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The following is a fan-based
FICTION
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Chapter 13: Equals by Wits (1)
Beta-Reader: Ant0nius
~Different POV~
"Do you understand that I'm already being helpful by limiting your stay at Prism Uni?"
"Yes mother."
"And that Jackie will surely put me through paperwork hell to confirm your presence for a couple of months?"
"Yes mother."
…
Naerie dear, I don't understand how you can be so... irked by these circumstances," the older woman mentioned, her light-blue eyes shining with restrained worry over the choice proclaimed by her child.
Under normal normal circumstances, Ambar would've been more than happy to give her lonely daughter the chance to make friends and hopefully a boyfriend to bring home.
Heck, she was the one that tried to get some strippers for her baby girl's twentieth birthday, but the effort had been foiled by Naerie's own disinterest over that idea.
No, her usually complacent daughter took the opposite route in romance compared to her mother, favoring the fluff over the lewd. Which was scandalous considering how the High Prime was one that preached about free lovin' and carin'.
Yet the Crest of Wisdom knew that it was alright for a child to take a path slightly different, if not the opposite, to the one walked by their parents.
And Naerie was no exception on this very detail.
An intellectual, a reserved person… Naerie was quite reluctant to stay around people she barely knew about. Accidents had occurred when she had first awakened her powers , and, just like Ambar had expected, her child proved to be as gifted as her mother had been at that young age.
The fear was enough to trigger a trauma the High Prime didn't want to try to solve, mostly because of how volatile Naerie's powers were when someone tried to peer over her mind.
But while there were no chances for Naerie to develop friends after that self-imposed mental reclusion, she still managed to keep the single connection she shared with a young fellow she encountered prior the traumatic experience.
Shin Aryoko was barely five when he was first introduced to Naerie.
Both children ended up enjoy each other's company back then, and it had been nice to poke mirthfully at this detail to either Kate or Bengala every time the Crests went to the Gathering.
It would be a lie from Ambar's part to say that this kind of situation was overly beneficial for her daughter.
Sure, Naerie didn't show any signs of relapsing in the memories after almost a decades after the happening of that disastrous event, but her baby girl held a degree of affection directed at the dense Aryoko that could be easily compared to a powder keg ready to explode.
Emotions were a precious thing, especially when those were part of a grand change within one's life. But not all of them were to be remembered fondly or even positively.
People can also suffer and despair over the past, when the memories dripped of dissatisfaction and… rejection.
Considering Shin a good person was an understatement.
Ambar had the chance of peeking onto the young man's mind and the blond had a golden heart. He was kind, polite- the upstanding gentleman one would imagine to be taught by someone like Kate Aryoko.
While the Samurai's discipline was diluted in the progressive mindset displayed by the White Tiger Prime, the sense of duty and respect was there to sharpen up a proper good kid.
The issue?
He wouldn't lie about something as big as replying to a love confession from someone he only considered a childhood friend.
Naerie didn't know any of that because of that silly rule of hers 'Peeking in his mind' was something she considered a breach of the trust that existed, which was kind of sweet… but also delayed something the High Prime deemed to be inevitable.
Shin was still going to need to speak his opinion, and when that happened… Ambar needed to be there to prevent the worst from happening. She was the only one that knew how to contain the pure psychic power hidden within her daughter.
"I just want to spend more time with Shin now that he is this close to home," Naerie finally replied with an innocent tone, trying to use her masterful poker face to divert any suspicions off from her.
But just like it was usual in this kind of situation, Ambar easily picked up that it wasn't the real reason behind this sudden request.
Instead of rebuking by bringing up the truth, she merely sighed and nodded at her daughter.
"I suppose there is nothing wrong with being excited of the chances of being with him," The High Prime admitted happily. "But I wonder if you should also use this opportunity to get close to Hope. I can tell you two would-"
"Maybe," The younger Bear Prime remarked, a hint of dryness in her tone catching Ambar before she had the chance of finishing that sentence.
Maybe it was better to push her into that process on a subtler way. It would seem that her daughter was still annoyed that Hope was 'lucky' to be there with him.
It was competition, and the rule of 'no mental peering' wasn't extended in regards of the Gazelle Prime. Naerie knew that it wasn't mere friendship that drove the young Ravenhurst in pursuing a closer bond with their mutual friend.
"What about his roommates? I've heard Mr. Parker shares the room with Shin together with a friendly Cat Prime."
And that seemed to defuse whatever frustration her mentioning of Naerie's love rival had brought to her daughter.
