Sitting on the windowsill ledge of the student council room, was second-year Natsuki Nora whom was busy staring outside of the glass, down where the first-year class was out in the gardens, tending to it as they watered, plowed and plucked the vegetables.
Her shimmering scarlet eyes flickered back to the book in her hand. Some nonsense about Coulomb's Law. She found it to be useful to learn materials before they were actually taught, considering she wouldn't have time to study for them when the time came, especially with evening patrols that drawled on.
She chewed a watermelon taffy while offering one to the Mokke that sat on her lap. It was trying to comprehend the large words and formulas in the book that she was indulged in as it shook its head, eyes spinning as it fell backwards onto her abdomen, causing her to let out a light chuckle.
"Minamoto-kaichou, did you do something to Natsuki-senpai?" Akane had whispered to the blonde president who looked up from his papers and to the girl who sat on the window ledge, her legs out in front of her and Mokke watching as they murmured amongst one another.
He only let out a light chortle. "What makes you say that, Aoi?"
"She's .. quiet." Akane shuddered. Usually by now, the girl would have been sitting on Akane's head or resting on Teru's shoulder while the vice-president spewed profanities at his upperclassmen, but today was rather quiet, which was unusual. No fussing or complaining from either of the two.
"I thought you liked quiet?" Teru chuckled as Akane stopped reading papers for a moment, looking up to his president with a frown. "Don't get me wrong but ... Did the two of you get into an argument or something?" He questioned curiously as Teru's pen stopped writing, freezing on the paper as the ink bled.
Akane gulped, he did something wrong. "What nonsense are you spewing now, Aoi? Shouldn't you be doing your papers or did I not give you enough?" Teru spoke with his usual smiley face as his hand reached to the prayer beads around his wrist, causing the vice president to screech as he quickly resumed his work.
However, his eyes flickered to Nora who seemed to be talking to something. With his glasses on, Aoi Akane was a normal human being who did not have the ability to see apparitions, including Mokke. But she seemed to be extending a lemon candy out to something.
And then his auburn eyes locked with her crimson ones. "What are you looking at?" Akane scowled at her.
Her nose scrunched up at him as she reeled her arm back. He blinked once and a yellow wrapped candy was flung in his direction, too slow to dodge, it hit his head as he let out a grunt, the candy bouncing off of his forehead and onto the floor. "Speak nicer to your senpai." She stuck her tongue out at him as he groaned.
It seemed like he was worried for absolutely no reason.
As the bell rung, Nora checked her wrist watch, sliding herself off of the window ledge, closing the book that was held in her hands as it made a thud. Akane raised a brow, still recovering from the candy bullet not too long ago that had left a red mark atop his forehead. "You're leaving early today, Senpai?" He asked curiously.
Usually, she would stay back with the President doing absolutely nothing while waiting for him to complete paperwork.
At first he thought the two of them were doing .. things after-school together away from prying eyes, but it simply really was just Nora laying on the desks while Teru completed paperwork. Nothing more, nothing less. It was a common rumor about the two having a romantic relationship, but neither of the two really being liars, had both already stated there was nothing of the sort, debunking the false rumor.
It was odd to call them friends as well. It seemed like they were just .. partners or accomplices of sorts.
"Mhm. I need to go pick up Princess from school, since Kou says that he has things to do today and that he can't." Nora said simply, placing her things back into her bag. Teru stared at her for a while, as if contemplating something as the screech of a chair, scraping against the ground had rung out, causing the two to turn their heads toward him.
"Teru?" Nora cocked her head to the side as the male smiled brightly, causing Akane to shudder. "Let's go together." He suggested as the two blinked and stared at him, waiting for him to play some joke. But there was nothing, just silence.
"W-Wait .. Why would you two need to go pick someone up together?" Akane stuttered, raising a brow. Teru wrapped an arm around Nora's shoulders as he smiled at Akane who flushed. But Nora blinked, already knowing that the boy was getting the completely wrong ideas about them.
"Student council president abandoning his duties?" Nora raised a brow, pointing at his desk, loaded with untouched work that he still had left to do. "Minamoto-kaichou! You still have a lot of papers to look through that need your attention!" Akane cried out to him desperately in which he only replied by placing a hand on Nora's head while holding his coat and bag in the other.
"Well that's why a student council president has a vice president right?" Teru beamed brightly, it was so blinding that Nora had to cover her eyes with a sympathetic frown as Akane latched onto the exorcist's legs, preventing him from moving. "Kaichou! You don't mean to tell me that --" The maroon haired boy grimaced in horror.
Teru crouched down and zapped the boy with his black lightning, causing him to let go. "Work hard, Aoi."
The first-year let out a wail as he let out a shrill shriek of apprehension as he looked at the stack of papers he still had to do for himself, now having to do the president's papers. The boy paled tremendously as Teru simply smiled and waved as he gently ushered Nora out the door, with Akane's pleas for him to come back, rung throughout the hallways.
Nora frowned at him. "That wasn't very nice, Teru." She had said, as if she hadn't just thrown a piece of candy at him, moments ago.
"Well, I thought that I've been letting him run his mouth a little bit too freely. Besides, he'll live, it's just a little bit of extra paperwork." However, the stack wasn't so little as he made it seem.
As the pair walked down the stairs, reaching the outside of the building as the wind fluttered, leaves scattering in the air, Nora turned to the blonde. "I could have gone myself, you know." The exorcist knew that this topic was going to come up as he pat the ravenette's head.
