Disclaimer: That dead body with various stab wounds on it was already there when I found it! And the bloody knife with matching DNA that I'm hiding under my jacket is not mine!
Oh, you mean the story?
Rights to names, characters, locations, and plot points belong to their respective creators, which unfortunately is not me. The only things that I own are this account, and my imagination.
Chapter 1: Louise's Familiar
"Who are you?"
Asked the girl intently, examining Louise's face with mild interest. The clear blue sky above her was mixed with the whites of cloud. Louise was silently sitting and staring up at her in bewilderment, having just fell down on her rear at the sudden and unexpected appearance of this girl.
She seemed to be around Louise's age, perhaps a year or two older, with a tall, slender figure, and a face that lacked nothing. Her skin tone was milky white, and her facial features showed that she was a foreigner. Despite that, Louise felt a strange familiarity when she looked at her.
Her clothing was strange, consisting of a simple light-pink, single-pieced dress, with a long sleeved shirt on the outside that has a darker shade of pink. The collar of her dress was fashioned to be similar to that of a sailor's, with 2 pink stripes running alongside the hem on a pure white background, coupling with a yellow scarf. She seemed to be wearing black innerwear, as seen covering up to her neck and both of her legs. Her footwear also had a design that Louise has never seen before.
Even though the girl was wearing something that looked like it was meant for commoners whose profession lies far away from the shore, none of the students had that expression of her. For one thing, outfit she worse was obviously made from high-grade materials, tailored to suit her totally-pink look. The shirt and skirt had gone incredibly well with her waist-length, strawberry blonde hair, the exact same tone of colour on Louise's own hair. However, the most notable feature of hers was her expression.
At a first glance, any living person in Halkeginia would have thought that she were a noble, or even a princess from a distant land. Her face was held high, and from the pose of her body, a pacifying aura of confidence and authority was exuding. It was completely different from the arrogance that most nobles show to commoners. This young girl was looking at everyone in front of her as if they were all her equals, in the same way that a princess would have proclaimed to the crowd that her blood was as red as any man, and they would have believed her.
This, Louise realized, was the familiarity that Louise thought she saw in her. She was looking at an elegant fusion of herself and her dearest childhood friend, Princess Henrietta de Tristain. Still in a confused state, Louise could only sit and continued to stare, not even noticing that her mouth was still open.
Realizing that she would probably not get an answer out of the one in front of her, the tall girl shifted her gaze to her surroundings. She and the girl whose hair colour resembled her own were in the middle of a wide clearing, with a crowd of teenagers surrounding them. In the distance, she could see a huge stone castle, casting shadow over an endless green plain. The whole scenery looked like it was taken from a movie that had its theme taken from medieval Europe.
The teenagers around her were all wearing purple robes similar to each other, except for a bald, middle-aged man who wore different robe and held a big staff. Seeing this scene, the girl's lip curved up slightly into a bemusing half-smile. "I guess I went to the wrong classroom" After muttering that to herself, she raised her voice, directing it at the person whom she assumed to be the teacher. "That mister over there, are you the one in charge here?"
Being called out to by the strange girl, Colbert stuttered a bit. "Ah... yes! Yes I am."
Up until that point, the majority of the class was whispering to each other about her sudden appearance. By the look of it, Louise had summoned her, but something like that was completely unprecedented. Furthermore, the girl's appearance and demeanour was that of a noble. Summoning her here and making her into one's familiar, which was pretty much equal to one's pet, would have been an ultimate insult. With that, everyone quieted down, looking intently Colbert to see how he would resolve the situation.
"Then, would you mind explaining the situation to me, that is, what were you doing, how did I get here, and why?"
Her questions were reasonable, and the way she spoke to their teacher with such calmness and confidence had only served to reinforce their belief that Louise had finally made a mistake greater than what she could brush off.
"Ah... that... we are in the middle of the Springtime Familiar Summoning ceremony, and apparently, you have been summoned by miss Valliere as a familiar."
Colbert's voice became more filled with conviction as he spoke. As Louise's teacher and instructor, he knew full well that he would have to take full responsibility for this situation, as well as the full implication of it. It was already irreversible at this point, so he might as tell take its full brunt with his chest held high.
"But I can't take her as my familiar!" Exclaimed Louise as she stammered to her feet, finally regained her speech. "Mr Colbert, is there any way to send her back? Please let me do the ceremony again!"
Even though saying that, Louise already knew in her heart what he was going to answer. The basic workings of the ceremony had already been taught to all of the second year's students in her class, and all of them were merely waiting for Colbert to confirm that they were right.
"I am sorry, miss Valliere, but you cannot summon another familiar. This ceremony of magic is absolute. As traditions have it, the one you summoned must become your familiar. There is simply no way around it. The only thing you can do now is complete the ritual."