"The human?" She inquired calmly, glancing and accepting a nod from her mother before taking a moment to ponder about the query. "I guess he is… odd."
The Crest of Wisdom frowned. "Odd, dearie?"
"I don't know why but… I couldn't get beyond his mental surface when I looked at him."
"Yes, I do remember that you brought this up that very day," Ambar said while smiling, remembering that it was part of the reason why she felt rather lucky of having pushed the Deputy Headmistress to accept the 'unique' young man. "But I don't see how that makes up for a good way to describe someone you have yet to met."
"Then I should first met him before making a clear judgment of him," The calm Bear Prime rebuked neutrally.
"And I agree. Which is why I think you should try to get to know him," The grinning redhead said with a mirthful tone. "I'm sure he bonded well with Shin, and that should be a good incentive to check on him."
A faux advice, one that was meant to divert Naerie from her 'main objective' into making sure her daughter got more friends and more emotional support out of this opportunity.
There was a chance, a minimal one, that could easily blow up at her face if failed. But if it succeeded, then Ambar would've to worry less of chances regarding the lonely girl snapping and unleashing her hidden potential in a destructive manner.
There was no rush just yet, but it was only for correct from her part to make some preparations for that eventual fallout.
Which is why there was now a giddy thought being tossed around in her brain at this unique development and Ambar regarded her daughter with a wider smile.
"What if we go and check the dorms today?"
Naerie flashed a brief glint of surprise through her eyes. "Today? But what if-"
"Sweetie, it's just us checking on the dorms. You're not going at the lectures just yet," The High Prime interrupted eagerly. "Plus, you get a chance to talk with Shin and get to know Mr. Parker."
The young woman looked unsure for a moment, her stare turning away as she contemplate the pros and cons of accepting and refusing the offer given to her.
"I… I guess it would be alright."
Ambar nodded. "Great! Then we can start going already and-"
"Mother, don't you have paperwork to do?"
The question managed to dampen a little much the enthusiasm shown by the older Bear Prime, but the Crest merely shrugged.
"I will delegate to someone else."
"Mother-"
"Come on, hun. You know that mommy needs a few hours of walking around without being nagged by world problems," Ambar interjected. "Plus, nothing bad can happen from being away just for a little while."
"Fine-"
"Yay!" The older woman giggled as she stood up from her chair and quickly went to get hold of her daughter's hands with hers. "And now, let's go and explore~!"
"Mother-"
"Shush, child! This is a good day to be skipping wo- I mean, making new friends and checking on old ones!"
For legitimate reasons, Ambar was sure that her little diversion from giving out the real motivation that saw her ditch her office for today wasn't taken seriously by her daughter.
Clever girl.
~Hope's POV~
A full day had gone by ever since Shin's family decided to come here at Prism. It was truly a surprise to see how things had gone from 'dramatic' to 'fine' all because of some careful diplomacy from everyone present in that awkward 'first contact'.
But now, as the school day was over and the family was back to explore some more the complex of building owned by Prism Uni together with them, things were the calmest possible.
"I assume your studies are going well too, Hope," Kate Aryoko said as she turned her attention away from her son.
The woman had been inquiring some more about her child's progress in these first few days with extra details, and she was pleased to learn that Shin was doing as well as anyone that knew him could've expected.
But now the ball was passed at the green-eyed girl and It was only natural for the conversation for it to not be limited to just mother and son considering the rest of the people walking through the corridor.
Bengala was distracted from this discussion as he was busy helping out Miles by giving him some suggestions over the creation of a training Schedule.
The Cat Prime was paying a considerable amount of attention despite his early reluctance to the situation, but Hope could easily connect it to him being 'emboldened' by Bengala's natural charisma.
Despite the fact the Tiger Prime wasn't using his Crest on the younger man, it was also known that his capacity to offer good pep talks was entering in action right with the interested student.
Smiling and nodding at the Crest of Light, the young Gazelle Prime held the calmest composure she could muster. "I have some minor issues with two subjects. Shin is helping me with those."
"It's good to know that you're already working on solving these flaws. One should never allow any issues of the kind to linger beyond this first 'introduction' year," Kate remarked kindly about the predicament.
With the news that her son could actually visit whenever he wanted, and the same was applied to them, most of her uneasiness was gone and a more peaceful attitude replaced her previous one.
It was a good development. It was something that set her up for a successful bid to make a positive impression with Shin's parents.
