An ear-breaking sound filled the stone room and Eirin felt someone's hand pulling her away from the explosion. Her eyes were wide open as she saw vibrant golden platinum locks that fell onto her face while she could feel a callous hand behind her back, gently supporting her from her fall.
"Are you okay?"
A soft and pleasant voice flowed into Eirin's ear as she stared into those pair of baby blue eyes that were looking directly at her.
"An angel," Eirin unconsciously muttered, causing the person in front of her to let out a soft and sweet chuckle, making Eirin's heart skip a beat. 'I must be dead right now. There's no way a guy this beautiful could ever exist in real life,' she thought.
The hand supporting Eirin pulled her up, and the man in front of her smiled and said, "It looks like she's fine, Mr. Arthur." He removed his hand around Eirin's waist. That's when Mr. Blade rushed to Eirin's aide.
"That almost took me to the other world. Thank you, Pierre," Mr. Blade said, thanking the handsome guy who protected Eirin from harm. This caused Eirin to look around, none of the students were harmed at all, but the water spring was broken into pieces.
Eirin got pulled back to reality upon hearing the other teacher clearing her throat. "We must report what happened to the school director," the teacher said. The teenage girl saw how Mr. Blade's expression turned sour while he scratched his cheek.
'What happened? Was it all my fault? Of course, it was! I made that water ball explode with something I don't even know of!'
"Understood. For now, class dismissed," Mr. Blade announced. "Eirin, please follow us to the school director's office, immediately," he added, causing Eirin to gulp with her heart thumping faster and louder.
"What was that?" Eirin felt Kara's hand on her arm and saw her with a huge grin on her face. "It was a total failure! And did you see that? The color was pure black. It's ominous. You're not even a monster," she added while laughing.
Eirin blinked lots of times and thought, 'Is she making fun of me?' Due to how insensitive Kara's tone was, it made Eirin unable to react at all.
"Oh! The one who saved you earlier was Pierre Blouin. He's our school's famous prince charming and an heir to a dukedom," Kara continuously said, not even caring if Eirin was interested or not in what she was saying. "Why don't we go to the cafeteria and eat together? Maybe I could introduce you to Pierre or something."
"HAHAHAHA!"
Coleen's laugh snatched their attention and Kara saw the mocking expression on Coleen's face. "Oi, Shade! You should give Kara some attention. She's pitiful," Coleen said, casually calling Shade who was leaning on the wall away from everyone. Hearing that caused him to roll his eyes and walk towards the exit, ignoring Coleen's words which caused the girl to laugh even louder.
"Did you see that? He hates you."
"You crazy bitch!"
Kara screamed and charged at Coleen, leaving Eirin dumbfounded as Coleen fell hard to the floor with Kara sitting on top of her. "You think you're all great just because you are friends with Link? You're being delusional. You are still the useless and bastard daughter of the Marquis—"
Coleen's fist landed on Kara's face, cutting her off and causing her to fall to the ground.
'What the heck is going on?' Eirin was so confused she didn't know what to do. She approached the two while roaming her vision, trying to find someone who could help her move Coleen away from Kara, but the others were too busy minding the incident that had just happened.
"Why are you two fighting?" Eirin tried to talk to them, but Kara quickly stood back up and pulled Coleen's hair. Coleen didn't want to lose so she also started pulling Kara's hair in return.
"I hate you!"
"I hate you more, attention whore!"
Eirin could not understand a thing. First, it was an explosion from a black water ball, and now, two girls are fighting in front of her due to unknown reasons. 'Is this the normal here?' she thought as she kept taking deep breaths. 'Someone! Anyone! Get me out of this place.'
"Coco!"
Link rushed towards the two and pulled Coleen away. "What's wrong this time? I told you to stop getting yourself in trouble like this," he said, but Coleen kept snarling at Kara, and the latter did the same. Eirin, who once again witnessed the whole situation, wanted to help and explain what happened, but she didn't even know what truly happened.
"Eirin Luxfield?"
Eirin turned around and saw the person that called her name. "Mr. Blade told me to guide you because you didn't follow them to the school director's office." It was that heavenly handsome man named Pierre.
The teenage girl could not hear any of his words because her head was still in the clouds after staring at such a good-looking man. 'He's a man, but why is he so pretty?' she thought, but as soon as she saw him smile, she backed away. 'He gets prettier!?' Eirin's mouth went agape with her eyes gawking at the person in front of her.
"Uhm."
Eirin flinched after seeing Pierre's mouth moving and said, "Y-Yes?"
"I must guide you to the school director's office," he repeated and smiled. "Would it be fine for you to go now? Or would you like to visit the infirmary first? I am not sure if you got hurt or not after all."
"No!"
Silence filled the stone room after Eirin raised her voice like that towards the prince charming of the academia.
"I-I mean, I don't need to go to the infirmary," she quickly explained. "Please, do lead the way to the school director's office."
