The day after their return from Albion, things started to change for the trio of Kai, Louise, and Saito. First off, to put it bluntly, Louise had become... nicer. An example, and another major change for the trio, is how she disappeared for the majority of their day back, and when she returned, she rented another dorm room.
Unfortunately, due to cost constraints, she had to get an extremely small room, that barely had enough space for a bed and desk. When deciding on who got the room between her two familiars, it obviously went to...
"Saito."
Kai's mouth dropped as Saito looked ecstatic. He wouldn't have to sleep on the floor anymore!
"Though, I still expect you to do chores."
Saito nodded happily.
Another change was how Kai and Louise treated each other.
A week or so before going off to Albion, Kai decided to prank her by grabbing a frog and putting it in her wash basin. Two things Kai had learned from that day were that Louise was scared to death of frogs, and she could be the cruelest person in the universe when she was angry.
But, after Albion something had changed. They both had warm feelings toward each other, yet they didn't realize the other's feelings.
The morning after Saito had gotten his own room, Kai had put the wash basin on the floor, and had scooped up some water into his hands, but Louise didn't move. Her pink hair was messy, and she tiredly rubbed her eyes. With no thought, she said, "Leave it there, I'll do it myself."
Kai's eyes widened. The thought of Louise doing something by herself like this hadn't crossed his mind.
"Oh dear master, are you alright? Has some illness bequeathed you?"
Hearing his tone, Louise started to pout as she turned her head away. "That's not how you use that word... Besides, I'll do it myself. Leave me alone."
Louise quickly dipped her hand into the basin, scooped up some water, and started shaking her head as she washed her face. Water flew in every direction.
Taking a step back, Kai commented, "So, you're the type to move your face when you wash it..." He hadn't even meant to say that out loud.
"G-Got a problem with that?" Somewhat taken aback by his comment, her face flushed an angry red.
"Hm? O-Oh... No... Not at all."
Shaking his head, Kai went over and grabbed Louise's clothes from her closet. The next step was to dress her. As he turned to get her dressed, Louise panicked and quickly covered herself with the sheets of her bed.
"Leave the clothes there." Her face was half covered by her sheets.
The hell? She's never been so embarrassed... What happened?
Kai shook his head. "Leave it there? Like, leave it... right there?" He pointed to a spot on the bed.
Louise poked her head out. "I said leave it there, didn't I?!"
Letting out a sigh, Kai did as he was told and left the clothes at the edge of the bed.
"Face that way."
"Huh?"
"I said face that way."
Bewildered by her sudden change in attitude about things, Kai once more did as he was told.
What the hell happened with her? Think, Kai, think! The boy silently hit his forehead with his hand. Okay, fiancée betrayed her and Henrietta. Maybe it was seeing the death of Wales? Or...
Kai lightly touched his lips.
Does... Does she know? ARGH! DAMN IT! WHY DID I DO THAT!?
Kai started to violently shake his head, but suddenly stopped.
Wait. Louise would've gotten angry and beat me up. I'm not saying that what I did was right or wrong... No, I'm not justifying it, I was completely wrong... DAMN IT WHY DID I DO THAT?!
Calm down me. Think. If she was awake and did nothing that could be a ray of hope!
Then she wouldn't have gotten so defensive when Kirche pointed out when you were cuddling with her...
You were the one who jumped off...
I hate myself sometimes...
"What are you doing?" Louise had noticed that Kai was clutching his head.
He quickly turned toward her, looking completely normal. "Doing what?"
Louise gave him a quick look. "Come on, let's go get breakfast."
"Right."
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When Kai got to the dining hall, he got ready to sit on the ground by himself, since Saito had been going straight to the kitchen for food. His popularity with the kitchen staff had earned him free meals, and as a favor, Saito had been helping around.
Kai waited for a while for his crappy leftovers, but nothing came. Did I do something to make her angry enough to not give me food?
Kai went over what had happened since they returned to the academy. They had first reported to Osmond, who thanked them, then Louise got that room for Saito, and then... they fell asleep... He couldn't think of anything that he had done.
Kai looked up to Louise, who blushed and turned away from him. "From now on, eat at the table."
