Nathanael stared out the school window as the rain poured down from the heavens. Many people disliked the rain but Nathanael was one of the few who liked it.
He loved the way the windowsill became covered in the rain that looked like beads of glass, he loved the way the sky became a mix of deep greys and pale sunlight and he loved the way the rain made the whole city looks glossy and new.
Nathanael grabbed his sketchbook and pencil and began to draw as ideas swirled inside his mind, a content smile appeared on his face.
He was distracted from his art as he heard Carlo cry out "Check it out! It's a snake!" Nathanael looked up to see most of the class crowd around the area. Some of the class ran from it squealing.
Nathanael frowned and stood up heading towards the group which were now picking on the snake by nudging it into a corner with brooms.
Nathanael placed a hand on Carlo and his brown-haired friend shoulder "Leave it alone!" he said "The snake is smaller than you think of how scared it must be"
Nathanael bent down and carefully picked up the white snake. It curled around his arm. The class gasped.
"He's touching a snake!" Carlo shrieked.
Nathanael rolled his eyes and headed towards the window. He opened it with his free hand and gently lowered the snake to the ground. The snake looked up at him with blinking eyes.
"There, get home this isn't a safe place for you," Nathanael said with a smile. The snake then slithered off into the long green grass.
"Hey, Nathanael you might want to check if your hand's okay," Carlo said.
Nathanael glanced over at the boy "It's fine, it didn't bite me or anything" he held up his arm and the students gasped.
"Look at your arm it's all red!" Carlo exclaimed.
Nathanael looked at his arm and his eyes widened. The same way the snake had curled around his arm was a curled red mark. Nathanael's eyes narrowed as he looked closer and saw that around his wrist was a glowing white line with spaced out white circles.
'Maybe I'm allergic to snakes…didn't know that before'
Nathanael ran into the shrine, his hair soaking and clothes wet from the lashing rain. He may like the rain when he's safe from it inside a warm building but not when he gets caught outside in it.
"Welcome Home, Lord Nathanael!" Nooroo and Duusu said in unison.
"Where's Lila?" Nathanael asked.
"She is in the main study," Nooroo says pointing towards the room.
Nathanael nodded and walked to the door, clothes starting to stick to his skin. He walked in and saw Lila at the desk sorting out documents and writing down notes.
She looked up when she sensed Nathanael's presence. A smile graced her features "Welcome back, Nathanael, how was school?"
A blush appeared across Nathanael's face "Uh…it was okay" he went to rub the back of his neck with his hand when Lila gasped and was swiftly out of her chair and at Nathanael's side.
She gently grabbed his arm that had the red mark and said "What is this?" she looked to Nathanael with wide eyes "have you seen your arm? Where did this mark come from?"
Nathanael fought off a blush at the fact Lila was so close to him and managed to say without stuttering "I picked up a snake at school and I guess I must be allergic to them"
Lila frowned "No, it appears the snake has left its mark of favour"
"What does that mean?" Nathanael asked.
Lila's eyes narrowed "To put it in simple terms it means she has chosen you to become her husband" there was a slight growl in her voice.
Nathanael's eyes widened in horror "What, No, your joking!"
"No, unfortunately, I am not," Lila says then she glares at Nathanael "Now what I want to know is how you became so affectionate with this snake in the first place"
Nathanael paled at her furious gaze and laughed anxiously "I didn't do anything! I just saved it from being trampled to death!"
'Why is she getting so angry about this…is she jealous?' Nathanael thought a hopeful gleam appearing in his eyes. He looked away from her gaze 'Don't go getting your hopes up on something that isn't likely'
Lila sat down "So you stepped in and rescued a snake from harm, How heroic" she said dryly. Her eyes were narrowed as she looked at Nathanael.
"Yeah, I wish you had seen it, the snake was rather pretty…for a snake" Nathanael said.
"Well, she will be coming for you soon so I will at least be able to catch a glimpse of her before you go," Lila said a hint of bitterness in her voice.
"Oh good-Wait what?" Nathanael's eyes rounded and he gasped "Coming for me!"
"Correct!" Lila growled, "Your heedlessness has resulted in your betrothal to a snake!"
Nathanael nibbled on his bottom lip in worry.
Lila sighed "Not to worry I won't let anyone lay a finger or scale on you"
Nathanael's face flushed red at her words. He nodded "O-okay"
"If I lose my Lord and master to a snake it will be a black mark to my reputation' Lila thought eyes narrowing
Yet another day of school. Nathanael sighed as he headed out of the shrine. 'I mean it's not that bad, it does get me away from Lila for a little while…I think she's starting to notice my strange behaviour'
"Nathanael, Wait up!"
