ここ好き。
ここも好き。
daily updates --> every two days --> OOPS EVERY THREE DAYS
ILL TRY TO MOVE BACK TO A MORE REGULAR SCHEDULE HAHA THE WORK AT HOME JUST P I L E S.
CHEMISTRY LECTURES SUCK.
but rants aside half of chapter four is out tomorrow and i have ONLINE CLASSES
***
"Now then, what's Nikki-chan's dream?"
Nikki cringed as she peered away from her picture book, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, as her dark emotionless eyes stared at the lady who looked like her, like everyone else besides for a blonde who sat on the floor with her Barbie dolls. The little elementary-schooler skimmed her field of sight around the latter, making out the coral pink apron and the casual wear inside, dyed light brown hair that shouted out the latest trend; a bright youthful but reassuring smile that widened on her face as her cheeks dusted in a heavy artificial shade of pink.
Today was one of those weird sessions where the whole class had to talk about a specific topic. It wasn't like Nikki had minded. In fact, she was very social compared to other students who shyly hid away using the back of the teacher. Despite the differences of who she was before compared to when she was in high school forwards, she was a little girl who brimmed with innocence, childishness and wanted more to her life like any other child.
"Hmm, maybe eat as much as this caterpillar?" Nikki answered as she turned her book around to show her teacher. She blinked confusedly when she saw the lopsidedness of the woman who decided to ask someone else about their own dream. Her eyebrows furrowed before Nikki looked down at the picture book. What was wrong about wanting to eat as much as a fictional character? What type of other response was she meant to say?
Her back felt heavy when she recognised the two small hands, nails decorated in a flashy cerulean. "I think she asked what job you want to have!"
Nikki hummed in realisation. "Oh. What'd you want to be, Ichihara-chan?"
"A princess!"
"H-Huh..."
"Because if you become a princess..." the girl began as she flashed a contagious smile. She was as bright as her hair, the blonde locks showing that she was a foreigner. "You can get annnything you want! You know - like a cute dress or a ring or a new doll!"
Nikki thought as she stared at her classmate's face.
Anything? Mum told me that I can get anything as long as I work hard...does this count?
"Then...what can you do to be one?"
"Marry a prince!"
She stared at the blonde before a look of interest stopped her from reading the book. "And where can you find one?"
"I-I-I don't know!" The latter returned her a panicked expression, wondering why she hadn't thought about how to reach her dream. Ichihara Ayumi gripped onto the hem of Nikki's charcoal jumper skirt before jumping up and down childishly, then facing the teacher and screaming out her name. "Amai-sensei~! Help me!"
"Oh my...what happened?" The woman walked over to the two little girls who shot each other alarmed looks of trepidation; Ayumi, because she was the one who began the conversation about her dream in the first place - and Nikki, because she usually panicked when people around her began to.
Ayumi hugged her classmate in agony. "We were talking about how to become princesses, but Nikki-chan asked me how — but I don't know!"
The teacher anxiously smiled at the two, clenching her hands to her apron in terror. What was she going to say as a teacher? 'Oh sorry, a princess? You should scrap that and think of being something else.'? Of course not. Instead, she sat down at the levelled height with the two before sighing, thinking of an idea in her mind.
"Oh, right!" She gasped before pulling the girls down with her, sitting in a triangle as if they were having a serious conversation. Somehow, Nikki just wanted to go back to reading her picture book but the anticipatory of the blonde had stopped her from doing so. "Have you watched Disney movies? You know, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty...Snow White, Rapunzel — those. They all have princes and princesses in title, right?"
"In...title?" Nikki cocked her head in a confused manner. "Nngh, can I go back and read my-"
"No! No, no, no! That book is boring!" Ayumi grabbed ahold of the girl once again, pulling her back and falling on her butt. Nikki pouted as she rubbed her bottom, then facing the teacher once again.
"Ahaha, calm down Ayumi-chan," the teacher said as the blonde simmered down immediately. "When I say 'in title', I mean that you don't have to be a princess to feel like one or to get what you want. Even if you grow up and find yourself a person you like, they can still treat you love that money can't buy. You can also treat yourself once you get rich by your job."
Nikki squinted her eyes. "But if they don't pay for my food, they won't get my love!"
"Nikki-chan, food can come later — but I get what you mean!" The adult hissed in relation, still laughing at the elementary student's fast and cunning response. "Imagine a beautiful day where you get to wear a long white dress, a pure laced veil draped over your head as the wedding bells chime in a pleasant melody! Now, now, you two, what bouquet of flowers would you like?"
