"Mr. Oshieru, you are needed in the office."
A groan filled an empty classroom. Mr. Oshieru could be seen tidying up his classroom after teaching basic academics for seven to eight hours. 'I doubt it's because I was late this morning. I was only late by five minutes!'
Standing up from his uncomfortably wooden chair and out from behind his desk, he grabbed a key to his classroom and walked over to the door. Once he stepped out of class 1AB, Oshieru slid the door shut, locking it afterward. 'Now that I think about it; cases of robberies or basic thefts have been surging recently in Buraun. I'm surprised that the bald guy this morning was my first run-in with one in a while.'
Once the classroom door was locked, Oshieru started striding his way down to the main office of Buraunmajikku academy.
XXX
Inside the main office, Ms. Manabu could be seen looking out of one of the windows, peering through the sun's blinding illumination from up high above in the sky.
'I wonder if Nozomu wou-'
*CLICK*
The door to the main office could be heard clicking from the doorknob being twisted, then being opened to present who was on the other side.
Ms. Manabu smiled joyfully, "Welcome, Oshieru!" she then straightened herself out from behind her principal room desk.
Mr. Oshieru walked into the principal's office gingerly, traversing over to one of the two seats in front of Manabu's desk.
"What do you need from me, Ms. Manabu?" Oshieru questioned, situating himself inside one of the offered chairs.
Ms. Manabu clasped her hands together on her enviously organized desk, adorning a sober look. "I have recently had a meeting with some of our 'higher-ups', and we have been ordered to prosecute their plan of sending our students on an educational expedition to a village called Ryakudatsu."
Oshieru adopted a look of shock, his eyes widening to the size of saucers, as well as his right hand getting clenched into a tight fist.
Ms. Manabu caught Oshieru's look of shock immediately, "Now, Oshieru. We're-"
"Are all of the students from each year going?" Oshieru abruptly cut Ms. Manabu off mid-sentence.
"No; only all of the first years. Ryakudatsu has already concurred with the idea, so if no attendees from Buraun show up, it's going to have a negative effect on our village." Ms. Manabu replied, closing her eyes in a form of condolence. "The reason I was given was that our first years are learning at a considerably slower pace. I thought we agreed on teaching the first years differently than the other years taking what's happened into account, but the council wants better results from them."
Oshieru remained quiet for a few short moments, rubbing his left hand on his face. "So if we don't comply; our village will be untrusted, and I know damn well that us here at the academy will be forced to discuss with the council because of it," Oshieru said in a near whisper.
Manabu was able to hear Oshieru, nodding in agreement. "I understand that you may not want to do this due to your… past experiences, but me being the principal only gives me so much power in a predicament such as this." the light-brown-haired principal sighed in exasperation.
Oshieru removed his left hand from his face, unclenching his right hand as well in an attempt to relax. "Alright, when are we leaving?" Oshieru proceeded to ask, meeting the principal's gaze.
Manabu smiled sheepishly. "Next week."
The room was immediately encompassed in suffocating silence, not even the usual creaks from the academy's foundation were eliciting any noise.
To Manabu; the silence felt like was lasting forever. Or, at least it did until--
"WHAT!?"
XXX
Naderamu could be seen walking throughout the academy halls, ignoring all of the other students that flooded the halls to exit the academy.
Naderamu's brain was currently surfacing thoughts from a previous event that she seemingly can't get out of her head.
--FLASHBACK--
Naderamu and Tanjo can now be seen standing back on the rooftops from the class 1AB vs. Class 1AR match.
Tanjo had a look mixed with fear and contemplation as Naderamu glared at him with an angry and expectant look.
"So? What's your problem?" Naderamu pressed Tanjo to speak, trying to get some sort of secret out of the jet-black teenager.
"I-" Tanjo hesitantly started, making Naderamu's brow raise in impatience,
"I- what?" She questioned.
"I h-have an aura amalgamation."
--FLASHBACK END--
'What the hell could an aura amalgamation be!?' Naderamu thought rhetorically.
Naderamu finally reached the exit of the academy. When she was walking through the huge doors to leave, a familiarly loud and obnoxious voice called out to her.
"Hey, Naderamu!"
Naderamu looked behind her, seeing Akogare exit through the academy doors shortly after she did. 'Did he not see me in the halls?'
