July 11, Friday

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The weather should stop acting muggy by now. It was not a human; therefore, it was not a muggle and it should not be muggy. Mai was ready for the hot, dry, pallid days to come, but woe be present despite her pleas. The clingy and oppressive humidity refused to break up with her.

She was ready to Apparate in this very instant, to cast a spell to shoo away her icky sweat, and really, to just get away from it all. In her hand was a paper-backed copy of a famous book about a parallel world where wizards and the like were real, and all she wanted was for her to be sucked in magically. She could get away from all her problems in there. To be free. To fly on her own. (With a broom.)

In her bag was another book. Equally impossible and equally alluring despite the dangers it posed. It was about another parallel world where modern technology did not exist and being a ninja was the norm. How fun was that? Having the ability to kick ass was definitely better than this dull life. For example, she could beat the tar out of that insufferable boy with her super strength and super sharp weapons.

Mai thought of what that fellow would say about her recent fascination in fantasy fictions. Definitely, he would make that displeasured sound, not even a smirk in place. His eyes would have that irritating slant as he'd tell her, "How childish, Taniyama-san. What would others think of you?"

Know what? Mai thought that worrying about other people's opinions before your own was much more immature. She didn't spit that out back at him though. The silent treatment was the best offense and defense combination when it comes to that bastard. Really, that guy thought about his image too much. To the point where there was one time when Mai saw him fixing his hair in front of his flimsy reflection cast by the janitor closet door's glass. She laughed so hard back then, but only after she documented the felony. It was a good thing that she had the student council's camera with her too. Perfect blackmail material on hand.

In fact, that very picture was her marker for the book with her. It wasn't the only copy, oh no. She kept a couple or seven somewhere in her apartment and even had the soft copy deep in the tresses of her email's inbox. She stared at it, the desire to draw on the hideous face unwilling to ebb away.

"Your boyfriend?"

Agitated confusion did not cut it for her this time. That was too much of an understatement. She was frazzled as usual, yes, and that's not all. She was disgusted and weirded out. Why would this guy think that she was with that guy? Gross.

"He's not my boyfriend!" she exclaimed at the dark haired boy, gagging sounds barely at bay. She hastily tossed the photo into her bag along with her book just to prove a point. "That picture's with me for blackmail," she grumbled, her cheeks mustering a brilliant rosy sheen.

He hummed in a noncommittal manner, jotting away with his incomprehensible scrawl. The red lines he made were foreign to Mai, as if she was squinting at a doctor's handwriting. She leaned in without thought, as if a closer distance would make the scribbles clearer to her.

What was that? L...y... what? The red marks on her neighbor's—new, but equally mishandled—map seemed to be various letters from a western alphabet, though she couldn't be too sure. She was almost certain that the squiggly line over there was supposed to be an 'I', then the next should be... Were people allowed to write that letter in that way? Because Mai was absolutely positive that the letter 'W' wasn't supposed to look like that. Was he even using the same alphabet Mai thought he wa—

She so did not do that on purpose.

"S-sorry!" she said as she scrambled back to her side of the row. Observation numero uno: Mai was crimson from head to toe.

Observation numero—

Nope. She couldn't observe any other thing at the moment.

First with the hand and now this?! He must think that you're a rapist now, genius!

Slowly and cautiously, Mai glanced to the left, keeping her head down as if she had committed a crime. Which was what she practically did anyway. Stumbling face-first into random people's laps constituted to sexual assault after all. Another formidable wave of heat struck through her.

Her eyes reached the piece of paper on his... lap, and if it was possible, the red on her cheeks grew even darker than the smeared line in the middle of his map. The ruined thing was ruined even more thanks to this clumsy girl. Her eyes wandered further—not in that way!—and stilled at a curious sight. On the pointer finger of her victim's right hand was a ring. It wasn't grand or anything, just a simple silver band.

Mai's world shattered even further. If that ring was what she thought it was, then that meant...

"U-um, are you sight-seeing?" she asked, distracting herself from developing loathsome conclusions. It was a stupid distraction though. Of course he was sight-seeing. Why else would he drag a map with him everywhere?

It was a while before he replied. A long while. Mai was dying. "No," he said at last, continuing his scrawls. There was another pause before he continued. "But maybe I am."

Bus number 42 stopped for the third time and the operator called twice just as Mai was about to utter the word 'cryptic'. Thank the gods though. That would have been another chance to screw herself up more. She got up, scowling as she sighted the edge of her bookmarker, hesitantly smiling as she excused herself and said goodbye.

I should have bought a straight jacket for my birthday instead of those books... There should have been duct tape for my mouth too.

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A/N: I'm... not really sure about this chapter. I actually first wrote the chapter that was supposed to be after this, and I was halfway through before I realized. Yeah... That doesn't explain the real reason why this is soooo delayed though. Thank you for reading! xx