He blinked a few times. "Huh?"
"Come on, sit down, quickly."
Kai shrugged to himself and sat next to Louise.
Malicorne, a boy on the larger side who had always sat next to Louise, approached and started to protest. "Hey, Louise, that's my seat. What do you mean you're letting your familiar take it?"
Louise glared at him. "If you don't have a seat, then grab a chair."
"Don't mess with me! Letting a familiar, let alone a commoner sit down while I have to go get a chair? That's just wrong! Hey familiar, piss off, that's my seat! This dining table is for nobles!" The chubby boy tried to look intimidating but started trembling slightly. This was the guy who had those weird powers, won against Guiche, and helped to catch Fouquet. And he seemed to have just come back from an important mission.
Kai silently stood up. "Hey, I couldn't quite catch what you said, so..." He loomed over the chubby boy. "Could you repeat that?"
Malicorne swore Kai's eyes had changed to a teal color and back to black. Feeling scared, Malicorne almost wet himself. "A-Ah, nothing! I didn't say a word!"
Kai let out a breath and went back to a cheerful-ish attitude. "Then you should grab a chair."
While Malicorne ran off, Kai sat back down and noticed how unconcerned Louise looked. She really is actin' weird. Surely there's a reason. Kai started stroking his chin as if there were a beard there. Hmm...
Noticing his intense gaze, Louise blushed. "W-Why are you looking at me like that?"
Blinking a few times, Kai looked forward. "S-Sorry..." Damn it she must think I'm a creep...
Kai stared at the dazzling food in front of him. It was absolutely a meal fit for nobles... But for some reason, a pit in Kai's stomach started forming. It was as if he didn't deserve it.
The usual prayer went on and breakfast began. Kai quietly ate his food as that feeling started to grow.
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As soon as Louise had entered the classroom, she was quickly surrounded by several classmates. There were rumors about a dangerous journey that had somehow gotten out of hand.
It had started when a number of students had seen the leader of the Griffon Corps show up and leave with the group. In the few days that they were gone, rumors spread like wildfire, and just like rumors, they grew beyond belief.
Kirche and Tabitha, already in their seats, were surrounded by students.
"Hey, where did you and Louise go when you were absent?" Montmorency asked while holding Kirche's arm.
Kirche gave her a quick glance and started working on her makeup. Tabitha quietly sat while reading her book. Though Kirche usually liked to talk, she just wasn't in the mood today.
No matter what the students tried, they couldn't get any information from the two, so they switched their sights to the newly appearing Louise and Guiche, completely ignoring Kai and Saito.
Guiche, who loved attention, started to get carried away. "You want to know the secrets I have? Ahahaha! What troubled young ones!"
Louise shoved through the crowd and smacked Guiche. "What do you think you're doing?! You'll be hated by the Princess if you say a word!"
With a single reference to Henrietta, Guiche shut his mouth. The students around them grew more suspicious and started pestering her more.
"Louise! Louise! What actually happened?"
"Nothing at all. Osmond just sent me to the palace on an errand. Isn't that right Guiche, Kirche, Tabitha?"
Kirche smiled while blowing on her nails. Guiche nodded. Tabitha kept reading her book. Since no one was going to speak, the students all returned to their seats. Like sore losers, they started talking about Louise with disdain.
"It probably wasn't important anyway."
"Yeah, it's Louise the Zero we're talking about. I couldn't imagine what great feat she could do. She can't even use magic."
"Catching Fouquet was only a fluke. Her familiar just accidentally drew out the power from the Staff of Destruction." The last person to speak was that curly-haired girl, Montmorency.
Louise had an annoyed expression on her face. On both her sides, her familiars had similar expressions.
Kai irritably closed his eyes. She's not gonna get away with talking about my Louise like that... My Louise? God, I need to get a grip. Kai shook his head but made up his mind about something.
Just as Montmorency walked off with a satisfied look... "Aah!" She fell flat on her face. She had tripped over Kai's foot.
Angrily standing up with a newly red nose, Montmorency started shouting at Kai who lightly whistled. "What are you doing? I'm a noble! How dare a commoner like you trip me!"
