Chapter Text
Edgar was a simple guy. Or, at least, he thinks he is.
He likes solving puzzles in his free time. He lets himself get dragged around by Colette whenever she spots him. They’d end up doing things they’d go to jail for, but the details didn’t matter as long as it was fun. He likes watching coffee drip as he poured hot water into the pitcher. He also likes drinking coffee, in moderation. School is always noisy so the library is where he goes; so he likes the library too.
It’s fun, being alone, that is. Sometimes he reads when he’s in there but at the end of the day reading is… okay. It’s a fun thing to do to pass time. It doesn’t make him stupid. But don’t get Edgar wrong, he’s not a nerd, that’s like the opposite of what he is.
There’s also things he hates. Crowds are one of them. Especially the friend groups that block the way. Studying was another one. Sure, he’s competing with Colette, the math genius, and he wants that scholarship badly but really, what kind of students likes learning? He also hates most of the students in Brawl Academy, old ladies who don’t know anything but gossip, birds, and the kid that everyone has the hots for; Fang.
Fang was quite literally a stereotypical jock who always has a crowd behind him everytime Edgar sees him. He’s loud so he seems to be everywhere. He’s also crazily obsessed with trying to be a main character you only see in movies. Edgar doesn’t know what the others see in that guy. He’s just a guy who’s slightly taller than him with long hair that he puts up.
Which, by the way, was against the school rules. How did he get away with it? Edgar hasn’t had a single clue. Fang also wears mismatched socks, which in his opinion, was the worst crime after Colette’s scrapbook that doubles as FBI files and a mistake.
But yeah, Fang was the designated popular kid — the opposite of what he is.
Edgar remembers seeing him a few months ago when school started again. Fang had popped out from the bushes behind school, face bruised from a fight. That had scared the shit out of Edgar. They met eyes for a moment before Fang cussed and was chased down by the security guards. Everyone except Edgar who saw it had a good laugh.
“What the hell was that?” he wondered out loud.
“That’s Fang,” Colette explained, also appearing out of nowhere. “I heard he’s always getting fights.”
“Is he a delinquent or something?” Edgar scoffs.
“Well, a lot of people do call him that. He rarely shows up to school without some kind of bruise, after all!” Colette cackles. “I see how he became popular from that.!”
Not that I care, Edgar rolls his eyes as he takes books out of his locker. He can do his own thing while I do mine.
All he wants to do is sit down, relax, and play with his phone. He’d say it’s pretty modest, if anything.
He shuts the locker door with a loud sound.
.
.
.
It was a little after noon then. Colette went down with a flu after chasing someone in the rain the other day so Edgar’s got nothing on his schedule. Homework? Done. quiz? That’s a problem for future him. Projects? Let his teammates handle it for once. Does he really not have anything but blast the whole Bad Randoms album for the fifth time now?
Chattering students passes by him as he walks down the stairs, sunlight spilling through the window. They ignore him, which by the way, is rude. But Edgar pays them no mind because it’s self-study time. He’s got better things to do than get pissed.
Usually he sneaks his phone to play in the library, but midterms are coming up so he thought about studying. He hasn’t gotten into trouble for a while so if a teacher catches him listening to music, he could beg his way out. Listening to Bad Randoms while studying didn’t seem too bad of a plan. Hell, if he gets into the mood he’ll even start the project he’s been putting off.
There shouldn’t be anyone at the library, he thinks. Everyone’s too busy trying not to get caught skipping.
Well, he shouldn’t have jinxed it.
If there’s one thing Edgar is sure about, it’s that having expectations will get destroyed by his unluckiness.
Because as soon as he opens the door to the oh-so quiet, and oh-so quaint library, ready to have the whole space to himself, he sees the man himself; Fang, sitting in the seat Edgar’s usually in. Okay, maybe not his his seat. But he’s still sitting at the desk that’s reserved for Edgar and the librarian (who was currently not here).
Edgar immediately shuts the door again.
A second pass.
What. The. Fuck.
Why the hell is the guy there!? Edgar screams to himself. He’s supposed to be in detention!
My library! My seat! My place to belong! He continues to grieve, mentally banging his hands on the wall. A student who saw him hurriedly scurries away. My only safe place that not even Colette thought about finding me in! My quiet self-study period!
He threatens to rip his own hair off and scream like he’s a Shakespeare story before realizing, Okay. No, he’s not some drama queen like Lola. He’s got a reputation to keep and it’s being indifferent to everything. And he’s sure as hell won’t let some guy like Fang ruin that.