The two stared at each other before Ayumi lifted an arm up. "Lilies!"
"Why lilies?" Nikki asked, expecting a generic answer like red roses.
Onyx met azure as the latter answered. "My mummy said she got lilies from daddy, and they mean devotion, passion and purity! They look super pretty as well!"
Nikki, not knowing what the three words listed meant, decided to ignore asking just in case she was the only one who didn't understand the definitions. "Okay..?"
"How about you?"
"M-Me?" Nikki stuttered before looking around the room as if she were looking for clues. She locked eyes with a little painting that she drew a while back at the beginning of the year, the motif of the activity she did before being about drawing something important to them. Her memories traced back to when her mother was hospitalised, a present within a gift bag decorated in the angels of the sun in the form of a flower.
Nikki placed a hand on her chin as she hummed aloud.
"Maybe...sunflowers?"
🌻
Mira covered her mouth with the crease of her elbow, waking herself up if she wanted to study attentively instead of snoozing and recalling some parts of her past as Nikki instead. It wasn't a bad thing to recall about being her old self, but she felt that it was good enough to let go of it in order to start a new life. Shaking her head to focus, she kept her head in front of the page using one hand that squished a side of her cheek. It was a pain not to be able to use her other hand due to the fact that she had to lie about injuring it. Lying about a leg injury would be more risky, especially if she were to be unbalanced when she walked, so she had decided to cast her right hand as an excuse not to write anything during class.
Prince, my ass.
I fell in love with a glutton of a hyena, if anything.
Mira flicked through the pages of her history textbook, from the spells and techniques that derived from famous wizards; the names that she had heard every single history lesson with Mozus Trein that made her forget all about the things she had learnt from Earth. She tried tapping her mind out to recall about the order of the eras of Japan, yet it was a buckle under the strain when all she could think about was the fact that the shows she had belittled long ago had suddenly become things she was forced to look up to.
Not looking up at the TV screen, though.
"Page 163 is about enhancing the chemical components of healing potions and where it came from...171 is the history of the pentagram..." Mira whispered to herself as she tried to find the history of the academy. She knew she should've had checked the contents before flipping from page to page, yet it was too late and she had never been the type to check it first anyway. Instead, she closed the book before childishly opening it to a random page, praying for her to hit the right subject as if she had drawn an SSR from a game.
To her surprise, she was on the final page of the history of Night Raven College; mentally cheering in triumph as she pumped her hands in the air. Gaining stares from the members of the library, she sweatdropped before nervously looking back at the textbook to dissipate the attention she had caused. Her eyes skimmed through the dates, checking out the oddly beautiful positioning of the Great Seven statues. Of course, every image was probably edited one way or another, so she ignored it and copied down the dot points word to word instead.
BRRRT.
BRRRRTT.
Mira jerked forward as she caught her vibrating phone from jumping out of the table, giving the librarian a lopsided smile of fake guilt. Not looking at the textbook as she flipped it to a random page, focusing on the phone that vibrated as she slid the pick-up button, Mira brought the device to her ear as she falsely read the page in front of her.
"W-Whats up?" She whispered, eyes on a weird painting that displayed people wearing hoods holding sketchy books with their hands out, circling around a little child that seemed to be clamping their head using their arms in pain. Furrowing her eyebrows at the horrid picture despite not focusing on it, she waited for a response from the other side of the phone.
"Amir-san, we're in big trouble!"
"What? Trouble!?" Mira lifted her head in amusement and almost turned up the volume of her voice, stopping herself once she met with the librarian's stern expression with a hint of suspicion that she wasn't studying. Looking back down on the book and pretending to read, her eyes caught on the words 'Black Magic Reincarnation', then blinking her eyes as she heard another response from the other side.
"We ran into some problems when we were asking some other victims, but is it alright if you come to us for now? We're at the courtyard..."
"I see. I'm at the library so the trip isn't far — just wait a minute," she replied before shutting the history textbook shut, then zipping her pencil case as she ran over to the counter. Stuffing her phone back to her pocket, she gave the librarian a polite smile as she placed the book on the countertop. It was the first time for her to borrow something from the library, so she decided that it would be the same when she borrowed from Earth.
Seeing a stamp sparkle on the desk as it rested on the final page of the textbook, it pressed onto the page before she saw her name embedded on the little postcard. Thanking the librarian, she immediately moved her legs to the courtyard in hopes of meeting the group of troublemakers. The hardcover pressed onto her chest and cast as she whisked her head from side to side, finding the familiar Heartslabyul group and the two members of the Ramshackle dorm.