And while it was true that this wasn't the first time he met them, the current circumstance weren't the same as before. Right now she wasn't the daughter of family's friends.
Right now Hope was that and also a close friend to their son, which meant that she also passed as a passive minder that would keep the young man out of any trouble as he studied away from home.
"What about Frankie-nii, Hope-nee?"
Hikari's voice caught the Ravenhurst by surprise and her green eyes reached to the girl she had partly forgotten about.
"What about… Frankie?"
"Shouldn't he be done with lectures too?" The girl asked with a hint of impatience and curiosity.
It was odd to think that the human would've been so quick to get this close to the young Prime, but it was also true that Frankie seemed to have a degree of knowledge in handling children from the way he spoke and acted around Shin's little sister.
"Frankie has yet to finish a lecture about Cooking, but he should be done in about twenty minutes from now," Shin replied on her stead, drawing attention to himself. "It's the only class he doesn't share with any of us… well, anyone except for Tiggs."
"Carmesi's daughter?" His mother inquired, only for Hope to shake her head.
"That's Vixy," The Gazelle Prime corrected calmly. "Tiggs is the… bigger girl."
"The one Frankie-nii likes to hug a lot!" Hikari proclaimed, making Kate look at her with a confused look.
"Hug a lot?"
"They are rather close with their friendship," Shin remarked with a tiny frown. "It's quite strange since I thought that was only what couples would do but… they both seemed to keep it friendly at best."
"I think it's because Frankie knows many people belittled Tiggs for her size, and that prompts him to-"
"It's her soft fur," Miles quipped dryly. "And she likes to be pampered like that. Nothing that deep."
Hope frowned at that interruption, glancing at the Cat Prime. "How do you know that?"
"I asked them both in different occasions," He replied quickly. "I think they both know that going for that reasoning would just leave some meaningless hurt happen. Tiggs isn't having any trouble of that kind anymore and she just enjoys this close friendship with Frankie."
"It's unique, but not truly that strange to hear about," Kate admitted with a nod. "I'm surprised, but not by much considering that I had the chance of meeting… odder people."
The curious comment drew an interested look out of Hope, Shin, and Hikari, while Miles happily returned his attention to his discussion with Bengala.
But before anyone could've asked for an answer about that mysterious allusion, the sound of footsteps got their attention back to who was coming towards them from the direction they were walking to.
"Hello~!"
Greeting as jovially as she could, the High Prime continued to approach them with the biggest of grins on her face. Ambar wasn't as close as a friend to Hope's mother as Kate and Bengala were.
Mostly because of how busy her line of work was, the Crest of Wisdom was hardly capable of investing time in visiting some of her fellow Crests. Thus it was quite a mystery for Hope to know the kind of family the Bear Prime had, or what kind of person among friends she actually was.
Beside her, Naerie, her daughter, followed the same pace adopted by her mother while her impassive stare was directed at… Shin?
It wasn't much of a surprise since she was a friend with him but there was something odd about the intensity of the stare. Something that went a tiny bit beyond mere friendship.
"Ambar, I wasn't expecting you to-"
"Come here and delight you all with my gorgeous presence?" The happy Bear Prime finished for the Crest of Light. "Neither I was. In fact, the reason that takes me here is… about my baby girl."
"Mother-" Naerie started, her tone as dull as usual to address the petname used by her parent.
While the young red-haired woman looked incredibly difficult to read emotional-wise, she still had the same issues everyone with teasing parents had from the looks of it.
"Naerie will be studying at Prism Uni for a whole year to get a degree in Advanced Nanozell Engineering."
…Was that even a degree?
Hope had read the pamphlet once or twice in a while before starting college, but she should've noticed something as modern and recent as this new degree.
"Oh, I'm… happy," Shin commented, a mix of surprise and confusion fluttering from his voice. "I'm glad that you decided to study here, Naerie. I'm sure you will be fine here at Prism Uni!"
Further confusion swelled in Hope's mind as she took notice of the barely visible blush on Naerie's fur at those words.
"Thank you, Shin. I hope you will… help me if I need assistance."
"Of course!" The blond replied eagerly. "You're one of my closest friends. In fact, if you need help do indulge and check on our dorm room."
The blush grew in its intensity, and now the Gazelle Prime was certain that this little interaction was sign of something problematic she hadn't expected to find now that she was so close from attaining Shin's affection.
A love rival. The ultimate obstacle to a love story, and the reason why Hope was always careful to check on any girls that had been endeared by Shin's dense charisma.
