Extra: Grabiner-POV: Surrounded by bad influence
The Dark Dance is approaching. I'm not a particular fan of the Dark Dance, or any of the traditional festivities, but adhering to tradition is a must in magical society. Not celebrating the Dark Dance might incite the wrath of the spirits, who usually attend the Dark Dance, which could endanger our students. Celebrating the Dark Dance on the other hand will procure the spirits' affection to a certain degree, thereby adding a thin layer of protection for the students. Especially those, who focus on white magic need this fragile bond of friendship with the spirits. The bond created by the Dark Dance is usually not powerful enough, that the spirits attending would go out of their way to protect the students, however it's enough to ensure, that the spirits native to this place, will not attack the students of this Academy without reason. Miss Ojousama came by to ask me about the Dark Dance, when I was planning my next lesson.
She seemed clueless about the Dark Dance, which is exactly why I'm against wild seeds running for student council positions.
They simply lack the knowledge about our traditions, knowledge which is a necessity for these positions.
At the beginning of the Dark Dance I head towards the walls as usual, since I hate crowded places and the middle of the gym is always the most crowded. Once I have found a suitable spot, I start slightly swaying from side to side. The dancing part of the Dark Dance is obligatory, unfortunately.
This way of dancing can't even truly be called dancing, ballroom dance is the only dance I acknowledge as such. I'm not particularly fond of dancing, but I hate this kind of "dancing", that is simply wiggling around mindlessly. While "dancing" absentmindedly, someone suddenly stumbles into me, with their back towards me. That person seems to have lost eirs balance, so I slightly use my arm to steady em, so that e won't fall completely.
"I'm sorry, are you hurt?", I can hear someone asking sweetly the person, who fell into my arms. Such a sweet voice, is it a case of bullying? Though, the voice sounds like Miss Rao, so it's probably another pathetic attempt of her at flirting. For some reason, Miss Rao seems to aim for following into her mother's footsteps by acting promiscuous and coy. Her mother has quite the reputation and trying to compete with her is extremely foolish and unsightly of Miss Rao.
Given how famous her mother is, Miss Rao will always be compared to her, so what's the point of imitating her? Unless she stops mimicking her, she'll only keep standing in her mother's shadow.
As expected, the other party seems unfazed by Miss Rao's flirting attempt. The voice belongs to another female student, Miss Ojousama if I'm not mistaken.
I was able to recognize Miss Rao by her voice, since she's such a nuisance. As for Miss Ojousama, I see her quite often in class and in addition she's the new treasurer. Not to mention, that her unique behavior stands out. I still remember the grandma-walk she did, when I first saw her.
"I apologize for bumping into you. I hope you're unhurt?", Miss Ojousama earnestly apologizes to me. Miss Rao could learn a bit about how to apologize correctly from her, as one can hear the honest concern in Miss Ojousama's voice. "It's alright.", I reply. Miss Rao also seems to have recognized Miss Ojousama by her voice as well, as she excitedly interjects, "Oh, Elise, it's you? It must be fate, that I bumped into you. I wanted to dance with you." As always, her tone is simply nauseating. It's annoying, how she always tries so hard. I really hate that kind of flirtatious person.
"If bumping into people means you're fated, then I'm fated to be with a lot of people, since a third of the student body already bumped into me tonight.", Miss Ojousama dryly retorts. Witty. Though Miss Ojousama clearly rejected Miss Rao's advances, Miss Rao still doesn't seem to have given up, as she whispers something in Miss Ojousama's ear, before leaving. She's truly an improper young lady, nearly as bad as Mr. Ramsey.
Fortunately, the Dark Dance comes to an end, without any other tedious incidences.
Once the Dark Dance is over, the next event is going to be the tribute for the tribal councils. When I discussed the details of this fundraiser with Miss Ojousama, she yet again proved herself to be absolutely clueless about the traditions of magical society. Due to this, I have to explain more to her, but thankfully she is not a dull student, who needs to have everything explained over and over again. Once again, I wished Petunia would instruct the wild seeds better about the traditions and dangers of magical society. Though I do understand, that learning magic is the higher priority for freshmen, but wild seeds have a relatively high drop-out rate after all, since they're clueless and therefore less careful. Well, since Petunia is the headmistress of Iris Academy, I can't go against her decisions. All I can do, is trying to protect the wild seeds from themselves.
