Chapter 11: Orientation I
For two whole weeks, the joint family haven't gone outside much as they mostly filled their spare time with either their personal activities or the new training regime that Sakuya creates.
It has certainly became their daily routines. 100 Push ups, Pull ups, Sit ups, an hour long sprint on the treadmill, Practice swings with their preferred weapons and lastly is of course sparring using only their Valkyrie enhancements because if Sirin or Sakuya uses their stigmata the training room would be in a lot worse of a condition.
"Haaaa." Beads of sweat covered the entirety of Kiana's body as the Kaslana rested for a couple minutes, putting down her sword and pistol back to its original place. If it wasn't for the sweet dessert reward at the end, she and Sirin would've complained a lot more. Thankfully Sakuya knows how to make a good dessert unlike a regular meal which she usually puts too much spices in.
The Kaslana uses her towel to help get rid of the accumulating sweat that has been building up on the surface of her body. A long and hot shower would really be nice right now.
"Hmm. Sirin aren't you staring at him a bit too much?" Kiana snickers, noticing that her twin was staring quite intently at the only boy in the room. Though Kiana had to agree that Leon got himself a good body for a teenager. "Do you like what you see, hmm?"
"Sh-Shut up." Sirin immediately looks at her sister. "You sometimes stare at him or Nee san too or me."
"Hmm~? Can't I admire a good scenery~. Saku-Nee and Leon got great looks and physique you know. It'd be a waste if I don't admire them. Especially Saku-nee." Kiana grinned playfully.
"Tsk. Pervert." Sirin clicks her tongue. 'Kiana really takes after dad huh with her jokes.' Sirin sighs internally.
"Hmph. You're missing out, but do you like Leon or something? You did stare at his abs a tad bit too long." Kiana nudges her sister's arm trying to get a reaction out of her. Uncharacteristically of Sirin, the girl stayed silent instead.
"Oi Sirin? Can you hear me?" Kiana pokes her sister's cheek.
"I could but I don't wanna." Her twin refused to even look at her. Sirin drank her water from the bottle that she was holding and continued to ignore her sister's persistent attempts to annoy the Herrscher.
"Hngh. Meanie." Kiana crossed her arms, guess she was worried over nothing.
"Hmph. Serve you right." Her twin sticks out her tongue. As the two bicker over random things again, Sakuya was silently observing all of them from behind.
She was satisfied with their growth. Though the older Kaslana wonders if all of them have enough social skills to survive Senba academy.
While they do have good looks, Senba academy is rather notorious for its bullying. The teachers can't do much about that either as the students with powerful backgrounds are the one that like to cement their dominance and influence over the other students and there is also a rumor that the principal is taking bribes from their parents to let their kids stay instead of expelling them.
A physical fight wouldn't work in their favor unless Sakuya has enough evidence to show that they're innocent and most likely it wouldn't fully solve the problem.
They either need to lay really low to not be noticed or change the whole system entirely. 'I can't guarantee that Kiana would lay low but what if I join the student council would that work? I'm technically a 2nd year student so I could be the student council president.' Sakuya thought to herself. Though for now she would watch and see which circumstances would be the best for her and her family.
"You know Sirin, I think Leon is right that we might not know much about Saku-nee. I always had the suspicion that she is hiding something." Kiana said as she glances over to their older sister who's currently in deep thought.
"Are you saying you don't trust her?" Sirin raised her eyebrow.
"It isn't like that, Sirin. I do trust her but I also noticed that her expressions aren't genuine even if her actions were. Maybe you noticed it too."
"Yeah." Sirin frowned a little. "Nee san is different from what SIRIN remembers. But I'm sure she has her reasons, whatever it is I'd always be by her side. It is what SIRIN wanted."
"Hmm it is difficult to help her heal from her trauma." Kiana rubbed her chin. "I'm sure we could help her heal in some way." Kiana points her index finger up as she has a sudden flash of inspiration. "Oh! maybe we could try and contact her real family?"
With Leon helping them it shouldn't be too hard to search for Sakuya's real family or what's left of them.
"Her parents could've been the one that threw her away into an orphanage."
"Don't be so negative." Kiana pouts. "We will find out what happened for sure! But we need to help Saku-nee first."