Nathanael stopped walking and turned to look at Lila running towards him. His eyes rounded and his jaw dropped. She was wearing normal human clothes that consisted of a dark grey romper, an orange jacket, light grey tights and brown high heel boots. Her fox ears and tail had disappeared from sight and now she looked like a human girl.
"What are you doing?" he asked.
Lila grinned "I'm going to school with you!"
Nathanael paled "Uh are you sure, I mean you don't know anything about human schools"
Lila flicked her hair over her shoulder "Relax I have it covered" she put her hand inside her white satchel and took out a book "I read this whole book over-night so I know all your weird human things!"
Nathanael sighed as he read the title of the book: Beverly Hills high school diaries.
"Lila that's not…I mean where did you even find it?" Nathanael asked.
"Lady Rose's study," Lila said proudly "Now come along we cannot be late even though I have learnt good excuses if we did happen to be late" she started to walk ahead to the bus stop.
Nathanael sighed loudly and followed behind. 'This isn't going to end well'
They were approaching the school now and Nathanael glanced at Lila who was walking while re-reading the book. 'How the hell did I get myself into this mess?'
"Are you sure you can pull this whole student thing off?" Nathanael asked.
"Positive" Lila said not even glancing up from the book. "It amazes me how many dramatic scenarios human girls get themselves into"
Nathanael rolled his eyes "You know I'm not scared of some snake, I can handle this myself"
Lila's eyes snapped to Nathanael "Listen to me" she grabbed his hand and Nathanael felt his face flush. "Do not stray from my side at school, No matter what is that clear?"
"Y-yeah" Nathanael stuttered.
Lila nodded and let go of his hand continuing on her way into the school. Nathanael put his hand on his face trying to calm his blush. Then he dropped his arms back to his sides and rushed to catch up with Lila.
"Class I would like you to meet our new transfer student, this is Lila Rossi" Miss Bustier the form teacher said with a smile
Some of the girls smiled kindly, some glared at the prospect that Lila could be a threat and all the boys (apart from Nathanael) were round-eyed and whispering between themselves about how hot the new girl was.
"Now let's get you a seat" Miss Bustier said
"That one," Lila says pointing towards the empty seat beside Nathanael.
Nathanael could feel everyone's eyes on him and a pink blush appeared on his face. Lila walked down towards him and sat down not fazed at all by the stares and whispers. Nathanael wished he could be as calm as her when it came to that.
"So the crow is absent," Lila said glancing over at Luka's desk which was still littered with love letters from fans and stray rose petals.
"Huh" Nathanael looked in the direction Lila was looking "Oh, yeah he must be busy with work this week"
"You know usually days, when Luka isn't here, are pretty quiet but not today!" Nathanael forced a smile.
Around Lila and Nathanael's table were a few students mostly of the male gender. Nathanael didn't like it one bit.
"Lila, I think I remember you," a black haired boy said.
His friend nodded and fixed his glasses "Yeah, didn't you bring Lunch for the class onetime"
Nathanael glowered 'That's going to get old'
"So Lila do you remember us, we were probably the coolest guys in class that day" a blonde haired boy grinned.
Nathanael's eyes narrowed 'Please, there's no way she would remember you'
"How could I forget" Lila smiled.
Nathanael's eyes widened 'What no…'
She pointed to the black haired boy "Noah". She then pointed at the boy wearing glasses "Max" and then finally at the blonde haired boy "and Ethan"
Lila smiled "I know the names and faces of everyone in this class, especially Nathanael's friends, it only seemed right"
The boys glanced between each other with dismayed looks on their faces. They then looked at Nathanael with narrowed eyes
"Okay, so are you and Nathanael dating or something?" Ethan asked, still glaring at the red-haired boy.
Nathanael's face reddened and before he could correct them Lila blurted out "Nathanael is my master"
Nathanael blanched and shrieked pulling Lila from her seat quickly out the door and away from the boys who were wide-eyed and red-faced at her answer.
Nathanael found a quiet corner of the school and started to scold Lila "You can't say things like that to regular people, Lila!" his face was redder than his hair.
Lila raised an eyebrow "Why ever not, that is what you are"
Nathanael felt his face grow hotter "It means something different in the human world, okay"
Lila blinked.
Nathanael sighed "Here's the deal you're the daughter of a wealthy foreign family that's taken me in and that's why you used those weird terms"
"Nathanael"
Nathanael nearly jumped out of his skin as he heard someone call his name from behind. He spun around quickly his eyes widening. He sees Marinette standing there.
