*𝙉𝙤𝙩 𝙀𝙙𝙞𝙩𝙚𝙙*
All the three of the other asked curiously, "Don't you like Yamaken?"
Kaori was taken aback by the sudden question but she gained back her expressionless composure again after a minute, "Why do you think that?"
Melissa replied confidently, "Well, first, you two look good together. Second, you're always protecting him-"
"I almost protect everyone," Kaori interrupted but Melissa stopped her.
"I haven't finished yet," She continued, "Third, you kind of acted possessive over him today in the dining hall. Fourth, you take each other's hands so casually. Fifth, you guys look good together-"
Kaori began, "You already mentioned that-"
But Melissa ignored, "Sixth, you look so close and it's so cute! Specially the way you converse with each other. I mean, it's both cool and cute! Seventh.... Did I mention you guys look good together?" She beamed at Kaori, making the other squint at her.
"So," Kaori looked at the other two helplessly, "She's a crazy fan of us?"
"It's not just me, Dylanthy and Willia think the same!" Melissa said breathlessly, "Right?"
"Yeah," Dylanthy agreed while Willia nodded in reply.
"But girls," Kaori shook her head gravely, "We're not like that. In fact, I have never even thought of Yamaken like that."
"What?" The three girls said in disbelief.
Willia now spoke, "But you seem like you are really this close and things. How could that be?"
"I am close with Yamaken," Kaori replied firmly in the affirmative, "But I don't think of him like that. As for why I'm close with him - first, he's my second guide and fourth shinki. He's as powerful as Haru was. He was also Haru's cousin, who was my best friend so naturally we got along well. Second, he's my father's best friend - my uncle's son," Kaori finished.
"Huh? You never told us that!" The three girls were surprised.
"I met Yamaken when I was young. He had come to our house with uncle. Even when we met again in the clan headquarters, I knew who he was, but I always acted like I didn't," Kaori shrugged, "Did I never tell you the story of how my parents met?"
The other three immediately shook their head and stared at Kaori with twinkling eyes, waiting for Kaori to begin the story.
"Uh, so," Kaori rubbed her neck before beginning, "Both my father and my mother, each had a best friend. My mom had always studied in girls' school until she entered a co-ed high school along with her best friend. As usual for any student for whom it was their first time studying in a co-ed school, it felt uncomfortable for mom and her friend. But surprisingly enough, on their first day, they became friends with two friendly boys whose seats were before the two girls. Those two boys were my dad and his best friend - my uncle."
"Whoa, high school love story!" Melissa squealed, shaking Dylanthy who's head was spinning from the force, "Calm down."
As Kaori continued - smiling at Melissa's comment - Melissa let go of Dylanthy and put all her attention to the story again, "Eventually, my dad fell for my mom and, uh, the feeling was mutual. And.. Their best friends knew about it, so they decided to take the roles of matchmakers. As those two carried the burden, it turned out that they also grew feelings for each other along the way which was not left unnoticed by my mom and dad. So the four of them actually played the matchmakers for each other. In the end, my mom and dad got married and had me, while their best friends - my uncle and aunt - had gotten married as well and had Yamaken."
"Aww," Willia cooed, "So nice!"
Kaori smiled, "So, that's the way it is. We're just friends, nothing else."
"Hm," Melissa pouted, "But I shipped you guys.."
Kaori let out a laughter while Willia and Dylanthy also became sad, "We still don't want to believe you but.." They both sighed.
"I guess you really don't like him," Willia mumbled.
"No way," Kaori said firmly.
Then she said thoughtfully, "You asked about me.. What about you guys?" She asked curiously.
Willia broke out to a smile, "Us? It's actually crystal clear. If you observe closely, anyone could guess."
"Really?" Kaori asked in surprise, "I don't know anything.. Will you tell me?"
Dylanthy grinned, "Sure, I'd love to tell you about Melissa," She nudged the other girl who seemed to be shy.
Willia suddenly grabbed her pillow from her bed and lied on her stomach on Kaori's bed, "This feels like a girls' night," She said giddily.
"It is," Dylanthy giggled as she also grabbed her pillow and sat beside Kaori, reclining on the wall, "Let's gossip until late night."
