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Chapter Text

In the past 5 days, Haaji had found that school was both everything they expected it to be, and 10 times worse at the same time.

Why had they let Dongo talk them into this again? "A chance to meet their people," he'd said. "Something amazing if given the chance," he'd said. Amazing their ass. The only other students their age that Haaji knew at Stella Claritatis were the kids of merchants they'd stolen from, all of which had made it clear that they were not forgiven. The fact that the droning of all their teachers in all their classes were blurring together certainly did not help.

Haaji could've used their time at school on more productive things! Like "borrowing" some coin from one of the rich kids that browsed the marketplace. Not wasting away doing dingy homework on some math that they would never need to use!

Whatever. It was the weekend anyway. The so-called ‘urchin’ got 2 whole days to rest! Wow, how generous.

They chucked their books haphazardly into their locker and slammed the door shut, pulling out their sketchbook from the scruffy bag looped around their shoulder. Walking down the hallway, Haaji flipped through the already-filled pages. Unfocused on the path in front of them, a sudden bump to the shoulder caused them to stumble and drop their work.

Recovering quickly, they snapped back. "Hey, what the hell, scallywag!" Haaji hissed, "Watch it!" They looked up at the boy they bumped into.

He looked about their age, a little older give or take. The boy's hair was brown and a little mussed, though nowhere as messy as Haaji's own, and his clothes were plain, if a little neater. He had a nervous and apologetic smile on his face.

"S- sorry!" said the bumbling idiot, "I was uh, a little distracted." he admitted sheepishly. "Uhm, say, have I seen you before..?"

Haaji narrowed their eyes. Had they met? They hadn't recognised the boy's face themself, but maybe there was a possibility they knew him… Looking a little more closely... "I think you're in my class. I'm new to the school, I'd be surprised if you recognised me and you weren't."

The boy smiled bashfully at that. "Oh yeah. There was a new kid in the class..! So, uh, you're that kid?"

Haaji shrugged, extending a hand. "I suppose I am. Haaji, at your service! And you are?"

"I'm Sebastian, Nice to meet you, Haaji!" The boy, Sebastian, beamed back a little shyly, shaking the other’s hand. His attention was abruptly diverted, however. "Oh, uhm, that's my friend! Over there!"

Haaji looked over to where he was gesturing, only to narrow their eyes at the girl being referred to.

Pamina Glacite. She was prim. Proper. Popular. And also a daughter of the Glacite family, one of the most rich and well known in the school. Haaji couldn't quite recall why- but they knew that the family had enough history with the school to the point where one of the houses was named after them. The girl's eyes were frosty blue, just like her house colour, her navy blue coat neat & tidy and her dark blonde hair sleek. Pamina was basically the perfect, popular girl of their grade.

Haaji didn't quite like her.

They don't think they could quite trust someone so... proper. They wouldn't be surprised if she was some stuck-up, pish-poshy, poor example of a daughter . Quite frankly, they'd stolen enough from kids like that in the marketplace- they knew how people like that could be. Arrogant and self-righteous. People who thought themselves as above others, especially if another one was a street rat who pickpocketed.

It was time to wrap this meeting up, before she could make her way over.

"Well, it was nice meeting you, Sebastian, but I oughta go." Haaji grinned with as much charm as they could muster. "Seeya around!" Without much more talk, they dashed off.

"Wait!" the boy called after them. "Where are you- You left your-!" But Haaji paid no mind, disappearing easily into the crowd, leaving a very confused Sebastian behind.

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"No, no, no! Oh, what the hell…" the teen let out a groan, rummaging frantically through their bag. How could they have been so stupid! They'd left their sketchbook on the ground during that entire encounter with Sebastian! The one thing they didn’t want to lose… What are they gonna do now? Wait a couple more days until school starts next week? The urchin tossed their bag down on the park bench and sat down in a huff. They scanned their eyes around the park, searching for something to do. A loud scene on the other side of the lawn caught Haaji’s eye.

A pair of students, a boy and girl who Haaji had never seen before, seemed to be yelling and arguing with someone else. The duo seemed to be twins, siblings at the very least, but Haaji couldn't see who they were yelling at yet.

The boy of the pair jeered "Just show us! Don't be such a wuss!"

"Yeah, it's not even yours to hide!" Added his companion immediately. "It's not like there's anything you could lose!"

Were they... bullying someone? How pathetic.

A new voice argued back, a girl's voice, ringing out delicate and high. "Leave us alone!" Us? So it's not just the one guy getting picked on. "Just because it's not ours, doesn't mean we should invade their privacy-"

"Oh, shut it, Glacite!" the girl snapped, "We weren't asking you!"

Glacite? There was no way that a Glacite was being bullied. Haaji squinted, trying to find faces from behind the bullies as they moved. And yep, there she was, that princess Pamina and-

"Sebastian...?" they muttered. He did say she was his friend, but it took Haaji by surprise. But now that someone they knew was being bullied, they had to step in. It's an obligation. They sighed, and approached the commotion.

Haaji approached group from behind, just as the two siblings were trying to snatch something from Sebastian. "Alright, back it up, tricky twins." they glared.

"Excuse me? Do you know who I am?" said the girl, who turned to her brother with a huff. "Who does that street rat think they are?"

"I don't give a damn about who you are." Scoffed the so-called 'street rat'. "You're pretty pathetic to be picking on other teenagers."

The boy gasped in offence. "How dare you! Wait until our father hears about this!"

"You'll be sorry." Hissed his sister.

"Very sorry!" He added angrily.

“Oh, shut it. I’ll give you 2 gold coins.” Haaji interrupted. “Just beat it!”

