YEAR TWO
Even the chessboard was a status symbol. It was fashioned from granite and polished to perfection. The darker squares were artistically arranged, each was a different but complementary hue of brown, grey or black. The white squares were everything from snowy to creamy with streaks and dots of color.
The pieces were just as ornate, expertly carved from the same range of stones. The bottom of each piece bore a velvet cushion so that it was almost soundless when placed on the board. This wasn't a game in progress, this was an aesthetic arrangement by someone who hadn't a clue how to play. A set like this and it was wasted on someone without even a rudimentary knowledge of the game.
At this rate, their basically was no game at all.
Sitting on either sides of the board was a first year student and in front of him was the raven haired beauty of the second years as she took a sip of her tea. Her calming persona only frayed the mental state of Aoi Akane, the current student council vice president who tousled his hair repeatedly, the stress of being under her scarlet eyes had begun to get to him.
"Who's winning, kaichou?" their secretary had whispered quite loudly to their blonde haired president who sat in the middle of the room, watching the game with pure amusement. "I wonder.." He mused aloud, placing down the papers in his hand as everyone directed their attention to the chess game going on between the two members of the council.
"Don't bully Aoi too much, Nora." He chuckled as she waved her hand dismissively. The comment only caused the boy to let out a grunt on frustration. "Oh? But I'm not doing anything." She said in a teasing tone.
Akane bore holes into Nora's white chess pieces. Nora was in a good position undoubtedly, however she needed to act fast. If she didn't get to the black king, she was going to be checkmated herself by his black queen. She moved her queen to H6 with a happy hum.
Akane's eyes were spinning like stars as he tried to figure out her trick, but her poker face was flawless. But he studied the board and realized something. "That's check!" He roared happily, shooting up straight from his chair although Nora still held a mischievous smile, staying seated calmly.
He took his king that stood in front of Nora's white queen as he kicked it off of the board, replacing it's spot. "And there goes your queen, Senpai." He spoke the honorific with mock as his maroon eyes glanced over at her in triumph.
"Oho? Don't get cocky, Aoi." She let out a muse, her fingers wrapping around her rook that sat on C8. The boy's eyes watched carefully as she moved her rook to H8, only a tile away from his king that sat on H6. "And I win." She grinned. He had no more legal moves for his king, he was cornered and lost as he let out a wail.
"Six for Natsuki and zero for Akane." Their Historian muttered, shaking his head in pity for their vice president who rolled on the ground in agony.
"That was fun!" Nora clapped her hands in delight, dusting off her uniform as she stretched her arms out high into the air. Teru chuckled, despite the fact that she hadn't gotten a wink of sleep, she still had enough energy to beat Akane in chess continuously and mercilessly.
Second year had rolled around faster than they had originally anticipated. Nora begun to fit herself in with every other student in their year quite perfectly, as if she had been there in the very beginning.
Now seventeen years old, both Nora and Teru had grown quite mature. Nora was astonishingly more beautiful as the years had passed her by, it might've been due to the witch blood in her veins that kept her skin so flawless. Although her stature was still leaning to the short side, she was absolutely ravishing, entrancing more and more boys of their year, be it first years or third years.
She had enticing sharp ruby orbs that lit up with joy when presented with sweets or when they flickered with mischief when toying with a certain Vice-President.
The witch always seemed to have a bright smile on her face, shared with many others. Her dimples were sometimes visible when after someone had successfully made her laugh aloud as her cherry lips curled into a grin that warmed up an entire room and melted the hearts of others.
She had pale porcelain skin that was free of any blemishes or marks, it almost was inhuman and an unrealistically doll like small nose, long thick raven eyelashes along with a sharp prominent jawline. She was rather leaning to the petite and slim side with slender thighs and a curved waist in which her school uniform hugged and highlighted greatly.