Akogare then turned his head to the side of him as he headed towards Naderamum, talking as if he's conversing with someone.
Naderamu gained an expression of confusion, trying to peek around all of the students that were leaving the academy to spot who Akogare was speaking to.
'Oh, of course.' Naderamu mentally facepalmed, realization dawning on her. 'Tanjo.'
Tanjo suddenly emerged from the student body that was fleeing the academy, answering Naderamu's internal question as to who Akogare was speaking to.
Akogare and Tanjo finally made it up to Naderamu, prompting the blonde-haired girl to continue her walk.
"So, what were you idiots discussing?" Naderamu questioned the two males with her somewhat usually rude tone.
Akogare's face lit up even more than it was when speaking to Tanjo. "We were talking about how Mr. Oshieru permitted us to practice off school grounds! I was saying that I wanted to start practicing tonight with the both of you, but Tanjo won't answer me when I ask him if he'll join us!"
Naderamu's brow raised in inquiry, "That's weird. You two are always doing dumb stuff together. why is this an exception, Tanjo?"
Tanjo nearly halted entirely but managed to keep walking with the two blondes. "I- Uhm, have to be home because the old man needs my help with… trimming the bushes!"
Naderamu gave Tanjo a blank look, but as usual for Akogare, he just nodded in acknowledgment.
"I understand, Tanjo. But, if you're heading home, why didn't you take that turn two paths ago? Did you forget your way home?" Akogare questioned, tilting his head.
Now that made Tanjo stop, nearly trip as well. "W-well I can explain that! I need to-"
"There you are, Tanjo! I was just heading home. I assume you were about to meet me there?" A new feminine voice obliviously butted into the conversation amongst the three students.
'Shit!' Tanjo mentally exclaimed. 'I can't get a break, can I!?'
Tanjo and the two blondes all turned to the source of the feminine voice, all spotting a cyan-haired wearing a white robe who was all so painfully familiar to Tanjo. Tanjo hesitantly waved to the cyan-haired lady, "Hi, Ms. Tassei."
Naderamu turned back to Tanjo. "So, where were you going exactly?" A glare was apparent in her eyes. "You were just planning to just hang out with some random hot lady, were you!?"
Tanjo started waving his hands excessively. "NO! I just need to... pick up some tools from her place?"
Naderamu gave a dubious hum. "Why did that sound like a question?"
Ms. Tassei walked up to the three, a smile on her face. "Are you Tanjo's friends?"
Akogare immediately nodded. "Yes, we are ma'am! My name is Naguru Akogare!"
Ms. Tassei nodded in acknowledgment, looking over to Naderamu. Naderamu noticed the lady's gaze, prompting her to speak. "My name is Apiru Naderamu, ma'am."
Ms. Tassei giggled slightly, confusing the bunch. "Well, you three seem lively. Good to see that my boy Tanjo has such great friends!"
Akogare suddenly saluted. "A warrior must be kind to everyone you meet!"
Ms. Tassei elicited another giggle. "So, you guys are becoming warriors as well, huh? That's fantastic! But, as for now; I'm afraid Tanjo and I have to depart. He will see you both tomorrow!" Ms. Tassei announced, turning to walk down the path they were standing on. "Come along, Tanjo."
Tanjo jumped from his spot, "A-alright!" He then turned to face his classmates. "I'll see you guys tomorrow! Maybe I can train with you some other time, Akogare!"
Akogare adorned a look of hope, clenching a fist and holding it to his chest in an overdramatic manner. "I'll hold you to that!"
Naderamu didn't respond to Tanjo's parting statement, only sending a blank look in the jet-black-haired boy's direction, then sighing after a few moments. "Come on, Akogare. I need to head home. And I'm sure that your parents will start to freak if you don't get home soon."
Akogare only nodded. The two blondes then ventured to their own homes for the night. But, confusion was still flooding Naderamu's thoughts.
'I'll just have to ask Tanjo about these random occurrences, won't I?'
XXX
Hey! I hope you guys enjoyed today's chapter. I want to transition to the next part of the book that I have planned, so I'm using the school expedition talked about at the beginning of the chapter as an excuse! Stay tuned for more.
Have a Good Day!
Peace - Cr1ticalz_