"Sorry to interrupt but the teacher told me to give you the class daybook" she smiled and handed over the black book to Nathanael
"Oh, Thanks Marinette"
"Good luck, It looks like a dreadful list," Marinette said. Then she waved and turned around "See ya"
Nathanael pressed the book to his chest and watched Marinette leave with round eyes "So do you think she over-heard us?" he whispered
Lila rolled her eyes "So what if she did?"
Marinette walked off back to meet up with Alya with a smile on her face 'that was kind of weird…oh well, Nathanael can be quite strange at times…I wonder if he and that Lila girl are together they seem quite close'
As she was thinking this she passed by a short girl who was covering her face with an umbrella. Marinette stopped eyes widening and looked behind only to see the girl had disappeared.
"Weird" she muttered. Then she shrugged and continued on her way to meet Alya.
Nathanael and Lila had stayed behind late so Nathanael could complete the class lists for the day book. They were currently in the classroom as the rain lashed down on the school.
As Nathanael was completing the lists, his eyes couldn't help but drift to Lila. She looked so serious, almost as if she was glaring at the page as she neatly wrote out class records. Her lips were pouted in concentration – something that inexplicably set Nathanael's heart aflutter.
'I don't think we've ever spent this much time together even at the shrine…it's nice…I feel like we're actually becoming closer'
Then Lila picked her head up and saw that Nathanael was staring at her. He tried to fight back his blush as they made eye contact.
"Is everything okay?" Lila asked.
"Y-yeah," Nathanael said quickly looking back down at the list he was working on. He picked up his pen and started writing again.
A while later Nathanael picked up the sheets putting them back in the right places in the book, then he closed the book and stood up "There all done, sorry it took so long" he looked to Lila and saw her head was rested on her arms and she had fallen asleep.
Nathanael smiled 'Look's like today kind of got to her' he headed out of the classroom and towards the teachers' lounge to drop of the daybook. A content smile on his face 'It was nice having her here with me…I think I could get used to this'
He came to the door that leads outside and across to the teachers' lounge and opened it. He started to walk across thankful for the roof area built above to protect against the rain.
"Nathanael"
Nathanael froze and looked to the side to see a mysterious girl standing out in the rain. She had an umbrella up that hid her face in shadow.
"It's good to see you" she unveiled her face. She had sharp blue eyes and long blonde haired in low-hanging twin-tails. Recognition dawned on Nathanael's face as he realised who this must be.
'Oh yeah I completely forgot about that'
"What a lovely day for rain," she said walking towards Nathanael.
His eyes widened in horror.
Lila woke up with a start and looked around to see an empty classroom.
"Nathanael" she called.
There was no answer. She sprung from her seat eyes wide in panic and heart beating fast. She rushed out the door and headed down the corridor and out into the pelting rain.
Her heart dropped when she saw the daybook lying in a puddle and could only think the worse.
"No…" she muttered.
"Take a look, Lady Ondine the plum tree is finally started to blossom"
Ondine reached up and with a gentle tap on each bud she made them bloom "Tell me, Aurore, is there no one special in your life with who you can share these flowers"
Aurore bowed her head "No, Miss, of course not"
Ondine smiled "You'll find him someday, please promise to tell me when you do"
Lila picked up the daybook that was dripping wet and her eyes narrowed.
"Lila, don't tell me you go straight home after school," Ethan said walking up to her with his mates trailing behind.
Lila paid no attention to them. "Fox Fire!" she yelled and in her palm, an orange ball of flames appeared.
The boys shrieked.
"Find me, Nathanael!" Lila threw the ball of flames far into the sky and it split off into three arrows that flew over the boys head making them shriek more and faint.
'Damn you snake, when I find you I will slice you into sashimi' Lila thought a growl resounding deep in her throat.
Nathanael rouse from his unconscious slumber and is first aware of the coolness of the air and its loamy fragrance. Next, he is aware of the pounding pain in his head which he reached up to rub as his eyes settle and adjust to the light. The last thing he is aware of is the fact his clothes feel damp as if he had been plunged into a pool of water.
Then Voices shock him and he nearly shrieks in fear when he turns and sees two monster-like spirits and one holds out a centipede to the boy.
"Hello Human, do you want a centipede"
Nathanael scrambles away from the bug monsters holding bugs. Nathanael really didn't like bugs of any kind.
'I am in hell? Is this hell? It feels like hell' he thought trying hard not to scream.
Then the door slides open "Good Morning Nathanael" the blonde haired girl says coming into the room "Thank you for rescuing me at your school the other day"
Nathanael's eyes widened "You're that Girl!" he cried.
"I am Aurore, I am the familiar here," she says "our life together will be joyous"
Nathanael's eyebrows rise "Our life?" he repeats.
