thinks to herself. She glares at him and grunts, not saying a word.

    "Oh, that's right, can't ask a beast to act human." He shrugs.

    Pollux chuckles, "Aight, you gotta cut that off before she actually eats you alive."

    "That doesn't sound so bad." He whispers. Aster reddens and pushes Khai to the ground, holding him in a wristlock.

    "OW OW OW! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU."

    "Just when I thought you couldn't get any lower, You're also a huge pervert!" She pushes even harder, causing Khai to jolt.

    "OOF, right. Super hearing. Forgot about that. AH! OKAY, OKAY! I'm gonna stop talking now, I SWEAR!" He yelps.

    "Woah! Hey, cut it out!" Pollux pushes Aster away, "What'd he even say?"

    "Hey pervert, if you don't shut up when I tell you to, I'm actually gonna eat you. A-and absolutely NOT in whatever sick way you were thinking." Aster stands up and swiftly walks away.

    Pollux sighs and extends an arm to Khai, "You good, man?"

    "Yep, all good. No doubt." He rotates his wrist and stretches his back, "Wow, she's very strong."

    "Did you really say that?" Pollux glares at him.

    "Y-yeah, but I didn't actually mean it! I mean, it'd be weird if I did. It was only a joke and I was gonna say it out loud but I remembered how bad she is at taking jokes, much less 'those' kind of jokes so I ended up whispering it and I completely forgot about her super hearing." Khai facepalms, "I joke around a lot with my friends but I shouldn't have said that to someone I wasn't close to... Now that I look back at it, what I said really was weird and now she's gonna hate me even more, and ugh, I really screwed up." He rubs his temples.

    "Alright, I believe you. Also, don't worry too much, how can she hate you more than she already does? I don't think that's even possible. She acts like you're the bane of her existence or something." Pollux laughs.

    "Yeah, and she had no reason to act like that before, so I thought it was fair to keep on pestering her. But now, I've given her an ACTUAL reason to avoid me!" Khai frowns, "And that sucks 'cause I really wanted to get closer to her." He mutters.

    Pollux ponders for a while and asks, "Are you interested in her?"

    "You're not gonna kill me if I am?" He replies.

    "No, but why? You must be insane to like her when she's on the verge of getting you killed every 5 seconds."

    Khai sighs and closes his eyes for a while, "I started to see her a lot during break times... I was a bit upset when she pushed me back when we first met so I started to observe her, waiting for her to mess up so I can have something to annoy her with as revenge." He smirks, "But I guess I ended up with the opposite of that, 'cause instead of picking up things to make fun of, I noticed how she collects Persy Jackson mini-book keychains and changes them every day according to their order of release, and how she always listens to C0IN and other indie bands when we walk to school. I know that 'cause she always walks in front of us, so I sometimes catch a glimpse of her playlist."

    He continues to ramble, "I realized we actually have a lot in common and we'd totally vibe if she was just a bit nicer! Oh, and you know what's especially frustrating? She's nice to everyone BUT me. I even buy Almond milk after my shift at Dairy King and keep them in my fridge to give it to her during lunch break, hoping she'll be nicer eventually. Shit tastes horrible but I know she likes 'em 'cause she always gets those when we stop by the convenience store."

    He pauses, "But other than that, I don't know why but she feels very familiar. Like no matter how cold she is towards me, her company feels... warm? I'm not just saying this because I think she's like, really pretty but you know, it just feels very nice to be around her, I can't explain it." He looks at Pollux who was already looking at him, wide-eyed, "Sorry, I'm rambling again."

    "What? Nonono, I was just surprised how much you've noticed when you two barely talk. But wow, it's like you've known her for much longer than a month." Pollux exclaims.

    Khai flushes, "Haha... You think so?"

    "Yeah," They remain silent for a while. Pollux then looks to the ground, "I think she needs someone willing to put up with... this side of her. The guy she's into right now? They've known each other forever but she's like a wholly different person with him." 

