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"Ping-pong!"
Ike smiled, looking up to be met by Millie's own sparkling smile. He closed his book, shuffling the papers hanging out of it more into line. "Hey Millie."
"Oh, sorry. Didn't mean to interrupt your studying. On the first day of school. Heheh." The witch giggled, settling down across the table from him and laying her chin down on top of her arms. The late afternoon sun set an orange tone against her blonde hair like bronze, and her emerald eyes sparkled with ever-present mischief.
"Haha, very funny." The boy deadpanned, unzipping his bag and dropping the book inside. "Just wanna get ahead of the curve, you know?"
"Yes sir, Mr. Honor Student sir." Millie saluted, sticking out her tongue.
Ike rolled his eyes at the playful act. "So I take it your school already let out a while ago, then? The train's quite a way's away from here." He furrowed his brows in confusion. "Wait, you're not playing hooky, are you?"
"Nah, they do let out an hour earlier than you guys." His friend replied, stretching her arms out across the table and yawning. "But we start an hour earlier too. Honestly don't know if I'd rather take a later start or not. Hey, you signed up for the baseball team, right?"
"Uh, yeah. I knew you weren't gonna stop needling me about it." Ike patted at his bag. He had gotten used to unconsciously checking to see if the witch had nabbed something when he wasn't looking, but it seemed she'd been merciful on him this time. "Wanted to get today's chapter done before baseball tryouts later, and tomorrow I'm gonna look into the school's chorus if I don't get a good position on the team."
"Nice! I already did tryouts at my school, got a bench-warmer spot. Guess I'm not as good as I was when we were kids." Millie blinked. "Say, I'm pretty sure my friend's also gonna try out for both of those too, so give her a wave if you can."
"Oh, you have a friend that goes to this school?"
"Yeah! Her name's Elira! She's one of my besties, like Enna!"
"Alright," The honor student scratched his chin, "I'll talk to her if I see her. What's she look like?"
"Well," Millie flashed a toothy grin, spreading her arms out in front of her, "she's got huge tits!"
...
If it was anyone else, Ike would've flinched at the out-of-nowhere change in direction of the conversation. But, well, this was Millie he was talking to.
"I, uh..." Ike glanced around, hoping the courtyard really was empty. "I'm gonna need more than that, Millie."
"Ummm... Oh! She's a sky dragon, so she's got wings on top of her head!" The witch put her hands above her head, moving them up and down like they were animal ears. "They're blue, like her hair."
"Right, I think that's a little harder to miss." Ike stared up at the clouds. He felt like he'd seen someone like that before...
"Cool! Actually, since you're gonna see her anyway," Millie stood up abruptly, grabbing something from her own bag, "mind giving her this? I actually gotta head to Enna's school; I made her try out baseball too and I wanna cheer her on."
Without waiting for a response, she tossed the ribbon-bound object to her friend.
Caught off-guard, he fumbled it before pulling it close to his chest. "HUH?! Wait, you're leaving already?!"
"Yep! Trust me, Enna's not exactly the athletic type, so she needs all the encouragement she can get!" Millie was already running off, waving back at him before cupping her hands together around her mouth. "And don't worry! Both you and Elira are really good at what you do, so don't doubt yourselves!"
The honor student opened his mouth to yell back, but Millie had already disappeared around the corner of the building. Sighing, he looked down at the gift he was now in charge of couriering. It was undoubtedly a book, wrapped beautifully and respectfully. Part of him was curious, but discretion won out. After all, the last time he'd messed around with one of the witch's books was also the last time he'd accidentally caused an explosion, and he'd prefer to keep that as 'the last time'.
Looking at his watch, Ike noted that there were still a few more minutes before he had to get ready for tryouts. Thus, he walked back into the school, footsteps echoing in the relatively empty hallway. He headed back towards his classroom, deciding he might as well check the notes on the board again to see if he'd missed any important events for the next month. He thought back to his quandary earlier; he'd known Millie since they were both pretty young, and they'd even played baseball together back when they were neighbors. He didn't get much of a chance to meet her friends, but the names 'Enna' and 'Elira' had definitely come up before. He wondered if he had met Elira before, and simply forgotten.
