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"when making cream puffs, using warm batter is the key to a mouth full of happiness." mash advised, giving all sorts of tips for the perfect creation of cream puffs.
you were making your way back from the hall, finding that mash had been waiting for you despite telling him to head on first. his reason for that being... he "didn't want to get lost". eventually, the two of you had met up with finn, and mash's philosophical talk about cream puffs began.
you were silent throughout his passionate rambles about the pastry, daydreaming and being caught up in your own little world inside your head, but you were brought back to reality by your senses picking up on someone's approaching firey intent.
"someone's coming." you muttered, audible enough to catch the attention of the two boys.
"you! with the mushroom head!" an obnoxious voice exclaimed, addressing mash by his signature, yet plain, hairstyle.
a light haired student had appeared, more famously known amongst other students for being the mvp of last year's duelo, tom knowles, a second-year at the academy.
that meant he was your senior, and you were obligated to address him as such. but were you going to?
nope. who even cares? not you, and not tom, the dense and simple minded.
"how would you like to represent adler dorm in this year's duelo match? you can't spell 'life' without 'fire', so let's burn for all we're worth!" his voice boomed, attracting the attention of surrounding students, mainly the female students.
"and where's the 'r' in life...?" you gave him a ridiculing look. his enthusiasm was refreshing, but it was too much, really.
"great question for a great spirit! i don't know!" tom confidently answered, laughing as he placed a hand on your shoulder and gave you harsh pats on it.
you had gained some durability from training in the bureau of magic, but damn, his physical strength could pack quite the punch.
while his hand rested on your shoulder, you picked up his wrist with your index and thumb, as if he had some kind of contagious germ, and carefully removed his grip from your shoulder, brushing off some invisible dust after.
"please be mindful of the person you're touching. you might loose a hand next time." you warned with a nonchalant look on your face, but tom only responded with a bright grin.
"aren't you a brave one? just like bamboo! i like your spirit!" he laughed, his hand finding its way back to your shoulder.
...
you only had a tired, sullen look on your face then. finn attempted to give you an encouraging smile, but you paid no attention to it.
'i just wanna rest... i didn't get enough sleep.'
if you ever get enough sleep in the first place...
you sighed, letting tom have his way with his mindlessness. no point in trying to convince someone who was the human embodiment of passion and perseverance.
"omigosh, it's tom!! he was last year's duelo's mvp!" a girl let out a high-pitched squeal, causing you to rub your ears from the slight ringing.
"obnoxious jocks are usually the worst, but somehow he makes it work!!" another praised.
'no, he. does. not.'
"but who's the fungus head he's talking to? and what's with that girl treating him like some germ?" one of the girls brought their attention to you and mash.
"they're so depressing... bet they collect pill bugs together at home." the other girl gossiped.
'i don't even know what pill bugs are..'
you pinched the bridge of your nose. all you wanted to do was to return to your dorm and take a good 4 hour nap, not deal with hot-blooded seniors and love-blinded girls.
"so what is a duelo? and 'fire' spelle 'rife'." mash questioned, pointing out tom's blunder in his supposedly inspiring statement.
"we compete using our brooms! it's the number one sport in the magic realm!" the senior exclaimed, firing up at the thought of the sport.
"a first-year playing duelo? that's amazing!" finn hyped mash up, but you knew it would only give the mushroom-head unnecessary trouble.
should you step in? or let him suffer with you?
the latter would be more interesting.
"but i can't ride a broom." the dark haired boy tried to reason, but it only went in through one ear and out the other.
"don't be modest! you blew everyone away in class!" likewise, tom started to harshly pat mash's shoulder.
"why are you shouting? also, i said─"
"the game's tomorrow! we're counting on you!!"
"but i can't─"
"shoot for the stars! even if you miss, you'll land amongst your dreams!!!"
"this guy's denser than i am... (y/n)─" the boy turned to you, only to be met with you faking to be asleep.
'you traitor. you were meant to help me.' mash had a stricken look on his face.
'you're going down with me.' you peeked open an eye, giving mash a sly smirk as he let out a small, offended gasp.
