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“Excuse me, sorry, excuse me.” Kotone pushed through the crowd of students that were huddled in front of the announcement board. She made her way to the front, facing a giant white sheet of paper that was hung up by a single pin. Before she looked at it she closed her eyes and clamped her hands together. “Please,” she muttered under her breath. Kotone opened her eyes and looked at the first rows of the paper.
1.Hsu Nien Tzu
Class: N
2.Kamimoto Kotone
Class:N
3.Kim Yooyeon
Class:S
Kotone’s breath hitched. “What!” She shouted, making the students around her flinch from the sudden outburst. “What happened?” A girl who was struggling to push through the crowd asked. Kotone didn’t respond, her eyes glued to the paper and her fists clenching at her side instinctively.
“Kotone, what happened?” The shorter girl asked again as she finally made it to the front, she followed Kotone’s line of sight and she saw it. Kotone was second, she’s never second. A sharp gasp escaped from her throat and she covered her mouth in shock, turning to see Kotone’s face. But she couldn’t read her, the girl was staring blankly at the paper, no frown, no scowl, not one furrow of her eyebrows.
“Tone, you okay?” She wrapped her hand around her shoulder to comfort her. Kotone didn’t move and only continued staring, her breathing quickening. A loud giggle from afar pulled her out of her trance, her fists relaxing. “Unnie! I sent you that meme yesterday!” The girl cackled loudly, the laugh breaking through the air. Kotone turned to look at the source of the sound, and there she was, walking and laughing at a joke that her friend said. Hsu Nien Tzu, the new student who arrived this school year. She was the perfect package, star athlete of the basketball and archery team, popular even though she hasn’t been here for a while, extremely friendly, a child of a god, extremely good at music, the most gorgeous girl she’s ever seen, and stupidly smart.
That's why Kotone hated her.
Kotone has been number one of her generation’s class for four years, and right when she’s on her last year, Nien comes along and steals her spot. As Nien and her friend walk past the announcement board, they stop. “Hey, look who’s number one.” Her friend said and nudged her side. Nien chuckled and looked up at the paper, her name at the top in bold letters. “Oh wow, well that's nice.” She replied and smiled before continuing walking.
Kotone scoffed and walked out of the crowd. "That idiot,” she muttered under her breath. “Hey! Are you okay?” Her friend asked again. Kotone took a breath in and exhaled sharply. “Yeah, I’m okay, It’s fine. Thank you Kae-chan” She said and smiled at her reassuringly. Kaede looked at her worriedly but decided to let it go. They walked towards the cafeteria and ordered drinks, taking a spot at one of the tables.
“She’s always goofing around and trying to throw paper balls at her friends during class, I did not expect that from her,” Kaede said as she took a sip of her drink. Kotone played with her straw silently, like she was thinking and then she responded. “I did. I just didn’t think it would happen this quick.” She took a sip.
“She’s your roommate isn’t she?” Kaede asked. Oh yeah, just to make everything worse, Kotone and Nien had to share a dorm. By rules of the academy, the top 24 had to share a dorm building, meaning that number one and two would share a room. That also meant that she had to see her every single day.
“Yeah, so I know that she does study. Every day, for two hours at night like clock work she studies and then goes to sleep,” she explained. Kaede hummed, thinking for a second. “So…” she dragged out. “Why don’t you just try to… not sabotage, but, make it harder for her to study. Then she would fall to second.”
Kotone stayed silent for a second and then responded. “But isn’t that a bit too mean?” She asked quietly. “Oh c’mon, it won’t be that much, just something that would throw her off her game a bit, so you can come in and get your title back.” Kaede replied and took a last big sip of her drink.
“I will think about it.”
Kaede stood up from her seat and Kotone followed. Kaede threw her cup in the trash can like she was throwing a basketball as they walked out of the cafeteria. “Alright, but you got this, I believe in you. You’re our President Tone.” She patted Kotone in the shoulder and gave her a reassuring smile before walking away.
Kotone was left there in the middle of the halfway with her thoughts. How is she supposed to distract Nien? Watch TV while she's studying? Play music? Clean? “AGHHH” She ran a hand through her hair and sighed. “That idiot,” she muttered under her breath.
“Hey Kamimoto!” Speaking of the devil. Kotone turned around and was met with Nien and her friend Xinyu. A coffee cup in her hands. “What do you want Nien,” Kotone snapped at her. ”Woah! What has you all riled up at eleven in the morning.” She chuckled, a smug smirk plastered on her face, her favorite daily activity was teasing Kotone.
“Nothing, what did you want?”
Nien cleared her throat. “We have a game on Tuesday, if you want to come?” she asked softly, a tinge of unusual nervousness in her voice.
“I never go to the games, why would I now?”
“Coach said I need the N class president there just in case I get a trophy and reporters are there.”
Kotone scoffed. “Yeah, so I'm not going.”
“Oh c’mon Kotone,” she whined, pouting and doing her best puppy dog eyes. Kotone rolled her eyes. “I’m not a sports person, I'm not going,” she said and walked away from them, heading to the student council room.
Xinyu placed her hand on Nien’s shoulders. “You’re cooked, you need to have her there or else coach won’t let you accept the trophy,” Xinyu said.
“I know, I know,” Nien sighed and wiped a hand down her face. “She’s so annoying. I’ll convince her later.”
In the student council room, Kotone walked in and began setting up for a meeting since she was the first one to arrive. The academy's director announced a sudden meeting with the President and Vice Presidents of each class. As she fixed the heavy wooden chairs and made sure that the table's hologram board was working properly, the door creaked open. “Hey Kotone!” Sohyun greeted brightly when she walked in with Sullin. Kotone turned around and smiled at them, shooting them a quick greeting. Sullin and Sohyun were the president and vice president of Class Moon (aka class M).
Slowly the others were making their way inside. Seoyeon, the vice president of Class N. Jiwoo and Yubin of Class Z, and Xinyu and Yooyeon of Class S. They sat down around the table, waiting for the director to enter.
Kotone stared blankly at the wall in front of her, playing with her fingers. She kept thinking about Nien’s proposal earlier, it was her duty to fulfill her class’ wishes as president and mostly if they need her there or else they will get in trouble. But she really does not want to be in the room when Nien wins another trophy. All the attention and glory on the girl, she doesn’t know exactly why but it just pisses her off.
She was snapped out of her thoughts when she felt a nudge on her side. “You okay?” Seoyeon whispered. Kotone stared at her blankly until she realized that she hadn’t replied yet and was just staring at her weirdly. She snapped out of it, fixing her posture. “Oh, yeah, don’t worry about it,” she chuckled sheepishly.
“Are you sure?” Seoyeon raised an eyebrow. “You’re clenching your fists like you’re about to punch someone right now.” She stated. Kotone looked down at her hands that were resting on the table, they were clenched tightly in fists. She quickly loosened her hands and cleared her throat. “Sorry, I don’t know why that happened. But I’m okay I promise.”
Seoyeon’s eyes narrowed at Kotone but decided to drop it. “Hm okay. But you know, if you ever need to talk, I’m here for you.” Kotone opened her mouth to respond when the door of the room opened. All the girls turned to look as the director walked in. Her long black cloak dragged behind her as she smiled at the girls. They stood up and bowed softly at her and she gestured at them to take a seat.