    Pollux puts a hand to his chin, "But I guess that's not entirely a bad thing, I just don't know if he's ever seen her when she's being a total mess. Also, the guy she likes? He's like, the perfect human being, it's almost annoying. If I get a brother-in-law, I'd want him to be someone I could vibe with y'know? Guy's the perfect dude but he's so hard to talk to! Also, did I mention he likes her back? It's insane. Human-robot falls in love with unhinged barbarian, they make an odd duo." He laughs and looks over to Khai, who's left standing still a few steps behind him.

    Pollux walks over to Khai, whose eyes were burning holes into the ground and snaps a finger in front of his face, "Hey, are you even listening?"

    Khai looks up, "Oh, sorry. You lost me at she's into the perfect guy who also happens to like her back and I never stood a chance in the first place." He ponders, "Wait, are you talking about the silver-haired guy she always hangs out with? The star player of the basketball club?"

    "Well, yeah. But-"

    "NAW, MAN. IT'S LIKE QUASIMODO VERSUS PHOEBUS, I DON'T STAND A CHANCE."

    "Okay, first of all, don't disrespect Quasimodo like that. Second, you didn't let me finish. You see, that guy told her that he likes her back but he isn't ready to commit yet so she's waiting for him to 'get ready' and it's been a whole ass month! Like seriously! Who makes a girl wait that long?" Pollux folds his arm.

    Khai replies, "I think you forgot the part where she hates me to death."

    "True, but you have me! I'm gonna be your personal wingman~" He replies with a smug look.

    Khai falls silent, "I don't know, man..."

    "Imagine if they got together and their children takes after their father. They're gonna have boring babies! And then they're gonna stare down at me like their papa does? I can NOT let that happen." He was seething.

    "So basically, you're rooting for me because you don't want YOUR SISTER to have boring babies."

    "Yes. I mean no." He sighs, "I also think Aster deserves someone who has enough time in their hands. Also, that guy has big dreams and so much to prove to himself. He's going as far as to study abroad for better education."

    "I'm not any less busy myself and also, isn't it a good thing that he has big dreams? It means he has a future, so he's a great guy for her, yeah?" He tilts his head.

    "Besides the fact that it'll be funny to see my dear sister to fall for someone she hates with a passion,  I also commend guys who go after women who aren't easy to get. 'Cause they tend to work real hard. And the fact that you're still interested even after she's treated you like shit. If you can like her at her worst, then I think you deserve her at her best... Does that make sense? If it doesn't then let's just stick to the it's gonna be entertaining for me."

    Khai looks at Pollux with a mocking smile, "Wow! You're a terrible brother!" 

    "I know right?! But kidding aside, if you got together, I'd feel like I'm leaving her in good hands." He pauses, "Unless... You took a liking to her because you're into 'that' sort of thing...?" He gives him an aghast expression.

    "I AM NOT!" He quickly interjects. "Whatever, man. It all comes down to what Aster wants and she's already decided so let's leave it at that." Khai heaves.

    "Suit yourself. I'm just saying~ They're not together yet, so you better not give up on Aster, 'cause I'm not taking that arrogant dude for a brother-in-law. Over my dead bo-"

    "Aster's her name?"

    Pollux stares at him for a good half-minute, astounded, "You just knew?"

    "Duh, why else would I call her those silly nicknames?"

    He bursts into laughter, "MAN! You're crazier than I thought! Falling for Aster before you even knew her name! I am definitely rooting for you. You're gonna make funny little babies!"

    "Come on, man! I asked you before and you said I can't know!"

    "That's because she asked me not to tell you. I didn't know that you never knew until now. I mean how long has it been? 3 weeks?"

    "It's your fault then! Don't laugh at me like that."

    Pollux wipes his tears from laughing, "Aight, that's fair. I'm gonna stop messing with ya. Don't be late for practice tomorrow. Adios!" He gives him a playful salute before parting ways.

    "Seriously, that guy..." He sighs and walks away.

    Khai looks down on the sidewalk. He smiles, already thinking of ways to annoy 'Aster' tomorrow at lunch.