Chapter 10 - Midterms and Winter Break!

"Time's up! Pass your papers to the right," Professor Harth spoke, glancing from the clock to her students. The once previous silent room erupted with murmurs as Professor Harth waited to collect the papers. It was nearing the end of midterms week and Omisha and Tyler were finishing up their midterm exam for their spiritology class.

"How do you think you did?" Tyler asked Omisha as he passed the growing stack of papers to her.

Omisha took the stack and added her papers to it, "I think I did pretty good. You?" and passed the stack to the next student.

"Ugh, no idea. I really should've studied some more," Tyler stretched out his limbs and groaned, relaxing into his chair.

"Haha yeah, you should've joined me, James, and Katherine," Omisha teased him, laying her head on the table.

"Psh, that doesn't sound fun."

Omisha dramatically gasped, her head shooting up to pout at him, "Rude."

"Is it?" He smirked, raising his hand to pinch her cheek.

Omisha slapped away his hand and rubbed her cheek, "I take it back, you would've failed either way."

It was Tyler's turn to gasp dramatically and he pouted, "Mind you, I get very good grades on my exams."

"I doubt it," she laughed and stood up at the sound of the bell, grabbing her bag, "C'mon, we only have a couple more exams left."

"Ugh… I don't have any brains left to do more…" he whined, reluctantly standing up and trudged alongside her.

Omisha laughed, "Will some head pats help out?" she teased, raising her hand.

Tyler jumped back, putting his hands over his fluffy ears protectively, "Don't you dare touch my ears," he growled.

"Pfft...who said I was gonna touch your ears?"

"Oh don't lie, I know for a fact that you've been wanting to touch them."

Omisha feigned ignorance, "I have no idea what you're talking about, anyways," she smirked, "does that mean your ears are sensitive?"

"Of course they are! They're one of my best features!"

Omisha put a hand over her mouth, muffling her laugh and Tyler shot a glare at her.

"I'll bite you," he threatened.

"How scary~" Omisha joked, putting her hands up in mock defeat.

Tyler pouted, "Screw you."

She laughed, "Yeah, yeah," she continued to walk, ignoring Tyler's whines behind her. "Anyways, what class do you have next?"

Tyler contemplated for a couple of seconds, "I think it was a history class. It's gonna be a nightmare doing it…" he groaned.

"How?" Omisha laughed.

"History's so boring~!" he replied with a pout.

"Is it?"

"Oh don't start acting like a star student, Omisha."

Omisha gasped, "I am not a star student, thank you very much."

"Right~ I forgot, you almost failed some of your classes this year, right?" Tyler teased, a mocking grin on his face.

"I'll smack that grin off your face right now, Tyler," Omisha threatened, pulling up a fist as she angrily smiled at him.

Tyler laughed in response as he shoved his hands in his pockets. The two talked for a bit more before separating ways.

Omisha walked into her next class and sat down at her seat. She dropped her bag by her side and unconsciously started tapping her fingers against the desk in front of her, feeling impatient and anxious. Although she had studied quite a bit for her midterms, she wasn't very confident in passing. This subject was Spirit Relics, a class on relics created or once owned by known spirits from history. It was one of the easier subjects, but there was so much content that Omisha doubted she could remember them all.

Feeling a tap on her shoulder, Omisha turned around, facing a were-creature student with an irritated look on their face. "Can you stop tapping the desk? it's getting real annoying…"

"Ah, sorry," Omisha turned back around, fiddling with her hands to keep herself distracted. Fortunately, or maybe, unfortunately, the professor then arrived and began the exam.

Omisha glanced at her phone, replying to the texts she had received when she noticed a shadow looming over her. Thinking a cloud was passing over, she ignored it, but quickly regretted it when she heard the familiar voice of Phoenix.

"Hey, Omisha!"

"Ah!" Omisha screamed, jumping back and looking up, and above her was Phoenix, "you scared me!". Omisha then noticed Phoenix had red and orange translucent wings, fluttering slowly, present on her back. A memory of when their first meeting flashed by, "Ah, right, you're a fairy."

"Geh-!" Phoenix looked at her in surprise as she landed gently on the concrete, "You forgot?!"

Omisha flinched, "Well, I'm sorry that you stopped showing off your wings after the first day!"

"Hmph! A fairy's wings aren't the only thing that makes a fairy a fairy, y'know!"

"Yes, yes, I see, why'd you decide to show off your wings anyway?"

"Oh, I just felt like it. It's not often that I get to let my wings out without problems, anyways."

"Problems…?"

"Oh yeah! Katherine said she wanted to order some pizza to celebrate the end of midterms and the start of winter break," Phoenix laughed, the wings behind her fluttering along with her laughter, "We actually ran into Tyler before she left and she dragged him with her."

Omisha paused at the sudden change of topic but laughed, "Seriously?"

"Yeah, it was super funny!"

Omisha shifted the weight of her bag, "I guess we should set up plates and stuff for when they bring the pizza then."

"... let's get James and Ash to do it," Phoenix smirked, "They've been lounging around the day while we suffer from midterms so they deserve it!"

