Chapter Thirty Eight: Instant Annihilation
Xion bounces in her seat, too excited to pay much attention to the lesson.
Although Mister Kinneas is busy writing a few language exercises on the board and English was her favorite subject, she barely notices what they say. She could even ignore the giggles around her as the other girls gossip over something she didn't care about. She is just too excited, too happy. Even if it was a trick, she is happy.
She made a friend.
Taking a secret peek over her shoulder, Xion smiles at Fuu, who looks back and gives her a calm wink. The white-haired girl seems to know the loneliness that kept making her turn around, and whatever emotions she is feeling toward her makes her red eyes sparkle. She looks happy, even if the rest of her face is completely calm. Instead of talking or trying to whisper to her like some of the other girls would have done, Fuu only taps her pencil against her cheek and grins.
Mister Kinneas whips around and eyes the class in a mockingly serious way before flashing the girls a big grin. "Alright, class, I want you all to put your things away and bring out your English books. I do hope you all finished the story because we're going to talk about it now!" The teacher instructs and points to the hook room in emphasis.
"Yes, Mister Kinneas," Twenty seven little girls chime in unison and in unison, they stand up and walk off in neat little lines toward the room.
"Sir." Fuu adds calmly as she stands up and mockingly salutes the teacher. Mister Kinneas stares at her for a moment before laughing and returning a crisp salute. She nods, obviously pleased, and turns to Xion, looking at her expectantly.
Xion scrambles to pick up her backpack and shove it onto her shoulders. Fuu quickly did the same and took the other little girl's wrist to make her move faster. With an easy pull, the two girls start walking toward the hook room.
"Why are you helping me?" Xion whispers softly to her new friend as Fuu pulls her along, following her as willingly as a puppy did to her master. Fuu's expression does change then, into one of anger. "Not right," the girl hisses in answer, nodding toward the rest of the class as they walk into the hook room.
Sure enough, the other girls are staring at the duo, whispering to each other in surprise as Fuu walks Xion to the fourteenth hook. The white-haired girl's mouth is set in rage, like she would have charged and attacked any of the girls who happened to be closest. It is obvious what she thinks of their underhanded tactics to make Xion feel small, even if she doesn't understand exactly why they were doing it.
Xion laughs.
"So… you're a knight!" She declares in amusement, giggling as her friend turns around to stare at her in surprise. Fuu's cheeks turn pink and a smile slowly crosses her lips, but her eyes are what show her true emotions. It is clear that she had really liked the comparison. Xion pats the girl's shoulder and places her backpack onto her hook. "You're a really nice knight." She adds cheerfully, though she is a little conflicted by the idea.
She had never thought that her first friend would be her protector, actually.
Fuu grins sheepishly. "Knight…" She repeats thoughtfully, smiling a little more at the idea. "Like Seifer?" She asks curiously before stepping into the hook closet and placing hers right next to Xion's. Xion shrugs, having no idea who… or what a Seifer was. Fuu frowns after a moment before thinking hard about it, rubbing her chin in concentration. "Like Laguna?" she insists.
"… Who's Laguna?" Xion asks in confusion.
Fuu's mouth drops in horror and she looks at her friend in disbelief, like she thought that the little girl was kidding. "Laguna Loire," She repeats in a slower voice, obviously thinking that if she said it slower Xion would understand. Xion just shakes her head no, giving her a confused shrug.
"… Movie." Fuu mutters darkly to herself before clutching at her eyes like she was in serious pain. Apparently not knowing what she was talking about really hurt her feelings. Xion starts to reach for her, attempting to soothe her and calm her down. "Have to…" Fuu says quietly, shaking her head in disbelief. After a moment, the girl whips around and runs into the classroom, shoving aside any girl that happened to get in her way.
"Hey!" A trio of girls scream as the suddenly active seven year old knocks them down, sending them flying to the floor. Xion runs after her, skidding to a stop just in time to see Fuu leap out of the classroom window. Her jaw drops in shock as the girl rapidly leaps into the bushes under the window, rolling to a stop right on the flowers. The distance had been a little too much and she had been going just a little too fast to stop herself from having to dive. Xion rushes to the window to see if she was alright.
Of course, she was totally fine.
Fuu lifts herself up off of the ground and dusts her skirt off before taking off in the opposite direction of the school, muttering to herself darkly all the way. She zooms toward the closed front gate and then right through it, squeezing herself through one of the gaps and wiggling free. She quickly vanishes into the street and out of sight.
"Fujin!" Mister Kinneas yells out the window in rage, making Xion look up. The teacher growls and grabs the sides of the window, hoisting himself up onto the sill and jumping through. Due to his height, it is more of a small jump rather than the dramatic dive that Fuu had to take. He looks back into the classroom, shoves his hat back onto his head, and says: "Everyone stay there, I'm going to go get her, the student teacher is going to be coming any second now so JUST STAY THERE. Fujin!"
Xion drops to her knees, pressing her hands to her mouth as Mister Kinneas charges toward the gate and keeps shouting Fuu's name and demanding her to come back to class. A giggle emerges from her lips as she leans back on the floor and allows herself to roar in laughter.
She had never laughed so hard in school.