Before Kai could say anything back, Louise said, "You were the one not paying attention."
"What? Siding with a commoner now, Louise the Zero?!"
"Kai might be a commoner, but he is still one of my familiars, Montmorency the Flood. Insult him, and you insult me."
Gritting her teeth, Montmorency stormed off.
Kai stared at Louise with his mouth wide open. She had just stuck up for him. Feeling his gaze, Louise turned her face away, blushing. "W-What are you looking at?"
Closing his mouth, Kai muttered, "S-Sorry."
Louise had noticed that Kai had been acting strange all day. He was somewhat more reserved than usual. What else do you want? I'm being so nice to you.
As Louise was about to talk to Kai about it, Mr. Colbert entered the classroom.
"Hello, everyone." Mr. Colbert lightly patted his bald spot. Lately, he had been terrified because of Fouquet's escape from prison. Not only was there Fouquet to worry about, but her escape meant that some higher-up noble was a traitor.
Luckily for his heart, Osmond called him that morning and told Mr. Colbert that everything was all right again. Colbert wasn't one for politics, but what piqued his interest was knowledge, history, and research. That's why he loved teaching. He could explain the results of his research. On that note, he placed an odd contraption on his desk for the class.
"Mr. Colbert, what's that?" One student asked. The thing on the table had different pipes connecting to each other and a crank connecting to a wheel.
Colbert cleared his throat. "Firstly, who can tell me the main characteristics of Fire magic?"
The whole class turned to Kirche. If you were talking about Fire magic, Kirche was the expert.
Even though class had started, Kirche still polished her nails. "Passion and destruction."
"That's right!" Mr. Colbert seemed excited since he was a fire mage himself. A triangle fire mage as well. "However, besides passion, only being able to destroy is a bit lonely. It depends on the usage, everyone. Depending on how you use it, you can actually do some really fun things. Fire isn't solely for destruction, Miss Zerbst. A battle isn't the only place you will see it."
"There's no use trying to explain fire magic to an expert like myself." Kirche's voice dripped with confidence. Mr. Colbert wasn't agitated, but he smiled. "What strange thing is that?" Kirche pointed to the object on the desk.
"Hmhm... So you finally asked. This is something I invented. It works using oil and fire magic."
The students stared at the mechanism intently. The machine seemed somewhat familiar to Louise's familiars, but they couldn't quite put their fingers on it.
Mr. Colbert continued, "First we vaporize the oil, and then the vapor will go into this tube." With caution, Colbert stuck his wand inside the tube. With a small incantation, the sound of fire could be heard quickly turning into small explosions. "Watch closely everyone! Inside the tube, the explosions are moving the piston up and down!"
The crank at the top of the machine started turning and it opened a door on the box. From the door a small snake puppet popped out.
"The power is transferred to the crank which spins the wheel! Look! The snake comes out to say hello!"
Every student seemed uninterested, but one boy suddenly stood up. "T-That's incredible! It's an engine!" The entire class turned toward the boy.
"Engine?" Mr. Colbert looked at Kai with a blank expression.
Kai's eyes widened as if he had said something he shouldn't have. "Y-Yeah. Back where I'm from, it's used for a ton of things, like moving... carriages without horses..." He carefully chose his words.
"I was about to talk about that... You seem to be a perceptive person. You're one of Miss Vallière's familiars, correct?" The fact that this boy was Gandalfr suddenly came back to Colbert. Not only that, but this was a Saiyan, a being supposedly worse than elves. "Where are you from?"
Before Kai could stumble onto a response, Louise pulled on his hoodie's sleeve. "Don't say something stupid, we'll look suspicious."
Agreeing with her, Kai pretended that he didn't hear Colbert's question and sat back down.
"Hm? Where are you from?" Colbert approached Kai with a bright expression, but Louise answered him.
"Mr. Colbert, he's um... he and Saito are from Rub' al Khali in the East."
Mr. Colbert's eyes widened. "What?! Past the land of the elves? Wait, that's right... they were summoned... They wouldn't have to go past the land of the elves... I see. I hear that the people of Rub' al Khali have advanced technology."
