Ch 1 : She is a bit... Weird, right?

"M-my name is Hirakawa Yui! Nice to meet you!"

Due to her small voice, the girl shouted with all her might, before lowering her head in a self-introduction manner.

On the podium, she stands out as the center of attention. All of those eyes turned to her, making the back beneath the dark robe trembled with nervousness.

"–As you can see. From now on, Hirakawa-san will be joining this class. Well, putting aside her appearance, I hope that you will get on well with her as fellow 3rd-year students."

When the homeroom teacher said that, all the students answered "Okay~~" in unison. But contrary to their words, almost the whole class have the same doubtful faces.

Why is there a transfer student in the 3rd year like this?

Maybe she had problems with her previous school?

That girl is wearing an eye patch and a robe, is that allowed?

Wait, she's wrapped bandages around her hands?!

Her hair is messy, and her bangs are too long!

– when such questions started to spread among the students, indirectly, they thought the same thing.

("""""""THIS GIRL IS BAD NEWS!""""""")

Even so, the homeroom teacher was just doing his job without knowing what the students were thinking at all, and Hirakawa Yui also immediately followed the teacher's instructions while continuing to hold back her nervousness.

"Alright then, Hirakawa-san, please go to your seats immediately."

"O-okay!"

Seen at the very back, is an empty seat that has been prepared for her. So she walked from there, towards her seat. It was then that everyone's eyes glanced at this girl, the curiosity of the disciples blatantly reached her.

Hirakawa Yui's hold breath, it feels her legs couldn't walk properly, more like those knees were moving like a jointless robot– Ugh... Hopefully, that didn't happen, she hoped. But honestly, being in the spotlight among the crowd like this was a pain in various ways, and obviously, it made a strange awkwardness in the way she walked, or maybe this was what everyone called stage fright?

After finally arriving at her seat, Hirakawa Yui sighed silently. And when the teacher started the class, she immediately took out her English book–or, it should be. But what she had in her hands now is another book.

Huh... W-wait, I thought I had brought the book as scheduled, but...

- DIARY OF THE FAMOUS MAGIC OF ALL TIME: ASTRE ZOLOVOEIN

- ALCHEMICAL RECIPES FROM LEADING ALCHEMISTS.

- KNOW MORE ABOUT TELEKINESIS – THE POWER OF MIND.

- ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DARK MAGIC.

Just like that, as if after being doused with cold water, hers face immediately turned pale.

With trembling hands, she re-zipped her bag and began to wonder what to do. In the first place, Yui was sure she had brought the correct book last night– although she ended up falling asleep while trying to check how far the subject matter she had gotten in school before.

Luckily, she managed to get up in the morning and go to school almost late. Or maybe that's when I brought the wrong book? she thought.

This girl hugged her head "What should I do...?", and whispered sadly.

To be honest, Hirakawa Yui never had a habit of bringing her favorite things to school. Not because she didn't want to, but because this girl didn't have anyone at her old school with whom she could share her hobbies and interests– Even now at her new school. Then why did she bring the wrong book? After she thought about it again, it was because she was in a hurry so as not to be late for school, and ended up carrying another pile of books that happened to be on the same table.

In short, all of this is her fault for being out of focus. Even now that she remembers, it makes her could only groan in embarrassment 'ugh..'

"–san, Hirakawa-san!"

"Ah!"

Someone called her from the side. Either cause it was so sudden or she just realized it too late, Hirakawa Yui gasped in surprise.

When she turned to look at it, seen sitting by the window was a girl with sinister eyes. Her brows furrowed, and the atmosphere around her felt dangerous, plus she had dark black hair and bright red eyes that were not normal for a typical Japanese.

"W-what is it...?"

Hirakawa Yui tried to stay calm, standing under this atmosphere, her knees became weak, she felt like facing a thug or Yakuza member rather than a classmate right now– that's why this girl choose to sit down.

"No, it's fine... I mean, you looked pale earlier, so I was just making sure."

When Yui had self-prepared for what terrible thing the girl in front of her would say, it was surprising that her hopes were disappointed in a good sense. Really, didn't anyone say don't judge a book by its cover?

"O-oh! That..."

She was silent, a bit confused whether to tell him or not.