The twins exchanged a glance. “Fine!” Huffed the boy. “But you’ll be sorry talking to us that way!”

Haaji rolled their eyes as the two retreated. "Some weirdos they are." They turned, looking at Sebastian who looked at her in shock.... and Pamina, who had an unreadable expression on her face.

“You didn’t have to bribe them for us…” Sebastian said, looking to the side a little. “We could’ve handled it ourselves.”

The teen shrugged. “Eh, it’s their coins anyway. I just ‘borrowed’ some from them without them noticing and gave them right back!” Haaji flipped another gold piece they pinched into the air. “Don’t worry about it.” They winked.

“Wha- You stole from Asparagus and Agapanthus?” he gasped. “Y-you shouldn’t do that! You- you pick-pocketing pickle!”

Haaji chuckled. "Oh, cool it. It didn’t hurt nobody! They won’t even notice." They replied with a grin. "Anyway, what kind of dad names his kids Asparagus and Agapanthus? I’d think bullying other students would be the least of their concerns."

At this, Pamina dropped her jaw. "You really don't know who they are? Those two are Alberand's twins!" At Haaji's blank stare, she started rambling. "Alberand's the principle of Umbra Lucis! Our rival school? There's an annual competition where we compete for the Shining Star!"

"Princess, I have no clue what you're talking about."

The look on Pamina's face was gold. She was completely baffled at the thought that someone didn't know about... whatever she was talking about. "How do you not know what the Shining Star is? Don't you pay attention in class?"

Sebastian cut into the conversation. "I usually don't myself but… wowzers, not knowing what the Star is? That's another level."

Haaji just shrugged. "I never really cared, honestly. Doesn't seem all that important." The pure look of astonishment on both their faces was hilarious. "Oh, cool yourselves! I just have other priorities!"

Suddenly, Sebastian seemed to remember something. "Oh right! You uh, dropped this!" he lifted up his hands to show Haaji their book. "I was gonna give it back at school, but you're here anyway-"

They immediately snatched it from his hands. Before blinking back at him guiltily. "Uhm. Sorry? And er, thanks." Haaji flipped through some pages, checking if any were missing. Seeing that none were, they let out a sigh of relief.

What Pamina said next made their blood go cold. "They're really good, you know." she said. She flinched a little when Haaji gave her a stare. She had the decency to look ashamed. "Ah! My apologies. We shouldn't have looked but... they really are something special! Haaji, yes? You're a talented artist!"

"Oh. Uhm. Thank you." The urchin replied, face flushed at the unexpected praise. They could hardly believe that was a genuine compliment. "I try."

Sebastian grinned "I can tell! Your drawings look so cool!"

The praise was. Unfamiliar. But Haaji smiled all the same. "You're a sap," they teased, slinging an arm around the boy. "Pamina here just said that."

The boy smiled back, laughing along. “But it’s true!” he insisted, Pamina nodding along.

“Haaji, I was wondering, perhaps, if you’d like to hang out with us? During breaktime.” Pamina asked shyly. “If you already have plans, that’s fine too. But I’d like your company. It gets a little lonely with just Sebastian and I…”

“Of course I will!” Haaji blurted out. “I mean. I, uh. Don’t have anything better to do. I’ll hang with ya.” They added hastily, flustered at their own outburst. “I thought there’d be a line of people to choose friends from though, seeing as you’re… well.” Haaji gestured at Pamina, and her neat hair and prim clothes.

“The daughter of the Glacite family?” She finished. Smiling a little awkwardly, she explained. “There are a few, but none who really want to include Sebastian, and I wouldn’t leave him behind.”

Sebastian gave his friend a nudge. “Well, I do appreciate it.” grinned the boy. “Have you heard, apparently there’s this rumour going around…”

As they chatted with their new found friends, Haaji felt that maybe, school wouldn't be so bland. It was nice, finding people who didn't judge or take pity on them. Maybe… they were going to be alright.

Chapter Text

It wasn’t easy, navigating a new school with such ‘uptight’ friends, in comparison to Dongo, who took anything it saw that was mildly interesting. It’s how he was able to start the shop, according to his stories. Haaji didn’t expect to be taken in by anyone when they ran away from Terra's Home for Children and Youth (Haaji hated that star-damned place) and to meet Dongo was a gift they took for granted. They worked synchronously and took stuff when they could. Pamina and Sebastian were the exact opposite, and adjusting is something Haaji hadn’t done in a while.

They eyed a wallet discarded on a table. It would be so easy to grab it and run off into the sunset never to be seen again. But with Pamina next to them and Sebastian leading them down the hallway by the arm, and Haaji was quite certain that they would not be allowed to take the wallet with them.

The teenager suppressed a sigh, and tuned into the conversation.

“-quite busy most of the time, so I’m not too certain if he’d be open to talk…” Pamina was saying, musing thoughtfully about… something.

“He is a nice guy!” Sebastian chimes, “and a great house captain too! The Gaia house is doing well with him as the captain.”

Oh, right. The trio of teens were off to see the house captain of the Sebastian and Haaji’s house, Christopher Gaia. Haaji didn’t know much about the man, only that he was several years older than them and that he was a descendant of the original Gaia family that the house was named after. Funny how that works out, huh.

“You’ve met him, then?” Haaji questioned, tilting their head. Pamina nodded, and Sebastian did the same, albeit more enthusiastically.

“We’re family friends,” said Pamina, “I pass him in the halls often. We discuss some things on occasion… but otherwise, we don’t interact too often." The girl shrugged, not apparently too disappointed about the fact.

As the gaggle of teenagers passed some of the older student’s lockers, someone in the crowd called out to them.

