Dinner and complications (9)

It was Cyrus! Aaaah I'm saved. I hid behind him and peered at Jamie smugly.

Jamie looked at Cyrus with hostile eyes "...Cyrus."

Cyrus smiled wildly at him "Jamie, how are you?"

"Just having a peaceful chat with the commoner." He paused for a second and glanced at me "but I was just leaving."

Watching Jamie leave gave me such joy and relief, I'm so glad I don't have to deal with him anymore. "Cyrus! Thank you sooo much"

Cyrus smiled happily "it's not a problem."

"If you're here for dinner we should eat together!" I enthusiastically suggested and Cyrus agreed.

We sat together in a corner of the cafeteria, I had chosen my meal in hurry and it was less than appetizing. A slice of bread with a single tomato and a plain hot potato...should I go back for something, eeeh it's not like I'll starve.

Cyrus looked at my meal and raised an eyebrow "is this the kind of food you enjoy?"

"Nooot usually, but I don't really enjoy eating that much anyway."

He gave me an odd look "really, are you some kind of psycho?"

I poked the food with my fork "if you wanna be dramatic about it..." I raised my head and made eye-contact with Cyrus "but it's not like I'm the one who's never enjoyed talking to people"

I smiled aggressively at him "how is that going by the way?"

His expression faltered "what do you mean?"

I stabbed the potato with my fork "making friends and whatnot..."

Cyrus laughed nervously "you were serious about that?"

My gaze darkened "did I look like I was joking?"

We stared at each other for a second.

"Do you want to have fun???" I folded my hands together and attempted to appear like a therapist.

Cyrus grinned "I'm already having fun."

"Interesting..."

This kid, why won't you cooperate??!! Let's see who would he get along with...Lucina certainly had a lot in common with him. "Hey Cyrus what do you think of Lucina?"

His aura turned dark "Lucina"

I'm sure that's a great sign...

Cyrus looked towards me seriously "Lucina is a dangerous person, you can't let your guard down around her." He clenched his fist and continued to radiate dangerous energy. "She almost killed me once."

Woah almost killed him??! Come on Lucina that's not very nice. "Hmm so you wouldn't like to become friends with her."

He gave me a horrified expression "fr-friends?!!!?! With that???????"

"You're kind of cute when you get upset." I couldn't stop myself from laughing at his surprised outburst.

"Are you making fun of me Olivia?" Cyrus's eyebrow twitched.

"I just thought you two were similar , there's no reason to blush."

As Cyrus tried to come up with a retort, I took a bite of the potato. It was...definitely a potato.

Bleegh, I hate potatoes. They're so, mushy and texture-y.

"Olivia! Are you listening?"

"Aaah,...no?"

Cyrus sighed "you can't just zone out, this is a serious conversation." He waved his hand in emphasis "you may think she's some normal girl, but Lucina is dangerous! You have to be careful around her."

Haha...I've realized, oh I've realized. " yeah she has threatened me like 4 times already."

Cyrus choked on his drink

"I totally get what you mean, her vibes are atrocious!"

"But you said we were alike..."

"Haha...don't think about it, you'll hurt your brain"

Cyrus tried to smile as I patted him on the shoulder.

"Hmmm, who else could be a friendship candidate?"

Cyrus's eyes narrowed "you're not going to let that go are you?"

I snapped my fingers "aha! Julius."

"Julius?" he looked doubtful. "I've known Julius for a long time, but recently he seems...different."

"Different? What do you mean?"

Cyrus paused to think "I don't know how to describe it, it's like he's a different person. A scary one."

Huh, it seems like he transmigrated recently, then what could he possibly have meant when he said 45 years??? Was he just messing with me?

"I can vouch that he has a good heart...some where in there."

He tilted his head to the side "how would you know that?"

aaaaaaack, I probably shouldn't have said that. "Well, that's...hmm it's a long story."

Is it necessary to pay attention like that Cyrus, come on if neither of us used our brains it would work out just fine.

"You're hiding something from me, aren't you?" Cyrus's golden eyes stared deep into mine. "Are you sure we're not similar?"

"...it's true that I'm hiding some stuff, but I really don't think we're alike." His ego must be really big if the only way he can explain getting along with someone is that they're similar to him.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah, I'm getting worried I'll tell you something if I stay"

Cyrus grinned "is that so terrible?"

"Haha...yes. Yeah byeeee." I stood up and left the dining hall.

Well that was fun, Cyrus really is a great friend. I smiled to myself while walking, this was the first meal I had really enjoyed since coming to this world. It was kind of him to save me from that awful twat Jamie. I should really help him make connections with others, he's missing out.