Pierre smiled and led the way. His kind and soft demeanor made Eirin beat herself up inside her head due to how awkward and embarrassing she acted in front of the good-looking man.
'Why was I acting like an idiot? If Ava saw me like that, she'd tease me nonstop,' she thought and shook her head. The two walked in the hallway with no words being said between them. Eirin saw the familiar scenery she saw yesterday with Anna, but of course, she knew she wouldn't be able to go to the director's office all alone. She's not that quick with directions.
"We're here."
Eirin was too late to stop her feet, causing her to bump into Pierre's broad and sturdy back. "Are you alright?" His huge and gentle hands were ready to support the teenage girl, but Eirin quickly balanced herself and smiled. There was enough embarrassment for her today, and she didn't want to add more.
"I-I'm sorry," Eirin stuttered as she hid her face. It was not a daily occurrence for Eirin Luxfield to be embarrassed like that. For as long as she can remember, it has been rare for her to feel shy towards people.
The handsome young man smiled, and his smile brought comfort and nervousness to the teenage girl. "It's fine. I shall leave you now," he said, but Eirin still couldn't thank him for bringing her to the school director's office and for saving her life.
"Wait!" She grabbed Pierre's shirt and was strong enough to make Pierre back away, almost bumping into her again. "I'm so sorry!" Eirin pulled her hand away. "I still haven't thanked you yet."
"It was no big deal, but you are welcome," Pierre said with his shiny and pinkish lips forming a smile before leaving.
Eirin was left alone in front of the huge door at the end of the hallway. She could hear the distant laughter of children coming from the first floor, but it only added nervousness to her. 'They won't scold me, won't they?' the teenage girl thought as she knocked on the door, but there was no response.
And so, Eirin decided to slowly turn the doorknob and open the door while muttering the words, "Excuse me".
"I will not repeat what I had just said!"
Eirin froze before she could fully open the door after hearing someone screaming.
"Please calm down, Ms. Hockenbury."
Eirin then heard Anna's voice which caused her to gulp. 'Am I in big trouble?' Her feet couldn't move due to the fear that she might already be causing problems in her new school and on the first day too.
"It will only create more problems if we do not watch over her." Eirin heard Regina's calm voice turning desperate. "This is for her safety, and everyone's safety."
"Is that so? Why don't you let that child enter first."
The door opened, pushing Eirin into the room and falling to the ground. "Didn't your grandmother teach you not to eavesdrop on other people's conversation?" Eirin received eyes full of judgment from the old teacher named Ms. Hockenbury. She was the same teacher who watched her divulgence rite.
"I-I'm sorry," Eirin said as she stood there while staring at the ground. "Mr. Blade told me to go to the director's office," she said without making eye contact with any of the people inside the room.
The awkward silence that followed made Eirin want to immediately leave. "It was not your fault, dear. Why did you call her here anyway?" Eirin could hear Regina's whisper to Mr. Blade.
"I didn't understand what happened so I thought I should tell you about it." Eirin heard Mr. Blade say. "T-That's right, Eirin. None of what happened was something dangerous to the students. And it was not your fault. Don't blame yourself, okay?" Hearing that made Eirin look up, but her eyes met Ms. Hockenbury's which immediately caused the teenage girl to flinch.
It has never occurred to her that people could be this hostile towards her. Her teachers back in her former high school would often compliment her and adore her, and she had never experienced this kind of wariness from an adult.
"I apologize for my hastiness, Eirin," Mr. Blade said. He had this uneasy smile as she approached the young lad. "You may go back to your dorm for now. The adults will discuss what happened and decide."
'A decision? What kind of decision? Are they planning to kick me out after forcing me to go to this place?'
Despite the lingering questions inside Eirin's head, she could not ask the teachers because she didn't want to complicate things further. She walked back into the hallway with a clouded mind and an anxious heart.
'I came to this place to get answers... but why am I getting more questions instead?' the teenage girl thought and sighed.
"Let's do it one more time!"
Eirin stared out of the window after hearing children's voices. There she saw near the garden three children, two boys, and a little girl. They were all doing something with their hands that Eirin could not comprehend. That's when the pastel blue and pink mists started blossoming into the air, turning into a bunch of clouds all over the atmosphere.
"That's great! Wow, you're doing great!" One of the boys told the little girl and they giggled. They looked so happy, that seeing them reminded Eirin of her childhood days.
'If only Ava could see the beautiful things this place has,' she thought with a melancholic smile on her face. When she turned back to her path, she grimaced upon seeing the person who was about to cross her path.
'Ugh. If that Pierre-guy is an angel, this one's probably the devil,' Eirin thought with her feet automatically backing away. Shade's gaze with his dark and black eyes landed on Eirin making her flinch. 'Why do I have to bump into this guy?' she thought as she could not control her expression.
Shade scoffed. "Why do you look like you ate dog shit?" Eirin's mouth went wide after hearing such vulgar words.