Kai blinked for a moment and casually nodded his head. "Yep, Rub' al Khali has all sorts of stuff."
Mr. Colbert nodded and returned to the front of the classroom. Standing beside his mechanism, he looked around the class. "All right then, who would like to try operating the mechanism? It's simple! Just open the cylinder, put your wand inside, and cast the Ignite spell."
No one raised their hand. Disappointed, Mr. Colbert's shoulders dropped down.
Montmorency suddenly pointed at Louise, "Louise, you try it!"
Colbert's face lit up, "Miss Vallière! You have an interest in the mechanism?"
"Catching Fouquet, and journeying off to dangerous places... surely you wouldn't have trouble with something as simple as this, right?"
Louise quickly realized Montmorency was trying to embarrass her. It seemed as though Montmorency didn't like Louise getting all the attention.
"Come on, Louise. Louise the Zero."
Zero.
Something in Louise cracked. She just couldn't keep quiet. Louise silently stood up and started moving toward the mechanism.
Kai quickly glared at Montmorency. "Hey, Monmon."
"For God's sake, it's Montmorency!"
Kai's mouth once more moved faster than he could think. "I don't care! Stop trying to provoke Louise, knowing that she'll fail-" Kai covered his mouth, but it was too late. He knew he messed up as soon as the word fail escaped his lips.
Seeing Louise's eyes shift toward Kai, the front row of students hid behind their chairs.
Hearing Kai's comment, Mr. Colbert remembered Louise's reputation.
"Ah, Miss Vallière. Er, you can do it another time, all right?"
"I have been insulted by Montmorency the Flood." Louise's voice was cold. Her eyes were filled with rage.
"I shall discipline Miss Montmorency. So, er, could you please put away your wand?"
Louise looked toward Colbert, her gaze pierced the poor man. "Please let me do it. I do not always fail. Occasionally, I succeed." Her plead seemed more like a command, and her comment of failing seemed directed at herself.
Hearing her voice shaking, Kai and Saito put up the table as a last minute shield. Once her voice started shaking there was no stopping her.
Mr. Colbert looked toward the ceiling and sighed.
Louise took a deep breath as she stuck her wand inside the cylinder.
"Miss Vallière, uh..." Mr. Colbert's voice was only a whisper.
Ignoring him, Louise began to chant the incantation. Hearing her, the entire class froze.
There was a moment of silence...
And as expected, the mechanism exploded.
Louise and Mr. Colbert were sent flying toward the blackboard while the students screamed. The explosion scattered the burning oil across the classroom, and the students ran around chaotically, trying to avoid the flames.
As the class was burning, Louise stood up. She slowly dusted herself off, but it was a pitiful attempt to clean herself. Her clothes were scorched, and soot covered her entire body.
Montmorency stood up and chanted a spell. A barrier of water covered most of the classroom and extinguished all the fire. Applause rang out as the students thanked Montmorency.
As if triumphing over Louise, Montmorency said, "I wonder if I was even necessary. After all, you're such a skilled mage."
Angry, Louise bit her lip.
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By the time the trio was done cleaning the classroom, it was night. Completely cleaning the class was no small feat, and they had to replace the tables and chairs with spares in storage.
When they returned to the dorms, Saito waved to Louise and Kai and went to his own room. It still felt weird.
As soon as they arrived at their room, Kai fell onto his lone haystack, and Louise sat on her bed. Realizing the time, Kai heaved himself up and grabbed Louise's clothes from the closet. Louise suddenly stood up.
Tired, Kai asked, "What are you doing?"
Louise blushed and didn't reply. She quickly threw her sheets over the bedpost to make a curtain that hid her from Kai's view. Walking out from the curtain, she went to the closet, grabbed her clothes, and returned to her bed.
Hearing the shuffling of clothes behind the curtain, Kai sluggishly shrugged and collapsed on his haystack.
This stinks... I've been screwing up a lot lately. I should feel happy that Saito has his own room, but now it feels more lonely in here... The bigger issue... Louise thinks that I'm a creep. I mean, I kinda am. I kissed her in her sleep. How could I? I swore I would protect her, and I went and did something so...
