A/N: Hi there! So, I'm back with my entry for the 2016 Big Bang. I posted this story on AO3 on the 8th, my posting date, but didn't have time to upload it here until now.
This story is a Gakuen Alice AU, but no prior knowledge about the story is needed for anything to be understood. This is also a birthday gift for my dear friend shockandlock, who likes High School AUs and fantasy, and thus came the idea to make this sort of crossover.
Art by nounoursonne to go with the fic, and if you can, go like and reblog it on tumblr to show support :D ( inviting-nonsenseworld. tumblr post/ 142490129162/art-submitted-by-nounoursonne-for-the-2016-big). Thanks a lot to phoenix0725 for betareading so quickly for me, and to imperialmint for holding this wonderful event once again this year.
I guess that's it. Hope you enjoy it :)
It was going to rain.
The gray clouds that had been gathering for a while were darkening and Marco recognized the heady smell that foretold it in the air. It was earthy and brought forth images from his most recent home – the grassy backyard, the vegetable garden, still no more than buried seeds marked with stakes, their subconscious flocking on the small living room and the pitter patter from the window mixing with soft chatter. It was a nice home; Marco liked it there.
There was a soft ruffle of clothes to his right, and it was a harsh reminder that he had already crossed the gates, a definite sign he was the farthest he'd get from home and wasn't going back.
Marco sighed, and, as his mood soured, he wished the rain would come down hard and relentlessly, so maybe then he'd feel he fit his surroundings. It didn't, and he was left staring at the clouds through the car window until they stopped in front of a building.
Teacher Hina, as she had introduced herself, told him to wait as she got out and talked with someone. The person was fidgeting, sending non-discreet looks to the car until Hina snapped at them and they hurried inside the building.
"Get your bag and come," Hina said as she opened the car door. "You have to sign a paper before Hina takes you to the dormitories. Don't worry about your luggage. Someone is coming to get it."
Marco followed her inside the building without a word, going through a sitting room and down a few corridors. The walls of the corridors were a pale orange, the kind that looking at too long was sure to give him a headache, so he was glad when they entered a room and the color switched to beige. Marco took a quick look around as Hina talked to a woman behind a desk, and he stopped when his eyes were met with his own reflection at the edge of a window - ruffled hair and heavy eye bags greeted him, but the sight of his ear ornament was what earned a frown.
A clearing of throat took Marco's attention away, and he saw teacher Hina looking at him with a raised eyebrow, the woman she had been talking with staring at him from behind her.
"Here." She motioned him closer and showed him a stack of papers. "You have to sign here and here."
Marco's hand moved on autopilot, displeasure prickling under his skin, and he quickly read the content before signing his name and returning it. There was nothing there he hadn't been told before.
Hina looked over the paper before giving it to the woman and giving him a nod.
"You start classes tomorrow. Your schedule will be inside your room, along with the needed books and other necessities for your studies. Hina advises you to arrive to class early and find your homeroom teacher. They should be able to evaluate your position regarding the class and explain anything you need to know about other classes, so don't forget to ask. Do you understand?"
"...Yes."
"Good. You'll get used to this place soon, don't worry."
They all do , was left hanging in the air.
Hina left the room and went down the sickening orange corridor, and Marco sighed before following, not giving the remaining person there a single look despite feeling their curious gaze on the back of his head.
The way back outside was spent in silence. Marco used the time to memorize some of the layout of the floor and any important rooms he came across, but unfortunately there were only closed doors around them. Hina didn't bother watching him, and he wondered how certain of themselves people in this institution were.
The good side of losing so much time inside the building came as a surprise – it was raining when they crossed the glass doors leading outside. Marco took a deep breath, the pleasant smell soothing his tense nerves a bit, and he gave in to the chance to connect with his Alice's senses and just hear.
It only took a second before he noticed it.
A crash, wood hitting wood, then hurried footsteps followed by others until there was another noise, something made of metal falling to the ground. Astounded, Marco's head whirled back, but he couldn't see anything out of normal through the glass door.
"Is something wrong?" Teacher Hina asked, her voice louder than usual, and Marco didn't know what to answer.
Another crash and shouting - complaints about someone?
Marco tensed when the footsteps grew closer, and as Hina seemed to notice the problem, her high heels clicking on the floor when she turned to head inside, the source of the mess made itself known.
The glass doors were thrown open with a sharp noise that made Marco wince, and before he knew it, he was a second away from colliding with someone. He jumped back instinctively, and yet their shoulders bumped against each other, throwing them both off balance and onto the wet ground, unprotected by the ledge of the building.
Marco's eyes snapped open and he saw a boy about his height lying on the ground next to him. The boy groaned, hand going to his head and massaging a spot between dark strands of hair, then jolted and threw Marco a heated glare. Marco stared at him in surprise, only then noticing he had a red and white fox mask covering his whole face.
"Damn. Shit," the boy whispered, glancing back at Hina, and only then did Marco notice her leaning against the building wall as unbalanced as they had been.
A frown formed on her face, but before she could open her mouth, the boy was up and running away through the heavy rain.
"Portgas D. Ace!"
Her shout was ignored.
"That boy…" Hina huffed, and straightened up. "Well then. Hina will show you to your dormitory. It's on the other side of the campus."
And that was that. Nothing else was going to be mentioned about that incident, judging by her tone.
Marco stored the incident inside his head and followed Hina to a smaller car waiting for them. He glanced at the building - the first view of Alice Academy he had had so far. The words 'National Alice Academy Headquarters' were on the wall in shiny golden letters, and it'd have transmitted importance, even power, if it wasn't for the two slight indents on the 'A' in 'Alice'. With the constant raindrops falling, it made the letter look like it was crying, as if it was deeply sad, and gave the whole picture a mocking tone.
Bitter too, Marco realized, and his mouth curled down before he forced it look neutral again.
The walk to the other side of the campus took around twenty minutes, and gave Marco a much better idea of his surroundings. They passed by what looked like a village, then by some bigger and more distant buildings until finally stopping at the entry of a two-story building. The outer walls were a soft cream and the roof had bright red tiles.
Hina gave him his room key and its number and, without getting out of the car, wished him a good night and a nice start of classes. Marco observed as the car drove away before he entered the dorm.
The place had a serene atmosphere that brought about a nice sense of peace, and he felt some of the tension dissipate from his body whilst he searched for his room.
He found it on the second floor on the right side, and after he closed the door behind himself, he felt his shoulders droop with exhaustion. A quick look around showed the place was very simple, with only a bed, a bedside table, a writing desk with a chair, and a wardrobe - by which his luggage was located. Everything was already organized, and he didn't doubt he'd find his uniform and even bedspreads and sheets kept somewhere.
