The morning light hit Latte's face gently, the soft blanket cuddled his body with immense comfort. The familiar sight of the school infirmary greeted him. As well as Alaric's face.
He was simply drinking some tea, probably the same sweet tea he gave Latte all those nights ago. Latte's hands turned to fists when Alaric turned to look at him. A soft look on his face as he placed the teacup down.
"Good job Latte, you did it." His voice was so...so comforting. He hated it. Why was Alaric messing with him like this?
Latte didn't reply and Alaric stood up to leave the room.
"Tell River that I'm leaving the plant research club." He blurted out.
"Of course."
He could hear the door shut and his throat tightened. Latte wanted to go home.
The door burst opened and the sight of Rook and Vil's happy faces comforted him, even if it's just a little bit. They were smiling brightly and were practically screaming in joy, especially Vil. Though they did admit that they didn't like the fact that he used a dirty trick at the end. But at least they're glad he won, right?
Vil even started to list down ideas for the perfect way to celebrate and he really insisted that it had to be 100% perfect. Nothing less, nothing more.
Soon, Ruggie and Jamil joined them. Ruggie almost pushed Jamil to the ground when he rushed to Latte's bed.
"YOU DID IT!" Ruggie screamed, shaking his shoulders.
"I did it!"
Ruggie sat at the edge of his bed, demanding how Latte did it.
Everything was so...warm and so bright. For once, he had some of that attention that he couldn't receive back at home. He allowed himself to be a little bit selfish, even if it meant losing a bit of morality. So what if he used a dirty trick to win? He won.
They all talked for a while until they had to return back to their classes. Latte leaned against the bed frame and shut his eyes. His parents...his parents wouldn't have even bothered to celebrate his victory.
They both love him and he knows that but they'd rather spend their money on making sure that James, his little brother James, got the things he needed. Maybe Latte was acting ungrateful and he's sure that he was.
But he just wished that they noticed him for things other than him being a helper, a babysitter or even an extra parent.
The door to the infirmary swung once again and a tall man with a weird mask strutted in. He looked very extravagant to say the least with his feathery greatcoat and top hat. His glowing eyes pierced through Latte's skull.
"My! Back in the infirmary?"
'Man who the hell is this guy?' Latte thought.
"Hm...may I please see your magic pen?"
He hesitated, not wanting to give up his only form of defence to some random man but Latte gave it to him anyways. The man examined it for quite a while, observing the gem placed on top of it.
"How odd...have you been eating well? Getting enough rest and sleep?"
"Um...yeah."
"And how are you feeling? Have you been in any form of distress or anxiety?"
Latte tilted his head and raised a brow. "And what if I have?"
The strange man sighed, giving back his pen. "I see...Ah how horrible!"
'Dude wtf—' "uh, sorry what?"
"My dear student, take a look at your pen"
Latte did what he was told and checked his magic pen, specifically the gem. He gasped, it was the same blotchy ink that was on the mirror that brought him here.
"That is what we call blot." The man stated. "It usually happens when a mage uses their magic excessively."
So that might be why he passed out. His anxiety and use of magic must have taken a toll on his body quite badly.
"Though, I've never seen someone blot after playing magishift of all things—" Latte gulped. " —it's as if your body and mind can't adapt to the magic you're performing"
Silence filled the room until the man laughed. "Hahah! But I doubt that's the case. Isn't it so nice of your headmaster to give you this personal lesson?"
'This guy...he's the headmaster?'
The headmaster stood up. "Well, I'll get going now. Goodbye!"
Latte just sat in his bed confused.
𖥸┈┈┈𖥸┈┈┈𖥸┈┈┈𖥸
The first thing that Latte did was go to Lilia. Sure, he probably should have gone to Azul since he knew him better but for some reason, he feels that Lilia might be a bit more honest.
He shuffled his way to Diasomnia, his body aching the entire time. He was told to just relax in the meantime until his team had to start training but he didn't care. Silver was nice enough to get Lilia for him as he let Latte sit down on one of the leather seats.
Lilia seemed to be floating when he entered the room. "Latte! A pleasure to see you here."
