Reincarnated ~ NighT

Eighth ~ NighT

The group sat, slack-jawed, at the girl who Sophia said was Katarina.

Frankly, she looked nothing like her.

But at the same time, they recognized her as their Katarina.

"Um..." Aiko spoke, rousing the group from their thoughts. "Why are you looking at me in shock? I don't recall doing anything shocking, you see..."

The group quickly shakes off their expressions and pastes a smile, Geordo laughing it off.

"Oh, no no," He spoke. "I- We were simply shocked by your entrance. There is nothing to be worried about."

Aiko giggles. "I see...It's a rather common occurence for me to be late, so you would have to get used to it."

Geordo laughs along, but inside he felt a bit of pride, being the first one whom Kata- Aiko spoke to.

"Simmer down now." The teacher spoke up. "We have a new transfer student- he got here a bit late, unfortunately."

"Ooh!" Aiko giggled mischeviously. "It's Raf!"

"Come on in." The teacher called out to the student outside.

Who went in shocked the group to the core.

"Good morning everyone!" Sirius smiled brightly. "My name is Nakamura Rafael! My former school ran into some troubles, so I had to transfer! And for everyone's information-" He looked at the Sorcier group. "I am Nakamura Aiko's cousin!"

"Yay Raffy!" Aiko cheered, to the group's shock.

"Yes, as Nakamura-kun as said- he and Nakamura-san are cousins." The teacher confirmed.

A student at the front raised their hand and asked, "Sensei, are we supposed to call them by their surnames? It's confusing."

"You may simply call them with their first names." The teacher replied, but then directed a question to the two 'cousins'.

"May the class refer to the both of you by your given names?" He asked.

"Certainly, sir!" Aiko chirped.

"Wonderful!" He smiled. "Now that that is over with, let us start with the lesson." He began walking to his desk.

❈•≫────≪•◦ ❈ ◦•≫────≪•❈

As soon as the bell rang, Aiko stood up, packed her bag, waved to the group and dashed outside. Apparently she and Sophia were going to meet up in the library.

Meanwhile, the Sorcier group had a meeting with none other than Sirius Dieke.

Once they reached a secluded place at the back of the stairs, Mary spoke up.

"What did you do?" Mary fumed, gripping Sirius' collar in her fist.

Sirius merely smirked. "Well, it was by the help of this little thing." He took out a necklace from under his shirt, pendant shining a dark black. "This is the one that manages this little world, you see." He explained.

Maria gasped. "Where did you find such an artifact?!" She accused.

"A little birdie gave it to me~" He swayed hauntingly, a crazed look in his eyes. "Did you notice? The majestic amount of dark magic inside~?"

Maria quivered, noticeably affected by the dark magic. Alan stepped in front of Maria protectively, narrowing his eyes at Sirius.

"Aww, how sweet~" Sirius cooed, eyes lidded. "But you really shouldn't be prioritising this little thing." He tucked the jewel back under his shirt and patted it. "You should maybe try sticking by your dear Katarina's side~!"

Keith narrowed his eyes threateningly. "What do you mean?"

Sirius cackled. "I mean, you have to figure out how to make Katarina realize that this world is not her own, and you also need to figure out how to return home!"

"We know that!" Alan snapped.

"Oh?" Sirius tilted his head. "But do you know that this world is aiming to kill Katarina?"

Their blood turned cold at his revelation, shock and fear coursing through their veins.

"If Katarina dies here, she also dies in Sorcier!" He declared. "But you won't be phased by that, right?" He asked the stunned group. "I mean- she already reincarnated once. She most likely will again."

"Shut up!" Nicol snapped. "Even if Katarina is a reincarnation, we still cherish her and her life! We will do everything we can to stop her death- and return her safely to Sorcier!" He promised.

Sirius hummed. "Mm. Good luck with that."

"Watch us." Keith snarled.

Sirius smirked, about to make another taunt, when the bell rang out.

"Saved by the bell." He sighed, closing his eyes somberly.

"Hey!" Aiko yelled, running over. "What're y'all doing here? Class is gonna start!"

"Coming from the mouth of the person who is always late." Sirius jokingly retorted.

Aiko slapped his arm, then tugged him to next period.

The group urged their bodies to separate them, but deep down, they knew that they had to reveal that Sirius is an enemy when Katarina has their full trust. So they stopped themselves, glaring at the smirking Sirius behind Aiko's back.

"Come on guys!" She called out. "We're gonna be late!"

"We'll follow!" Sophia, who just arrived, suddenly replied, causing the group to jump.

"What did he say?" Sophia asked once the two 'cousins' were out of earshot.

"He has a dark magic artifact. Apparently it is the foundation of this pseudo-world." Nicol explained.

"And apparently this world is aiming to kill Katarina." Maria continued somberly, averting her eyes from Sophia's stunned face.

"B-But why did you not separate Katarina from Sirius?" She asked them.

"Sirius is not doing anything yet, so we won't as well. Plus, we couldn't risk making Katarina lose trust in us." Geordo explained.

"By the way, how did you know that was Sirius?" Keith interjected. "You were not in first period."

"Katarina-Aiko showed him to me." She replied. "Apparently he also made sure that he and Katarina had many fake pictures together, to make this believable."

"So? What are we gonna do?" Alan asked.

Sophia stared determinedly at them. "We gain Katarina's trust back, save her from death, and bring her back to Sorcier with us."