Chapter 25 – Demons, Angels, Souls, & Gym Class
Klug's POV
"Hahahaha! Finally! I'm inside a body once more!"
"Hey, keep it down, will you? People can hear."
"My apologies."
"*sigh* I still can't believe I agreed to do this."
What I agreed to do was to let the demon that's usually inside my book take control of my body this school year. I didn't want to at first, but it somehow convinced me to do this. So now, it was in my body while my soul was popping out from the book. And I'm starting to feel its pain.
"Now I look at you, you stand out extremely."
"Stand out? How so?"
"Well, for starters…your skin color's darker than mine."
"That is something I cannot control. Neither can I revert your original eye color."
"*sigh* Fine. I'll let that sly. But what's with the cape and talisman? People are going to think I'm a chunibyo or something."
"A what?"
"N-Nothing."
"Well, I just think it looks better. I must say, it goes really well with this outfit."
This "outfit" he's making me wear is a white coat with dark grey on some spots and gold on others. My stopwatch tie was still being worn, but it was also connected with the teal cape and red & gold talisman. With the cape having a red and gold amulet connected to one of the folds. It also had on some brown pants with gold & silver stripes on the bottom. And my brown shoes were somehow lighter in color than normal.
"Well, I gotta admit…it does look better than the actual school uniform."
"See? No harm done."
"Yes, there's harm done! Who the hell is this red guy coming out of my back?!" I yelled as I acknowledged the strange red creature next to me.
"That…is my original soul. Despite being inside a body, I still use it to detect my senses. As I cannot use yours."
"Huh? Why not?"
My demonic self didn't say anything. In fact, he went dead silent and didn't even bother to look at me. It was weird. But then I figured out what the reason could be.
"Let me guess…it's this book, isn't it?"
"I requested you to never talk about the book!" Both my demonic and its original soul got angry.
"Fine, fine. I get it. just don't screw up my school life, alright?"
"As you wish."
*INSERT CLASSIC JAPANESE SCHOOL BELL CHIME HERE*
"Gah! That's the bell! I'm going to be late for class!"
"Alright, geez. Calm down. I'll just fly over there."
"Wait! Don't…"
I was too late. My body started to float and soon began to fly down the halls at rapid speed. I was lucky that the halls were empty at this time. But there's no telling what could happen in a place like…
*SLAM*
"Ow!"
"Geez. Now look what you've done. Give me control before she notices."
"Fine. Whatever."
I was able to take control of my body before the girl came to her senses. Looking at her now, I noticed that she was an angel. A lot like that student council girl from the first day of school. Only this one had short light-blue hair and red glasses.
"Ah. I'm sorry. I was in a rush." I said as I helped her up.
"No. It's okay. I wasn't paying attention." The angel girl said in a tone of voice that makes me think of Rei for some reason. "And now, these documents are messed up."
"Here, I'll help."
"Really? Thank you, uh…Klug Ayashii."
"H-Hey. H-How do you know my name?" I asked with a little shock.
"My name's Ciel Nagasawa. We're in the same class."
"Really?" I then thought about it for a moment. "Oh, yeah. I remember. You sit right behind me, right?"
"Yes. I was there when you were talking to the 11-year-old. How do you know her, by the way?"
"She's the sister of a friend of mine. He's in a different class. So I tend to look after her sometimes."
"I see. Well, she is rather cute."
"Yeah. I guess." I said as I gave Ciel the rest of the documents.
"Thank you again, Klug." As Ceil flew away…okay to be honest, she was struggling to keep afloat. Those documents looked pretty heavy. I couldn't just let her carry that on her own. Even if it did make me more late than I already was.
"H-Hey, Ceil. Let me carry some of those."
"Really? Huh. Okay, Klug. Thanks once again." Ceil responded with a small smile this time. It caught me off guard a little, but I managed to regain my composer.
"Hey, by the way. That outfit…"
"Huh?" I then looked at my clothes.
Crap! I didn't realize I was still wearing my demonic side's clothes!