On the other hand, seeing her restless, the girl raised her eyebrows which had been frowning. "You... Don't tell me you're really in trouble right now?"

Yui broke out in cold sweat, trying to find an excuse, and her eyes swam in all directions. But in the end, he shyly gave in and nodded.

".....Y-yes.."

×∆

–––The school that morning looked peaceful.

Under the typical summer morning sun, the singing of the cicadas filled the silence while studying in the school area.

with a quiet atmosphere in the classroom, only the voice of the homeroom teacher could be heard throughout the room. While in the very back row of seats, the two girls put their desks together and started sharing the day's books– and this moment continued until break times come.

"S-sorry to bother you!" Yui lowered her head, grateful that the girl had helped her on this first day.

"Don't mind!" The girl replied, "Well, put that aside, how great you're bringing the wrong textbook on your first day here." The girl's chuckled, making Yui's first impression completely shatter just like that.

And Yui laughed awkwardly back, she scratched her cheek while looking away– trying to find another topic, "Uhm... By the way, I still don't know your name..."

At Yui's asking, the girl made a question mark above her head, "Hm? Weren't we doing absent earlier?"

"Uh-huh, well, I came almost late so..."

"Ah!"

That's right, even though Yui arrived on time for school, but she was also late at the same time. Precisely after the bell rang, she finally arrived at the teacher's room and was finally led to her class when the students had finished absent, that's why she didn't know anyone here.

"Then, let me introduce myself. My name is Akemi– Sakai Akemi. Nice to meet you." Akemi placed one hand on her chest, and bowed gracefully to introduce herself. Seeing that, somehow making the impression of a delinquent student before now turning into a princess from a certain kingdom.

"O-okay! N-nice to meet you Sakai-sama!" And somehow, Yui made her tongue slip until she accidentally ended her sentence with a courtesy call.

Akemi laughed, "Pfft~! It's really funny seeing how people change their attitude whenever see me introduce myself like that, pfufu~" That girl's hit her knee a few times like an old man at a drinking party. "And out of everyone, you're the funniest one Hirakawa-san! Ahahaha~!"

"Ah-eh?!" Yui was surprised, under the bangs covering that eyes, her face was dyed bright red. "S-stop that! I really feel want to bury myself right now! Awahhh!" Unable to contain his embarrassment, she held his head and ruffled her short hair.

"Muahahaha!" While on the other hand, Akemi completely changed her image once again in front of Yui, which ended up triggering another confusion from the robed girl about her true nature.

"Geez, look like you're having a lot of fun here~"

A group of students came towards them, where one of the boys with a friendly atmosphere said casually like that to Akemi.

"I thought so, but Sakai-san, you laugh too loudly!"

Beside him continuing, was a reddish-brown-haired girl. She looked like someone who would normally be in a student organization, her way of scolding Akemi was so natural just like she always used to do that to all the students.

"Ohh! Welcome you two! By the way, introduce, we have a new friend here!"

Akemi answered the two with a wave, before suddenly the topic turned to Yui.

"Ah! Uhm, n-nice to meet you! I'm a transfer student, Hirakawa Yui! Hopefully we can get to know each other!"

The friendly guy clapped, "Ohh! Then me too. My name is Sato Daichi from class 3-1, Nice to meet you, Hirakawa-san!" And take turns introducing himself.

"I heard that too, there's a transfer student in the 3rd year, so it's you?" And that reddish-brown-haired girl narrowed her eyes as if trying to identify from head to toe. "Yosh! Another weirdo has been confirmed! Anyway, I'm from the same class as the guy beside me, Inoue Haruka. Nice to meet you, okay?"

"O-okay!" Yui answered nervously, she felt that Haruka girl was a difficult one when talking to a human like Yui– so it just made her didn't know how to answer.

And when all the introductions were done, Haruka looked around the classroom, watching each student talking to each other, and other students going out of the classroom to finish their own business– and ended up looking at Akemi questioningly. "Where is 'He'?"

"He? Who do you mean?" Akemi asked back, with a seductive smile that didn't cover up her lies at all.

"O-of course is 'He"! Who else?!" While stuttering, Haruka with a flushed face tried to act calm. But his reaction like that caused another mischief in Akemi.