"Fine. Honestly Kiana you're too optimistic at times."
"Well aren't you a little pessimist? It'll be fine~ Come on Let's take a shower! We are both reeking with sweat."
"Just keep your pesky hands off me."
"Aww~ What's wrong with me washing your back?"
"I can do that myself thanks. You're always too rowdy in the bathroom." Sirin sighs, she doesn't mind taking a shower with her but Kiana likes to have her little "Fun" whenever they are in the bathroom together. Especially now that they're all living together.
Sirin doesn't understand why Sakuya never scolded Kiana about this antics of hers. Does Sakuya genuinely think that it is okay? Or She too already gave up on scolding her? Though from Kiana's perspective it is just Sirin being too prickly about it.
"Hmph then you should've relaxed some more instead of resisting."
"We are too old to play around in the tub Kiana."
"Says who? You still play games in this day and age. What's wrong with having some fun? Come on now you grumpy cat." Kiana then drags her sister as they walk back upstairs. "You say that you don't wanna but you still let me drag you around. Oh, Could it be that you just want some time together with your sister, hm?" Kiana said with a smug look on her face.
"Just shut up and walk, Kiana." Sirin let out an exasperated sigh. Though Kiana isn't wrong about her wanting to spend more time with her sisters. Sirin just never says that out loud but her action tells them otherwise.
When they entered the bathroom upstairs instead of some warm and steamy air that Kiana envisioned. A wave of cold and chilling air rushes out just as they open the door, that usually means one thing. Their older sister is already using the shower. She must've gone upstairs first without them noticing.
"I figured you two would want to take a shower together so I head in first." Sakuya said from behind the shower's opaque glass in which they could only see a blur of her shadow.
"And don't just stand there or else you'd blame Leon again for peeking. Close the door if you want to wait outside."
"Saku-nee can't you turn on the hot water instead of the cold one? The bathroom feels like a freezer." Kiana whines as Sirin closes the door behind her.
"Cold water has more benefits, besides this is not that cold."
"You're the only one who thinks that!" Kiana isn't wrong, the room feels like it is about to hit freezing temperature and the cold air of the night doesn't help her case in the slightest.
Sirin nods in agreement, it is really the few things the two would unanimously agree upon in an instant. Sakuya didn't even awaken the Kaslana stigmata. Why would she like cold water so much?
The two still wear some of their clothes as they didn't want to catch a cold by freezing in the bathroom.
"Jyahnar doesn't think so."
"Don't involve her into this! She's just your MANTIS Ego, she probably shares the same sentiment as you do since you both experience the same feeling."
"Is that so?" Sakuya never really thought of that. Well truthfully that doesn't matter much to her. "Alright, alright." The girl opens up the shower door and this time turns on the hot water for the shower and bathtub that sits behind the shower for those two to enjoy.
"Happy now?" Sakuya crossed her arms as she gave in to their demands, Hot water is nice and all but cold water is better in her preference.
"Yahoo!, Saku-nee is the best!" Kiana is the one that joins her first after taking everything off. She wanted to use the bathtub besides the shower that Sakuya conveniently didn't fill with cold water.
Sometimes they wonder if it is a bathtub or a jacuzzi considering its size. The square tub could hold at least 5 people and would still have some wiggle room.
"Haa you should do more warm baths, Saku-nee. It is far more relaxing than that chilling cold water." Kiana said as the girl totally melts in comfort as the warm water hits the surface of her skin.
"Nee san, why do you always prefer cold water over warm water?" Sirin asks, joining her twin in the bathtub a second later. It is a good question, since from SIRIN memories Sakuya definitely showers or bathes using warm water when she's still in the orphanage.
"…It is… Comforting." Sakuya answered as she dipped herself into the warm water of the tub. There it is again her blank expression. It made both of their hearts sink whenever they saw that expression.
Sirin knows it especially well because she had the previous Herrscher of the void's memories. Sometimes those blank expressions could hide a swirl of emotions underneath.
"S-Sorry for asking a sensitive question Nee san." Sirin looks down guiltily. Sakuya shakes her head as a response.