“Hey, Pamina! Seb!” the voice of an older boy rang out behind them, and the group turned. Haaji saw a quite frankly intimidating tall, athletic boy approach them, smile bright and cheery. “Wow, I feel like it’s been a while since I saw you! Gimme five!”

“Rorz!” Sebastian cheered, as he greeted the boy (Rorz? Was that his name?) with a high five. The resulting smack made him wince. “Ow. That kinda hurt.” he cringed, shaking his hand.

Pamina, on the other hand, simply smiled. “Hello Roberto,” she said politely, “Have you met our friend? This is Haaji, they joined Stella this year.”

The taller boy turned to face Haaji, his face displaying delighted surprise, as if he’d just noticed their presence. He grinned at them, oblivious to the teen’s caution towards him, and gleefully introduced himself. “Nice to meet you, Haaji! I am Roberto Octavian Remington Zacharie Lorrendo Blazura Jr! But many people also call me Rorzalot for short, or Rorz for even shorter!”

Haaji eyed him warily, but Sebastian continued, “Rorz is one of the best athletes in the school! And also one of the great-great-something-great grandchild of Blazura!”

“Oh. That’s nice, I suppose?”

“Anyway,” Pamina cut in, “We must be going now. I’m hoping to get the chance to talk with Christopher, and you know how he is.”

Rorzalot simply beamed. “Oh! You would be, wouldn’t you! Can I come with?” he grinned, with the energy of a thousand suns. “I’m not doing anything right now anyway!”

Haaji was about to interject, but Sebastian interrupted, brimming with enthusiasm. “Of course! We’re just heading to his office now!”

With a new addition to their “journey” (Earlier, Pamina told Sebastian that it was just a small walk through the school, but he insisted on calling it a journey), the hallway was becoming quite crowded, so Haaji and Pamina walked behind the two boys, who were talking and laughing among each other.

“Sorry about those two,” Pamina giggled, watching Sebastian make a particularly ridiculous gesture, “Sebastian admires Roberto a lot, and they get along really well. Sometimes they get a little loud though.”

Haaji let out a small chuckle, watching the smaller students around them jump when the senior boy let out a booming laugh in response to something the younger one said. “I can see that, yeah. That must’ve been how Rorzalot here got that nickname, huh?” they replied dryly.

“Possibly!” The two shared a small laugh, and fell into a silence until they reached their destination.

The office door was painted a neat, evergreen colour, with the words “Gaia House Captain” printed on it in gold. Pamina knocked, and a sigh, followed by the shuffling of papers was heard from the inside.

“Greetings, fellow house members, Pamina & Rorz, hello to you too.” Christopher glanced at Haaji, taking in their shorter stature . “This is the kid who joined this year, yes? What brings you here today?”

“What exactly is the importance of this meeting? I don’t really feel like I need to be here for this…” Haaji attempted to walk away, only to be grabbed by a cold hand, probably Pamina's, and yanked back into conversation. “Pamina! What was that for?!”

“You are needed here, Haaji. Christopher here needs to find out what things you’re good at for the Shining Star competition. And no, it doesn’t include pickpocketing, so you're out of luck with that one.” Pamina states, looking at them with a teasing glint in their eyes. “Sebastian, for example, is good at fencing, he’d definitely be a knight or something if he could. He’s practically a god at swordfighting, I swear.” Sebastian looked startled at the mention, but didn’t deny it as he laughed bashfully.

Christopher looked at Haaji expectantly, waiting for an answer, as Rorz chimed in “I assume you don’t know everything we do at the festival, as we do a lot of things. We have catapult assembling, and launching flaming tennis balls inside them. I find that one quite fun, but if you’re no good at knots, there’s not really a point. From the looks of you, I’m thinking maybe archery? Pamina does it, and you look like you have good hand-eye coordination. Talk to Pamina and see how you feel about it.”

Archery? With Pamina Glacier? The token straight? Oh dear. As much as they loved hanging out with Pamina and Sebastian, Haaji has never actually been alone alone with Pamina. They don’t exactly know how to start a conversation with her, especially if it's just them. Maybe they can ask Sebastian what Pamina likes to talk about.

Looking at Pamina, they asked “Would you be up for that? I’m down to try, if you’re fine with it, that is.” They probably looked a bit shy at that moment, Haaji thought, cringing internally. It's not every day you ask the princess of the school, who just so happens be your friend, to shoot arrows with you.

Her face brightens at the question “Yes! Of course you can, Haaji! I’d love to have a friend with me, it's a bit lonely on my own.” Pamina laughs. Of course it was. Pamina’s an only child, so she didn’t really have many other people than her friends. It makes a lot of sense as to why she’s not as mean as Haaji thought she would be. “We can go practice at my house after school, and then you can let Chris know what you want to do later.”

She waved goodbye to the three boys standing there, engrossed in their new conversation, and Haaji followed suit.

Chapter Text

“Holy shit, Princess.”

Pamina’s house was a massive, polished, perfectly-kept property. Hell- it was more like a mansion than a house. Haaji wasn’t sure if they’d even seen such a grand place before in their life. The white, stone walls looked striking, even rivaling Stella Claritatis itself, and it looked to be at least three stories tall.

“You live here?” Asked Haaji, their mouth dropping with awe at the grandeur.

Leading the way through the long halls of the house, Pamina laughed airily. “Yeah, it’s quite large, isn’t it?” She looked back at her companion with a sheepish smile. “Try not to go off on your own, you may get lost… If you do though, I’m sure one of the housekeepers will be happy to help, at least.”

The girl led Haaji through the house, eventually going out the other side of the building to a large backyard. The lawn sprawled across the ground in neat patches, a couple of flowerbeds scattered around here and there. One area had been cleared into an archery range, which is where Pamina finally stopped.