'but for good cause. after all, if you win, you'll get a silver coin.' you reached into your cloak, trying to telepathically communicate with him.
you pulled out one of five silver coins, showing it to him. mash's head perked up, somewhat understanding your intent, but it didn't mean he wanted to participate in the duelo any more.
if he earned a silver coin, it meant he would be a step closer to achieving his goal. for his pops, he tried to motivate himself.
(...)
and so, there was mash, in the middle of the sunny field, being hyped up by his seniors.
you positioned yourself away from the usual crowd, seated on a ledge high up in one of the academy's towers near the field.
but you didn't think those two would be interested in duelo matches. the two who stood before you, shaded from the sun, your seniors, abyss and abel.
"it's the first match of the season! we've got adler dorm vs. lang dorm! the game's already heating up, folks!" the announcer exclaimed the match ups.
the players were already charging straight into the match with lang having the more aggressive play style, while adler had a more strategic one.
"i'm sure you understand what to do with the winner of this duelo." abel spoke up, drawing your attention to him as you lightly kicked your legs back and forth from the ledge.
"are your bets on adler or lang?" you dodged his statement, eyeing the players closely and their strategies.
"kairos." abel glared, silently suggesting that you take your place seriously in the magia lupus as it was your decision to join.
"i have a name. you know that. you wouldn't be content with me calling you alan walker either, would you?" you sighed, taking your sights off the match to finally face the dark looks of the duo.
"you've made your decision to join the magia lupus. it is your responsibility to upkeep your position, (y/n)." abel seethed at your name.
"so you think i'm slacking because i skip your unnecessarily ominous meetings?" you took out a card, sending it straight to abyss who caught it with ease.
"close your eyes and tear." you ordered. the masked student wordlessly complied, shutting his eyes in order to not tinker with your magic.
the sounds of coins falling onto the ground caught his attention, but he didn't open his eyes until the noise stopped.
he peeked an eye open once it was silent. the sight he was met with could be described as impossible. piles of full silver coins with a small number of gold coins, topped off with chips of bronze coins.
"in such short time..?! impossible, how could you have─" he immediately clasped a hand over the mouth of his mask.
"huh? so you can talk." you mumbled, intrigued by the mysterious aura of the student. but he didn't respond after that.
"...how?" abel asked, his voice was low and dark.
"i'm far sharper than any of you, it seems. some students of orca dorm had found a way to cheat the magic scale, don't you know? they're real smart." you knocked at your temple, referring to the brains orca dorm was known for.
abel remained silent, only staring at you, deep in thought. with his usual stoic expression, you couldn't tell what he was thinking until he finally spoke up.
"perhaps i have more use for you than i'd thought." he admitted, reaching down to pick up one of the few gold coins to check it legitimacy. and it was most definitely real.
you were about respond before you felt an unnatural gust of wind brush by you. you turned your head back to see where the match was at, and to your amusement, mash was floating in the air.
by kicking his legs.
kicking... his legs..
'he never fails to surprise me.' you let out a prompt hum.
your eyes trailed to the curve ball mash had thrown, and its trajectory was simply otherworldly. it followed through with the path mash had carved for it with extraordinary precision and accuracy, causing the ball was land right back into the palm of his hand.
he then threw the ball once more, repeating the action of performing a physically impossible ─ well, in this case, it was only possible done by mash ─ curve ball with the flick of his wrist. your lips curved into a satisfactory smile, eyes brimming with entertainment as you witnessed the ridiculously incredible phenomenon being done right in front of you and hundreds of others.
"i'm betting on adler, abel. and you?" you asked, not sparing the third-year a glance. he only remained silent, approaching the small window you sat on the edge of.
too, he was stunned by the sight of the unnatural curve balls. adler's points were rapidly rising, soon to make the ultimate comeback against lang. all from a singular student, known as mash burnedead.
a lackmagic who had managed to pique the interest of the bureau's insatiable dark horse.
"just retrieve the coin from the victor as expected. and, you're required to be present in the next meeting." abel demanded, stern as usual. you only let out a sigh, pitying the third-year for his inability to have fun.
'what are you? my boss?' you pursed your lips, watching the match wrap up with adler up with 999 points. another set record.
the crowd cheered for him, taking back their words when he refused to fly during the first quarter of the match. you smirked, certain that he would achieve his goal at that rate.
(...)
