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i.
cuts
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"Harley Vance!"
Harith watched from the distance as Harley woke up with a start. Eudora was standing in front of him, her arms crossed over her chest. This was the second time the Mage Genius had fallen asleep during Eudora's lessons, and Harith couldn't help but find it rude that Harley would dare do such a thing. Meanwhile, said mage just stared at Eudora for a while before yawning out loud. It earned a scoff from Eudora, before she pointed an index finger directly at his face.
"Young man, you better stop this habit. Do you think sleeping during training will help you get excellent grades for your next exam?"
Harley gave Eudora a deadpan stare before moving into a sitting position. His tone was mocking when he said, "Miss Eudora, I've been sleeping during your class several times now and still managed to get the highest. Do you really think you're the reason why I can score?"
Harith couldn't believe this. Harley had always been arrogant, but he never expected for him to act this way in front of his teachers. He had heard rumours about Harley yelling at the previous cafeteria lady and got her fired, but he had always thought that it couldn't have happened. But, now that he was seeing this, those rumours must be true.
Eudora was taken aback by Harley's attitude, and, in a flash, she gripped the mage's arm. Harley was startled when she did that, and his eyes widened when she moved her face closer to his ear. Harith tried to eavesdrop on what she was saying, but, since he was sitting meters away from them, he didn't catch a word.
However, what Eudora said seemed to make Harley's face red. In an instant, he yanked his arm away and glared at his teacher. His body was shaking when he shouted, "If you do that, I'll make sure you lose your job!"
Harley stomped out of the room after grabbing his hat and staff. Harith watched from afar as Eudora pinched the bridge of her nose before shaking her head. Inwardly, he felt sorry for his teacher. Having a student like Harley must be giving her a huge headache. His attitude was just the worst, and it wasn't helping that his parents were powerful people. His parents was the reason why the cafeteria lady got fired in the first place. Ever since that incident, nobody wanted to associate themselves with Harley. There were a few people who tried to approach him, but none of them managed to befriend him so far.
"Harith." Harith looked up when he heard his name being called, and he found Eudora waving her hand at him. "Come, it's your turn to train."
Harith stood up from his seat and motioned towards her. He noticed that Eudora looked slightly worried, and he couldn't help but say, "Miss, don't worry about him. He's just spoiled, considering his background."
Eudora looked up and gave him a small smile. She then shook her head. "It's not that, Harith. I just can't help but feel worried for him."
Harith blinked a few times. "Why?"
"He seems to be lacking sleep nowadays," Eudora said, her voice low. She then shook her head. "Ah, nevermind. Since he's a genius, he probably stays up late to study."
Harith nodded his head.
Yeah, that was most likely the reason.
- ♛ -
"Harith!"
Harith turned around when he heard his name being called, and he smiled when he found Nana heading his way. The cat elf was currently smiling when she approached him, but, when she got closer, only then Harith realised that she looked kind of sad.
"I have some extra cookies if you want," Nana said, showing him the packet of cookies. Everyone was given those cookies by her, including himself, so he was surprised when there were extras. "Do you want them?"
"Wait," Harith said, his brows furrowing. "Is this supposed to be Harley's?"
Nana was surprised by his statement, before she averted his gaze.
"It's Harley's, isn't it?"
"I mean, I don't want him to feel left out," Nana muttered, tracing the floor with her leg. "I just–"
"Nana, you know how he is," Harith said, frowning. He noticed that her eyes were glistening, and he couldn't help but clench his fist at the thought of Harley making Nana cry. "What did he say to you?"
Nana quickly shook her head. "Harith, it's fine! He probably just–"
"What did he say to you?"
Nana bit her lip before looking away. She was fidgeting anxiously when she said, "He only said he doesn't eat cookies made by a peasant..."
That does it.
Harith was about to find the jerk who dare say something like that to Nana, but the cat elf instantly grabbed his shoulder. "Harith, please don't! It's okay. He just doesn't like people, I understand that. But you don't have to do this."
