Yawwwn~
I gave a hearty yawn as I stretched my arms and sat up in my bed. I fell asleep quickly last night, just how late was it when I got into bed? I thought about yesterday and all of the things that happened; it made my heart beat faster. But these feelings... they feel dirty somehow? But how? I hung out with Quis for the entire day and night, so why would it feel wrong to have these emotions in my heart?
Yesterday, after everyone had learned how to control our Fruits thanks to Dad, I went to the bar with Quis. We drank some beer along with his friend Beulus. It surprised me that he was friends with someone who was already a graduate, but it makes sense since he didn't really have the choice to make friends with others his age. And then we went to the library to study some interesting things about the Fruits we selected, though we did have to get past a certain decadent woman.
After that, we had a meeting with... Spiravit... and I hid in a bush? Wait, something was wrong. Why can't I remember actually talking to Quis that entire time... And now that I think about it more... Did any of that actually happen? No, I definitely remember seeing Quis doing all of those things... but I can't remember me doing anything... Ah. I remember now.
I stalked Quis for the entirety of last night.
"Are you alright Pulchra? I can't help but feel like you just turned extremely depressed all of a sudden..." I turned to my side and saw the girl that I shared this room with. It was the easily out-spoken, timid, yet extremely cute Capcis.
"I'm fine, just reminiscing something that upset me a little." I had to keep my cool in front of her. If I suddenly spilled the secret of me stalking a boy... I wouldn't be able to look her in the eyes anymore. But even after I said that she still shook her head, "No that doesn't matter. We have to go quickly Pulchra, school will start in about... 15 minutes?" She touched her cheek with her finger as she thought about this.
She was extremely cute at this moment. Her long lustrous brown hair treaded down her back. It was a bit unkempt, but it added to the charm. Her hazel eyes with freckles gave me shivers filled with the urge to squeeze her cheeks. And those cheeks, they just pushed me over the edge.
"Ow, Owww! P-Pulchra, please stop this! Ouch, It hurts. Please stop!" Oh wait, I almost forgot. I have school in... 15 minutes...
I squeezed Capcis' cheeks more aggressively than before. "Pulchra, this feels more violent than usual! Ouch! You're going to pull them off!" I could see tears balling up in her eyes as I squeezed her cheeks strenuously, "You selfish girl! Why didn't you wake me up?! Now I have to choose between making myself look good for him or getting to school on time so I can see him sooner." My mind was clouded with anger and I said some unnecessary things. My hands loosened their grip on her cheeks as I realized my blunder.
"Huh? What do you mean by "him"? Don't tell me Pulchra has... there isn't any way, right? Does Pulchra really have a... a c-crush?!"
"AHHHHHHHHH!!!" I screamed while holding my hands over my ears. I had to escape quickly before Capcis said anything further. I opened the window and subsequently leaped into the nearby jungle. While I was running through the jungle with unnecessary thoughts in my head, I decided to just go to school.
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Just where is he?! It was the first day of Cultivation Class, and he decided to skip it? There is no way. From my... observations, I could conclude that Quis was not the type of person to skip class, especially not on an important day like the first one.
A couple of minutes passed, and for some reason, I was beginning to lose my patience. Thankfully my anger dissipated as I saw the door slam open. After the sound of the door hitting the wall behind it reached my ears, I could see our teacher walking into the classroom with Quis attached to her hand. That's good, he decided to come to school today.
Hours passed by as the teacher went on and on about the process of cultivating Genesis Essense. Originally, I was worried that I would be distracted by Quis, but after seeing him listening to the teacher's every word so dutifully, I couldn't help but feel a little silly. I could only think about coming here to see him, but it looked like his only thought in coming here was to better himself.
I reflected momentarily before I chose to put my full focus on the lesson, and now I'm here. But there was still one thing that made me lose focus every now and then... "Ughhhhh." I hear a familiar sigh before sighing as well. Here he goes again.
"Ms. Annu… it's not that I don't respect you as a Fruit Cultivator and..." I tuned him out automatically. Just why should I listen to someone who couldn't even remember the name of the person he was talking to? Not to mention his ungrateful attitude and his smug grin like he has everything figured out. It really pissed me off to think about it-
Snap!
I could hear the sound of chalk being snapped against the blackboard echo throughout the entire classroom. Everyone, even the yapping dog Spiravit, but this was reasonable considering what was being blanketed over the entire room. I could feel an incredible pressure pushing me down. The pressure came from Ms. Attu, whom my instincts refused to look at. Not only did they say this, but they were also telling me to run as far as possible. I couldn't move though, my body denied it. It's an interesting feeling, for your brain to be begging you to move, yet your body refuses any movement, of any kind.