"It is fine, it's all in the past Sirin. Whatever happens there doesn't matter." She says that but from her empty stare it is clear that she sometimes still reminisces of those simpler times before her time spent inside of a world serpent lab.
Warm water simply made her remember those times that she wanted to forget. Sakuya always thought her heart had hardened after all this time but sometimes, she can still feel it bleed.
"K-Kiana?" Sakuya looks to her left where Kiana decided to hug her older sister's arm.
"Sleep with us tonight. Saku-nee you don't need to make us any dessert, since tomorrow is the start of school it is better to sleep early right?"
What's up with this girl? Sakuya looks very confused. It is uncharacteristic of Kiana to deny her favorite dessert.
But from her eyes, Her little sister is definitely serious. Is this her way of conveying her feelings? Though Sakuya finds it admirable. "Okay if that's what you want." Sakuya smiles as she gives the girl a head pat.
"Hehe. Don't worry about it, Saku-nee." The girl grinned. Even if they're not blood related. Kiana still treats Sakuya as her own family, if it wasn't for her and the others she might've hated the world even more and she would've been more obsessed with pursuing her personal vengeance.
They finished their bath early and headed straight into the twin's room after changing into their sleep wear.
Sakuya slept in between the two of them as those two twins clung onto her. Treating her arm as some sort of a pillow. It has been awhile since she has slept with them. Though unfortunately her insomnia always prevented her from enjoying the experience to its fullest.
And today isn't an exception. After all she had yet to climb out of the abyss she fell into. It is only a miracle that she hasn't reached rock bottom yet and is still moving forward in life.
In the depth of her own abyss, Sakuya floats endlessly on top of the dark water. No light had shone in her world for years until the Kaslanas came around. That multiple flickering starlight lights up the sky and illuminates her surroundings ever so slightly.
The wave that they had created, gently pushes the lost girl onto the shore of the vast dark body of water. Despite that, the girl is still freezing and lost in her own abyss. She has yet to rekindle the flame within her heart or find a way to climb back up the cliff she fell from but for Sakuya this is already more than enough.
Sakuya smiled genuinely as she observed the sleeping faces of her sisters. In the dark only the full moon shines brightly on the night sky. Its light illuminates the twin's rooms from behind the curtains.
'Even with these two nearby I still couldn't get a single ounce of sleep.' Sakuya thought to herself. It can be a lot worse than this so this isn't half bad, though staring at the ceiling or her sister's sleeping faces for hours can get a bit boring.
As the sun rose the next morning, Everyone prepared themselves for the upcoming orientation ceremony. Though for Sakuya she unfortunately had to go straight to her class as she is a 2nd year student.
Her uniform is also slightly different from the 1st years. She wore a black top instead of a white one which her sisters wore. Leon also wore his uniform which had a pair of trousers and a shirt, the top half of the shirt is black while the rest are colored white.
Both the male and female students also wore a yellow tie. It is a rather generic uniform for a prestigious school though no one had any complaints, except for Leon who thinks that the Skirt is just a bit too short.
"You three don't find it weird at all? These skirts are way too revealing!" Leon points at the girls skirts. In Canada they do wear their own uniforms there too but for the girls, their skirts can reach all the way down to their knees, while in here those skirts barely even cover their legs if they didn't wear any long socks or leggings underneath.
"Adolescent boys are dangerous creatures and this is way too stimulating for them." Says the boy who's also technically in his adolescent age himself.
"It feels a little breezy but we'll be fine Leon." Kiana dismisses Leon's worries.
"Punching them in the face works. I don't see how this is a problem." Sirin replied with a nonchalant tone. "And stop looking down at our skirt, pervert."
Sakuya is the only one that looks slightly uncomfortable wearing a skirt but the girl always preferred wearing pants anyway and she already knew that, in here the average length of school uniform skirts are usually this short.
"Really Sirin? You know I don't mean any bad intentions yet you still call me a pervert?" Leon let out a defeated sigh "Fine, I guess I'll let that complaint be. You girls can be really confusing at times." Maybe he worries about this little detail a bit too much. Technically a regular student or a man wouldn't be much of a problem for them to handle either.
