A/N: Chapter 3 of The Cold's Shards. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except my OCs. Mikagura School Suite belongs to the rightful owner.
Special thanks to the reviewers and to the readers who Fav/Alert this story, I really appreciate it. Sorry if this chapter's too short, I'll make longer ones next time!
Chapter 3: So many questions!
The next morning...
"Then, I'll let you practice your special attack on me!" Shigure exclaimed excitedly, eager to help out his cousin. He let out a squeal of delight and posed dramatically. "Oh, I'll be Eruna's first partner!"
"Gross." The girl replied with a straight face, pouting at the boy that stood before her. "But because of that kind of characteristic trait of his, I can beat him up without holding back."
"What about your item, ryui?" Bimii asked with mild concern as she cracked her knuckles loudly.
"Since I'm in the going-home club, I guess I'll use this for now?" Eruna replied, holding up what looked like a normal school bag. "It's the only thing I have on my person at the moment."
"Okay, try it. ryui!" Bimii encouraged her even though on the inside he didn't really think that Eruna knew what she was doing. This probably won't go too well...ryui...
"Come to me, Eruna!" Shigure held his arms wide open with glee, ready to handle anything his cousin dished to him. "My body awaits thee!"
"School Bag Crash!" She exclaimed, running towards her cousin with murderous intent flashing in her eyes. He let out a yelp as the leather material smacked him in the face, sending tingling feelings throughout his body.
"You're just hitting him with your bag, ryui." Even Bimii wasn't impressed by her attack as the boy toppled to the ground, limbs twitching. And what's with that lame attack name...?
"Then, I'll use this!" Next she took out the purple sleeping bag and held it confidently with both arms like a large baseball bat.
"Come to me, Eruna!" Shigure, fully recovered, sprang back to his feet and held his arms out.
"Sleeping Beauty!"
So you're just hitting him, ryui? Bimii let out a sigh as Eruna continuously hit her cousin with any and all physical objects she could get her hands on. When it came to her game console that she took out of her uniform pocket, she totally ignored him and started button mashing. The boys didn't even bother interrupting her until she let out a squeal of delight.
"Yay! I did it, Bimii!" She exclaimed with a huge blush on her face and steam coming out of her nose as she waved her console in the air. "It's our first night alone in the nurse's office!"
"What the hell are you doing, ryui?!" The flying magical cat, enraged by her childish and perverted actions, used her own bag to hit her over the head.
"In my delusions, I can activate techniques like 'this', 'that', and 'What?! Even that?!' but..." Eruna frowned as she decided to take a break from training, sitting on a vacant bench with a mopey expression. Shigure had left, stating that he had things to take care of which she was happy about anyways. The sound of soft footsteps caught her attention and she looked up see her goddess standing before her. "Seisa-sempai!"
"I suppose it's impossible for you after all." The girl commented with a smile on her face.
"Th-That's not true!" Eruna rose to her feet in haste.
"But you can't fight in that state, can you?"
"It's fine! I'll definitely show you that I can win!" The orange-haired first year was determined to make Seisa proud of her, no matter what. "Because I want to win and become an official going-home club member and do club activities with you!"
"The going-home club just goes home." Seisa stated simply, getting a shocked reaction from the latter. "Even if I allowed you to join, there's nothing for us to do together."
"We can go home together!"
"I have a fluffy bed in a mansion. You are in the dorm with a sleeping bag. We cannot go home together."
"Then we can go halfway!" Eruna begged her, gazing at her imploringly with huge doe eyes. "We can stop somewhere on the way! Or we can go the long way!" She held her arms out wide with a smile. "We can even stop by a delicious ice cream shop and eat ice cream together and get stomachaches and go to the nurse's office together and put bandages on each other in the nurse's office...We can do anything on the way home!"
Hmm...Seisa stayed quiet as she analyzed the first year with sharp eyes. This girl...
"I wanted to come to this school because I saw you in the pamphlet, and it was love at first sight! I wanted to go to the same school with a lovely person such as yourself!" Eruna told her, looking at the ground bashfully as she continued to word vomit. "Then, when you invited me to join the going-home club, I was really happy!"
"So what?" Seisa finally asked once she heard everything Eruna told her. The first year smiled brightly before giving her her answer.
"So...I'll work hard with everything I have!"
"Now, we will begin the match! Ryui!" Bimii said as he looked at both Eruna and Himi. The two of them were on the rooftop of a nearby building for the first match of the day.
"Wait, I'm fighting against Himi?" Eruna asked in confusion as she looked at the representative of the Calligraphy club.