Students were supplied with all that was needed for the best environment for them to study and live. Alice Academy students were called geniuses, and the school was prestigious, so good quality was to be expected.
Marco snorted. There was some truth in the middle of the good but naive comments about the academy he had heard.
It was with a tired sigh that Marco dragged his feet from the door to his bed. He snuggled his face into his pillow, the unfamiliar smell unpleasant for his sensible nose, and squeezed his eyes shut. It was very soft, at least.
Ignoring his slightly rumbling stomach and deciding he could organize his belongings later, he kicked off his shoes and fidgeted until he found a comfortable position.
He was out like a light.
Later became next morning without Marco realizing. When he woke up, it was to the soft sound of chirping, and one groggy look at the bedside table clock showed it was 7:42 AM.
Marco sat up in a flash, all traces of sleepiness gone as he stared in disbelief at the clock. He glanced at the window a bit to the left of his bed, and sure enough, sunlight was streaming through the open curtains.
"Why me?" He groaned, then grimaced at the disgusting taste in his mouth. Right, he hadn't brushed his teeth or changed his clothes, and a quick look down showed they were quite rumpled. That's what he got for giving in to tiredness. Such a silly and careless mistake, and now he had less than an hour before the first class started. Wasn't he supposed to talk to a teacher before that? Just brilliant.
Marco hurried through making his bed and taking a shower, then found his schedule on the writing desk and threw a notebook, two books, and a pencil case inside the brand new school bag sitting on the chair. He skipped unpacking and went to the big wooden wardrobe, finding it empty except for his newest uniform - pants, ties, short-sleeved and long-sleeved shirts folded in small piles, a blazer on a hanger, and two pairs of brown boots on the ground beside the wardrobe. It was June, so the summer uniform it was.
Marco was ready to get out after five minutes, but as he got the keys to his room, he caught sight of his reflection in the mirror on one of the wardrobe doors he'd left open and stared.
The academy had done a good job in choosing the right size of clothes and shoes for him. They fit well on his body, and with the school bag he carried they gave Marco the look of a student for the first time in years. A small glinting brought his attention to his earring ornament - it should've been the oddball in the picture, but instead it fit well with his new look.
Marco clenched his fists and gritted his teeth. In a second, he was out of the room, door banging close after him and key annoyingly not finding the keyhole. Marco held his hand with the other, and the trembling lessened enough for him to lock the door, then he was dashing down the corridor and outside.
He only stopped when the sun rays touched his face. It was a beautiful day with a gentle breeze and no sign of the storm from the night before, and idle chatter as well as soft chirping reached his ears. Some students passed by him, one yawning and the other talking, and the normalcy of it made Marco's stomach clench.
This wasn't Marco's life – he shouldn't be here.
Yet, here he was. Found, and now locked inside the Academy for years to come.
All of a sudden, both the urgent need to arrive on time and his frustration vanished, and gave way to tiredness.
He continued the walk to the High School Building at a slow pace.
Most of the students on the cobblestone path were from high school, if the orange and brown checkered pants were any indication, but there was a flash of blue - and even an unique red - here and there. There were no signs of Alices being used anywhere, and Marco wondered if there was a rule about that.
His first contact with an Alice inside the Academy came as soon as he stepped inside the high school building. A strange soft buzz met his ears, and he stopped just in time for a blur to pass in front of him and disappear down the corridor. At once, the pitch of the conversations surrounding him grew as more people talked all at once, and Marco had to jump aside to make way for someone who was running at a normal speed in the direction the blur had gone.
"Did you see who it was?!"
"No, I didn't."
"Damn it."
"We were so close this time!"
Marco stared as the subject of the conversations shifted to the passing blur - or to what seemed to have been a girl. Some people crowded together in the hall while others went after the blur.
Amusement hit Marco seconds after realization.
"So that was a speed Alice, huh?"
"You saw who it was?!"
Marco started at the exclamation. Behind him, a boy around his age gaped at him, and suddenly there were many pairs of eyes staring at him.
"I-What? Sorry?"
"Did you see who was running?"
"No. They have blond hair, though…"
"Damn, we already know that. False alarm," the boy sighed, and Marco watched with caution as the other people's attention diverted from him.
"Hey, excuse me, but what was that?" Marco asked the boy, who was already walking away with a sullen expression.
"Hm? That?" Without waiting for an answer, the boy continued. "Well, you can't blame people for being excited at the possibility of the answer to the bet."
"Bet?"
"Oh!" The boy exclaimed before he squinted his eyes. The skin around his eyes wrinkled, and Marco noticed there was a half-moon scar surrounding his left one. "You're not in. Poor fella, but you can still participate, if you want. I'm the one organizing them, so just tell me your guess and price, and you're in."
"Ah, thanks, but I'm good."
The boy shrugged. "Too bad. Acceleration Alice on Monday is winning so far, and I think it's also right."
"So you're trying to guess their Alice?" Yes, Marco was definitely amused. These were Alice Academy's students, then.
"Oh, no, we're trying to guess the person. You're really out of the loop, huh? There are two girls, one with Speed and the other with Acceleration, and they always test their abilities running around. The betting part comes because they have time and day agreements on whose reign over the corridors it is. So there'll be no accidents, you know - there've been a few of those."
The guy closed his eyes for a moment and shook his head, and it'd be the perfect picture of disappointment if Marco didn't see the slight upwards twitch of his lips. "There are bets going around to discover who and when. If only Izo would help me, I could get that prize, but he's a spoilsport. What use is super vision when you don't use it for the good stuff?"
"Ah." Marco nodded. The boy shook his head again, then mumbled another complaint and walked away. Marco made a split second decision to follow.
"There are no other Alices you can use to find out?" He asked, waiting patiently as the look of surprise he received changed into a pleased one. Marco listened as the boy talked about how it became a game for the girls and how they made it harder for the rest of them, then about the diverse abilities people had used to try to discover the truth. So far, even teleportation and telekinesis were of no use - and they even had good plans, according to him.
Marco felt a smile tug at his lips at the enthusiasm the boy showed, taking him as the talkative and genuine type.
Talkative about Alices, so very common here, but a reason to leave Marco agitated. That's how it was one week ago, at least, and now it was suddenly the most common thing. It was part of anyone's daily life here, Marco's included.
He pressed his lips into a thin line. Worse than talking so openly about Alices was using them, but one quick look to the side gave him his second and third contact with other Alices: there was someone walking on thin air and another person with color-changing hair.
Normal? No, it was freaky. Alices weren't nice things, weren't cute powers that made those who had them look like heroes. They were attention-calling, and one thing the world had to spare was self-serving people.
