"We have found where the girl goes to school, my Lord," a voice said in the darkness.
A round yellow light lit up in the black void.
"Very good, Kagaku. Send him in," the light replied with authority.
. . .
Beep. Beep.
I woke up to the sound of my alarm clock. Another day at school. Hooray. I got out of bed and turned off the alarm.
"What was that? Is there an emergency?" a sleepy voice asked from somewhere in my room.
"Who's there?" I asked nervously.
"It's me, silly. Remember?" Kyabe asked as she jumped out of the flower pot she had been sleeping in.
Yesterday's events came flooding back to me. So much for it being some crazy fever dream.
"Oh. Sorry. I wasn't awake yet. I've got to get ready for school. I won't be back until this afternoon. Stay here. Do not leave this room," I instructed, making sure to be as specific as possible.
"Why not? I want to see a human school! It'll be so much fun! I want to go with you!" Kyabe complained.
"No! You are staying here! I don't want to look like some nut job that talks to herself or air!"
"Fine! At least take the Seed Pocket. Remember, they're out to kill you so it's good to have some protection."
I sighed. What did I get myself into? Now I really won't make any friends. If anyone finds out what a strange life I lead, they'll probably think I'm a nutcase. I got ready, dreading the possibility that I'll be attacked at school.
"I'm leaving. Do not leave this room!"
"Yeah. Yeah. You worry too much."
When I got downstairs, I quickly ate breakfast and left. I hope today goes well. The walk to school was normal, which I took as a good sign.
"Ok, class. We have a new student. Please be kind to him," Mrs. Sakura told us after class had started. "Would you care to introduce yourself?" she asked the black-haired boy.
"The name's Mosho," he said cockily.
"And where are you from, Mosho?"
"Somewhere. Does it matter? I'm here, aren't I?"
Mosho walked down the aisle and took a seat next to some girls. I heard some of the girls whisper "He's so hot!" and "So mysterious!"
"Alright! Settle down. Let's get started on today's lesson…" Mrs. Sakura announced, getting over the shock of Mosho blowing her off.
I tried to pay attention the best I could, but something was bothering me. I don't really know what it was, but something seemed off with Mosho. As the school day went on, Mosho proved to be athletic and extremely smart. By the end of the day, he had a bunch of girls swooning over him. As I was leaving school, he came over and stopped me.
"Hey. You're pretty cute. Wanna grab a bite?" he asked smoothly.
"Nope."
"Hey now. Don't be coy. I know you like me."
"Wow. You are really self-centered. I don't like you. You think you're some hotshot. Why don't you hang out with the girls that keep fawning over you?" I said angrily, trying to keep my cool.
"Whatever," he shrugged. "I love girls that play hard to get. It makes it all the more exciting when they fall for me," he replied as he walked off.
What a creep.
I made it home without anything strange happening. Mom wasn't home yet so I went upstairs to start on homework.
"You're back! How was your day? Look! I made a sculpture for you! It's of my planet! Isn't it pretty?" Kyabe asked as she brought over a lump of green clay.
"That's cool. I have homework I have to do so don't bother me," I replied nonchalantly
"What's wrong? Did something happen? Did they attack? Are you ok?"
"No, they didn't attack. It's nothing."
Kyabe's face broke into a wide grin.
"It's a boy, isn't it?" she asked smugly.
"You could say that… Wait! No! It's not like that!" I exclaimed, blushing.
Kyabe giggled.
"Just keep telling yourself that."
"Whatever. I need to do my homework."
The rest of the evening was pretty uneventful. Mom thought the same thing as Kyabe though. What's with them? I got in bed, dreading tomorrow. I really hope Mosho doesn't hit on me again.
The next day started normally enough. At least, until I got to school. There Mosho confronted me again.
"Hey, cutie. I'm going to go karaoking tonight. Wanna come with me? It'll be a lot of fun. I bet you have a beautiful singing voice."
"No thanks. I'm not interested," I said as I walked away.
"Hey now. We talked about this. Just give up already. I know you like me," Mosho replied as he grabbed my backpack.
"Let go!" I shouted, trying to get away.
"Why are you so upset? Every other girl would love for me to hold them back like this. C'mon. I won't bite."
"Well, I will if you don't let go!"
