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The bell rings loudly, marking the end of classes at Primp’s Magic School. Its sound manages to wake up the blue-haired boy lying on his desk. Sig rubs his eyes and looks around the classroom, Ms. Accord was heading out already, carrying Popoi with her as always, and it seemed that Raffina and Klug were having one of their usual “discussions”, loud as ever, while poor Lidelle could do nothing to stop them.
And Amitie was… oh, she wasn’t there. Sig was certain that Amitie attended classes today, they talked to each other earlier. The boy wondered where his friend was and it was then that he noticed something, there was a piece of paper on his desk, it was a note.
Hey Sig, I forgot to tell you that I’m gonna meet up with Lemres as soon as classes are over, it’s something super duper important!
Amitie.
“She’s got something to do. Okay.” Sig murmured to himself. It was definitely something of utmost importance seeing that his friend had left the classroom so hastily as soon as the bell rang. With that settled, Sig decided it was time to head out. He put back in his bag the notebook and pen that were on his desk, but not before storing Amitie’s note within said notebook.
Admittedly he had plans of his own, as the bug net waiting in one of the back corners of the classroom could tell. With his trusty net in hand Sig left the classroom, leaving his classmates to freely argue. Whatever Klug and Raffina were arguing about he paid no attention, that’s usually his style.
Living in a town surrounded by nature is just perfect for Sig, it means there are plenty of bugs to find, see and even befriend. Walking through the woods, an easygoing march, on the search for bugs. Once he chose a suitable spot he set his plan in motion. He brought fruit with him to offer to the bugs of the forest, carefully cutting it into pieces. Sig then proceeded to scatter it in several spots, separate from one another, to attract as many bugs as possible.
Other times he’s used honey to achieve this purpose, sometimes he uses both fruit and honey. This time, however, it was only fruit that he brought with him. Thinking about it, it feels more as if Sig simply wants to feed the bugs, and it makes perfect sense considering this is his passion.
“And ready.” Sig said once he finished scattering the pieces of fruit. Now it was a matter of waiting, gotta give the bugs time to accept the invitation and swarm his offerings. In the meantime he would just walk around, seeing what other bugs he could find. A buzzing was one of the things he was quick to notice, he followed the sound and stumbled upon a bee colony. Bees diligently working.
Sig pulled out a notebook from his bag, it’s not the same he uses for school, this one is a journal full of annotations regarding bug observation and even some sketches.
“You’ve been busy, haven’t you? Your home is bigger than the last time I saw it.” Sig told the diligent bees after consulting some of his journal’s notes.
Putting the journal in his bag, Sig resumed his walk. He decided to go back to the first place where he left some fruit and once there he saw some guests already there. Flies had been attracted by the sweet scent and were now enjoying a good meal. Plenty of people find them very annoying but here in the woods Sig gave them a chance to enjoy a snack without being bothered. He made sure of that earlier by having a Puyo battle with Dongurigaeru, who would’ve certainly been attracted by the swarming bugs and see them as potential snacks.
Satisfied by his time with the flies Sig headed to the next spot, where a colony of ants had begun their work. The boy followed the trail until he reached an ant hill, and once again he brought out his journal to make some quick notes. As he was writing something suddenly caught his attention, by one of the many trees surrounding him a butterfly was resting.
Sig didn’t think it twice and slowly approached the bug, but the butterfly had other plans. “Wait.” The boy said to the bug on the go, quickly putting his journal back into his trusty bag. Bug net in hands, Sig went after the butterfly. It’s not really a chase, he’s simply following it closely, watching its movements as if hypnotized.
The butterfly then headed to some bushes and this time Sig was ready to use his bug net, he wanted to take an even closer look. Walking through the bushes, eyes set on the little fella flying in front of him. Getting out of the bushes he leaps forward and swings down his net and…
“WAAAAAAAAAAAGH!!”
The loud yell makes him react. He takes a closer look and sees Amitie standing there, his bug net atop her trademark red Puyo hat.
“Oh, hi Amitie.” Sig said calmly.
“S-S-Sig!? Oh gosh, you scared me! I thought some mean monster was gonna get me or something like that.” The distressed girl said.
“Sorry, my bad.” Sig replied, pulling back his net.
“It’s alright, don’t worry about it. So, what were you after this time?” Amitie asked, quickly realizing that Sig was obviously searching for bugs.
“A butterfly.” Sig told her, with a little smile on his face.
“Whoa, where is it? I wanna see it! Come here little butterfly, let’s be friends. No need to be shy.” Amitie quickly exclaimed, frantically looking around in the hopes of seeing the butterfly.