They were quiet for a while, before she seemed to suddenly remember what they were doing there.

“So! Have you ever done archery before, Haaji?” She inquired, opening the shed nearby and pulling out a bow. She fiddled with it a little before handing it to Haaji, and then retrieving one for herself.

Her friend inspected the bow handed to them, turning it over in their hands. “Nope.”

“Well in that case,” Pamina said, “Let me tell you some bow safety before we start. First of all, don’t-”

Haaji drew back the bow and released it as if shooting an arrow, making a sharp snap sound from the string. They startled at the noise. “Uhm. Sorry?” The teen looked at Pamina, still mid-sentence, with an apologetic grin.

 “-do that. That’s called dry firing and it damages the bow.” The girl sighed, continuing with her explanation. “Another thing to remember is to listen to me, since you’re still learning! I’d rather that no one comes out of this injured, Haaji.”

“Sorry, Pamina. I’ll shut up now.” replied Haaji with a wince.

Pamina smiled back at them fondly. “Yes, alright. So…”

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Thwick. An arrow pierced the target, missing the red dot of the bullseye by a few centimetres. Another followed, landing around the same area. A third whizzed by, hitting one of the outer circles, some distance away from the other two.

“What the fuck?! Pamina, how are you so damn good at this?!” Haaji huffed, glaring at the target, and at their arrow, closer to the edge of the target than Pamina’s previous two shots. “You sure have some skill, making shots like that!” 

Pamina blushed at the praise. “Oh, really, I’ve been practicing for years! It’s really nothing.” she humbly replied, looking away. “You’re doing alright yourself, for some one who had just started.”

Now, it was Haaji’s turn to turn red. “Wha- I- I mean, well. Thank you. It means a lot coming from you.”

An awkward silence hung between the two. The blonde was the one to break it. “So, what did you think of archery?” asked Pamina, glancing back at Haaji.

“It was alright,” Haaji said, quick to change subjects, “I don’t really know if it’s what I wanna do though…?”

“Ah, well. At least you made an attempt at it.” Pamina sighed. “Any ideas on something else you would like to try?”

“Well, uh…” they sheepishly smiled. “I don’t remember what events there were…?” admitted Haaji.

Pamina glared playfully at them. “Haaji. We’ve explained this to you several times already.” She giggled at their embarrassed face and continued. “But fine, as long as you’re listening now!” The girl started listing the events that took place during the Shining Star competition.

“Archery, Fencing, Catapult Assembling, Sprints, Hurdles, Horse Riding-”

“Hey! I can do that one!”

“Horse Riding?”

“No, the hurdles!” Haaji said enthusiastically. “I run and climb over things all the time- It’s really useful when I wanna- uh. Run around. In the market.” They quickly remembered not to mention the fact that they’ve had to jump over carts and other obstacles in the crowded market while being chased away from stores.

The girl looked at them suspiciously. “Right. Whatever you say, Haaji.”

Haaji poked their tongue at her. “Well, I say that we move on. Don’t you want to see how skilled I am in hurdles?”

She stared at them, and they matched her gaze with a teasing challenge. Pamina was the first to break away from the staring competition, sighing. “Oh, alright then. Just let me return the archery equipment before we set up the track.”

“Oh, duh. You need my help?” The two spent some time taking the arrows out of the targets (“Haaji, not like that!” Pamina tried to warn before they promptly tugged an arrow out of the target and nearly into their eye. They’re fine, thankfully) and putting the things away before they prepared the track.

The hurdles were relatively simple to set up. Pamina fiddled with the stopwatch, before nodding to Haaji. “Alright,” She called, “Ready?”

Her companion nodded, yelling from the other side of the designated track. “Yeah! Tell me when to go!”

“Okay!” Pamina started the countdown.  “3, 2, 1, go!” on the signal, Haaji dashed, clearing all ten obstacles with a leap. When they reached the end, they skidded next to Pamina with a huff. She looked up with a smile. “15 seconds and 33 milliseconds! That was great, Haaji!”

Haaji looked at the stopwatch themselves. “Phew, ya think so?” They asked, eyes gleaming. “I won’t get smashed if I try it competitively?"

“I think you would have a decent chance against Umbra Lucis.” Pamina nodded. “Do you want to go again?”

“You bet!” Haaji grinned, already walking back to the start of the track.

On their next attempt, they managed to reach the end a few seconds shorter. The two continued practising, with Pamina being convinced to try once or twice herself, until the sun started its descent behind the horizon.

“Whewf. That was fun.” Haaji sighed, puffed out from all the running they’d done that afternoon. They grinned up at Pamina. “I think I can do this for the what-you-call-it competition.”

“I can’t tell if you’re joking or not. It’s the Shining Star competition.” Pamina replied with a rueful look. Haaji poked their tongue out at her. “But that’s great news that you’ve decided what you want to do! You can tell Christopher about it tomorrow in school.”

The two of them paused for a moment, both trying to come up with ideas for what to do.

“So, uh. Do you want to grab something to eat?” Haaji finally said, with an awkward smile.

“Oh! Sure. I can request the housekeepers to prepare something for us if you’re hungry?” Pamina offered. “Unless you’d prefer to go out somewhere instead. There’s a cute cafe that’s opened in the shopping centre near my place?”

“Oh, great idea! Only if you pay!” They replied, grinning as the two walked back to the mansion. “Are we gonna invite Sebastian?”

Pamina shook her head. “He has fencing practice today. It’ll be just the two of us.”

“Ah, well. We can have fun anyway.” Grabbing Pamina’s hand, Haaji started pulling her forward, unaware of the girl’s flustered confusion at the unexpected contact. “Let’s go!”