After Colbert's determined speech, the crowd finally broke out in chatter.
"Oi! What are you gonna do now, Louise?"
"You've finally done it, Zero!"
"Making a person your familiar? There should be limit to how incompetent you can be, Valliere!"
"Hey, but she's kinda cute. She even looks like Louise, too"
"You mean she's another zero? We've already got one of those"
Louise's face turned to a slight shade of pink with the criticism and jeering directed towards her continuously. She was in a real pinch, this time. If it were a mere commoner, she could have just swallow her pride once and take him in. However, this person behind her was one of unknown origin and whose demeanour was befitting of a noble's daughter, or even a king's. Louise might very well have committed a cardinal sin of kidnapping and enslaving royalty.
Suddenly, the crowd went silent. It took Louise a second to realize why. The girl, whose hair seemed to flutter as she moved, had taken a step towards Louise. She stood there with a hand slightly rested on her hip, looking down at the shorter girl with an unreadable expression, as if Louise was a horse she was deciding whether to buy in the market.
"I suppose, there is no other choice, then. I will become your familiar."
The girl said simply and clearly, slightly louder than what she needed for a conversation between her and Louise. It was as if she had intended for the whole crowd to hear those words just then.
The girl took her left hand off her hip and held it out to Louise, who was once again too shocked to speak a word "My name is Katsura Hinagiku, but you can call me Hina. I hope we get along in the future." After hesitating a second, Louise finally rose her hand and shook it. "I'm Louise. Louise de La Valliere. But…" She wanted to ask whether Hinagiku was sure about it, but as their hands shook, Hinagiku gave her a warm and friendly smile "Nice to meet you, Louise. Please take good care of me" Louise's question was swallowed back down. "Y-yeah.. Nice to meet you too.. Hina."
"So, how do we do this?" Hinagiku asked as their hands parted.
"Ahh.. I will read the remaining incantations, and then we seal off the ritual with a k-kiss" Louise stuttered a bit due to the leftover vibes of her surprise, but Hinagiku seemed as nonchalant as ever. "Then, please carry on"
Louise coughed a bit to clear her throat, and then raised her wand. ""My name is Louise Françoise Le Blanc de La Vallière. O Pentagon of the Five Elemental Powers, bless this humble being, and make her my familiar." She chanted those words with a confident, albeit melodic voice, and touched Hinagiku with her wand. From the point where she touched, a yellow ball of light appeared. It glowed bigger before suddenly fly up, encircling both of them.
"And now.." Louise looked up, indicating that it was the end of the ritual. Hinagiku blushed a bit, but she still lowered herself until her face was levelled with Louise's, her hands gently held around the shorter girl's cheeks.
"Hah? Wai..!" Louise's eyes opened widely as she realised what Hinagiku was doing. However, she was too late to stop it, as the other girl's lips had pressed against her own, sealing off her speech as well as the sacred ritual with a deep kiss.
"MMMmmmmmmMMMmmm~~~~~~~~~~~~~!" The kiss lasted several seconds, despite Louise's weakening effort to struggle. Her chest felt as if it was burning, while her lips were melting in a soft and sweet daze. Her mind was befuddled to the point of blanking out, and by the time Hinagiku let go of her, she was barely resisting any more. Her eyes were merely stared forward emptily, and her mouth gaped open, dripping with saliva. Fortunately, the crowd was standing far enough to not see her drooling, and Louise quickly wiped it away as her mind snapped back to reality.
"Woooooohh!" Came the crowd's incredibly loud cheer, along with a lot of clapping and wolf-whistling.
"That was awesome!"
"I didn't know Louise has that kind of hobby.."
"Hey! Please kiss me too!"
"Why couldn't I have summoned a human familiar?"
Most of the girls were blushing and the boys were cheering loudly with their faces also red. After all, it wasn't every day that these noble kids were able to witness something so incredibly interesting and scandalous. Standing amidst them, Louise stood with her shoulders trembling and her face deep red. Anger was swelling within her while the one in front of her looked around in puzzlement, seemingly not understand what that was all about.
Having no place to direct her irritation, Louise raised a leg and kicked Hinagiku in the shin.
"Ow!… What was that for?"
"That is MY question! Why in Founder Brimir's good name did you k-k-kiss me?"
"What? Didn't you say we were supposed to complete the ritual with a kiss? I even have to swallow my embarrassment to go through with it!"
"I didn't mean a kiss on the lips, you twit! A kiss on the forehead would have been fine too! THAT WAS MY FIRST KISS YOU'VE TAKEN!"
"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHH?"
Author's note: This is my first fic ever. If you have criticisms, suggestions, commentaries, or fried chicken wings, please feel free to share them.