☆°.*•~✦ ᴀ ᴄᴏᴍғᴏʀᴛɪɴɢ ᴇғғᴏʀᴛ ✦~•*.°☆
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Lunch turned out to be not too bad as she initially thought. When she entered the teacher's lounge, Vargas was thankfully in there, so she seized the opportunity to explain her situation to him quickly. [Name] did receive a bit of a lecture from him, saying how careless she had been, especially on the first day, but she was forgiven regardless.
In fact, it was right after when the teacher gave a firm pat on her back, to which she lost footing for a moment and stumbled forward due to the force. Truthfully, it hurt just a bit, but the student chose to keep her complaints to herself.
Her whole situation was not under normal circumstances, not when she had such a big secret from the other students and was now living in the Ramshackle Dorm; he understood thankfully so.
Vargas handed off some spare long-sleeved gym uniform to her while he left to grab her some food she desperately needed. He even praised her for going to him first before doing anything rash. Those small actions alone were enough to give her strength to at least get past the first day after a restless night. Starting anew had always been an intimidating concept, the thought of being surrounded by unfamiliar people and changes.
There were a few solutions she and her teacher had come up with in terms of changing for P.E. One would be to arrive earlier than other students to change. Another one was to change in the bathroom before class, and in worst-case scenarios, she'd have to wait for everyone else to finish before going into the change room. No matter the situation, Vargas promised he would keep everyone far away from her while she changed, which was a huge relief. Thank goodness for Vargas.
As for her hat and magic necklace, they had to come off for safety reasons (not that she'd want her brother's beret to get dirty anyway). But since the necklace was the very thing that somewhat disguised her appearance, the teacher gave her a keyring instead to attach it to the pocket on the side of her sleeve.
Fair enough, she guessed. It wasn't like she had any say to complain or anything.
Now, on the opened field with her uniform on, albeit a bit loose-fitting, she turned her attention to the broom in hand. [Name] didn't think they'd use these on the first day, but to quote what her gym teacher said, 'go big or go home. Those muscles aren't going to build themselves.'
As Vargas was finishing off his explanation on how to correctly and safely fly the broom, the girl finally decided to look around and observe her peers. Overall, the others seemed to be excited about flying the broom, speaking along the lines of how they couldn't do so until high school. One student, in particular, caught her attention.
Almost as though to isolate himself from everyone else, standing on the side was a male with wavy silver hair with a very slight purple undertone. His hair was parted to the right, with one piece of long hair on his left side. He donned a pair of glasses, and his eyes were this pale blue, nearly the shade of metallic. Under the left side of his lips showed a beauty mark.
In all honesty, he gave off a feeling of being near an ocean and, judging from the Octavinelle pin fixed on the right front pocket, it seemed like she was right to think so.
Jeez, she didn't understand why all the people she met so far were so...so gosh darn pretty. Like, way to make her feel sort of inferior to them! She would be pouting now had it been her by herself and if the pretty student didn't look as pale as a sheet of paper. She could see him at least try to keep his composure and remain calm, but the eyes that followed and stared at the students flying were all too intense for someone who was supposed to be calm and collected.
He seemed shaken up and, most of all, downright anxious out of his mind. [Name] felt a tinge of sympathy seeing him like that, but she should just mind her own business and worry about herself rather than put energy into anything else. Oh, if only she told herself that a minute early and listened to her own advice. Before she knew it, her water bottle was already in hand, and she was standing in front of the student.
She and her nosy self, she mentally berated herself.
"Hey, want some water? You look like you need it." She offered her water to him in hopes of calming him down or at least keeping his mind off whatever was freaking him out.
He jumped a bit at the sound of her voice, very obviously not foreseeing anyone coming up to him during class. The male was so caught up in his own world, hardly managing to push down the nerves that slowly piled up as the lesson went on, he hadn't even considered that anyone would even bother talking to him. He had spent it living under the safety of the ocean all his life; it was only this year when he had gone up on land and had to get used to this thing called legs.