None went to ever poise an issue to Hope in her own bid for love, especially with how shy Shin was regarding all those that weren't friends before the school years.
Still, trying to keep quite and pray for the problem to go away on its own was childish and counter-productive with her plans. No, she needed to put up a front and hopefully nothing wrong would come out of this.
"Shin told me many good things about you, Naerie," Hope finally spoke, her voice betraying none of the inner teeth-gnawing that preceded her words. "And I will wish for you to find this experience as peaceful and nice as possible."
Her light blue eyes moved away from Shin's face and right to Hope's green eyes.
At first, the young Ravenhurst felt nothing from those bored eyes. But then… something made her tense up.
Surprise replaced confusion, and then it was once more replaced by panic as she couldn't help but realize what was going on.
Having just heard of the phenomenon before, Hope felt dread forcing her to pale a little at the intrusion of her mind. It was more invasive than anything she had heard about, and the fact that Naerie was doing this through her connection to Wisdom without asking for consent was enough to worry Hope about her secret plans.
The stare continued, as intense as it began, and her worries only increased the more time passed without anyone intervening and stopping the Bear Prime from digging deeper in her mind.
The pressure was so intense that she barely felt a hand reaching for her shoulder and settling there. But then Hope heard someone speak close to her mere moments after, his voice shaking her off from that standoff.
"Hello."
The single word snapped her out of that dreadful predicament and she recognized it as-
"Frankie?"
The human smiled at her half-query, but his lips didn't held any of the happiness she knew his smiles for. It was empty, almost fake and hurtful to anyone that expected his usual genuineness at work.
And his eyes were… so stern-looking and directed so intensely at Naerie.
The Bear Prime couldn't help but turn to greet him with a stare, but nothing seemed from emerge from that.
The tension was there, and everyone was surprised as Frankie managed to hold well against the pressure.
One can only wonder what was going on inside his head at the moment and… what Naerie was seeing there.
I hadn't expected for things to take this unexpected turn.
The cooking lecture with Professor Cracco had gone smoothly. It was nothing special as our first one, and it didn't end with the dish we had prepared to be sent to the cafeteria.
Tiggs and I were still satisfied with the result of our hard work, and even the teacher was happy with what we presented to him.
Preparing some Strawberry Sundaes to fill up the request for a 'refreshing desert for Summertime' was fairly easier than any of the previous tasks, but it sure received a little more criticism from before from the teacher over every elements making part of it.
Overall it was a delicious treat, but the timing of the icing and the presence of the strawberry syrup could've been planned a little better.
Still, it was labeled an 8/10 by the teacher and we went out of his classroom with a relieved look plastered on our faces.
The next step for today was returning to our respective dorm room and prepare for a little excursion to the sea-side restaurant Tiggs heard about where the food was incredibly delicious.
'Shark Bites' wasn't a big name I could recognize, and I wasn't much tempted by seafood in general, but I wasn't going to say no to anything a fellow 'food specialist' considered worth of trying.
It was just as we turned the corner to reach the dorms that we stopped to find the curious group we decided to ultimately approach.
Restraining myself from currently saying if this was a good change or not, I still continued to look deeply in Naerie's eyes.
Something about those eyes felt incredibly odd. Not just because of how dull her expression was and… how expressive it all felt to be at first glance.
A strange emotion for sure, but not one that I was completely certain to pinpoint as something I had felt before.
I had stared at Naerie before, and she had stared back at me in that single occasion. But right now I felt like something was different about it.
Things felt much 'clearer' than before as I tried to study the girl's impassive look to try and discern why Hope felt this nervous under her stare.
I knew that something was off about it, but I had yet to discern 'what' was off about it.
"Mr. Parker," Ambar finally spoke up, her grin still there as she addressed us. "And… Ms. Biggs?"
"Lady Ambar," I replied distractedly, my glance still fixed on his daughter's eyes.
"Ms. High Prime," Tiggs replied happily beside me. "It's an honor."
"Nonsense, dear," The Crest of Wisdom rebuked. "An honor is to meet some stiff-looking old fools that prance about respect and dutifulness."
"Good thing that you're not 'that'," Kate dryly remarked, getting a sheepish look out of the Bear Prime.
"I-I wasn't referring about you," The Bear Prime corrected herself. "I was just referencing those famous people that just go around and-"
"Be good members of society?" The Crest of Light pressed on, almost teasingly much to Ambar's chagrin.