"Hm? What are they doing?" She muttered to herself when she saw Ace, Deuce and Yuu panting in unison as they dashed across the courtyard, stopping and facing a familiar figure with soft ears. Her eyelids lowered when her mind raced in thought, coming to a hypothesis that they had tried to find the perpetrator of it all. Of course, she didn't recall telling them that Ruggie was the one who caused the injuries despite Leona being the mastermind — but the sight of their interactions causing more conflict had deflated her good mood.
Sighing, she found herself running to them in anxiousness, wondering what had happened for them to play a little game of chase.
"Shishishi~! That's all you can do with the three of you? You guys aren't much, huh?" Came Ruggie's confidence, his hands holding onto two magical pens with red jewels implanted on them. She cocked a brow, her hands crossed as the Heartslabyul duo cussed in defeat.
"Haah, w-what's with this guy!? He's way too quick!" Ace huffed as he leaned forward to catch his breath.
Deuce did the same, yet stared at the second-year in front of them. "He's not just fast - he's freakishly acrobatic!"
"Shishishi~! Compared to the backstreets in the slums, this is a bree— OW!" Ruggie yelped before seeing the figure behind him, the seaweed-haired girl slamming the hardcover history book to his head. An irk mark popped on her forehead, an irritated gaze settling on her ambers as she scowled.
"What's the problem?" She asked despite patching up the scenario in her mind. Looking down at the pens that he stole, she hummed in an understanding as if she had just realised what was going on. Giving him a close-eyed smile regardless of the death glare in her eyes, she continuously thumped the book on his head; causing him to shout in pain. "You guys aren't geese, what's with this game of chase?"
"We were just playing around!" Ruggie answered, exaggerating his verbal tic as he covered his scalp from any more pain, a bothered look on his face. His eyes then laid on her right arm, a cast wrapped over that almost seemed to camouflage with her white sleeves; causing his eyes to twitch in suspicion. Immediately, panic began to rush through his mind — wondering if Leona himself had harmed her or some other member doing the job instead of him. His voice went deeper as he pointed at her arm. "Hm? What happened there?"
She blinked before awkwardly staring at the cast, whispering her reply so the others didn't hear. "I-I fell off my bed?"
"Huh? How does falling off your bed cause tha—"
Deuce snapped in anger, his hand pointing at the Savanaclaw member. "Playing? Aren't you the one who caused all those acci—"
"Woah, woah, there!" Ruggie interrupted as he immediately slapped his hands on Mira's head, not wanting to let her know what he had done for the past few incidents. "I mean, even if you caught me — how're you gonna prove that I'm the culprit?"
W-What should I do? Mira thought as she blinked in awkwardness. He thinks my ears are on my HEAD. Should I shut up and pretend that I actually can't hear their conversation-? Wait, that'd be too risky...let's feign ignorance talk to him instead.
"What are you guys talking about? Incidents? Culprit?" She asked immaculately as she peered to look at the male above her, causing him to freeze upon realising his mistake. "If there's something you don't want me to hear, my ears are over here." Mira took his hands, having difficulty because she only had one hand, before placing them on the sides of her head, his cold touch somehow cooling down the warm and somehow burning sensation of her ears.
Ace furrowed his eyebrows before resting his hands on his hips, highly confused about why she was trying to act like she was on no one's side. "No, no — what are you on about? You're the one who researched all of t—"
"HAHaHa- what buttcrack are you on!?" Mira immediately slapped her own palm on the tops of Ruggie's head, feeling the folds of his ears brushing on her skin before glaring at the first-years in panic. "Let's not talk about random nonsense, shall we? You, go return those magical pens or Riddle will yeet you with his long-ass wand."
Ruggie did as told, the word 'killjoy' written all over his face before making eye contact with the Heartslabyul members and returning them a snicker. Deuce and Ace stiffened in anger, realising the difference in treatment that they received compared to the Diasomnia member who had her arms uncomfortably folded unbeknownst of the switch. "Now then, that's it for today's game of tag~! Oh, and I'll be leaving these magical pens here — bye-bye!"
With that, he tossed the magical pens aimlessly to the first-years' direction, causing them to alarmingly catch them unless they wanted to hear more from their dorm leader. Before they knew it, his figure disappeared to the distance as they processed their thoughts.
Yuu blinked, a nervous expression bearing on her face. "D-Did I hear wrong..? I think he might do something again..."
