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“…Eh?” Katarina looks around. She is quite confused—wasn’t she in the library just a moment ago? The library of that magic academy? Then, something happened but she couldn’t remember exactly what had happened for these events to transpire the way they did.
Now, all of a sudden, she’s back in Japan. Just standing in the streets surrounded by crowds of people already has her feeling nostalgic for the city she had once loved. She walks up to a display case and peeks at her reflection in the mirror.
“I’m still Katarina Claes,” she remarks. Why did she expect anything different?
She pinches her cheek and watches the reflection mirror the motion. So, she wasn’t dreaming or whatever. She doesn’t know how she ended up in Japan but it probably has something to do with whatever happened in the library.
…Wait, wasn’t this bad?! How is she going to get back when she’s stuck in a world that has no magic? What is she going to have to resort to? Some sort of satanic ritual?
Before the panic could fully settle in, however, her stomach grumbling interrupts her. Ah, that’s right, she was hungry while coming to the library and she had particularly looked forward to eating Maria’s sweets. How pitiful, that she would be swept away to Japan without ever having to have her last bite of them…
“Katarina?”
“That’s you!” Mary exclaims with shock, pointing at the image of Maria in the book. She squints her eyes, adding, “What in the world are you wearing?”
“…I have no idea,” Maria admits. “I’ve never seen this style of clothing before. The landscape shown looks entirely unique to me as well.”
“Katarina-sama has a very wild imagination,” Mary says.
“M—Maria?!” Katarina says with her jaw slacked wide open. “What are you doing here?”
Maria tilts her head slightly to the side. “What do you mean, Katarina? Weren’t you the one who invited me here so we could hang out together?”
“That does sound like something I’d do,” Katarina says. “But weren’t we in the library just now? Where is everyone else?”
“Oh, did you invite everyone else again?”
“No, I mean… argh, whatever,” Katarina says. Her stomach grumbles again, and it did not go unnoticed by Maria. “Let’s go grab something to eat, okay?”
“Of course,” Maria says with a smile. “Why don’t we visit our café? I want you to try some of the new sweets we just put on the menu.”
“Hand-made sweets by Maria?” Katarina already feels herself drooling. “As if I could ever turn that down!”
Maria chuckles into her hand, light blush on her face.
Mary looks down at the book with a mixture of annoyance and shock. She hadn’t realized that Maria had thoroughly seduced Katarina to the point where only Maria would be seen in her desire! Perhaps she should learn how to bake herself. It surely cannot be that hard, right?
Maria, on the other hand, was smiling gently at the book. Unlike the others, it seems Katarina had the most pure and realistic depiction of themselves. It almost seems like this could be a scenario from another life—her working at a café who meets Katarina, the ultimate sweets-lover.
She turns the next page, curious to see what will happen next. Mary watches with an apprehensive expression, also wanting to see more.
“Here you go.” Maria slides the dessert to Katarina. “Eat to your heart’s content.”
“I will!” Katarina digs in. She’s sure to pace herself because she doesn’t want to make herself sick before she could try the next dessert that Maria’s prepared. She wouldn’t want any food to go to waste, after all!
If only Keith is here, honestly. Keith eating half would instantly solve her problems, because then she would have room to spare for the other desserts—
“Sister…”
Katarina drops her fork. She looks up to see Keith wearing a school uniform with a concerned expression on her face. Ah, Keith is here too?
“Keith? What are you doing here?” Katarina asks.
Keith sighs. “I thought you’d be in your room studying for the exams that are coming up next week. Clearly, I was wrong.”
Katarina squeaks before laughing it off weakly. “It’s alright, we still have time, right? I was hungry so I wanted to eat something before then.”
Keith eyes Maria off to the side before saying, “Why is it that I don’t believe you?”
“Katarina did mention something about going to the library earlier,” Maria says. “Were you perhaps thinking about studying together? I can help you if you’re having trouble on understanding anything.”
In any universe, Maria is such an angel! With an offer like that, how could I possibly reject her offer?
“Yes, we should totally study together!” Katarina says. “Great idea, Maria!”
Keith sits himself down across Katarina next to Maria. He puts his hand on his forehead, saying, “If you needed help, sister, you could’ve come to me. I’m just as proficient in all the subjects that Maria is good at.”
“As they say, the more the merrier,” Maria says. She’s not phased in the slightest by Keith’s attitude and manages to keep a lighthearted tone. “Why don’t we head to the library after you finish?”
“Sounds good,” Katarina agrees.
“Now Keith has showed up?” Mary is quite displeased. “But where am I? Why do you get all the screen time?”
“It can’t be helped,” Maria sheepishly says. “I have a feeling that the rest of us will show up sooner or later.”
“Wait!”
“Did anyone hear something?” Keith smiles, ignoring the cries in the background.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t help as the bus door opens again and Geordo walks in with ruffled hair. Keith’s expression somehow turns more malicious even when nothing on his face visibly changes.
