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"Glad you can make it, John, Y/n," Isen holds his hand out. "Here, have a seat."
"I didn't get much of a choice... You practically dragged me out here..." John sweatdropped. "Yeah, alright. Sit down will ya?" Listening to the male's orders, Y/n takes a chair and pats the one beside her for John to sit down. He shuffles into the cold seat and sits up straight.
"Before we start, I want you to know that I'm writing this article to shed light on low-tiers," Isen explains. "So please don't hold anything back and speak your mind. Your full honesty is encouraged!"
"Wow, really?" John says in surprise. "Of course!"
Smiling slightly, John says, "That's... really generous of you."
"Yup! Hehe..." Isen's chuckles slowly died down as Y/n stares at him with intense eyes. She didn't really say a word, though, but even so, just the mere presence of her made Isen nervous. This is for Arlo, he tries to calm himself down. Now... Let's find out what you're hiding.
"So, John... Where are you from?" "New Bostin."
With widened eyes, Isen became surprised by the place. "Woah, really!? That's pretty damn far from here. Is that where you went before coming to Wellston?"
John quickly raised his arms and shakes it as he tries to clear his words. "Nono, you misunderstood!" With sweat appearing from his cheek, he says, "I've been homeschooled for my entire life. This is the first real school I've attended."
"Hm..."
The reporter slightly narrows his eyes. "Oh right, I remember! That's like the first thing you said when you transferred in." Isen lifts his pen as he remembers the memory. "Was it?" John mutters.
"So, what made you decide to switch?"
"Well," John hesitates for a bit, "I've always wanted to see what a real school was like. It's just that my dad was a bit protective of me so I didn't get a chance to till recently."
"Okay. That makes sense! And how has your experience been so far?"
John lowers his head. With complete honesty, he says, "It's pretty awful, to say the least..." Picking up his notepad, Isen questions, "Could you elaborate on that? It's for the article." "Sure."
"To put it simply, we low-tiers don't have any rights. We're not able to defend ourselves, " He explains. "Everywhere is a danger zone for us, so we have to stay alert all times..."
John continues. "Life is scary for us. We can't do what we want or say what we think. One simple run-in could put us out for days or even a week!"
"Sounds rough," Isen hums as he scribbles something in his notebook, which turns out to be just a messy writing of New Bostin and a childish picture. "It is." Woah, he's taking a lot of notes! John thought, oblivious to what he really was doing.
"So, John...," Isen starts, "What do you do to survive this kind of lifestyle?"
"Well, we usually tend to stay--"
"NO," Isen raised his voice. "I meant you specifically. " John his brow at the odd question. "Um, I walk along the edge of the halls, and I try to stay quiet... Don't want to draw any attention to myself, you know?"
"Overall, I try to keep low and not get involved with anything. Just avoid everything, haha..."
Lies.
"If I could suggest one thing to include in this article, I'd say 'We should all accept each other's differences because nobody deserves to be treated lik--'"
Slamming his hands on the table, Isen gets up from the chair and rudely interrupts John. "Hold on," he says with a smirk. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves...," he says menacingly. "I still have a handful of questions to ask."
Y/n clicked her tongue. Did they forget she was here? She should probably watch just in case if something goes wrong. After all, she knows what Isen is doing. She's got him under a leash.
Let's just hope it doesn't go far.
"How did you come to pick Wellston as your final choice?" He asks the cripple. "I wanted to go to a top school... It's got one of the best academic programs in the nation."
"HOW AMBITIOUS!"
"..." John furrowed his brows at the reporter's odd behavior. Why did he suddenly become so aggressive?
Y/n sits up from her chair as she senses that he was finally showing his true colors.
"But...," with a dark look, Isen continues to push John with every sentence he spoke. "You must've known that Wellston is also considered one of the most powerful schools in terms of ability level."
"It's risky for a cripple like you to come here, yet you still did?" He accused.
"Ah... I assumed academics would take precedent over fighting," John reasons as he shifts uncomfortably in his seat.
"That's pretty short-sighted of you, but I guess it makes sense, seeing as you haven't been exposed to this sort of thing before."
Thinking about what John said previously, Isen asks, "What about your father though? You said he was protective of you. Surely, he had a say in all this too! He didn't warn you about what would happen?"
Where's he going with this...? John clenched his fists as he tries to suppress the raging emotions inside of him. Y/n glances at the white knuckles before back to the cocky reporter standing before them. Stop this right now, Isen. Don't you see why he's trying so hard to hide this? She clenches her teeth. He's going too far. Trying to use her eyes to warn his actions, Y/n frowns as Isen ignores her as he gets closer to his goal.
"How did you persuade him to let you move so far away from your hometown... and throw yourself into this kind of dangerous environment?"
