"The oppression has made the narrator finally lose her mind." Aether comments, "The character is not allowed to do anything she likes or find peace in so no wonder she has lost her mind and tore the yellow wallpaper apart."
"Or it can be said that the narrator has finally realised the cause of her oppression and is trying to break free from it though tearing the yellow wallpaper containing a trapped woman," Kunikuzushi interjects Aethers answer, "She thinks she's the one who's trapped so by tearing down the wallpaper she thinks she will be set free."
"It would be great if you can let me finish my explanation before giving your own opinion," Aether says, gritting his teeth.
"But your understanding of the novel is only surface based," Kunikuzushi scoffs, "As a literature student, shouldn't you focus on the underlying meaning as well."
"If you had just let me finish-"
"Okay boys stop it," the Literature professor interjects their bickering, "Both of your viewpoints are correct, settle down."
"Also Kunikuzushi, do not interrupt other students' explanations," she forgot the amount of times she had said this same line to this duo, she sighs to herself.
"Tsk," Kunikuzushi grumbles, displeased at the smirk on Aether's face. He hates this pretty gremlin with all his heart .
Kunikuzushi does not want to get attached, he learned it the hard way when he had to move away from his childhood friend due to her mothers work and after that they had lost contact with each other. He made best friends with another child at the next city he had moved to as they were very similar but alas, he had to move away again and the news of his bestfriends death due to cancer is what got to him. He couldn't even say his goodbyes properly as they had fought on the day he had left and he hated himself for that. This had made him depressed so his mother got him a puppy, it was adorable with blue eyes and golden coat, its cathodic personality made Kunikuzushi adore him more but he had died in fire, Kunikuzushi couldn't save him. He wished he had died along with his dog in the fire, with nothing left but ashes.
Despite him living in Fukuoka for five years and his mother reassuring him that they are no longer going to move due to her promotion, he still had decided to not get attached with people anymore. His college life went by with him being a loner with a potty mouth so no one approached him, not to mention he looked like a hooligan to top it off.
Now as a Social Sciences major in his University, the students think of him as a delinquent because of his short temper and quiet nature despite him being the top of his class. Some say he has killed a person while others think he is the son of a famous yakuza group. He personally does not mind these rumors as they help me maintain a distance from people. Only Ajax and Signora, his college friends keep him company but due to their different majors, he is usually alone and he prefers it that way or he thinks he does until Aether comes along.
A few months ago, he bumped into Aether at a coffee shop beside the university. He loves their coffee. Aether was a new part time barista working over there, he worked with so much care and concentration that Kunikuzushi could not help but notice him. His golden locks were made into a braid, elegantly falling behind him and his matching golden eyes shone with interest. He looked beautiful to Kunikuzushi, just doing his work with dedication but Kunikuzushi didn't get a chance to talk to him so he let it go. But a part of him really wanted to meet Aether again so he decided to frequent the cafe more but fate works in mysterious ways, coincidently he ended up in the same Literature class as Aether. He decided to sit beside Aether but things didn't go like he planned them to and a part of him is thankful for that as he does not want to hurt himself again.
He approached Aether casually and took the empty seat beside him as if it was for him and just as expected, Aether greeted him like the sunshine he is.
"Hey," Aether smiled at him, he was glowing, "Haven't seen you before, are you new in this class?"
Kunikuzushi was so busy admiring Aether's beauty that he didn't even think about what to reply and just said, "And are you dumb? Of course I'm new here if you haven't seen me before." Oh fuck him, Kunikuzushi though as he observed Aethers expression change from smiley sunshine to someone who has been wronged, which he was.
"Oh umm.." Aether bit his lips, a nervous habit. Now he's done it, his stupid mouth could not remain shut for a moment could it?
"Do not talk to him like that, "the guy who was already sitting on the other side of Aether interjects their awkward meeting, narrowing his eyes at Kunikuzushi. He had hazel eyes with dark teal hair.
"Tsk," Kunikuzushi says to himself and settles down on his chair, mad at himself for ruining this. After this, he had done nothing but worsen their future interactions so he decided to just give up, they are not meant to be. Not only are they different personality wise but cannot agree with each other's values as well. Kunikuzushi was mistaken, he did not like Aether, he just met a very admirable rival and got confused with his emotions because the guy is so pretty.
.
.
.
Fast forward to present, Kunikuzushi and Aether had been nothing but a menace in each other's University lives. If Aether chooses right, Kunikuzushi will choose left. They can just never agree with each other. They would clash at every given opportunity and truth be told, Kunikuzushi enjoys messing with the honor student, his reactions are amusing.
"Well then, it's time for a group project." the teacher claps her hands as the whole class grumbles audibly.
"Now don't be like that, it's going to be a two person group so like always, I will draw your names randomly."
This made the class grumble more as the teacher drew their names and called them out.
"Aether" she looked at him, "And you will be paired with Kunikuzushi."
'What kind of cliche plot is this?' Kunikuzushi thought to himself and sighed.
"Excuse me professor but I would like to change my partner." Aether stood up.
"And why is that so Aether?" the professor asked, smiling, she knew why.
"I would like to have a cooperative partner."Aether replied.
"And I would like to have a teammate who does not whine about uncooperative partner without even working with them."
"Aether, why don't you try working with Kunikuzushi just for a change, you guys need to work together to overcome differences," she said "And Kunikuzushi, why don't you prove to Aether that you are not uncooperative, after all, you are the top of your class."
This made the class gasp and start whispering, just because Kunikuzushi was not on the top in literature class doesn't mean he is not a good student. He was always one of the top five students in the literature class and the model student of his major.
Kunikuzushi glanced at Aether, he was sitting at the middle row with his friend Xiao while Kunikuzushi sat at the back for sleeping purposes.
"This is going to be annoying," Kunikuzushi grumbled to himself.
The lecture finally ended and Kunikuzushi was getting up to leave when Aether approached him, Xiao following behind him.
"Oh look who's here, the cooperative partner." Kunikuzushi commented sarcastically.
"Hey don't be such a jer-' Xiao started but Aether stopped him with a hand on his arm. Kunikuzushi unconsciously noticed the gesture and a part of him felt more irritated now.
"It's okay Xiao," Aether looked at him with determination in his golden eyes, " I hope we can put our differences aside to work on this project." he extended his hand towards Kunikuzushi to shake.
"Well, how do you want to start?" Kunikuzushi questioned instead of returning the handshake.
Aether awkwardly took his hand back and said, looking a bit dejected "Umm, so how about we discuss our class schedule? Are you free today?"
"This was my last lecture for today." Kunikuzushi said, now feeling bad for not shaking the poor guy's hand but he just doesn't like being touched.
"Oh that's great!" Aether smiled a bit awkwardly, "If you have time, should we go to the library right now?"
"Fine by me but is he gonna stick with us?" Kunikuzushi folds his arms and motions with his chin, noticing Xiao's displeased expression.
"Oh" Aether spun around and whispered talked to Xiao. After that, Xiao left and Aether looked back at him, "Shall we go?"
"Yeah whatever." Kunikuzushi rolled his eyes and followed Aether