“Ah- Sure. S- Sounds great!” Pamina stammered, getting dragged by the eager teen. The two of them were out of the gate shortly, and soon walking down the street, when she was struck by a realisation. 

“...Haaji. Do you know where you’re going?”

Chapter Text

The sunset casted a warm orange glow on the pavement. It wasn’t a particularly busy day at the shopping center, only a few people were seen cruising around the stores. Pamina and Haaji walked through the building, talking animatedly about some story that the former was telling.

“-I had told Sebastian not to do it, but I think he was too zoned in to listen to me.” Sighed the blonde, as she led them around the buildings. “He was a menace when we were younger.”

“Oh, I could see him doing that.” Haaji cackled, “I wonder if he’d do it again if I asked…”

Pamina spluttered at their words. “Please don't! It was so annoying to clean up!” She said exasperatedly, yet still fond. 

The two went quiet for a moment, trying to come up with something else to talk about.

“Do you have any interesting stories, Haaji?” Pamina asked at last. She tilted her head. “I don’t know much about you.”

Haaji blinked. “Huh? Me? Uh…” They thought about petty theft and chases. That probably wouldn’t make a very good impression. They looked up to Pamina with a sly grin “How about you take me to dinner, first?”

And in that moment, Pamina did something neither of them expected. She leaned down to Haaji’s eyelevel and, in an equally flirty tone, replied “Oh, but I already am.”

Both were silent for a moment, but then-

“PAMINA??” 

“I AM SO SORRY- I DON’T KNOW WHAT CAME OVER ME-”

Pamina coughed, standing straight back up “I was joking. We’re just friends.”

Haaji nodded quickly. “Yep, just friends!” They tried to ignore the feeling of disappointment  They hurriedly changed the topic. “So, stories huh? I have a few tales of my own to share…”

The walk was a little more awkward after that.

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“Comfort & Coffee? What sort of basic name is that…” muttered Haaji, squinting up at the sign that hung over the store front. 

“Well, it has alliteration.” Pamina offered, pushing open the door.

They followed behind, talking under their breath. “Alliter-what-now?”

The cafe was cozy, with lights illuminating the room with a warm glow. Scattered around different tables, people were eating food and chatting with each other. A few plants hung from the ceiling in little clay pots and some pastries were on display by the register. Haaji tried to guess if the plants were fake or not, while Pamina walked over to the empty counter, ringing the bell.

A waitress quickly speed-walked over from behind the displays. They called out to the two as they went. “Yes, yes, I’m coming.” The worker, a sharp-eyed young adult (or older teen?), quickly started the usual customer-welcoming speech. “Welcome to Comfort & Coffee, what can I get for you- Pamina?” She asked, looking up startled.

“Oh, Iris?” Pamina replied back, equally caught off-guard. “I didn’t realise you worked here. What a pleasant surprise.”

“Mhm. Certainly unexpected.” The lady, Iris, stole a glance at Haaji. “Is this your partner? Never took you as the type to like troublemakers…” They mused.

Pamina jolted. “What?”

“This is the new kid at school, right? You know I hear everything that happens around the school- Rumor has it that they’ve caused a fair share of trouble and stolen a few things from vendors at the market too. I really am quite surprise that you two are-”

“We’re not dating.” Haaji interrupted. “You go to our school?”

“Ah, right, Haaji this is-” Pamina started, before being swiftly cut off by Iris.

“I can do my own introduction, thank you.” She smiled, a little condescendingly. “I am Iris Tempest, and you should know that if something gets whispered along the halls of Stella Claritatis, I’ve heard it.”

“They’re in the same year as Christopher,” Pamina adds, “She’s… something for sure.”

They rolled their eyes. “You flatter me, Pam.” said Iris. “But you must be Haaji, right?”

“Yeeeessss.” Haaji replied, eyes narrowed. “...Can we order something now, or are you going to talk about yourself all day?”

Iris scoffed, tapping some buttons on the monitor of the register. “Alright then, what would you two like to order today?”

The tension was palpable, as Haaji and Iris stared each other up, as if waiting for the other to make a move on them. Between them, Pamina fidgeted awkwardly, wondering how it got to this point. She cleared her throat and started her order.

“A mocha and one of your creamy carbonaras, please.” She said politely. “Haaji, what do you want?”

Haaji broke off from the unofficial staring competition, glaring at the menu behind the counter. “I’ll take a grilled chicken wrap.” They said.

“I’ll get that to you soon. Go take a seat.” Iris sneered back, heading into the kitchen. Haaji’s glare followed her back as Pamina hurriedly paid for the food. They continued to glare back at where they could no longer see her, even as the pair took their seats.

Pamina glanced between Haaji and the doorway that Iris had gone through. “You could have tried to be polite you know.” She said finally, after the two had sat in awkward silence for a while. “I don’t understand why you felt the need to be so… snappy.”

They remained silent, poking at the napkin in front of them with a fork.

“I’m just saying, you could make an effort to not scowl when I’m introducing you to people.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever.” Haaji huffed, a little abashed. “I’ll try, or something.”

Pamina frowned. “Haaji, I’m serious about this. First, you kept eyeing Roberto as if he was about to slam you into a wall, then you try to leave the conversation between us and Christopher-  which was about what you would do- and now you start up drama between yourself and Iris? Are you allergic to meeting people or something?”

“I just- I don’t-” protested Haaji, trying to come up with an argument, “I seriously don’t need to know more people. I only need Dongo, Seb and you!”

“And I believed I was the introvert between us.” Pamina sighed, putting her head in her hands.

Their eyes widened. “Wh- Hey??? What’s that supposed to mean-?”