Harith took in a deep breath. How could he not want to beat that guy up? It's bad enough that he talks harshly to his teachers, but saying something like that to Nana when she was only trying to be nice? How arrogant is he?
"I know I keep saying this, but he's such a spoiled brat," Harith said, letting out a huff. His face then softened when he looked back at Nana. "Sorry, I lost my cool back there. I promise I won't do anything."
Nana looked up. "You promise?"
"I promise," Harith said, gently prying her fingers off his shoulder. He took in a deep breath before exhaling. "I'm just pissed, you know. You're so nice to him, yet he keeps treating you like this."
Nana smiled faintly at him. "I'm sure there's a reason why he acts like this. Maybe he had a bad experience in his previous school?"
Harith scoffed. "Still, he shouldn't assume that the same thing would happen at this school. If he's not willing to give us a chance, how is he supposed to know that we're better?"
Nana nodded. "That's true."
Harith checked the time and realised that it was almost time to go home. He looked back at Nana. "Hey, I need to go to the restroom for a while. Wait for me outside of school, okay?"
Nana showed him a thumbs up. "Okay!"
Harith waved at her before motioning towards the boys' restroom. The halls were empty as he passed by, but it was normal since everyone was preparing to go home. He entered the restroom and was surprised when he saw the last person he wanted to see.
Harley.
The first thing he expected was to feel angry when he saw the mage. But he felt concerned instead when he found him sitting on the restroom floor, his back leaning against the wall. Slowly, Harith got closer to him, and he noticed how Harley's gloves were lying on the floor. His eyes then landed onto the mage's hands, and he was horrified when he saw them.
So many cuts.
The cuts looked like it had dried, but it seemed pretty recent. They were all over his fingers, and Harith wondered what the mage had done that would cause his hands to end up like that. He was about make a closer inspection, but he was startled when Harley let out a soft groan before looking at him blankly.
Wait, was Harley sleeping?
"What the hell are you looking at?" Harley mumbled, covering his mouth when he yawned. The moment he spotted his hands, his eyes widened, and he quickly grabbed for his gloves. "Damn it."
Harley was about to exit the restroom, but Harith stopped him before he could. There was no way he was letting him go, especially after seeing what had happened to him. "Harley, what happened to your hands?"
Harley rolled his eyes. His voice was monotone when he said, "Why would you care?"
"It looks serious," Harith said. He grabbed Harley's arm and started leading him out of the restroom. "We have to bring you to the infir–"
"Let go of me!" Harley bellowed, yanking his arm away. Harith was startled by how loud his voice was and released him. Despite his small frame, he could really shout if he wanted to. "I don't know what's your problem, but leave me alone. It's just papercuts."
Harith frowned. "That doesn't look like papercuts."
Harley let out a scoff before taking a step forward. He had to tilt his head up in order to look at him in the eye. "Listen, you don't need to act like you care so much. You hate me, remember? So, how about you just leave me alone?"
"Why do you act like this?" Harith asked, crossing his arms. "What are you so afraid of?"
"Me? Afraid? Please."
"You keep pushing people away," Harith said, sending a glower at him. "To me, it makes you look like you're afraid. That's why I'm asking, what are you so afraid of?"
Harley was quiet for a while. His eyes seemed to be searching for something, but Harith knew that what he said was true. Harley may act all rough and arrogant, but there was something that he was hiding. Maybe Nana was right, maybe he was acting like this because of a bad experience in his previous school?
"You know," Harley said, catching Harith's attention. He noticed how Harley's green eyes seemed to darken. "How about you continue to assume that I'm just some spoiled brat. Wouldn't that make things easier for all of us?"
Harith couldn't help but wince at Harley's words, because that was exactly how he had described him, and he allowed the mage to pass him without another word. Something about Harley's tone made him anxious, and he wondered what really happened to him for him to say that.
He was going to get to the bottom of this.
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note: so yeah, that's it for the first chapter. :) i know, nothing much happened in this chapter, but you guys are going to know more soon in the next one. i think some of you already have a rough idea on what is happening, but let's wait until we get there~