St. Marie Academy was a world-renowned culinary school for sweets. Unfortunately, the uniforms' designs lacked a proper sense of fashion. The orangey-brown jacket had red embroidery and buttons and a matching skirt. There was also a beige shirt and a small red ribbon. A pair of orange shoes over the white knee-length socks completed the uniform set. The color scheme was sickening and clashed with Naomi's straight, long, black hair with purple tones blended in it.
It was a poor choice of clothing. It made St. Marie look more like a reformatory than a boarding school. She wasn't very acquainted with the school's director, but if she convinced her brother to support her cause, perhaps the uniform could be salvaged.
"Thank the Queen of the Sweet Spirits that anything looks good on you," commented her midnight-blue-haired female Sweet Spirit, Blueberry, who had high standards concerning fashion. "In any other person, it could make them look bland and sad."
Now, Naomi sat in the back seat of a car as her family's driver took her to the boarding school while she tried to calm down her dotting, overprotective older brother for the umpteenth time.
"It's okay, Hen, I'll be fine. Besides, Mari's there, so at least there's someone I know," Naomi reassured her older brother, who had to transfer to the main campus of St. Marie in Paris with short notice. "Maybe it's better this way, so no one will know we are related."
"That's mean, Fae. Are you ashamed of your onii-san?" Henri teased on the other side of the line. The girl rolled her eyes even though she knew he couldn't see it. "And don't roll your eyes at me, young lady."
The purple-eyed girl smirked at how well he knew her. Or maybe she was just that predictable.
"As if anyone could ever be ashamed of you, Master of Sweets."
Henri laughed good-naturedly at her teasing tone.
"Okay, I really have to go. We can talk more later. We will talk more later. Good Luck, Fae."
"Bye, bye," she sang, hanging up the phone and taking a deep sigh.
"Was he worrying too much again?" The white-haired male Sweet Spirit, Frosting, asked evenly.
"Isn't he always?" Replied the messy, brown-haired male Sweet Spirit, Pistachio, nonchalantly.
"He's just caring for a lady, as a gentleman should!" Blueberry argued.
"Please, behave, you three," chastised Naomi, who lifted an eyebrow in warning. "And, remember, stay inside my school bag all the time. We don't want to take the risk of having someone see you. Unless it's Mari."
"Okay, Fae-san!" The three answered in unison.
The car stopped in front of the large, metallic gates of the academy. It wasn't as big as the branch in France, but it was magnificent nonetheless. The main building was the size of a castle, a three-stored construction, large rather than tall. In the middle of the front gardens was a big fountain, and behind it stood the statue of the Queen of the Sweet Spirits majestically.
"Fae!" Someone called her.
Naomi turned and came across a beautiful girl with long blonde hair and big green eyes who smiled at her kindly.
"Mari!" The girls hugged briefly. "How are you? It's been so long since we saw each other."
"A year since your last visit," Mari supplied.
"I'm sorry for having you do this so early in the morning. I know how busy you must be."
"Don't be silly. It's a pleasure to welcome you, Fae. I should be the one apologizing for not picking you up at the airport."
"Honey-chan!" Blueberry dashed towards Mari's Sweet Spirit, Honey, who had very similar features to her partner and wore a brown and yellow striped dress. "I missed you! It's horrible not having another female Sweet Spirit to talk to."
"I missed you too, Blue-sama," she chuckled. "Hello, Frosting-san, Pistachio-kun. It's nice to see you again." Frosting and Pistachio bowed at Honey in response. "Hello, Fae-san, welcome back," Honey bowed respectfully.
"It's nice to see you again, Honey-chan."
"By the way, Fae," Mari continued. "I heard that another transferred girl is also arriving today. Have you heard anything about an Amano Ichigo by any means? Apparently, she got recruited by Henri-sensei."
Naomi noticed the underlying bitter tone when she mentioned the girl but decided not to comment. When it came to Mari's and Henri's relationship, it was always a stressful matter in which she didn't meddle.
"He may have mentioned something about it. I think Amano's grandmother was a student here, but I don't know much about the girl."
"Well, you'll have many opportunities to find out since you're both in the same class," Mari smirked in amusement.
The purple-eyed groaned.
"I can't believe I have to be in a class with students two years younger than me."
Mari chuckled.
"It tends to happen when you spend a year with your studies on hold. The additional year is for you to catch up on Japanese, Japanese Literature, and Japanese History. But look on the bright side, the other subjects won't be a problem, and you'll have plenty of time to practice. Now, come, let me help you with your luggage."
Mari grabbed one of the purple trolley bags as Naomi took the other.
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Naomi's room was on the third floor, just like the rest. Due to her particular circumstances, however, she didn't have a roommate. The initial idea was for her to share Mari's room, but the blonde was the Student Council President and had to have a place for herself, so Naomi was designated to a private chamber.
The room wasn't big - there was no need for too much space. A queen-sized bed lay in the center of the room, with big windows and a desk. There was a reasonable-sized wardrobe, a small area for an armchair, and a small center table. A handmade miniature castle delivered from France was on a corner, close to the bed, designed for her three Sweet Spirits to rest.
"You can unpack later. I better show you around before classes start. We still have an hour. Here is your schedule." The blonde handed the dark-haired a piece of paper. "By the way, does anyone know that you're here?"
"I enrolled as Takanashi Naomi."
Mari shook her head.
"I was talking about the Sweet Fairy," she corrected.
"Oh, about that," Naomi blinked uninterestedly on the matter. "As far as I know, everyone thinks I'm just another transferred student. Which I am."
"Well, everyone's already talking about the girl invited by Henri-sensei."
"I imagine that there are high expectations from her."
"Henri-sensei doesn't recruit anyone," there was a self-praised tone in her voice for being one of those students.
"My brother has great intuition and is an amazing judge of character. He seems sweet, but he's very cunning. According to him, I'll be able to broaden my repertoire of experiences here."
"Like what?"
"Like love," Naomi frowned.
Mari blinked.
"Is that so?" She asked skeptically.
"He thinks the French men are too uptight for someone so humble like me. His words, not mine," she rolled her eyes. "I'm sure he was being overprotective and didn't like how intimate they acted, preferring the Japanese culture of keeping up the formalities and straying from displays of affection."
"Are you sure he's not preventing you from having a romantic relationship?" Mari smirked.
"If it were up to him, I'd never have a boyfriend," Naomi and Mari laughed. "But he hopes I form more friendships during my stay."
The blonde sobered up.
"It was that tough back there?"
Naomi shrugged, unbothered.
"Sometimes. The students wouldn't dare bully me because of Henri, but they pretended a lot in front of me and talked badly behind my back."
"They envied you," Mari observed.
"Not everyone deserves Fae-san's greatness!" Sweet Spirit Blueberry huffed.
Honey and Mari chuckled.
"She's not wrong, Fae-san," the blonde Sweet Spirit supported.
"Thank you, Honey-chan," Naomi smiled.
Before they went their separate ways, Mari got to show Naomi her classroom, the cafeteria, the cooking room, the gym, and the Salon De Marie - a sweet shop run by the High School Council. Generally, everything was basically the same as in the French branch, just some minor details adapted to adequate the Japanese culture accordingly.
Now, Naomi just had to go through the rest of the year.
Easy peasy.