Iris approached the table, tray in hand. “Excuse me, I have a mocha and carbonara for you.” They shot Haaji a distasteful glance. “Your food will be out shortly.”

“Thank you very much.” Pamina said, taking her food and placing it on the table.

“Prick.” Haaji muttered under their breath as Iris walked away, earning themselves an icy glare from Pamina.

“Haaji, that’s not very nice.”

They let out a long groan. “Fine! I’ll try to play nice from now on.”

Pamina sighed, but said nothing, choosing to instead start eating her food, and letting them fall into a comfortable silence. The occasional clink of silverware on plate was the only sound from the table, followed by a small, forced “thanks” from Haaji once their own food was served.

With nothing much to do, other than eat, Haaji felt their gaze wandering, looking outside the cafe window. The sky was nearly black by now, and most of the stars were shining. The few stores that were still open had only a few customers left, from what they could see through the windows.

Their eyes drifted back to Pamina, who was checking her phone in between bites of her food. Each second, she seemed to get more concerned, her blue eyes flicking between messages on her screen.

“You look stressed.” Haaji stated simply, scanning Pamina for a reaction.

She jumped, then looked away awkwardly. “Well, uhm. It’s unimportant. Just a text from my parents.” She twirled her hair around her finger nervously. “I just forgot to pack up the equipment from before, is all.”

Haaji winced in sympathy. “Oh, crap. I mean- I’m sure they’ll understand it just slipped your mind.” They felt a small pang of guilt. Secretly, they had noticed it as they were leaving, but were hoping that Pamina wouldn’t so that they didn’t have to clean up.

“Yeah, right. Of course.” Pamina said, before muttering something unintelligible.

“What was that?” Haaji tilted their head, trying to decipher what she just blurted out.

“Don’t worry about it! But I really must go now.” Flashing a reassuring smile, Pamina started leaving her seat, putting on her jacket and making her way to the door. “I’m glad we got to hang out today! Have a good night!” She quickly exited, leaving Haaji alone at the table, still trying to figure out what the hell just happened.

“Uhm. Okay. Bye.”

Chapter Text

Haaji didn’t see her again until school the next day. Honestly, they didn’t know whether they should even expect Pamina at school, so it was a small relief when Haaji came to school the next day and found her and Sebastian chatting together at the usual spot.

Sebastian noticed them first, glancing up as they approached. “Morning, Haj!”

“Good morning, Haaji!” Pamina greeted, acting as cool and collected as she usually does, “How does fortune fair you today?”

“Doin’ fine” they replied instinctively. They recalled how rushed she was the previous night. “How’re you? Hope ya parents weren’t too mad about the hurdles.”

She winced, a little sheepish. “I got lectured for about an hour,” Pamina said, “but it was fine.”

Raising an eyebrow, Sebastian replied “An hour?” He seemed to consider it, then shrugged. “Better than that one time they grounded you for bringing that bird into the house, but that’s still a lot for forgetting to put back your equipment.”

“It’s fine,” she sighs, before turning to Haaji. “By the way, I’ve already contacted Christopher and told him that you’d do hurdles for the competition. I think there’s a school assembly about the Shining Star competition later today.”

“Thanks, Pamina,” said Haaji, “But why the hell did you bring a bird into your house?”

At their question, Sebastian smothered a smile as Pamina put her head in her hands. “Oh no, why did you have to bring that up, Sebastian…?” Her reluctance only increased Haaji’s curiosity, and they leaned in closer.

“Oh, come on now, Princess, you gotta tell me now!” They said with a sly smile.

“Rrghhghghghgghhghghgh” In an uncharacteristically undignified way, Pamina sunk her head deeper into her hands, her flushed cheeks barely visible to Haaji. Sebastian was struggling to hold his laughter now, but he was putting in a very valiant effort.

It took no more than 2 minutes for Pamina to finally yield, after constant poking and prodding from Haaji.

“Fine, fine!” She huffed, pushing Haaji away playfully, after they had sidled up to her in an (successful!) effort to get her to spill the story. “So. My uh, neighbours had a pet parrot.” 

Haaji nodded, waiting for her to continue. 

“Once, when I was around 5, I saw a rainbow bird on the ground, and I couldn’t tell if it was injured or not. So I brought it into my house so I could nurse it back to health!” Sebastian’s giggles were growing. “So I surrounded it with some quartz to try and accelerate it’s healing, but I-”

Sebastian burst into laughter, interrupting Pamina’s story and earning himself a playful shove from Haaji. After the two had calmed back down, she continued.

“I dropped one of the stones on the bird and woke it up, prompting it to start screeching and flying around my house. It turned out not to be my neighbour’s well-behaved macaw, but a wild bird instead. After that, I wasn’t allowed to bring any animals in the house.” finished Pamina with a sigh.

Haaji imagined a small Pamina trying to calm down a startled, very not-injured bird that was flying around in her house, snickering. “Oh, that’s really funny actually.” Both they and Sebastian were laughing now, in a not-so-mature fashion.

She shoved them playfully. “Shush! I was like, 5! I’d like to hear your stories from when you were that age!”

“Don’t remember much of it.” replied Haaji, a playful glint in their eye. “You ain’t getting nothin!”

The trio laughed together on the school benches, teasing each other light-heartedly and waiting for school to start. Haaji was squinting at their friends, trying to get the morning sun out of their eyes, when a semi-familiar sneer interrupted the group.

Asparagus emerged from underneath the shadow of a tree, his sister tailing behind him and sneering just the same. “Well, well, well, if it isn’t the Glacite and her dirty companions.” 

“You again?” Haaji scoffed, “What did you want, another two coins?” They eyed the twins, plotting if they could somehow pickpocket them while they were right in front of them. Unfortunately, it seemed that the trick wouldn’t work again.

