In any event, I was pleased to accept her warning and sought to move quickly out of the area. Although I was worried about the uncertainty in her voice, there was nothing I could do that would change the outcome of what was going to happen.
*Footsteps echoed in the grand empty halls of the academy.
The school started ten minutes ago, and each student should have been in the classroom by then. On the way to my class, I turned my head to the right and saw the students in class 3-A singing what sounded like the national anthem, which was common to do every morning.
Because of my carelessness, I made a sudden turn around a corner of the same corridor, almost twisting my ankle and falling on the floor. By using my hands to support the weight of my body, I succeeded in catching the rails of the stairs. 'It may not be too late, I can still do it', of course, it was wishful thinking. The fact that my attendance record was about to take another plunge wasn't the most frightening thought.
My goal was atop these stairs. There was a simple wooden door with a plain piece of paper glued to it, a detail that made the door stand out from the others. A ray of light shone on the paper, easing the reading of the content. A single word, lacking any context was written on it, "Super," reading those words aloud made me recall all the good memories and the many hardships we overcame as classmates during the last three years, and there was still so much more to come.
Happy emotions flowed through my body as I slid the doors of my classroom and stepped inside the room with sweaty clothes, excessive panting, and a big smile on my face, "SAFE!!!" my efforts to make a humorous entrance were futile, as the one waiting to scold me wasn't the teacher but someone much more frightening. "Good morning, Celestine," the soft and gentle voice of a girl called out for me, her tone of voice was so sweet that it could make any unsuspecting victim fall in love with her. That's what most people would think, anyway.
Beyond the rivers of pure water and the endless scent of roses, however, is the murderous intent of a certain individual. "G-," I tripped over my words when raising my face to look into the girl's eyes, "Good morning, Aoi." This girl that I fear so much just happens to be my childhood friend. From the Angelite family, a supporter of mine, and my protector, Aoi Angelite.
A feeling of coldness pervaded my spine, sending shivers throughout my body. The shadow of a rectangular object passed by me, hovering over my head, waiting for a reaction. "How many times do I have to tell you?" There isn't enough time to escape, I prepare for impact just as the hard object struck the top of my head, causing me to lose my balance and fall in her arms.
"You're supposed to be calling me by my surname on the school grounds," the sweet scent of roses soon faded in favor of the faint smell of blood upon hitting her chest face-first. "I think my nose just broke, it's because of you having such a flat chest," the words I tried to whisper came out unexpected.
Everyone avoided their eyes in true fear of her, in addition to being the protector of the school ace, she is the center of attention due to rumors about her extremely inhumane strength. It's hard to argue against the rumors when the footage of a schoolgirl reveals her lifting the back of a semi-truck.
"Well, I'm sorry for not having much to show," she said as if the main character of a visual novel had chosen the wrong path. Even before it continued, everybody in the room had already realized that if it were really a visual novel, this path I chose would lead me to a Game Over.
Fortunately, the teacher's frantic behavior served as a distraction as I attempted to escape. She stormed the room almost lowering the door with her, also soaked in sweat and her legs shaking slightly. "Is something the matter, Garnet-sensei?" Aoi asked Yua Garnet as she walked toward her seat at the back of the room.
Garnet-sensei used a nearby desk to support herself while trying to catch her breath. Sweat flows through her hair and evaporates immediately on contact with the ground, a passive property of her ability to alter the temperature of objects that come into contact with her. She is quite popular among students because of her past achievements, there is no soul that doesn't recognize the name Yua Garnet, or at least know the tales of the previous Ace of the Amber Academy.
"Nothing happened!! Everything is just fine," she responded erratically as though she was trying to hide something from us. There were red flags all over, from her inconsistent behavior to her continuing to avoid our eyes. Garnet-sensei was acting too much outside of her character, and everyone seemed to have understood that fact. Well, almost everyone…
"Should we be starting this lesson already? Garnet-sensei," the irritated voice of an impatient student triggered a surge of anger in our classmates because of her total lack of consciousness. "Certainly, Miss Aura," she flinched and responded to Aura's question with a soft smile.
'Hinako could have done a better job at least trying to be more understanding,' this is what I thought, but I would never have had the courage to say it directly to her face, her aggressive personality and her scary appearance second only to Angelite has always prevented us from fully understanding each other. It is not that we completely hated one another, but the term "Frenemies" (= hybrid of "friend" and "enemy") would summarize our relationship just fine. She had a fundamental misunderstanding of my visions and was quick to judge every book by its cover, but she was not a bad person.
'But I don't mind, as long as nobody dares say it,' maybe my thoughts were the catalyst of what was going to happen. A sudden wave of heat consumed our entire classroom, coming from the back of the room, specifically from the last desk to the far right of the room, where Aoi Angelite was seated. "Wait a minute, Hinako Aura," Aoi rose from her seat and glanced abundantly at Hinako. "As dense as you may be, you can't be dumb enough not to notice something's wrong."
If looks could kill, our class would have turned into a slaughterhouse, the penetrating looks of both definitely left collateral damage in the hearts and minds of the students. "Did you lose it, Aoi Angelite? A mere protector of the Celestine family should be more cautious when addressing individuals of higher status," Hinako said.
"What superior status do you have? Your mother was a high-profile soldier during World War III, and I respect her for that. What did you do to obtain a status greater than mine?" Aoi wasted no time and responded as quickly as she did.
One step at a time, they closed the gap between them, increasing our heartbeats by an indeterminate amount. Yua Garnet decided to intervene by standing between them, but she succumbed to pressure and stepped aside in the last second. "I don't give a damn about the rumor that you're the strongest student. In defense of my name and family, I, Hinako Aura, by virtue of the agreement signed by the three great families, challenge Aoi Angelite in a formal duel."
With a confident attitude and a repulsive smile, Hinako lit the flames of chaos that remained dormant in the hearts of each student, a choice that will push them to their limits and establish a new hierarchy in the history of the Amber Academy.