Sig couldn’t help but enjoy that little moment, seeing his best friend so excited about the butterfly that moments ago he was going after. Although the little one was nowhere to be seen, probably flew away the moment his net landed on Amitie. And speaking of her.
“Amitie, what are you doing here? I thought you were somewhere else.” The boy asked with a tone full of curiosity.
“Oh, right. About that.” Amitie quickly grabbed a book lying on the ground close to her and next to her backpack then showed it to Sig. “Ta-da! Look at this, it’s a grimoire full of different kinds of spells and rituals. Lemres told me that he’s been studying it and I begged him to show it to me and after awhile he finally agreed, on the condition that I had to beat him in a Puyo match.”
“So the grimoire was the important thing you mentioned in the note.” Sig pointed out.
Amitie nodded. “Yup! I hope you didn’t mind the note. Before recess ended I was looking for you and when I found you in the classroom you were already sleeping so I didn’t want to wake you up just to tell you that so instead I wrote that note.” The magician in training explained.
“I went back to the classroom during recess and I guess I fell asleep. I wouldn’t mind being woken up if you wanted to tell me something.” The boy said in a confident yet monotone voice.
“Really? Umm, okay, I’ll keep that in mind next time. It’s just that I thought waking you up so suddenly just to deliver a little message like that could’ve been something rude to do. Which is why I left a note instead, I didn’t want to bother you.” Amitie said in a soft voice.
“No bother, we’re friends.” Sig was quick to assure.
Hearing that put a big smile on Amitie’s face. “Thank you Sig, you’re the best!” And with that settled she continued with the topic of the grimoire. She showed Sig a particular page. “Look at this, it’s called Attunement. A ritual that allows one to connect to the magical energy contained within oneself and their surroundings.”
“So you came here to try it.” The boy replied, he didn’t get the whole thing but understood that it was something important to Amitie.
“That’s right. As soon as I saw it I decided that I had to try it. But uhh, it’s not as easy as I thought it would be, I can’t seem to make it work yet. Amitie admitted.
“I’m sure you can do it.” Simple words of encouragement from Sig, uttered with his particular style of speaking but full of sincerity.
And they worked as Amitie suddenly looked more motivated. “You’re right, I just need to keep practicing. I’ll become a wonderful magician!”
Amitie resumed his attempt to execute the ritual from the grimoire, with Sig staying there to witness. He didn’t mind it, he was aware that the bugs were waiting for him but he can always make time for Amitie. He clearly chose to stay, and she appreciated his company a lot. She was putting a lot of effort into the Attunement ritual, but she didn’t succeed, try after try it was the same result. And while she felt discouraged to an extent, seeing Sig there made her feel better, it’ll take time but she’ll achieve her dream, one step at a time.
“I think you should rest now, you earned it.” Sig’s voice called.
“Y-Yeah, good call.” Amitie agreed to Sig’s advice, that had been enough practice.
The two sat down by a nearby tree, their backs resting on its large body, the gentle breeze greeting them. The colors of the afternoon adorning the sky above, indicating the pass of time. It’s the perfect setting to relax and enjoy some peace and tranquility.
“That ritual sure is stubborn, eh Sig?” A tired Amitie said.
“I guess so.” Sig then started looking for something in his bag. “Here.” The boy handed Amitie a water bottle.
“Thanks Sig.” Amitie grabbed the bottle and took a good sip. “Ah, much better. I really needed that.”
“Don’t push yourself too much when you train your magic.” Sig added.
“You got a point there. Practice is important but I need to be aware of my limits, even though I kinda end up ignoring that sometimes, hehe. I appreciate the concern. I’ll become a wonderful magician, Sig, I’m sure of that!” Amitie confidently said.
“I think you’re already wonderful.” The boy suddenly said without thinking much of it, as if speaking from the heart.
Sig’s statement came in so unexpectedly to Amitie. At first she said no word, just looking at the boy sitting to her right, struggling to make a sentence. Her thinking was cut short by Sig.
“Amitie?” He seemed curious about the girl’s sudden silence.
“Oh, well, umm, d-do… you really think that?” A nervous Amitie questioned.
Sig nodded. “Yup. I’m sure of that.” A very sincere smile adorned his expression.
Receiving a compliment from anyone else felt nice, but to receive compliments from Sig meant so much more to Amitie, one could easily make her heart race.
“W-Well, you too are wonderful I tell ya! Y-Yeah, like, a very cool person!” Amitie commented.
“Huh? Me?” Sig replied, pointing at himself with his right hand.
“Of course, you silly!” Amitie exclaimed.
