Chapter Text
The bell rang. It was a distant echo, a gentle reminder that the break was drawing to a close. The buzzing of voices and the shuffle of footsteps in the hallways gradually faded away with each passing minute. Rei stepped into the classroom, closely following behind Misaki.
Shouts and screams filled the air, making it difficult to grasp what was happening. A few of their classmates were engaged in heated arguments, brimming with frustration, while others sat quietly, seemingly lost in solitude. The place was in utter disarray; books and papers were scattered across the floor, and the blackboard had become a victim of sinful doodles, adding to the chaos.
One boy stood still amidst the commotion, his voice a near-scream as he spoke continuously. Rei recognized him as Yome whose eyes were fixed on another boy, who had gone pale with a face drained of colour like a ghost. On second glance, Yome appeared to be reading the latter’s mind as effortlessly as breathing, swimming into the depths of the other boy’s thoughts and leaving him helpless to the core. Rei assumed that Yome might have the mind-reading Alice, as it was obvious that something more than words was at play.
Suddenly, something brushed passed her ear. Rei looked up. Kitsuneme, the boy who sat next to Yome during lessons, was floating in the air with a book in hand, reading diligently. The more she looked around, the more bizarre it got. There were no limitations to what she could see in there, from students with animal ears, whiskers, feathered legs, and rubbery arms to creations like flying paper butterflies, crying muffins, robots firing off bullets, a p*nis-shaped coffee mug, wait, what? Rei was at a loss. In fact, she felt like an alien who did not fit in there. Given the extraordinary capabilities of her classmates, even normality itself seemed out of place.
As Rei stood unmoving, her eyes further scanned her surroundings, eventually stopping at the edge of the class in the last row, where she had been asked to sit the day before. Her space was occupied. Next to Ruka, two boys were sitting.
One of them was reclined back in his seat, his head resting on his arms as he slept soundly. An open book laid across his face, concealing his face from view. When Rei’s eyes caught a glimpse of the folded white hoodie on his desk, she immediately shifted her attention to the boy beside him. He was looking away from the window, unbothered by the commotion around him, as if he were in a trance. His hair was black, just like hers. That was all she could see, as he was wearing a Black Cat mask which hid his face completely.
She was still observing him when Misaki took his seat on the right side of Ruka. The row felt abnormally unwelcoming, with each stranger than the other. Rei could not help thinking how different everyone there seemed.
“I’ve arranged your place on the other side,” Tobita’s calm voice pulled Rei back to reality. He gestured toward the row where Yome was now sitting. She also noticed that her belongings had been moved to the desk at the corner. Her new seat was positioned directly next to Misaki, with only a narrow gap between them, just wide enough for two people to pass easily. Although close, they seemed distanced, far away from each other.
With Tobita, two girls stood behind him. Rei could not recall if she had seen them before when there were so many faces to begin with. Perhaps they were in the class but she had only noticed now, or maybe they had not much of an impression about Rei. It was possible that neither she nor they had paid attention to one another.
“I’m Mikan!” The girl with the long brown hair interrupted. She had the sweetest voice, pleasant to the ears, filled with cheerfulness as if her life was a dream built on a rainbow to play with unicorns. “Hi,” Rei said, eyeing the other girl with short black hair, hoping she might also introduce herself. Instead, it was Mikan who continued. “This is my friend, Hotaru,” Rei offered a faint smile. “Nice to meet you both,” she said, trying to leave a good impression this time around.
“Welcome to our class,” Hotaru said, her voice dreamy, though her words held no warmth in them. That was by far the coldest welcome Rei had ever received. Even though Hotaru had a composed aura about her, she did seem like a nice person. Rei felt the personalities of the two girls were worlds apart; if Mikan displayed the warmth and brightness of the Sun, Hotaru illustrated the cool and distant nature of the Moon.
As the four of them were gathering there, listening to Mikan, Rei saw Misaki approaching from the corner of her eye. Behind him trailed Ruka, Narumi, and the boy with the Cat mask. To her amazement, she noticed both new boys were special-star students.
Rei knew that earning even double-stars was a rare accomplishment, so owning a special-star was an outstanding achievement, representing the highest level of skill and power a student could achieve. To reach that level while still in middle school explained the extraordinary abilities they possessed. She now understood why Narumi carried such an air of dominance, he clearly stood apart from the rest. His abilities were not just exceptional but among the rarest in the world, given how there was only one Alice school for children born with natural powers.
While Rei was lost in thought, her eyes met Misaki’s for a brief moment. It felt like he was trying to convey something but he quickly averted his gaze, leaving Rei in confusion. At least she did not have to spend too much time figuring that out.
“Don't trouble me asking whatever the f*ck you don't know about,”
Ruka snapped as he walked by. The harshness of his words was so unexpected that it left Rei stunned, her mouth hanging open in shock.
“What made you think that you'd know a f*ck I wouldn't?”