“Don’t you dare lay one of your filthy hands on us, thief!” snapped Agapanthus. It seemed they noticed the missing coin from last time, then. Was that what they came here to bother them for? A single gold coin? Haaji frowned at them.

“Wait, hang on,” They said, “What are you doing here?” Haaji gestured to the school grounds around them.

Pamina caught on quickly, mirroring Haaji’s confusion (albeit with less aggression). “Yeah, hang on, these are Stella Claritas school grounds! Aren’t you trespassing? What are you doing here?” 

Asparagus scoffed, as if asking such a question was offensive to them. “Well, we’re here with our daddy-”

“Alberand?!” Sebastian interrupted, eyes wide.

“Alberand!” sneered Agapanthus.

“Alberand is here too?!” Pamina gasped back.

Agapanthus scoffed, snatching her brother's ear “They’re not gonna let us go through now, you idiot!” she muttered, “and now Daddy won't get me my pony, all because of you!” She dragged him away, lecturing him over near the dumpster Haaji so desperately wanted to throw them into.

Haaji stared at the pair of twins with a look of confusion on their face when Asparagus came running back to taunt the three teenagers one more time. “What in all the realms do you want?” They sighed, “Beat it, tricksy twins.” 

“Hey! You can’t be speaking, you stole from us! You gave us our own coin! Disgusting street urchin! Ew.” Asparagus jeered, scampering back towards where his sister stood, where they conversed some more before running off, probably to go find their daddy.

The trio were quiet for a moment (Haaji was just waiting to see if they’d come back again), when Pamina finally spoke up. “Hey, are you okay?” She asked, looking at Haaji with concern.

They tilted their head in confusion. “Uh, yeah? Why wouldn’t I be? Those numbskulls don’t have anything on me.” 

“They called you disgusting???” Sebastian replied. He shifted uncomfortably. “I mean, aren’t you like, sad? Offended? Mad?”

“Nnnnnno? It’s fine honestly, I hear it a lot!” Haaji gave them both a thumbs up in what they thought was a pretty reassuring manner. When neither of them seemed to be particularly assured by that, they frowned. “It really ain’t that bad. You both worry too much!” 

Perhaps seeing how earnestly they meant it, Pamina sighed affectionately. “If only I had a shred of your sense of self-worth. You really amaze me.” 

“Thhhhhanks???”

Sebastian looked back at where the twins had left. “You guys, uh, don’t think Alberand will be causing trouble, do you?” He asked, fidgeting with the zipper on his hoodie. “Since he’s here apparently….”

“He’s probably just here to meet with Ms. Radiens,” shrugged Haaji, “I mean, principals meet each other all the time, right? Besides, they’d probably have to plan the competition together…. Or something.” 

Pamina looked doubtful, however. “I… don’t know about that. Ms Radiens usually wants nothing to do with Alberand, even during the event. She’s quite unusually cold when it comes to him.” 

Cold? Haaji raised their eyebrows. They could hardly imagine the overly bright and cheery Ms Radiens, the Stella Claritatis principal, to be standoffish to anyone! In their opinion, the headmaster was so blindingly positive that it was annoying. “Huh. Guess she ain’t as cheery as I thought.”

“I mean, she is to most people.” Sebastian said awkwardly. “Just… not really to Alberand.”

“Eh, I’m sure we won’t have to worry about it anyway-” Haaji’s reassurances were cut off by the bell. “Ah. Well, anyway, we got class now! C’mon Seb- seeya later, Pamina!”

“Oh- okay. I’ll see you at the assembly!” Pamina waved as Haaji practically dragged Sebastian up the stairs to their classroom.

Chapter Text

“...and to end our school assembly, let me get into something we’ve all been waiting for - The Annual Shining Star Competition!” Ms Radiens cheerily announced to the crowd of students and staff. Her bright eyes and pink dress made her stand out on the stage, as she spread out her arms as if to emphasise her words.

“Now, as you all know, we at Stella Claritatis participate in a competition with another school, Umbra Lucis, for three days every year! During then, we compete in a variety of skill-based events, like fencing, racing and the all time favourite, catapult assembling!” At the mention of that particular activity, several loud cheers could be heard from the senior Blazura boys. “Remember, the goal of the Competition is to have fun,” the principal added, with a glint in her eyes, “but of course, Stella Claritatis has won every year. Let’s continue that streak, shall we?” Ms Radiens ended her speech, prompting an applause from all the students in the auditorium.

Haaji sat amongst the other junior-years, looking around at the passionate cheers and whoops. “Well,” They said to Sebastian next to them, half-yelling to be heard over the uproar, “she certainly knows how to fire them up.”

He winced. “Yeah… Rorz told me that it was loud but not this loud..” Sebastian covered his ears. From what Haaji could see at the podium, Ms Radiens looked rather pleased with the enthusiasm her students were showing, seemingly happy to let this continue for as long as they wanted.

Suddenly, the auditorium blacked out. All the chatter of the students slowly fizzled into confusion. “I’m guessing this isn’t… normal?” Haaji muttered to Sebastian, who was also looking around in concern.

“I… don’t think so…?” He whispered back, anxiously. Haaji was about to reply when the building suddenly lit up again, prompting them to squint as light flooded back into their eyes.

When it finally felt safe to look around again, they looked to the stage and saw Ms Radiens glaring daggers at someone. Someone who wasn’t on the stage before.

“Hello, students of Stella Claritatis!” Said the man, with an overly dramatic flourish. He turned to the principal. “And hello to you too, my dear Emelia.” The man wore a black suit with a deep, royal purple dress shirt underneath. The same purple accented his outfit, on his fancy gloves and the trim of his suit. Every single inch of him was screaming rich man and Haaji had a feeling they already knew who he was.