Honestly he didn't like the idea of some random guy going close to them and started flirting with either one of them. Kiana might handle it well but Leon is unsure if Sirin or Sakuya would take it lightly. If either one of them is ticked off, one hospital would have itself a new patient to take care of.
"You all are beautiful girls and we're also foreigners, it'll attract a lot of attention towards you girls. At the very least you should be more wary of guys trying to flirt with you." Says the boy who is also pretty attractive himself. The Kaslana sister wonders if Leon ever looks at himself in the mirror. Many highschool girls would find him attractive and would fall head over heels for him just from his looks alone.
"Same goes for you Leon. You're a handsome guy that many girls would admire and Sirin-." In an instant Sirin muffled Kiana before she could finish her sentence.
"AHEM. What Kiana here is trying to say is that we're all on the same boat."
"HMPGH. HMPHH! Puhaa." Sirin finally let her sister go after awhile. Any longer and Kiana would've bit her hand in an attempt to set herself free. It happened twice before when they were younger.
"Don't fight you two. Eden is waiting outside. Don't forget to double check your stuff before we go." With Sakuya's warning all of them decided to double check their stuff.
Seeing all of them ready to go as they all gave her a thumbs up, Sakuya let them all enter the car first as she stayed behind to lock the front door and made sure every entrance was locked shut.
You never know when a thief might try to barge into your home after all. There's still a possibility of that happening even if the neighborhood they're living in is a relatively safe environment.
"I'm going to drop you all off near the entrance okay? Also try not to talk to anyone or reveal the fact that I am your caretaker and guardian." They all nodded. Naturally all of them agreed on that condition as the last thing they want is to have paparazzi swarming their house all the time.
Even this early in the morning the streets of Nagazora are already semi busy with traffic as people try to arrive early to their work. It is a culture in the far east to arrive early at work rather than on time.
They could also see students waiting for their bus in a bus stop. Some of them are wearing their exact uniform as well.
Eden drives off to her work place almost immediately as soon as they all have been dropped off at the front gate of the academy. Hundreds of new students have already gathered in the front gate while their seniors walked past them to their new classrooms. The teachers wanted to gather the students in one spot before they moved to the auditorium where the principal would hold his speech.
"This is where we part ways. Leon keep watch over them for me and you two try not to bring too much attention to yourself right now, got it?"
"Mhm, will do Sakuya."
"Yes Saku-nee/ Nee san."
Sakuya walks off from the group as she follows the other seniors to where their high school building is located. She remembers that she needed to go to the teacher's office first so that her homeroom teacher could give a tour of the school before class starts but she doesn't know where that room is actually located inside of the building she's in.
"Excuse me, Are you lost perhaps?" A girl behind her asked. Sakuya was indeed lost, many students have seen her go up and down the stairs multiple times and had zero luck in finding the room she was supposed to go to.
The girl let out a defeated sigh. "Yeah I am." Sakuya turned around to see who was talking to her only to see a familiar face.
"Ah you must be the new transfer student that everyone talked about." The Heiress of ME corp, Raiden Mei was standing behind her. 'So that's why her voice was so familiar. I didn't expect to meet her so soon though.'
"Yes. If you don't mind, could you lead me to the teacher's room? They say my homeroom teacher would help me tour around this academy first before going to my designated class."
"Okay follow me, the teacher's lounge isn't in this building. It is in the next building over there, where the other highschool facilities are located. This building is primarily for classrooms or club rooms." Mei explained as she leads Sakuya to where she's supposed to be.
The two walked down the busy hallway as many of the students came and greeted the Heiress. Sakuya is walking behind her to avoid any unnecessary gossip that might be thrown around if she were to suddenly be seen standing too close with such a popular person.
"Good morning Raiden san!"
"Good morning to you too."
"Hwaa Mei sama!"
"You're rather early Mei san."
Mei smiles as she greets and waves each student that gave her a warm welcome. She is quite popular in this school.
"Where are you going Mei? Isn't our class upstairs?" Asked a black haired girl. Sakuya could tell she's a bit different from the rest of the students. Perhaps these two are closer.
"Ah Yeonsheo chan, I am guiding the new transfer student here to the teacher's lounge." Mei introduced the transfer student to her friend.