Kai let out a sigh.
I swear, I'll actually protect you, Louise.
Soon, the 'curtain' was taken down. With the moonlight from the window shining off of her, Louise radiated a certain ethereal beauty. After combing her hair with her hands, she laid down and with a flick of her wand, the lamp in the room turned off.
Just as Kai was about to fall asleep, Louise sat up. "Hey, Kai."
"What's up?"
"Always sleeping on the floor is a bit extreme... you can... um... sleep on the bed... if you want."
Kai's eyes shot wide open as his voice shifted up a few octaves. "W-What?"
"D-Don't get the wrong idea! I'll hit you if you do anything weird!"
Gulping, Kai started to inch closer to the bed. His heart beat was so loud, he thought Louise could hear it. He needed to ask, but hesitated because what if Louise said no... "A-Are you sure? Even for someone like me?"
"Yes, it's okay, don't make me repeat myself. What do you mean for someone like yourself?"
Kai slipped into the bed and covered himself with the blanket. The comfort of that bed alone was almost enough to put him to sleep. Though, he had to apologize for what had happened when they were fleeing from Albion.
"I... I'm sorry... I'm sorry for kissing you like that."
Louise didn't reply.
"I promised that I would protect you... but I betrayed that promise by kissing you like that, but from here on... From here on, I'll protect you from everything. Not only people who want to hurt you but from myself as well. I... I really am sorry for what I did, from the bottom of my heart."
Louise replied with a meek tone, "It's fine, don't worry about it."
"I won't do it again."
"Of course." Louise started to talk. "Though... I too have to apologize. Sorry, for summoning you and Saito."
"It's fine. Not great, but... it's alright."
"I'll find a way for you to go back home. I don't know how, but I will... I've never even heard of another world before."
"Thank you..." Kai closed his eyes, getting ready to drift off into slumber.
"Your world... there aren't any mages, right?"
"Not to my knowledge."
"There's only one moon?"
"The one and only."
"That's weird."
"Comin' from the girl who's from a place where people use magic."
"What were you doing in your world?"
"Well, last thing I was doing was walking around town. But generally, people would consider me as a high school student."
"High school student?"
"Imagine it like how you're a student here. Studying is your job."
"What do people do other than that?" Louise started to bombard Kai with dozens of questions.
"Get some kind of job. I think most people around my age work retail..."
"What's re tale?"
Kai scratched the side of his cheek. "Eh... Imagine it like working as a merchant, but for a specific boss... and there isn't any kind of true haggling."
"I don't get it... but is that what you want to be?"
"God no!" Kai was quick to answer.
"Then, what do you want to do?"
Kai stayed silent. He hadn't thought about it. His future. He almost always focused on the present. What would he do when he got back to his world? Or maybe... Just maybe, he could stay here. Life was starting to get better and-
You selfish moron. How could you think that? Mom and Dad are probably worried sick over you, and Naomi is still missing! How could you selfishly think about abandoning them?!
Taking a moment, Kai responded in a normal tone, "Dunno. Haven't thought about it."
"Wardes said that you were a legendary familiar. He said something about the runes on the back of your and Saito's hands being the mark of Gandalfr."
The mention of Wardes and legend made Kai think about that demonic roar, but he quickly shook his head. "I don't really get it, but I do know that Gandalfr is supposed to wield Derf... I think."
"I wonder if that's true..."
Kai shrugged. "Might be. Hell, it might be that Gandalfr is the only one that can put up with him."
His light-hearted joke didn't reach Louise. "Then, why can't I use magic? You and Saito are legendary, yet I'm Louise the Zero..."
For a while, there was an awkward silence in the air.
Breaking the silence with a serious tone, Louise said, "You know, I want to become a great mage. I don't mean a powerful mage... I just... want to cast spells properly. I don't want to fail every spell I cast... I don't even know what branch of magic I belong to."
Hearing her desperation, Kai felt somewhat infected by her helplessness.