"Haha, yeah but they have to finish their midterms tonight, so isn't that just being mean?" she asked, smiling.

Katherine put her hands on her hips, "Nah, it'll be like motivation for them."

Omisha laughed, "Alright."

The two arrived at the flat and opened the door, quickly spotting the two males lounging on the sofas. Phoenix glanced at Omisha and smirked before yelling, "Get up, you two!!"

Ash and James jumped at the loudness, quickly whipping around to glare at Phoenix, "Phoenix! Don't yell!"

Phoenix put her hands on her hips with a triumphant smile, "It's fine~ don't worry!"

James sighed, pinching at the bridge of his nose, "What's got you all excited anyway?"

"Katherine and Tyler are getting pizza! Me and Omisha are assigning you to set up duty since you've been lounging around all day!"

Omisha walked by with a laugh as the two sighed. "Fine, just shut up," Ash muttered, standing up.

Phoenix huffed out triumphantly before bursting out laughing. She then skipped off to her room and so did Omisha, leaving the two males to set up.

Ash sighed as he stretched, slowly walking to the kitchen, "You wanna grab the plates, or should I?"

"I'll do it."

"Got it..."

As James grabbed the plates from a cupboard, he asked, "How do you think you're doing on your exams?"

"...Alright probably, you-?" Ash paused before speaking up again, "...Actually don't answer that, you're probably acing them aren't you?

James chuckled, "I should be."

Ash glanced at him, "...What happened to your confidence?"

"Huh? Nothing…" Ash gave him a look and James sighed, "the exams just seem like a total jump from normal tests and such."

"Ah, yeah I guess so," Ash looked up, contemplating, "but I guess it's something to expect since we are in college now."

James hummed in response, "True."

Omisha and Phoenix walked out of their rooms a couple of minutes later, plopping down on the couch as James and Ash put out the plates and cups on the table. "When are Katherine and Tyler bringing the pizza?" James asked.

Phoenix raised her phone in the air, "Katherine just texted me, they're almost back at the flat with the pizza."

James sighed, "You could've asked us to do it when they came with the pizza, you know."

"That's boring," Phoenix retorted with a pout.

James looked at her with an "Are you serious" face and sighed while Ash and Omisha laughed.

A minute later, the door swung open, "We're back!" Tyler called out. In his hands were two large squared boxes and Katherine was behind him holding a large bottle of soda.

Phoenix and Omisha stood up from the couch and walked to the table as Katherine and Tyler set down the food. "What did you get?" Phoenix asked, her mouth beginning to water as the smell of the pizza hit her nose.

"We got pepperoni and veggie pizzas," Katherine informed her, putting down the bottle of soda

"Oo~ sounds yummy!" Phoenix quickly took a plate and opened the box on top.

"Oi! At least let me put the boxes next to each other!" Tyler yelled as he stared at her incredulously.

Phoenix pouted, "Okay, okay!" and backed away.

As they all grabbed some slices of the pizza, Omisha asked, "So what are you guys planning to do for break?"

"I'm staying here," James informed them.

"I'm also staying here," Ash added with a nod.

Katherine smiled, "I'll be heading home."

"Same here!" Tyler spoke, his mouth filled with pizza.

Ash sent him a stink eye, "Don't be gross." Tyler pouted at him as he closed his mouth with a "hmph".

Omisha glanced at Phoenix, noting her lack of answer, but before she could ask, Katherine turned to her, "What about you, Omisha?"

"Me?" Omisha swallowed the food in her mouth, "I'm going back home too."

"That's right! We should visit each other's houses sometime soon!" Tyler suggested with a bright grin.

Omisha smiled, "Yeah!" and they all burst out laughing. After a couple of minutes, Omisha approached Phoenix, "So, Phoenix, what do you plan on doing for break?"

Phoenix glanced at her in surprise before contemplating, "Well… There's... something going on at home, so I can't go home," she quickly replied, her voice slightly cracking, which fortunately went unnoticed by Omisha.

Omisha thought for a few seconds, before thinking of an idea, albeit being a risky one. In the end, she decided to go through with it, "Then how about you come home with me?"

Phoenix nearly dropped her plate in surprise at the suggestion, internally grateful that she hadn't been eating anything, and stared at Omisha in shock. After a few seconds, she recollected herself and asked, "A-are you sure…?"

Omisha smiled, "I haven't asked my parents yet but I'm sure they'll say yes, I mean they've said before that they want to meet you guys."

Phoenix stared at her in shock, before smiling, "Sure!"

"Wait!" Tyler yelled out, "Why are you only inviting her?!"

Omisha deadpanned, "You're going home, aren't you?" The others around her laughed as the two bickered.

Omisha walked on the sidewalk of the familiar city with Phoenix walking beside her, her wings hidden from sight at the suggestion of Omisha. Phoenix pouted at her, "So why did I have to hide my wings again?"

"Didn't I tell you? This is a majority human city, so people will freak out if they see your wings."

