I do not own any of the characters except for my own
So it turns out that Noriko is also Paco's name. I guess I should have found that out before haha. Anyway, I had already written part of this, so I decided to finish it, but it's really late here... Oh well.
The room the director, named Mephisto Pheles, and I had entered was empty and dark. I gasped when I noticed that it was full of cobwebs and dust, immediately coughing as the dust entered my lungs.
"I'm… sleeping here?" I asked him. Mephisto flipped the light switch and smiled. "Wonderful, isn't it? You get this room all to yourself, but, as you can see, it hasn't been used in a while."
I managed to empty my lungs and stare at the room. You've got to be kidding me, I thought. He wants me to stay here?
"Now about that key I gave you earlier," Mephisto said. I turned my attention to the director as he looked down on me. "You can use it on any door and get to the cram school. You will be in those classes during the day, while other students are in regular classes. It won't be for forever, though," he said and winked. "Once you pass the 'esquire' exam, you will join the other students."
Mephisto turned around and walked out the door, saying "eins, zwei, drei." I turned after him, but he had disappeared. I looked down both halls, but I didn't see him down either one of them. I sighed and turned back to the room invaded by the dust and cobwebs. "I guess it's something to do, for now anyways," I said, scrunching up my face in disgust.
I stretched out across my new bed and sighed, finally able to breath without inhaling dust particles. I opened my eyes and smiled at the ceiling. I realized that it was the first thing that I had actually worked hard on in a long while.
I looked around the room, taking in my new surroundings. There was another bed across from mine, as well as another desk. I frowned and looked back at the ceiling. I was alone, once again.
Slowly I got off the bed and exited the room, looking for another person to talk to. As I feared, there was no one on this floor, but I didn't want to use the rest of my energy to find someone. I was already so tired from cleaning and scared that if I tried going down stairs, I would trip. Surely I can wait until tomorrow? I thought, reentering my room and collapsing on the bed. I'll just take a little nap. Ah, so tired…
The demons kept on creeping closer. I hugged someone's legs even tighter and buried my face into her skirt. "Noriko, please. They don't want to hurt you, they just want to play," she said. One of the demons broke away from the slower ones behind it. I screamed as it reached towards me and touched my hand. It jerked back as tears streamed down my face. "Noriko..."
My eyes snapped open and I sat up quickly. Ah, that was weird, I thought. Was it a dream, or a memory? I looked out the window in a daze. The sun, it's so warm…
"Shit!" I yelled as I realized the time. I jumped from the bed and ran out the door. I could hear students on the floors below exiting the building. I spotted two girls starting to walk down the stairs and called out to them.
"Oh, hi," one of them said. She had short hair and seemed nice. The other had purple hair and was glaring at me.
"I'm Noriko Ida, and, uh, I'm new here. Are either of you in the cram school?" I asked. The short-haired one smiled and pointed to the girl next to her.
"Izumo-san is. Are you joining?" she asked.
"A little late, if you ask me," the one named Izumo said. My face burned as I ran down the stairs to talk to them.
"Can you show me how to get there, please? The director didn't show me," I said. Izumo snorted and glared again.
"You got a key, right?" she asked.
"Huh? Oh, right." I said, taking it out of my pocket and handing it to her. She took it and walked down the stairs. The other girl and I followed her until she stopped at a random door.
"My name's Noriko Paco, by the way," the other girl said. "Funny that we have the same name." I smiled.
"Yeah," I said, turning back to Izumo. "So this is it?"
"Of course not. This key can be used on any door to get you to the cram school," Izumo explained. "I'm pretty sure the director at least told you that much."
"I guess I wasn't really paying attention," I admitted. Izumo muttered something under her breath as Paco laughed. Izumo then opened the door into a space too big for the room I thought would be behind the door.
"This is the cram school," Paco said. "I used to go, but I dropped out earlier in the year."
I entered the hallway and admired the colors. I turned back to the two girls and smiled.
"Well, thanks. I got to go."
"Wait, you're not attending regular classes?" Izumo said in surprise. The Paco looked just as surprise.
"I'm behind the other students," I explained. "This was the only way to catch up to the rest of you." Paco smiled and grabbed Izumo.
"Well, we have to go," she said. "I hope to see you around, Noriko-san." She pulled Izumo away from the door as it slowly closed behind them. I was still smiling when I turned around, when I realized that I didn't have my key.
"Ah, shit!" I yelled, searching my pockets in case I had left it in one of them. "Great, of all the things that could have happened to me today."