Crossing his arms, he continues, "See, if it were me... I'd have you enrolled you into a school closer to home for a trial run first!"
Isen's eyes darken. "Unless that is what he did. And for some reason," he conceitedly smiles, "things didn't work out over there. So then you decid--" "ISEN!" Slamming his fists on the table, John stands up from the chair and leans over the table, forcefully grabbing Isen's collar and pulls it closer to him. "WHAT KIND OF BULLSH*T ARE YOU PULLING?!"
Standing up from her chair, Y/n says with a growl, "He came here to talk about the struggles of a low-tier. Not to meddle with his life."
Isen clicks his tongue. Sorry about this, Y/n. The king orders before yours.
Grabbing John's wrist, Isen's eyes glow as he activates his ability. "You are so lucky that Y/n has your back."
"Now get your hand off me."
John flinches as his wrist was met with a crushing grip and he lets go in pain. "UGH!" "John!" Y/n holds his wrist gently before looking up and glare at Isen. "You..."
The reporter picks up his notebook on the table. "Well, thanks for the info. You should probably get back to class," he says as he exits the room, leaving John with an injured wrist. "Go to the nurse first, John," Y/n says in a calming tone. "I'll deal with him."
John clenches his fist before letting it go in defeat. "Thanks, again... I'll see you next class."
As John leaves the room, Y/n tries to suppress his rage that was growing inside of her. "It's... not real. It will be fine..." She whispered as she attempts to breathe evenly. "That son of a bitch."
"N-No..."
Her glowing eyes shown bright e/c as it tries to overpower the raging yellow growing within "I'll fucking murder him."
It's not worth it.
Her eyes widen. Letting go of her clenched fists, she lets out a sigh as her purple orbs became normal.
"Yeah. It's not worth it."
Trembling slightly, she exits the room, feeling overbearingly tired but pushes it off for she had to find a little mouse in the school.
-
In the dormitories, Elaine was currently writing down notes for her classes. Her desk was oddly messy yet organized for she had several of her books stacked in one place and the rest was opened widely as it reveals their contents.
Knock Knock!
"Who could that be?" She mutters as she stands from her chair and heads towards the dorm room door. "Yes--" Her eyes opened widely as she sees a panting Y/n who was leaning on to the door frame for support. Her legs were trembling as Y/n was sweating heavily, her eyes half opened and she could barely focus. "H-Hey... Elaine..."
"What happened to you?!" Quickly grabbing Y/n by her shoulders as she lifts her towards to her room and unto the bed in which the h/c colored girl quickly collapsed in to. Elaine quickly took off her beige sweater and set it aside on her chair and removed her school jacket, leaving a white button top and skirt on Y/n.
Quickly fetching a glass of cold water, she hands it over to Y/n, who shakily gulps it down. "Why can't you tell me what happens to you..." Elaine says helplessly. "You always come in here, shaking and clearly worn out... And all you say is 'it's normal'. You even reject my ability..."
"elaine."
Y/n gives a comforting smile. "don't tell arlo, please."
Elaine stiffens before glaring at the female, her teeth grit as her orbs fill with anger. "Just tell me--"
Ding!
"that's him, right?"
Elaine grabs her phone from the desk as her eyes widened at the sender. Tapping Arlo's message notification, she reads: Elaine, you should inform the headmaster about what you found the other day.
She sets her phone down before turning to look at the female who passed out on her bed. "Please don't get mad at me," Elaine says softly.
-
" Seraphina, Y/n, please report to the main office." The intercom said throughout the school.
Elaine sits nervously in the office. Her shoulders were raised and her posture was tensed. Her eyes widened as she hears a click from the door as it swings open, revealing the two females that were called earlier.
Y/n didn't even bother looking up at the healer, but as for Sera, she made sure that Elaine caught her cold glare as she passing by. Elaine turns away, feeling guilty for her actions.
The Ace clicked her tongue in annoyance before gripping her fallen jacket on her shoulder and fixing it. "Come on, Y/n," she whispers before returning to her cold facade and swings the entrance of the headmaster's office wide open.
"Ah, nice to see you Seraphina, Y/n. Please sit."
The two students obeyed as they sit on the chairs in front of his table. "Headmaster," Sera nods as she acknowledges his presence. Waving his hand, he says, "Oh, come on now! Don't look so tense! You're making even me nervous!" He notes that Y/n wasn't even looking up at him, her eyes glued on the floor.
Listing his arm out, he shows Sera a woman with bright green hair. "Allow me to introduce to you!"
"This is Miss Nadia. She's here on the behalf of the authorities today. She is going to ask you a set of very simple questions." The serious woman stared at Sera with authoritative eyes. "Don't worry, you'll be out of here in no time," the headmaster assures.