After all, Alices made for beautiful aberrations and nice selling products.
Marco avoided the urge to fiddle with his tie, and instead closed a hand on the strap of his school bag. This was his reality for now, where it was safe to be an Alice and everyone he interacted with had one. Of course it wasn't weird to talk about them.
"I haven't seen you around before, have I? I don't think so." Right, Marco wasn't alone. The boy beside him narrowed his eyes and made a show of looking Marco up and down. "Transferred from a special class? Or are you a first year? A very late first year, but I won't judge."
"No, I just got enrolled here."
"Huh?"
There was a moment of awkward silence as the boy stared at Marco in astonishment.
"Y-You're kidding, right?"
"Why would I?"
"But that's… not impossible, since you're here," the boy finished in a murmur, something akin to wonder appearing in his eyes. "Whoa, now that's rare. I've never heard about something like this happening before."
"What?"
"Oh, sorry. I'm being rude here. I'm Thatch, second year."
"Marco." Marco nodded. "Same year."
"Pleased to meet ya." Thatch gave him a big grin, and Marco felt himself mirroring him, albeit with much less enthusiasm. "Just a piece of advice: rumors fly quickly over here. You're a rarity, so be prepared in case you find yourself in the center of attention soon."
"A rarity?" Marco snorted – of course he'd still stand out, even in a school for Alices.
"Yeah. I mean, I was brought here when I was thirteen, so it's been, what, around four years? And I'm still told I'm a newbie by some."
"That's…" Marco blinked in surprise. "Crazy."
"I guess." Thatch shrugged. "I'm more curious about how you made it. I mean, what's your Alice if you can hide it so well?"
"Ah…"
There was another moment of silence before Thatch shook his head. "Let's leave that story to another time, then. I bet I can discover your Alice in a week!"
"I bet you can't," Marco replied, tension vanishing, and he allowed a smile onto his face. Thatch didn't seem like a bad person. "By the way, how do I get to this classroom?" He showed Thatch the paper with his schedule.
"Ohho, you're also in class A. Of course I can find some clues on your ability if I'm in the same class." Thatch smirked before it wavered. "Damn, but you're in the Somatic ability class. Well, at least it's already one clue."
"Wait, Somatic?"
"You don't know about that? Man, I can't believe they didn't explain. I guess it's better to explain in class 'cause I'll have more examples to show you." Thatch gave him a thumbs up, to which Marco nodded in thanks. "Geez, I don't know why I didn't see you're new at once."
Marco rose an eyebrow. "Why's that?"
"Your uniform is impeccable, that's a given. Sort of obvious, now that I'm paying attention."
Marco's eyes flickered between his and Thatch's uniform, and the difference in their state was clear if you cared enough to look. The orange from Thatch's pants, the green from his necktie, even the brown from the boots - they were all worn down, the colors more faded out than the ones in Marco's.
"I guess..."
"See? It's a big plaque screaming 'new guy!'"
"A big plaque you didn't see before," Marco rebuked. It was easy enough to interact with Thatch. If they ended up seeing each other often because of classes, he might turn out to be good company. "Maybe I should find a way to fix that."
"I can find someone to help with that."
"It's a deal."
"Hey, what's my part?"
"I can help you discover who's running around. I have very good eyesight."
"Marco, I think this is the start of a very good friendship."
Marco let a soft chuckle escape his lips. His mood felt lighter as Thatch guided him to their class, and the churning in his stomach stopped.
Maybe he could deal with this. Maybe he could adapt to the normalcy of Alices.
At least, until he found a way out.
Marco had forgotten breakfast. He regretted it the second his stomach started complaining minutes after Thatch guided him to their classroom, and remembered he also hadn't eaten dinner. It was going to be a long morning.
"The class isn't very big, so you'll end up knowing everyone here in A soon. People from B too. We do some group projects with them," Thatch explained as they entered a classroom near the end of the corridor on the second floor. There was nothing out of ordinary about it.
A few sleepy good mornings were exchanged, but otherwise no one paid them much attention. They walked to the back and took seats in the last row – instead of separate tables, there were eight long wood ones, four on each side, with some seats, and they were almost all empty. Marco wondered if he was mistaken in being late or if there really were so few people in the class.
"There are only two second year classes?"
"There's three. You probably already know, but there aren't that many Alices out there, so there's far less students than at normal schools. You end up knowing a lot of people from all grades after a while, even if you don't talk with most."
Marco hummed in understanding - his stomach rumbled in unison. Thatch didn't seem to notice, occupied in searching for something inside his bag, and Marco entertained the thought of asking him where he could get a snack.
Instead, he asked, "So, what is that Somatic class?"
"It's pretty simple. There are four ability class categories: Latent, Technical, Somatic, and Special. Alices are divided into them according to what their power does or how it manifests, and every Friday and some other random times during the week you spend the whole day with your ability class."
"Doing what?"
"Training." Thatch shrugged. "Doing projects. Lazing around. It depends on what your class is, who your teacher is, and even what day it is. If it's close to a festival or an event, there's a bigger chance of you doing more stuff. Can't say how Somatic works because I'm in Technical, but you guys are always doing something."
"I see…"
There was a class with the sole purpose of Alice training; Marco should've expected that. Having someone to help with his Alice – now that was a strange thought. Pops had always been the one to do that, even if his Alice was as different from Marco's as possible.
He started drumming his index and middle finger on the table.
"Hey," Thatch called, and Marco stopped. "About your Alice…"
Marco gave him a lopsided smile. "Weren't you going to guess it?"
"I am, but I'm curious. You're being all secretive," Thatch defended himself. "Not even a clue?"
"I'm in the Somatic class." Marco chuckled at Thatch's indignant look. "What sort of abilities are in the Somatic, by the way?"
"Oh, they're the type that manifest physically on the person. Pheromones, enhancers, part-transformation in animals – anything of the sort, really, so that clue is very vague."
"What about the other types?"
"A clue for information," Thatch declared with a smile.
"Alright." Marco rolled his eyes. "Mine has nothing to do with pheromones."
"And you have good eyesight, huh? Okay. The other types then. The Technical one has Alices that appear when their user performs a specific action. Mine is the Cooking Alice, so whenever I cook, something is created – besides food, I mean, and it's a pain controlling that. There's the Construction Alice, Chemist Alice, any others connected to technology and creation."
"What about…" Marco hesitated, Whitebeard's power flashing inside his mind. He was curious, though. "A quake Alice? Like, one that can shake things and the ground near."