"Ahh, I was just told he didn't want to see you because of yesterday's incident... That's why he rushed out of the classroom after the bell rang." Akemi rolled her eyes, skillfully replacing the smile on her face with a bored expression.

"Yesterday... I-impossible...." When Haruka heard 'yesterday's incident', her cheeks turned red and she froze on the spot, but after realizing what Akemi had fully said, the color on her face disappeared in an instant. "Eh, no way, is he angry? I'm sure he feels the same way, but is it just me? This is terrible, what should I do? Does he hate me? What should I do!?"

"No, no, no! I thought you're supposed to be ask me how i know about 'that' right?!" Akemi's words seemed to have a worse effect than she had expected, seeing her own friend's reaction which had crossed the line, Akemi pulling her body away and with a disgusted face just said, "Uwahhh, this girl is hopeless!"

On the other hand, Daichi saw how his friend overreact and giggled silently. With a smile that didn't change at all on his mouth, he informed, "Haruka, this girl here is just playing with you kay?"

"I know! But what if-- it was true?!"

"W-well..." That question was a bit difficult for him, really, how did he know right or wrong about other people's problems? Even so, he still tried to help her, and gave advice, "Then you have no choice but to ask him right?"

"WHAT?! DA-I-CHI! How can I ask if the person himself isn't here?! Grr..!!"

"Huh?! W-wait Haruka! Calm down a little! I see! I see! So stop pulling my tie!"

Maybe because Haruka was annoyed about how her friend was treating her problem so casually, she started tugging on Daichi's tie. His current behavior looked more like a delinquent who trying to forcefully ask for money from a good student.

On the other side, Yui was watching the whole scene with a forced smile, these three people were talking about someone she didn't even know, so she couldn't follow their conversation at all. Feeling alienated, she just remembered that she needed permission to go home and bring back the rest of the books for today.

She didn't feel it was good to suddenly break the mood, and since the beginning, she wasn't a very good word-former either, Yui thought that going straight from there was the best she could do– even though she knew that her actions would they were offended, but that's how she's interacted with people all along.

While thinking so, Yui turned her back on them and quietly left. She was relieved that no one was paying attention, but at the same time sad about how small his existence was among people.

–– The thing she did after leaving class was to go to the teacher's room, from there she asked for permission to return home. Since her homeroom teacher had seen how Yui shared books with Akemi throughout the class, she was allowed to go home, but of course, Yui couldn't escape punishment and still got a stern warning for being careless on her first day.

She couldn't say anything about this, after all, the mistakes she made were stupid enough to be embarrassing. It would be best if she could make up for it in a responsible way, so she thought.

After some time was wasted due to the teacher's lecture, Yui hurriedly ran. From the corridors to the stairs, and the school grounds, her figure became the center of attention because of the robe she was wearing– but Yui didn't pay any heed to that at all, her mind was now more focused on going to her house and picking up some textbooks for class after recess, and of course, she didn't want to be late again.

The school is in the center of the city, not far from the train station, and Yui went to school this morning using the KRL from home. But now, she would not use it. As she ran past the people outside the school, Yui immediately entered the narrow alley between the 2 buildings.

That girl continued to go deeper, into an area where she was sure there is no one at all– without knowing it, she had stepped on a puddle of water there before finally stopping not far from the trash can. Yep, besides, the place was widely used by roadside shops as a place to put garbage which trucks would later pick up, that's why people wouldn't go there even though it could be used as a shortcut.

But then, standing slightly away from the trash can, Yui looked left and right, front and back, making sure no one was there.

Just as she felt that everything was fine, Yui put her hand on the wall of the building, closed her eyes, and said, "Pyles!"

A hole formed on the wall in front of her hand, and gradually widened into an oval shape as tall as her.

Yui's snorted, she make a wide smile on her lips. And proudly, walked into the portal.

– However, one thing that Yui didn't know, was that when she entered the portal, someone had been watching her from the top of the veranda in the 3rd-floor building.

"S-SERIOUSLY?!"

A girl with black bags under her eyes gawked and stuck half of her body out of the veranda barrier in curiosity.

She had blonde hair plus blue eyes, and her appearance was more half-blooded than a westerner. However, with her tracksuit and disheveled hair, that beauty became cloaked under the impression of being unkempt.

