Ash never knew ruining someone else's life could be so fun. Sure, he is running away from his classmates before they could figure out that he is actually Ash and not Sydney, but it was worth it getting covered by all the girls in Heimdallr.
Not like he had a hard time finding a girl in Raquel. His gruff looks and bad boy persona attracted quite a few, even from Ordis. Too bad he rapidly switches from girl to girl, which causes a lot of heartbreaks and gave him a bad reputation all around. The lifespan of his relationships shortened, which he did not mind. He can count the girls meaningful to him with one hand.
It was a refreshing change of perspective when he puts himself in the boots of Kurt, however. The amount of girls pining for blue boy was overwhelming, even for the experienced Ash. Maybe it is because Heimdallr is more densely populated than Raquel. Maybe it really is because of his baby-face looks and his prestigious family.
To Ash, without a doubt in his mind, a large part of how Kurt gathered such an army of admirers is because the boy was holding back. Ash entertained the whims of the girls he dated back at Raquel, and at least they could get a closer look on who he really is.
The problem with Kurt is that he always avoids and/or ignores these girls' advances. And those who came too close were swiftly shut down. They can only admire the boy from afar, not truly knowing who he really is. Gossips, hearsays and rumors were the only thing they could lean on.
Their imaginations ran wild on what a great man Kurt is, like a dam that is about to break, even though the boy is actually sword-obsessed narcissist who expects everything he desires to be handed to him. Everyone must respect and love the young master, lest they feel his self-righteous wrath for wounding his noble pride.
Although that was what Ash thinks. He does not realize that he is just as clueless about Kurt as much as those girls are.
That said, Kurt deserved it, Ash thought. He always hated Kurt (which the feeling is mutual). Now that the dam is broken and all of the girls are now chasing after him figuratively and literally, his revenge is almost complete.
At the back of his mind, revenge was momentarily put at the background back at the inn. He never seen so many ten out of ten's in one place. It was intoxicating. And since he is in Kurt's body, the lack of consequence was an added bonus.
When Juna, Musse and Altina came, he refocused on his objective. Screwing his budding relationship with Juna would have been the icing on the cake, until she ruined it.
He knew Musse was smart, but not even genius-level intellect could have guessed that Ash switched bodies. There was just no way. It was impossible!
And yet, here he is, running for his life from a master Arts user, a very violent foreigner, a cutthroat spy, and an army of love-induced teenage girls.
Kurt skidded on the road and made a hard turn towards Thors. He knows a few hiding places. Even though he expected it, he was still surprised on how fast his body was. Kurt's low weight, small frame and compact muscles allows him to be much quicker than anyone in school. Ash momentarily thought on who would win in a race; Kurt, Fie or Duvalie, the Swift.
"Sydney!" Musse screamed, bringing out her orbal rifle as she ran. She was red in anger and was sweating in exhaustion. "Give Kurt's body back!"
She fired her rifle as she ran, which honestly surprised Kurt. Everybody knew that you should never run and shoot, unless you are Juna, which is understandable. Musse's shots were all over the place. Kurt did not have to dodge as the bullets zipped above his head. Not even a flinch.
A veteran at Raquel taught him not to flinch when someone is shooting at you. If you can hear the zip, the bullet is already behind you and you cannot do anything about it.
"I don't know what you're talking about!" Kurt shouted as he ran.
"Then why are you running?" Juna shouted back.
She already equipped herself with her gunbreakers, but for some reason she is not firing. In her case, at this range, Juna knew she could not hit Kurt. The real Juna would have fired nonetheless. So she kept running, using her athletic body to catch up.
But even with her well-toned body, Juna could not catch up. At the same time, Kurt was widening the distance between them. He was simply too fast.
"Guys… Guys…" Altina breathed out as she was getting left behind. She tried calling for Lammy or Clammy but both refused to heed her call. The little girl was sweating buckets and her lungs were burning.
In the end, it was no contest. Kurt left them all in the dust and passed through the school gates way before they can. He now has enough ample time to hide from the horde.