"…That's very specific. I guess it'd be in Special. It's where the Alices that don't fit Somatic, Technical, or Latent go. It's a big mess of abilities, but they're an interesting group. Their teacher is very weird, though." Thatch put a hand at the side of his mouth, and said in a whisper. "I hear he controls shadows, and he uses it to play tricks on the students. Kinda lazy too, so I think those from Special ask another teacher help in training." He straightened before continuing. "Then there's the Latent type, which encompasses all sorts of ESP abilities and others connected to elements."
"Like fire, water…"
"Lightning, ice, and wind too. There are quite a few. And that was your lesson on ability classes – a clue is required as payment."
Thatch grinned in a carefree manner, but Marco took longer to smile back this time. This exchange was nothing but friendly, but it was getting too personal all of a sudden.
"I'm sure my Alice is very unique, but maybe you know some similar but simpler."
"Still awfully vague," Thatch mumbled and shook his head. "How the hell did you hide for so long?"
"I wasn't alone." Marco shrugged.
He knew it was too simple an answer for Thatch's question, but it was the truth. Alone, he would have been caught long ago, maybe on that one very disastrous night when he was six.
Which brought forth the thought: did the Academy bring children so young here?
The different colored uniforms came to his mind. He saw someone wearing red today, and weren't they younger than the others? Marco tried remembering their face, but he didn't pay them attention enough for it to be clear.
His fingers started drumming again.
"I'm going outside."
"Huh? But class is going to start soon," Thatch said, but Marco was already up and sliding down the seats to the side.
"I was supposed to find the teacher before it begins." The answer was out of his mouth without much thought, but then he realized it was true. He had forgotten about it, and the clock showed the class was to start in five minutes.
The realization that he had no idea where to go came to his mind when he was in the corridor, two doors down from his classroom. Only a few students walked around, and they soon found their way through a door nowhere near Marco.
Marco pressed the bridge of his nose with a sigh. Getting restless over things wasn't going to help; he should know better than to give in to his urge to wander. He went back until he was close to his classroom door, and leaned against the opposite wall, resigned to waiting for the teacher there.
Marco closed his eyes, and activated his Alice's hearing as much as he dared without risking transforming. Barely audible and muffled sounds became acute – a cough from behind the wall, mingled conversations, a door creaking as it closed, a clap for attention, a small bird chirping on the tree by the window. No footsteps approaching.
Marco relaxed as the time passed. He was sure it was time for class to start, but he knew there was no teacher inside 2-A, so he waited.
He was startled into attention when there was a sudden screeching. His eyes snapped open, and he glanced to the right. On the corridor end, there was an Emergency Exit sign beside a blue door, and a strange thump followed by footsteps seemed to come from there.
Then came a shout.
"You damn snake, stop it!"
Marco moved closer in curiosity, but had to step away as the door slammed open, and out and unto the ground came a boy. He groaned in pain and moved to stand up, and just as Marco was going to offer help, something long dashed from behind him and dived straight into Marco's chest with enough strength to send him tottering back. His arms closed around something cold and slippery, but he managed to find a stable enough place to hold it long enough for it to stop struggling.
"Got you," Marco murmured, satisfied though he didn't know what it was. A squirming brought his attention to what he had caught, only for him freeze in astonishment when he found a pair of slitted eyes staring at him from up close.
Covering a good part of his lap and an even larger part of the ground was an actual snake - a surprisingly big one that had what seemed like a blue mane, a strange half-a-skull-with-horns hat and a navy ascot tie - and yet, what seemed weirder about the picture was the small wooden box in its mouth. It blinked a few times, and Marco didn't know what to do except to blink back.
Then, it tried to escape from him and he remembered the earlier shout.
"That's not yours, is it?" Marco said, despite knowing it wouldn't understand him. Then again, it was wearing a hat and a tie, so why not?
The snake hissed, its tongue slipping out to flick Marco's nose, and it seemed annoyed though the sound was muffled.
"Salome… You… Stupid snake… Give it back!"
The boy appeared in his field of vision, kneeling in front of Marco, holding his arms out, and cutting off Salome's other exit, panting and glaring fiercely.
"I get it… alright? I'll talk… to Hancock about it, so give it back!"
Despite the fact that it shouldn't have been possible, the snake nodded smugly and dropped the box into the boy's hand. It gave Marco a swift look before sliding out back in the direction it came from, opening the emergency exit door with no problem and letting it slam close behind it.
"Godammit, Salome, there's a deep scratch now," the boy grumbled, turning the box from one side to the other. He took a deep breath and sighed. He sounded as tired as he looked. "Thank you for the help."
"It's okay," Marco answered, getting up and offering a hand to him. The boy accepted, and they were left in almost silence as the boy turned the box around, something clanking softly inside, and murmured something to himself. Marco still picked it up – it was another complaint about the bad treatment Salome had given it – but stopped his Alice right after in order to avoid overhearing something personal.
Marco decided against asking what had happened after noticing the boy's frustration, and then something pulled at his memory.
There was something familiar about this boy. It couldn't be, but just maybe...
"You're the guy with the fox mask from yesterday, aren't you?" Marco asked.
The boy's expression became confused before it closed off, mouth curling down and eyebrows furrowing. "That was you? Well, thanks a fucking lot for yesterday."
Well, that answered Marco's question alright.
"Excuse me? You're the one who bumped into me."
"If you weren't standing right in front of the door like a moron-"
"Oh, I'm sorry I didn't know you were going to come dashing out of nowhere in my direction."
The boy glared at him, and Marco glared right back. What a great turn this had taken.
Before either of them could say anything more, Marco heard footsteps and turned around.
"What are you two doing?"
Walking towards them was a tall blond man with a bonnet. He had a strange purple-blue spiky drawing underneath his right eye, and his mouth was contoured in purple, the same color as his bonnet and the hearts on his white shirt.
"Talking, what else?"
"Skipping class is an option high on the list. You're making it a habit, Ace."
"Hey, I'm having a bad day, okay? I'm not in the mood to sit for hours on end listening to some boring monologue."
Marco saw the man's eyes flicker to Ace's hand clenching around the box before he sighed. "Guess I can't convince you otherwise today. Make sure you show up for my class, though. We're watching a movie."
Of all things, this man was a teacher?
"Excuse me," Marco said, and found himself under the scrutiny of a pair of sharp brown eyes. "Are you going to class 2-A?"
"Yes. And who are you?"
"I'm Marco. Just transferred here."
Ace made a strange strangling sound as the man's eyes widened a bit. Marco straightened at the reactions – perhaps this was what Thatch meant. "I heard about you. I'm your homeroom teacher, Corazon."
"Nice to meet you, sir. I was told I had to talk with you to see my position regarding what I know and what I have to catch up on in the different subjects."