Just when I had started to view Miss Ojousama in a better light, she attended my detention, together with the number one attendee of detention, Mr. Danson - the unruly one. Truly disappointing. Apparently, she got into trouble by cooperating with Mr. Danson. It seems like Miss Ojousama is surrounded by people, who pose a bad influence. First Mr. Ramsey, then Miss Rao and now the unruly Mr. Danson. Socializing with the wrong people, can also be a fault. I hope Miss Ojousama realizes this, before she gets corrupted by them. It would be a shame to see such a gifted witch being led astray.
She has proven herself to be far more capable than I anticipated in her first exam after all.
The first event for the Thanksgiving tribute, the fall play, is scheduled for today. I also bought a ticket, as usual. I am a fan of theater, though I prefer more professional plays. Nonetheless, Iris Academy is doing a good job with its fall production each year, despite the students lacking professional training.
The biggest flaw in this year's play 'Medea' is the excessive use of fake blood. I don't know what it is, that the students of this Academy like so much about blood, but the plays seem to get bloodier with every passing year. Due to unrealistic amounts of fake blood used, the deaths in the fall play look simply ridiculous. Once again, I'd like to know what the producer of this play thought, when they decided to spray liters of fake blood from slit throats, making the dying roles resemble fountains more than corpses. Well, apart from the excess of fake blood, the play is quite enjoyable. The audience also seems to like the play. Quite a lot of people came to watch this year, so this year's play can be considered a success. Among the audience, I spot quite a few freshmen, such as Miss Ojousama and Miss Middleton. It's nice to see Miss Ojousama also socializing with people, who are not a bad influence.
"And with this, the preparations are complete. Are you ready to explore the magical place called 'the Otherworld'?" I turn to Violet, while smiling proudly and extent a hand towards her. "Let's go!", she replies enthusiastically and grabs my hand, while adjusting her glasses with the other. Together, we step through the portal. On the other side, the sight of ruins greets us. "This… doesn't look like Almora.", I say, as an unsettling feeling fills my chest. We're currently standing on some sort of circular platform, which seems to be a sort of roof. Other buildings surround us, but they all appear rundown and abandoned. "Look, Hieronymous! There are creatures camping down there.", Violet exclaims, as she stands on the edge of the platform. She turns around to me, while stroking one of her brown curls out of her face. "I think we should leave. We have no idea, where we are after all.", I reply. "But we just go he-", Violet halts, when a piece of leather suddenly wraps itself around her ankle. Her foot is jolted back, causing her to fall and she desperately clings to the platform, while shouting my name panicky. I rush towards her and grab her hands, to drag her to the middle of the platform, but the force pulling her down is stronger than me. "Violet…Violet…", I whimper horrified, as I desperately try to pull her towards me. A sudden strong pull yanks her out of my grip and I watch in horror, as she falls down the platform. I crawl closer to the edge and look down. Violet lies on the ground, screaming like a banshee, amidst a horde of goblin-like creatures, who are gnawing on her arms and legs like a pack of wolves. "Violet!", I shout and try to fend of the creatures, using red magic, but my attacks are easily blocked by them. I'm forced to watch helplessly, as Violet's screams grow weaker, until she stops screaming completely and only the biting sounds of the creatures can be heard. I dejectedly stare at her unmoving body, refusing to accept, what my eyes show me. Violet suddenly turns her half-eaten face towards me and points with her finger at me. "IT'S YOUR FAULT! YOUR FAULT!" I jolt up, bathed in sweat and panting heavily. Yet again, that horrid nightmare. I wait until my heartbeat calms down, before I fall back into the sheets again.
The next morning is the fundraiser, so I get up early and help getting the stuff into the van, before setting of with the freshmen members of the student council. After arriving at the mall, I help them set up the booth, before retreating into a corner of the booth with one of the folding chairs and a good book. Customer service was never my forte and this is supposed to be the job of the students anyway, therefore there is nothing for me to do except for being here. The first student to man the booth arrives five minutes late. I frown, but refrain from commenting it any further, as the student, Miss Lièvre, already seems anxious enough. Miss Lièvre is the treasurer for the Juniors and belongs to Butterfly hall. To be honest, the position of a treasurer doesn't suit her, she lacks self-confidence and has a problem with making decisions. I don't know why she even ran for this position in the first place.