"Um...right." He gulped. "It's about Alaric and River."
Lilia's pointed ears perked up at the sound of their names. "Oh?"
"They've been up at the botanical garden."
"And?"
"And I think that they might be planning something." Latte looked away awkwardly. "I'm not too sure though, I could be overthinking..."
Lilia leaned back against his seat to think. "No, I believe you're right."
The teen tilted his head, urging Lilia to explain further.
"I told you that I knew your parents, correct?" Latte nodded his head. "Well, I also knew Alaric's"
That...that was unexpected. Lilia looked at him with a smile on his face, he couldn't exactly read his expression but Latte could guess that the other student wanted him to connect something.
...Their parents knew each other. His and Alaric's. He didn't know about River but judging from that awful dream he had, his parents knew them too. Were they all childhood friends?
No that couldn't be the case because if it was, why was Alaric acting like that?
"I see you've finally connected the dots. Kufufufu~"
Latte sighed. "I read somewhere that there was an incident involving my family and Alaric's, do you know anything about that?"
"Unfortunately—" Lilia crossed his arms. "I only know that it has something to do with his sister."
His sister? Alaric had a sister? Latte stared blankly at Lilia who stared back. He thanked him for the information but asked one last question.
"Why...did you ask me to keep an eye on him?"
Lilia's eyes widened for a moment before smiling. "That's simple. I'm just worried for the both of you."
Latte's brows furrowed in confusion. "Okay...? Well, I've got to go now."
"Of course. Until next time Latte~"
𖥸┈┈┈𖥸┈┈┈𖥸┈┈┈𖥸
He found Azul in front of his room, as if he was waiting for him. Latte didn't know who allowed him to come inside the dorm but he gave the octavinelle student an awkward smile.
He only seemed to notice Latte as he got closer. Azul fixed his glasses with an unhappy expression as he stood in front of Latte's room, tapping his foot impatiently.
"Where have you been?!" He asked in a shushed manner.
"Calm down Azul!" Latte took a step back in surprise. "I'm here now, so what's wrong?"
Azul looked around worriedly. "Let's go somewhere else."
He followed the bespectacled student outside of his dorm and they continued to walk around the school corridors. Azul looked stressed, much more than the last time they spoke.
"Hey are you...alright?" Latte asked. "Why aren't the twins with you?"
Azul took a deep breath, combed a hand through his hair. "Just a bit of stress."
He leaned against the wall and Latte followed, watching him closely.
"I heard that you joined your magishift team..."
Latte smiled. "You did?! Ah, you should have seen how cool I was Azul! It was so much fun!" He made a bunch of gestures excitedly.
Azul tensed at his words and he froze. Did he say something wrong? Latte could see Azul say something underneath his breath before the other student gave him a forced smile.
"I'm glad you're enjoying yourself Latte."
They stayed silent for a short while. Latte watched as the other students passed by rapidly to go to their classes.
"So about that project..." Latte glanced towards Azul. "Wanna talk about it?"
Azul turned away. "I don't think you'd like it. It's something that mostly concerns the twins and I"
"Oh ok..."
Silence again. He didn't get it. Why did Azul hide so much from him? He brought him here and yet he refuses time and time again to explain what is going on. First, it was when he and the twins gave each other those weird looks when he mentioned the plant research club. Did they know that River was there? How did they even know about him?
And now it was about this project. If it gave Azul so much stress then why work on it? Latte doesn't understand. He doesn't understand him.
"You know Latte..." Azul started. "The original user of your body absolutely loathed magishift."
Latte blinked. "What are you getting at Azul?"
Azul kept quiet.
"Azul?" His eyes narrowed.
"..."
"..."
Suddenly, Azul burst out into laughter. "Hahah! How odd...you and him...you're both so different!"
Latte stared at him in disbelief, a feeling of guilt creeping up inside of him. How could he have forgotten? This wasn't where he was supposed to be. He wasn't supposed to be here. He gulped. Of course, he's gotten rather comfortable even though this life wasn't meant for him.
(A/N: New cover! (⌒▽⌒))