"Ever since I was small, I was told that I was hopeless. My father and mother didn't expect anything from me. I was always treated like an idiot... treated as a Zero... I really don't have any skills. There isn't a spell I can cast. I'm even bad at reciting incantations. I get it. My teachers, mother, and sisters have said it. When you cast a spell there's a feeling that rushes through your body. A rhythm that reaches a climax... But... I have never felt that before."
Louise's voice started to get meek. "But... I want to be able to do things like everyone else... Otherwise, I feel as though I wouldn't be content with myself."
Silence fell over the two of them once again. Kai reached his hand out to try to comfort her but retracted it. A small amount of time passed before Kai started to speak.
"Even if you can't use magic... You're not useless. You're normal. No, not just normal, you're you. You don't give up even when you fail, and that's a hell of a lot better than what other people do... Past that, you even have qualities that people would kill for. Even if you can't use magic, you're an amazing person..."
Kai turned over to look at Louise, but she had already fallen asleep.
He let out a quick sigh. "I reach into a deep dark place to bring that out and you don't even hear it, huh?" Slightly chuckling to himself, as if he were the funniest person ever, Kai laid down. Hearing Louise's soft breathing, Kai fell asleep.
Once Kai fell asleep, Louise opened her eyes. A blush was on her face. Though... She was a little angry.
"Why can't he act like that normally?" Even though she was a little angry, she was moved. That was one of the nicest things someone had ever said to her.
Looking at Kai, Louise let out a sigh.
"I was even pretending to be asleep." She hugged her pillow and bit her lips. It was insane. When he made a move on her, he did it without thought, like a moron, but when he was being obedient, he was completely obedient.
I don't get it. I don't understand what he's thinking at all. Louise put her hands on her chest. Her heart was beating faster than normal. It was always like that when Kai was next to her. Were those feelings true?
She had wanted to return the favor to Kai since he had saved her so many times... But that wasn't the only thing. That feeling in her chest... It was the first time she had felt those feelings, and she didn't know what to do.
She had gotten the room for Saito to thank him as well, but it was also to be alone with Kai to see if her feelings were true. The night Saito wasn't in the room, Louise somewhat realized her feelings, which is why she didn't let Kai help her change. The mere thought of him seeing her like that made her red in the face. Another thing was that she didn't want him to see her face after she had just woken up.
But, when did these feelings start? Louise thought about it for a moment. It must have been then... When she was about to be killed by Fouquet's golem, Kai jumped in to save her. There was no hesitation, no thought about his own safety... Her heart throbbed. Even though she was about to die, her heart beat loudly.
There was also the time when Wardes was about to kill her. She had fainted as soon as it happened, but Kai had jumped in then as well to save her.
But the time her heart beat the hardest was when they were riding the dragon, and he had kissed her. After that, she couldn't look at him the same way.
What does Kai think of me? An unpleasant girl? A selfish master? Or... does he like me? Well, he kissed me, so he has to like me. Wait, what if he's the same as Guiche, and just likes women? I want to know which one it is. That doesn't matter now. Why didn't do anything just now? I was pretending to be asleep.
"Of course, if he did anything now, I'd kick him in the crotch." Louise turned to look at Kai. "But..." She lightly tapped on his pillow.
Sound asleep.
She quickly looked around restlessly. Other than the moon no one was there to witness her actions. She moved closer to Kai's face. Her pulse started to quicken. For a brief moment, she pressed her lips to his. It was the kind of kiss one wouldn't realize had happened.
Kai let out a happy mumble as he turned over.
Louise started to panic as she backed away. Hiding under her blanket, she hugged her pillow.
What am I doing? To my familiar? I'm such an idiot.
Poking her head out of the blanket, she looked over at Kai's face. She lightly poked at his lips, but he didn't wake up.
He was weird, but kind of cool.
He came from another world. Carried away at some times, but completely obedient at others. Acting like a moron in some situations, but turning dead serious the next. Seeming as though he couldn't be relied on, but always being there when he was most needed.
A legendary familiar...? I wonder if I really do like him. Is this love?
Bringing back the finger that she poked him with, Louise traced her lips with that finger. The heat from that brief kiss was still there. How would I know for sure?
"I want to know..."