As expected, Miss Lièvre struggles with her duty as a saleswoman, as she is too shy to approach potential customers on her own. Nonetheless, many customers approach her on their own, mostly boys her age. I suppose this observation also answers, how she was able to win the election, since I doubt, that someone suffering from stage fright like her would be good at giving speeches. Her opponent was Mr. Lorre, if I remember correctly, a quiet but serious and diligent student, who's slightly obese and not very popular among the students.
I usually wouldn't pay a student so much attention, when I'm overseeing the fundraiser, however Miss Lièvre forces me to, by constantly asking for my help with trivialities. It's truly annoying, how incompetent Miss Lièvre is. The next student, who mans the booth, doesn't annoy me for trivialities, but he's idle, whenever I glance at him. I deliberate, whether I should scold him for lazing around, but his shift should be over soon anyways. As I get more engrossed in my book, I start paying less attention to the students, who are manning the booth.
"Sir? May I leave a bit earlier?" I unwillingly pause in my reading and glance at the student, who's currently manning the booth. It's Mr. Ray, a Sophomore, and a secretary on the student council. "Why do you want to leave earlier? The next salesperson hasn't arrived yet.", I ask him probingly, after glancing behind him. There's a group of Butterfly Juniors, but none of them belongs to the student council, therefore they don't have to work a shift.
"Well, it's just about five minutes till the next shift, but I promised these lovely ladies, that I would accompany them.", he replies, while smiling suavely.
The group of girls start to giggle, when they hear him calling them 'lovely ladies'. Disgraceful. Abandoning your duty to play around with girls. I can't believe someone like him is part of the student council. "Then leave.", I spat out angrily. He hastily bids me goodbye and leaves with the group of girls.
I look at the shifting schedule. Since Mr. Ray's shift ends in a few minutes, it should be around 4 pm. The next student to man the booth is Miss Ojousama, according to the schedule. A moment later, Miss Ojousama already arrived. She must be early. I greet her and return to my corner, to continue reading the book. After finishing a chapter, I glance at Miss Ojousama, to see how she's doing. The sales seem to go well, as the display already looks emptier.
Miss Ojousama is currently advising an elder lady on what to buy. She appears calm and patient. I assess, that she won't be needing any help and return my focus to my book. As I get engrossed in the book again, I don't pay any attention to the booth anymore.
After reading for a while, I reach the end of the book. To be honest, I didn't expect to be able to finish it today. It was a good book, very interesting indeed. As expected of my favorite author. When I look up from the book, I notice Miss Ojousama, who is already packing up. Wait, wasn't Miss Cochran supposed to man the last shift? "Miss Ojousama? What time is it?", I ask her perplexed, but she doesn't seem to know the time as well. When I look at the other booths, they're already packing up too. Which means, that the last shift was supposed to end half an hour ago. I close my book and stand up to help her packing, when she suddenly starts wobbling. I rush towards her and grab her shoulders to stabilize her, before she crashes headfirst into the candles.
"Idiot girl! Have you not sat down for all this time?", I angrily scold her. Though her dedication is admirable, but neglecting her needs to stubbornly keep working without rest is downright foolish! "I was occupied…", she tries to defend herself. What a weak excuse. I sigh and my gaze lands on the place, where I sat just a moment ago. I used the second folding chair as well, didn't I? Was she too afraid to ask me for the chair? Ah no, Miss Ojousama doesn't seem to be as afraid of me as most students are. She would dare to approach me on her own after all, and often visits my classes.
"Well, I can't take you back like this. Someone would assume I'd worked you to the bone on purpose. Come along then." After stuffing the leftover candles in the van, I bring Miss Ojousama to the Glen. Given that she diligently worked for longer than two shifts, she deserves a small treat. Especially, since she did quite a good job as a saleswoman, from what I could see. If only Mr. Ray would have shown the same dedication to his duties as Miss Ojousama has.