Sakuya's deep green eyes meet with her flat purple eyes as the two girls instantly lock their gaze for a split second before the black haired girl eventually leaves her friend to do her own thing. "I'll be waiting in the classroom then Mei."
"Do you two know each other?" The Heiress asked as Sakuya was still staring at the girl for a while now.
"No. Not really, I just thought she looked familiar to someone I knew, that's all. So you're Raiden Mei correct? As the Heiress of ME corp you're really popular in this school hm. Wouldn't it be annoying to get all of this attention all the time?" Sakuya asked, returning her gaze towards the heiress.
"I'm quite used to this life, Thanks for the concern. O-oh right I forgot to ask about your name." Mei's eyes widened as her hand covered her lips. She should've asked for the transfer's student's name first. It is a bit rude of her to not introduce herself when they met but Sakuya doesn't seem to mind.
Mei wonders why that's the case. Isn't she Japanese like Mei herself?
"It is Sakuya Kaslana. You can call me Sakuya since my twin sisters also go to this academy." Sakuya answered with a smile to defuse the Heiress's worries.
"Ah, Then they would be our juniors. Alright then Sakuya san, You can call me Mei too if you want and In case you're wondering about the black haired girl that we just met earlier. Her name is Shin Yeonsheo. She's a close friend of mine."
"A Korean hm. So she's from the mainland, so that's why her accent is a bit different."
"Mhm. We met when I first went into highschool and we've been close friends since then." The Heiress smiles. Something about that smile made Sakuya's heart skip a beat. She didn't know what had caused it. Either it is because of Mei's beautiful appearance or it is because of how genuine it felt or maybe it is a combination of the two.
If things were different would Sakuya be able to smile innocently like her too? It is a pity that she didn't notice all the fake smiles that the other students gave her when they greeted her. Ignorance truly is a wonderful thing sometimes.
Thankfully Mei was looking the other way. It would've been a problem if the Heiress saw how jealous she is at the moment. She too wants to experience this normalcy through the lens of ignorance that normal people have.
But unfortunately she couldn't. Sirin might know what she feels but she isn't the same as SIRIN nor did Sirin experience what SIRIN had gone through in her life.
In the end she still felt lonely despite being surrounded by people that loved her. Would they even understand? Or would they just give her some words of comfort to calm her down. She knows the answer would probably be the latter.
It isn't fair is it? No one saved her from those hellish years she spent with the world serpent. Why does it have to be her? Why does she have to survive through everything herself? Why can't she have the normal life that they have?
These students all look at her with admiration or curiosity. But If they knew the truth they would run away from her in fear or would judge her harshly or maybe even pity her.
Sakuya doesn't need such things. Their pity wouldn't help nor would their compliments make her feel any better either.
Maybe things would be better if everyone of them can experience the same loneliness as her. These same feelings of loss and powerlessness.
Her heart is bleeding and will continue to bleed so long as she is alive. All of them must feel this very same feeling only until then would she not be alone anymore.
This. Is. Fair.
"Sakuya! Get a hold of yourself. This isn't the place for you to think of those thoughts. I'm here for you even if I'm not the human companion you sought for." Jyahnar sighs as Sakuya snaps back into reality. Though she felt her limbs being a little stiff, did Jyahnar stops her before she could do anything? It still doesn't make much sense to her on why a Honkai beast's EGO like her wanted nothing more than to bring Sakuya a part of Humanity back.
"Can't believe you were excruciating that much murderous intent in a school of all places. If I didn't stop you, something bad might've occurred here." Jyahnar said inside of her head. Sakuya didn't realize that her eyes had already changed. She quickly shakes her head as her dark sclera and red irises change back to normal.
'Sorry, things just happened. I'll need some alone time later. It's just… nevermind.' Sakuya exhaled loudly, acting as if she's just anxious. There's no rational excuse that could justify what she almost did, had she let those intrusive thoughts of her take over.
This wasn't the first time she experienced an episode like this. Fortunately it doesn't happen frequently but she could only hope Nagazora wouldn't give her much trouble or else she would really lose herself during an episode.
She would usually go to a zombie infested city and vent her frustrations there but right now it is better for her to find a place where she could be alone for a while.