“Thank you, sorry for the sudden meeting but we have important things to discuss,” the director, Jeon Heejin stated as she found her chair. Sitting with her knees crossed. The girls looked at her with a mix of emotions, some of them worried, scared, others nervous, or with blank expressions. Whatever this meeting was about, it must be serious. ”As you all know,” Heejin started. “The main purpose of this academy is to create a safe and learning environment for all supernatural beings of the world, or the underworld. Decades ago, we formed a force field around the academy to protect us of the dangers from humans and other beings.”
“Well, recently I have received some signals from outside. An energy that is trying to break the barrier.” Heejin tapped the middle of the table which opened the hologram screen. “This is a video of a few miles west of the academy, where the barrier starts.” The girls moved closer to take a look at the video. The invisible barrier had a visible hole in it, a blue light breaking the force field. “What do you think is causing this?” Yooyeon asked with furrowed eyebrows.
“I am not one hundred percent sure, but I don’t think it's from the human world, but from the underworld. Humans can't produce this type of energy,” Heejin replied. Yooyeon hummed and leaned back on her chair in thought. “This blue light, have you seen this before? Any underworld being with this type of power?” Sohyun questioned Seoyeon, she was a demon and had great knowledge of the underworld so she must have an idea. Seoyeon sighed and shook her head. “No, I haven’t seen anything like this. Something that can break a force field like that?”
As the girls talked and shared their thoughts, Kotone stayed quiet. She feels like she’s seen this before, that blue energy, but she can’t pinpoint where she’s seen it. “Can’t we just fix it and kill whatever it is? If it’s something from the underworld we have enough demons, vampires, and other beings that can fight it,” Xinyu suggested.
“Well, we don’t know what we are dealing with. What if we can’t fight it?” Yooyeon rejected her suggestion, the others agreeing with her. As they continued to talk and express their ideas on how to handle this. Kotone kept staring at the wall in front of her, inevitably closing her eyes. Besides having the powers of any other vampire, a special ability she held was having a photographic memory. She tried to remember every textbook she had read, every video, every small file she had to analyze for class. She knows that she has seen this before.
And then it clicked.
“I got it!” She exclaimed and sat up from her chair, moving towards Heejin. “Can I use this real quick?” She gestured at the screen on the desk, the woman dipped her head in a nod. Kotone quickly zoomed into the video, “This, the blue energy, it's not actually energy, they are tiny crystals.” Kotone pointed at the pixelated small crystals that were barely visible on the screen.
“I read about this in an old textbook at the library archives, a Greek goddess or well monster, who got banished to the deepest part of the underworld for causing war and problems. Her name is Riven, goddess of division, and her powers are just like this, light that changes to physical matter in the form of small crystals,” she explained.
“If you're right, why would this goddess be coming for our school? Is she not still banished?” Jiwoo questioned further. “She might have escaped Tartarus? But I… don’t know why she would be coming for us.” Kotone sighed and rubbed her nape.
“This is the first time that a place has been created for the supernatural. Where no matter what you are, we can all be friends and treat each other the same. She must not have liked that, goddess of division and all,” Sullin spoke, Sohyun agreeing with her in a nod.
Heejin stayed quiet in her seat, tapping her chin as she thought of a plan. “If you girls are right, we are going to need a plan and possibly an army of the best students in the academy that are ready if anything goes south.”
“We will do anything in our power, to keep the academy safe.” Kotone said, looking at the others if they agreed. The girls nodded. “Anything to keep us safe.”
Heejin let out a breath and smiled. “Alright then, I’ll come up with the plan and you girls just make sure that the other students don’t hear about it. I don’t want rumors spreading around. If you see anything, hear anything, report to me first before acting on it. Got it?” The council nodded. “Okay, you all may be dismissed.” and began standing up from their seats to be dismissed, when Xinyu spoke up.
“Wait Director Jeon!” She exclaimed, the other girls stopping as well. “I thought about it and… if this is a Greek goddess, we have a demigod who is a student at our academy; Nien.” When Kotone heard that name, she looked at the director and Xinyu. “You’re right, a demigod would certainly help us. I will speak with Nien about it and ask if she would like to help. Thank you Xinyu.” Kotone rolled her eyes as she walked out with Seoyeon, of course it’s always Nien. She can’t escape her name being mentioned.
Seoyeon noticed this and grabbed Kotone’s wrist, her eyes widened in surprise. She pulled her into an empty hallway. “Alright, what’s going on?” She said sternly. Kotone furrowed her eyebrows, “What do you mean? Nothing is going on,” she tried to lie but the slight waver in her voice let Seoyeon know that she wasn’t telling the truth. “You were spacing out earlier, looked like you were about to punch someone, and then you rolled your eyes when Nien was mentioned. What's that about? Is it Nien?”
Kotone sighed and looked around to see if anyone was within earshot range, when she saw no one around she looked down at her shoes. “Nien is ranked one now…” She replied quietly, Seoyeon’s eyebrows raised in surprise. She didn’t get to check the rank update earlier but it was shocking that someone was able to overtake Kotone. “I hate her so much Seoyeon, ever since she came to this school, everything is all about her.” Kotone began raising her voice. “Posters of her on the wall, reports about her on the news and the one thing that I had over her was academics, and she took that.” She scoffed and kicked the bottom of the wall.
Seoyeon grabbed her hand to comfort her, looking her in the eyes. “I know this means a lot to you, and look, this is only the second rank update of the year. There are three more updates until we graduate. I believe in you and I know that you are going to get your rank back. These small setbacks only make you stronger. You just need to focus on studying, and our council duties, okay?” Kotone bit the inside of her cheek and averted her eyes. “Okay. I can do this.” She exhaled and shook her head. “I can beat her.”
“Yes!! That’s the spirit!” Seoyeon patted Kotone’s shoulder, making Kotone smile. “Now let’s go back to the dorm, it’s the weekend and we should rest.” She pushed Kotone to the main hallway that led to their dorm building.
On the way to the dorm building, Kotone was silently praying that Nien wasn’t in their room, hoping there was practice today or that she was at the gym. She said her goodbyes to Seoyeon as the girl left for her room, Kotone’s was on the floor above hers. When she made it to the front door, she fished out her keys from her pocket and unlocked the door. Unfortunately, her prayers weren’t answered. Nien was lying on her bed reading a book, headphones in. Kotone groaned and kicked off her shoes at the entrance.
Nien sat up and took her headphones off, placing them to hang around her neck. “Isn’t there a practice right now? Or somewhere else you should be at?” Kotone asked snarkily as she placed her bag on the kitchen table. “Practice isn’t until 3, why? You going to miss me?” Nien smirked. Kotone snapped her head to look at her, cheeks slightly pink.
“What! No! I would be glad that you’re gone.” Nien hummed and chuckled. “Right. Well if you want me to leave so badly, I will be heading to the range.” She stood up and stretched, her shirt riding up slightly. Kotone’s eyes darted towards the exposed skin, Nien’s abs being visible. She averted her gaze and cleared her throat.
Nien walked towards her closet, grabbing her gear and swinging the duffle bag over her shoulder, walking out of the dorm. “There’s pizza in the fridge. No garlic.” She said before closing the door behind her.
When she left, Kotone sighed and ran a hand through her hair. She can get so annoying. She warmed up the pizza from the fridge and sat at her desk, eating and opening her textbooks. If she wanted to get rank back she needed to study as much as she could.
By the time Nien arrived back at the dorm, it was already 10 pm, thirty minutes before curfew. She unlocked the front door and set her bags on the floor near her closet, too lazy to place them back on their spots. She turned to look at Kotone who was asleep and lying on an opened textbook, papers scattered around her desk and a half eaten pizza on a paper plate sitting at the corner threatening to fall. Nien giggled softly at the sight and grabbed the plate, throwing it into the bedside trash can. She noticed how Kotone slightly shivered and grabbed a throw blanket from Kotone’s bed, placing it on top of her.
