A Little Comfort

Eirin closed her eyes and felt the embarrassment seeping into her soul. "This is not what you think it is!" she said while trying to move away from Shade's grasp. 

 "Oh, don't worry. I saw how you two fought each other like children," Cali said, causing Eirin's face to turn red like a tomato. "Come here, let me heal that bruise." She approached Eirin and pulled her away from Shade's grasp. 

 "I won," Shade said. 

Eirin rolled her eyes. "Yeah, right." She soon grimaced after feeling her cheeks hurting and she could taste blood inside her mouth. Cali then helped her walk which caught Eirin off guard. It was already baffling hearing Cali talk so well, receiving help from the Ice Queen adds more confusion to the teenage girl. 

 "Want me to heal you too?" Eirin turned to Shade after Cali asked him that, but the wounds Eirin inflicted were already healing. 

  'How the heck?' Eirin thought with her forehead creasing. Shade's wounds were healing on their own. "How is that possible?" the teenage girl could not stop expressing her curiosity. "Does he have healing abilities too?" 

Cali stared at Shade who was already glaring at them. "No, he's just different," she said and reached out her hand to Eirin. "Let's go." 

 'Different how? And why is Cali being kind to me?' Eirin gulped and accepted Cali's hand. Despite the remaining questions inside her head, the teenage girl decided to keep quiet as she was still embarrassed by what she had shown. It was dark in the hallway, and as the two of them reached the empty infirmary, Eirin sat on one of the beds and felt the lingering coldness from Cali's hand on hers. 

 "I have never seen you as someone that would fight with Shade Cromwell... so well." 

Eirin flinched after feeling Cali's piercing gaze on her. "Ha-ha-ha. I-I just got caught with my emotions." She forced a laugh, avoiding Cali's eyes. "I don't know why, but that guy really knows how to push my buttons," Eirin muttered which Cali heard, making her chuckle. 

 'Did the cool and snob girl Calixta just laugh at me?' Eirin was baffled while blinking lots of times. 'So, she also knows how to laugh like that,' she thought in awe. 

Cali reached out her hand once again after getting rubbing alcohol. "Here, let me treat your wounds," she said. The coldness in her tone vanished, causing comfort to Eirin's heart. That tickling cold feeling seeped into Eirin's body once again, removing the pain in her body and the wound inside her mouth quickly vanished. 

 "Thank you," Eirin said with a sheepish expression. "Uhm, but what's the alcohol for?" The silence inside the dark infirmary caused Eirin to feel nervous after asking which continued to make her feel discomfort. 

 "It's for me to use. You've been rolling on the ground with all that dirt after all." 

Eirin scratched the back of her head and said, "R-Right. I'm sorry for that." She kept snatching glances at Calixta and eventually made the girl look at her. 

 "What is it?" 

Eirin flinched. "I-It's just, I hope you wouldn't let the school director learn of what just happened. I know it's a little demanding of me since I've been using your power for granted and now, I'm asking for a favour," the teenage girl said while fiddling with her fingers. 

 "I won't." 

That simple answer reassured Eirin, thinking that the cool girl Cali would not do something like snitch her out after she said that she wouldn't. Despite not being more than strangers, Eirin felt a little comfort by Calixta's presence. As if being in the middle of the ocean with nothing to hold on to, Calixta was like a small paddle board she could cling to in order not to drown in the unfamiliar place. 

 "Hey, you're supposed to wake up now." 

Eirin's eyes quickly went wide open after hearing her roommate's voice beside her. 

 'Crap! I overslept again.' She quickly stood causing a little pang in her head as she thanked her roommate for waking her up. Even after getting her wounds healed, the exhaustion that her little sparring with Shade Cromwell caused did not just vanish that quickly. 

Eirin rushed to the bathroom and took the quickest bath, trying to match Coleen's pace, but as soon as she got out of the bathroom, Coleen was already nowhere to be found. 

 "I guess we're still not close enough to leave together." Eirin wore her uniform. "I'm glad my stockings are here," she said to herself after putting on her long black stockings. She rushed out of her room and towards the campus grounds leading to their classroom as soon as she was done. 

 "Good morning, Eirin." 

 "You look great today too." 

 "Wow, your hair looks so shiny. What shampoo do you use?" 

The students that she passed by were bombarding her with compliments and greetings and all she could do was smile thinking how she didn't even know any of them. With heavy breathing, Eirin felt relieved upon seeing that she arrived before their professor Ms. Hockenbury. 

 "There you are! Sit here." Kara waved her hand as soon as her eyes landed on Eirin entering the classroom. "You should just sit here beside me instead of sitting at the back," she said as she stood and grabbed Eirin's arm, not letting her go unless she did what she told her to. 