"Are you okay? You look a little pale." Mei asked worriedly. 'Why did my skin crawl earlier? I didn't watch any horror movies last night.' Mei thought that it was a little weird for her to be more alert than usual. Little did she know it was all because of the girl behind her.
"Yeah. J-Just a little nervous that's all." Sakuya chuckles.
"I see. It's okay, things like that are normal, do you want me to wait for you outside of the teacher's room?"
"No it is fine I can go in by myself there's no need for you to wait Mei san. Just don't mind me taking deep breaths like this. It…is a way to calm myself down from being anxious."
"Mhm. I understand that feeling of anxiety. Good luck then Sakuya san. If you need any more help you can ask me. I'm in class 2B." Mei smiled as the two finally arrived at the door of the teacher's lounge.
Despite being total strangers, the Heiress still roots for her and waits at the door until Sakuya calms herself and enters the room. Once she entered, she could hear footsteps of Mei going back to her classroom.
'She's as bright as Kiana, guess not all rich kids have an inflated ego. I feel bad for being jealous of her. Can't believe I almost lost control because of that. I guess I'm still weak.' Mentally sighing. Sakuya goes to a nearby teacher and shows her her ID.
"Ah you're the new transfer student. Wait here, I'll call over your homeroom teacher." The female teacher stood up from her desk as she walked over to the other side of the room.
'Raiden Mei. I wonder if you ever knew what your father's real job is.' Sakuya thought while sitting down on a nearby sofa. 'I wonder if there's anyone else here that knows the existence of Honkai like us.'
Meanwhile at Yeonsheo's class. The Valkyrie was thinking about her previous encounter with the new transfer student that she met in the hallway.
'Was the information wrong? I don't remember the target being in the same grade as I do.' Yeonsheo collected her thoughts as she waited for her friend to come.
From the description of her mission she is supposed to collect more information about a certain Houraiji. She is a girl who has long dark hair with a pinkish hue at the tip of her hair, she is also shorter than her and Mei. She should also be her Junior unless she's actually 1 year older and taller than what Yeonsheo read in the files which would be absurd if it is true as Schicksal always have accurate data of all the humans that is currently alive in this very moment. Schicksal had sent the Valkyrie to attend this academy about a semester prior to investigate.
They wanted to know how a random civilian managed to know such detailed information about the Honkai and made it into a game. She even tried to upload the game into twice. There's also some speculation that she tried to upload her game into steam as well but it never happened. She must've given up on trying to upload her game.
'The new transfer student looks so similar to the picture and description that I was given. I don't recall the target having another family member that is going to attend this school with her.'
The black haired Valkyrie double checked the validity of that information again through her phone just in case HQ decided to update the already existing information. So far they only confirm that her target has safely entered Nagazora and she should be with the other juniors attending the orientation program at the auditorium.
Mei seemed fairly curious about the new student too. Could she really be her target? The Valkyrie's guts are saying that she isn't. She should wait until she could get her name at least.
But from the transfer student's looks alone. It is an undeniable fact that she is related to the target she was supposed to observe. Would she gain anything if she observes them as well? Is she also the target's sister by any chance? But it would be weird for Schicksal to have no record of her especially since she is older than the target herself.
From their short glance, Yeonsheo could tell that she isn't a normal high school girl either. Though she isn't sure if it is just because the transfer student is a genius or if she is hiding another secret.
She could've sworn her phone picked up some level of Honkai energy coming off of her. Every human does emit their own ambient Honkai energy but this one is slightly higher than normal.
It is closer to a Valkyrie's ambient Honkai energy emission. Is she perhaps also a Valkyrie like her? Yeonsheo doesn't remember any Valkyrie with that face before. Though she could be from a different branch or a new St. Freya student.
She could also be the one that told her target everything about the Honkai but that would be too much of a stretch. It'll be by pure dumb luck if that's somehow true.
'I should've asked her name.' She regretted the fact that she didn't ask her for her name when the two met. It would've made her investigation easier if she did.
In any case she should observe the situation first. It is clear that the higher ups might want to eliminate her target if she is found suspicious of doing something. Of course the Valkyrie doesn't stand by that decision if the higher ups want to do that but it would also jeopardize her job if she were to stand against their orders.