After washing up, she laid in bed, eyes slowly closing. I will make her go to that game.
The next morning, Kotone woke up in a hurry, her late alarm ringing next to her. She had an early morning class and accidentally slept in. I guess sleeping on a desk is way better than on a bed. Nien was already gone before she was awake, but she didn’t care about that. She got dressed in a rush and grabbed her school bag, practically running across the campus to her class.
Thankfully, the teacher hadn't arrived yet so Kotone had time to settle and sit next to Seoyeon.
“There you are, I was starting to get worried that Ms. President wasn’t here yet.” Seoyeon joked as she watched Kotone run into the classroom and sit next to her.
“Sorry, I woke up late,” she replied out of breath.
“Better late than never.” Seoyeon chuckled, “Are you going to the game?”
“I already said no.” Kotone sighs, "I'm not going to that stupid game and subjecting myself to seeing Nien get that stupid trophy.”
“Suit yourself.” Seoyeon relented. Nien waltzed in with her backpack slung over her shoulder and Dahyun walked in right behind her. The two sat in their adjacent seats, and Kotone could see the annoying grin on Nien’s face in her peripheral. Finally, Professor Jinsoul walked in, “Sorry for being late, class. Let’s get started.”
The class dragged on for 50 minutes, Kotone felt like she was slowly delving deeper and deeper into insanity. She had already nodded off twice and both times Seoyeon had to smack her awake.
Then the bell rang. Finally… Kotone thought to herself as she packed up. Stacking her papers and sorting them into their respective folders and stuffing her textbooks in the back of her bag. She pushed her chair and was about half-way out the door before Nien pulled her aside. God not this again.
“Listen,” Nien started, “Before you say no again.”
Kotone crossed her arms, “Go on.”
“Wouldn’t it be fun to try to enjoy something different for once?” She paused, “And plus, Ms. President would get a nice rep for supporting her fellow class members. I mean that’s what a good class president does right?” Nien smirked. She hated the fact that Nien was making a fair point. “You do have a point.” Kotone says, barely audible. “Also Director Jeon talked to me about the barrier thing. And of course I want to protect the academy so I agreed to help. It's the least I can do. We have to work together… whether we like it or not.”
“You’re right..” Kotone let a few beats of silence pass by, “.. I’ll come to the game.”
“Ahh thank you!! thank you!!” Nien gave her a small hug, which made Kotone’s heart race a little. She pushed out of the hug and walked away fast so Nien couldn't see the flush in her face. Seoyeon had been waiting for her to finish up her conversation. “What happened?” She asked, genuinely amused, Kotone stared at her hands for a second before meeting her friend in the eyes, “Nien convinced me to go to the game.”
“I bet it killed you to say yes.” Seoyeon joked, patting her shoulder. Kotone couldn't help but smile. “It did. But she made a really good point and I have to work with her regardless… so I guess I'm going.”
“I’ll come for moral support if you want.” She offered. Kotone’s eyes lit up, “I’d really like that. Thanks.”
“Anytime.” Seoyeon bumps her shoulder with her fist, “We better get to class now.”
For the following days, Kotone began noticing slight changes at school. In her classes, students who she normally saw sitting together now sat separately, she started hearing others gossip more about some rumor that’s spreading around, and for the first time since she’s been here, a fight broke out between two werewolves.
“I’m telling you, there’s something seriously going on. A fight broke out. A fight! That never happens here.” Kotone was pacing back and forth in Seoyeon’s dorm room for the past ten minutes. “Can you chill out, there’s nothing going on. They are werewolves who were fighting about a girl, of course they will end up in a fist fight.” Seoyeon sighed, she was lying on her bed and listening to Kotone ramble.
Kotone finally stopped pacing around and sat on Seoyeon’s chair. “I have a feeling that it’s due to the barrier and the monster. She could be using her powers to manipulate them… Should we tell the director about this?”
Seoyeon sat up. “Report to the director about a feeling? We don’t have any proof that the monster is causing this.” Kotone groaned and got up just to sprawl back down next to Seoyeon.
“But she said if we notice anything weird that we should tell her about it.”
After a few seconds of silence, Seoyeon responded. “Fine, we should tell her then. Just to make sure.” Kotone sat up and smiled. “Finally you're with me.”
Kotone softly knocked on Director Jeon’s office door. A faint “come in” let them open the door. “Hello Director Jeon, I wanted to speak to you.”
“Hi Tone, tell me,” she replied, not prying her eyes away from the computer screen. Kotone began slowly, “I think the recent fight has something to do with the barrier and Riven the goddess.”
It was quiet after that, Heejin stopped typing and looked up at Kotone. “Why do you think that?”
Kotone eyed Seoyeon and swallowed nervously. “Well, there hasn’t been a fight among supernatural beings in years and I don’t think it’s a coincidence that when the first one breaks out, we are also dealing with the goddess of division.”
Heejin hummed and slightly moved her chair back. “Thank you for sharing your thoughts with me. I don’t think it’s a serious issue and just wolves being wolves, but I will enforce extra security by the barrier just in case.”
Kotone softly smiled, she was happy with that answer. “Okay! Thank you for your time Director Jeon.” She walked out of the office with Seoyeon following after her. “See, it’s better safe than sorry.”
Seoyeon just sighed and continued walking towards their dorm rooms.
It was the day of the basketball game and everyone found their seats in the gym, Kotone was in the front row right next to Seoyeon. Apparently class president and vice president get these privileges. Kotone would barely call it a privilege more like an obligation. There were 5 girls on each side while the other 7 were on their respective sides sitting next to their coach. Nien was on the right side of the court along with her teammates, Xinyu, Lynn, Yubin, and Sullin.
The team was getting ready to start, Nien tapped Xinyu’s shoulder giving a quick hello then she walked over to Kotone. “You better cheer for me really loud.” She teased as she drank from her water bottle. Kotone crossed her arms, “Don’t push it.” Nien grinned from ear to ear before running to her teammates on the court.
The buzzer rang starting the game, the rival team won the jump ball. Throughout the first and second quarter, the rival team kept being on their tail, 2-3 points behind. The energy in the gymnasium was radiating, cheers ringing through the room every time their team scored. Kotone didn’t want to admit it, but she was having fun. She would stand up and cheer along with everyone else, even jump with Seoyeon.
Six minutes were left on the clock, they had 67 points and the rival team 69. They lost their lead a few minutes ago and have to regain it back now.
Xinyu caught a rebound from the backboard, quickly passing it to Sullin who was a few feet away. Sullin turned harshly, her sneakers squeaking loudly as she ran to the other side of the court dribbling the ball. Two rival players on her back. “Sullin! Pass it!” She heard Nien yell, standing on the 3-point line. She threw the ball towards her and Nien jumped, catching it swiftly. She dribbled the ball at her side looking for a clear shot. She raised her arms up ready to shoot, when a rival player pushed her roughly and knocked her down to the floor.
The whistle blared, calling a foul as Nien’s teammates huddled around her to see if she was okay. “You aren’t special like you think you are, demigod. Learn to play rough like the rest of us,” the girl commented snarkily. Nien groaned as she sat up, holding her stomach and watching as the girl flashed her canines and walked away. Werewolves, she mentally rolled her eyes and grabbed Xinyu’s offering hand, standing up.