It was so, so painful the first few times, the prickling, burning pin needles shooting up his legs every step he tried to walk. Then, his legs would wobble, and he would fall down. Honestly, he didn't know if having his two childhood friends around was better or for the worse. There were times where he didn't know if he'd make it through it had they not been there, but other times, it was mortifying watching them get the hang of walking so fast and poked fun at him.
He attempted to hide his embarrassment, glancing away, but the slightly reddened complexion gave him away, not that she was going to mention it or anything. Still really cute, though. The male cleared his throat and readjusted the frames of his glasses.
"I..." just as he was about to decline, the distant yelling of the students threw him off guard. He quickly darted his eyes toward the front, only to see them flying mid-air, hanging onto the thin stick that was the broom. He swallowed dryly, sensing the dread in his stomach grow, much to his dismay. "Thank you..." he finally grabbed the water bottle she offered and took big gulps out of it, downing it until it was half empty.
While he drank her water, however, something dawned on her. Just before class, she did take a couple of sips from her bottle. As childish as some might think of it, [Name] found herself becoming a little self-conscious, and her cheek warmed faintly from the indirect kiss.
Real smooth of her.
Ugh, man, what am I, in fifth grade? She was really counting on him not to realize her internal dilemma.
This time, it was her who cleared her throat once he returned the bottle. "It's no problem; glad I could help, uh..." it was then when she noticed she had no idea what his name was, trailing off her sentence. Hopefully, he took her hint and could perhaps introduce himself or anything along the line.
And so he did. "Azul Ashengrotto."
"Right, Ashengrotto-san." She didn't miss the cue to continue the conversation. She supposed she should say her name as well to make it even. "Well, I'm [Name] Mochizuki." Azul merely nodded at the mention of her name, not looking much better than before she approached him. That wasn't too good. She thought for a second before speaking up. "Do you want me to go before you? I can tell you what it's like after, so you'll know what to expect."
For a moment, he was silent as if taking a while to contemplate her words and the arrangement she suggested, a long while actually. She was about to go back on her offer, feeling a little awkward from the lack of response, when he eventually said, "...if you don't mind, then please." His voice was small, barely any louder than a whisper, almost sounding reluctant—a murmur only meant for her ears alone.
"No, not at all." She was the one who suggested it, after all. It wouldn't make sense and would be plain cruel if she were to go back on her words. "It's nice to meet you, though, Ashengrotto-san. I hope we can get along."
"Yes, likewise..." you know, she couldn't tell if he meant what he said, or it was just him being polite.
✧ ･ﾟ : * ✧ ･ﾟ : * * : ･ﾟ ✧ * : ･ﾟ ✧
The moment she stepped through the Ramshackle Dorm door, which was locked from this morning (thank goodness for that; she had enough to worry about throughout the day), a massive wave of fatigue crashed over her tired body instantly. The girl did try her best to keep her energy at a reasonable level at school, being that she couldn't just fall asleep whenever she wanted to. Her act finally fell, being alone. Well, she wasn't exactly alone with the three ghosts roaming around, but whatever.
Immediately, she walked straight to her room and fell limp onto it the second it was in reach, careful to be mindful of her beret. The girl laid there for at least ten minutes or more, eyes closed and recounting the day's event. She didn't remember much of the people she met and talked to, except for three people.
One being the angry strawberry she had somehow pissed off and now was on bad terms with him. Actually, bumping into someone was a good reason to be annoyed with that person, but he was a bit unreasonable! Not much she could do anyway.
The second person was her seatmate during homeroom, Silver. He seemed like a cool, laid-back person who never appeared to get enough sleep in one night. Not saying that she could relate to him, but she definitely could.
The last one was Azul in her physical education class, more specifically, flying. Despite not talking much to him, she knew for sure that he was not a huge fan of that class.