His mind worked hard, the gears of old memories turning after years of rusting away.
She was a sky dragon, right? I know there was a dragon that would always get into arguments with the guys when we played. I always looked up to her, maybe-
"Ugh. Stupid hat. Wish they made accommodations for head-wings."
Ike stopped in his tracks. The sound of grumbling over a suspiciously-familiar subject came from an open door nearby.
Without thinking, Ike took a few steps towards it, and peered inside. The classroom, abandoned compared to the normal school day, was bathed in orange light. Chairs stacked on top of decks, as to be expected; the room was almost completely devoid of life...
...save for a girl staring out the window, moving around a baseball cap atop her head, though still dressed in the school's regular summer uniform. Ike couldn't quite tell what color the girl's hair was due to the vibrant sunlight, but the wings peeking out awkwardly under the hat told him exactly who this was.
Unfortunately, Millie had seemed to neglect the rest of the details of a sky dragon. Namely the massive wings that stuck out from the bottom of her back. The wingspan was wider than the girl was tall and would've been an unmissable attribute at any range.
Sighing in frustration, Elira pulled down on the front of her shirt. "And the outfit's gonna be... damn it, boobs! You better not move around too much when I change into that thing."
Unlike before, Ike couldn't stop himself from flinching at this unexpected mention of boobs, and he reeled back...
...only for his arm to smack against a wooden frame on the wall, just outside the doorway.
The boy's hand quickly smacked over his mouth, doing his level best to keep from crying out as pain shot through his nerves. Unfortunately, he couldn't do anything about the sound of the slam, echoing loudly through the empty hallway.
"Huh?! Who's there?" The frustration evaporated from the girl's tone, replaced quickly by fear.
Part of Ike wanted to book it, just run off and pretend he hadn't been accidentally peeping on a girl fiddling with her outfit. It wouldn't even be neglecting the delivery, since he was going to run into her at another point soon, and things would surely be less awkward then.
However, the thought of just giving this girl a fright and not even bothering to apologize rubbed him the wrong way. So, with great reluctance, he returned to the doorway, bringing himself into view.
"Uh, hi. Sorry to, uh, startle you." The boy could feel his throat closing up. "Do you... happen to be Elira...?"
Much to his frustration, he realized Millie had also neglected to tell him the girl's last name.
Unfortunately, his own confusion didn't seem to do him any favors. Elira had turned back towards the door and taken up a defensive stance, a hand in front of her chest. One of her eyes was covered by her hair but she was definitely glaring at him. "Who wants to know?"
"Uh, yeah, right, sorry. I'm Ike." His nerves fraying already, the honor student pulled out the wrapped gift. "Millie asked me to give this to you."
Mercifully, the glare disappeared once Millie's name was mentioned. Ike stepped into the classroom and Elira closed the distance to him, accepting the present wordlessly. Her long fingernails tore into the wrapping and her eyes lit up, evidently satisfied with the gift.
Trying to think of what to say next, the honor student decided to start. "So, uh, is it a spellbook? Millie told me once that she wanted to teach people about her magic, so I thought-"
"Huh?!" Elira started, her shoulders jumping as though she'd forgotten he was there. Hurriedly, she hid the book behind her back, cracking an awkward grin. "O-oh! Right, yeah, no, it's- it's nothing special, really."
Ike wasn't exactly an expert on social cues, but he could tell from the behavior that it was time to move on from that subject. Sadly, he hadn't thought up a backup, so silence engulfed them once more, save for the strangely-loud ticking of his watch.
Ike kept his gaze on her face. It would probably be rude to not look at his... new acquaintance, but it would be just as rude to stare higher at the wings atop her head, or lower at her...