"U-Uh…I-I can explain! Y-You see this is…"
"You don't need to worry, Klug. I know it's your demonic side that picked that outfit."
"W-Wait, hold on! H-How do you know about that?!"
"I'm on the student council, silly. I have to know these things."
"O-Oh, yeah. Guess that makes sense."
Wait, did she just call me…silly?
"I won't report you or anything. If I did, then I would have to report myself."
"Now that I think about it, why do angels were a different uniform?"
"Well…"
"Ciel!"
Suddenly we heard a loud but cheerful voice coming from in front of us. Then a green-haired angel rushed up and hugged Ceil with all her might. Somehow not affecting the stack of documents at all.
"Roco, please. Let me go."
"But I missed you, Ciel! You were gone for forever!"
"But I was only gone for about 20 minutes."
"That's too long, Ciel!"
"Roco…"
"Aw, alright." The girl finally let Ciel loose and floated right next to her. That's when she noticed me.
"Oh! Hiya, Klug! Nice to see ya!"
"Uh…" I was really confused.
"This is Roco Akiyama. She's also in our class." Ciel explained.
"Oh, yeah. I remember. She, uh…really made a first impression that day."
"Well, I wanted to make sure everyone got to know me, the student council secretary!" Roco cheered.
"She's on the student council?" I asked Ciel.
"Hey! Meanie!"
"And she's also Yoko's cousin." Ciel said.
"Yoko's cousin?"
"Yoko being Harpy."
"Oh, yeah."
"So whaddya you guys doing?" Roco asked.
"Klug was helping me carry these documents here. Once I put these down, we're all going to class."
"Aw! But class is boring!"
"We all have to do it, Roco."
"*whine* Say something, Klug! Change Ciel's mind!"
"Wh-Why would I do that? I want to go to class, too."
"*whine*"
Yeah…I can really see how she and Harpy are related.
"Come on, Roco." Ciel said. Now document-free.
"Fine…" Roco continued to whine as she started flying off to the classroom.
"Sorry about that. I've known Roco since we were little. It's a common thing."
"I see now."
"And, uh…th-thanks for helping back there, Klug. I really appreciate it." Ciel's small smile showed up again. And this time…I actually started blushing. I've never done such a thing before. And the fact that Ciel was blushing a little as well didn't help at all.
"U-Uh…s-sure thing, Ciel. J-Just wanted to help out a friend, you know?"
"Yeah. A friend."
My blushed face soon went away as we walked/flew to class together. There's just something about this angel girl that really, what's the word…resonates with me.
What that thing is, I have no idea.
"*chuckle* This is going to be good." The soul in the book said.
"Quite, you."
Feli's POV
Today is our first gym class of the year. So we had to change into our gym clothes (which were basically a red & white t-shirt and a pair of red sweatpants with a white stripe on each side) and meet outside with the coach.
Thing is…it's outside.
"*ugh* It's sooo hot!" I whined.
"This heat is unbearable! I can barely stand!" Ringo whined with me.
"Is it really that hot?" Rafisol asked.
"Rafisol, I swear. You are extremely lucky that you don't have a soul." I said.
"Really lucky." Ringo added.
For some odd reason, the fact that Rafisol doesn't have a soul makes her immune to feeling hot or cold. She doesn't sweat. Nor does she get chills. So while the rest of us are being cooked like raw meat on a grill, she's just floating next to us without a care in the world.
She may be my best friend, but I really do envy her sometimes.
"Hey, how do you think Maguro's doing? The boys have a different coach, right?" I asked Ringo.
"He should be fine. The guy pretty much doesn't notice the heat. With him always by the ocean catching fish, I can see how."
"Huh."
"Man, boys sure are lucky. At least they don't have to worry about exercising with extra weight on their chests. My boobs are going to sweat like crazy."
"Mine too." Rafisol said.
"Thankfully, they're not so big that they'll bounce up and down like a cheesy ecchi anime cliché."
"With the boys ogling on as it all happens."
