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The days in which cleaning duty was pushed down to her, were probably the most quiet and comforting hours in Ange's routine, if she didn't take into account spending her time in one of the bathroom stalls', since not even her hidden spot in which she ate lunch alone was safe anymore.
It wasn't pleasing, for all the duty was pushed down to her by her classmates—yes. She couldn't even call them her 'companions'. She would silently scrubble the floor, letting the comforting silence fill the classroom, eyes fixated on the floor, she did it quickly and, for a minute, she thanked her aunt Eva for all the times she had (unfairly) punished her by cleaning any spot in the house, using as a excuse that the head of the Ushiromiya family had to know how to do basic things such as cleaning, cooking and sewing, even though she didn't only raise her as a woman, but as a man as well.
Ange had cursed her, over and over again. Bitter, venomous thoughts that she hoped would become stakes and pierce her. She rejoiced at the thought of her aunt suffering, who had mistreated her since she was 6.
Why would she even listen to that distasteful murderer? Who would blame it all on witches? She was a crazy, cruel person! And the image was burned in Ange's mind, she was the one who had murdered her beloved mom, her dad, and her brother! And she even had the guts to come back and say, ever so nonchalantly that she would take her under her wing, and be the mom she had lost? There was no way that the sole survivor wasn't guilty, right? Why couldn't the police see that? Why did they let her live for so many years with a cold-blooded murderer that had even went as far as to kill her own son and husband?
She hated Eva.
And even so, she was grateful, she was skillful at cleaning. Not such a great cook, for she had been sent to hell on earth before she could be taught—or burnt to death by Eva.
Now, she was stuck in a hell that seemed like heaven, the bullying she was exposed to everyday was nothing after tasting the pain inflicted by Eva's skilled body, her sharp-tongue insults were something else, too. But there, she could easily ignore them and avoid the constant harassing, her notes disappearing, her room being made a mess, as long as she kept her mouth shut wisely.
Before she knew it, she had finished her job. She picked up everything and stashed it away in the cleaning locker, before lifelessly walking to where she kept her stuff hidden. Taking Maria's grimoire in her delicate, yet spoiled hands, she dashed to her happy place, which wasn't the most convenient in the world, but there she was safe, safe from the harshness of the real world.
"Big sis Maria. I'm back. Ah, sorry, did I keep you waiting again? Duty clean was pushed onto me, again... I didn't make it in time for lunch either. I had to eat standing and I could hear half of the hall snickering at me... But I used the trick you taught me, to eat quickly..." She mumbled to the book, flipping the pages carefully while an almost imperceptible smile adorned her usually serious features. "I didn't enjoy it too much, but talking with you seemed better. Shall we continue from where we left off last time?"
And so, it was her time to be happy. To escape, even if only lasted a few hours, what was the lonely reality that chained her that pitiful world. Along with her precious and only ally in the world.