"Right, right. Find me during lunch, and I'll help you."
"Ah…" Damn it. His stomach grumbled as if on cue, and to Marco's embarrassment, it made sure to be heard.
"You didn't eat," Corazon huffed.
"No, I was in a hurry this morning," Marco explained.
"Of course you were. Ace, you have geography with Hina, right?" There was a grumble as an answer. "If you're gonna skip it, so why don't you use that time to show your classmate where he can get something to eat?"
Ace gave Corazon a long look, but then sighed and stuck out his hand. "Paper."
Corazon took a notepad and a pen from his back pant pocket, wrote something on it and ripped the first page. "There it is. Only for the first class, though. Smoker is already picking on me."
Ace snorted. "You act lazy all the time, what else did you expect from him?"
"Watch it or I'll take your exemption back."
"You want a favor, then you want to take the thing that allows me to do it? What's the logic?"
"It's not a favor. I'm saying that as your teacher - that's the logic, you brat."
"Whatever," Ace growled at last. "I'm going. Doesn't he need an exemption too?"
Corazon waved a hand dismissively. "I can explain it to the next teacher, but in the meantime I'm the one there. He's going to catch up later, anyway. With your help, of course."
"What?!"
"The hell?! Why me? You just said he's from A!"
"So? You're in the same grade, have similar schedules. I don't see why you can't help. You can be his partner for the next few weeks and show him around. What do you say?"
Ace gaped at Corazon, then let out a string of curses and walked away.
Corazon turned to Marco, who looked at him with discontentment. Nothing against Ace, but it was clear they hadn't had a good start, and Marco could fend for himself. "You should follow him. He's in a terrible mood, so he won't wait. Ace's not a bad person, so it should be good for you two."
For them two. Unnecessary decision explained.
"Right…" Marco sighed.
He caught up with Ace and matched his pace. Ace looked thoughtful, so Marco followed in silence. In a way, it was easing not to have to speak – Marco didn't like having to introduce himself and go through the whole introductory questions non-stop, so this was nice.
He took the opportunity to look around and get used to the building, and sooner than he realized, he had bought a snack and was going back to class with just a passing 'bye' from Ace.
The rest of the day flew by. Most of what was being taught, Marco had already taken a quick look over, so it wouldn't be troublesome to study. He found Corazon during the last class of the day, and got an official paper with the content of each subject for the second year of high school.
Overall, his first day hadn't been awful. Alice Academy was far from what he had expected, which he guessed was his own fault for being too suspicious from what little he knew about the place. Marco didn't deem it trustful, but it wasn't like he planned on staying here until graduation.
It wasn't the time to think about it, though. He needed a good dinner, and time to try to relax in his room before he recharged energy for the next day, so he said goodbye to Thatch and walked out.
"Hey, Marco."
Or not.
"Aren't you going to your ability class?" Corazon asked. He was sitting behind a desk in the front row of the classroom, where he had been since he put a movie and told them to take notes.
"What?"
Marco didn't see anything about an ability class at this time in his schedule, but decided to check at Corazon's insistence. The class wasn't big, as Thatch said, so when he looked up it was no surprise to see no one but himself and Corazon there.
"You mean this blank space?"
"Yeah. You're supposed to fill it according to how much you plan on going. One hour per day and all of Friday is the recommended time."
"Every day for the whole week?"
"Not Saturdays and Sundays."
Marco sighed. There went the free time he was planning on enjoying. "Where do I need to go?"
"The classrooms are in the Elementary school building, but where exactly depends."
"Would you happen to know where the Somatic one is?"
Corazon's eyebrows shot up before he smiled. "Somatic, huh? Then welcome to the group. I'm the teacher responsible there sometimes, but I can't go today. Getting to know your classmates will be good, though. The classroom we use is to the left of the building, but there's an entrance from the outside if you prefer. There's a sign there, it'll be easy to find it."
"Alright, thank you."
Marco watched as Corazon flashed him a thumbs up and gathered the papers he had been organizing during the movie.
"Now go so you'll catch some of them there."
Then Corazon tripped on thin air and fell with a dull thud, his fluffy coat catching fire on his right shoulder. Papers spread in disarray and a lighter clacked to the ground.
"Shit!" Corazon lost his cool in a second. His eyes widened, and he patted his coat frantically, but when that did nothing he threw it to the ground and tried to stomp on it. "It's okay! Don't mind me, just go."
Marco hesitated, but Corazon made a quick shooing motion just as the fire grew, so he hurried away.
That was… unexpected, to say the least. Marco didn't know whether he was more surprised by what happened or by its suddenness. Maybe it had to do with his Alice, and wasn't that an uneasy thought when he remembered Corazon was supposed to instruct him on the control of his powers?
During most of the walk to the elementary school building, some twenty minutes or more, Marco had time to think of what sort of class the Somatic ability was. Pheromones, partial transformations – that didn't say much. His objective wasn't to make friends, but the less chances of antagonism between his classmates and him, the better.
Marco decided to go through the inside door, so he entered the elementary building – a grander and more beautiful construction, albeit having the same colors as the high school one - and looked around for the Somatic class.
As Corazon said, it wasn't hard. He followed the corridor on the left for a while before he saw big blue glittery letters spelling 'Somatic' beside double wood doors; underneath it was a silvery plaque with the same word accompanied by 'ability class', all capitalized. Marco lowered his expectations and opened the door, then blinked as several pairs of eyes turned to him.
The classroom was huge. It had long tables organized to the sides with lots of stationary and the most varied supplies where some people seemed to be working on something. On the back, there was a mini stage with red curtains, with two people and a chair, and on its side there were two large white boards full of random words and drawings, but what also seemed like lists. There was a worn green carpet in the middle where some small dumbbells were, a big bounce ball, a ladder, three wooden cubes above which two children sat, and other objects.
Then Marco started noticing the signs of Alices. Both people on stage had animal features – one had dog whiskers and ears that turned a bit when the person's attention diverted from Marco, and the other a pig nose that twitched sometimes and pinkish skin; someone near the ladder jumped to the ceiling and crossed their legs on a metal bar there; a girl sitting on a table had three other girls surrounding her, and when she passed her hand under one of their chins, they started squealing; a boy on the other side of the room had two rabbits on his lap and a cat resting by his feet.
There was so much going on, and at the same time so little. The classroom was far from full, but somehow the ones there seemed to fill the place with expertise. Marco didn't know who he should approach or if it was better to wait and watch.
Thankfully, someone made the decision for him.
"Hi," a young boy said, a cheerful grin on his face that almost hid a scar near his left eye and a flashy straw hat on his head. He wore a blue version of Marco's uniform, but his white shirt was crumpled and he was lacking the blue lace that substituted the tie in middle school's version. In his arms were four cans of paint.