The army of girls did not pursue in the end. It was one thing to chase after Kurt. It is another thing entirely to trespass the most prestigious academy in Erebonia. The board of directors are composed of the most elite of the elite in Imperial society. It is best not to annoy them.
They grumbled and left for Leeves. They will just have to wait until Kurt comes out again. The people of Leeves will have to suffer them a little longer.
Juna, Musse, Altina and Jessica were standing on the academy field. They were exhausted and hungry (except Altina). Altina was on all fours and was desperate to catch her breath.
"Where the heck is he?" Musse screamed as she stomped the ground.
Juna and Musse were very relieved to discover that the Kurt back there was not the real Kurt. Juna, who is in Musse's body, was especially relived to know that Jessica is not trying to steal Kurt away from him. Now, she is now especially pissed that someone would try to ruin her image of Kurt.
Musse, who is in Juna's body, was also angry that someone would take advantage of his classmate and friend. She, admittedly, is not convinced it was Sydney who is using Kurt's body, but whoever he is, Musse is going to put his name on her list so she could ruin his life down the line.
Millium, who is in Altina's body, is too tired to think.
Tilly… Please exercise.
"M-Musse?" Jessica called, not believing the eternally smiling Musse would throw a tantrum all of a sudden.
"Ignore her," Juna quickly said, almost reading her mind. "We just have to focus on finding Syd—I mean, Kurt before he embarrasses himself further."
Jessica slowly turned her head on her.
"Juna… where does Sydney fit in all this?" she asked her.
When the two started shouting Sydney's name all of a sudden, Jessica thought these two were losing their minds. Maybe it was the hunger creeping up to them.
Her stomach grumbled. She forgot. She never got a bite back in Barney's because of how embarrassing the situation was back there. She only has tea in her gut.
"I-It's nothing!" Musse stammered, waving her hands.
"No, it's definitely not nothing," Jessica insisted. "You two were screaming that Kurt is—"
"Acts like Sydney," Juna interjected. She tried to stay as calm as possible. "Seriously, the boy is a bad influence to our dear classmate. We should separate the two one day. With a crowbar, if necessary."
A Gehenna of an influence, if that is the case, Jessica thought.
"Juna," she carefully said, raising a hand. "Even Sydney is not that lecherous…" Her voice died down and her face lightly blushed. It was hard to speak ill to someone behind their backs. "What makes you think Sydney is involved in this? Please."
She placed a hand on her chest.
"Something is very wrong in this school, and you three seem to know something about it. Can you please tell me?"
"Jessica…" Musse said. She held her tongue, knowing the consequence of sharing this forbidden knowledge.
"Nothing is going on," Juna said and smiled. "It is just everybody has an off day today. Trust me, tomorrow, everything right now will be just a dream."
Please let this nightmare end, o Aidios.
Jessica narrowed her eyes. "It is best to tell me now," she said, putting a hand on her hips. "I will find out about this sooner or later."
No you won't, Musse, Juna and Millium simultaneously thought.
Altina finally stood on her two feet. Her face was dripping with sweat.
"We should try Einhel Keep," she suggested. "It's the only place we haven't checked."
There is also the main building, but Millium already informed them, through the ARCUS, that no one has set foot inside.
"Right," Juna said, nodding. "Let's head there at once. Once we find Kurt, we need to… tie him up or something."
Altina, hurry and find a way to switch us back.
As the three were about to head out…
"Wait," Jessica said to Juna.
"Yes?" Juna asked.
Jessica let out a sigh.
"I must apologize yesterday," she said, her eyes looking on the side. "It was only a tennis match, but my anger flared for no reason. It is my pride as a Schleiden that I must be the very best of what I do, even if it is a hobby. To insult my skills in tennis was… too much for me. But at the end of the day it was childish." She nodded to Juna. "It seems I have much to learn. Please, forgive me, Juna."
