'Her grandfather was looking at her around the edge of his book. She was looking back. He snapped the book shut so fast that the dust in the air formed a cloud.
"Kill me." He said.
He barely ever talked, just padded around the house with an empty smile, fed her exactly when she started to get hungry, took her to school without a word, and put her to sleep just the same.
She liked how he did everything that way. She loved him for it, and he was the only person she'd ever loved.
"Kill me." He repeated. Rei blinked.
"I won't."
"Why not? You do everything the moment I tell you to do it. You're a perfect dog. Why will you not do this?" His face was wrinkled skin and withered, a million or more years aged, and he'd probably die soon anyway.
"It's not that I can't, but I won't. You are why I live." He rasped out a low breath.
"What does that matter? I want you to kill me." Rei only met his gaze, stern and stubborn. He turned his head to stare at nothing in particular, wistful.
"You won't." He sighed.'
Rei gasped awake, shivers spanning her spine. It was not a pleasant memory, and it made for a weird dream.
She focused on something else, wondering why she'd remembered that on this specific day. It was another one of her grandfather's mysteries, one that she didn't want to solve.
Rei dressed in her new academy garb, slung a duffel bag full of everything she needed over her shoulder, and locked up the house.
Asa Academy was a live-in school, like most of them nowadays, so she would have a dorm there and roommates. She was not looking forward to that part of her schooling, but she tried making it a positive by thinking about the extra challenge it would present to keep her secrets secret.
She braided her hair and tied in a ribbon, pulling back the loose strands with a hair clip. She'd rather do without the hair accessories, but the academy had a dress code, and the smooth, thin needle-like hair clip was the only weapon she'd be able to wear openly.
With a signal to Koka-Tai to follow, she left the house behind at last.
Asa Academy was in a bigger city, Clypeus, that had an abnormal amount of Dungeons and a crazy topography. It was known as the Twisting City, being littered with mountainous regions and several lakes and tributaries.
The streets were barely drivable, which meant Rei thought it safer to hike up to the academy.
The school itself was nestled between two twin-sized mountains, with natural mason work to blend it into the cool gray-blue tones. The outside had some Greek influence, but there was a large flat area near the back that seemed to have a lovely Zen Garden.
As Rei came closer and closer to the entrance, more people joined her, on their way to the school. She stayed clear of others, brushing into a shadowy corner of what she thought might be the reception hall.
A few people kept glancing over like they wanted to socialize, but something about Rei's stone expression accented by the shade must've deterred them. She watched them chat with one another carelessly, not even thinking about the possibility that not everyone here was actually a student, or that they could be dangerous.
She leaned up against a marble pillar and waited. More people poured in until the reception hall was packed like sardines. Then, at last, a blonde man with thick navy glasses strolled into the hall. The students parted as he walked right for the center.
Everyone seemed to know that staying silent meant staying alive, so the place changed from booming to crickets in a snap.
"I am Lantern Silica." The man said simply, his words stated in the most normal way achievable, yet perceived as nothing but power. He was their superior, their teacher, their Dean.
"You are to call me Professor, Dean, or Mister Silica. Anything of higher respect must be earned. Now!" His voice had raised at last, causing many of the students to flinch and scatter like roaches.
"This is Asa Academy, and you are here, yet you are not students." Rei simply listened, waiting for answers before asking questions.
"This Academy is only for those of ambition. All recipients of our acceptance have either shown great potential or been recognized by an alumni. This isn't just any school." People were standing on their tip-toes, trying to watch the Dean's every move.
"Which means, you have to prove your worth. Right now...let's have us a little entrance exam." Mr. Silica's face morphed with a sinister grin. A dark aura immediately encompassed the room.
"If you want to attend Asa Academy, kill the person you love the most." Seemingly oblivious to the uproar, the Dean continued.
"We will know if you succeed, so don't try to get out of it. Alright, go!"
[Task]
-gain entrance into Asa Academy
Reward: 15 exp
In a second flat, a boy with medium-length black hair and the most stricking electric blue eyes, had stabbed the girl behind him straight through the neck. He'd used the pencil from his breast pocket.
Rei's brows rose. How lucky was it for him to have someone he loves standing right behind him. It didn't seem probable, but the Dean handed him a key to a dorm. The boy took it, paying no mind to the fact that he'd just left a stain of blood on Mr. Silica's palm.
Rei walked passed the dead body and up to the Dean. It was far easier to avoid touching anyone when they were all frozen.
"Sensei, I have a question." The Dean, luckily, didn't seem to mind the address. He quirked a brow.
"Yes?" Rei sucked in a lungful of oxygen, careful in her deflation.
"What if I have already killed the person I love the most?" Mr. Silica asked no questions, his eyes seeming to sparkle with recognition.
"How about ridding yourself of whoever you care for? It doesn't have to be love." Rei kept her gaze locked with his.
"But Professor, since you are the one in charge of my acceptance into this academy, that means you are also the most important to me currently. Should I kill you?" The Dean rolled his eyes, breaking the contact with a huff.
"That wouldn't be fair. Just kill someone then." She nodded, sliding the hair clip from her hair. She twirled it through her fingers as she would a baton, stilled it to grip it as she would a dart, and threw it straight into the nearest person's eye.
[Task Complete]
[+15 exp]
It was a clean kill, no messy blood splatters or goo. That's what was so great about targeting the eye. It led directly to the brain, was only protected by a thin layer of skin, and didn't ruin her clothes.
She snatched the key from Mr. Silica and went to find her room. She wondered if anyone else would be joining her anytime soon.