"It's amazing that you're the going-home club representative, Eruna!" The petite girl chuckled in response, twirling her brush high over her head before pointing it in her opponent's direction. "But I'm more amazing 'cause I'm going to beat you!"
"I won't lose, either!" Eruna grinned at the challenge.
"The time limit is one hour." Bimii explained the rules as he used his magic to create some sort of barrier to reduce any damages caused by the battle. "Whoever gets all three crystals broken first loses."
"No one's going to watch our fight?"
"The other students can watch from wherever they like, ryui." Bimii replied as every single student had their devices out and staring at the screen with hungry eyes. "The match is broadcast from cameras installed around the school. Now, are you ready, ryui?"
I won't fail. Eruna thought with confidence as she prepared herself for her first match fight. I will win. I promised Seisa-sempai that I would.
"Begin the match."
In my room...
I sat at my desk, twirling a pencil in my hand as I stared at my homework. Last night wasn't the funniest of nights and I still replayed what had happened because the event that occurred wasn't ordinary; it transpired for a reason and truth be told, I was still muddling over the entire confrontation. Closing my eyes I leaned back in my chair and thought about what happened...step-by-step.
"Y-Y-You're...!" My eyes widened with surprise as the person stepped into the lighting. There was no way I'd forget a face and I was staring at the boy three years ago, the very same boy that was speaking on his cellphone to a strange female voice the day Iliya-sama died. He certainly looked older now, it's been a long time since I last saw him. "It's you...!"
"That's right." He spoke as he stood before me, hands in his pockets in a nonchalant manner. "It's me and I have a warning just for you."
"You know you are no longer allowed on the school grounds...you were expelled a year ago." I said, narrowing my eyes in a warning of my own. "I'm gonna have to ask you to leave the premises...unless you want me to use force."
"Don't you know that there's a law established by the Dean...which states that if you attack someone without powers, you will automatically get suspended?" The man smirked when I snarled irritably on the inside. "But I'm just here to chat, not to make problems."
Hmm...? Well he did say he had a warning for me... "Speak then." I ordered, crossing my arms across my chest. "What do you have to say?"
"My boss has sent me here specifically to talk to you...only to you..."
"Your Boss?" I questioned, crossing my arms over my chest. "Refresh my memory, who exactly is your Boss?"
"She was a part of the club that was disbanded 2 years ago...thanks to a certain incident."
"2 years ago?" I frowned a bit as I racked my brain for events from back then. "I was out of town on an internship opportunity."
"...what...?" He looked at me in confusion. "You weren't...at school when it happened?"
"Nope." I shook my head. "I don't think I remember anything about that year. I came back as a junior without knowing the details."
"Well...you'll know soon enough." He told me before looking at his watch and grimaced. "I got to run, my Boss gave me a certain amount of time to spend with you and it seems that I've reached the limit. I really don't want to over-welcome my stay."
"You still haven't told me anything in regards to why you're here..."
"Watch your back." The young man said before turning on his heels and walking off. "Enemies will pop up at every twist and turn when you least expect it."
"Why?" I called after him but he disappeared without answer. The winds swirled around me as I stood rooted to the spot. It wasn't chilly to say the least but his message and brief warning perked my interest to no end.
I can't seem to connect the dots...I growled with frustration when I opened my eyes, putting the pencil down and stood up to stretch my legs. Why? Why are there gonna be enemies that will appear? Who is that man's Boss? What happened 2 years ago after Iliya-sama's death? Damn it...so many questions, so little answers...
I walked towards my bed and collapsed on top of it, resting an arm over my head. Closing my eyes again for another minute I listened to nothing but peace and quiet and knew that the other students were either studying or watching a battle; I'm leaning more towards the latter option.
"Tension max! Go!" My eyes snapped open as the voice of that first year echoed throughout my room. Sitting up and pulling my own original device from my pocket, I watched as a beam of light flew from the girl's finger on the screen, destroying an ink blob and went straight towards the target.
Huh? That ability...? Toy Gun? I thought to myself as Himi's pained voice floated through and Bimii announced the winner. Why does she have that ability?
"I can't believe it...how did she do it without an item...?" Himi whispered as she fell to her knees in defeat.
"Did I win..?" Eruna wondered as she looked at her hand. She grinned and held up a victory sign with her fingers. "Don't tell me I caused a huge upset?"
"You've finally awakened, Eruna?" Shigure smiled with relief after he watched his cousin battled. "Congrats."