"Hello," Marco answered, a smile of his own appearing.
"You're new," the boy stated. "Where did you come from?"
"I, uh… just enrolled here."
"Cool, so you're really new! My name's Luffy," the boy continued as if Marco hadn't hesitated, and it was a relief that there was a lack of an excessive reaction.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Marco." Marco watched as one of the cans swayed, but somehow didn't fall. "Do you want some help?"
"Nah, I'm fine. But if you wanna paint with us then bring those two big paintbrushes," Luffy said, pointing the nearest table with his chin.
Marco fetched them, and followed Luffy to the other side of the classroom, where a long piece of cloth was spread on the ground. Kneeling to the side was a boy with pitch black hair tied in a bun and plastic gloves stained with a multitude of colors.
"Luffy, did you get the-" The boy interrupted himself when he met Marco's eyes.
"Yup! Brown, blue, green, and orange! And also two new brushes."
"It was supposed to be purple, not orange."
"But orange is so much cooler."
"Orange is actually a warm color," Marco added, and smiled when Luffy turned to him with a baffled look and the other boy chuckled.
"Sorry, but who are you?" The boy asked.
"I'm a new student, Marco."
"Pleasure, I'm Izo. Nice to have new blood here." Izo removed one of his gloves and picked a folded paper from his pant pocket. "Here, this might interest you. They handed these out just before you arrived, but it's the same as every year, so you can have mine."
Marco unfolded the paper with curiosity, and his eyes widened little by little as he read it. A prize for the students who got the best grades in each year, a one-week chance to go outside the Academy and visit your parents. Hina had mentioned students could send letters, but Marco didn't know an address to direct them to, so what use was it? If he had the chance to be outside the gates, though, that was a whole other story.
"Is this true?"
"Yeah! Isn't it cool? But it's so hard to win, it's not fair," Luffy whined.
"You don't study enough, that's why it's so hard." Izo rolled his eyes. "But it is true, from what we know. Never won myself, but I've met some who did. A few people get very serious when it gets near exams time, so unless you do really well on all of them, you have no chance."
"It's nice to know, though. Thanks." Marco pocketed the paper, cogs already moving inside his mind. He could do it; he was never terrible at studies. It was his chance.
"No problem." Izo smiled. "You know, you seem familiar. Have we talked in the corridors or something?"
"I don't think so. I'm in the second year."
Izo snapped his fingers. "Class A, right? I think I saw you around Ace, that's why. I'm from 2-C."
"I didn't know there was a third class."
"There are in the last two years, but the classes end up much smaller."
"Around Ace? Marco…" Luffy murmured, bringing Marco's attention to him. Luffy was squinting his eyes at him, arms crossed. "Oh! Aren't you Ace's partner?"
"I wouldn't say partner, but I guess I am," Marco answered. "You know him?"
"Yeah! He's my brother!"
Marco stared at Luffy and his sunshine smile. He was Ace's brother – the grumpy boy with the little patience and who was full of frowns.
…Well, he wasn't here to judge.
"That's… uh, cool," he said when Luffy kept looking at him with expectance.
"Shishishi, yeah, it is! Ace is awesome!"
"I bet he is…"
"As much as I'd like to keep talking, we also need to continue our project, Luffy," Izo sighed, then looked at Marco. "Do you want to join? I can give you the details as we work."
"I'd be nice, thank you, but can it be tomorrow? I wasn't planning on coming here, and I need to organize some things." His thoughts and schedule needed to be in order before he started anything.
"Of course."
"See you tomorrow, then."
Marco smiled at them, and Izo nodded back as Luffy waved his arm in an energetic goodbye. He walked out of the classroom feeling better than he had before, and with a new plan cooking inside his head. The Academy might take precautions to keep the students inside and intruders out, and the staff seemed to think that was enough to chase away thoughts of running away, but not for Marco. He didn't accept to study here without thinking about escaping, and this prize could make things much easier for him.
A low shushing caught Marco's attention when he neared a bifurcation in the corridor. Through instinct, he partially activated his Alice and concentrated, and a sound of soft crying joined the shushing.
It was only a child. It made sense, since they were in the elementary school building.
It was none of his business, so he continued walking. Nonetheless, on his way outside he passed by the origin of the noises, so Marco had no trouble seeing a woman carrying a very small child – a toddler.
"It's alright, it's alright," the woman said, moving the toddler a bit, and the realization that she was trying to lull them came delayed.
"B-but it-" the child hiccupped, "mommy!"
"Mommy isn't here, little one. It was just a nightmare, don't worry."
The toddler was wearing a red Alice Academy uniform.
Marco continued walking in autopilot, because of course he had seen it wrong. The toddler was wearing red clothes, not the academy's uniform; there was no way someone so young was confined there, not at an age when it was clear they needed their parents and the opportunity to learn with them, not the obligation to stay hidden because of powers they didn't even understand.
Right?
Unfortunately, Marco had seen it right.
He leaned against a pillar near the entrance and covered his mouth. Haruta's face flashed in his mind – she was so young when they met, and Marco couldn't help but imagine her trying to hold back tears back in that corridor, all alone. It was an immense relief to know she didn't have an Alice, nor did any of his brothers. They were safe somewhere far away – safer than when Marco had been there.
Marco subconsciously stopped his Alice's senses, so it wasn't until someone touched his shoulder that Marco noticed someone calling for him.
"Whoa, calm down, it's just me." Thatch's face greeted him, and Marco took a shuddering breath before forcing his body to drop the defensive posture.
"Sorry. You startled me."
"Yeah, I can see that. Sorry too. Also coming from your ability class?" Thatch asked, and Marco nodded, quiet. "…What happened?"
Marco's hand clenched.
"Thatch, the different colored uniforms represent what? Age?"
"Yeah, in a way," Thatch answered. "Orange for High school, blue for Middle School and red for Elementary."
"All red is for Elementary School?"
"Yeah. Why?"
"I saw a child - no, a toddler, with a tiny version of the red uniform." Understanding flashed in Thatch's eyes. "I was wrong, right? It can't-"
"Of course it can." Thatch's gaze turned to a spot on the wall with a small dirty stain, and his shoulders sagged. For the first time, Marco saw bitterness in his eyes. "As long as you aren't older than eighteen, you're brought here if you're found. So yes, there are kids as young as three, two, even one year old living here."
Older than eighteen - Marco had been so close to escaping it was revolting. In comparison, there were children here so young they'd never remember what life was like outside the walls of Alice Academy, much less anything about their relatives or whoever they used to live with.