In the Glen, I lead her to a small table in a quiet corner. After sitting down, I glance at Miss Ojousama. She seems seriously enthusiastic; her prior tiredness is nearly nowhere to be seen anymore. "Have you been here before?", I suddenly ask her out of curiosity. Since Miss Ojousama is a wild seed, this might be the first time, that she's eating in a restaurant for members of the magical society. "Only once, unfortunately.", she replies.
It's a pity. Her expression, when she tries magical food for the first time surely would have been- no, what am I thinking? It doesn't matter. "Sit. Say nothing. I will order.", I command her. I order two Chai teas for us. Though Miss Ojousama seems strangely excited, I can still see the fatigue in her eyes and a good Chai is the best for regaining your energy. The Chai of the Glen is brewed with spices from the Otherworld, which have soothing and relaxing effects.
I often order the Chai, since it's good against my chronical headache caused by the unreasonable behavior of my adventurous and naïve students.
After the Chai teas arrive, I observe how Miss Ojousama carefully and slowly takes a sip. "Mhhmm, delicious.", she sighs pleased. I'm glad she likes it.
"It's Chai.", I inform her, in case she doesn't know. I grab my own cup and slowly lift it towards my lips, when she suddenly says, "Thank you very much for treating me, Sir." She seems earnest, when giving her thanks, just like she did, when she apologized to me for bumping into me on the Dark Dance.
Though Miss Ojousama acts a bit weird from time to time, she is well-mannered.
"It shouldn't have been necessary, if you had any sense.", I scold her in return nonetheless. Fatigue of the mind is extremely dangerous for a witch.
Not paying attention to your state of mind can easily end deadly for a witch, there are enough cases of dead witches to prove that.
It was truly foolish of her to overwork herself to such an extent. "I suppose, I should be thankful you didn't simply lock your knees and faint.", I add, while softening my tone a bit, when I see her sulking. Well, in the end nothing happened, so this much of a warning should be enough. I brought her here to relax after all. I turn my attention back to my cup and continue drinking my Chai.
Thankfully, Miss Ojousama is not trying to do brainless smalltalk with me and I can enjoy my Chai peacefully. I prefer silence over half-baked attempts at conversation at any time. This is especially so, since I had this recurring nightmare last night again. In most nights, I sleep fitfully, sometimes to the point, where I wake up multiple times during the night due to nightmares. Nights, in which I would be sound asleep on the other hand, were rare at the beginning, but they have increased over the years. I usually sleep soundly after drinking the Chai of the Glen, which is another reason, as to why I order this so often.
Suddenly I notice Miss Ojousama's gaze on me. When I return her gaze, she averts her eyes, appearing a bit shy and flustered. It's the first time, that I see her acting shy. I wonder what she thought, when she looked at me. It's strange. I usually don't care about how my students see me. It's fine, if they fear or hate me. So long as they listen and don't take my words lightly. As I continue to observe her, her gaze returns to me for a short moment, before she starts staring at her cup. She's so weird, in an intriguing way. But in the end, she's only a student of mine. Trying to get to know her would be improper.
I shift my attention back to my own cup and quietly finish drinking my Chai. Afterwards, the waiter brings us the dessert, a piece of strawberry-candy, which is a specialty of the Glen. I finish the piece of candy and pay. "Let's go back." Miss Ojousama nods obediently and we leave.
While I'm driving the van back to the Academy, Miss Ojousama suddenly starts softly humming a melody. I glance at her. She's absentmindedly gazing out of the window and smiling slightly. It's not the first time I witness her humming a song, but this time the melody seems familiar. What was it… Ah, it's 'Bolero', isn't it? A good piece of music, but I didn't expect her to know such classical music.
After turning around the corner, I come across another trap, but I dismantle it easily, using a combination of red and blue magic. Once I cleared the way, I head to the pedestal at the end of the hallway. After reaching the pedestal, I stare in awe at the book lying atop. This is it. This is the legendary book 'The Book of true Lies', the most famous book about blue magic. The knowledge in this book is priceless as even creating your own dimension is possible with the methods described in this book. Many tried to find a copy of this book, but no one succeeded until now. Most people already regarded it as lost forever. I carefully lift the book up. Gosh, I can't wait to read it.