The more minor details during her lectures today were something that slipped her mind. It annoyed her a lot, seeing that it would put her at a much disadvantage from the other students in the coming days, especially on tests and assessments. But she'd have to suck it up and play catch-up.
Ah, this sucked. She really wanted to call it a day and sleep, but there was still so much to do. First and foremost, [Name] fished the phone in her pocket and entered her passcode. She then tapped her way to her message app, clicking on the name that read Haru with a pink flower and a couple of sparkles next to it.
'Hey, hope everything went well for you at school! They'd better treat you well, or else we'll have a problem here! Make sure not to lose my hairpins, hehe'
She quickly skimmed over her text before adding an emoji she was satisfied with and sent it. Sending messages that were mostly grammatically correct was a habit she picked up on as a child. Beneath the lighthearted tone her message contained, though, she couldn't calm down. She needed a response right away. The only way to settle her nerves was to make a phone call, and so she did. All there was now was to wait for the rings and hope for him to pick up.
It rang for a bit longer before someone on the other end answered. "Hello?"
"What's up?" A small smile bent her lips into a slight curve, the anxiety from before dissipating almost immediately.
"Ah, you called!" The voice sounded both relieved and urgent. "Um, how are you doing? Did you get accepted? Do you have to go back? Are you in trouble?"
The girl was taken aback by the sheer amount of questions that were coming fast her way. She blinked, trying to register all of them. "Whoa, calm down, Haru. Are you that worried about your cute older sister? What do you take me for?" She threw in a tease in the mix—her way of lightening the mood if you asked her.
"You're only older by eleven minutes." Well, luckily for her, he chose to humour her and joked back.
"Oh, you're such a party pooper. Let me have my fun, will you?" They shared laughs that seemed to erase her exhaustion away momentarily. "I wouldn't be calling you if something happened, Cherry Blossom; I'm fine." His sheepish laughter travelled through the call. [Name] let out a chuckle at his response and began her explanation of her surreal situation, obviously leaving out some minor details that might cause some worrying. "Honestly, I was ready to pack everything up and leave, but that didn't happen. It's rather bizarre, yeah?"
"So, you woke up trapped in that coffin 'cause it knew you didn't belong at Night Raven College...?"
"Yeah, pretty much." Just thinking about being confined in that tiny, suffocating area sent chills down her spine, goosebumps breaking out on her forearms. If only she had taken a moment to realize what effects it'd have on him, dropping such details.
A shaky sigh reached her ears, filled with regret and hesitance. "I...I'm sorry you had to go through that. I was supposed to be there instead of you. If only I just tried to stop her..."
"Hey," like a switch, her tone dropped to a serious one. At times like these, the subtle hints of jest in her voice were not present. She knew she liked messing around, but that didn't mean she couldn't get serious when needed, "don't talk like that now. You and I know that neither of us could stop her, even if we both tried. Once her mind is made up, it's almost impossible to change it. Not even you can convince her most of the time. Besides, it already happened, so there's no point dwelling on it, alright?"
It went silent on the other end.
She placed her hand on her hip, even if there was no reason to. "Come on now, Haru. It's okay, really. You're not at fault here." A rare frown found a home on her face. She was certainly not fine with him blaming himself for the incident, regardless of what he thought.
"R-Right, okay." He paused, slowly taking in and coming to terms with her declaration. "If you're so sure..." there was this tiny hint of uncertainty hidden in his quiet words. [Name] wanted to remove that unsureness and affirm him firmly.
"I'm one hundred percent sure. Don't worry about it, seriously. Now, it would be nice if you didn't keep me in the dark about what's been happening on your end. Do spill all the details." Their conversation went on for at least another hour or two.
It seemed like her, and his situations shared many similarities if she were to compare them. With Haru attending Royal Sword Academy in her place, things got complicated as it did with her, but he managed to figure something out with the headmaster.