“Geordo?” Maria blinks at Geordo. “Why are you here?”
“I was attending to some business that involved my father’s company,” Geordo says. “It was a coincidence that I happened to see you and Katarina waiting by a bus stop.”
“Oh?” Keith doesn’t look convinced. “Sounds like too much of a coincidence.”
“And what are you doing here, Keith?” Geordo smiles threateningly at Keith. “I thought only Katarina and Maria were supposed to be with each other today. You really are just a clingy little brother, aren’t you?”
Katarina laughs. They get along so well, just as usual! She’s glad they’re good friends with each other even in this universe.
“We’re on our way to the library to study together,” Katarina says. “Would you want to come by any chance?”
“I don’t have anything else lined up for today,” Geordo announces proudly. “I’d be happy to.”
Mary pouts while flipping to the next page. She is a patient lady, but patience can only go so far in a scenario like this.
“Come to think of it, doesn’t Mary live near here?” Maria brings up while they’re walking to the library in a group.
Both Keith and Geordo’s mouth open at the mention of Mary Hunt.
“Does she?” Katarina racks her head. “Why don’t we go invite her too, then, as well? Where does she live?”
“Why don’t you text her first?” Maria suggests.
Text…? Ah, text! With my cellphone!
“Oh, right,” Katarina says feeling dumb. She keeps forgetting that she’s back in modern day Japan. Wait, doesn’t that mean that none of this makes sense? Why does it feel so wrong?
Katarina checks her phone and scrolls down to find Mary Hunt with multiple flower emojis besides her name. She texts a simple message asking if Mary would like to come study with them and the reply came literally not five seconds later.
“She said yes,” Katarina told the others.
“So fast,” Geordo mutters to himself. Maria and Keith had the same thought but simply smile instead of saying anything.
“What is that strange device?” Mary ponders.
“No idea,” Maria says. “It seems to be a portable tool capable of communicating with others. I’m not sure what ‘text’ means, however. Perhaps it means to deliver a message?”
“Is there a magic tool that can do such a thing?”
“Not to my knowledge,” Maria says. “It would be much easier than having to constantly send letters to each other.”
“I’m so glad that Katarina invited me to study with her!” Mary squeals. Maria, Geordo, and Keith can’t help but all think about how Mary only mentioned Katarina and hasn’t bothered to mention that the rest of them are there too…
“Like Maria said, the more the merrier,” Katarina says.
“Thank you, Maria,” Mary tells Maria earnestly. “I owe you one.”
They walk to the library and Mary’s mouth goes dry when she spots Alan at one of the tables, dutifully looking down at his book.
“Look, it’s Alan,” Katarina says in a hushed voice. “Should we go over there and ask him to join us?”
“There’s no need, Katarina, you have us. That’s already enough,” Mary quickly reasons. “If we become too big of a group, we’ll lose focus, won’t we?”
She just contradicted herself… the others think, flabbergasted.
“You’re right,” Katarina says. “He must be super concentrated right now; it’d be bad if we distracted him.”
Just as Katarina finishes her sentence, Alan looks up from his book and his eyes widened at the sight of Katarina and the others. Mary internally thinks, so close to herself.
Alan waves them over.
“Looks like he wants us to come over to him,” Katarina says. “Maybe he wants us to study together after all?”
“I wouldn’t be surprised,” Maria notes.
“Let’s go, then,” Geordo says, already having given up on having his alone-ish time with Katarina.
Maria giggles uncontrollably. Mary puts a hand over her chest.
“Poor Mary… I know how she feels,” Mary whines. “It’s always like the universe is just as against her as it is with her.”
“Katarina has come to the library to study as well?” Nicol says.
“That’s surprising,” Alan comments. “Usually you just wait until the last minute. Then you call me at 3am the night before the exam asking me how to do derivatives.”
“Did you come here to study?” Sophia inquires.
“Yeah, I wanted to come to the library anyways,” Katarina says. Not this library but it’s not like I won’t tell them that…
“Oh,” Sophia says as if it’s disappointing to hear. “I thought you maybe wanted to come here so we could read shoujo manga again.”
“Please don’t tempt her,” Keith pleads.
“Ah! Sorry,” Sophia bows. “I, of all people, should know about Katarina’s habits by now.”
What is that supposed to mean?
“So, should we study together? Or do you guys want to go back to studying on your own? I don’t know if I’d hold you guys back…”
“You’re the one who needs the help the most,” Keith says.
“We’re here to help you,” Geordo adds. “Don’t say such horrible things.”
“That’s right; we want Katarina to do her best!” Maria agrees. “We’re your friends, please don’t feel like you’re holding us back!”
“What good are good grades anyways?” Mary says. “As long as Katarina stays by my side, I could care less about them.”
A silence followed that statement followed by a collective, “Mary, please don’t neglect your studies.”
“How long will this go on for?” Mary asks. “I don’t understand. What is it that she desires?”