I'm comfortably lying on a picnic blanket in the middle of a flower field, engrossed in reading the book of true lies. There's a light breeze and the sun is warmly shining. It's wonderful. "Haah.", I hear someone contently sighing beside me. I turn to the noise. Miss Ojousama is lying next to me on the picnic blanket, holding a cup of milk tea in her hands. "Miss Ojousama, what the hell are you doing here?", I scold her. She gazes at me strangely. "You were the one, who told me to relax.", she pouts. Before I can retort anything, she suddenly points behind me. "Look." I turn around. Strawberries are suddenly raining down next to our picnic blanket, from a fluffy blue cloud. Weird, just a moment ago, the sky was still clear. Miss Ojousama stands up and heads to the strawberry rain, in order to catch a few strawberries and eat them. I sigh and cast a shield on top of the blanket, to shield it from the strawberry rain, in case it starts raining down here as well. Then I continue reading the book of true lies.
What the… That was one hell of a weird dream. This is the last time, that I order a Chai, while in company.
The next day, I come across Miss Cochran in the library. "Ah, Miss Cochran. A moment of your time?", I ask her. "Of course, Sir. What is it?", she asks me, obviously confused as to why I want to talk to her. "I haven't seen you manning the booth yesterday. Could it be, that you asked Miss Ojousama to take over your shift for you?", I ask her straightforwardly. "Ah, yes. I'm sorry, Sir. I had another appointment, which is why Miss Ojousama agreed to man the booth for me. Did she do anything wrong?", Miss Cochran replies, appearing slightly nervous for some reason. It's disappointing, that Miss Cochran neglected her duties for that 'appointment'. Given her nervousness, it probably wasn't anything important. Miss Cochran has been very diligent till now, which makes it more disappointing, that she pushed her responsibility onto Miss Ojousama. "Miss Ojousama did nothing wrong. She turned out to be a superb saleswoman and diligently fulfilled her duty. Anyways, that is all, what I wanted to know. Good day to you, Miss Cochran.", I bid her goodbye and turn to the bookshelves, to find another book from the same author. While searching, I notice Miss Ojousama sitting in a corner of the library and scribbling on a notepad. Seeing her, reminds me of the weird dream I had. I shake off the memory and continue browsing through the books.
On Tuesday, we hold the Thanksgiving ceremony and sent the tribute. This year, the student body managed to amass quite a large tribute, the tribal councils will be pleased. I use the short vacation following Thanksgiving to finish the book I borrowed on Sunday. Since most students returned to their parents' home during the vacation, the Academy is unusually quiet. It's the perfect atmosphere for reading.
To be honest, I wish reading was the only thing I did during the vacation. But exams are coming up, so I had to prepare for that as well. I'll be overseeing the exam for the freshmen again, together with Petunia.
I'm curious to see, how the students will fare. I doubt, that Miss Ojousama will manage to impress me again, but I'm especially interested in her performance nonetheless. This time, the students must find their way out of a simple labyrinth. Most students solve this by wandering around more or less aimlessly and casting Truesight from time to time. After the current participant, Miss Middleton, it'll be Miss Ojousama's turn. Miss Middleton found the passage with the illusion using Breeze, as expected. However, after she found the passage with the deadlock, she simply stares at the walls for a while. What is she doing? Why isn't she using Truesight? Miss Middleton starts touching the walls, but still refrains from using Truesight. Suddenly, Miss Middleton starts sprinting towards the wall with the illusion. What the hell is she thinking?! If that wall weren't an illusion, her action would have caused her a severe concussion!
I immediately teleport Miss Middleton into the classroom, from which I observe the exam, after she passed the illusionary wall. "What the hell have you been thinking?!", I angrily yell at her. She just stares at me confused. "I… I ... I found the illusion… and I…", she stutters.
"Jumping in full speed against a wall is NOT a proper way to determine, whether that wall is an illusion or not, Miss Middleton!", I continue scolding her enraged. "But… But I found the exit, didn't I?", she stubbornly retorts. "You found the exit, but you failed the exam. Next time, try to use your head for thinking, and not for ramming it against walls. Dismissed.", I hiss. She dejectedly leaves.
Seriously though, what a disappointment. I expected more of Miss Middleton, she always seemed so careful.