In addition, Nora had a small butterfly brooch that was clipped onto the ribbon of her school uniform. Instead of wearing stockings, she was allowed to wear thigh high socks that stopped midway up her wispy thighs. Often, her long locks of obsidian hair were left down, two small pieces braided back and tied with a crimson ribbon that fluttered as she moved.
Although she was widely envied and it was stated aloud sometimes throughout the halls, it was difficult to bear an ill type of intention toward her airy personality. Besides, she was friends with their beloved student council president. The two were a rather perfectly fitting duo, but it was a widely known fact that both of them were still single.
The tall, almost adult male stood by Nora's locker as she opened it, holding a bag beneath it as letters and cards all flowed out like a waterfall as she grabbed a textbook.
It was hard not to stare at them. It was even harder to believe that they weren't together. Minamoto Teru was the most attractive and beloved male of the second years and most likely the entire school. Golden blonde hair that went perfectly well with his ocean blue cerulean eyes that were always soft.
He was the student council president who always got perfect marks on the exams, ranking first in his entire grade and class, which was an astonishing achievement. He was kind-hearted and the most courteous gentlemen that every girl had ever dreamed of and were willing to die for.
Perfect student, perfect son and perfect brother, he was everyone's dream type. Tall, always helping out whoever he could, whenever. Be it picking up someones books, or helping them walk to their next class, even the teachers couldn't help but adore him.
They were simply two star students as Nora closed her locker, the two of them making their way to their trigonometry class.
As stated before, Nora's school days were rather boring and simple when it came to academics, but instead, she indulged herself in something else. Human behavioral emotions. Reading books gave a slight grasp on these things, but it didn't give the full perspective.
When humans were happy, they smiled and cried. Although crying was for the sad. When humans were angry, or upset, they still smiled. For what reason? To not to appear weak? Why would showing emotions feign weakness? They were just humans. It made no different regardless.
She found them to be intricate and difficult creatures to understand.
"You shouldn't be eating in here, Senpai." The sudden voice caused her to blink and snap out of her train of boring thoughts as she stared out the window where students were exiting out of the school building to head either home or supplementary classes. She peered over to the boy who had beckoned her name as she grunted.
"Then look away, Aoi." She waved her hand at him as he grit his teeth and pointed his finger at her face. "Where the hell did you even get an apple pie from?!" He roared, fed up with her nonchalant behavior. She stabbed her fork into the tin outline of the pastry, tossing a fork into his direction in which he had ducked down and dodged.
"Don't damage the school building you two." The president sighed as he signed a piece of paper, placing into the stack to his left.
"Some really cute little boy confessed and then gave it to me afterward. Even after I rejected him and said that I didn't deserve the pie, he still gave it to me. How nice." She hummed happily.
"Look at you living life all happy go lucky. Wait-- what are you even doing in the student council?!" She pointed her fork at Teru who only smiled, simply carefree. As if remembering something he turned to her. "Who's picking up Princess today?" He inquired, referring to the youngest child of the Minamoto Family.
"It's Kou's turn this week." Nora said as she placed the lid onto the apple pie. Akane twitched, being annoyed due to the fact that he was blatantly being ignored by the two.
As he opened his mouth to let out another roar, Teru slipped off the prayer bead bracelet from his wrist as it enlarged and wrapped around Akane who let out a muffled cry, wiggling and squirming as he fell over onto the ground, trying to get out of the exorcist's prayer beads to no avail, causing the two to smile at him.
Nora morphed into a cat as she leapt from the table onto Teru's president podium and onto his shoulder where she laid peacefully.
Usually, the rest of the student council was only needed during school hours, with the vice president and the president being the only ones who needed to do paperwork after school, with Nora voluntarily staying back and waiting for Teru to finish up his work.
Meaning they had all the time in the world to pick and prod on Aoi Akane, who, without his glasses was one of the three clock keepers as well as the involuntary representative of Wonder No. 1 of the Seven Wonders. Aoi Akane, the first year with glasses, was a normal human being and the vice president of the student council and the not-so-secret admirer of Akane Aoi.