"Th-That's okay!" Musse said, waving her hands and blushing. "Everybody has a bad moment in their lives once in a while. If you promise to not do it again, everything will be A-Okay!"
Jessica looked at Musse. "But I'm talking to Juna."
"I'll forgive you!" Juna said.
She moved to block Musse from Jessica's view. She gave her a big smile, although the corner of her lips were twitching.
"It is such a joy to have you as a friend," she continued. "Truly, it is a joy. Now, can we continue on finding Kurt?"
"One other thing," Jessica said as she ignored how out of character her speech was. "I must apologize to what happened back there at the inn. It is the truth when I say that I only went out with Kurt as a friend. However, that matters not anymore. I do not know how much pain I caused you for seeing me like that with the person you…" She shook her head. "Please, I ask for your apology."
"Jessica, you're overreacting!" Musse said, her hands flying all over the place. "Sure, I was a bit angry, but I know you're a true friend. There's no possible way you'd betray me and—"
"B-But I'm not talking to you."
"Make it up for me by helping us catch Kurt, okay?" Juna interjected before Musse could embarrass herself further. "We can talk more about this later, if you want to."
Jessica, while ignoring the weirdness happening today, silently nodded. Catching Kurt is the highest priority at this moment.
Kurt watched the four ran off to the opposite direction. He sighed in relief. He hid in a locker inside the hangar a while ago. When the four girls came to investigate, they did not suspect a thing. After they left, he exited the locker and watched the four run off. He could not help but smile.
Once the coast was clear, Kurt exited the hangar and headed off to the school's exit. He could blend back to Leeves and hide. He does not know when he will switch back, but he can deal with that later. He just needs to wait until nighttime and do his own investigation on how the switching works so he could get his body back.
He is tempted to have some fun with the ladies at the town, but if one of them finds out where he is, the rest will be on him like locust on wheat. If there is one lesson that Ash learned from Raquel, it is to know when to stop.
"Stop right there!" a little girl shouted from behind him.
He was about to pass through the gates. Kurt slowly turned around, expecting to use his charm to pass dodge out of this situation. But the sight before him stunned him.
"I-Instructor Towa?" Kurt said, blinking. "Do… you need something from me?"
This was the first time he saw Towa with a purple cape. It would normally look comical on her, but the way she wore it gave off another impression. Confidence. Towa gave off an aura of invincibility as her purple cape fluttered against the wind.
"Kurt Vander!" she said, pointing at him. "A little bunny told me that there was an incident down in Leeves."
"Really?" Kurt said. He scratched his cheek. "I heard there was a commotion a while ago, but I didn't—"
"Don't play cute with me, Vander-boy!" Towa yelled, stunning Kurt. "I thought the Thunder God would have taught you better manners than surrounding yourselves with women. It seems sparing the rod was a mistake."
Kurt remained calm. "Ma'am, you are responding to unfound and baseless rumors."
"I told you a little bunny told me!"
"Instructor," Millium said from behind. The other instructors were also exiting the main building. "May I inform you that—"
"Silence!" Towa said.
She bent down to draw two swords and smirked at Kurt.
"This tiny body is too weak for me to use my true power," she said.
"M-Ma'am?" Principal Aurelia said, her eyes welling up.
"However!" She stepped forward. "I have fortunately studied the Vander Dual Sword Style. As a joke."
"You are an incredible warrior, ma'am," Rean said, standing straight.
"Now…" With a burst of energy, the swords started burning black and white, surprising everyone. "It is time to discipline you." She brandished her energy emitting blades. "Take your punishment like a man, lest you dishonor your family name."
She jumped forward.
"Aidios," Kurt grumbled as he brought out his switch-axe.
Millium put her hand on her face. She was about to inform Towa that Ash and Kurt somehow switched, resulting in the situation they are currently on. Now it is too late.
It was time for the battle nobody has asked for. Towa and Kurt face each other off in what will be the clash of the century. The fate of no one in particular lies on who wins in this eventful duel.
On a bed somewhere, someone was having a nightmare.