Chapter Text
Just like how every world should be, this one too has rules. Everything must eat, for starters. No matter what happens, you will always need to eat. When you grow into the adults of this world, the other rules like sleep might deteriorate, but you will always need to eat. And, while not an intrinsic rule, another rule, one intertwined with society itself, is that the adults will always rival the children in one way or another.
Muu wants to sigh, but knows better than to make noise in front of any of the teachers in this school. Her skirt, an itchy fabric made from too-cheap materials that she knows all children's clothes are made of, because adults don't care enough about children to give them something comfortable, drags uncomfortably against her knees as she discreetly attempts to straighten herself out before Ms. Suzume can tell she was slumping in the first place.
Currently, Ms. Suzume, her year's maths teacher, is giving some lecture on something that just doesn't click in Muu's head. Her back is sore, and the wood of the chairs gave her a few splinters just from her simple motions, and her head hurts from all the teacher's yelling. It's hard to focus, but she knows she must, because children who are bad where the teachers can see it may just not go home at the end of the day.
Every day is a repeat of this, between mean teachers and mean students. Really, Muu is lucky to have made some friends here and there, she's especially lucky for Rei. Usually, the new students are her friends (and hers) favourite targets, and the student in front of her is definitely not one she recognizes. At least break will be fun today, she suppose, if her friends decide to talk to her today. It may be the only good thing about living as a child in this world; not just the act, but the look her friends give her when she does what they want or give her pieces of her food.
If everything needs to eat, Muu should focus on giving her friends as much as she can without completely starving. If friendship is all about the benefits, then the food will benefit her friends and the love returned will benefit her too. Rei calls her foolish for it, because she needs food too, just like how all adults are driven to gluttony and just like how all children must have the power to grow into those adults, however little they want to.
The bell rings out loud, and Muu is snapped out of her own thoughts realising that she has learned nothing. No students move to leave, except for the one sitting in front of her who is new, but they get the memo when the teacher slaps her ruler on their desk. They're lucky she didn't slap it on their arm.
"Es, we do not leave until we are dismissed in this school," Ms. Suzume hisses out, and everything is truly silent for a moment. Adults are intimidating, after all. They're tall, taller than any child can be with stretch marks on every limb from their growth spurts, and the skin on their face's are covered in ugly warts. It's rare, for an adult to not be intimidating, or to even be particularly pretty to look at. Silence, the noise of understanding between teacher and student, and the sound of (not-so) patient waiting. "... Dismissed."
Immediately as that word leaves Ms. Suzume's mouth, there is the sound of scurrying students, rushing out of the dingy room with a mixture of taxidermied students and porcelain imitations decorating the walls. There are noises resembling tuts of disapproval from the teacher, but none of the students have truly disobeyed her. And she now is out of her one hour to practically own them, to stop them would be to disobey herself, and to disobey the whims of those in higher standing than her.
"Hello," Muu greeted, holding her hands behind her back as she approached the new student. "I'm Muu, what's your name~?"
May as well learn a little about them, right? Before her friends (and her, and her, she's deciding just as they are) decide they don't like them. It's inevitable, they hold people to high standards, and most don't really manage to meet those standards.
The new student paused, looking up at her after a second, as if trying to get a read on her. ".... Es. Ms. Suzume already said my name."
Es was still, and any small movements had them moving almost in the same way Ms. Suzume would move her taxidermy around when her students misbehaved. Their hair was messy, falling in their face. Every time she did something, even something small, she could see their eyes following.
"Es! Ahahaa, I didn't even know that was a name," Muu laughed out, ignoring the rudeness for now. She'll be able to explain later, now won't she? "So, why'd you move? And to here, of aaall places?"
Silence, was that Es' favourite noise or something? Because, strangely enough, they kept reverting to it. They looked at her, scrutinising her in her entirety. Though, they must have not found anything they were searching for, because they... Just turned and walked away?
So strange, they're practically acting like a teacher's pet, not that Muu really wishes that fate on anyone. But they're just being so rude, like they think they've grown already! You should enjoy the few good things of youth before you're like that. Her friends agree, just as most children do, she thinks.
They definitely don't hold up to the standards.
"Rei~!" Muu whined, leaning on the other from where she stood next to her. "The new kid is so mean. They just walked away from Muu without even saying 'bye'!"
It was just after lunch, Muu's other friends had gone off to do their own things until the bell rang out yet again, and she was talking with Rei right now. Apparently her other friends didn't want to hang out today, but Rei was good company. They were around the side of the building, where Rei typically hung out. Conversations like this one were pretty normal for them- more or less Muu talking to her.
Rei looked at Muu, letting her arm fall around her loosely. She sighed slowly, in that way she always did when she didn't exactly agree with her. "Well... They seemed nice to me, but they did seem a bit clueless."
"Just straight-up mean," Muu continued with her whining, before blinking as she realised something, she turned to face Rei again quickly as words tumbled out of her mouth, "Wait- wait- did you talk to them too?"
Rei stopped for a second, as if caught off-guard by Muu noticing. Before she gave a small noise of agreement, "Well, it was more like they spoke to me. I don't really speak to people on my own, you know that."
Muu never really understood that about Rei. "Well... What did they say to you?"
"Well..." Rei thought, leaning back against the wall they were standing by. She hummed out her thoughts, "It was weird, but they were very nice. They said all the typical conversation stuff, like 'Hi' and 'How are you', but it kind of seemed like they wanted something... I'm probably just thinking too much into it."
"No, no, Muu believes you," Muu agreed, completely ignoring that she always agrees with Rei. Like a husband who agrees with everything his wife says. "They stare really intensely, don't they?"
"... Muu, I don't really want this to turn into gossip," Rei spoke up again, seemingly recognising exactly where this was going. They'd had conversations like this enough.
"Okay, okayy," Muu sighed out. Well, if Rei likes them, maybe she should give them yet another chance. But if they blow this one, they're not getting another!
There was a second of comfortable silence, as for a second there was no more conversation topics. The outside was dilapidated as all the insides of the school, with the grass looking as if rotting and the flowers all falling apart, but there was nothing better to look at.
Muu looked at the near-monochrome veiw for a second, before letting the words shed been saving tumble out, "By the way, I have something in my lunch for you-"
"It's yours," Rei cut off suddenly, putting her hand over the others mouth, clearly unenthused.
Es was sat on their knees, looking up at the altar that they knew had stained glass behind it, even if they could not see it right now. From memory, they could vividly see the picture of the jackalope and the way the light should enter the room, a light that was now obstructed by the man on the altar. He sat there, with one knee crossed over the other and what they hoped to be a soft gaze looking down at them.
Slowly, the man reached his hands out tenderly to cup their cheeks. Es tried to stop their breath from hitching as they stared up at the imposing form, smaller than any adult but bigger than any child. His palms were impossibly cold, but as all should, Es knew better than to move away.
"I trust you understand what we are entrusting you with?" The man cooed out, thumb brushing over their cheek and tucking a loose strand of hair away. "Ah, there is no need to ask. You're a good child, after all."
"I..." Es struggled to blink, merely staring up at the man's face, how the black and yellow of the robes obscured all form. "I understand."
The man leaned forward, obstructing more and more light from Es' view until he was taking up practically all of their vision. From this close, they could see the grin striking his face. "As I thought. You truly are a good child, much better than your siblings."