"it's not really coin shaped." mash stared at his recently obtained silver coin.
"wow, that was an amazing game! you've already got your first silver coin." finn gleamed at the mushroom-head.
"thanks. i'm never doing that again." mash declared, causing you to let out a chuckle.
"why're you laughing? you forced me into this." a vein popped up on the boy's face despite his unchanging blank expression.
"you did win, after all. i hope you don't mind getting signed into other competitions." you gave an innocent-looking smile, holding up a peace sign.
the look on mash's face was priceless. he was silent for a good minute, before he decided to pick you up out of the blue.
"huh? what're doing, mash?" you were cradled in his arms, bridal style, as he walked over to the edge of an open window.
"mash, don't tell me you're gonna what you're gonna do." your eyes widened, a sorry look on your face. but the dark haired boy was merciless, stepping closer and closer to the ledge while looking down at you, expressionless as always.
"i was joking, mash. mash. do not. mash! MASH, YOU FUCKING ASSHO─"
"hey, mash!!" a familiar, loud voice boomed.
your saviour, perhaps?
nope. just tom.
behind him, multiple girls squealed. none of them seemed to pay attention to the absolute danger you were in as you were holding tightly onto mash. sure, you may be able to heal whatever injuries your spell could register, but you were most definitely not insusceptible to pain.
mash looked over at tom, then back at you, before setting you on the ledge of the window. you sat on the ledge, heaving a sigh of relief.
oh, little did you know...
you watched as mash was forced into a tight embrace by tom.
"thank you!!" the senior hollered, holding the back of mash's head while loudly crying directly into his ear.
yikes.
"i'm not good with his type. at all." the boy muttered before his head rotated a full 180° to look at you.
he removed himself from tom, approaching you while you were carelessly seated exactly where mash wanted you to be.
"for justice." mash only said, his hands resting on your shoulders. realisation sat in far too late to act.
"YOU'RE SO DEA─"
THUD
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beneath the moonlit night, sat a certain blue haired boy, reading the newspapers.
lance crown, the top student of the entrance examination.
"the one from the entrance exam. they risked failing for a perfect stranger." he glared down at the sheet, burning a hole through mash's face with his magic.
"what a naivete." the jingle of his locket reverberated throughout the empty hallway. it was past curfew, there were no students in sight, except for you.
"it's past curfew, loli-siscon. go back to your dorm." you yawned, footsteps echoing. lance turned his head, sparing you a single glance.
"likewise to you." a simple retortion, he clicked open his locket.
"they'll be next." the look on his face was grim, even though he was talking to himself.
you took a seat beside him, hugging your knees from the cold atmosphere while staring at the moon.
"the moon looks weird tonight." you muttered, not questioning who he was talking about. if it wasn't mash, it was none of your concern. if it was mash, you had nothing to worry about, anyway.
"it looks the same as always." lance sighed.
"that's the problem." your eyes drooped, the pace of your speech slowing down as you let out another yawn.
"go to back to your dorm and sleep. you're talking nonsense." the blue haired boy turned to look at you.
his eyes barely noticeably widened. you leaned against a pillar, sleepy eyes staring at the moon with such unease. did the moon really look off? was it that unsettling for you?
"i've got a bad feeling." you murmured, unsure yourself of what you were saying, rubbing your eyes. you hopped off the ledge you shared a seat beside lance with, stretching your limbs.
"go back to your dorm. you'll get in trouble if someone else catches you." you warned, giving the boy a wave.
"a bad feeling? what're you talking about?" he abruptly stood up.
lance disliked the tone of your voice when you spoke in that moment, as if you knew of a premonition that he did not. and if it had even a chance of endangering his sister, he'd pull the answers out of you by force if he had to.
"sorry, that information's confidential. i shouldn't have spoken." you slid your freezing hands into your pockets, teleporting away in the blink of an eye, lights left in your trail.
'you know something crucial, don't you, (y/n)?' he stared at the spot where you once stood.
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ᶻ 𝗓 𐰁
proofread.
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ᝰ.ᐟ ︎︎ ︎︎ ︎︎ ︎︎ ︎︎AUTHOR'S NOTE
；every chapter is one
step closer to the arc i
actually wanna write...
just gotta push through 😔