"Ahh, just leave him be," Mira said, uninterested about the panicked expressions coming from the Heartslabyul duo who didn't want to get 'off-with-their-head'-ed by Riddle. Mira comforted her doormmate by patting her hand on the latter's back, sighing from the commotion her friend had just caused. Of course, she wanted to solve the problem with just a click of a finger — but life wasn't easy and she knew her demise once Leona had found out about her scheme.
Looking up, her eyes caught a student walking towards them with a ridiculous height — two long ears on his head as he gave them a look.
"You guys still haven't learnt your lesson?"
Her eyes widened when she met with his ears, a light bulb fluorescently lighting up in her mind as she immediately hopped towards him with a sudden attentive expression brightening up her facial features. Was there always a wolf in the Lion King franchise? That said...
"What now? You should've helped instead of just watching," Ace snapped as he pushed the blame on someone else. "Your dorm is full of bastards like him."
"W-Wait, that's a bit—" Mira held her arm up to stop him from saying anything further. She saw the glint in the bystander's eyes; as Yuu had said, they hit differently in some way. Furthermore, she knew that not all the Savanaclaw members were bastards — perhaps Leona might have a screw somewhere in his head, but if anything, she didn't want to ruin any chances of bringing the wolf to their side. She did say it — no matter how small the chance is, she was able to push someone to guide her as simply as possible.
"You...are you perhaps Jack Howl?" She asked despite knowing the answer. Wolf-like features? Howl as their surname? She mentally scoffed at the Disney setting. Giving her best business smile, she gave out a hand for him to shake. "I have a proposal to make."
"Like I said with these guys, I ain't making any truces," he denied with an irritated glare. "Why are you working so hard for other people's sake?"
The group exchanged perplexed looks before staring at Jack once again, a sinister grin planted on their faces besides Yuu and Mira. Mira, of course, only did it to save her friend; yet the idea of an advantage coming from the first-years who wanted nothing more than to participate and take the spots of their upperclassmen had taken an interest to her. Despite not entering the tournament due to 'parental issues', she was intent to know the feeling of being competitive live on TV. Shaking the idiotic idea out of her mind, she focused on the current situation unfolding in front of her.
"Other people's?" Deuce repeated in a confused manner, realising that Jack had made an error on his side.
"Getting back at the culprit for those who got hurt is something I understand, but..."
Ace interrupted him with a straightforward attitude, placing a hand on his hip and speaking out his opinion. "Huh? What're you on about?"
"Eh?"
Immediately, Ace's face twisted into the most mischievous grin. "Who said we're doing this for other people's sake?"
Deuce stepped up in agreement. "We just want to score points by catching the culprit."
"Right, right; then get picked for the Magical Shift tournament and showing off to the entire world."
Grim placed his paws on his hips, his eyebrows curled in determination. "I'm gonna catch that guy before getting on the TV!"
"I feel bad for Trey-senpai, but I'm gonna take his position — it seems?" Ace demanded in confidence, earning a nod from Deuce. Mira sweatdropped, noticing that the two really were a pair instead of rivals — and perhaps, they didn't need her help to persuade Jack after all. Seeing the shocked look from the wolf had caused her to realise that she wasn't technically needed in order to coax him into joining. She found her lips curling in a comfortable fashion and rested her casted arm on the other.
Jack huffed as he understood their motif. "I can't trust those who just do things for others, but...you guys are worse than I thought." He settled an impressed smile on his face before Ace grunted, begging to differ.
"What's with that, you're definitely worse than us," he said with a pout. "With that composure, you knew what's going on, right? That he's the culprit."
Grim gasped before patching things in his small mind. "I see! When you said 'I won't get targeted', was that because you are in the same dorm?"
"....Hey, bastards, go for a round with me."
"Huuuh!? What's this suddenly!?" Ace yelped as he scanned the latter's tall physique. He wasn't one to go all serious and combat, seeing that the situation had gotten quite out of hand to begin with. Instead, he earned a more determined look from Jack, who lifted an arm up.
"If guys are gonna spill their guts, it begins with their fists," he answered. Mira perked her head up to meet his head, noting that it wouldn't be long until her neck would get sore all over again. She was surprised, honestly, that their opponent would have a high sense of ethical value regardless of his dorm. "If you can show me you're not all just bark and bite, I'll tell you everything."
Deuce, the innocent figure whom she knew to be the one who cried over baby chicks from Yuu, pumped his fists and gave an unfamiliar smirk. "I don't hate that at all; it makes things more simple!"