!!!!! I forgot to ask Cyrus to save me if I went missing. Hmmmmmm, guess I'll have to hold off on telling Julius for another day.

'Sleep' the voice echoed through my mind and the pain from earlier started again. WHY DOES MY BRAIN HURT??! Aaackkkkkkk killlll meeeee. The pain suddenly intensified and it took all of my strength to stay conscious.

I let my body fall onto the ground and clutched at my head as the pain resounded through it. After another 30 seconds the pain gradually stopped.

What was that???????? Please, please tell me this isn't going to keep happening. Uuuuuuugh this is awful, but at least the pain disappears completely when it's over.

"What are you doing on the ground?" A boy who was about my height was looking down at me, he had dark bronze skin, curly brown hair, and beautiful green eyes.

"Aaaah, well my head started to hurt suddenly and...I ended up on the floor."

He laughed and offered his hand, I took hold of it and he pulled me to my feet with a sturdy grip. "Thank you very much, I really appreciate your help." I tried to smile respectfully at him.

He looked towards me inquisitively "I'm sorry if this comes across as rude, but who are you?"

"My name is Olivia Erem, I'm a transfer student"

His eyes sparkled "oooh, I see! Are you that commoner everyone's talking about?"

"Yep, thats me. The crazy commoner who set fire to her class."

The boy's tone was full of curiosity "there are all kinds of rumors about you, would you mind telling me how exactly did you become friends with Lucina and Cyrus?"

"First what's your name?"

He brought his palm to his forehead "of course, where are my manners! I'm Theodore Lispen, but please call me Theo."

"Theo? That's a cute name."

He smiled "isn't it?"

I stared at him for a second and raised an eyebrow

"Oh, and Olivia is a pretty name too."

I laughed "right answer...Mmm and about Lucina I wouldn't call us friends. If I had to guess I would say that she wants to use me for something."

"Interesting" Theo's gaze sharpened and he seemed to be thinking about something.

"And Cyrus...well I got mad at him then he invited me to tea, and then we had a talk about making friends."

His eyes portrayed his confusion "that doesn't make sense, Cyrus doesn't seem like the type of person to do such things."

I shrugged "does it matter? People change or something like that."

I pushed his shoulder gently "sometimes all it takes it gentle shove in the right direction."

He stared at me with a puzzled expression "...we are talking about Cyrus right?"

I leaned in and whispered in his ear, "don't tell Cyrus, but I'm pretty sure the whole friend thing is just to use me, people don't change so easily." Theo seemed to re-access me, haha nosy isn't he...

I pulled back and smiled comfortably "but, either way is he really such a weird guy?"

"I wouldn't say weird, but... he it seems like he hates everyone." He grimaced, as if he was remembering something uncomfortable. "He acts fairly friendly, but it's not hard to tell what he's really thinking, like you said he's probably faking it-but still it seems out of character.."

"Hmmm, sorry about that."

Theo blinked in surprise "why are you apologizing?"

I fiddled with my hair, this would be inconvenient to explain. "Well, I feel sort of responsible for him... it's a thing I do."

"A thing you do?"

"It's difficult to explain, but it's kind of a habit. I used to be the same kind of person, until someone helped me." My voice was quiet and unsteady, it's not easy to explain my thoughts. Still, no one was forcing me to tell him all this. I suppose I wanted to justify my actions...

"So now you feel the need to help others like that person who helped you?"

"...that sounds about right." I looked at Theo in a new light, it was nice when people understood you.

"Don't you get tired of living like that? Isn't it hard and annoying?"

Where's he going with this? "Living in general is tiring, but my life before was worse. Or something, does it really matter either way?"

Before he could respond I clapped my hands together loudly "speaking of tired, this conversation is getting tiring. Talk to you later Theo"

I happily exited the interaction and walked away without looking back. I'm glad I had that conversation, but it was getting a little personal . Theo seemed nice, but you never know what people are hiding. Also he was super pretty, so definitely a capture target. What was it that Lucina said about the people here? Oh yeah! Two-faced, hmmm I should be more careful. I wonder who the other characters are.?

Let's see there are usually at least 4 capture targets, maybe a hidden character and at least one villainess. Julius is probably one, Lucina is definitely the villainess, and... who else. Aaaah Cyrus probably, for sure Jamie, and...Theo? I don't really want to avoid Cyrus or Julius, though I'll make an effort to stay clear of the rest of them. Aaa, but Lucina ; I don't know if I could help her if I tried and I don't really want to.

But would it be possible to avoid her? Hmmm probably not.