The bug monster spirits then start to throw white petals in the air "Lady Aurore has taken you as her Groom" one of them said.
"Time to start the wedding planning! Welcome to the family human" the other said.
A look of horror appeared on Nathanael's face. "Wait, Nobody ever asked me if I wanted to get married!" he exclaimed.
Aurore smiled "It appears you have met our two shrine spirits and right behind you taking a rest through those doors is the goddess of this shrine, Lady Ondine, she is very private"
Nathanael looked behind him to see a screen "A goddess is in there?"
Aurore nodded and walked towards where Nathanael was sitting on the ground "Lady Ondine has given her blessing upon this marriage and sends her welcome" she held a hand out to Nathanael "Come my groom"
Nathanael's eyes narrowed and he slapped away Aurore's hand. "Stop that!" he growled, "I'm not getting married to anyone right now!"
Aurore blinked "Perhaps you are confused, the mark on your wrist symbols our engagement and I know it seems soon-"
"I'm leaving!" Nathanael yelled.
Aurore pauses then smirks "Well, If you must try, you must" she heads towards the door "Good Luck, you'll need it" The shrine spirits sniggered and followed Aurore out of the room.
Nathanael glowered 'What is wrong with those guys?'
He stood up and sneaked out the door "I am going home, no matter what!" he mutters to himself.
He walked out of the shrine and down the steps 'seriously do they think I've never walked out of a shrine before?'
He came to the last step and turned around shouting "In your face, Freaks, not as tough as you thought it was…jerks' he starts to run down the open path. The atmosphere seem heavy and the surroundings surreal.
"I don't actually know where this is but it will be fine, I'll find my way in no time!" Nathanael said aloud trying to keep positive.
Night had fallen and as the silvery moon shone down on Nathanael the boy had still not found a way to escape. He had been walking on the road for hours, it felt endless and everything looked the same.
"Ah!" Nathanael tripped over a rock and fell on his face into the gravel and dirt. He groaned and pushed himself off the ground, his face slightly scraped and muddy.
He stood up angrily "Damn it, you're not going to confuse me!" he yelled into the dark night. He wiped his face with his sleeve.
He started to walk again at a much slower pace than when he had started due to exhaustion and the fall had hurt his knees which were scraped and bleeding. Then he spotted a light in the distance. His eyes brightened.
"There are people up there! Maybe they can direct me home!" he started to run towards the light source despite his aching legs.
He came to a halt when he realised he was actually back where he had started outside the shrine. The shrine spirits sniggered.
Aurore grinned "Glad you found your way back, welcome home Nathanael"
Nathanael frowned and he pressed his lips together. "But how? How did this happen?" then fatigue got to him and he collapsed to the ground.
"I tried to warn you about that" Aurore said as she approached Nathanael and knelt down beside him. She gasped when she saw his torn trousers and cut knee "You have hurt yourself! We must see to this immediately" she took a white cloth from her pocket and folded it "this may sting" she pressed the cloth against his bleeding leg.
Nathanael's expression dulled. He remembered what Lila had said "Not to worry I won't let anyone lay a finger or scale on you" Tears welled in his eyes 'She lied'
Aurore looked to Nathanael with wide eyes "Please do not cry, there is no reason to be sad" she smiled "You have a brand new life here now, Lady Ondine says you can stay here forever" Aurore's eyes gleamed "I promise you that I will treat you much better than Lila ever did"
Nathanael sat on the shrine porch taking in the sight of the plum blossom tree.
"How? It's not even the right season for Plum Blossoms" Nathanael said.
Beside him, Aurore stood quietly.
"…Yet they're blooming…this isn't like the real world is it?" Nathanael asked.
"It's true," Aurore says "The plum tree is now as it will always be, I stopped time when it was at its most beautiful" she sighs "The plum blossoms were always Lady Ondine's favourite"
They stayed in silence for a moment and then Aurore looked to Nathanael "It is late and you have had a tiring day we should head to bed"
Nathanael looks to the girl with a suspicious glare and swiftly made more distance between them.
Aurore laughs "Relax I'm not going to try anything, you can stay here and rest"
Nathanael continued to glare at her suspiciously but stood up and headed into the shrine.
He headed to the room he would stay in for now. Opening the door he was greeted by the horrific bug spirits. They pointed to the bed that had been made for him on the floor.
"Bed-y bye," they said in unison.
Nathanael shrieked and kicked them out the door. They let out cries. Then he shut the door and collapsed on the make-shift bed. His eyelids fluttered closed then opened as he thought to himself.
'Lila, where are you? You're meant to be my familiar so hurry up and save me'