"Hey, you only told me you were from Casaline, not a city of humans," she hissed before sighing, "If you're a supernatural then why are you in a city of humans anyways?"

Omisha froze slightly before averting her eyes, "Uh… well…"

Before Omisha could answer, her name was called. Looking in front of her, she saw the familiar figures of her friends. A bead of sweat rolled down her forehead as she internally began to panic.

"Omisha! It's been so long! How's college?!" one of her friends approached her first with a wide grin.

"Hey, Leila," Omisha strained a smile, "it's been… good!" Omisha glanced at the other two friends, Max and Luke, and they grinned.

Luke waved his hand, "Yo! It's been a while since all four of us have been together!"

The four of them had been friends since middle school and before, becoming a closely knitted friend group. At first, it was just Max and Omisha, then Luke and Leila joined a couple of weeks later. Even into high school, it was rare to see the four of them apart outside of classes. Now that they've all graduated, all of them went to separate universities.

Omisha shifted around, feeling slightly awkward. Even though they still kept in contact thanks to phones, she never told them she had gone to a supernatural school. Her eyes then strayed to Phoenix, noticing that she had been silent this whole entire time. Hopefully she won't accidentally tell them… Omisha thought to herself.

Max followed her eyes, seeing Phoenix behind her, "Huh? Who's this, Omisha?"

Omisha flinched, but quickly recollected herself, "Ah! She goes to my university."

Phoenix had been quiet while they talked but quickly perked up as she had realized the attention had been drawn to her. "Hi~! I'm Phoenix, nice to meet you!"

Leila skipped up to her, "You became friends with our precious Omisha, huh? Good job!"

Omisha sputtered in surprise, "Hey! What's that supposed to mean?!"

"Oh come on! All the kids back in elementary school and even in middle school avoided you!" Max laughed.

"Wha-... uh, well then what about you?!"

"We've been friends since childhood, of course I wouldn't have seen you as weird!" Max threw his arm over Omisha's shoulder as she rolled her eyes in a playful manner. "Anyways, I'm Max! Over there is Luke, and the one in front of you is Leila!" Max pointed out the other two for Phoenix.

Within a couple of minutes, Phoenix already fit in with the group, as if she had been part of it for years. Omisha shrugged it off, thinking it was because of her similarities with Leila.

The group walked with Omisha and Phoenix to her house, sharing only bits and pieces of their college life to Omisha's relief. Omisha was also relieved that Phoenix didn't say anything about the college being one for supernaturals. Unfortunately, that relief was short-lived.

"By the way, Omisha," Luke began, "Did you ever get accepted into that supernatural college? We totally thought you wouldn't send in the app!" he laughed.

Phoenix looked at them in surprise but before she could ask, Omisha quickly spoke up, "N-nope! Anyways, we're at my house now so we should go and unpack! I'll talk to you guys later!" Omisha quickly took hold of Phoenix's wrist and dragged her into the house with a simple wave of farewell to her friends.

The three friends looked in slight surprise before waving back. They exchanged glances as the door shut before laughing and shrugging.

Omisha sighed as she leaned against the door, not paying attention to how Phoenix crossed her arms, "So? What's going on?" she demanded.

Omisha glanced at her, sighing, "Let's go into my room first."

"Fine."

They walked into Omisha's room, setting down their luggage. As they began to unpack, Omisha reluctantly started telling the truth. Before she could even get that far into her explanation, Phoenix stood up abruptly.

"Wait! You… You're a human?!"

Omisha didn't look at her, "I… I'm not sure."

Phoenix stared at her with accusing eyes, "Wh… why did you never tell us?!"

"...Would you really believe that a human got accepted into a university for supernaturals?"

"I, I…" Phoenix sputtered. Just like her element, her temper exploded. Omisha noted that it looked like steam was actually coming out of her ears as she attempted to stay calm. With a frustrated yell, she turned around and walked out of the room, slamming the door shut, "I'm going out!"

Omisha sighed, "...She's going to get lost," and flopped down onto her bed.

In this world, war once ravaged the world, between two kinds of creatures. Humans and supernaturals. The humans were afraid of the appearances and abilities of the supernaturals, things that couldn't be explained logically. As such, they tried getting rid of the unknown. The supernaturals in turn began to spite the humans because of them killing them for those ignorant reasons.

It was a war of supernatural abilities vs machines essentially.

That war lasted for centuries, each side evolving and advancing in turn. The war was a bloodbath. The newer generations of each side began to see the wrong of this war, protesting to end it. After a couple of decades of protesting, the leaders of both sides finally agreed to an end of the war. Although it has been more than a millennium since, the tensions still run high. Humans still feared most supernaturals with most supernaturals still remembering the tragic events of the war.

The divide between the two kinds had grown smaller, but it was still large as ever. That divide was evident in how cities had become either human cities or supernatural cities. These cities had a majority population of one of the two kinds, and the minority would be looked down upon by the majority.

Omisha began to worry about what would happen if Phoenix were to show her wings, knowing that most would either back away in fear or start attacking her. She quickly stood up and ran out the door.