Marco knew what freedom was, knew how part of the world looked like, knew people and their malice. Those children knew security, had greater chances of controlling their powers quicker in the future, but for that they had to be inside this school for years – a suffocating thought that left a sour taste in Marco's mouth.
But did they think the same? Did they even feel locked if they didn't know anything outside of Alice Academy? Would they even recollect enough to care? Marco wondered if that was better than remembering.
Suddenly, he didn't feel well anymore.
"Welcome to Alice Academy."
It wasn't hard to get caught up in Alice Academy's rhythm. After three days, Marco had a lot of his surroundings memorized and less free time than he wanted, but it was stimulating having to jungle the subjects and his own personal schedule. Marco could pass the sleepiness, though, but it was hard to fall asleep quickly when he wasn't as tired as the first night.
In the midst of everything, Marco forgot one important detail: Ace was still his supposed partner. He was reminded of it when Ace's grump face greeted him when Marco exited his classroom in the next day.
"…Hey," Marco hesitated, because what was he supposed to say after the when they first talked?
Ace nodded at him, his frown deepening.
…Another great start. Silence might just be the answer to dealing with this uncalled relation.
As if in a show of agreement, Ace nodded again and started walking, taking a piece of paper from his pocket and presenting it to Marco. He took it and realized it was a map of the Academy's grounds, and couldn't help but smile.
"Thanks."
Ace nodded again, but didn't say anything and kept his eyes looking forward, bored expression on his face.
It was then that a shine caught Marco's eyes, and he found himself staring at an earring and a metallic ear ornament on Ace's ear, almost hidden by his hair. The ornament was similar to Marco's, but where his was plain metal with round borders, Ace's had swirls and undulated line, and the earring had a stunning small stone ball; it was red with orange strikes, and it seemed to shine even when they turned and the sun's rays didn't hit it anymore.
Marco's hand moved to his own ear - Ace's eyes flickered at him at the motion, and a flash of something passed through his eyes. Ace's were power restrainers too, then.
"Where are we going?" Marco asked, trying again. It was after class, and looking through the window showed the surroundings were full of students hanging around on the grass, near some trees, or on benches. The day wasn't too hot, and with sleep clinging to his eyelids, Marco wished he could join them on a patch of grass of his own.
"To the library," Ace answered. "Not that we have to stay there for long."
Marco perked up in attention, all thoughts of sleep fading from his mind. The library was a good idea. If he studied outside his room, the chances of him tiring himself out and making it easier to sleep would grow.
Ace lead Marco in complete silence, a yawn here and there being the only other expression he showed, and it seemed like they couldn't arrive quickly enough.
The library was a big place. They passed by the receptionist typing on a computer and rows of bookcases before Marco found a table to the corner, a bit farther away from others, which should work fine in case Ace showed interest in participating and they started talking.
Unfortunately, it wasn't the case, since Ace sat down with a heavy sigh, crossed his arms above the table, and laid his head down on them, leaving only his forehead and eyebrows in sight. Marco took the chair opposite of Ace, and put his school bag on the one beside it, taking his time to retrieve his notebook, some books, and a pencil case.
Ace didn't make a single sound.
Marco gave in to the urge to sigh quietly. Dealing with the prolonged silence wasn't a problem, much less inside a library and with books to study, so he shrugged mentally and decided to continue on as if he was by himself.
He was startled when he noticed, from the corner of his eye, Ace's eyes looking at him from above his arms, but when Marco turned to him, they diverted and he was back to seeming as bored as at the start.
…It was a reaction, at least, as weird as it was.
Marco picked a paper where he had written all the subjects he needed to review or catch up, and opened the first book, but then his concentration was broken when he felt eyes on him again. This, Marco couldn't deal with for long.
"Aren't we both supposed to be studying?" He asked. To his surprise, there was an answer.
"I know."
Then Ace turned his head to the side, sighed again and seemed to lock a stare on the bookcase to his right. His school bag laid to his left on the table, still untouched since they had sat down.
Marco supposed he should call this a success given he got an actual verbal answer. It seemed like nothing more would come from this interaction, though.
"Suit yourself," he sighed, then turned his attention back to his book. It wasn't worth getting rattled over this when it would only hinder him in his objective. He needed to study, get tired, and have a good night of sleep - and so he would.
It took some minutes – enough for Marco to focus his whole attention on the text – before a ruffling of clothes, loud enough to be a distraction, reached his ears. His eyes flickered up in time to see Ace straightening up and start drumming one thumb on his other hand. His mouth was still clamped shut, however.
If anything, it'd be interesting to see how long Ace lasted without doing anything, and so Ace's noises fell to the background as Marco turned back to his task.
This time, the silence was maintained for longer, but when it was broken it was with an onslaught of words.
"Okay, just so I'll know. How long do you plan on staying here? It's been a really long while since you started."
Marco marked the paragraph he just finished with his index finger, and looked up with a raised eyebrow. "Isn't that the reason why we came here?"
"But we've been here for an hour. That's more than enough time," Ace answered narrowing his eyes. His expression tightened, and if it had been someone else, Marco would have suspected they were going to pout. As it was, Ace looked closer to scowling with the impatience radiating from him.
"If it had been an hour, then yes. But it hasn't, so no," Marco rebuked. He glanced at the clock on the wall as a precaution, but as he thought, they had been there for around thirty-five minutes.
He saw Ace look at the clock too and frown before he murmured "damn" under his breath.
Thus, he managed to get Ace to stop talking, this time in a very close to sulking position. Marco wondered with vague amusement if he could get Ace to react again.
"Maybe if you open a book, time will pass quicker," Marco suggested.
Ace snorted, and didn't say anything further, so Marco left him to his grumpiness.
The minutes passed by in a blur. Marco changed from one subject to another, making a superficial read to freshen his memory before he delved into unknown topics. It was easier with geography, history, and biology – those were topics he was interested in and actively went after books about – whilst the ones with formulas, rules, and too many numbers and random letters didn't seem to click. It was going to be a pain to remember all that.
"Now it's been an hour."
Marco blinked sluggishly as he looked up, the abrupt interruption making him forget what he had just read. "Then go. I'm not keeping you here," he snapped, annoyance surging.
"Believe me, I would if I could, but I was told to show you around and they'll know if I don't. Can't you cooperate and make it easier for me? I'd have left this as the last place if I knew you were a bookworm, geez."
"I need and want to study, so I will be here for a while longer. Just go and you can continue your job tomorrow."
"I already said I can't."
Marco prided himself in having a lot of patience when dealing with people, but even he had his limits. He was going to get that prize, damn it. "That's not my problem."