"Alright ladies, take it away."
The woman speaks up. "This is an official interrogation. You are expected to answer all questions with honesty. Any false response you provide will be detected and will result in immediate expulsion from Wellston Private High School. Is that understood, Miss Seraphina?"
"Yes," Sera says as she lowers her head.
"Good," Miss Nadia affirms as her eyes glow. "Let's begin."
"We were informed that you had ownership of the book 'UnOrdinary'. Is this true?"
"Yes."
"For how long have you had this book for?" "For about twelve days now."
"And where... Did you get this book from?"
Sera clenches her fists at the question. She didn't want John to get involved in his mess. If this woman was sent here by the authorities as an interrogator, then her ability could be anything from Mind-Reading to simple Lie-Detection.
And judging from her expression, it doesn't seem like she knows what I'm thinking.
"Answer the question!"
"Last Saturday, I was walking home from Kovoro Mall," Sera recalls. "Suddenly, I noticed I was being followed by an invisible entity. So I fought it off, then ran. By the time I had gotten back to the dorm, the book was already in one of my shopping bags."
With Y/n's head still facing downward, a small sly smirk appeared on her lips as she hears Sera's story. How smart, she thinks. Twisting the truth, huh?
"Where and when did this incident take place?" The woman asks as she confirms that Sera wasn't lying. "The bus stop nearby the park around 8PM, I think."
Miss Nadia's eyes glint dangerously. "Who else was with you at the time?" Sera bites the inside of her cheek as her eyes narrow. Is this woman serious?
"Nadia, was it?" Y/n suddenly spoke as she lifts her head and stares at the interrogator. "We're very busy students. Please respect our time by asking revelant questions of the topic at hand."
The headmaster hums in agreement. "Please consider my student's words, Miss Nadia."
"... Ah, that's right. I'm terribly sorry, Headmaster Vaughn." Turning back to the purple-haired female to continue her interrogation, she asks, "Where is the book now?" "I destroyed it," Sera simply says. 'Did you read it while it was in your possession?" "Yes, I did."
"And did you share the book or its contents with anyone while you had it?" "I did not."
"Final question," Nadia states. "What are your thoughts on the content of the 'UnOrdinary'?"
"..." A small sly smirk appears on Sera's face as she recalls her conversation on the roof with John and Y/n. "I thought the idea was absurd," she truthfully says.
The woman's eyes glow as she tries to see with her ability to see if she was lying or not. With a small smile, she says. "That's a relief."
"Now, if you could step out for a moment, Sera, There are still a few things I need to talk to the Headmaster about. As for you..." Turning to the tired h/c colored female, Nadia speaks, "You're a different case."
-
Hearing a slight buzz from his pocket, John takes out his phone in the middle of class and checks who it was from.
Sera.
Excusing himself from the classroom, he quickly runs over to the entrance of the school gates, where he meets his friend standing there. "Sera!" He calls out. Noticing the purple luggage nearby her, he asks, "What's the luggage for?"
"I have a flight home in two hours," she explains. "Elaine ratted me out after all."
"They decided to send me home for a month." Surprised at her statement, he shouts, "WHAT!? THAT'S INSANE!"
Sera agrees. "Yeah, it looks like the situation was a lot more serious than we thought. The authorities seemed scared, with all the high-tiers dying lately... They really want to make sure I cleanse myself of the book's ideas and don't spread influence."
She smiles. "On the bright side..." Lifting up her finger with pride, Sera says, "They won't be coming after you any time soon. I managed to trick the lie-detector into thinking the book came from nowhere!" She pauses as John stares at the ground as he listens to her.
"It was pretty difficult getting past her... I almost got caught twice. Thankfully, Y/n was quick enough to cover for me which I honestly thought was strange. The interrogator didn't even mind it--"
"Sera!" John grabs her shoulder. "Stop talking about it like nothing," he says worriedly with a hint of anger. 'What if you had been found out? Your punishment would've been so severe... Not even your reputation or the Headmaster could save you."
"..."
Continuing to berate her, he says, "You should've told them the truth. The book was mine to begin with..."
"This whole thing started because of me."
Sera remained expressionless at his words. "None of that is relavant anymore," she says as she waves off the topic, "What matters is that both of us got through this relatively unscathed." Giving him a smile, she simply assures, "This will be the last we ever hear of 'Unordinary'. When I return after a month, this whole thing will be behind us."
Letting out a small breath, he lets go of his friend's shoulder. "I guess that's true. After all, I have Y/n with me to get through your expulsion."
She stiffens at her name. "Y/n... She's not here."
"!!! What? Where did she go?"