Kaori smiled at her silly friends. She knew that they wouldn't be able to do as she was saying since they were tired from the journey and surely would fall asleep before late night.
"So? What did you want to tell me about Melissa?" Kaori reminded as Melissa blushed.
"Oh~" Dylanthy smirked, "Melissa has feelings for Tom."
"I-" Melissa blushed even more.
Kaori watched her, "It's just us, you don't have to feel so shy," She said softly.
Melissa nodded and squeaked in a small voice, "Okay."
"What's even more to it, their feelings are mutual!" Dylanthy boomed the news.
"Oh my!" Kaori's perfect white teeth showed as she couldn't help but twinkle in excitement, "If you know that already, why don't you confess? It's already third term and high school will be over soon."
"I know," Melissa replied quietly.
"...." Kaori said carefully, "Don't worry. If you need any help, we're here," She gave a warm smile at Melissa who's face brightened a little.
"Then? What about yourself, Dylanthy?" Kaori then asked her friend.
"Ah," Dylanthy's face fell.
"Are you okay?" Kaori asked worriedly.
"Actually," Willia spoke, "Dylanthy... Likes Robin."
"...."
//Silence//
"Oh," Kaori said blankly.
Melissa sighed, "Robin was good even at the beginning of third year but he totally became a playboy now."
"If he only wasn't," Willia remarked regrettably.
Kaori pursed her lips, watching her sad friend sitting beside her with her head down.
𝘐𝘧 𝘙𝘰𝘣𝘪𝘯 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘢 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘰𝘺 𝘯𝘰𝘳 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘺 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭𝘴 𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘭, 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘢 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘨𝘶𝘺. 𝘏𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘢 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘭𝘺 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘴. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘴𝘢𝘥𝘭𝘺, 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘢 𝘣𝘢𝘥 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘢 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘰𝘺 𝘪𝘧 𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘶𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶.
𝘋𝘺𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘺...
𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯, 𝘪𝘧 𝘸𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘙𝘰𝘣𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘋𝘺𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘺, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨...
"Dylanthy," Kaori called, making the other girl look at her attentively, "Don't worry. I have a plan and I'll do my best to help you."
"But Kaori, he's a-" Melissa was beginning but Kaori cut in.
"I know what he is," She said confidently, "That's why I also know what I'm doing."
Her friends stared at her in awe, making Kaori flustered, "What? Don't stare!"
Dylanthy laughed, "Thanks, Kaori. This is our first time talking about things like this, huh?"
"Yeah," Kaori laughed awkwardly, "I never really thought that you three might like someone. Oh wait, Willia, do you like anyone?" She looked at Willia who gave the question a thought.
"Uh," Willia frowned, "Yeah."
"Who is it?" Kaori asked immediately.
Willia smiled at her friend's action, "It's Wood."
Kaori was taken aback, "Is that so?" She laughed dryly, "Good to know."
Willia then asked, "Kaori, did you never fall for anyone for real?"
Kaori thought before answering, "Yeah, I did. I liked someone a long time ago but it was just some distant feeling, nothing much."
"For whom?" Dylanthy asked curiously.
"Someone," Kaori smiled playfully, "It's a secret," She winked.
"Haru?" Melissa guessed out of nowhere.
Kaori shook her head, "Nope."
"Fujinuma?" Dylanthy scrunched her nose.
"No way," Kaori laughed out.
"Speaking of Fujinuma," Willia spoke, "What happened in the clan when you went over last time? Did Fujinuma attack? Or anything else special?"
Kaori broke out to a smile, "Yeah, something did happen."
"What?" The three asked at once.
Then, Kaori pulled up the sleeve of her nightwear to reveal the mark of the headmaster of the clan.
"Whoa," Melissa commented, "What is it? Tattoo?"
"Nope, I don't like tattoos," Kaori said, "It's the mark of the clan that appears when you are made the headmaster."
//Silence//
"Huh? Wait, you," Willia began in disbelief.
Melissa stole her words, "You're the headmaster now?" She exclaimed in which Kaori nodded.
"But then, don't you have a huge responsibility now? Why are you here? Who's ruling the clan if you're here?" Questions were bursting out from the three friends.