“It’s Ms Radiens to you, Alberand.” Ms Radiens confirmed Haaji’s suspicions, looking at Alberand icily. He was the principal of their Umbra Lucis- but also Asparagus and Agapanthus’ beloved father. Haaji could actually see them on the stage too, right behind their father, along with another woman.

Alberand put his hand on his chest in feigned offense. “You wound me, Emelia! Why do you feel the need to be so formal- I let you call me by my first name!” Behind him, his children cackled in a mocking tone.

Ms Radiens’ glare narrowed further. “What are you doing here?” she asked, voice dripping with distaste.

“I can’t spare my dear old friend a visit?” Replied Alberand, leaning towards her. (“They fight like ex-lovers.” Haaji whispered to Sebastian jokingly, earning a quiet, exaggerated gasp in return “You can't say that, Haj, he has a wife!”)

The Stella Claritatis principal shoved him away with an indignified huff. “You shouldn’t be here.” she scoffed at him. “You’re trespassing. Can someone please call the police-!”

“Emelia- Ms Radiens, don’t be so difficult. I just wish to say hello!” Alberand interrupted smoothly, politely gesturing to her to wait.

“Greetings and Goodbye. You can leave now.” Ms Radiens said shortly.

“Emelia-”

“Call the police!”

The commotion onstage was enough to get murmurs starting up amongst the students. As Alberand and Ms Radiens argued (really, it was more like Ms Radiens was trying to find a staff member who would phone the police and the other talking over her), Haaji’s gaze drifted to Asparagus and Agapanthus, as well as the other woman next to them.

“Who’s that?” they asked, turning to Sebastian.

Sebastian, who was anxiously looking around the crowd for Pamina or Rorz, jolted. “Who?”

“Her. With Asparagus and Agapanthus.” said Haaji, gesturing at the stage.

“Oh.” He squinted at the lady. “That’s probably Alberand’s wife? Agthora?” He thought for a moment, then nodded. “Yeah, Agthora.”

Back on the podium, it seemed that Ms Radiens had finally gotten someone to call law enforcement. “Thank you!” She called to someone behind the stage. Next to her, Alberand seemed less than pleased, but not very panicked, considering that he was currently being reported. She glared at him. “You best get out now.”

Alberand scoffed. “You should be more polite to your guests, Headmistress Emelia, you're setting a terrible example for your students. I’ll take my leave for now, but you haven’t seen the last of us! Just you wait until the competition!” As if to emphasise the end of his sentence, the lights flickered off once more throughout the hall, causing the Stella Claritatis students to talk amongst themselves once more in hushed voices, creating a commotion inside the hall.

“I better not see your face around here!” Ms Radiens yelled over the conversations. The lights turned back on, revealing that Alberand and his family were now gone. “I really should check the security sometime.” the principal muttered to herself. She looked around the auditorium, and the crowd of students, as if she just remembered they were still there. “Oh, yes. Students dismissed for the day!” She said, putting on a bright smile.

With that, the room was abuzz in motion, students talking to each other about what had just taken place, standing up and exiting the auditorium with their friends. Haaji and Sebastian themselves, tried to find Pamina amongst the other students.

Too short to peer over most of the crowd, Haaji was on their tippy toes, looking around. “I can’t find her anywhere- should we just wait outside for her?” They called to Sebastian over the rest of the commotion.

“Uh, yeah probably-!” He replied. The boy was jostled by someone in the crowd. “Oh- sorry!” He stuttered to the air, whoever bumped into him already vanished amongst everyone else. A sudden grip on his wrist made Seb jump. He relaxed when he realised it was Haaji.

“C’mon! Let’s go ‘fore we get swallowed up by the crowd.” They said, tugging him along.

“Oh, geez-! Haj, you nearly gave me a heart attack…” He followed them through the crowd, until they finally spotted a familiar blue jacket.

“Hey, Pamina! Over here!” Haaji called, dragging Sebastian with them to meet up with the girl. She turned around, startled, and ran to meet them.

Pamina gave them a small smile. “There you are! I was wondering where you two were.”

Sebastian grinned back. “Yeah, we were waiting for you in the hall but we couldn’t find you, so…” He trailed off, gesturing around.

“So,” said Haaji, “that was some assembly, huh?” They tilted their head, curious as to what Pamina had thought about the abrupt interruption that Alberand had caused. It did seem startling to everyone else in the auditorium, so they thought that it might’ve been unusual for something so disruptive to happen.

Pamina considered their question for a moment, a thoughtful look on her face. “Alberand did cause a massive scene today. As far as I know, he has caused some petty fights with Ms Radiens in the past, but nothing too serious…” She winced, “But breaking into the school was pretty bad.”

“I guess we should’ve told someone we saw Asparagus and Agapanthus, huh…” said Sebastian, looking a little guilty.

“Aw, it isn’t our fault, really.” Haaji said supportively, slinging their arm around his shoulders with a grin. “I mean, it’s mostly their own fault for letting those two in.”

“Ms Radiens is most likely going to increase the security though,” Pamina mused, “It’ll probably make it harder for people to sneak in and out.”

“Oh shoot, there goes my plan of sneaking outta school!” Haaji said playfully. When Pamina shot them a look, they raised their hands defensively. “Kidding! Kidding.” Sebastian chuckled, and Haaji looked at him with a prideful grin, glad to have made him laugh.

Pamina sighed fondly at them. “I can’t ever tell when you’re joking.” She said affectionately with a smile, earning another chuckle from Seb. The trio quickly forgot about Alberand and the assembly, avidly discussing about what they were planning to do for the rest of the day.