Friday, August 27, After School

Leo Maxia

The hallways were already decked with the regalia of many organizations. The inside of the school had been utterly transmogrified into that of a town festival, it seemed.

Club members and other students scurried around the booths and the halls, carrying boxes, posters, fliers, you name it. Some of them seemed to be struggling… I wanted to stop and help, but it would take a while to help them all. I froze. If I could use my powers, it’d be so much easier…

“Heya, Magus of Blue. Whatcha doing, staring off into space?” It was Yuna. She placed a hand on my shoulder. “Let’s head to the clubroom. Or, are you busy with something?”

“Is.. is it busy? At the club?”

Yuna shrugged. “As club president, the call’s up to you.”

“Our preparations are done. We can pitch in and help these guys, you know?” I said. Which is to say, we didn’t have any preparations. It’s not like you can recruit Espers by handing out fliers. Everyone in the club knew it. Subsequently, our ‘booth’ for the Club Carnival was just… a table. “It’s like taking quests in an RPG. Isn’t that what the hero is supposed to do?”

“Yet, you refuse to call them NPCs.”

I paused. ‘NPC,’ according to Yuna, was the proper term for those without powers. But I hated it. “Don’t you think it’s incredibly rude?”

She shrugged again. “It’s the proper term. But think about it for a minute. You’re not going to call them NPCs, but you’re going to treat them like NPCs. That’s what taking quests from them entails.”

I jammed my hands into my pockets. My fingers were twitching a little bit; I didn’t want Yuna to notice. “You…”

“These guys can take care of themselves. Come on, Magus of Blue. Have a little faith in them.”

After a long minute, I decided she was probably right. I let her tug at my sleeve and lead me towards the clubroom.

The Hero Club’s room was on the fourth floor of the old building. We passed through the halls of the second floor. As we approached, Kotone fumbled out of the student council office, papers in hand. It took a good four seconds for her to gather her footing. Her countenance was like that of a white cypress flower.

“Heya, Koto!” Yuna walked up and threw an arm around Kotone’s shoulders. After a minute, though, she knitted her eyebrows. “You… you’ve been busy, huh?”

Kotone grinned. “I’ve been okay.”

I didn’t need to have Erin’s arcana power to tell that this was not true. “Hey--”

“So! Xylia told me that you’re taking the siblings around Club Carnival.” Kotone put her hands on her hips. “What, planning to leave me out of the fun? Come on!”

Her grin was too wide.

“Yes, I am,” I said. “But that’s--”

“Great. Sorry I missed them on Wednesday. But I’ll make it up to you. What time are you guys meeting up?”

“Kotone,” I said. I exchanged a quick glance with Yuna. She nodded. “Look, I can handle it. You take care of whatever work you’ve got to, okay?”

“I’ll be okay,” she said. “I’m the head of social committee. This is my job, too.”

This wasn’t right. I gritted my teeth. What should I say to convince her? I was drawing a blank. I…

“Okay, see you later, then. Oh, is there a place you guys are meeting up?”

I could only shake my head. “N-not yet.”

Kotone pulled out her phone and displayed it. “Text me the place later, then, okay?” With a smile, she shook off Yuna, and walked off.

I was frozen. Down to my core, I felt sick. Magus of Blue… ‘Hero Club,’ what a laugh. What kind of hero can’t even help those in arm’s length?

Yuna leaned in and stared at me silently.

“What do you want...?”

“No, it’s nothing.”

It’s definitely not nothing. “I thought there were no secrets between us.”

“There’s always secrets between people,” Yuna said. “Okay, I just wanted to see if you noticed.”

“Noticed what?” I asked.

“Kotone’s phone. Did you notice the charm that was dangling on it?”

Slowly, I shook my head. I hadn’t been paying attention. “What about it?”

“I think her phone was the core of the Virus, the other day. It was the same model, and the charms looked similar. And come to think of it…” Yuna placed a hand on her chin. “Didn’t Olivia say something about how Kotone was misreading her emails?”

That much, I did remember. “Yeah, she did.”

“I wonder… maybe the Virus in her phone was affecting her eyesight, or something,” Yuna said.

“Can Viruses do that?”

“I don’t know. But Viruses can do a lot of things, Leo,” she said. “Well, that’s just speculation. We don’t actually know if anything’s in her phone. And besides, if there was, we got rid of it.”

So she should be fine now… right?

“Anyways, let’s head to the clubroom, Pres,” Yuna said. “Just… keep an eye on Kotone, okay?”

We got rid of the Commwarrior, the Virus in her phone, earlier this week. So, going forward, she should be fine, right?

So why did I feel so uneasy?

Friday, August 27, Evening

Xavier Uzual

Xylia, hopping around like a squirrel, chatted with Leo and Kotone about the various clubs we were walking past. Math League, the Speech and Debate team… it was another school tour. And, like the previous school tour, I wasn’t particularly interested.

“So,” Leo turned back to me. “Anything that catches your fancy? A particular glow when you look in its direction?”

“If anything were to start glowing when I looked at it, I think I should go see an optometrist. Maybe even a psych ward.”

He let out a wry grin. “Okay, fine. Anything you’re interested in?”

“Haven’t we had this conversation before?” I asked. “I’d rather not repeat myself.”

Leo laughed. “You remind me of my girlfriend. I’m sure you guys would get along.”

Xylia smiled. Her eyes trailed down, and around the hallway. She closed them, and smiled wider. “Oh.”

“About time, you guys. You two kept everyone waiting. When did this happen?” Kotone asked.

“Over the summer,” he said. He laughed again. “Yeah, I still can’t really believe it either. Anyways, back on topic. I think you and her would get along.”

I wouldn’t count on it. There’s very few people that I really ‘get along’ with. Xylia, of course, is the most notable exception. Speaking of her, she seemed to be talking with just a tad less energy than before.

“Hey, Spielberg Society! We should go check out their film!”

Xylia pointed to a converted classroom. The flyer read: “Ten Nights At Teddy’s: Survive the Animatronic Horror.”

For some reason, that seemed plagiarized. But I couldn’t put my finger down on why. It seemed Kotone agreed with me.

“What do you say?” Leo asked. “Sounds like fun.”

“I’ll pass,” I said.”

“Ditto.”

“Suit yourself. Meet us here when it’s over.” Phone in hand, he waved me goodbye. Funny. I don’t recall ever giving him my number. I’ll have to scold Xylia for handing out my number to strangers later. Stranger danger, kids. They pushed the fake curtains aside and disappeared into the darkness of the makeshift classroom-theatre.