"Hun, aren't you being a little bit tough on the poor Bear?" Bengala inquired mirthfully. "She is just trying to break the ice."
"Oh, that I did years ago," The Crest of Wisdom muttered, only to realize what she just said. "Anyway, Hikari! I see you've grown since I last saw you."
The girl giggled. "Hi, Lady Ambar!"
"Auntie is fine, dearie. There's no need to be this formal."
Hikari nodded, her smile still up as the woman turned to address the troublesome situation I was still embroiled into.
"Naerie, can you please stop staring so lovingly to poor Mr. Parker? I'm sure he is blushing underneath that tough look."
The comment was so incredibly wrong, but I was quite sure it managed to get out of both Naerie and I the wanted reaction.
We both stared away and… right to Ambar as the Bear Prime. "My, oh my- maybe I was a little bit wrong?"
"A little bit?" I muttered back with a frown.
"Mother can be… silly sometimes," The younger redhead mentioned.
"Oh, I can kind of relate. My mom can be quite… teasing herself when she wants to," I admitted with a sympathetic tone. "In fact, she was the one that sent the documentation to seek acceptance at Prism Uni."
Much to my surprise, Naerie offered me a quick nod at that.
"They mean well, but it would help if they spoke to us first."
"It would save us many worries and prevent many problems that need solving."
The growing agreement over this topic ended up bringing me to smile at our exchange.
"I don't think we've introduced each other properly," I commented calmly, stretching my hands towards her. "I'm Frankie."
She stared at my waiting palm for a couple of quiet moments, but then she reached out and gave it a shake. "I'm Naerie, it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."
"Likewise."
…
"Ambar, you're awfully quiet about this situation," Bengala pointed out quietly, his words barely reaching our ears.
The High Prime was giving us an awkward but irked look over what just happened, and she started her response with a huff.
"I don't know how to feel about this," The Bear Prime commented with an uncertain tone. "On the one hand, I'm glad Naerie is making a new friend… but I find it highly disconcerting how they are bonding over how 'nagging' me and Mr. Parker's mother are."
"I think it's fitting," Kate remarked mirthfully. "It's just correct for you to experience this bit of parenthood."
"What does… what?"
Bengala and Kate merely shared a chuckle together much to the growing confusion from the fellow Crest.
And while the adults kept on with their conversation, I noticed Hikari tugging at my sleeve to try and get my attention.
"Frankie-nii, did you and Tiggs cook something good at the lecture?"
I blinked at the unexpected question, glancing up for a brief moment at the Tiger Faunus to check on her reaction. Surprise, but giddiness flashed from her eyes at the good topic and I decided to give a proper answer to it.
"We didn't exactly cook anything. We just prepared a couple of dessert to fit with the task for today, which was to prepare sweet treats for summer," I replied quietly. "We settled for Strawberry Sundaes-"
"You two can make Sundaes?" Hope interrupted with a degree of interest, her eyes shining in a weird light.
I felt tensing up, same reaction unfolding for Tiggs as the two of us were taken off-guard by that quick question.
"Yes?" I replied with a tentative tone.
"Good."
…
There was no continuation to that, and I turned to Shin for some answers.
"Sundaes are Hope's favorite desserts," The blond responded, solving the little mystery while also causing the Gazelle Prime to blush at the little revelation.
That was an interesting detail to know and-
"I like dark chocolate."
Glancing back at Naerie, I addressed her comment with a nod. "I think there are enough ingredients in the Cooking Classroom to prepare something like this next time Professor Cracco asks us for a dessert. I will ask him if we can bring the results to our friends."
Part of me was unsure how I was supposed to tackle that swift insertion, but I realized that we were excluding the Bear Prime. And while I was still unsure as to why Naerie seemed quite irked by Hope, I couldn't see any genuine hint of maliciousness from this introduction.
A fright? Yes. But outright suspicions of her having ill intentions towards someone? Debatable at best, improbable at worst.
Oh boy, if I had been just a little bit more mindful about the fact that you don't need to truly hate someone to play terrible tricks on them, then what happened after this introduction wouldn't have gotten so... messy.
AN
I really dislike how you end up treating my capacity as a parent.
I consider you an excellent parent, but you're more of the 'dads joke' kind without being a father.
Ouch, that is kind of mean.
The truth can sting sometimes.
Prick.
Bite me, Care Bear!
Don't mind me if I comply~!
No- wait, I didn't mean to-
'The author was then recovered in an undisclosed location, once again having been struck by the kind treatment of a caring Crest.'