“You okay?” Xinyu whispered to her. “Yeah, I got this,” she replied and nodded towards her coach, signaling to the woman that she will continue to play. The coach gave her a thumbs up and went back to crossing her arms. Nien turned around and caught a glimpse of Kotone sitting on the bleachers, she was whispering something into Seoyeons ear. She’s still here. Nien smirked and fixed her jersey.
Nien stood on the free throw line. They had two free throws after the rival team’s foul. She caught the ball from the referee and raised up her arms, exhaling and taking the shot. The swish of the net and the crowd cheering was like music to her ears. The next shot was the same. They were now tied 69-69 and two minutes were left on the clock.
The game continued with a rival player grabbing the ball and running up the court. “Xinyu and Yubin go on each side!” She heard Yunah yell and the girls ran to get into position, ready to defend. Sullin attempted to block the girl but failed. The ball soared towards the net, forming an arc as it was in the pathway for a game winning shot. The crowd stood up in anticipation and the girls' eyes followed the ball waiting for that swish. But it never came, Xinyu jumped and knocked it off its course. The ball bounced into Lynn’s hands, and she wasted no time to run towards the opposite side. The gymnasium roared with this overturn.
“That’s my goat!” Nien shouted at Xinyu and she positioned herself on the 3-point line. She has rehearsed this drill with Lynn many times before, practicing this shot everyday. She caught the pass and bounced it once at her side. Glancing at the scoreboard, she saw that there were thirty seconds left on the clock. A bead of sweat dripped down from her forehead, her heart thumping in her chest. She could hear the squeak of sneakers and the silent anticipation from the crowd.
You’ve done this a million times, you got this. Nien whispered to herself, and in a swift move, she jumped and the ball was in the air. It was as if time stopped, the gymnasium was silent and everyone’s eyes were on the ball. The satisfying swish rang through the room and the buzzer following after. The crowd erupted into cheers, the audience on their side running off the bleachers and into the court to celebrate.
“And the Seoul Sonyo Sirens win the game again!! They are the district champions and Nien, shooting guard and buzzer winner will take the MVP of the year trophy.” The announcers blared out over the intercom.
The team members hugged each other and went up to hug their friends and girlfriends. Nien watched as Lynn went up to Jiyeon, hugging her tightly. Jiyeon pulled out a rose that she was hiding behind her back, handing it to Lynn. The taller girl accepted it with a bright smile, pulling her into an embrace again. Finally they are a thing.
Nien’s first instinct was to look for Kotone’s reaction. The girl was one of the firsts to stand up and run up to the court, jumping and cheering with Seoyeon. After hugging Xinyu, she walked up to Kotone with a giant smile on her face.
“Kamimoto, I heard you cheering for me.” Nien smirked, she accidentally startled Kotone making her slightly jump. “No I was not. I wasn’t cheering for you. I was cheering for the team,” she huffed and put her attention back on Seoyeon, who was trying to start a dance circle with the team. “Same difference,” Nien replied under her breath.
“But I told you you will have fun. And all the cameras are pointed to us, everyone can see that Ms Class President actually cares about her class.” Hearing that, she noticed that the cameras were in fact on them and she was displayed on the Jumbotron. Kotone smiled and waved at the camera.
Before Nien could say anything else, a loud boom cut her off. Everyone stopped what they were doing and ducked down. “What was that!” She heard someone yell. They didn’t have time to answer before another boom and a loud crack erupted from the ceiling. A side of the roof began collapsing, pieces of cement falling onto the bleachers.
Kotone quickly placed her arm in front of her and held a large piece so that it wouldn’t crush anyone, she strained slightly. “Everyone leave! Now!” Yooyeon shouted, guiding the crowd out the building.
“What the hell is happening?!” Xinyu yelled, helping Kotone to keep the piece of cement from falling while people in the bleachers evacuated. After they safely made it out, they let go of the cement. The basketball team and members of the council stood in the middle of the court, looking up at the missing ceiling that exposed the night sky. They were all confused and frightened of what was happening.
Nien squinted, she swore she could make up a dark figure that looked to be hovering over the building. She suddenly saw a soft glow that twinkled from the sky. Her eyes widened and she ran towards the side of the court where her bag was, grabbing a golden rod from the pocket and running back to the middle of the court. The other girls looked at her confused and with a flick of her wrist, a bow expanded out. An arrow suddenly appeared on Nien’s hand and she pulled the string back, firing at the figure.
The arrow struck the glowing object, making it shine brighter and then it moved towards the right. This confirmed Nien’s theory. “It’s her. It’s Riven.” She stated. The girls looked at her with even more confusion. “Riven? How can she be here? She can’t pass the barrier. I thought you said she couldn’t pass the barrier?!” Jiwoo shouted out a series of questions at Kotone. “Who’s Riven and why am I scared of her?!” Yunah screeched, clinging onto Yubin’s side.
The members of the council looked at each other, wondering if they should inform the others. “We will tell you later, for now, I need everyone who’s not a council member to leave,” Nien ordered, Kotone looked back at her, it was the first time she had ever seen Nien so serious. The non-council members didn’t move, they weren’t sure if they should or not. Seoyeon and Yooyeon looked at them, waiting for them to budge. “Go! Get out of the building or into the locker room!” Seoyeon shouted at them.
The girls quickly started running out of the gymnasium when Seoyeon yelled at them, leaving the council members by themselves. The glowing object moved further and Nien began firing multiple arrows at the figure. “Cut the light!” She shouted at them. “What?! Why?”
“She can only hurt us by using light to transform it to physical matter, without a huge light source she can’t do anything,” Nien explained and Sullin quickly ran to the power box. She cut the power, the bright lights shutting off.
“How do you know it’s Riven?” Sohyun asked Nien. “Look up.” Sohyun followed, and all she could see was the faint stars in the night sky. “I don’t see anything.”
“Look closer, see that bright glowing object? That's her crystal staff, she’s here… and getting closer.” Nien continued to shoot at the figure. I can’t see well from here. She began running towards the exit, to the back of the gymnasium. The girls followed her, they wondered how Nien could see the figure.
Nien stood outside in the parking lot, she aimed the bow at Riven and fired, she could faintly see the glowing object move once again. “What are you shooting at?! How can you see her?” Xinyu questioned. Nien didn’t answer and continued firing her arrows. The members questioned what she was doing, the others couldn’t see anything, only a bright “star” and Nien wasn't answering any of their questions. Kotone clenched her jaw and slightly shoved her. “Can you tell us what you’re doing?!”
The taller girl once again didn’t reply, focused on her target. She pulled back the string one more time, and the glowing object became so faint that it blended in with the stars. Nien finally stopped and sighed as she lowered her bow, flicking her wrist again to contract it back to a golden rod. She looked over to the others. “So can you finally tell us what just happened?!” Kotone yelled.
After a few seconds, Nien replied. “Only I can see her, you guys can see her crystal staff, but I can see her true form,” she said softly, her voice almost trembling. They all went quiet, processing this.
“Is everyone okay? Is there anyone still in the building?” Nien asked, pulling them out of their thoughts. “I will go in and check!” Sullin said and rushed back inside the building, guards who arrived at the scene began running inside as well.
They walked towards the crowd, Director Jeon was standing at the front of the building talking to the chief. Kotone went up to her, the rest of the council following. “Director, it’s Riven,” Nien revealed. “I thought you were going to enforce more security at the barrier? How did she get through?” Kotone questioned quickly.