While Sig doesn’t give much thought or importance to what other people talk of him, whether it’s his personality, his interest in bugs and whatnot, anytime Amitie says good things about him always makes his day, his hair antennae twitching as a reaction to this.
All of a sudden Sig’s expression changed, he was staring at Amitie. His heterochromatic eyes set on the girl, or so it seems.
“Umm Sig, what is it? Is there something on my face?” Amitie inquired.
“Butterfly.”
The very butterfly that Sig was following earlier had returned and it was now resting on Amitie’s hat. No wonder why his expression had changed, he was clearly observing the little creature. The butterfly then started flying around the pair, and it got closer to Amitie. She raised a hand and to the surprise of both, the butterfly landed on it.
“Hello there pal, I’m Amitie. Nice to meet you.” The girl told the little fella.
Blue wings, with black patterns adorning them, certainly a thing of beauty. And Sig was more than happy to see the butterfly closely. And he looked at the full picture, Amitie radiating that personality of hers that Sig has come to admire, her emerald eyes set on the blue-winged bug. It is a special moment to him as the twitching of his hair antennae can confirm. A moment of bliss with his best friend by his side.
The butterfly then started flying again and landed on Sig’s nose for a moment, before continuing its travel around the forest.
“I think that was our friend’s way of saying goodbye.” Amitie mentioned.
“You think so?” Sig wondered. One thing was certain, though, and it’s that the butterfly had led him to Amitie. “Bye butterfly.” The boy said, while waving at the bug.
Amitie joined as well. “Later pal, see you next time!” The little butterfly was soon out of sight, heading into another place.
With that the pair resumed their talk, and it went as one would expect, a good and casual conversation between two good friends, talking about their everyday, school and all that. Luckily the weekend had already started so they didn’t have to immediately worry about homework, but Amitie did offer to help Sig with that since the boy had fallen asleep and hadn’t taken notes.
Amitie then let out a yawn and stretched her arms, exhaustion from her training session still noticeable.
“I think… I’m gonna… close my eyes for a bit.” Amitie told Sig with a touch of drowsiness in her voice. Effectively, she closed her eyes and quickly fell asleep, just how Sig had done in the classroom.
To Sig’s surprise, Amitie suddenly got closer, resting her head on his shoulder and hugging his red arm. Hair antennae twitching more than before, the now red-faced boy was left speechless. Amitie had told him before that she likes his red arm but he never expected something like this to happen. He didn’t object to it, why would he? So he stood still so that Amitie could continue her little nap.
Amitie slowly opened her eyes and let out a yawn like earlier. It’s gotten dark already, looks like her nap went longer than she expected, and Sig was there too. It slowly started dawning on her, they were moving. Sig’s clearly walking. The realization striking now, she’s in Sig's arms, he’s carrying her!
“Oh, hey Amitie.” Sig said after noticing that Amitie woke up.
“S-S-S-Sig, wh-what’s going on!?”
“It got late but you were still sleeping so I carried you back.” Sig pointed out, they were approaching Primp.
Amitie was thankful that it was dark enough, that way Sig wouldn’t notice how much she was blushing. Being in his arms felt rather… special. How the tables have turned, it was now Sig who didn’t want to wake her up just how she did so earlier at school.
“T-thanks Sig, y-you didn’t have to…” A nervous Amitie added. “Umm, you know, I can walk now, you don’t have to carry me all the way…” Truth be told, she would’ve loved that, maybe in due time.
“Okay.” Sig accepted, and carefully let go of her, making sure she didn’t lose balance or anything. He then handed Amitie her backpack, he didn’t mind carrying it all the way.
“Hold on, where’s your bug net?” Amitie quickly asked, noticing that it was nowhere to be seen.
“I left it where we were. I wasn’t sure how to bring it with us, and putting it on you didn’t seem right.” Sig explained.
“For real? I mean, you just had to wake me up, you know. Tell you what, I’ll go get it myself tomorrow morning.” Amitie’s eyes said it all, she intended to do as she said.
“Umm, you don’t have to.” Sig, on the other hand, didn’t want to bother Amitie with something like that.
“It’s no problem at all. Wait, I have an idea! How about we have a picnic tomorrow? Same place as today, whaddaya say?” Amitie suggested with a cheerful voice.
Sig didn’t think it much. “A picnic? Okay, sounds good.”
“Perfecto!” It’s gonna be so much fun.” Amitie said, accompanied by a big smile.
The two continued walking together until they were back in Primp Town, where they split to head back to their respective homes, not without saying goodbye to each other. Both were smiling, and with good reason.
End.