Exception

Eirin's forehead creased. "Isn't that too much of a name for a race? Why are they even called like that?" 

Coleen smacked her lips together and tilted her head. "Hmm, as far as I could remember, they are called like that because they go berserk. How do I explain this— so there's this thing called miasma right? Ms. Hockenbury mentioned it in class earlier. This miasma is a poisonous form of mana that could make people ill and kill living things. Like just lose control of their sanity." 

 "The demons are said to cause miasma which is why their race was eradicated in the earlier years." 

Eirin's eyes widened. "E-Eradicated? As in their entire race?" 

 "I know, right? Mental," Coleen said while shaking her head. "Some of them escaped, but most of them died. Although it has been proven that they don't really cause miasma to form. Which is why Shade being from that race is a hot topic wherever you go in this world." 

Eirin could not say anything after hearing such things. 

 "It was unfair. The government of this world, the Ministry of Proprius decided to obliterate them without having to listen to their side. Now, there's really no explanation as to how miasma forms, but it is a fact that miasma is dangerous." 

 "Wait, are they going to kill him? Shade Cromwell?" 

 "Of course not," Coleen said. "He's been in the hands of the academy ever since he was little, and the Queen took all custody of him. Although he still causes debate every here and there. Even though it was already proven that they're not evil creatures. People just don't like fearing something more powerful than them." 

Hearing all of that caused Eirin's heart to ache. All this time she was under the premise that Shade Cromwell is a loved person due to how many girls were obsessed with him, including their classmate Kara, but turns out it wasn't like that at all. 

 "You know, some are against him living in the academy with all the other students since they see him as a threat. But others want to give him freedom since he's not fully a demon and they pity him for having to go through such things when he's young, just everybody else." 

Eirin tilted her head. "What does that mean? You know, with not being fully a demon?" 

 "It means he's not a pure breed. One of his parents is a human— it's really complicated. Since Shade is a half-demon, he can't control himself sometimes. It's just my speculations, but I think it's the human touch that makes him go berserk." 

Memories of the incident where Shade lost himself in front of Eirin flashed inside her head. Realizing that it might be all her fault. The way she touched him without knowing how it would affect him. 

 "And this is why Ms. Hockenbury must have hated you too. You're an inops, well, currently since you still don't know what kind of flair you have. It's rare for people like us, you know, flair users, to not know what kind of ability we have." 

The way Coleen talked a lot about things made Eirin smile a little, wondering if her roommate's finally opening up to her. Seeing her smile caused Coleen to stop. 

 "What? Why are you smiling like a creep?" 

 "It's nothing. I just thought you're not wary of me anymore. I wish we could become friends soon." 

Coleen stood, dropping the strawberry shortcake she hadn't finished eating yet on the floor. "W-Who said I'm not wary anymore? W-We're not going to be friends! And we'll never be friends." With her face red as a tomato, Coleen stormed out of the room, leaving the mess she made. 

Eirin felt her face heating up as she lay on the bed while her body was filled with embarrassment. Never in her life did she expect to use the word friends to other people. As someone who focused her whole life on ballet, having no friends meant nothing to her because she always had Ava by her side. She was too busy with ballet before that she did not have the time to pay attention to friends, but now that Ava and ballet are gone, there was nothing left to her. 

 "Who would have thought this would be so hard?" 

She got up from her bed and brought some cleaning tools to clean up the mess while thinking about how adorable Coleen was. It was like living with a wary cat. Despite her mean actions, Eirin could not help but find her roommate adorable. And with all the information she learned about Shade Cromwell, her heart was in a mess. What should she feel about the man, learning that he was a victim, just like everybody else? 

The days started passing like a slideshow and Eirin immediately noticed Shade Cromwell's absence from the class, so, she got Ms. Hockenbury's attention and hatred all to herself. As if Ms. Hockenbury was dying for this moment to come. 

 "It's been more than a week now, how could you still not know this information, Miss Luxfield? Do you take my class as mockery?" 

Everyone was silent while Eirin stood and received all Ms. Hockenbury's hateful words. They have been used to it every morning during Ms. Hockenbury's class. The teacher would often call Eirin out and ask her things she had never discussed, wondering why the student could not answer at all. It would have been easy to answer if Eirin grew up in the world of Proprius, but that was not the case. 

Despite the comfort her classmates tried to give her, Eirin felt humiliated once again. She had never thought that the way would come where she would be treated less than a person. It's that feeling again, where she was surrounded by people, but she felt all alone. No one to rely on, and no one to ask for help from. 

 "Maybe I should teach you, Eirin. Just say the word," Kara giggled with her minions. "Oh, I remembered, you've been hanging out with that freak so I don't think I would want to become friends with you anymore." 