"Fine. Have it your way. I thought we could be friends, but I guess I was wrong. You leave me no choice. At least I know that stupid cabbage isn't around with her fancy bag. What does she call it again? Oh yes. The Seed Pocket. How cute," Mosho sneered as he let go of my backpack and backed away.
"How do you know about Kyabe and the Seed Pocket?" I gasped, realizing the answer.
"How perceptive! Yes, it is a pleasure to meet you, Hana Kojo. I don't want to do this, but… you leave me no choice."
Mosho's face contorted into a wicked smile as he charged at me with a flaming fist. I tried to grab the Pocket out of my bag, but he was too fast. I barely managed to dodge his punch.
"What's in your bag? A fire extinguisher? That won't stop me, you know," Mosho said cockily as he kicked my backpack toward me. "Go ahead. Try to extinguish my flames."
Suddenly, he burst into flames, causing the room to catch on fire.
"What's the matter? Are you scared?" he laughed maniacally.
"No. I'm not scared. It all makes sense now, actually. I knew you seemed off. It was almost like middle school was too easy for you. It's because you're not actually a middle schooler," I kept rambling so I could pull the Pocket out of my backpack while he was distracted.
"Guilty. You see, I'm a lot older than you. I still look young though, don't I?"
Mosho looked away, trying to look at his reflection on the floor's surface. I used this distraction to pull out Yuri's seed and toss it in the air. I knew I could count on her to extinguish the flames. She appeared the same as before. Unfortunately, that meant Mosho noticed what was happening.
"So you did have the Pocket with you. I've underestimated you, Hana. Here I thought we would get to have some alone time. It's fine though. I'll never turn down a lady's company. Especially if they want to play with me."
"Yuri, can you please extinguish his flames?" I asked the plant girl.
"Of course. What about him though? It'll be hard for me to fight him and the fire," she replied calmly.
"Oh. Uh… who should I bring out? You're the only one I know. I don't want to make the wrong choice."
"Try the frozen seed. It's a pale blue color. Suno will be able to help."
I looked down into the Pocket and saw what Yuri was talking about.
"I hope this works," I mumbled to myself.
I threw the seed up into the air. A girl appeared like Yuri did. She stared at me with emotionless eyes.
"Um… Hello. Can you take care of that guy over there?" I asked, pointing at Mosho, who was battling Yuri.
The girl nodded and created a pistol out of ice.
"Stand back," she said as she cocked the gun.
"Uh… what's your name again?" I asked nervously as I backed away.
"Suno."
After she said that, she fired the gun at Mosho. The bullet hit him in the arm.
"Wow. I must be popular today. Oh, wait. That's every day!"
The bullet wound didn't even phase the guy! What's up with that?
"Recalculating," Suno said while changing her pistol into a machine gun. "Move," she ordered Yuri.
As soon as Yuri jumped out of the way, Suno opened fire on Mosho. She kept firing and firing. I closed my eyes, not wanting to see a dead body. Finally, Suno stopped her barrage. I opened my eyes to see the fire was gone and Mosho laying on the ground.
"Is he dead?" I asked, trying not to look at the body.
"No" was all Suno said.
Mosho groaned and managed to get to his feet.
"This isn't over! I will be back!" he shouted as he fled the building.
"Is that all?" the girls asked.
"Uh… yeah. Just tell me one thing. How do I explain the fire and everything?"
"Nobody saw or heard anything. Mosho put up a barrier before he attacked so no one would bother him," Yuri explained.
"But what about…" I trailed off.
Nothing looked like it had been burnt. What's going on?
Sensing my confusion, Yuri explained, "I was able to undo the damage Mosho had done to the area. You don't have to worry about anything other than being late to class."
"Ahh! I'm so late!" I shouted as I got my stuff together.
The girls returned to their seeds, which I returned to the Pocket.
. . .
"What?! Mosho failed? What was that bumbling fool doing? How hard can it be to kill a little girl?" the light spat from the darkness.
"Forgive me, sire. It appears the girl carries the Pocket with her to school. Mosho's arrogance led to his defeat. He thought he could seduce the girl, but it seems she's immune to such charms. Shall I send in the other charmer and see how he fares?" Kagaku asked the light humbly.
"Yes. Send him in."