"I know, right? I seriously hate that. It's so perverted."
"Very."
"G…Guys…" I said while trying to hold in a mix of tears and anger. And it didn't take them long to figure out why I was feeling this way.
"S-Sorry, Feli. W-We didn't mean to insult you like that. R-Right, Rafisol?"
"Feli." Rafisol said as she grabbed onto me and gave me a hug. "It's okay, Feli. I don't think there's anything wrong with your itty-bitty-titties."
"Stop calling them itty-bitty-titties!" I started to blush from embarrassment.
"Alright, girls. Huddle up." The coach said after blowing her whistle. Our class was separated by gender. With the boys in the gym with a male coach, and us girls outside with a female coach.
By the way, our female coach just happens to be…
"Oh, yeah. I forgot that Rulue's the new coach here." Ringo said.
"Didn't she say that she used to attend this school too?" I asked.
"Yeah. She said that it's how she met my Aunt Yumi, your maid Lily, Amitie's mom Melody, and their old teacher Ms. Accord. Heard they were really good friends."
"I see."
"Sounds like fun." Rafisol said. "Hey, Feli. Do you think we'll be friends like that?"
"What do you mean, Rafisol? Of course, we will. You're my best friend, silly."
"*sigh* I'm glad." Rafisol said with a smile.
"Alright. Starting today, I'll be your gym teacher. You can just call me Rulue. Now, look…I know it's hot as hell outside. But we can't do anything about it. So let's just deal with it. Any questions?"
Every girl in our class (expect us three) raised their hand.
"*sigh* Any questions that don't involve my age?"
And soon enough, they all lowered their hands. But then Rafisol raised her own hand.
"Yes, Rafisol?"
"Do we call you "Rulue" or "Fighting Queen Rulue-sama"?"
"Fighting Queen?"
"Rulue-sama?" Ringo and I asked each other.
"J-Just "Rulue" is fine, Rafisol." Rulue nervously said.
"Okay."
"Anyway, let's just do something simple. A couple laps around the track. Let's go."
"Yes, Coach."
*LATER…*
"*moan* Wh-What…what happened?"
"Feli. You're okay."
"Th-That voice…R-Rafisol?"
I sat up from what felt like a bed and faced Rafisol, who had a sad relieved look on her face.
"R-Rafisol? Wh-What happened? Where am I?"
"Nurse."
"The nurse? Why? What happened?"
"We were running on the track and then you suddenly started breathing weirdly. And then you fell. Everyone was worried. So I brought you here."
"Oh. I-I see…"
Rafisol then came over to me and held me in a really tight hug. One that was tighter than the one from earlier. In fact, it felt more like the one at the museum. One that I didn't want to end.
"Feli. I was so scared. I thought you died back then. I thought I lost you as a best friend. I don't know what I would do if that happened. I felt like it was my fault that you…"
"Rafisol. Please." I interrupted her. "It's not your fault."
"*sniff* It's not?"
"No. It's not. I-In fact, I…"
"Feli!" The door opened up really fast to reveal Raffina rushing inside the nurse's office.
"R-Raffina?!"
"Feli! Thank God you're alright! When I heard that you collapsed, I feared the worst!"
"O-Oh. S-Sorry, cousin. I didn't mean to make you worry. But I'm fine now. Rafisol helped me out."
Raffina did one of her usual long and annoyed sighs that I know all too well. I knew what was she was about to say next. And there was no way of me stopping her.
"Feli. I looked over your info form. Why didn't you put down anything about your asthma?"
"A…Asthma?" Rafisol asked.
"Yeah. Feli has Exercise-Induced Asthma. It triggers when she does excessive amounts of physical activity. She's even supposed to carry an inhaler with her."
Raffina then looked right back at me.
"Which, by the way, Feli…I know you've been leaving it behind on purpose."
I didn't respond to her. And instead just turned the other way.