“Oh my, girls! You guys are okay!” Heejin sobbed, holding onto Kotone. “I don't know… there were guards at the barrier, I… I don't know how she broke through,” she confessed to them. The girls were quiet, they were still trying to process what just happened.
“How did you do it, Nien? How did you defeat her?” Sohyun asked, she was holding Xinyu with a somber expression. The question made them all turn to look at Nien.
“I didn't defeat her, I just made her go away. Damage to her staff makes her weak so I shot at the crystal,” she explained softly and looked at their reactions. She could tell from their faces that they all had a million questions and were scared. “I think we should head back to the dorms now, a lot just happened and it’s a lot for us to process. So we should rest and meet up tomorrow to discuss it further.”
Director Jeon agreed. “Yes, head back and rest. The guards and I will deal with this here and release a statement.”
“But how do we know she won’t come back in the middle of the night?” Yubin asked.
“She won't, trust me. I did enough damage to the crystal to make her weak for the next two days,” she reassured them. “But, that also means that we have to come up with a plan in two days.”
“It’s okay, we got this. We can begin planning tomorrow,” Yooyeon said, and they all agreed. “Okay then, we should head back now.”
Back at the dorm, Nien and Kotone walked to their room in silence, they were both too exhausted. Kotone unlocked the door, letting them inside.
Nien quickly kicked off her shoes and tossed the golden rod on the table. She walked to her closet, grabbing a pair of pajamas and headed to the restroom. Kotone grabbed the rod when she saw that Nien was gone, holding it in her hands and admired it. She flicked her wrist, seeing if it would turn into a bow but it didn’t respond to her. She placed it back on the table and opened the fridge, grabbing a blood pouch from the door.
After they finished washing up, they laid in bed. There was an uneasy silence in the room, some sort of tension between them, as if they were waiting for the other to say something first.
“You did good today,” Kotone broke the silence first. Nien didn’t immediately reply. “In the match and knowing that it was Riven and fighting her.” It went silent again, Nien didn’t reply. Did she fall asleep?!
She turned to face Nien’s bed and was met with the sight of Nien sleeping with the cover over her head. Kotone softly chuckled and moved to turn off the lamp that was on their shared nightstand. That idiot. She turned to face the ceiling and closed her eyes, drifting to sleep.
I did good today, Nien giggled to herself under the covers, moving to face the wall.
The next day, the council members plus Nien gathered in the student council office.
Director Jeon sat at one end, the members sat around the table and Nien stood on the opposite end. She was maneuvering the screen of the table, drawing a battle plan but looked more like a basketball game plan.
“The reason why you guys couldn't see Riven last night is because she hides her true form from other beings, only gods and demigods can see her. You all saw her as a star that shined brighter than the other stars in the sky, which is actually her crystal staff. I saw her in her cloak in true form,” Nien presented.
“So how will we be able to defeat her?” Jiwoo questioned, trying to make up what Nien was planning from the drawings on the screen. “Only I can defeat her.” Seoyeon noticed how Kotone lightly scoffed at that. “What do you mean?”
“Since only demigods and gods can see her, I am a demigod and so I need to request a sword from Apollo. The only way to banish her is stabbing her in the heart. I could also destroy her crystal staff but that would only make her extremely weak.”
“What part do we play in this? How are you going to stab her?” Director Jeon asked Nien.
“That’s when this plan comes,” she pointed at the screen. They all tilted their heads, trying to understand what the drawing meant. It was just a bunch of circles, lines and arrows. “Can you explain further please?”
“She will be gone for two days, after tomorrow I don’t know when she’s coming back. It could be Sunday? Monday? Maybe Friday. So, instead of waiting here like sitting ducks, we lure her to us. The basketball game was a huge event with people, if there's another event like that, she will most likely try to attack there.”
“But there is no other big event, the next one is in two months. The Spring Festival,” Sullin explained to them. “Dark angels,” Jiwoo said and pointed at Yubin and Yooyeon, the two dark angels in the room. “They can make illusions, and so it could make her believe that an event is happening,” she suggested.
“That’s an amazing idea, yes! But, Riven needs to feel a strong connection. She's the goddess of division and is trying to destroy relationships, so we will need the top 24 there. We are the strongest of the academy and have a lot of strong connections, we use ourselves as bait. That's okay right?” The girls looked at each other and slowly nodded.
Director Jeon looked up at her. “But what about you? Someone should be with you when you attack her.”
Nien looked around the room, Heejin was right, a 2 v 1 would help a lot. “Kotone can come with me.” Kotone’s eyes widened as the attention went onto her. “We don’t have the strongest connection, so she won’t attack us,” she glanced at Kotone, the girl's cheeks turned a slight pink hue because of the eyes on her.
“It’s settled then.” Director Jeon clapped and stood up. “Wednesday, Yubin and Yooyeon will begin the illusion and Nien defeats her. The top 24 will be used as bait and you all need to be ready for anything, be ready to fight.” They all dipped their heads in a nod, standing up.
“We got this, she will be banished again.”
It was Monday, Nien stood on top of a hill in a plain field, the sunlight hitting her skin. She closed her eyes and looked up.“Phoebus Apollo, I call for your guidance to help me win this battle. I know I am not the best warrior, but please father, I will win against evil.” She felt a sudden warmth radiating from her body, and opened her eyes. A golden sword was hovering over her. Nien reached out and grabbed it, it felt heavy in her hands. She smiled and retracted it, making it disappear back to the light.
She walked back to the academy building, passing by the outside gym where council members were training. Xinyu jumped onto her shoulders, “You ready?” She asked and walked beside her.
“Ready for what?”
“For Wednesday, to become a hero.”
“Hero?” Nien chuckled and shook her head.
Xinyu smirked and shook Nien’s shoulders. “Maybe you will get another MVP trophy.”
”Hopefully, I will add it to the collection,” she joked and stretched. They continued walking, they didn't know exactly where to but they were going somewhere. “Are you not scared?” Xinyu asked. Nien shook her head and smiled. “Why should I? I have been on many quests before arriving at the academy, this is no different.” Xinyu hummed at that.
“Are you scared?” She asked the question back to Xinyu. “Maybe? I’m a vampire. I know I shouldn’t be scared, but I’m just worried about anything happening to you or anyone else,” Xinyu said softly and looked at the sky, the barrier invisible. “She can come at any moment.”
They stopped in front of the dorms. “But she wont, I promise you. It will be okay and we will defeat her,” she gave her a reassuring smile. “I’m going to take a quick nap before heading to practice, bye.” She waved at Xinyu and walked inside the building.
Right when she entered the room she noticed Kotone sitting at her desk studying. Nien jumped onto her bed, staring up at the ceiling.
“Why did you tell everyone we don't have a strong connection?” Kotone asked without turning around. Nien sat up. “Is that not the truth?” She raised her eyebrow. Kotone stayed quiet, she didn’t know what to say. Nien hummed at the lack of response.
“Did you request the sword?”
Nien knew Kotone wasn’t looking but she summoned the sword back, it appeared in her hand. “Lots of questions from you today and yes I did.” She flipped the blade and caught it.
“That’s good, you will be ready.”
“Yeah…” Nien made the sword disappear again. “I’m going to take a nap before training, you should train too. Be ready for Wednesday.” She sighed and slid down until she was in a lying position, closing her eyes.
Kotone turned around to look at a sleeping Nien, she stared at her for a few seconds before turning back to her textbook, tapping her pen on the table.
Wednesday finally came.
