Ena

People cling to things beyond them when pushed to the very brink. They pray, they plead, they lash out. They curl into tiny little balls or go the other way, where they snap their backs as they laugh without care in the world—that moment once insanity took over.

This wasn't a story of despair. In fact, she's very far from the definition of darkness.

Tsubaki Ena was nothing. A background character. A girl unworthy of the title 'protagonist'. Like the rest of them however, she still dreamt of being one. A dazzling princess, a cheerful, hardworking idol, a talented genius. Ena wanted to feel what all the successful people experienced: to have the world revolve around them.

"Oh my, are you sure you wanna take that?" A beautiful girl with long, midnight-colored hair sat at the edge of the desk, her sharp, black nails pointing at the medicine bottle lying beside the stack of books and review materials.

"Give me a break," Ena said. "This is your merch, right? Shouldn't you be happy I'm taking it?"

"It's supposed to be a happy pill, though. A bunch of nothings-in-a-pill."

"You could help solve these problems. I need to get these formulas mastered tonight."

The midnight-haired girl cocked her head. "Is that so? Why didn't you study—sorry. I almost forgot how hard you've been at it since... forever," A wry smile formed on her lips. "If only I could do more than ramble on about things you already knew..."

"This is plenty. Your voice... it's relaxing. It helps with focus."

"The day before yesterday, a silhouette. Yesterday, a form. Today, a companion. The morning and the night passed like ships crossing, like parallel lines, blurring the line between... between whatever it is that needs to blur."

Ena rubbed her eyes, then the bridge of her nose, stretched her arms and dove back to her books. She needed to study. She wanted to study. After all, good grades equated to good life. Unfortunately for her, the amount of effort she needed to exert was double, no, make that quadruple what an ordinary person needed to learn.

"A learning impairment, huh," The girl ran her fragile fingers along the review materials. "You've done more than enough, Ena, far more than any person could've done. If my voice helps you, then allow me to... to..."

Ena grabbed the bottle and poured a bunch of pills into her mouth. The sound of munching and grinding between pill and teeth filled the quiet room.

The girl worried at her friend taking a bunch of pills in one go. "You could ace the test, but is it worth the risk of getting sick? Diabetes, nah, scratch that. Sleep deprivation is a serious matter, you know?"

Ena answered by slamming the bottle to the desk. Her lamp flickered as if surprised by her strong response.

"Tell me, was all this to become a protagonist?"

***

Ena awoke at the results of the test being handed to her. It's quite the leap for a daydream and too strange for sleep-walking. However, she didn't care for all that. Her interest lied at the sheet of paper on her hand.

She passed.

That's all.

"Kagurazaka," The teacher's voice brightened. "Perfect marks as always."

Applause and cheering filled the room. Despite the man achieving the feat regularly, his classmates couldn't help but be amazed everytime.

The man with a bright future, Kagurazaka Kenji, smiled sheepishly as if he had just gotten lucky with the results. He's not one to brag; in fact, he seemed not to want the attention. It's all Ena's speculation, but if Kenji hates standing out, he could just insert a few mistakes. Since he didn't do that, it meant he's trying to get high marks.

Wanting to be prestigious without wanting the prestige, huh, Ena could and couldn't fathom her classmate's reasoning. It's a mixed feeling. Like she herself wanted some attention, yet she didn't desire the reason she's known for.

A cold beauty.

Tsubaki Ena was indeed a beauty. However, her expressionless face often invited discomfort from her classmates whenever they interacted with her. As a result, the number of those who dared break the ice of this stoic queen slowly dwindled until none were left. The class merely accepted her as unapproachable, and that's it. Nobody even tried getting to know her... or they already did, failed, and lost all reason to continue.

The midnight-haired beauty appeared once again. She sat on Ena's desk as if she owned it. Nobody gave her attention. As if she's just air. "Ena," She called the only person who could talk to her. "You've passed the test, shouldn't you be happy?"

("Tsubaki-san, are you listening?")

"I am..."

"Then try showing it. Look at your paper and smile."

("Anyway, I was just wondering if...")

"Sure."

Ena realized she's been facing a classmate who, for some miraculous occurrence, was talking to her.

The midnight-haired lady was gone.

Meanwhile, her classmate, oblivious to the confusion of the beautiful ice queen, smiled and clasped Ena's hands. "Many, many thanks, Tsubaki-san! Now, we can finally complete this year's seven wonders..."

"Uh... for the record," Ena racked her brain to think of something—of anything to know what she just agreed upon without raising suspicion. "I get to read the article first, right?"

Although that went without saying, her classmate was too happy. "Absolutely! We can run a bunch of edits until you're satisfied! Oh, and I'll treat you, no, I insist!"

Suddenly, the room was abuzz with conversation aimed at the miracle. Wow, did the ice queen just show emotion? So the key was the ice itself, huh. Way to go, newspaper club. All sorts of compliments came up.

"Um, Tsubaki-san," A timid voice came from Kenji who's at the door. "Sensei called you to the faculty office."

Ena didn't remember doing anything to warrant a summon but she had a feeling.

Turned out, she's right. Kenji was bailing her out of the situation. Whatever, she thought. That's not something needing a thank you.

***

Classes were finally over.

Clic. Clap. Pop. Three pills from the medicine bottle she carried went to her mouth. The sweet tablets were quite good to chew Ena unconsciously timed her munches with her steps, which, as expected, became lighter. And lighter.

And lighter.

Even her mind felt calmer. It's working. The meds, or if she could say that.

"You know, deep down they're not meds," The midnight-haired beauty appeared once more.

Ena's stoic face simply cracked a bit of a smirk.