By that time, the boy was already able to at least wiggle his head enough to free his lips as he let out a grunt. "How did you two devils even get into the academy..." He asked bitterly.
"I've been in this school longer than you have, Aoi." Teru had smiled at him, clasping his hands together. Nora's ears twitched as she lazily opened her medallion orbs. "Well, at the end of the day, all humans have some type of greed. Just show them some of this and they'll do whatever you want." In the blink of an eye, a golden coin fell onto the ground with a clink.
Teru felt a twitch on his shoulder as he cocked his head to the side, just as Nora leapt off of his shoulder, her ears twitching as she looked around. Much to their surprise, the cat had let out a sneeze, transforming back into a human as she landed softly on the floor. "Are you sick?" The blonde asked, getting out of his seat as she pressed a hand against her forehead.
She was fine. The witch shook her head. "Something nasty in the air is all." Nora murmured, shaking off the shiver that ran down her spine as she sniffled.
As they headed home, the dawn of twilight beginning to sink. The sunset blossomed upon the horizon as if a million scarlet blooms ignited.
The shadows were now twice as long as themselves, the air was damp and cool smelling faintly of a car's exhaust fumes, the sun dipped lower in the sky until the trees that lines the lane stood as black statues silhouetted against the darkening sky, slowly their shadows melted away into the blackness of night.
Most of the time, Nora's instincts were spot on as he placed a hand on her head as they walked. "An apparition?" Teru mused as she nodded.
"A wonder was summoned. The boundaries between the shores are blurring and a contract was formed, and now someone is bound." Her words sounded cryptic, but it was well deciphered by the eldest Minamoto as he sighed, running a hand through his spiky blonde hair. "Which student and which Wonder?"
The evening breeze caused the trees to sway as it caressed her long ebony locks. "Number seven. Hanako, the leader. Someone with a lifespan enough to summon him, I'm assuming requested a wish and now they're bound to one another. I'm not sure which human, but whichever and whoever it was .." Nora trailed off.
Teru had placed a hand onto the hilt of the katana that was strapped onto his side. "They just created more work for us."
There was a dip in the unicorn, rainbow, star speckled bed sheets as a sudden weight was added to its side, causing it to shift. The young five year old girl looked up at the sudden guest with her beautiful sea glistening eyes with a soft smile that widened her chubby cheeks. "Nora-nee!" Her face lit up like a star in the sky.
The witch smiled warmly, her cold hand brushing against Tiara's forehead. "So, what magic trick do you want to see today, Princess?" The witch asked as she was assigned the duty of tucking their beloved youngest to bed while the oldest, Minamoto Teru was taking a nap, and the middle child was doing his homework.
As though the little child had been thinking of it all day, she wasted no time in answering whatsoever. "Butterflies!" Tiara cheered out, her arms shooting out of the blanket. "Butterflies it is." Nora tapped the young girl's forehead with her index finger as out shot out a brilliant white light that illuminated both of their faces.
The light grew sparks and from the sparks sprouted butterflies, dozens and dozens of them that had begun to swirl around young Tiara's bed as she let out a sound of awe, never having seen such a beautiful sight in her entire life, a butterfly landed on her nose. "I'm Tiara! What's your name butterfly?" She spoke to it, causing the witch to smile, waving her finger.
With the wave, the butterflies began to all engulf her, causing her to giggle as one by one they disappeared inside of her. "Goodnight, Tiara." The witch whispered, the five year old girl's fingers curled around the witch's three middle fingers as she tried to mumble an incoherent goodnight.
As Nora closed the door behind her, another mop of blonde hair who also seemed to be exiting a room had noticed her presence. "Oh! Nora-nee, did you just finish putting Princess to bed?" The boy had asked as she nodded quietly with a yawn, her eyes flickering to the wrist watch around her wrist that read eight o'clock.