She should be smart about what kind of information she would have to share with them. Because if she doesn't share anything they might suspect her of being a double agent for AE or is in another faction.
Those old timers are always a pain to deal with. They should worry more about how Schicksal could protect the ones it has promised to protect instead of how much profit Schicksal could earn.
All the higher ups do is really just sit down in a safe and secure area while Valkyries like her deal with danger each time they are sent on a mission. It is never a guarantee that they will come out alive either. Yet sometimes those same higher ups in the main branch never understood what it meant to be a soldier and what kind of sacrifices they have to pay for one small victory.
At the very least their overseer understands what kind of sacrifices his Valkyries made during each mission in this endless crusade against the Honkai. Oftentimes Otto gives them an extra tip on their salary or randomly gives them extra vacation depending on how well they perform on each mission that they were given.
'Elysia sama I wonder how you dealt with their nagging. It is unbearable.' The Valkyrie mentally sighs. Right, there's no need for her to complain about that now. She only needs to focus on her mission besides she could use this mission to relax if she wants to.
Hanging with her club friends or with Mei later in the evening doesn't sound too bad now. It'll help her relax a little bit more at the very least. Still she doesn't get why they have to send an A rank Valkyrie like her to do this mission.
There shouldn't be many dangers in Nagazora that a B rank or even C and D rank Valkyrie couldn't handle. Sure it is in AE's territory but so long as they keep a low profile even AE wouldn't be able to do much. It's not like she has to steal anything from ME corp.
Did HQ know something else that she didn't? If so, why didn't they tell her about it yet. Is this a form of test to test her loyalty to Schicksal? It would make sense if it is.
It is undeniable that Schicksal has a problem of Valkyrie suddenly going AWOL or defecting to AE. At least Elysia's presence and influence have a massive contribution to solve that issue. Though as a consequence many Valkyries chose to follow her footsteps and orders in secret instead of listening to the higher ups.
They all trusted and admired the current strongest S rank in service. It made the black haired Valkyrie wonder as to why the A rank Valkyrie, Eden Ragvindr decided to defect to AE, the same question applies to the previous S rank Alice Redfield who also defected and became an AE agent.
'I should do a little bit of digging myself. Would I be able to meet her here by any chance?' Truthfully Yeonsheo was tempted to uncover the truth on why such influential Valkyries like them decided to leave and join Schicksal's rival instead. Only time will tell her.
Yeonsheo broke out of her thoughts when she heard the door to her class had been opened by someone. Thinking that it was a teacher the class had gone silent for a bit only to resume its usual chatter when they found out it is only Mei that had entered instead of a teacher.
"Mei! I'm over here." Yeonsheo called for the heiress as she waved from her seat. Mei sat on the empty seat in front of the black haired girl since someone had already taken the spot that was beside the Valkyrie.
"Where's the transfer student? Wasn't she with you before?" The black hair asked while the Heiress was busy setting up her table with her notes and pen.
"Ah Sakuya san? A teacher is giving her a tour of the academy. She should be arriving at her class now that it is almost time for our first class." Mei looked up at the digital clock that is placed high up on the wall above the whiteboard.
The door to their class opened as the whole class went silent and head back to their chairs. Their new homeroom teacher came in and announced that their class would have 1 more student.
Both Mei and Yeonsheo could already guess who it is going to be. Though they aren't sure if she's the only transfer student for this grade. But when they saw a tall girl with her unique dark colored hair coming into the room their suspicion of her being in the new kid in their class was indeed true.
Sakuya stands in front of the class as the girl observes her new environment first before she is given the chance to introduce herself.
"Umm Kaslana san? You can introduce yourself now."
"O-Oh right. Sorry sensei." The transfer student shakes her head. She takes a marker and started to write her own name in Kanji on the white board. "My name is Sakuya Kaslana. Pleasure to meet all of you, Hopefully we all could get along." The girl smiles sweetly, fooling the hearts of every student in her class into thinking she was being an innocent and sweet girl.
Truthfully she just doesn't want trouble. Though with how her class reacted, staying low will be an impossible challenge as her teacher told her to sit on the empty seat besides the most popular person in the class, Raiden Mei.