I could tell that Ms. Attu was saying something to someone, but I couldn't hear a thing over my loudly beating heart. Was this the fear of death? It was strange. After I came to this realization, I suddenly became numb to any emotions. Instead, all that replaced it was the will to live.
But just as I was coming to this realization, I heard Ms. Attu call out to me, "...Pulchra. What would happen if your pores were damaged in battle and you tried to suck in Genesis Essence?" I was only able to hear this thanks to that terrifying pressure being lifted off of me. Even after the immediate danger was gone, I was still in shock, but somehow I was able to answer the question asked of me.
"The sucking of Genesis Essence after damaging one's pores, if even..." I said an answer mixed with the point of view of books that I read, and from the lesson that Ms. Attu gave us earlier, yet I couldn't hear a word I said. I was too fixated on other things. I was thinking about some things that I probably shouldn't have been thinking about. It was kind of scary to realize your own mortality... yet... he looked fine. He looked like he always did. Calm and collected, with no emotions radiating from him whatsoever.
It was scary to think about. If this was something that he could be straight-faced in front of, then just what has he gone through in the past?
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I walked out of the classroom feeling a little better, as that is what the flow of time does to someone. And although it was scary at the time, I strangely didn't feel any malice toward Ms. Attu. It was probably because she didn't actually release murderous intent. She only showed us the innate pressure of a peak Stone Class Fruit Cultivator. Either way, I didn't hate her, and that made me feel good-
Oh shoot! I totally forgot that I had some questions to ask Ms. Attu. I ran back to the classroom quickly, I needed to get there before Ms. Attu left the classroom.
Soon enough, I found myself in front of the door leading to the classroom, and just as I was about to open it I heard a voice from inside the classroom, "Thank you again, Ms. Attu. Not only for the meditation technique you showed me but for the kind words you said as well."
It was Quis? And judging by his words, the person he was talking to was... "Don't mention it Quis, I just said what I truly felt to be true. And I would've given you the meditation technique even if you didn't answer my questions- Hey, hey! Stop strangling me! I get it, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Just let me breathe!"
Why were Ms. Attu and Quis talking... privately... This made me think of multiple scenarios, all of which brought a blush to my cheeks.
"But to think you were able to withstand a constant barrage of emotions five times the normal amount. If I didn't get to you sooner, you probably would have fell victim to them, never to come back. After all, it looks like your curse will only grow stronger with time... Now that I think about it more, it could be a curse of the Time Branch. It's probably a spell that mixes Time Branch Fruits and... Emotion Branch Fruits? It could also be the Philosophy Branch... but that belongs to the Technology Path so that can't be it... Oh sorry, you caught me rambling."
Hm? Five times the usual amount? What does she mean by that?
"Don't worry about it, you are my savior after all. I really can't tell you how grateful I am. I don't to get into the details, but there were a couple of times were I almost did something that I would have regretted. That... emotion amplifier curse, it's brutal."
An emotion amplifier curse? Was Quis cursed before he showed up in the sect? Just what life did he lead before he came here? Actually... did this mean Quis was suppressing emotions that ran deeper by 5 times the normal amount the entire time he was here? Just the thought of having my already seemingly impossible-to-overcome emotions be amplified 5 times over... It made my brain hurt.
And he was able to deal with these emotions while getting used to a completely new environment, while he was being alienated, while his knowledge of the world was that of a newborn, and while he was being berated by Spiravit... For the first time, I felt a sense of incomparability and awe toward Quis. Just how strong was he?
"Anyways Hasrem, I have to go and figure out some things... Thank you for all of your help. I'll be here tomorrow!" As I was in the middle of an important self-reflection, I heard Quis say these keywords. He was going to leave the classroom, and if he did, he would see me. I felt another chill go down my spine. I have been getting this feeling a lot more recently, but this one was worse than most.
If Quis saw me listening to their conversation, even if it was accidental, I would still be labeled a creepy stalker girl. And while that wasn't necessarily wrong, it didn't mean I wanted that to happen. Just as I was trying to come up with a plan of some kind, I heard the door open.
I was screwed. One hundred percent screw-duh.
But just as Quis was about to turn to his left to see me standing there, I heard Hasrem call out to him, "Quis, the Food Hall is to the right. Make sure you go and get some food before doing anything." Quis stopped his action and then turned to the right before walking in that direction. "Thanks, Ms. Attu."
I sighed in relief. That meant that Quis wouldn't find out about this, thank goodness. But now that I think about it... wasn't the Food Hall to the left of the classroom?
"Oh Pulchra, don't think about going just yet. I have some important things to talk to you about regarding the moral decline of a girl once they begin stalking~" I turned around in surprise only to see the hungry eyes of a greedy merchant staring back.
I was found out.