 'They'll surely hate me if I reject Kara,' Eirin thought. 

 "Hey, you still got my notebook. Give it back." 

Eirin stared at Coleen after she said that. She couldn't control the smile that formed on her face as she gently took her arm from Kara's grip. "Sorry, I need to give Coleen her notebook back," she said and rushed to her seat before Kara could stop her. 

 "Tsk. Who the hell does she think she is?" Kara muttered with her arms crossed. "How dare she reject me." 

Eirin sat on her chair and muttered, "Thanks for that." However, all eyes were following her every movement. 

 "It's nice to see you two getting along," Link giggled which made Eirin turn around, and there she saw Shade Cromwell sleeping beside Link. "I think Coco right here likes Eirin more than we think, is it not?" 

Coleen's face turned bright red, and she slapped Link's arm, making the guy laugh out loud and garnering everyone's attention. Hearing the good-looking guy's laugh comforted Eirin as she brought out her notebook and Coleen's. 

 "Thank you for this," Eirin said after putting Coleen's notebook on the table. "It helped a lot. I was really confused with how this world works so your notes are a total lifesaver." 

Coleen did not say anything, but her ears were red. 

 "Do you understand how the flairs work now?" Link asked. Before Eirin could even answer, Ms. Hockenbury entered the classroom turning the tension up with her eyebrows raised as she sat on her seat. 

 "Today we shall hold a group task," Ms. Hockenbury rolled her eyes as she threw a whirlwind right in Eirin's direction. Coleen quickly pushed Eirin away. "Wake up, Shade Cromwell." Disappointment and annoyance brimmed on Ms. Hockenbury's face. 

 'Was it really for Shade Cromwell?' Eirin thought as she fixed her uniform and went back to her seat. "Thank you," she muttered to Coleen. If it wasn't for that push, who knows what might have happened to Eirin's pretty and fair face? 

 "I don't know what you did but Ms. Hockenbury's showing her hatred towards you with no filter," Coleen stated the obvious. 

 "I don't know what I did either." 

The four, Eirin, Coleen, Link, and Shade ended up in a group. 

 "What a fun combination," Link said giggling as they faced each other. 

 "Would you please wake up that guy?" Coleen pointed to Shade who was still lying on his desk unconscious despite being thrown with a whirlwind only to mess with his dark black and already messed up hair. 

 "Why does he keep sleeping in class?" Eirin asked. 

Link and Coleen looked at each other. "That's what I want to know," they said in chorus, confusing Eirin more. If the closest people to Shade Cromwell don't understand him, then who would? 

 "Now that you are separated into groups, we will be having a quiz by pairs." 

Eirin's forehead creased alongside the murmurs of the students. 'Quiz by pairs? I thought it'd be a group task?' she thought. 

 "Eirin Luxfield and Shade Cromwell, you two are the first pair I have chosen. You two will represent your group and answer my questions," Ms. Hockenbury announced. 

  'Of course, it's me again. Am I even surprised? Ms Hockenbury looks like she's determined to humiliate me every time.' 

The teacher explained that she would only give 30 minutes for them to review all their lessons before getting onto the dais in front and answering the questions given. 

 "I wonder what goes inside Ms. Hockenbury's head. This isn't like her at all," Link muttered. 

 'If she's not usually like this, then is it all my fault? She's not hiding her hostility towards me. Is this befitting for a teacher? And why does she hate me so much anyway? What did I do wrong?'

Eirin sighed when her eyes landed on Shade who still wouldn't get up from his desk. 'And this guy does not have any care in the world at all,' she thought. 

 "Hey," Eirin tried to get Shade to wake up but there was no response. 

Ms. Hockenbury left the classroom for a little while as she was called to the Queen's office the classroom was now filled with white noises and everyone was speaking, talking about how they would handle the sudden quiz. 

 "Wake up." The teenage girl shook the young man's shoulder, but still, no response at all. 

 "How am I going to answer those questions?" 

Link patted Eirin's shoulder upon seeing how troubled she looked. "Don't worry. We'll help you review right now." He turned to Coleen. "Our Coco right here is good with history after all." 

  'Where did the 'we' go?' Eirin gulped and hesitated if she could move closer to Coleen. 'I didn't realize how hard being a high school student was,' the teenage girl thought, referring to having to socialize with other people her age. 

 "Shade! I brought you some cookies I baked early this morning." 

The three heard Kara's shrill voice and her trudging footsteps toward Shade's seat. "Oho? Is he still asleep?" Kara giggled as she reached out her hand to touch Shade's head, but their eyes all went wide after Shade stopped Kara's hand before she could even touch a single strand of his hair. 

 "Don't touch me."