So he takes a deep, long, irritated breath and opens the door again.
And there Fang is, looking up to him.
He waves awkwardly once.
Edgar raises a critical brow at him in return because who the hell does this guy think he is?
With another sigh, he slides his bag off one shoulder and makes his way to the other seat next to Fang before unceremoniously plopping himself on it. He starts taking out his notes and textbooks.
Whatever, he thinks with a roll of his eyes. Let’s just ignore him and do my work.
Before Edgar knew it, he had forgotten Fang was even there in the first place. Maybe it’s because he was pretty much making himself go deaf with his headphones, but it’s whatever. He only looked up when the academy’s bell that’s equivalent to an hurricane alert nearly shattered his eardrums. He watches as Fang gets up, returns the book he was reading, and leaves first.
Alone, Edgar stares at the closed lights of the library, evening sunlight now making its way through the window. He takes off his headphones, head still ringing from the music and the bell.
Another second pass.
He then pushes his chair back and stretches his arms.
That… was peaceful.
The next time Edgar heard Fang got into trouble for scaling the school gates, he found the guy back in the library again.
Edgar freezes in place at the sight of him but makes a beeline for his seat just as fast. As he takes a seat, he meets Fang’s eyes. He immediately looks away to his book instead. Jeez, that golden irises of his always unnerved Edgar for whatever reason.
The same thing happens as last time: Edgar continues to study while Fang just does his own thing.
Nothing happens other than the one time Fang fell asleep and banged his head against the desk. Edgar snickers at that but he coughs when Fang gives him a look. Edgar also learned that sometimes Fang would pull a phone out of nowhere and start watching what seems to be kung fu movies, but most of the time he’d just read. This went on until the end of school.
At some point, Edgar glances at Fang. The guy was chatting with someone on his phone this time.
I didn’t think he’d do things so quietly, Edgar thinks with a huff. A lot of guys said he’s a delinquent, but seeing him now, it sure seems like he’s your ordinary student. Or is this because he’s hiding from the teachers?
As usual, Fang gets up as soon as the academy’s bell scares Edgar out of his scarf. He walks off to return the book he was reading before leaving. Edgar watches him, pulling down his headphones. Purple eyes curiously followed where Fang had gone.
What kind of books does he read? he asks himself as he stands. He looks at the label on the shelf.
Huh. Astronomy.
“Didn’t see that coming,” Edgar mumbles out loud.
.
.
.
“Edgar! Edgar!” Colette’s voice reaches Edgar before she does, nearly knocking him down from a hug. “Did you miss me!?”
“It’s only been two days since I last saw you,” Edgar grumbles, his heart hammering from fear. He swore he saw his life flashed before his eyes. As they walk, he tries to push her arms off from his neck. It didn’t work so he sighs. “Are you sure you’re feeling better already?”
“Yup! Don’t worry about little ol’ me!” Colette grins, red eyes amused. “What about you? What did you do while I was gone?”
“You know, just the usual,” Edgar says monotonously. “Studying.”
Colette pouts at that. “That’s so boring!” she whines, letting herself get dragged by Edgar.
Students turn to stare at them but Edgar pretends to not see her there. Her white hair is stark against her black headband and she’s wearing her usual blue cardigan that had sleeves long enough to reach her knees. Edgar wonders if she ever feels hot in that.
“Oh, I know!” Colette suddenly exclaims. “Why don’t we go see the new cafe? The one I’ve been talking about!”
“Ugh, the new cat maid down the street? No thanks. You just want to take pictures don’t you?” Edgar deadpans. He opens his locker to dozens of Bad Randoms posters and starts rummaging through them. He managed to catch a photocard of the members before it fell. “You’d just force me to get in the picture too. You wouldn’t ever let it live down.”
“Aww, you know me so well! You’d look great with them!”
“Tch. Are you bullying me now?”
“How rude! I just wanted to do something with you!”
Before Edgar could say anything else, he suddenly saw a familiar silhouette down the hallway.
Fang, for once, is with his best buddies Buster, the red head always using sunglasses, and Maisie, who wears a bandana and a prosthetic. He’s laughing loudly with them, doing some kind of demonstration on how to break one’s knees with some moves in the air.
So you do hangout with them, Edgar huffs.