There she went and did it.
Rei's voice echoed with a fierce bite, further thickening the tension. She did not even realize the impact of her outburst until it was too late. An immediate wave of regret washed over her, making her aware of the situation she had unintentionally stepped into.
Not only Ruka, but the entire class fell silent. Misaki closed his eyes and took a long, exasperated breath. He felt like all his friends were short-tempered idiots who turn every situation into a drama, and wondered why he had not left sooner.
Ruka had stopped no more than two feet away from Rei. His fingers were digging into his palm, burning with rage which seemed like he might strangle her to death with one swift turn. Just before he could react, he felt a warm hand gently wrapped around his wrist. It was Misaki. With a firm gesture, he signed for Ruka to say ‘calm down.’ There was a moment of silence, during which Ruka restrained his anger on behalf of Misaki.
Finally, he walked out, ignoring Rei as if she was invisible.
Rei mentally cursed her own stupidity, looking at Misaki with a mix of mischievous regret in her eyes. He shook his head in exasperation and did not forget to glance at her one last time before he too followed behind Ruka.
It was enough drama to fuel an entire week’s worth of gossip. The rumours were meant to be ugly and spread like Covid-19. Surprisingly, no one reacted to the incident. The rest of the class pretended as if nothing had happened. Seeing their lack of reaction, Rei decided not to bring it up again, and turned her attention back to Mikan and the others, trying to convince herself that there would be no consequences for what had just happened.
Everything returned to its normal setting after a while, the earlier incident was forgotten and left uncared.
The subjects changed from one to one with each ringing bell. The school had a unique setting for conducting lessons. Except for the compulsory subjects like language, mathematics, science, and history, the students could focus on their individual work without attending the classes. Even though students like Yome or Kitsuneme had no reason to leave the classroom with their Alice abilities, unlike Misaki. They remained in the class at all times.
Now that it was the last period of the day, the enthusiasm most of the students had in the morning had given way to a deep yearning for sleep. Some even dared to fall asleep, like Narumi, who had been lying on a tree branch for an unknown period. One hand rested behind his head, while the other shielded his eyes from the vermillion rays of the setting sun. The peaceful atmosphere surrounded him, casting a warm golden light over the scene. The occasional rustling of the wind through the leaves created a heavenly comfort which deepened his drowsiness.
‘Plip!’ A sudden, disturbing noise made Narumi open his eyes, wondering who had strayed from the cement path to linger where he was, on a giant oak tree behind the bushes. He turned to his side, wanting to look under the tree. “Hah…” A soft chuckle escaped him as he saw the source of the noise, or rather the person responsible.
(Fan girls of the school)
“Look over there… There he is. Hurry up. We have to get over there before the juniors come,”
“What are you talking about? He’s definitely all ours. We’re not letting anyone else get close,”
“Not ours, just mine. Stay away from him, this’s my chance to get close to Senpai,”
“He’ll leave, I know, he always leaves. We need to hurry up and catch him before he goes,”
“Senpai, wait for us. We’re coming, don’t leave without us”
Rei surfaced from the pages she had been deeply engaged in, responding to a commotion that interrupted her focus. She had purposely chosen the spot away from the road to avoid disturbing stares of others and was confident that no one saw her sneaking out.
As she raised her head, Rei noticed a crowd of boys and girls shouting on the road. She stared at the scene in confusion, trying to make sense of what was happening.
Rei felt a familiarity with their stares, not quite recalling where that memory came from. “Why do I feel like that they’re coming towards me or-” she muttered to herself for the sake of her own peace.
“YOU’RE MINE…!”
Suddenly, the entire group screamed together.
“-yes they are,” Rei stood up abruptly, dropping her book to the ground with a thud.
“NARUMI SENPAI…! WE LOVE YOU…!”
Now that was unexpected. “What the… I’m not looking like a dude but wait… Am I?” Rei did not think twice before looking at her figure, took a long satisfying breath, and then shook her head in disbelief and embarrassment at what she had just done.
“Uh, what a pain…”
Rei heard from behind her as if she was in a dream, a voice familiar more than just a memory. She turned her head to the side, though she already knew who the voice belonged to before she even looked.
Holding his neck from behind, Narumi tilted his head left and right, his silky hair brushing against his shoulders as he approached her. He was appealing to her eyes, so the crowd was probably his devoted fans. This reminded her of the attention she received from girls when she was talking to Shiki.
For a brief moment, their eyes met and Rei felt uncomfortable once again. She felt like he was looking into her darkest secrets, not leaving any dignity for her.
“SENPAI…“
The screams drew nearer, reminding Rei to pick up her belongings. She muttered under her breath, cursing their wild behaviour before walking away from them as soon as possible.
Meanwhile, Narumi stayed there in silence. Although he looked indifferent as always, his mind was in disarray. “Why doesn’t my Alice affect her?” he wondered.