Even the other girls who were fawning over Eirin last week were all quiet and decided to stop paying attention to the teenage girl. They did not want to face Ms. Hockenbury's annoyance and frustration and would rather live an easy-going life away from Eirin Luxfield. 

Knowing that this is all because of how she talked back to the teacher makes Eirin somewhat regret her decision, but of course, she does not want to accept such humiliation either. 

 "I'll just tutor you. You'll be able to answer it next time," Coleen said after Eirin got back to her seat. "I'm sure she chose that question just to humiliate you," she didn't even try to control the sound of her voice, making the other students hear her. 

 "Looks like the freak wants to be Ms. Hockenbury's next toy— oh right. You're special, Princess McGuffin." 

Coleen ignored Kara's words as she brought out her notebook. "Here, you should read this first and familiarize yourself with our dear country that Ms. Hockenbury adores," she said. 

Eirin smiled and thought of how kind Coleen had become. Even though she hated the thought of becoming friends with Eirin, the fact that she continues to help the teenage girl makes it feel like she's gaining someone she can rely on. 

Link started talking up to them, saying how the two of them were starting to get along well, causing the other students to stare at the three of them. Kara and the others might hate Coleen McGuffin, but they could never hate Link Patterson, the only friend of Shade Cromwell. He is known to be a good-looking guy with a good personality. Whenever he's around, the vibes just turn vibrant. 

 "I feel lonely, my seatmate's not around," Link said with an overly huge smile. It was contradictory. Was he truly lonely? 

 "You don't look lonely at all," Eirin said. 

Just the minimal interaction between them already made Coleen McGuffin wary as she stood from her seat, stopping them from talking to each other any further. 

 "Let's go, Eirin Luxfield! I'm going to tutor you today so stop talking to Link and come with me." 

Coleen grabbed Eirin's arm and pulled her out of the classroom. They walked into the buzzing hallway, bumping into some random students now and then. Some were still greeting Eirin with all smiles, while others were avoiding Coleen's gaze. It gave Eirin the impression that the other students were all wary of Coleen McGuffin. But why? 

 "Hey, Eirin, don't you want to go out with me?" 

One random male student with a flashy appearance approached the two of them and blocked their way while smiling from ear to ear. 

His friend smacked him on the head and said, "Stupid! Do you want to end up in the hospital like those seniors? Shade Cromwell won't forgive you if you touch his girl." 

With how loud the voice of that boy was, all the male students started avoiding Eirin in fear of Shade Cromwell. But this caused Eirin to wonder, when did she become Shade Cromwell's girl? Should she feel annoyed or thankful for this misconception? 

 "Isn't it amazing?" 

Eirin blinked three times and said, "What is?" 

They entered the library and Eirin saw that there were lots of students inside. The opposite of how it was in her former high school. 

 "It is extremely rare for Shade to interact with girls. Even I get a hard time talking to that jerk, but he fought with you. He usually doesn't listen to whatever Ms. Hockenbury tells him to do. If it was the usual him, he would have ignored her and skipped her class." 

 'Then why did he do that and almost killed me?' Eirin thought and sighed in disbelief. "If it wasn't his usual self, then do you know why he did that?" 

Coleen shrugged while scanning the whole area. "Maybe you're an exception. I can't say though. Even when we were children, I just couldn't seem to understand that guy— oh! There's an empty seat." 

The two took a seat at the table near the window. "This is a great spot," Coleen smiled, but as soon as she realized that she was smiling, she immediately cleared her throat. "Now, shall we start studying?" 

Coleen started helping Eirin learn the basics of the history of Proprius. How flair works, who are the ruling people, everything she should remember when it comes to the concept of magic and mana. It was all info-dumping, but Eirin could not complain. 

 "I feel bad asking again but I don't understand this concept." 

Coleen glanced at Eirin. "Where?" 

 "Here—" Eirin's eyes went wide as she quickly gave Coleen her handkerchief. "Y-Your nose is bleeding." 

Eirin stood in surprise, causing all the students in the library to look in their direction. 

 "I just noticed it, but your face looks awfully pale." 

Seeing the same pale appearance triggered an unwanted memory inside Eirin's head. 

 "I think we should stop here and go to the infirmary instead." 

Coleen shook her right hand while wiping her nose with her left. "It's fine. It's just a nosebleed. I've been having this nowadays." 

  'Isn't that a bad sign?' Eirin gulped. 

Coleen patted Eirin's arm as she leaned on the table. However, as soon as she stood, her head spun and fell flat on the floor. Eirin called her name, panicking and asking for other people's help while Coleen lost consciousness and the last thing she saw was Eirin's face brimming with worry.