Chapter 3 - Another Recruit
A week had passed since the girls and Zell were placed on Kitchen Duty, where they were to cook and clean the kitchen every day for the students' use and enjoyment. Today was another break day, when all students who were doing jobs around the school would be allowed the day off. Makoto, Tsubaki, and Noel were all in an empty conference room talking amongst themselves.
"Oh boy, Noel, you should've heard yourself last night!" Makoto laughed, Tsubaki smirked a bit, hiding a giggle as she knew what Makoto was going to do next.
"W-What do you mean, Makoto? Was I snoring again?" Noel turned away from the board that she was drawing on to face her friend, a blush flashed across her cheeks.
"Well, I can deal with snoring, but last night you were off the wall, heh. I wonder what goes thorugh your head when you sleep sometimes." Makoto crossed her arms and turned away from Noel in order to hide a big grin she had on her face.
"Wh-what are you talking about Makoto? I wasn't talking in my sleep... was I?" Noel's eyes grew a bit larger as she pointed to herself in disbelief.
"Yep. You were talking in your sleep. And you wanna know know who you were talking to?" Makoto snickered with her back still turned to Noel.
"Wait, Tsubaki is it true? Was I talking in my sleep?" Noel turned to Tsubaki, hoping Makoto was just playing a joke on her again.
"Yeah, Noel. This time you were." Tsubaki tried to sound solemn, but she smiled and faced the ground to hide it more.
"So... uhm, who was I talking to?" Noel gulped hard and prepared for the news, her face was as red a a beet.
"...Zell... You were making all types of noises and whatnot too. You woke both of us up with it." Makoto was snickering hard and covered her mouth to help contain herself.
"Eh! Ts-Tsubaki, please tell me I didn't!" Noel squeaked and her eyes got bigger.
"Well, actually..." Tsubaki started to say, but stopped speaking when the door to the room was opened.
"So, yeah. I made the desserts yesterday. Did everyone like them?" Zell asked the boy next to him.
The boy was half Zell's size and had blonde hair parted two ways on his head, and large thin rimmed circle glasses. He nodded to what Zell had asked and pushed his glasses onto his face.
"Yes, indeed. I assure you that the whole school was quite pleased with your work in the kitchen." The little boy spoke and re-adjusted the textbook that was in his left hand.
"Oh! Hello, girls. This is Carl, He's from the elementary academy. He got promoted, and I was giving him a tour yesterday." Zell noticed the girls and the looks on Makoto's and Noel's faces.
"Uh, is something on my face?" Carl's eyes flashed with a small bit of fear as Makoto charged at him.
Zell, foreseeing something like this was to occur, stepped in front of Carl, serving as a cement wall as Makoto collided with his upper body with a loud thud.
"Ouch, hey Zell, scoot over. I wanna welcome the new guy." Makoto rubbed her head and stood again.
"Not until you tell me why Noel's... uh, looking like that..." Zell raised an eyebrow at the Vermillion child, pointing out that she was staring hard at the ground with a face as red a molten magma and both arms were on he chest and she looked like she was going to faint.
"Huh? Oh, She just had a dream about-" Makoto stated casually, very good at hiding most of her feelings, and was cut off by Noel and Tsubaki simultaneously.
"PANDAS!" The two girls blared, shocking Zell so he took a step back, and Carl's face looked like he saw a ghost.
"Well, that's nice. So Carl, these three are Tsubaki, Noel and Makoto." Zell getsured to each girl respectively then placed a hand on Carl's shoulder.
"Where to next, Mr. Zell?" Carl asked, regaining his cheery voice as he looked up at the bronzed Beastkin.
"I think this is the last stop. We are at the confrence rooms, I was told to stop the tour here. Do you wanna go out and get some air?" Zell replied and looked at Noel, then turned his gaze to Carl.
"Sure. Let's go." Carl replied with a smile, then he and Zell proceeded out of the conference room and toward the gates of the academy.
Makoto nudged Noel, gettting her attention, then nodded her head in Zell's direction. Noel squeaked and shook her head "No" quite furiously, but Makoto grabbed her by the wrist and proceeded to drag her out of the room, and after Zell and Carl. Kazuki entered the room and glanced at the two girls as they went down the hall.
"...Hey, Tsubaki. Are you all right?" Kazuki asked, noticing Tsubaki's face was turning red.
"Y-yes... I'm fine... pfffftttt..." Tsubaki was trying to stifle a laugh, but burst out loudly and was rolling on a nearby desk.