"Kazuma-sensei is handling everything on my behalf and, I don't have any special responsibilities to take care of," Replied Kaori shortly.
"Only that all the powers are now in my hand," Kaori said again, "And I'll have to be careful, too."
Dylanthy yawned, making Kaori stop and look over at her.
Dylanthy began, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"
"You're tired, let's go to sleep for tonight," Kaori cut in out of concern.
As Dylanthy hesitated, Willia also said that she was sleepy, too and so, the girls decided to call it a night.
Kaori's bed was at the right corner, on Dylanthy' left side. On Dylanthy's right was Melissa's bed and on Melissa's right side was Willia's bed.
They turned off the lights and went to their respective beds, pulling on the blankets over them.
All the other girls except Kaori, soon drifted off to sleep while Kaori was staring at the ceiling up above.
"The person I used to like..." She murmured before smiling to herself, "But now it's all in the past. I don't have that kind of feelings for anyone anymore."
She let out a steady breath before saying, "Let's sleep."
Soon enough, Kaori also dozed off.
*******************
"Haru!" Kaori yelled out as she bolted up straight onto her bed. She was breathing heavily.
𝘐... 𝘏𝘢𝘳𝘶.. 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘢 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘥..
Dylanthy stirred in her sleep, "Oh, Kaori? Are you okay?"
Kaori was startled by the sudden voice but she apologized as soon as she realized that Dylanthy's sleep was disturbed, "I'm sorry to have disturbed your sleep."
"Did you have a nightmare?" Dylanthy asked worriedly as she saw the state Kaori was in.
Kaori was sweaty all over and her hair was a total mess while the blanket that was over her before was now tangled with her legs and body.
"I-" Kaori hesitated.
Dylanthy quietly made some space beside her and patted on the vacant place, "Come here."
"Eh?" Kaori was dumbfounded.
"You won't be able to sleep easily after a nightmare. So come sleep next to me," Dylanthy explained shortly.
Kaori hesitated a bit before transferring over to Dylanthy's bed. As she lied down beside her friend, Dylanthy quietly gave soft pats on Kaori's arm to calm her down.
"Kaori," She suddenly called lowly.
"Yes?"
"Why did you say you'd have to be careful even if you didn't have any responsibilities?"
Kaori's silence made Dylanthy open her eyes to see if she had fallen asleep. But she saw that Kaori wasn't asleep, she just wasn't replying to Dylanthy's question.
"Because," Kaori finally spoke, "I am now the holder of all the power that the clan has. For example, if I loose my ability, everyone that belongs to the clan will loose their abilities as well. Or, if I die, everyone else will die as well. Meaning that the clan now depends on me fully. That's the reason headmasters often don't go out much or have other people protecting them."
Dylanthy slightly nodded, "Oh, I understand now."
Then, she said something that made Kaori's eyes widen, "Kaori, believe in yourself."
"Don't think about the failures that happened in the past. The mistakes that leave regrets in your heart, you can either ignore them or you can also learn from them. You failed to protect someone you held dear to you but that doesn't mean that you'll always fail. Learn to heal from your broken self, learn to rise from the ashes once more and create the base of your future by yourself, okay?" Dylanthy said sleepily.
Dylanthy must've smiled at the end - that was what Kaori thought since she couldn't see the other girl in the dark.
"Yeah, thanks," Kaori's voice broke slightly but it didn't stand out much for Dylanthy to understand.
After about five minutes of being silent, Kaori peeped over at Dylanthy, wondering if she fell asleep.
As she felt the other's heavy and distant breathing, she understood that Dylanthy had fallen asleep.
Kaori smiled, wrapping her hand around the other's left arm and making herself comfortable.
Soon enough she also drifted off to sleep again with the plan to spend the rest of the night away by doing so while she thought -
𝘠𝘦𝘢𝘩, 𝘐 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩. 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘐 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦.. 𝘐 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘢 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘨𝘶𝘺𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵, 𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘺 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘮𝘺 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴. 𝘐 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘦.
⭐🌟⭐❤⭐❤⭐❤⭐❤⭐❤⭐❤⭐🌟⭐