*INSERT CLASSIC JAPANESE SCHOOL BELL CHIME HERE*
"Aw, geez. Well, I gotta get to class. Here, just take this." Raffina gave Rafisol my inhaler before heading for the door to leave.
"And Feli…start taking your medicine." She said with a stern look before closing the door behind her.
And then…it was just silence.
"R-Rafisol. I-I can explain…"
"Feli…why? Why did you lie to me?" Rafisol was in tears once more.
"I didn't lie to you! It's just…it's another bad thing about me, okay?"
"How is it bad? It's part of you being alive."
"I know, but…*sigh*I…I really can't think of an excuse. I just didn't want people to know. People already teased me for looking like a loli and doing occult stuff back home. If they found out I had asthma too…it would've only got worse. So I never brought it up. And for the past few months, I was lucky that it never showed up as much as before. The only time it did was when we went to the beach. And I took my medicine in secret."
I looked away from Rafisol again. Not wanted to see her crying face again. Mainly because I'm the one who caused it.
"So, I'm sorry that you feel like I lied to you, Rafisol. You have every right to. I was just…afraid. Afraid of having my elementary and middle school lives repeated in high school. I know it sounds stupid, but…"
I was then cut off by Rafisol coming over to me without warning and hugging me once again. This time, though…the force was so strong it knocked me back onto the bed. I was trapped within this soulless girl's grasps as she stared me down with her teary black cherry-like eyes.
"Feli…you're stupid." Was all she said before closing her eyes. Tightening her grip against me as the hugging continued to go on.
Normally, I would be trying to argue with her on why she just called me stupid. But this time…I didn't bother. She looked too much in pain for me to talk back to her.
So I decided to just let her have it this time. And finally return the hug she's been giving me for most of my time being here.
"Yeah, Rafisol. I know."
Ally's POV
"Gah! The absolute NERVE of that boy! I can't believe that I have to be in the same class as him! It's going to be total hell!"
It was a complete train wreck of a day today. Not only did Ren end up transferring here, but he's in our class! Why does the universe hate me so damn much?!
…
Okay, yes. I kinda did this to myself when I framed him for the pictures. But I didn't think it come and bite me in the ass years later, okay? Give me a break.
*sigh* Whatever…
Right now I was on my way to the nurse's office. I haven't seen Rafisol all day. And when Raffina told me what happened to Feli, I kinda understood why.
"Geez, Sis. I know Feli's your best friend, but did you really have to spend the entire day there with here? You missed a ton and now I have to get you caught up by tomorrow."
I had reached the nurse's office and was about to open the door…when it opened from the other side. And coming out of the room was, oddly and lucky enough, Rafisol.
"H-Hey, Sis."
"Onee-chan."
"How's Feli doing?"
"She's okay. She went home with Raffina."
"Really? Then why were you still in the nurse's office?"
Rafisol didn't answer. In fact, she just stared at me with her soulless eyes. It's a common thing for her to do. So I l just left it as her spacing out again.
Or…so I thought.
"Onee-chan. I need to tell you something."
"Really?" I asked.
"But…I'm kinda nervous to say."
"Come on, Sis. I'm your one and only twin sister. If there's one person you shouldn't have trouble talking to, it's me. Right?"
Rafisol thought about it for a second. Then responded with a simple nod.
"See? Now, what did you want to tell me?"
Rafisol still was silent. But she did grab my hand and held it tight as she continued to stare at me. I didn't know what was going on in her mind, but I knew that it must be really important to her.
Which that in itself was a shock.
And then…Rafisol told me her problem. And I say "problem" because it may not affect me in any way, but it's really important to her.
And it's a big one, to be honest.
"Onee-chan. I'm…I'm in love with Feli."
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Fever is back! And with two possible couples in the works of becoming a thing. I know I said last time that it would be one. But I really couldn't decide on which on to tackle. So I'm doing both at the same time.
Also, finally. Klug is getting his own POV's. Now all there's left is Ringo. She'll get her own very soon.
That's all for notes. Feel free to leave a review, favorite and/or follow the story. Thanks for reading. Later.