Some form of jealousy was already formed because of that fact alone. It is undeniable that Mei is the queen of their class. Many students actively seek her attention or try to build some form of relations with her or just simply idolize her in a parasocial relationship.
"Guess we meet again Raiden Mei." Sakuya sat down. It is very uncomfortable to have that many eyes staring at her all at once. All with different intentions though it is mostly curiosity.
"Mhm. What a coincidence that we're in the same class." The Heiress giggles. Maybe deep down she wanted this to happen. From their initial encounter Mei could tell that Sakuya didn't care about her status as the Heiress of ME corp, rather Sakuya viewed her as a regular student just like everyone else and didn't give her any special treatment.
Usually once someone knew about her status she would've been put on a pedestal and is given high amounts of respect, going so far as calling her Raiden sama or Mei sama. Truthfully Mei preferred if they treated her like a normal girl. Even if she's treated like a normal rich kid she would've been fine instead of being treated like she is the Queen of Senba.
The Queen of Thunder is her unofficial title that was given to her by the students and some teachers alike.
"So you're Sakuya Kaslana? I should've introduced myself when we first met." Yeonsheo commented. 'So she's a Kaslana? Maybe she is adopted. It is a shame I was about to ask her some questions regarding that Houraiji but she probably would know less information than I do.' The Valkyrie is a little disappointed over that fact.
"Well Mei san told me a little about you, Yeonsheo san. So let's try to get along okay?" Somehow that last line made the Valkyrie a little uncomfortable. Does she know about her secret identity as a Valkyrie? It can't be the case right. Sakuya looks like she was trying to hide something too.
'Let's not be too overly suspicious of her now.' The black haired girl thought to herself. Though Yeonsheo misinterprets what Sakuya was trying to say. The truth is Sakuya is on edge right now.
The curious gazes of the other students reminded the dark haired girl about those uncomfortable malicious curious gaze of the scientist that once had experimented on her. Sakuya wished they could just stop looking at her like that. While they aren't malicious those gazes are still stressing her out.
It was a clear oversight on her part. Senba academy should be a very prestigious school but she never expected it to have this many students in one school. This highschool has way more students than her previous middle school back when they were still in Canada.
Sakuya pulled out a small plastic jar where she kept her pills and took out one of them. The girl swallowed one of the pills and drank some water to help push the pill down to her stomach.
"Are you okay Sakuya san?" The Heiress asked.
"Just taking my prescribed medicine and I'm fine. Thanks for asking." Sakuya refused to elaborate further. It is actually a pill that Natalia had made for her. Since school can be rather stressful for Sakuya.
Natalia gave those pills to her to help mitigate her anxiety and reduce the chances of her suddenly getting another one of those murderous episodes. It is an effective temporary solution for now.
"I-I see I hope you can get well soon. Do you need any help?"
"Maybe just with some school notes and assignments. I technically skipped a grade when I transferred here, so there might be some stuff that I don't understand." Sakuya looks away, she feels a bit embarrassed asking that.
She already has Leon to ask for help but still the girl couldn't believe she's asking a stranger that she just met to help her with her studies. 'It's not like my pride matters but why is it so embarrassing to ask?' Sakuya thought as her cheeks became a little pinkish.
It had the unintentional side effect of charming some of the boys in her class and made the girls think that she's just a cute but also a serious maiden.
"Okay I can do that. Ask away if you don't understand a subject okay? I could also lend you my notes."
"Ye-yeah." Well she'd probably have to ask a question right away as the first lesson that they are going to learn is the lesson that she and the twins have always struggled with, Math. She never understood why Leon liked this subject in particular. Maybe it's just a boy's thing.
The bell rang the moment she put her pills back into her bag. "Just my luck." Sakuya cursed silently and rolled her eyes.
It is a shame that she has to miss orientation and has to go straight to studying just because she is a transfer student. The others definitely had it better on their first day of school.
"So unfair." Sakuya muttered as her math teacher came into their class, officially starting her first day as a student of Senba academy.
So I decided to split the orientation into 2 parts as the chapter would've been a bit too long if i also include Leon, Sirin, and Kiana's POV into this one chapter.
Anyway Thanks for reading the chapter.