Anyways, Miss Ojousama is next. She decided to use quite an unusual approach: she dimmed all of her senses, except for her sense of smell and then simply followed her nose. She's not the first to use that kind of approach, but it is an approach rarely used. And her execution of this approach is also quite good, she seems to have some talent in green magic as well. After she found the passage with the exit, she skillfully dismantles the illusion with a double-casting of Truesight. A simple Breeze-spell would have used up less concentration than her approach with the green magic, but it's ok, since she managed to succeed nonetheless. Still, she should take more care of her mental capacities, especially after what had transpired after the fundraiser.
The next participant is Miss Sato. She magnificently flunked the last exam, so I'm curious to see how she will fare this time. Miss Sato casts white magic again, but I'm not quite sure, what she's trying to do. Suddenly she stops her casting and determinedly starts walking into the direction of the exit.
After arriving in the passage with the hidden exit, she clumsily dismantles the illusion. Though it's clear to see, that her skills in blue magic are lacking, she somehow managed to dissolve the illusion and therefore passed the exam.
It's surprising, that Miss Middleton failed, while Miss Sato succeeded.
Anyways, Miss Sato seems to be quite talented in white magic, but lacking in the other magic types. This is problematic, since white magic has a relatively low offensive ability, while the spirit realm, the forte of white magicians, is a dangerous place. It's important for white magicians to be versatile in the other colors as well, since the strength of white magic mostly lies in its combination possibilities with the other magic colors. This is probably also the reason as to why Petunia wanted to personally oversee Miss Sato's detention. She must have recognized Miss Sato's talent at that time. As Petunia is an expert in white magic, while it's my least favorite color due to that incident, I decide to leave it to Petunia. She will hopefully know how to properly deal with Miss Sato's talent.
On Tuesday, Petunia approaches me after lunch. It has been some time, till she last annoyed me with her love-crap, but I'm wary nonetheless. "Hieronymous? A moment of your time?", she asks me sweetly. "What is it?", I reply curtly. "Do you still remember Miss Silva? She's an important guest of mine and wanted to visit the Mt. Kearsarge Indian museum. Could you accomp-" "No.", I interrupt her. "But-" "No.", I repeat. "If that is all, I'd like to excuse myself. My next lecture will begin shortly." "…Yes.", Petunia relents. I ignore her disappointed gaze and head to my classroom. The following days, I go out of my way to avoid Petunia, in case she wants to annoy me with that topic again.
I'm on my way to breakfast, with a good book under my arms. Today is Friday the 13th, a lucky day for members of the magical society.I naturally don't believe in such superstitions; however, I did sleep well this night. Since I slept soundly, I woke up early, therefore the cafeteria is still empty. Perfect.
I grab a plate of omelet and sit down on my favorite spot, a seat close to the window, in the corner of the room. The light shines from the window down on my table, without blinding me. This is the reason as to why I like this spot so much, it's the perfect spot for reading. I half-heartedly start eating.
Though I usually wake up early, I'm often not very hungry in the morning. Additionally, this book is extremely interesting, it was hard to stop reading yesterday and head to bed instead. After a few bites, I give up and read the book instead.
Suddenly I hear a quite chuckle. I look up from my book, and my gaze meets Miss Ojousama's eyes. She immediately turns her gaze away, towards the window and starts acting innocent. I purse my lips, amused at her crappy acting skills. There was no maliciousness in her laughter, but I wonder what it was, that amused her. "You seem to be in an extremely good mood this morning, Miss Ojousama.", I tease her dryly. She turns back to me and replies smiling, "Today is Friday the 13th, Sir. It's a lucky day." I raise an eyebrow, as I was not expecting her to even know about this belief, not to mention also believing in it.
How surprisingly gullible of her. "You believe in such things?", I question her. She stares at me confused, while tilting her head.
"It's just superstition?", she counter-asks surprised. I snort. "Of course it is, how could all magical beings be lucky at the same time?"
"My last Friday the 13th was a lucky day though? You apologized to me and even gave me merits. That's why I thought, it might be more than superstition. It's hard to tell for a wild seed…", she explains to me, while smiling confidently. The prior confusion is nowhere to be seen anymore. Well, our customs indeed seem to confuse the wild seeds and consequently, they're often more gullible than other witches. "I see.", I reply, before turning back to my book. For some reason, Miss Ojousama doesn't annoy me as much as the other students do. I guess it's because she has a somewhat soothing atmosphere due to her calmness. She's simply not as noisy as other teenagers tend to be.