"First was a Vampires and now is magical girls? Give me a break, geez...!"

The girl said and sighed. Her face looked tired, but the fact that what she'd been through– just will become a story for another day.

•∆

The place where Yui arrived was her own room, but instead of coming out from the walls like how she had entered before, a portal appeared on the ceiling, which finally made that girl fall and kiss the ground.

"WHOA?! ––Ack!!!!!"

The imperfect landing sent pain in her arms and face, making her, of course, groan. But even though she didn't sprain, Yui had blood dripping from her nose, "Aw, aw, aw, aw!" She had a nosebleed.

"M-my nouse~~!!" Yui rushed out of the room, running with her head up.

With her shoes still on, she walked down the hall of the apartment, entered the living room, and walked over to the freezer in the kitchen. Yui took some ice cubes and a small plastic bag and hurried over to the sofa.

After that, she sat with her back straight, and took a tissue to wipe the blood on her nose, then tried to do the initial treatment.

It took about 10 minutes for the blood to stop coming out, but she knew that she couldn't do activities that would cause her head move too much, because Yui was afraid that the nosebleed would happen again. And although the girl herself wanted to hang on a little longer to make sure her nose was all right, she also didn't want to be scolded a second time at school.

That's why Yui got up from the sofa, intending to walk to her room– when she finally realized that half the floor in that room had shoe prints coming from it.

'Ah,' Yui turned pale, 'I forgot to take it off...'

•∆

Somehow, Yui finally made it to school when the bell rang and recess was over.

Again on time.

Even so, putting aside the strange feeling of Dejavu, she also thought about how reckless she had been today, ranging from almost being late, carrying the wrong book and even littering the floor of the house.

As a result, Yui had to clean up the remaining footprints she had made herself, and once again, she couldn't complain about this at all.

Everything has to be dealt with properly, is it?

– Walking down the corridor with several books in hand,s he became the center of attention (again) as everyone started to return to their respective classes. Feeling like she didn't want to be the last one, Yui also walked over to her class, rushing ahead of several students who wanted to enter.

The book wasn't really heavy, but Yui wasn't an athletic girl, her arms were sore right now, especially her shoulders. Unable to stand it, Yui immediately put the pile of books on her seat, and immediately grabbed the bag hanging beside the table. But, whether it was because of her feelings or just a coincidence, Yui turned to Akemi– who was currently looking at her with scary eyes.

Yui almost choked. That gaze made her horrified, unlike this morning, this one seemed to send killing intent.

Eh?! W-what?! Why?! C-could she is still angry because I suddenly disappeared earlier?

Of course Yui understood, even if she was in her position, she must definitely feel the same way if the person that she was talking to so friendly a moment ago suddenly left without telling her at all.

But, is it really necessary? Staring at the person who angered you like that with eyes that convey the message to kill, isn't that an exaggeration?!

Yui wants to scream, however, she was the one who understood more than anyone, that any mistakes she made, had to be dealt with in a responsible way.

"S-sorry..." Unfortunately, her words were cut off. 'As expected! There's no way I can just apologize if you keep looking at me like that!' And she loses confidence so easily.

"...Your nose, what happen?"

Akemi asked, from her voice, it sounded like she was holding something.

"Ah! This is... from falling..." Under her gaze, Yui stuttered – what she wanted to say just disappeared from her mind.

"I see..." Turning her head away, Akemi seemed to be hinting that their conversation ended there.

"Ah..." Yui is confused, this girl's character changed so suddenly and made her uneasy. to be honest, the moment where she was laughed at by Akemi is really made her happy. Of course, this all started from his own fault, but... If only a trivial apology from her could fix this, if she tried to be bolder now than she was then...

"Sakai-san!" she made up her mind, and her intentions were very righteous, at this moment, Yui shouted for Akemi. Even though her voice should have been small, she made the class that was still bustling with students who had just returned from outside fall into silence watching her– luckily, her resolve now was stronger than embarrassment, or perhaps she just simply didn't realize that she was being the center of attention right now.

"What's wrong? A fight?

"Don't know~"

"Uwaa~ Sakai-san looks scary again.."

