'Purple furry ears?' Asahi observed as he watched them flatten due to her sad demeanor.
He began to understand the main reason she had worn her hood and a cat-styled mask since he had met her when he joined the academy.
'How could I have been this foolish not to quickly understand what she was?'
"You're... You're a feral." He voiced his thoughts.
At the sound of someone else in her space, she whipped her head in Asahi's direction.
Instinctively, her hands reached for her hood and pulled it over her head in one quick motion.
"No... No, you don't need to hide them, it's beautiful." Asahi called out a little too desperately.
Tria's purple eyes glowed and her fang grew an inch lower past her bottom lip.
Asahi took a step back, "I mean no harm, I'm just here to help you get out of here safely. You have friends who need you."
Being trapped in limbo could do trippy things to an inexperienced sorcerer and might affect the memory recollection as there might be a case of disassociated memory as they try to cope with the unpleasantness of the environment or emotions.
Asahi could only hope she could remember she had friends who could care for her no matter what she was.
"Where is Suzi?" Tria muttered through gritted teeth.
"She's back in the hall and needs you to come with me." Asahi explained, hoping she would follow along.
Tria took her time to gauge her situation as she sniffled, wiping on her tears and biting down on her bottom lip.
Her pupils dilated as she deactivated the glow in her eyes and retracted her fangs, this gave her an adorable look that could strike at anyone's heart.
'Awww!' Asahi cooed and wished to pinch on those pouty cheeks.
Shaking his head so he could get a hold of himself, he coughed out, "Suzi is waiting out for you, please trust me."
With a nod of her head, she slowly took several steps until she was in front of him.
"Now what?" She questioned, curious about how he was going to get them out.
Bringing out his palm, he nodded for her to place hers on his.
Doing as she was instructed, he began to chant some spells in his thoughts.
Tria felt her body heat rise and from within she saw an orange glow from her chest. "W-what's going on?"
Sweat trailed down his forehead as he ignored it and chose to focus more on her mana manipulation. There was no way he was going to waste the mana shared by professor Tenji.
Once he had completed the spell, his blue eyes popped open with a glow. Pulling out one of his hands, he slapped his hand onto her chest.
*****
The others had been watching the two who seemed to be in some sort of trance since they both offered help.
Maiyu began to feel uneasy about how frustrating it was to watch without knowing what was going on.
Her eyes roved the crowd in search of Rumi–who had offered this idea.
To her shock, she caught Rumi's eyes already on her. 'What's with that look?'
Gasp!
Asahi took in large gulps of air and coughed out for some time.
Tenji woke up with no stress and stretched out so he recovered from the lack of movement for a while.
He was quick to hold Asahi in place, "are you alright?"
Asahi nodded his head and hit his chest to calm himself.
Suzi pushed away the rest in front of her and rushed to Asahi. "Where's Tria?!"
Swiftly evading her hands on his, he immediately responded. "Give it time, you certainly cannot rush this."
Suzi nodded her head and could be seen biting on her fingernail, earnestly seeking the return of her friend.
Asahi narrowed his eyes at Suzi, he tried to guess if she had any knowledge of who Tria was. This might be one of the reasons she was so worried or a factor in their closeness.
Whispering into his ear was Tenji, he wondered to what extent that Asahi could go in his ability.
"I am fairly okay sir, without your help, I would have been sucked dry." Asahi laughed it off.
Whack!
Tenji couldn't hold in his urge to slap the back of Asahi's head. "Believe in yourself as I do of you!"
Asahi held the back of his head to the pain and put on his best-forced smile. "In 5... 4..."
Anxiously waiting for the return of Tria, the hall fell quiet at the countdown being heard from Asahi.
"3... 2... 1..."
A misty cloud engulfed the hall which was followed by a loud clap of thunder.
Tria slowly materialized from her feet upwards. She had managed to revert to her hooded and masked outlook.
Suzi spared no time in waiting as she jumped on for a hug.
"Don't you ever scare me like that!" Suzi scolded Tria as she pulled on the side of her hood before they both burst out in laughter.
Asahi had a big smile and turned towards Rumi–she had been the one to offer that which he was too afraid to open up before their presentation and he was thankful for her intuition.
She was the one who had helped him come out of his selective shell. When he had managed to get her attention, he gave a thumbs up which earned him the genuine heartwarming smile he so dearly wished to see daily.
Even though whatever that had happened between them would come flashing in Tria's thoughts gradually, Asahi could only wait a few hours till she got the full memory of what was going on.
Tenji whispered his thoughts on the current situation into Maiyu's ear and took a step back as she prepared to speak on behalf of all.
Maiyu cleared her throat and slapped her hands on the table. "I don't know if this is just all my feelings determining my words, but I have something of importance to note."
Popping out her index finger, she recounted the condition to winning the grand prize of a boost in the grade.
All the students nodded enthusiastically.
She let out a sigh before she continued, "I would be postponing this presentation till the next biweekly."
A groan and mumbling could be heard from the distasteful students. They felt bitter that it would be canceled and all preparations would go to waste.
"Silence! Let's hear what the headmistress has to say on this." A professor called out in her loud stern voice.
A comedic cricket noise could be heard enjoying the deafening silence caused by such a command.
Maiyu twirled her index finger, "but that doesn't mean your efforts would go in vain, which is why you would all be compensated accordingly."
*****
A/N
I would really appreciate your comments and support of this novel with your power stones. Your active comments would motivate me to write more chapters.
¶ Any idea on what sort of compensation could be proposed?