Kazuki raised an eyebrow over his glasses as he watched Tsubaki laugh her eyes out. She was in tears from laughing so much. "Hoo, boy... I hadn't laughed like that in a long time. I'll have to apologize to Noel later." Tsubaki wiped a tear from her eye as she recollected herself and flattened out her skirt back to the way it was.
"Apologize to Noel for what?" Kazuki asked, his face still in the confused expression that it was in before.
"Makoto and I heard Noel mumbling Zell's name in her sleep last night, and other things, and Makoto and I woke up early and decided that Noel should learn about talking in her sleep. So we just told her what she said in her sleep, and coincidentally, Zell showed up." Tsubaki snickered at her explanation.
"You shouldn't do Noel that way you know." Kazuki replied and adjusted the arms of his glasses.
"I-I know, but I had to tell her... Makoto was trying to make a joke of it, and it was a bit funnier than I had anticipated, is all..." Tsubaki stated softly under the gaze of Kazuki. There was something about this boy that surpassed even that of Jin Kisaragi.
"Well, I doubt Noel would like the feeling of being the butt of all of the jokes, Tsubaki. You're not as gullible, but you still get gullible around Jin. He doesn't admit it, but there are things that he does to play with your emotions. Tsubaki, I-" Kazuki was cut off at that instant, and Tsubaki got into his face, rage flickering in her eyes.
"Jin would NOT try to play me for any of those other stupid girls here! He likes me above them, and he event told me that he did!" Tsubaki pointed her index finger firmly into Kazuki's chest, and steamed his glasses up as she attempted to prove Kazuki's accusations wrong.
Kazuki said nothing, he simply stepped back and took his glasses off, revealing his powerfully silent almond eyes, then he wiped the mist off of his glasses and turned to leave. He put his glasses on and approached the door of the conference room and put his hand on the knob. Suddenly he was wrapped in Tsubaki's arms and her head was pressed against his back.
"What are you doing, Tsubaki?" Kazuki asked in the same calm tone that he always possessed, and he gently grasped Tsubaki's hands with his own, noticing how soft her hands were.
"I... don't know... I'm sorry for blowing up on you. I just think of Jin so highly, he's got so much going for him... I like that about him, but I also... uh, I..." Tsubaki began to stutter and the heat on her face was rising, Kazuki could feel it in his back.
Tsubaki stopped talking, and loosened her grasp on Kazuki, and he turned around in her arms. She looked up into his glasses and her face began to turn red again. Kazuki smiled and Tsubaki slowly began to lay her head on his chest.
Meanwhile, in the outer gates of the school, with Makoto and Noel, who were trailing Zell and Carl and approaching them with each passing second as the two boys neared their new destination, the fountain in the front gates. Carl was sitting on the rim of the fountain which had a crafting of the black beast being destroyed by humans, who were supposed to be the founders of the NOL. Zell was sitting on the ground next to the fountain with his right leg bent to his chest and his right arm resting on the knee. The two boys weren't oblivious to the followers they had, but paid them no attention, until now.
"...And that's what I think being a Vigilante is like Carl." Zell stated and stared at the front gates and into the forest just beyond it.
"It sounds like it would be better than studying forever and being here. Don't you agree Zell?" Carl asked with a cheery childlike smile on his face.
"It does, but being in the NOL has it's perks as well." Zell stated with a nod in agreement to Carl's statement.
"Oh, really? Can you tell me some of the perks?" Carl asked and leaned forward a bit, showing his apparent interest in Zell's intellect.
"Well, for starters, when you become of age, there'll be cute girls chasing you all the time." Zell smirked at the dumb joke.
"Cute girls? Like who do you mean?" Carl asked, smiling at his older brother-like figure.
"I mean like these two, Noel and Makoto. But some other girls may take a liking to you Carl." Zell smirked as he spoke and took the two girls from behind the fountain's opposite end.
"Oh, but of course!" Carl laughed, and Zell and the girls joined shortly after.
"So why were you two following us?" Zell asked Noel and Makoto, but mostly Noel.
"U-uhm... We, uh..." Noel stammered under the gaze of the Beastkin male, when Makoto chimed in.
"I wanted to see you, but you were with cute little Carl here, so I made- I mean, asked Noel to come with me." Makoto smiled a cheery smile, but blushed a bit when she caught Zell's ruby colored eyes with her own.
Zell smirked and cupped his chin. "Hm, I'll buy it, for now. Noel i didn't get a chance to brush my tail. Would you mind?" Zell asked and pulled out a bag and offered it to Noel.