Oh, thank goodness, Haru managed to sorted things out, or else she wouldn't be happy about it, and it would've ruined her whole plan. Not that [Name] could ever agree with that awful plan anyway. Of course, things didn't play out in the girl's or her brother's favour, much to the twin's dismay.
Nearing the two-hour mark was when her tiredness settled in again, constantly yawning and fighting off the sleep of her heavy eyelids.
"It doesn't sound like you've gotten any sleep..." at his accurate guess, she let out an awkward chuckle, which confirmed his suspicions. "You know that's not good for you, so let's stop calling for today, and please promise me you'll get some sleep."
"Yes, yes, I promise." Getting scolded by him was quite a funny position to be in. "To think you're the one scolding me. Remember who's older and who's younger between us."
He huffed slightly. "Again, only by eleven minutes."
"Oh, you ruin all the fun; I already know~." She brought her lips out in a slight pout. "Though, I'm glad you could figure out how to pick up my call instead of fumbling around and missing my call."
"[Name]." Her name shaped into that of sternness from his tone, earning himself a laugh from her. She couldn't take him too seriously, not when he was so softspoken. He couldn't even scare off a fly even if he tried.
She sighed, shaking her head, and felt rather content by the direction the chat was about to end. "Alright, I'll stop messing around and hang up now. Call you again when I can. Bye, bye, Cherry Blossom~." Their phone call finally came to an end with a click of a button. She flopped back onto her bed, and, at last, sleep took over her consciousness without much of a fight.
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When she woke up, the moonlight shone through her curtainless window, creating a silver beam of light that poured into the dim room. She jolted up once it dawned on her exactly how long she slept for. [Name] quickly grabbed her phone next to her, pressing the home button to check the time. She visibly cringed at the screen's brightness in direct contrast to the darkness in her room, quickly turning down the brightness. The time read 02:56.
Okay, this was great. Unfortunately, the girl had wasted all of the afternoon and evening asleep when she could've been unpacking or cleaning. The one thing that kept her spirits up was one particular notification sent in a few hours ago.
'There isn't much of a reason for me to send you this, but as you know, everything went well. Everyone treats me just fine, please don't get into any fights with anyone! I promise i won't lose any of your hairpins, haha. I know my beret will be in good hands so i won't bother asking'
It was Haru. Although it took him a couple of hours after their phone call to reply to her message, it still managed to bring forth a slight smile on her face. Who in the world permitted her little brother to be so adorable?
"Heehee," a sly laugh, closer to her right, rang in her ears, "it seems like the missy is awake."
"Huh?" It took her a second to realize who it was and what he addressed her by. "Wait a minute, missy?" Although her voice remained calm and steady, she was freaking out internally. Did they really know she was a girl? Were they going to rat her out? The annoying dread sensation rooted itself uninvited in her stomach.
Two more ghosts popped into existence. "Well, you weren't exactly quiet with your phone call with your brother."
Ah, shit. It was only her second day, and she already got found out? Surely the headmaster wouldn't be happy hearing about it. Her head filled with racing thoughts as she tried to find a quick excuse that would save her skin.
As she was thinking, one of the ghosts must've noticed the girl's frozen state as he floated down towards her form, lowering himself down so he could be on eye level with her.
Ghost A gave out a small chuckle at her predicament. "Don't worry~. We won't tell anybody." [Name] gave out a shiver as the other ghost's see-through body flew right past her, now drifting around her restless self in circles. "It's more fun that way anyways, heehee."
[Name] remained glued to her place. They said they wouldn't tell, but she didn't know if she could believe them or not. You know what? Screw it. She might as well trust them for now. It was all she could do right now. If word ever got out to the headmaster or anybody, well, that would be her future self's problem. Yup, sounds like a solid plan, haha.
