126th Spell: Troublesome Trio
"You're not going to expel these kids, are you?" Higa said between sharp breaths like he had been running.
"What gave you that idea, Higa-san?" Dōmeki responded coldly.
"Because Ako-san claimed you would, and so I came here to speak on behalf of these kids!" Higa answered defensively. "It's a miracle they weren't killed by the Tsurube Tree, or the Ikuchi, and managed to land that magical ship without breaking it! That's got to count for something, right?"
"Even so, they still broke school rules by using a form of transportation that wasn't approved and put our school's defenses at risk," Dōmeki said.
"How did we do that?" Rui asked, not understand what Dōmeki was saying.
"The flaming head fruits the Tsurube Tree used to attack your mother's ship have all dissolved in the sea, meaning they can't be reused and it will take months for the tree to regrow the fruit it lost which will leave that side of the school unprotected for some time," Dōmeki explained.
"And the poor Ikuchi is probably terrified from the unexpected arrival of that ship as she was settling down for the night," added Fuwa. "So we'll have to appease her somehow and make her to stay in the cove."
"Why do you act like she's the victim?" Haru said irritably. "She attacked us!"
"No excuses!" Dōmeki insisted. "As punishment for your reckless behavior, the three of you will be doing extra assignments for the rest of this semester. If you manage to do them well, I will consider removing the white lines from your robes."
Suddenly, Gyoku's pink kimono sleeves turned white much to his horror. Meanwhile, Rui and Haru's robe sleeves gained an extra inch of whiteness that strongly clashed with their pink robes.
"What about Hikari and Nayu?" Haru asked.
"They will also be doing extra assignments for their part in your foolish trip to the storage house recently," Dōmeki declared. "In addition, I shall inform your mother of what happened, Ruri and Gyoku Wataka, so she may retrieve her ship from our school grounds. As for you, Ryuji-kun, I'll let your legal guardian Higa-san decide how to punish you. Now you three should be able to make it to the Initiation Ceremony before it begins."
Unable to say anything further, Haru, Rui, and Gyoku left the Headmistress' Office and went down the stairs to the Student Dining Hall. They were greeted by over a dozen faces that looked at them with a mixture of shame and amusement. Meanwhile, the new First-Year Secondary Students were already lined up between the Clan tables forcing Gyoku to join them.
"You guys sure like to get in trouble at this school," Daizō Maki said to Rui and Haru from the Seiryu Table while his friends Ushiwa Koi and Gorogo Gumo quietly laughed.
"Maybe we should start calling them the Delinquent Duo," Koi joked.
"But since Hikari keeps hanging around them, let's call all three of them the Troublesome Trio!" suggested Gumo.
As several other students laughed at Gumo's joke, Hikari's face turned red in embarrassment from her place at the Suzaku Table. Haru wanted to punch Gumo in the face, but Rui held him back as they both quietly sat down at the Byakko Table where Gaane and Fuyou joined in on the laughter until Peri silenced them both. Then Shō arrived via the Body Evaporation Spell and began the Initiation Ceremony.
Like the previous year, each First-Year Secondary Student stood before the Subemitō Mirror which showed images of the Clan they belonged to whether it was the red Suzaku songbird, the blue Seiryu dragon, the white Byakko tiger, or the black Genbu tortoise. Haru expected Gyoku to be sorted into the Byakko Clan like his sisters before him. But to Haru's surprise, Gyoku was sorted into Genbu.
"So much for hazing our little brother in the Byakko Dorm," Gaane sighed, watching Gyoku solemnly walking to the Genbu Table without making eye-contact with anyone.
"Yeah, I had some really good ideas too," Fuyou added. "Like making him feed catnip to Kuro, or putting Hair-Sucking Leeches in his roommates' beds."
"Did they make you do that kind of stuff last year?" Haru quietly asked Rui.
"No, they just forced me into a pillow fight," Rui said. "They've generally been harder on Gyoku than me, ever since he was born."
"Is it because he's more favored by your mom than the rest of you?"
"That's part of it, but I think they also envy his humbleness in the face of becoming the next successor to our family business. So they feel the need to embarrass him as much as possible to shake that humble acceptance he has about his situation."
"Have any of you ever tried asking him about whether he really wants to succeed your family business or not?"
Rui paused. "I did try a few years ago, but he wouldn't answer me."
"Did he tell you why?"
"He didn't. Then I realized he couldn't answer my question because…he doesn't know the answer himself. But when he does know what he wants, I believe he'll tell me."
The next morning, Haru and Rui were surprised to find a familiar large owl standing on the Byakko Table.
"Rena!" said Rui as she noticed something was gripped in the owl's beak. "Did you bring mail?"
Cooing in response, Rena stretched her wings.
"Okay, let me get you something." Looking down at her breakfast, Rui picked up half a piece of cooked fish. "Will this do?"
Seeing the fish made Rena drop the thing she was carrying in her beak. Then Rui dropped the piece of fish in Rena's mouth, who swallowed it graciously before taking off.
"What is this?" Haru said as he picked up the object Rena had dropped. It was a scroll made from black silk wrapped in a white ribbon.
"Don't open it!" Rui shouted upon noticing the thing in Haru's hand.
"Is there something wrong?" Haru asked, not understanding Rui's frightened reaction.
"Looks like someone got a Howling Scroll," Daizō noticed.
To be continued…