Noel gasped and watched the Beastkin male wag his tail slowly, then she took the brush out of its bag and sat on the fountain and softly stroked his tail, and eyed it's shiny coat for a few seconds. Zell sat next to her and adjusted himself so that he had his back, and tail, toward Noel and he was facing Carl and Makoto, who decided to join them on the fountain's base. Noel snuggled with the wolf's tail, sighing at it's warmth and slowy and gently began to brush it.
"So, you guys know there's going to be a dance soon, right?" Makoto stretched herself out on a portion of the fountain as she asked.
"Hm, whatever for? I didn't think they'd do one so soon." Zell stated dully and looked back to find that Noel was blushing even more with her eyes closed.
"I dunno, but I don't really care. I think a dance'll be good for everyone." Makoto smiled at her own comment.
"Yes, it could be a good experience for myself as well. I think I'll take my sister to the dance with me." Carl mumbled a little and smiled at his own thoughts.
"It shouldn't be much of a problem, after all she could say she's chaperoning for you Carl." Zell stated with a nod of his head, then he turned to Noel.
Noel jumped and her face turned beet red once again, " D-did I... d-do something b-b-bad?" Noel jumped and accidentally hurled Zell's tail brush into the fountain. All four of the students looked as the brush sank to the bottom of the fountain.
"Uh-oh... Zell, I'm sorry! It was an accident! I-I didn't mean... to..." Noel whimpered as Zell got closer to her face with his own, his red eyes flickered with something, but Noel was too scared to try to find out what it was.
Makoto smirked and snickered, Carl simply watched closely, wiht his mouth open, and both noticed that Noel was now laying on her back on the railing of the fountain, and Zell was directly on top of her, similar to how a dog hovers over its master when the master returns from a long day. Noel looked at her postion and blushed harder.
"I think Noel likes it...!" Makoto snickered, and covered Carl's eyes from the spectacle.
"Hey, Makoto let me see! Move your hands!" Carl yelled as he flailed about, in an attempt to get free of Makoto's hands.
"You're too young to see this." Makoto stated quickly after Carl attempted to move her hands from his eyes.
"Z-Zell?" Noel blushed more when she felt his hand brush up her chest and onto her face.
"Noel, would you go to the dance with me?" Zell smirked and got off of Noel and brushed her cheek wtih the back of his hand.
"S-sure... I would love to..." Noel smiled and blushed then she walked toward the school with a dazed look on her face.
"Hahahahahahaha! Zell, I think you broke her!" Makoto laughed and stood and started to walk back to the school as well, but Zell grabbed her arm and whirled the Squirrel Beastkin around and into his arms.
"She's not the only one who'll be broke. You'll be as well, when you get to the dance." Zell smirked and exposed his canine teeth and stood Makoto back on her own two feet and almost immediately she let her mind whirl about what Zell meant by his last sentence to her.
"I wonder what he will do? What did he mean by 'she's not the only one who'll be broken'? What is he gonna do?" Makoto fumbled with her thoughts as she made her way to her dorm, there she was greeted by her two friends, both just as baffled as she was about what was to occur at the dance.
Zell and Carl were greeted by Kazuki shortly after Makoto had departed and the three boys sat on the fountain's base and they stared at the setting sun's orange sky.
"So Zell, you know that dance's gonna be in the next week, right?" Kazuki chimed in nonchalantly and folded his arms.
"Why so soon? I thought it was gonna be held next month..." Zell brought his gaze to his best friend and wore a questioning look on his face.
"The President, Jin Kisaragi, convinced them to hasten the preparations and whatnot, so it's going to be next Saturday, instead of the 13th of next month." Kazuki stated, but didn't look at Zell as he spoke.
"So, Mr. Kazuki, would it be fine if I brought my sister along?" Carl had a somewhat hopeful look on his face as he asked this question.
"You could if you want, but you'll be responsible for her, as you are the only tie she would have to attend the dance." Kazuki gave a kind smile to the young child.
"Well, looks like we have to get ready to go. It'll be dark soon, and they don't want anyone out after nine..." Zell checked his watch and sll three boys stood to go back to their dorm rooms.
Zell and Kazuki both sat in their beds, obviously preoccupied wiht their own thoughts, Zell lay staring at the moon, and Kazuki stared at the celing. Both boys were wondering about how to go about surprising their dates for the dance. They only had a week, seven days, to find the best recipe for their success.