They waited for the evening to begin their plan, the same time when the basketball game a few days ago started. The 24 girls walked to the nearby forest, deciding it was best to do the fake event there and to keep the rest of the students of the academy safe.
They positioned themselves, werewolves at the front, vampires next, demons, sirens and fairies, and finally angels. Yubin and Yooyeon were also at the front, ready to begin their illusion. Kotone and Nien parted ways with everyone else. They had to be far from the “event” site but close enough to watch and be ready to attack.
Nien and Kotone walked to their spot, it was a painfully silent walk except for the crunch of leaves and twigs. The tension between them was thick as if they had never talked to each other before. Kotone stretched and looked up at the sky, taking in a deep breath and then groaning.
“I know you may hate me or think that I hate you.” Kotone blared out suddenly, catching Nien off guard.“But I don’t…hate you…I’m sorry for acting annoyed towards you,” she sighed and apologized. Nien smiled, she never expected Kotone to actually talk about how she was feeling let alone apologize. “Apology accepted! I’m sorry too, for ever acting annoyed or too pushy,” she replied softly.
Kotone smiled as they continued to walk, the silence became less suffocating. She spotted a large rock between two trees. This was their spot. She placed her backpack down and sat on the rock. She could still hear the other girls talking and could faintly see them. Nien grabbed the golden rod from her pocket and flicked her wrist, making the bow expand out.
“How do you do that? Why does it only listen to you?”
Nien smiled and sat next to her. “It was the first thing I received from my father. Only I can work it, not even other demigods can.” Kotone hummed and nodded, she wished she was a demigod. It seemed cool.
“How did you know about Riven? Not even some of the highest ranking demigods at the camp know about her.”
Kotone thought for a second. “Studying. I would read through the library archives for fun. While reading a textbook, I learned about her,” she explained to Nien.
“She’s been banished in Tartarus for centuries now, probably before your grandparents were born. I don’t know how she got out.” Kotone’s eyes widened at the realization of how long being banished is, her grandparents were centuries old. “Imagine being stuck there in complete darkness, no food or water,” Nien said. “I don’t need food or water to survive,” Kotone replied back.
“Oh right, well blood. No blood pouches down there.” Nien laughed, playing with the bow and arrow. “Now I will suffer. Unless someone is down there and I could feed off of them,” Kotone jokes, giggling.
Nien fumbled with her hands and the bow.“I’m okay with being banished in the underworld with you,” she turned to look at Kotone and swallowed.
“How do we know when we should start?” Dahyun asked the rest of the girls. “When the sun has fully set,” Seoyeon answered her. “And will this actually work?” Hayeon then asked. “It will. Nien can do it,” Xinyu replied this time, she knew Nien would never break a promise.
They waited for a few minutes, standing around until the sun completely settled. They were also waiting to get a signal from Nien or Kotone that they were in position. The sky was a pink hue, when they arrived and finally, it was dark out. But, neither Seoyeon or Yooyeon have received a signal.
“Kotone! We are now starting!” Seoyeon shouted at the trees, motioning to Yubin and Yooyeon to begin the illusion.
Before Kotone could reply to Nien’s small confession, she heard Seoyeon’s yell and stood up, opening her backpack to grab a blood pouch. Nien cleared her throat and also got up, dusting off her clothes and smoothing out the wrinkles.
They waited for a few minutes and a golden flash appeared, telling them that they started the illusion.
Nien looked up at the sky, looking out for a glow that resembled Riven’s crystal staff. After almost half an hour, she spotted a “star” that twinkled and appeared brighter than the others. She reached into her pocket and pressed the small button that Yooyeon gave her.
“She’s here,” she whispered for Kotone to hear. They started walking closer to the site, slowly.
Riven hovered over them, inching closer and closer. A bright light flashed and struck the force field of an illusion that protected the girls. They all screamed as the matter hit them, some of them protecting themselves and the others standing their ground, ready for when the force field will eventually collapse.
Nien was practically running to get closer to Riven, she had to stop this now. When she was close enough, she grabbed her bow, the arrow appearing into her hand and she aimed at her, pulling back the string and letting go. The arrow hit the figure instead of the crystal, catching her attention.
“Hi Riven,” Nien clenched her jaw. The goddess turned around and lowered herself, she cackled. “Oh you… The demigod,” she continued to laugh at Nien. She reached low enough to the ground that Nien could see more of her figure. She was wearing a dark green cloak that covered her body from head to toe, and a hood that hung low.
“He tried already, and you know how that ended. What makes you think you are different?” She whispered to Nien, moving her staff around. Nien stood frozen and silent, Kotone and the other girls couldn't directly see what she looked like, only the glow of the crystal.
Kotone swallowed hard, Nien wasn’t moving or attempting to attack Riven, she had no idea what to do. “Nien! Nien! Snap out of it!” She shouted at the girl, shaking her. Nien jumped, gasping for air and grabbing onto Kotone’s hand. “We have to go! We have to distract her and take her as far away from here,” Nien tried to explain between breaths, panting as she ran.
Kotone looked behind them, the glowing object following them. “Nien! Can you tell me what’s going on?!” They stopped to catch their breaths. “She showed me… she showed me everything that's going to happen if we don’t stop her now. And…” Nien gulped. “She sensed a connection between us, so change of plans we are now the bait.” She grabbed Kotone’s hand again, running.
“There’s a tree house near here, I saw it when I came to explore once. We are stopping there.”
After what felt like hours of running, they spotted a rundown treehouse with vines covering the whole exterior. Kotone dropped to the ground, leaning back on the trunk of the tree, panting. Nien was aiming her bow at the sky, searching for the soft glow. “Over there! On your left!” Kotone warned.
Nien quickly aimed left and released the string, it struck the staff directly, making the goddess fall to the ground. “Focus on the glowing orb, that is the crystal. Try to damage it or destroy it.” Nien flicked her wrist, retracting the bow and arrow and tossing it on the ground. She moved her arm swiftly to her side, summoning the sword, it slowly appeared in her hand.
“It won’t work, you know it won’t work,” Riven yelled in her mind. Nien groaned, holding her head in her hands. “I don’t lose!” She struck her sword towards Riven, but the woman grabbed her arm, tossing her. Nien groaned when she hit the ground, the wind getting knocked out of her lungs.
Kotone held her arm in front of her, focusing on the crystal, trying to make it shatter. Riven noticed this and began walking up to her. “No! Leave her alone!” Nien cried out, holding onto her stomach and sitting up slowly. Riven glanced at Kotone, before pointing her staff at her. “Vampire?” She chuckled and Kotone froze, her head forcefully snapping up. Her face began turning pale, more than it already was.
“Don’t! This is between us, please,” Nien begged for her to let Kotone go. “It was between me and your father, you just wanted to meddle in.” She forcefully pushed Nien back against the tree. Nien coughed and groaned, whimpering at the pain. She stayed there for a few seconds, letting the moonlight shine on her. The pain began getting better, the blood in her hands disappearing.
“So if he can't finish it, I will.” She lunged at her, the sword appearing into her hand within the light. She brushed Riven’s shoulder with the blade, cutting the cloth and a bit of skin. The goddess winced, holding her shoulder and turning to face Nien. She tossed Kotone, letting her hit the trunk of the tree that she was leaning on before. The staff transformed into a large sword, the end was now the blade and the crystal was now at the end of the handle.