"You're right, I haven't seen her like that in a long time."

"Let me guess, the transfer girl must have misunderstood?"

"That happens often, doesn't it?"

The students whispered amongst themselves, watching from afar what was really going to happen. Then, in the very front row of seats – near the entrance to be exact, a guy who also happened to notice that took out a camera from his bag, and walked up to the podium to take pictures of the incident.

"Yeah, yeah, keep it up guys, and let me get some good news out of this." That guy's smiled, in a strange way pulling the corners of his lips from ear to ear. And he shrewdly photographed the two couples who were the center of attention today.

Returning to Yui, her scream just now not only shocked the whole class, but also Akemi whose name was clearly called.

"H-ha?!" The sudden call made her unable to react properly, and inadvertently answered like a troubled person. Akemi then turned her head, only to see Yui bowing 90 degrees towards her.

"I-I'm sorry!"

"Eh?"

On the other hand, Yui desperately tried to stay brave and conveyed all her regrets to the girl in front of her.

"I-I'm sorry for suddenly leaving without telling you earlier, I know this sounds like self-defense, but I thought it would be annoying if I suddenly ruined the mood that time. But, but! I know that I was acting very selfishly. without thinking about your feelings first! E-even so! Not that I had any intention of offending you! That's why I'm sorry! S-SORRY FOR THIS SO SELF-CONCERNED ME!!"

Yui shouted loudly, making her breathing rough. Not physically, but after what she said, she was mentally exhausted, and there was a feeling where she wanted to run away from all of this, but she held it in tight.

Even if it was just a little, she could feel a cold sweat rolling down his back. And even though Yui knew that the robe she was wearing would be extremely hot in this season, she still wore it. However, she never would have thought that at times like this, and this moment– she just felt like taking off his robes and standing in front of the air conditioner.

"Ahh, about that..." Akemi started to speak, she then straightened her seat facing Yui and continued. "First of all, Hirakawa-san... Sit down first..."

Yui sat up, she looked at Akemi seriously as if ready to accept anything– but at the same time nervous, made her hands move uncomfortably on her thighs.

"What I want you to know, it didn't make me angry at all."

"Huh?"

Yui was silent, those words made her both relieved and happy – and of course, very confused. Why she's not angry? Then why does she look like angry? Was it something that had nothing to do with her?

"I think you've misunderstood something here. Sorry, it's also my fault for not telling you, but due to various 'circumstances', I'll be like this for a while."

"Various... Circumstances?"

"That's right... So, uhh, well, don't worry about it? I mean, I'm not mad or anything, okay?" With an expression that didn't change at all, Akemi gave a thumbs up like as id says 'everything's fine!'.

Really, how far would this girl go to confuse Yui? On the first day they met, she had betrayed Yui's expectations many times, and not in a bad mean, but also something that made her don't know what to do.

"A-ah! I see..."

"Hmm?"

The teacher came right then and there, dispersing the group of students who had been drifting away from Yui and Akemi for some time– as if to give the pair some space to talk.

"All right, everyone! Go back to your seats!"

The next lesson was history, and the teacher had started absent when class was running normally. There, Yui pondered staring at the pile of books in front of her, still unsure about what her seat neighbor had said. For a moment, Yui glanced at Akemi, the girl didn't change her expression at all. Even when she was absent, the reaction of the teacher and the rest of her classmates just treated it like something normal.

Frankly, too many things had happened today, and it was causing Yui to feel tired, after all, wasn't it all going too smoothly? Sitting dumbfounded on the seat, Yui repeatedly pinched her arm, it seemed that this is not a dream.

If only– only if things were really okay… Could she befriend like the other students? Yui looked back at Akemi, her scary face slowly faded away, her eyes weren't as scary as before, but she still looked angry.

Yui smiling warmly, and narrowed her eyes slightly,

'Well... there's no harm in trying right?'

°∆

In the next lesson, Yui fell asleep, she actually fell asleep so suddenly.

Surprisingly, the teacher did not reprimand her at all, and this left the students with a lot of questions about her.

While beside her was Akemi whose have her expression returned to normal, and only left a curious face as she silently watched Yui sleeping. Under her ambiguous gaze, no one but himself knew what she was really thinking.