Maria shakes her head. “I don’t know. We technically don’t have to finish reading, do we? We didn’t have to for the others.”
“I know, but…” Mary frowns. “I’m too invested to go back now. The others’ desires were all plain and straightforward, but isn’t this just another ordinary day with Katarina-sama?”
“Maybe she wants us to get along even more?” Maria asks. “It is a little cryptic, I must admit.”
“Who knew someone as simple-minded as Katarina wanted something so complicated?”
Katarina feels the creeping sense of nostalgia overtake again as she looks down at the textbook. She isn’t even reading the words because her mind is too preoccupied.
Why does it feel like I’ve been here before?
“Are you alright?” Keith asks her. “Did you read something you didn’t understand?”
“…No,” Katarina answers. “Sorry, I’m just a little bit distracted right now.”
That catches everyone’s attention.
“Distracted? Do you not want to study right now, perhaps?” Maria says.
“No, no, I just…” Katarina looks down at the book in a mix of confusion. Her memories feel scrambled by now… “Never mind.”
Geordo picks up on Katarina’s strange behavior. “Are you feeling unwell?” He attempts to put his hand on Katarina’s forehead but is intercepted by Keith’s hand.
“She’s not burning up,” Keith says ignoring Geordo’s dagger-like glare. “If you’re feeling unwell, sister, then maybe—”
“Sorry,” Katarina apologizes. “It’s fine.”
Hours later, the group walks with Katarina to see her and Keith off at the train station. Katarina looks up at the skyline, the skyscrapers in front of the sunset giving her a certain feeling that her new life hasn’t been able to.
She and Keith board the train with everyone waving her off. Some of them are shouting their goodbyes, even.
“Let’s hang out together, just the two of us, sometime!”
“See you at school, Katarina!”
“Good luck on your exams! Don’t fail, alright?”
“Goodbye, Katarina!”
“What a big group we’ve become…” Keith says as the train leaves the station and the others are coming out of view.
They sit in silence before Katarina asks, “Keith, can I ask you a question?”
“Hmm? Sure.”
“Do you… feel at home here?”
Keith had not expected such a question. He looks at Katarina carefully, but the girl appearing before him is the same as always.
“Why wouldn’t I? I was born in Japan and raised here my entire life,” Keith says.
“Right,” Katarina agrees. “That makes sense.”
“Although,” Keith says, “I guess none of that really matters.”
Keith breathes in a deep sigh. “Before I was adopted, I never felt home at that house even though I spent years of my life there. The amount of time spent at a place doesn’t automatically make that place your ‘home’.”
Smiling gently at the floor, he continues, “but when I moved in, I began to feel like I finally had somewhere to call ‘home’. And that’s when I realized—it’s not about the place you were born in. It’s about the people that surround you and the memories you share with them that ‘make’ a home.”
He looks directly at Katarina. “That’s why I think I’ve felt ‘at home’ ever since meeting you, sister.”
“Keith…” Katarina says. “If you keep saying things like that, you’ll make me cry!”
“Sorry, I just… that question suddenly brought up an old memory,” Keith says. “But I’m fine now. Let’s go home together, okay?”
“Yeah. Home.” Katarina smiles. “I guess it wouldn’t be home without my friends and family, after all.”
The book slams itself shut, surprising Mary. She squeaks and jumps back as the book begins to shake itself and out comes everyone. Maria is too busy trying to comprehend what she had just read and the feeling of… melancholy that passes through her.
“Wha—!” Katarina shouts. “Why—where am I?”
Maria blinks. She stands up and offers her hand to help Katarina up. “The academy’s library. Everyone here had been sucked into the book of desire.”
“Book of… desire?” Geordo asks, face pale white.
After everyone else left, it’s just Maria, Mary, and Katarina left.
“Katarina-sama, let’s drink some of the tea while it’s still hot!” Mary says. Katarina is happy to have her teacup poured for her as she eats Maria’s cookies.
Maria looks out the window to the academy. She doesn’t quite understand what Katarina’s desire exactly meant, nor did she understand the world that the book had shown them. Mary-sama seems quite content to ignore it, but Maria…
…Maria understands that feeling. The lost sense of what a home exactly is, and how Maria is starting to feel like the academy is more of a home to her than where she had previously lived. She remembers how alien she felt in her own village just because of her magic and how she never felt like she truly belonged there.
Just like Keith-sama in the book, it’s all thanks to Katarina. So, that’s what it is, isn’t it? The universal feeling to fully belong somewhere, to be surrounded comfortably with the people that unconditionally would always be there with you.
Maria smiles. The window she stares out of reflects the image of Katarina enjoying herself in the background.
“Welcome home, Katarina-sama,” Maria says.
“What was that, Maria?” Katarina asks.
Maria turns around to face Katarina and Mary, business as usual. “Nothing.”
Mary spares a knowing glance at Maria, winks, and no more of the incident is ever mentioned again.