"Look here asshole-"
"Right, because you've been a sea of sunshine since I've met you."
"You don't know anything about me," Ace hissed.
"That goes both ways."
They glared at each other. The scene seemed familiar.
Their stare down ended when the receptionist showed up to reprehend them for making noise, and by then Marco had lost his desire to study. He closed his book harsher than necessary, and leaned his forehead against the cover. "We're acting like children."
"Yeah."
Then the silence was back. Marco considered whether it was worth it trying to re-start, but his concentration was still scattered. It was ridiculous how he had become such a mess in a matter of days. Ironic that Alice Academy managed that when the former problems in his life hadn't.
He missed his family.
Marco sighed and opened the book again, but after the words kept swimming back and forth in his vision for a few minutes he gave up.
"Why are you so set on studying now?" Ace's question startled Marco.
"What?"
"I mean, you have time. It's June, we have a small break for summer vacation coming soon, and the exams are only at the end of October, in case you don't know. You're going to have spare time to study."
Ace's expression was softer with plain curiosity and tiredness, and the logic made Marco sigh.
"I don't know. I need to feel like I'm doing something. I want that one week away prize."
It wasn't like him, but here he was, close to opening his heart to a complete stranger he didn't trust. He had enough experience to know better, but now he was so tired. No matter what Marco thought about Alice Academy, it was a safe place for Alices regarding the outside, so it shouldn't get any worse. It was only another student like him who was listening, and maybe he even lived some of what Marco had, maybe he had had worse.
Really, who was he to judge?
Ace rolled his eyes. "That lie?"
"It's not a lie," Marco answered automatically, but then stopped, because how far did his classmates' knowledge go when they hadn't ever won that prize? "People have won it before."
"Yeah… But nobody who did talks much about it. It's prohibited, I think, and that's very suspicious."
A heavy feeling settled on Marco's chest. It was.
"Then I'll have to search around," Marco said after a while of silence. "It's an opportunity, and I'll grab it if I can."
"An opportunity to see our family," Ace murmured, his gaze low on the table and seeming far away.
"Isn't it worth trying? Best case scenario, it's true and we go out, and even if we end up not being allowed to talk with them, wouldn't it be nice to see the outside world? It's stifling being here for too long."
"It feels like being locked in a cage. Heh, you're still new here, you know nothing."
Silence surrounded them once more, but this time it had a thoughtful tinge to it. Marco decided it was better to let this last comment go, and with his calm rebuilt, he opened his book, leaving Ace to his thoughts. This was the most they had talked so far, and despite the inconclusive end, it had a better feel to it than the one from before.
Right as Marco neared the end of the page, his attention was caught by a zipper being opened then pages being flipped.
Well, it was progress.
"Excuse me, but could you tell me who Marco is?"
Marco's hand stopped mid-word, and he looked up just in time to see a classmate point to the back of the room where he was and a redheaded girl beside them grin. He rummaged through his head, but her face didn't look familiar.
"Thanks," she said, and Marco looked back down at his notebook as she headed towards him.
He had a vain hope that the 'Marco' she meant wasn't him but instead a classmate whose name he didn't remember, but it was crushed when she stopped in front of his table. Marco looked up to see her smiling, and tapped his pen on the paper.
"Hi."
"Hi…"
"Not sure if you know, but I'm Nami."
"Marco, but you already know that," he said, and resigned himself to not continuing his work anytime soon. It was math, so he couldn't say he minded much.
"Yes. You're Ace's partner," Nami stated, sounding far too certain for it to be a question, so Marco stayed quiet. "I have a question for you, if you don't mind," and without waiting for an answer, she continued. "How did you do it?"
"Do what?"
"Make Ace study."
"…What?"
"Exactly. It's been a few days, but all of a sudden Ace started studying – really studying, not his usual half-assed tries to just do enough to pass – and now he's asking questions, and-" Nami shook her head. "How did you do it?"
Marco only watched as Nami stared hard at him, her smile taking a sharp edge, and closed his eyes. He knew that expression she was making – it's when you're frustrated with something you can't understand, but he didn't know what he had to do with it this time. Ace continued his job of showing Marco around after the library day for the rest of that week, then a few more days after the weekend, but it had been two weeks now since Marco had last seen him.
"I just talked with him."
"About what?" She insisted, emphasizing the second word.
Marco rolled his eyes. "What is this, a hundred questions?"
"I'm friend, and I'm curious, that's all."
"Uh-huh… Well, I mentioned the best grades prize, and said I'm going after it."
"That bullshit?" Nami looked skeptical, to which Marco felt a sliver of annoyance.
"As I said to him, I can't' be sure it's true, but he also wasn't able give me proof it isn't. I'm sure you can't either." Nami opened her mouth, but closed it with a shrug, displeased. "I think it's worth trying if it means the chance of going out, even if we don't get the chance of talking with our family."
"Oh…" Nami's eyes widened a fraction. "That's why. That moron…" She continued, but it didn't have any bite.
"Is that it?"
"Yes. Guess I was pretty intrusive, my bad." She twisted a strand of hair around a finger, thoughtful expression growing on her face. "Also, thanks. Can't say I approve of the way, but what you did is helping Ace."
"Don't thank me, it was plain luck it did something," Marco replied. He couldn't avoid a smile at the thought because it was fulfilling to be useful. The not-so-awful second meeting was in a better light in his eyes as he replayed it – Ace did seem interested in the end.
"True," Nami agreed, and that was that.
Marco closed his notebook and gathered his belongings, deciding it was too beautiful a Thursday afternoon to stay in the classroom during lunch. He was going to find Thatch, and ask on what could be done for fun at night. There was time, and he didn't feel like studying at all today anymore.
"Hey," Nami said, and Marco was surprised to see her accompanying him outside. "Has Ace shown you Central Town?"
The memory of seeing what he thought was a small village on his first day came to his mind. "No, not yet."
"Me, Ace, and some friends are going there on Saturday. What do you say about joining us?"
"What time?"
"After breakfast. We plan on having lunch there, but you're free to go whenever you prefer. There's a lot to do there, it'll be good for you to know the places."
Marco recognized the baiting for what it was, but it didn't sound too bad anyway. "Sure."
"Great." Nami smiled, but this time it had a different tinge to it. Mischievousness looked far too natural on her. "See you in two days."
"Bye," Marco answered, but he doubted he was heard as Nami hurried out the door with a casual wave.
It was something to do and a new place to know, at least. Marco hoped it wouldn't be too bad – staying around people he hadn't deemed trustful wasn't his cup of tea, and it was far from relaxing, but it was also a habit he had to break sometimes. This sounded like the perfect time to start.