(Julian)
The kick landed! Now, all I can do is pray that Ian recovers in time!
"Come on, get him while he's down!" one of them said, about to kick me down. Ian, come on! Get up and help me!
I got lucky. Ian drop-kicked the enemy and dealt with the other. It was all done. Ian searched behind the chair, pulling Cera up.
"It's alright, Cera. It's safe now, can't you see?" he reassured her, hugging her. It was a nice thing to do. But, I couldn't help but feel strange. No way, I'm probably just a little startled by this whole incident.
Cera hugged Ian back, her hands shaking a bit. The glass shattering must've really done quite a bit to her. I was about to reach over to her and pat her shoulder, but it felt... weird.
Ian and I picked the bodies up, carrying them to... place them somewhere else.
Ian spoke monotonously. It was probably because he was focusing more on reaching a spot to place the bodies. "It's possible that they will forget about all of this if we sustained enough damage to them."
"Hm? Is that likely?"
"Yeah."
"You're pretty smart, Ian."
"I know."
"I take that back, you cocky bastard. You need to be more humble."
"You're quite smart too, Julian. I saw you fighting those two. It seemed like you were thinking really hard. That idea to shatter the glass cup was quick thinking."
"Really? Thanks!"
"If someone saw your handwriting, they would never know of your intelligence."
"Can you really blame me? I-"
I was about to tell Ian about being from another world. But, I stopped myself. Information like that was best to be kept to myself.
"Huh? What'd you say?"
"I-I slowly progress, that's all."
I wasn't lying.
"What do you think is going to happen in the future, Julian? Are our lives really worth it?"
"You sound like an old man, Ian."
Ian chuckled, but quickly regained a straight-face expression. "I just speak properly. Is there something wrong with that?"
"Nah, not really. It's just... hmm. I can't put it into words. Aha! It doesn't even feel like I'm talking to my own age mate!" I quickly responded. That could be either taken as a compliment or an insult.
"Thanks. A lot of people say that I'm wise."
He took it as a compliment, of course. Did he? No. He must've taken it as an insult and responded to spite me. But... I didn't hear any sarcasm in his voice-
My train of thought was disrupted as Ian snapped. "We're here. What are you even thinking about?"
I placed the body down, behind a bush. "Nothing. Don't worry too much about it."
"I never said I was worried about you."
"Jeez. What a tsundere."
"Now you're just speaking gibberish."
"Tsundere? Ah, right. Nevermind, then."
We finally reached back. The door was still broken, but the house was... clean? Despite the fighting, it was clean. I looked around. Everything looked better than it had been even before the fight.
"Huh? N-No way!" I exclaimed, shocked. Happiness rushed to my face and I couldn't hold in my smile.
"I-I was just bored here alone, so I decided to clean. Is th-there a problem with that? If there is, I'm seriously sorry-"
"You and Julian are alike. Always overthinking. Can't you tell how happy he is?" Ian said, pointing to my face. It made me conscious of how dumb I looked. I quickly turned away.
"Thanks, Cera. You're a lifesaver!" I turned back around, having a much more tame smile. Cera nodded, smiling back at me.
Ian and Cera left. I was there alone, in my clean dorm room. I sighed, sitting cross-legged. My next class would be in... an hour? What the hell am I supposed to do now?
My thoughts slipped out for a second as I stared at my wall. "I should probably get my door fixed..."
. . . . .
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"You... YOU BROKE THE DOOR!?" the headmaster screamed, grabbing onto my collar and shaking me back and forth. I endured it, still, a bit shaken (emotionally, obviously.)
It's just a door! Why is he making such a big deal out of this?
"I-I apologize."
He calmed down, tapping his finger on the desk. "Hm. I suppose I can forgive you and pay for your door if you do something for me..."
Wait. I've read something like this before. It's already happened once. I don't think I'll be mentally ready if it happens again! I started to sweat.
"Go and fetch me the banana milk."
"Banana milk? In this school, there's no such thing-"
"But there is."
Huh?! No way... I've tried this school's strawberry milk and their chocolate milk. But I've never heard of such a delicacy!?
"No way..."
"Yes, way. If you can get into the freezer under the school and search hard enough, you'll be able to find it."
He threw me a hall pass and some keys.
"I feel like there should be a greater reward, don't you think?"
"I'll let you taste the banana milk, too."
. . . . .
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I ended up accepting the deal blindly. Here I was, walking to a freezer when I'm supposed to be in class. As I was walking, I bumped into someone. She fell to the ground.
"Ah, sorry. Are you alright?" I stretched my hand out, waiting for her to pull it. For a second, I glanced at her. Fair skin, with orange eyes and long, dark blue hair. She was quite pretty.
I pulled her up. We were about the same height, and she had a bit of an intimidating feel to her.
"It's alright."
"If you're okay, then I'll be off, now."
"Shouldn't you be... fawning over me?" she asked, looking shocked and confused.
"Why would I do that? It seems like I'm not getting something here."
"Ah, sorry. You must be a first-year. But even so, most first-years know of me about now- Wait a minute. You're that boy who attacked Ivy, right?"
"Dunno what you're talking about."
I kept walking. She placed her hand on my shoulder, stopping me. "May I at least get acquainted with you, Arthur?"
"Huh? You already know my name?" I asked, confused.
"Yeah. A lot of people know you already. Though, you're not as famous as me, of course."
"Oh."
"I'm Ava. You've probably heard of me."
"I haven't."
I've definitely heard classmates talking about her, but I really didn't want to raise her ego or anything like that.
"Well, now you have. It's nice to meet you."
She stuck out her hand, waiting for me to shake it. Reluctantly, I shook her hand, smiling. "It's nice to meet you too. I'll be on my way, then."
I continued my walk.