Riven pushed the sword out in front of her and the blade grazed Nien’s side as the girl tried to block her. Nien stumbled back, but recovered quickly, swiftly turning and attacking her from behind. Aiming the point of the blade at the back of her head, but Riven was quicker, she moved to the side and charged her sword at Nien. The blade penetrated her side. Nien gasped as the metal entered her body and she groaned in pain as the sword slid out. She touched the wound, attempting to heal it as quickly as she could.
“You will have the same fate.”
Kotone opened her eyes groggily, groaning as she tried to sit up. She was met with the sight of Nien covering her abdomen, blood slipping through her fingers and dripping onto the leaves. Her eyes widened, and she tried to call out for Nien but her voice was too hoarse.
All she could see was Nien bleeding out and the glowing crystal that was less bright than before. If Nien hasn’t realized that Kotone was up, then Riven shouldn’t have either.
Kotone held out her arm and moved the crystal slightly, Riven looked down at the sword watching as it flickered. She turned to look at where Kotone was lying and before she could react, Kotone closed her hand tightly. The crystal shattered into small pieces, the glow fading away. “Do it now!” She croaked, trying to yell for Nien.
Nien gritted her teeth and limped forward, lifting her arm and using the last bit of force she had left to pierce the blade into Riven’s chest. The goddess screamed, the burning pain making her fall onto her knees and flop forward as a black smoke was releasing from her heart and to the sky. Nien was panting from the exertion, watching as the goddess/monster began fading into smoke.
After the body vanished, Nien collapsed to the ground, keeping her hand over the wound. Kotone rushed towards her, feeling light headed from getting knocked down and using too much force. “Nien! Wake up, cmon, you did it!” She shook her body desperately to keep the girl awake. Nien smiled weakly. “You should’ve gotten that MVP trophy, Kamimoto,” she chuckled.
Kotone pressed her head against Nien’s chest and placed her hand over Nien’s. “As much as I hate to say it… you deserve that trophy. Without you, we would all be gone.” A tear slipped from the corner of her eye. It went silent again, Kotone could still feel the soft slow beat of Nien’s heart and her shallow breaths.
“Aww, you said I deserved it,” Nien broke the silence and joked exaggeratedly. She pressed her lips together, slightly pouting. Kotone looked up, and moved away from her. “I thought you were dying, oh my god.” She shoved herself off Nien's chest. The girl laughed loudly and sat up slowly. “You forgot I can heal myself with natural light,” Nien was back to her cocky tone. Kotone sighed and rolled her eyes.
“They are over here!” Sullin shouted. Kotone stood up fast when she heard Hayeon, she looked around her, trying to spot the girls. “Over here! We are over here!” She yelled back with a smile.
Sullin, Xinyu, Seoyeon, Sohyun, and Lynn rushed towards them. The girls gasped when she saw the state Nien was in, lying on the ground with blood everywhere. Nien looked down at the wound which was now closing. “Oh yeah, I was bleeding out,” she deadpanned.
Xinyu ran towards her, Sohyun and Sullin at her side. “Oh my god are you okay? What happened?” Her best friend asked, helping Nien stand up. Seoyeon and Lynn were with Kotone, making sure she was okay.
“She did it,” Kotone said.
“I defeated her, but I got stabbed in the process,” she explained to them, wincing and groaning as she walked back to the academy, limping and using Xinyu and Sohyun for support. The girls were asking them a bunch of questions on the way there, making Kotone and Nien’s head hurt even more.
When they reached the academy, the rest of the girls, students, and Director Jeon were waiting for them.
Nien noticed their worried looks and silence. “She is now banished!” Nien announced, they started cheering for them. Glad that everything is now over.
“Are you guys okay?!” Yubin screeched, noticing the blood covering Nien’s shirt and hands. The girls ran to them. “I’m fine, don't get scared of the blood, it’s healing itself.” Nien clarified to everyone.
“Thank you, Nien and Kotone. Your bravery today will be recognized for centuries.” Director Jeon said.
Nien and Kotone smiled, looking at each other before looking back at the crowd. Taking in the moment. Were they hero’s now?
For the next few months, after defeating Riven, Kotone and Nien started becoming more close. They talked more in class, hung out more in their dorm room, and they began acting like friends. But maybe, Nien wanted to be a little bit more than just friends…
They sat on their respective beds, staring at the two plaques on their now shared shelf. “The Bravery Award” engraved over their names. “I still have one more trophy than you,” Nien pointed out. “The MVP trophy.”
“And you had to ruin the moment.” Kotone sighed jokingly and rolled her eyes. She stood up and grabbed a blood pouch from the refrigerator. “You know, I am number 1 again so,” she dragged out and shrugged smugly.
“Alright, don’t get ahead of yourself. I am still better at sports than you.” Nien stood up and lifted the sleeves of her shirt so she could flex her biceps and show off. Kotone took a sip from her pouch, feeling a heat travel up to her face as she watched Nien flex her muscles. She turned away, and cleared her throat. “You still suck so.” A pink hue covering her cheeks.
“Whatever you say.” Nien sighed and covered her arm, lying down on her bed and closing her eyes. Kotone turned to face the cabinet, holding her head in her hands.
That idiot, is she trying to kill me?!
Nien was in Xinyu’s and Sohyun’s shared dorm room, which she still finds crazy how Xinyu managed to lock in for school just so she could be a rank lower than Sohyun and share a dorm room. Their room was Nien’s favorite spot whenever she was bored or needed to ask for advice.
And right now, she needed the best advice she could get.
Nien jumped on Xinyu’s bed, groaning and whining. “I don't know what to do,” she dragged out and sighed deeply. “Should I ask her out or should I not? What if she does actually hate me and has just been pretending to like me these past few months? I don’t know,” Nien rambled, and flopped around in Xinyu’s bed.
The annual winter dance was coming up, and this will be their last ever dance at the academy. Nien was thinking about asking Kotone to be her date to the dance but she wasn't sure if Kotone felt the same way about her. “I’m telling you, just do it,” Xinyu stated as she fixed her hair in the mirror. She was tired of hearing her best friend contemplate this for the last two hours.
“What would she like? Should I do a proposal with flowers and a poster? Or do you think she is more of a simple person?”
Xinyu sighed and thought for a second. “Simple flowers and a small poster.” Nien hummed and fished out her phone from her pocket to write that down. “I’m scared, what if I make a fool of myself and she rejects me. I hate losing.” She exasperated.
The door of Xinyu’s dorm suddenly opened, revealing Sohyun walking in with a bag of takeout. Nien ran up to her, “Sohyun! How did you ask out Xinyu?” She hugged the woman and looked up at her, looking almost desperate for an answer.
Sohyun looked down at Nien in shock and confusion. She glanced from Xinyu to Nien. “Oh uhm… I simply bought her roses and asked her to be my girlfriend? Why? Are you planning on finally asking Kotone out?” She chuckled.
“Yeah and I'm freaking out about it.”
"Don't psych yourself out, it's going to be fine,” Sohyun assured her, setting the takeout on the table. “You guys fought a goddess slash monster who was threatening to kill us together, and you almost died! You have nothing to be scared of.” She reassured Nien.
“That was like, really romantic,” Xinyu added.
Nien hummed and flopped back down on Xinyu’s bed, opening her notes app. “Okay. So I’ll make the poster today and maybe I'll try to get some flowers tomorrow?” Nien muttered to herself while typing into her notes.
“I know a good flower shop nearby. I'll take you there tomorrow.” Xinyu chimed in. Nien thanked her over and over again. She rushed out of their dorm and down to the academy’s art studio, she had all her supplies there and ready to go.