"Of course. But I just wanted to pick up our little Princess today too, is that an issue?" He asked innocently as her scarlet eyes narrowed at his carefree bubbly features. The witch pinched his side as he hunched over in pain. "Don't play dumb." Nora jabbed at him as he chuckled lightly in amusement.
"There's lots of eyes watching us still." The blonde stated, his head nudging back behind them where they had yet to leave school grounds, the Academy windows with the eyes of many students followed them and their interactions as Nora let out a sigh of exasperation.
"Kou's staying back today?" Teru asked as the witch nodded, fishing her phone out of her pocket as she read the summarized the message aloud. "He said that he had things to do after school that may take a while, and that there's still enough leftovers in the fridge." Nora flipped the phone around for Teru to read as he let out a hum of understanding.
"It's weird though. He came back yesterday with a weird grinning determined look on his face and a bandaged palm." Nora muttered beneath her breath. Kou almost never stayed back after school, because someone had to pick up Tiara. Or well they could have one of the workers at the manor to pick her up, but it was more preferred that it was one of the three teenagers to do it.
Of course he was allowed to stay back, none of them ever stopped him. They hogged him enough as is.
"He's just growing up. He doesn't need us anymore." Teru faked a sniffle. "Well its no wonder he doesn't rely on you. Especially when you somehow managed to burn a pan and trigger all of the fire alarms in the house to go off in the middle of the morning." Nora had mocked him as he chuckled nervously, recalling the memory of a few months ago.
The kitchen had burst into flames while Teru had attempted to fry an omelette. Without the help of Nora's quick magic, it would have taken weeks to renovate the kitchen. Needless to say, Teru didn't have dessert for the rest of that week.
Suddenly, Teru had stopped walking, an absence of footsteps had caused the witch to turn around in curiosity, only to see the tall blonde boy simply standing there as she too, stopped walking, staring at him curiously. "Teru?" She called out to him as he rested a hand on his hip, as though waiting for her.
"Where are you going, Nora?" The blonde asked as she raised a brow, pointing down the street ahead of her. "This is the way to Tiara's school, isn't it?"
"Let's go another way. I don't like that way." Teru merely said with a soft spoken smile as she blinked at him, looking back down the street. Reluctantly, she walked to him where they began walking the opposite direction, crossing the street. "This way is longer though." Nora whined softly as he chuckled candidly.
"I told you, I just don't like that way. Besides, this way is only a little longer. It's fine." The exorcist insisted while ignoring her curious glance that bore into the side of his face.
"That's why, you look like a nice kid, I see you walk home from school everyday with that girl, you seem to have a future ahead of you."
The gruff voice from the elderly man had rung out in his head. Suddenly, Teru particularly disliked that street and wanted to keep Nora away from it. If he could help it, she would be going nowhere near that street, more specifically that old man.
He didn't want her to push anyone else away more than she already did.
Apparently tired from all of the running around they did in school that day, Tiara had fallen asleep right in Teru's arms as the two carried her home. Her light snores rung out along with the sound of their shoes hitting the pavement. Evening caws of the crows had sounded out as the duo-- trio, made their way home.
Minamoto Teru tucked young little Tiara into her rainbow and unicorn speckled sheets with a kiss on her forehead as Nora was downstairs in the kitchen, as per usual if she had a little bit of extra free time. As she was walking home, she felt Kou's aura disappear into a boundary, along with the Seventh of the Seven Wonders that he had been hanging around with.
No. 7, Hanako of the bathroom was a dangerous apparition without a doubt, but she also knew he was trying to keep the other Wonders in balance, as the leader of them all, which is why she held a little trust, and didn't go after Kou. Not while she knew he was still safe. But if things got too messy, she would be there in the blink of an eye.
While Teru patrolled the new side of the school building, Nora did the older side. First thing she had noticed when she walked through the doors was a doll laying on the ground, coincidentally looking exactly like Kou. Blonde hair, traffic earring and third-year uniform along with a messed up and crooked tie.
She raised a brow, snapping her fingers as a puff of white smoke erupted, the doll in her hands slipped out and a thud rung throughout the lonesome halls. As the smoke cleared, a young blonde haired boy rubbed the back of his head sheepishly as he stared up at the witch who was waiting for an explanation.
"So tell me Kou. If I didn't come on patrol to this exact spot tonight, you would have been stuck in that doll form and Teru would have flipped." Nora crouched down as the boy grabbed her hand and stood up with a nervous chuckle.
"On top of that, how was number two's boundary? Care to tell me what you were doing there as well?" She asked with a raised brow as he flinched. He couldn't hide from Nora.
"W-Well no .. I would have turned back in the morning, along with the rest of the other students!" He stammered, protesting. "A-And my classmates had gone missing so I went to search for them in Number Two's boundary .. And now we were able to prevent her from causing anymore trouble!"
He broke out in a cold sweat underneath Nora's scarlet gaze. "Well now aren't you honest." She pinched his cheek as he breathed out a sigh of relief.
Nora was much more merciful than Teru would have been in this situation. "I-Is Teru-nii.." Kou looked around, weary, in case his elder brother would pop out in any moment as she chuckled. "He's on the other side of the building doing his rounds. But dinner is still on the stove, warm it up, and you better be tucked in by the time we get back." Nora smiled at him.
He nodded his head with a grin. "Thanks, Nora-nee!" She snapped her fingers to the coordinates of the Minamoto manor and he disappeared without a trace.
Her eyes scanned over the building as she caught sight of a black origami crane. "I wonder .. what are students still doing inside the building?"
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