Crossing her arms, finally done with all the overthinking, she took a few steps backwards so she would be able to talk to the three ghosts properly. "Fine, fine, you got me. You're right. I'm a girl." A small voice in the back of her head told her it wasn't a good idea just to expose herself as easily as that, but she decided to ignore it for now. Too late to lie about it!
"Teehee~," one of the ghosts apparently found her situation amusing, like it was some bad comedy show on TV, his grin never leaving his face. "Is the little missy nervous we found out her secret?" The others soon joined him in on his laughter.
[Name] couldn't help but deadpan. Oh, joy. They were obviously having a kick out of her situation, and she wasn't happy with it. Well, now seemed like a great time to drop the news on them. "Since you know I'm a girl, I better tell you that I now live here, too. For a while, actually. The headmaster assigned me to this dorm, so I'm staying here for the time being. You helping me out last night was for that reason."
"If that was the reason why then maybe it would've been better if we didn't help you at all." Anyone would have been offended or hurt by that statement had it not been for the teasing lilt among the words.
"Jee, low blow, Ghosty." Her comment only entertained the ghosts. "Oh, how about finding another place to haunt while I sort everything out? I strongly recommend going to the Heartslabyul dorm. There's this stuck-up redhead jerk over there that needs to learn how to loosen up a bit." [Name] inwardly chuckled at the thought of the three ghosts bugging the short-tempered strawberry. Now that would be an amusing sight to see. Man, should she sneak into their dorm just to see that?
Yeah, no, that's the worst idea you've had so far! A quick trip to expulsion, if anything.
But to her dismay, the ghosts sighed a dramatic sigh, making her wonder what they were going to say. "As much as it would be fun to leave this place, we're bound to it for eternity. Plus, wouldn't it be bad for us to go live somewhere else in the other dorms? I mean, your secret could accidentally slip out, y'know?"
"Is that a threat I'm sensing?" As fun as this was (or as fun as it could be), the girl was quite over this back-and-forth thing. She needed to know if her oh-so-scandalous secret was going to stay a secret. This was so tiring. It must be around three in the morning right now; all she wanted to do was to lay back down on her bed and pass out. At this point, if this whole exchange went on any longer, she'd be looking like a living zombie tomorrow! That was a big no-go from her.
Wow, the ghosts were not so much on her side right now. "Take it as you will, Little Missy." Way to make it vague and ominous!
"Okay, how about we call it a truce?" Another yawn escaped from her parted lips as she rubbed the tears that formed away. "I keep the place from falling apart and clean, and you keep my secret."
The trio of the undead shared and exchanged looks, speaking in the silence that filled the air. "That seems quite fair to us."
As the girl turned her back to the three ghosts, she suddenly remembered something. Turning her body back to face them, she voiced out her thoughts. "Right, since we're all, you know, co-existing here, I'd like to add a few more conditions to our very fair deal."
The ghosts perked up as soon as the words left her mouth. One of them, the one she dubbed as Ghost B, placed his hand on his chin as if to mimic someone thinking. "Hehe, when you say it like that, it makes it seem like you're going to ask more than you can give~."
The girl smiled a smile that didn't falter and continued, "Let's just call it basic human decency, okay? First of all, please don't enter my room without knocking first. I know that you can pass through walls and all that jazz but just don't. Would appreciate it very much! Oh, and please drop the whole Little Miss thing when other people are around. I don't really mind it, but the nickname kind of gives me away, yeah?"
Was three in the morning the prime time for messing around? It must be because the ghosts took every chance to do so. "Whatever you say. Though, Little Missy, we're no longer humans; basic human decency doesn't apply to us anymore, remember? But do continue." Uh, alright, then. Super unsettling.
"This one is pretty important; I know I've already said this, but you really, really shouldn't reveal to anyone that I'm a girl. The only ones who know are the headmaster, some teachers, and some of the staff; not the whole education board know, I don't believe. None of the students know, either, and I'd like to keep it that way."