“Helloooo?” Colette’s voice breaks through his thoughts again. “Earth to Edgar?”
He shook his head before picking up the book for the next subject. “Yeah, whatever, I still need to study, you know.”
“You’re always studying! Can’t you have fun at least?”
“I don’t want to hear it from you, you math freak!”
Seeing Fang suddenly surrounded by a crowd again reminds Edgar of something. I wonder if he’s actually an introvert, he thinks absentmindedly. It’s always quiet in the library, at least.
School goes as usual and the next thing Edgar knows, he finds himself back in the library. Beside him, Fang had his nose buried into the book. That made Edgar realize that Fang didn’t seem to have gotten detention today, or at least as fast as he remembers. But they’ve come to the point where they tolerate each other so he left the guy be.
I guess he really is quiet. He hasn’t spoken in all the times he was reading, Edgar observes. He put his headphones over his ears. This kind of atmosphere isn’t so bad once in a while, huh.
And as usual, after the dismissal bell rings and Fang leaves first, Edgar gets up to see which section Fang had returned the book to. He visibly flinched in surprise to see that it was classical literature this time. That’s… a pretty big jump from space.
Edgar also remembers the first Fang book returned to and went over to see. He made a face at the children’s books that greets him.
Is he an omnivore? Not even Colette’s reading list is this bad, Edgar cringes. He turns to go back to the table. Or is he trying a bunch of different genres? Well, whatever. It’s not my business.
“What a total weirdo.”
.
.
.
“Mornin’ Edgar!” Colette laughs as she skipped to where Edgar was.
“Yo,” he greets back, putting his headphones down.
“Let’s go somewhere after school today~! I wanna have some fun before exams. My treat,” Colette hums. She was carrying her scrapbook and Edgar swore it was bigger than yesterday.
He sighs. “Nah, I can’t. I might have something to do.”
“Aww, seriously?”
“I’ll consider it if you give me your notes,” Edgar huffed in amusement.
Colette’s red irises sparkled. “Really!? Okay then!”
They were smack dab in the middle of summer at that point. Everyone’s wearing their summer uniforms. The sun’s brighter in his memories and the sunlight was spotted on the ground as they filtered through the leaves. Around them, students were hurriedly walking into the school to get some shade.
It was also one of the few times Edgar didn’t bring his scarf, safely tucked away in his bag instead. Just before they reach the entrance, Colette turns to him again.
“Huh? Since when did you have anything after school?” she asks. “You usually skip self-study to go home.”
Edgar shrugs. He rolled his neck, feeling the satisfying pop of bones. “Yeah, well, how should I put it?” he says, making a face. “I just had something to do. An errand or something.”
The crowd narrows as they pass through the school’s entrance. He notices Fang as the guy breezes by him, his long blue hair let down for what he thinks for the first time. He’s also stupidly tall, which made him stick out like a sore thumb, and Edgar feels his eyes twitch as he remembers his own height.
“Haha! That’s a first! From the teachers, huh? You’re becoming a teacher’s pet,” Colette giggles. She waves at him before going in another direction. “Anyways, see ya later!”
Edgar waves back. “Yeah, see you.”
Then she was gone. Edgar was putting his things away when he heard voices behind him. He looked back to see Buster talking to Fang.
“Fang! You’re coming over to my place, right?” Buster asks. Edgar stares in bewilderment as the other brought up a film projector. “Snatched this bad boy from the theater yesterday! Wanted to see if we could actually shoot with it! Maisie promised she’d come too!”
Fangs laughs at that. “No way! I thought you were joking! You could get into jail for that, idiot!” he says, jokingly punching Buster on the arm. He then waves the invitation aside. “But nah, I can’t. Not today.”
“Huh!? Why? What have you been doing in self-study anyway?”
Ah, Edgar realizes.
“Errands,” Fang hums. “Been trying to get things done. Also hiding from the teachers.”
Wait a minute.
When Edgar looks back again, Fang’s already looking at him. His yellow irises were brighter than usual.
“You’ve got to be kidding. Since when did you ever do stuff?” Buster points out.
Fang smiles knowingly at Edgar before turning back to Buster. “Well, I had a change of heart, I guess.”
Edgar blinks once and turns away to walk to his class. Students breeze past him on the stairs, chattering loudly. For once he wasn’t annoyed by that. He looks at the schedule Colette had made for him, counting the classes he had that day and when was his next self-study.
I’ll see him again today, he thinks and puts it away.