"Hey, Mika!" Her voice calm yet flamboyant, Primrose sprang the question as we walked down the hallway shortly after math class. "Do you want to build a snowman?"
I haven't seen snow in my entire life, and I think it's exciting enough to feel the cold.
When thinking of the wintry atmosphere though, I think it's nothing but a tapestry of emotions. Vivaldi, of course, invigorated this perspective. I suppose I yearn to witness the magic of a snowstorm, to watch as the flakes dance and swirl in a mesmerizing ballet─and build myself a snowman afterwards.
"Hmm, I don't know…Are you going to sing?" I asked.
"No," Primrose answered, staring intently. "I was asking a genuine question."
Her eyes, Miss Avery's pristine almond eyes: when her butterflies scream, I wonder how they would lose their soul?
I already made a vow not to awaken another Infected…Oh, I must have forgotten as we progressed into the novel, but I call the people disturbed by butterflies the Infected. Which has nothing much on it, only a brand which comes with ease. Albeit general in its standalone format, I'm sure you have enough brain cells to attach solely to what I see and cater for you.
Butterflies gushed out of her like she's a nest.
Not only her, which at one point, for three other girls in the classroom.
And my own sister─who'd be going to cipher class, her elective subject, now.
For sure, she'd hear of Primrose's earlier venture, and I could only expect the school to celebrate the coming of a prodigal daughter for the Grid.
"I suppose," I finally answered her question. "If you'd book me a ticket to Aomori."
"Hmm, it's summer right now," she vetoed the idea, tinged by the burden of being a student. "Going to the south pole would be tough…I need to attend school."
"Arctic's easier to travel to, you know?" If I could scold her more intently, I would have─because being in a place farther than space is a solid waste of effort.
"Mm-hmm, I already went there…" How dare you be sullen, Primrose Avery, when I'm excited for authentic Swedish meatballs.
"Judging by that logic, you haven't gone to Aomori yet," I scoffed, not unto her─but for siblings caged in a city built within black bars. "Ha-ha, that's some rich girl energy you have…How come your forehead's not showing?"
Freedom's incarnate is an enmity, therefore, it cannot escape to be mocked.
"Pfft, funny, I used to have my hair like that in junior high," she dismissed, shattering the molten glass of envy pettily being crafted. She then proceeded to chime, "Oh yeah, it's summer so breathing life to a fire monster would be nice!"
"Jack-o-Lantern instead of Jack Frost, huh?" I looked at her, contracting a pitying smile. "That's rather tasteful, but yeah…Imagination's a bitch sometimes."
Icky if you think about it, thank heavens I haven't yet encountered a deranged flame user.
All that chaos and havoc while blasting to the willows of inferno. I'd love a bite of the green apple had this been the starting era. I'd howl draconic move sets as I practiced at nights, and use those selfsame chuunish attacks to stop the hellfire I myself have brought upon the surface.
I just don't imagine a pyrokineticist being a pacifist.
Sigh.
We walked down to the laboratory when we had this conversation.
Near lunchtime, gearing up for the last class which is forensic investigation.
Sunshine brightly hit the glass pane, then bouncing down the stained concrete floor. Painfully a school setting where the students held their books, our quietened footsteps rhythmically joining the chatters. One last walk to another sleeping corner in the morning─and afterwards, I'd take a break from being with Primrose. She agreed to have lunch with the others─and I huffed a relief visible enough for everyone to take a hint.
I was happy with it.
And yet, the unexpected happened─and I was given another hour.
"Incendio!" When the haptics of a desperate muggle had her excitedly daydream of what super power she'd awaken into, she swirled ahead and tripped. "Wah!"
That's what one gets for being too playful: beveled towards carelessness, and rattled into pain.
Primrose fell to her left, cumbersome as being a contrast to where I stood. Mika would have groaned, there was a hint of hesitation, I extended my hand and clasped hers, our fingers intertwining like two vines seeking solace in each other's embrace. Shiver goes down Mikhail Salazar's spine─as the coincidence, an utterly disgusting romcom situation, has been bestowed upon meandering eyes.
Our bodies stopped and with gentle care, I placed my other hand on her waist, ensuring her balance.
It would have looked scenic if this were a dance.
Where the mundane surroundings will gradually fade away, replaced by a dreamlike haze, and it feels as though we were the only two beings in existence.
Yet, it wasn't as romantic nor palpable.
"Ouchie…" she groaned, tiptoes losing balance as she almost fell again. "Heehee, I must have sprained my ankle."
No, it wasn't worth the chuckle. I know her kind, they do not want other people to worry about them. Of course, I don't care enough because of its nature as a small injury─and I'd indulge in her absence for an hour during forensic investigation class. Also, it would be a solid hour of sleep─on a deep enough synesthesia that I'd wake up unjarred.
I carried her to the infirmary, and left her to the care of our loving school nurse.
Well, it must have been clear by now that I wouldn't willingly go to her.
So when class ended, I went out with Kitty Castella─damningly the first Infected subjected to the hand of the butterflies.
Our first victim, and who suffered the most, the manifestation of darkness, she who harvests emotions. I… Her butterflies, the swarm of darkness, had their eyes glowing red. All peering into my soul, none the flimsy haptics, only pure call for silence.
"Don't think, Mika."
And so, I didn't dare to anymore.
Adherent to common sense, not regarding what she doesn't want to inevitably harvest.
Kitty sighed, upping the depressive nuance for her Gothic prestige.
"You get jealous of her each passing class," she spat, annoyingly contrasting her smirk. "I just don't believe you can suppress your ego before she breaks into it."
I raised an eyebrow.
"Nuh-uh, devilish big brother, you must remember what happened when you and Kris first arrived here,"
Remember or anything, it has been what's causing the disruptive jealous
"Sasuga, always the self-aware problem child."
Eugh, don't say that again, you're cringeworthy.
"Yeah, I know that," she dismissed. "Aw, poor soul. Yeah, let's recount for the readers!"
You have no subtlety when it comes to breaking the fourth wall.
"You were also a transfer student when you first stepped into the Grid, but you've never received the Primrose treatment," Kitty yapped, not minding the serious side comment. "You're perfectly and utterly crushed by her presence as a human being.
Get off my mind.
"You purposefully injured her…I know what you did, and I'm sad my accomplice could ever do such a thing."
Ha-ha…As if you can truly shed tears for someone else other than yourself.
"So, why not take her into a world where she's not going to be perfect?"
No, this won't be a work of vanity. I refuse to hear those words…Although the objection was imminent, I didn't dare stop her from serving today's special.
"Where you're the only one who shines brightly."
Kitty, finishing her speech, chugged her cinnamon coffee.
And so, I followed suit, downing the last drop only to take another one from the broken machine. I peered into her eyes, the can clacking open through my fingertips. Fresh smell of coffee wafted through our space, awakening our overly caffeinated lungs for the second time.
"Kitty, as it stands, you're my prime suspect."