She let out a tired sigh. "Nora-nee, maybe you should sit this patrol out, you look a little tired." Kou pointed out, worried about the older girl who simply smiled at him. "I'm alright. That just means that I should work a little harder this patrol so that I can get home and sleep faster. Are you worried about me, Kou?" She teased him, ruffling his hair.
He let out a sigh, flushing red at being teased. "No! I mean yes! I am worried about you, Nora-nee! You're a human too." He pointed a finger directly in her face as he stammered.
She blinked, surprised at his bashful outburst before laughing. "Okay, okay, tell me that when I can take you seriously and your hair isn't sticking out in ten different directions and your shirt isn't inside out." Nora grinned, pointing at him as he looked down and realized she was right.
"Damm-- Nora-nee!" He exclaimed, rushing into the bathroom as she chuckled. "Get to sleep soon, I think Tiara has show and tell tomorrow, so find her something to bring while I wake up Teru." She said, knocking on the bathroom door as Kou let out a muffled reply.
She didn't bother knocking on the door, twisting the knob and pushing it wide open as the hallway light flooded the pitch black room. On the bed was the blanket lightly draped over Teru as he was asleep on his side.
Like she did with everyone else in the household waking them up, she sat on his bedside, leaning against its frame as she started with the simple shake of his shoulders that usually wouldn't work. "Teru." She called out simply, he let out a light grunt, rolling flat onto his back.
There had been a time once when they were fifteen and Nora had woken him up by leaping on him, although that time was never recreated again because during patrol, he forced her to solo exorcise, which wasn't exactly the most pleasant memory.
Nora had once been the one that slept the most in the house, but ever since starting school and the birth of Minamoto Tiara, she had been the one that slept the least, having the responsibility of waking up all of the Minamoto's, which occasionally went okay. Occasionally until one of the two boys adamantly refused to wake up.
"Teru.." She drawled, dragging his name out as she gave up on sitting and ended up just draping her entire body over him. "Teru, Teru, Teru, Teru." She repeated over and over, sitting on his chest, snapping her fingers as the lights in the room flipped on, the male immediately used his forearm to cover the light, letting out a grunt.
As he tried to flip over on his side, he couldn't realizing that there was a weight on his chest as he finally decided to peek his eyes open as they met with a pair of scarlet orbs staring down at him.
"Finally." Nora groaned, her two ice cold hands slapping onto either sides of Teru's cheek as he let out a groan of annoyance. Although her ice cold thumbs slipped underneath his eye bags, indefinitely making his eyes feel lighter, allowing him to open his eyes fully and stare at her lazily.
"Nora?" His hoarse voice croaked out. "That's me, sleepy head. Let's go, we're already late." She flicked his forehead, causing it to flop back down onto the pillow as he let out a begrudging groan. "Alright ... I got the message, get off of me." He said as he reached to the side where his sword was placed on a stand.
She did as he asked, her feet making contact with the wooden floor as she snapped her fingers, conveniently changing the two into their yukata. Nora commonly adorned a navy blue fabric that wrapped around her frame with white peonies and lotuses adorning the soft fabric with an ivory white obi wrapped around her slim waist and a loose haori draping over her shoulders, slightly slipping off of it intentionally.
Teru scratched the back of his head, still feeling the lingering sleep on his heavy bones as Nora fixed his Obi. The eldest of the Minamoto clan was usually out seen in a black kimono along with light and soft outlines of white koi fish and a dark navy blue haori that he slipped on, grabbing his katana, holding it by the string.
"I hate this." Nora murmured, snapping her fingers, teleporting them to the first location of patrol; the school. From there, they would scout and scurry the south and east side of town together while another group of exorcists would handle the north and west.
"I know, I know." He pat the shorter girl's head with a yawn as their feet made contact with the school grounds where Nora stared at the large cracks in the air that led to the far-shore. Bat apparitions with one eye flew out of them as they were immediately stuck by Teru's lightning. He would deal with the apparitions while she sowed the crack shut.