Nien laid out the poster board on the table, she first sketched out the lettering she wanted with a pencil. Then she flicked open a yellow paint pen and carefully outlined the pencil sketches. It needs to be perfect. She held it up to get a good look at how the poster looked.
Suddenly someone joined her in the art studio, Nien glanced over, it was Kotone. Shit. She scrambled to cover the poster with her hands. The markers she was using unceremoniously scattered across the table.
“What are you doing here?” Kotone asked, looking straight at the poster. Nien’s brain short-circuited, “Uh, an important project for a class.”
“Sure the poster that says ‘will you go to the winter dance with me’ is an important project.” Kotone teased, “I'm not stupid. So who’s it for?” Nien blinked for a second, it was in her favorite color and it was in a font that reminded of her. It genuinely could not be more obvious.
“Stella.” Nien blurts out without thinking. Kotone furrowed her eyebrows, “Who the hell is that?”
“You don't need to know, just don't tell her!” Nien says while practically pushing her out the studio door. “Okay okay! Fine I won't.” Kotone tries to say before the door closes on her. Nien sighs, she looked at the poster again, fixed the small smudges and finished outlining the letters. She held it up again to admire it.
I hope she likes it.
There’s a knock on the studio door as Nien is cleaning up her mess. “Hey it's me Xinyu.”
Oh thank god.
“Come in.” Nien waves her over to the poster. Xinyu walked over and admired the poster for a bit, “Where do you want me to hide the poster?” Nien hands it to her, “Keep it in your dorm until tomorrow so I have the flowers too.”
“Got it.” Xinyu nods, carefully taking the poster with her.
The next morning Nien and Sohyun found themselves in the flower shop that Xinyu recommended. The place smelled like evaporated water and soil with a mix of probably a billion kinds of flowers. Nien walked through the aisles of flowers. Sohyun suggested some but she’d shut them down one by one.
“You keep shutting down my ideas!” Sohyun says exasperated, “Dude, what do you think she likes?!”
Nien looked around one more time, her eyes landed on a bouquet of sunflowers, it was perfect. She picked up the bouquet and turned to Sohyun, “This is it. It's perfect. Hopefully she likes it.” She quickly paid and held the flowers carefully so as to not ruin them.
“You two defeated a goddess together and you are still freaking out that she won't like a bunch of sunflowers.” Sohyun teased her. Nien didn’t respond immediately but she looked back down at the sunflowers, “Hopefully all goes well.”
Two days before the dance, Nien stood outside of the study hall building waiting for Kotone. She knew that at 6pm, Kotone leaves the study hall to head to the dorm and eat dinner.
At 5:55pm, she was ready outside of the building. Holding the poster and sunflowers behind her back. She shifted her weight from one foot to another nervously. What if this doesn’t work out? She looked down at the ground, taking deep breaths to calm her fast beating heart so it doesn’t bounce out of her chest.
Nien looked at her watch, 6:00.
She held out the poster and the sunflowers, swallowing the lump in her throat as she waited for Kotone to leave the building. She wasn’t even this scared when fighting a Greek goddess.
She heard the door of the building creak open and looked up. Kotone walked out, bag slung on her shoulder and headphones on. She stopped in her tracks when she noticed Nien standing on the sidewalk, a poster in front of her and a bouquet of sunflowers on her other hand. Her eyes widened when she recognized the poster and took off her headphones so that they hung around her neck. Her jaw dropped, trying to process this.
“Kamimoto Kotone. Will you take over the number one spot in my heart and go to the winter dance with me?” Nien asked, her voice raising with every word and handing Kotone the flowers. Kotone smiled, Nien’s nervousness was so evident that it was funny. She laughed and nodded her head repeatedly.
“Oh my god you’re so cheesy. Yes! Yes I will go with you!”
Nien jumped up and down in excitement, pulling Kotone into a tight embrace. ”Yay! Yes! Yes!”
“I thought this was for Stella?” Kotone broke the moment and asked. “I just made that up because you walked in. You idiot.”
Kotone gasped and pushed Nien. “I am not an idiot, you idiot.” They laughed and began walking. Kotone grabbed the flowers and brought them up to her nose, smelling them. “These are so nice, I love sunflowers.”
“Of course, since I am the daughter of Apollo god of the sun,” Nien smirked.
“Alright. I’m about to change my mind and say no.” Kotone went serious.
“No! No! I’m joking. I can’t wait for the dance!” Nine jumped around, she couldn’t hide her excitement.
It was finally the day of, Kotone and Nien entered the renovated gymnasium together, it was decorated with blue and white streamers, snowflakes, tables, and a DJ booth was set up on a stage. It really looked like the picture perfect cliché school dance.
They met up with Xinyu and Sohyun who were also with Lynn, Jiyeon, and Seoyeon.
“I still can’t believe it.” Xinyu pretended to wipe tears from her eyes. “You finally asked her out.” Nien playfully shoved her shoulder.
“You guys look good,” Kotone said, pointing at her friend's outfits.
“I know,” Xinyu giggled and flipped back her hair from her shoulder. “Sohyun bought me this new dress.” She spun around excitedly to show it off. “She said I looked really good in it.” Sohyun looked away sheepishly but she clung onto Xinyu closer.
”I’m happy for you,” Lynn said to Nien. “I remember when you would keep rambling and talking about her in the locker room.”
“Shh shh, you can’t say that!” Nien tried to shush her. “You talked about me?” Kotone had an amused smile on her face. “Oh c’mon tone! You would always rant to me about how much you hated Nien but you were actually crushing hard.” Seoyeon added.
Kotone’s face started turning a shade of pink.“Wow, so you were crushing on me?” Nien smiled smugly. Before Kotone could respond back, they heard a slow song start playing from the DJ’s speakers.
The girls gave each other a knowing look. Lynn grabbed Jiyeon’s hand, guiding her towards the dance floor. Sohyun and Xinyu were already heading towards the center of the room together, giant smiles on their faces.
Seoyeon looked over at Kotone and Nien. “Don’t leave me too,” she whined. Kotone gave her an apologetic smile as Nien held out her hand. “Nakyoung is sitting by herself. I think you should talk to her!” She said before being dragged out to the dance floor.
Kotone placed her hands on Nien’s shoulder, and the other girl placed her hands on Kotone’s waist. They began moving side to side, feeling the rhythm of the music.
“I never hated you, you know? I was just… jealous. Because you are a demigod and good at everything… You were my first actual competition in this academy.” Kotone confessed, looking up at Nien.
“I’m not good at everything, I don’t know how to crush a crystal that was made by Greek gods.” Nien laughed, caressing the side of Kotone’s waist. “Even when you were acting annoyed at me, I liked you. I have always liked you. Being with you, and living with you just made me fall even more in love.” Nine said softly, smiling with every word. Kotone looked into her big brown eyes. “Our connection is strong…” She continued. “And I would do anything for you, fight any monster for you, I would be banished with you in the deepest part of the underworld so you wouldn’t die. So, would you be my—” Nien was cut off by a pair of lips being pressed on hers.
Kotone stood on her tippy toes, leaning in and softly kissing her. Nien moved her hands from her waist to Kotone’s face, deepening the kiss. Kotone wrapped her arms around the tallers’ neck, smiling into the kiss. They eventually pulled away for air, their breaths uneven and all they could do was giggle. Nien pulled her into an embrace.
“Yes I will. I love you too,” Kotone whispered into her ear.
“I’m still taking my number one rank back.”