DAMMIT MILLIE, WHY'D YOU HAVE TO MENTION-
Elira's eyes flashed to him, and he felt his face light up. Instinctively, he brought a hand up to his cheek, tearing his gaze away and hoping, beyond hope, that he could think of a new subject quickly.
"Uh..." His words fumbled out, "I... I'm not sure if we've met before. I used to play baseball in my neighborhood with Millie when we were younger, but I couldn't remember everyone else's faces. I remember there... there was a dragon that played with us but it... might or might not have been you..."
Elira's expression turned quizzical. "I... think that was my little sister, Selen. Millie would always invite her to play and I tagged along because I didn't want her getting in too much trouble." She sighed. "Though, from what I remember, she was a real troublemaker."
"Yeah, I think she was." Ike chuckled, scratching her cheek. "She and Millie kinda inspired me to get into baseball."
"...same." Elira cracked a smile, her shoulders lowering as tension seemed to flow out of her form. "She mentioned getting a bunch of her other friends to sign up at their schools. Honestly, I think Millie's trying to get everyone she knows into baseball because she's on one of the best baseball teams in the city and wants to brag about beating everyone. Even though she's more of a bench-warmer type."
"Yeah, that sounds like her." Ike's mood brightened as the tone of the conversation turned lighter. "I was gonna try out for the school chorus instead, but she insisted."
"Oh, you're a singer too?"
"Yeah. Nothing special, though."
"I'm the same way. I've got a few other friends that swear they can't sing, but one of them is literally a mermaid who can do an amazing metal scream and..."
A blush broke it's way across Elira's face, likely realizing she was rambling, but Ike's expression had already turned overjoyed.
"Wait, metal? I love metal music! Do you know their favorite band? Do they have a favorite kind of metal scream?"
"Whoa, whoa, calm down!" Elira let out a laugh. "I'm not an expert on the subject, just a friend of mine, that's all."
"Oh." Now it was Ike's turn to feel embarrassed. "Sorry, I got ahead of myself. Actually, I haven't even introduced myself. Ike Eveland."
"And Ike is short for... 'Ichael'?"
"What? No, that's not- that's not a thing."
That earned him a laugh. "Yeah, sorry, kidding. I'm Elira Pendora. Though you... already knew my first name."
Suddenly, the sky dragon's exposed eye lit up in wonder. "Wait, can you do a metal scream?"
"I mean, I've got a pretty good vocal range." The boy brought up a fist over his mouth, trying not to smile too hard. He hadn't gotten to talk this much about singing with anyone in a long time, and the fact that he was talking so cordially with a girl he was scared two minutes ago might've been ready to hit him over the head with a baseball bat made him wonder if he was actually dreaming.
"Really? Then I'm all ears." Elira leaned her hip against a desk, her gaze expectant.
Suddenly, Ike was feeling self-conscious all over again. He looked down. "Maybe another time. I'm not exactly confident in, like, spontaneous concerts, you know."
"Ah," his new friend retreated, gaze turning apologetic. "I didn't mean to- I mean, I know how you feel. I've been practicing pretty hard but I'm not sure I'll even pass the first choral test."
"Really? But your voice is so beautiful...?"
Elira's eyes went wide, and suddenly Ike could feel his mind whirling, hands flying up as he stumbled over his words, trying to backpedal. However, Elira simply glanced away, a little smile forming on her lips.
Suddenly, a whistle sounded from out the window. Both stood tall as soon as the realization hit them, having gotten so caught up in conversation.
"OH CRAP!"
"THE TRYOUTS!"
Only stopping to let Elira grab her own schoolbag and holding the door open for her, the two ran together down the empty school hall, heading towards the gym.
"So!" Ike breathed as he kept up pace with the sky dragon, "What was that book Millie gave you?"
"What's it to you?"
"Is it something dirty?"
"W-WHAT?!"
Ike let out a laugh. "Oh my god, you really are Millie's friend, huh?"
Despite her cheeks coloring, Elira let out a chain of cackles herself.
"And what's that supposed to mean?!"