The next morning, I wake up early even for my standards. When I look outside, it's snowing heavily. The snow spirits must be running wild for some reason. Under such weather conditions, the trip to the mall will be impossible. It's better, if the students hear about this earlier, as they will be a bit less disappointed that way. I sigh, get dressed and head towards the post office.
When I enter, Miss Ojousama is already preparing the envelopes, while humming a weird song. "Ah, Miss Ojousama." I didn't expect her to be here already. Most treasurers usually start their duties later. Miss Ojousama freezes in her action and then slowly turns to me. She seems surprised for a short moment, before calmly greeting me. "I need to add a notice to all students that outings to the mall are cancelled.", I explain to her. "Due to the snowstorm, I assume. We won't be able to buy our Secret Santa presents…" "That is not my concern. Good day.", I bid her goodbye and leave. I'm not interested in this stupid event of Petunia, and I'm even less interested in acting chummy with a student.
While walking towards the cafeteria, I halt and gaze at the snowstorm outside. Though it's a needless event, I should still inform Petunia about the snowstorm. She might think of an alternative in due time, if I do.
Contrary to my expectations, Petunia took some time, until she thought of making cards as an alternative for her Secret Santa-event. To be honest, I don't get how anyone would be pleased by getting a crappy card from a student, who was even forced to make said card to begin with. Since it is a compulsory event, the honesty in making these cards can only be described as half-baked. A true gift is not given out of a sense of duty. That is the main reason, as to why I don't think much of Petunia's Secret Santa event.
Nonetheless, Petunia forces me to attend this event as some sort of supervisor. Why she does that is beyond me, as I lack artistical sense, when it comes to crafting. I'm good at creating illusions, not crafting. Most students also seem to suck at crafting, as they struggle with keeping their uniforms clean of glitter and glue. Gosh, I'm thankful the staff doesn't have to participate in this Secret Santa-thing as well.
In the afternoon, Petunia approaches me again. I prepare myself to shut down any ridiculous proposal she might have come up with this time, but instead she hands me a card. I stare down at the card in my hands, confused as to why she gave it to me. It's a white card with books and pink glitter on it. Ugh, glitter.
I hate glitter. "What is this supposed to be?", I interrogate her harshly. This is some kind of weird trick, isn't it? Petunia giggles. "Isn't it obvious, Hieronymous? It's your Secret Santa.", she replies cheerfully and then turns around and leaves. Dread fills me, as I slowly open the card.
Dear Hieronymous,
Thank you for working here for another year again. It's always a pleasure working with you.
- your Secret Santa.
I guess, I was too wary. Wait, there's another note at the end.
PS: I registered you for this year's Christmas party for Singles in the Glen. Don't forget to attend!
That damned old hag! Will she never learn it?! I'm not fucking interested in finding a partner!
Apparently, a package has arrived for me. I have enchanted the post office to notify me, or the lion on my door to be more precise, if there are any letters or the like for me. Last night was one of these nights, where I suffered from that recurring nightmare, so I'm in a bad mood, when I had down to the post office. While cursing my father in my mind, I rummage through the packages. While I'm searching, Miss Ojousama enters, but I ignore her. Finally, I found the package my father sent me and head back. Turns out it is a book about contracting a Manus and how to deal with one. What the hell. I have no use for that, why did my father sent this?
In the evening, Petunia assembles the students in the gym again, to bid them goodbye for the holydays. She really likes gathering the students and giving speeches to them. Like always, she ends her speech by casting a complex white magic spell, which connects those people in the gym, who are thinking about each other. I close my eyes like the rest, while I feel myself relaxing due to Petunia's spell.
Suddenly Miss Ojousama comes to my mind. I felt similar relaxed, when we were at the Glen together. She did quite a good job at that fundraiser that time. I suddenly feel a slight connection to her. What the hell?! I snort and cut the connection immediately off. How weird, to think about your teacher in such a situation. She has friends after all, hasn't she?