Sera looks down at the ground as she tries to think about what the h/c colored girl told her. "She's... going to somewhere. She said that she'll text often to keep up with you and me, though."
John frowns at the news. "Ah.. ok--"
HONK!
The cripple immediately jolts from the loud sound of the car. "Oh, that's my driver," she says. "Probably my cue to go." Turning to the vehicle, Sera walks over and picks up her luggage and gives a small wave to John. "I'll text you when I get home."
He waves ack as she gets into the car and drives off into the distance.
Walking back to the school, he looks up at the tall building and notices how it got visibly gloomier without the presence of his two friends.
-
"That girl, Elaine told me how you stumbled into her dorm with evident signs of sweating, fatigue, and a terrible state overall."
Y/n clicks her tongue as she tilts her head. "It's not that bad," she responds to the woman's statement. "After all, official interrogator, you know who I am, right?"
Scoffing at her carefree and disrespectful attitude, she simply mutters, "Who wouldn't? You're known quite well by the authorities. The youngest secret detective, Avenoir Xeno." Smiling, 'Y/n' raises her leg and puts it over the other and crosses her arms. "Nice to know that I'm still remembered," she hums.
"Starting at age 6, you used your talents to solve cold cases from all over the country, " Nadia lists. "After a few years, you retired due to hospital requirements, saying that you are 'unable' to continue the job."
The woman opens up a file and takes a document out and places it in front of Xeno to see. The female narrows her eyes at the paper.
"They said that you were unstable. Your ability had gotten better at it was good at doing, meaning that it was harder for your mind to comprehend and fight back the thoughts of murderers and insane people in general. The day you officially retired is when you were sent to a mental facility and stayed there for ten months."
"When you were released, they told government officials that you are not able to resume your duties and requested for you to live in a normal environment, so you were assigned to study as a student of Wellston Private High School, am I correct?"
Xeno lifts her finger to her cheek as she tries to think about what Nadia said. "Yup. It's me alright," she smirks.
Nadia glares at the female. "You're lying."
"What do you mean?" Xeno amusingly questions her. "It's the description of what I am registered to have, yes?"
"Just because you can alter other's memories, doesn't mean you can alter your own, Avenoir."
Taking out another file, she hands it down on top of Xeno's records.
"You were last documented as a power level 9.1, am I correct? Though I have no proof of my theory," the woman's eyes glow as she stares at the ex-detective, "You have used your ability to leave the hospital earlier than expected and to find a way into this school. I'm sure the government knew about this but since you were such an important asset to them, they allowed you to have a break."
Xeno suddenly lets out a laugh. "Where the heck did you get from?" She says as she wipes a tear from amusement. "That's not what happened at all."
Nadia's eyes widen as her ability tells her that she wasn't lying.
"A level 9.1, huh? The last time I was checked was quite a few years ago. I haven't used my ability properly in such a long time, so I've gotten rusty."
"That's another lie," Nadia growls. "No matter. Since we have received information that you are using your abilities due to the description from Elaine, we are here to take you back to that place once again."
After listening to their conversation for a while, the Headmaster speaks up. "For how long, Miss Nadia?"
"One year."
Y/n's eyes widen. "Sorry but that's way too much," she says seriously. "I can't do a year." The man nods. "Maybe lower her visit. She is still a student here at this school; missing out on a year of studies will take a toll on her record."
"We both know that's not the reason why she wants to stay here," Nadia responds. "Why do you want to stay here, Avenoir?"
"I have..." Her eyes trail down to the floor as she remembers a certain powerful male, "...bigger issues to fix here."
Standing up from her seat, she makes her way to the woman, looking up and staring into her eyes. "If it's alright with you, please make my visit for two weeks and then I can return. I won't start straight away, however, maybe a week before so. Three weeks in total for my healing process. Now..." Xeno's eyes turn a bright e/c as she smirks, "That's something you can agree with, yes?"
"You--!"
The glow of Nadia's yellow orbs flickers slightly, matching only for a few seconds with Xeno's. The student pats her shoulder, "Thanks for your cooperation miss. Remember, however," Xeno lets go of her shoulder before walking out to the door and opening it, "Remember who's stronger."
The Headmaster and the woman could only stare at the student as she closes the door behind her, the taps of her footsteps quietly echoing as she walks away.
-
Y/N L/N or... Xeno Avenoir?
Known as:
*Waffle head - Sera
*Ace Detective
Ability Level:
Past- 9.1
Current - ??? / c < 9.1
Relationships:
Seraphina: Friend
John: Friend
Arlo: Friend?/ ???
Isen: Friend/Acquaintance
Blyke: Friend
Remi: Friend
Elaine: Healer/ Friend
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Ability:
- Memory Manipulation? (Not confirmed)