"Quite a mess you're dealing with. Speaking of which, now I'm curious." Ghost B hummed at the mystery that floated about (she did not mean to make a pun). "How did you get accepted into this school if the headmaster knows you're a girl? This is still an all-boys school, is it not?"
Ghost C nodded, agreeing. "Yeah, we haven't heard that happen before. Nothing should've changed unless we're missing something here, which we are."
"Oh, you know..." [Name] trailed off. "Well, it's a long stor—" she was cut off by the ringing of an alarm sounding from her phone, making her jump in her place from surprise. The loud sound blared through her ears as she rushed straight to her bed to shut it off. "What the hell; that scared the shit out of me!"
The numbers on her phone read 03:09; she didn't remember putting an alarm this late! After a few more seconds, her brain finally registered the fact that the alarm was supposed to go off at three in the afternoon, yet she somehow mixed AM and PM up. The alarm was for her to remember to unpack all her bags once she got back from her classes since she was too busy cleaning the place up the night before.
Oh, now my alarm decides to work on me? How many mistakes can a person make in one day?!
"It doesn't sound like anything is going your way, Little Miss!" Why, yes, no kidding! Everything was going sour and falling apart, and it was taking a toll on her, both physically and mentally.
She found herself letting out a laugh, bitter to its core. For the first time that day (or technically, night), her mask cracked. "Yeah, I've noticed, thanks." She cleared her throat as a way to regain her composure. "Anyway, before I call it a night, you guys have any names? Can't keep calling you Ghost A, B, and C, can I?"
The ghosts fell quiet momentarily, the grins wiped from their faces. They thought about it hard before speaking up again. "Sorry, Little Missy. It's been at least over 98 years. We don't remember anything about our pasts, including any of our names."
The other ghost, Ghost A, piped in with a suggestion. "How about you give us a name yourself? We don't necessarily need names, but if it makes you feel better, you can."
"Really? You're leaving the responsibility to me?" The trio of old fellows nodded. What a turn of event this late-night ended up being. Here she was, about to name a bunch of ghosts. Oh, boy, would this make an interesting story to tell Haru. She racked through her brain thoroughly, trying to conjure up some cool or creative names for her roommates. Screw it; it was way too late to think of anything decent. "You're Ghosty, you're Boo, and you're Hallo—you know, for Halloween, 'cause, well, you're a ghost, and Halloween has ghosts?" In the respective order, she pointed from Ghost A to C.
"Teehee, what creative names you've come up with, Little Miss~!" Boo couldn't hide his chuckle from her. Okay, how rude of them to laugh after she tiredly thought of something for them! Ah, well, she guessed she didn't spend too much time thinking about the names.
[Name] huffed quietly, twisting her body away from them. She waited for a second or two, sulking. At least she now knew they had no intentions of ratting her out. "Anyways—" she finally turned her head around, ready to finish her conversation with the ghosts only to find empty spaces where they used to be. "Did they just..." she paused, blinking, "you know what, forget it. I'm just going to go back to sleep."
Time to sleep her problems away! Kidding...or maybe not.
And with that, the girl slid herself underneath the warm covers of her bed, flipping herself to the side before drifting off into a deep, dreamless slumber.
・━━━━✥♡✥━━━━・
☆°.*•~✦ ᴡᴏʀᴅ ᴄᴏᴜɴᴛ: 4,920 ᴡᴏʀᴅs ✦~•*.°☆
❥︎ Ya'll don't know how much I want one of Kalim's arm tattoos, they just look so prettyyyy <\\3 also I think I have started to gain a crush on rook cause his pictures are beginning to fill my album so damn fasT- ~H
❥︎ I just want Vil to do my skincare and makeup ✋😞 but speaking of crushes, I recently finished watching the old and new Happy Bean Day... Vil and Lilia, my dms are always opened for you—
Anyways, thank you for reading our fic! Feel free to leave comments (or send in fanarts) as those things really keep us motivated and make our day ♡♡♡ ~C