"F-Ffgna!? Deuce's bad-boy switch had just gotten flipped!" Grim yelped as he hid behind Yuu's neck. She gave them a nervous smile, legit done with life and ready to jump out of a window despite being outside. From the magical pen snatching incident to fighting some buff student, when would it all end?
Instead, Yuu quickly ran over to Mira and hid behind her back, causing some sort of chain. Mira looked behind her, an exhausted face on her features as she skimmed around. Was she meant to complete the chain by running over and hiding behind someone else's back? Mira decided to stay put and look at the fight, seeing Deuce already launching himself to Jack as the latter dodged his fist.
Jack launched back, holding his fists high, before lowering his knees and throwing a blow at Deuce. Surprisingly, Deuce managed to dodge it, feeling the slow-motion effect of his opponent's fist making its way to his stomach as he jerked to the side — a smile still planted on his tired face. They continued at it, from the small grunts and huffs, causing Ace to get to his limit as sweat ran down his cheek, slightly smudging the red heart painted on his eye.
"Haaah, y-you definitely know what you're doing with your punches," Jack complimented despite his exhaustion showing.
Deuce returned his compliment with another. "H-Haah, you too — you're pretty good..."
"Your punch," Grim began as if sparkles were twinkling in his eyes. "It hit me right in the heart..."
Mira gave him a look of disgust, wondering how he could feel inspired due to the awkward moment. Her attention then noted Ace's withdrawal as he gave up on getting Jack to reveal what he knew about the incidents that unfolded.
"Okay," Jack drew back from his fight with Deuce, making up his mind and choosing the side to go on. "My conscience is now clear — I'll tell you guys everything I know."
Mira rolled her eyes before sighing and whispering to herself. "About time...I was going to fall asleep hearing all the huffs and puffs coming from you two. How did that clear your conscience anyway?"
"I'm crossing my own line here; I'm about to betray my dorm," Jack said as if it were a matter of fact, folding his arms simultaneously. "But, I can't handle this anymore!! No matter how difficult your opponents are, it's all about your inner power that tests how far you can go. Even for this tournament, I've been putting myself through the wringer to see how far I can go. These damn tricks are making me nauseous, what meaning is there for such a victory? I want to use my own power to claim the top."
Ace and Mira locked eyes and communicated through emotions.
Ahhh, this guy's such a pain in the ass...
Yuu, feeling moved by his speech before hearing the ending of his monologue, dissipated the rays of sunshine from her back. "So it's not because you can't forgive such injustice, huh!?"
"I get you! I really get you—! That feeling..!" Deuce beamed as he placed his fist to his chest in relation. Grim, on the other hand, gave the others the same look that Ace had communicated to Mira.
"We've got ourselves a pain in the ass as well!" He bluntly stated.
Instead, Jack took a deep breath before staring at them in conflict. "Ruggie-senpai's unique magic is 'something that makes another person move exactly like him'. To cause the accidents, he made people move in ways that looked like they weren't careful enough."
"That explains why he made Grim replicate his movement in the cafeteria to keep it a secret," Ace concluded with his arms folded.
"Damn it!" Grim shouted. "Reminding me about that's making me angry all over again! Don't you underestimate the strength of having a grudge for food!"
Mira furrowed her eyebrows and placed her left index finger to her cheek in thought. Wait. He only told me that he was able to control other people's movements...but to think that he had to do it as well — I'm learning new things every day.
"Wait just a second," Deuce interrupted. "If he did something to make someone fall down the flight of stairs, wouldn't that be suspicious?"
"He isn't creative all those incidents by himself," Jack said irritatingly. "I'm sure most of Savanaclaw is in on it."
"It was a misunderstanding on my part, then," Mira said with disappointment. "You see, I've been pulling Ruggie back to his dorm most of the time after school regardless if he likes it or not — but I've recognised that the incidents still haven't stopped. It was foolish of me to think that he was doing this all along with Leona's orders."
"Are you familiar with Ruggie-senpai?" He asked, his ears twitching and catching her attention. "I'm sure I've seen you quite a lot of times...and you've hung out for dinner once. Now that I remember, you collapsed with a cold right after, right?"
"Aaah, I did," she gave a little laugh recalling her chess match with his dorm leader and fainting. "But things are quite different here. These first-years want a spot in the Magift tournament. You want to be a representative that uses effort instead of tricks. For me..."
Her smile changed into a more sinister and cold-hearted look.
"I'm just showing someone not to mess with what's mine."