Masters of Disguise

Some minutes after the peacefully tranquil drive, they reached the campus where Histoire left the comfortable atmosphere and entered the one riddled with soft winds and a sense of coldness. She caught a glimpse of Jotham's face after she bid him farewell for the day. The solemn expression turned to that of a bright one when he made mention that he would see her in only a few hours, therefore, a goodbye was not necessary.

Histoire waited the few minutes it took for the red Shelby to disappear down the street before she turned to face the entrance to the large campus. As was expected, only a few bodies could be seen roaming about the entrance, none of them familiar faces that struck her interest.

The lack of people could be credited to the cold which chased them away from the outside to seek the warmth of the building that Histoire immediately sought after as well.

She could walk with her head held high, confident that no one would recognize her. Not that it was plausible since her contact lenses, glasses, wig, earmuffs and the scarf that covered half her face proved to be the perfect disguise. Of course, she did attract some attention, but those were simply uninterested glances as the students continued to mind their own businesses only a second after, possibly too drowsy to be concerned or be curious.

Histoire could guess what went through their minds. 'I haven't seen that girl in a while. Who is she anyway? Well, whatever. It doesn't really matter does it?'

'Is she limping? That explains her absence,' and some would reckon once they were close enough to acknowledge the oddity.

Histoire was confident in her belief that she incurred the same silent reaction on her way through the grounds, which was a ten minute walk to the lecture hall. She entered the class only a few minutes before it commenced.

She did receive a few glances, albeit not enough to invoke concern. After all, less than a quarter of the students attended early morning lectures.

Finally, at the end of the last period she was anxious to leave for home. However, before anyone could be given the permission to leave the room, a thirty minute self-study continuance was in session much to her irritation.

Histoire was not particularly intent or motivated to study. Her e-mails had increased at a tremendous rate in the past week because she neglected to read them.

What contributed to her irritation was that she felt the warm breath of the figure sitting behind her against the back of her neck as they leaned forward to whisper into her ear. She would rather avoid any and all contact with the people in the room.

"Hey, you would not happen to be Histoire, would you?"

She was certain the owner of the feminine voice could not see the small hairs standing on edge on the back of her neck as her body was drained of all its colour because of her scarf. She could falsify her knowledge by denying her claim. It was improbable for someone to see through her outfit, at least that was her speculation.

Jotham was the only other student in ÍU who was aware that she had recently transferred there. Her old classmates from Íroas were still ignorant of that fact. Besides, from her observations, nobody she was familiar with actually attended the morning classes.

If it was a fan, a lie was the only option she could use.

However, when she tilted her head slightly to be able to see behind her and conceal her face at the same time, she was shocked to see the familiar bright yellow and spiky, long hair. Instantly, at that very moment, all the tension that had accumulated within her dissipated and she felt herself heave a weighted sigh.

"The one and only," she replied with a whisper to see a wide grin spread across Tsuki's face. Histoire was remarkably astonished to see a fellow Íroas alumnus at the university at that time, especially an insouciant student like Tsuki. Normally, étranges would graduate highschool to become interns or assistants to Protectors in order to become such themselves.

"Never did I imagine I would find you here," Histoire stated and the blonde jumped over the lengthy desk so she could sit in the same row as her.

"Because of all the aspirational speeches I made to brag about how I would grow up to become a Protector, a lot of people were very confused when I changed my mind. I don't blame you if you're surprised," Tsuki explained, noticeably becoming more curious and interested in Histoire, especially her appearance. Histoire could see her judging her outfit with amusement.

"Nevermind that. Why are you here so early? I figured you were a late riser," she asked next and Tsuki's smile slowly disappeared.

This struck Histoire's curiousity, especially when a new and sheepish grin spread over her face. In that instance, Histoire came to a sudden conjecture that left her wide eyed.

"Itsuki?" She asked to receive a nod. The person sitting beside her was not a female, but rather the female's brother impersonating his twin sibling. The realisation forced a jolt of nostalgia to flow through Histoire as recollections of the past resurfaced.

The Asian twins, who, ironically, resembled one another, were éstranges who possessed the gift to impersonate whomever they desired.

This could be achieved by coming into physical contact with the desired target for the transformation.

"Tsuki hasn't been keeping up with her classes, not to mention she isn't exactly fond of them either," he began with a quiet tone, "I'm doing her a favour by attending morning lessons as her and the afternoon ones as myself so that one lesson do not imbricate another."

Both the twins decided not to take the Protector's courses and deduced they would rather work office jobs, a far cry from their initial ambitions.

"That's sensible... in a certain way, I guess," Histoire replied. Itsuki's eyes expressed a certain curiousity that Histoire interpreted as a need to discover the reason behind her false impersonation.

"You know, I would not have suspected the person behind this guise to be you if Jotham did not inform me about your transfer," he said.

"It's actually a great relief to know I have another friend here," and Histoire responded with a sombre tone.

She had yearned for the impression of acquiesce among the populace for months, and the knowledge that Itsuki and his twin sister would keep her company when Jotham could not was a great assuagement. Itsuki could see the emotion painted across her half-exposed face. According to Jotham, Histoire's tribulations were not to be disclose at the current moment. Itsuki had enough trust in his friend to not ask any further questions, however, he could not alleviate his chest of the concern.

"Wren and Mykel should be lurking about here as well, although I haven't seen either this morning. As far as I'm concerned, six of our high school classmates decided not to become Protectors," he explained tentatively to stay open-minded in case of a possibility that more of the twenty students he attended his last year with as his classmates could be around as well.

Six students deciding against becoming Protectors out of twenty was a number that had never been reached throughout Íroas' history. A rare sight was an étrange working behind office desks, although some gifted did not obtain powers capable of first hand or even long range combat, two examples being the twins and Histoire.

Étranges who possessed extraordinary prowess such as Jotham and Deus rarely decided to settle for the simple life. Jotham's reason was credited to his past trauma whereas Histoire was not aware of much of Deus' life or past. Once again she was caught off guard by another student who aspired to become a Protector.

Histoire was certain Mykel had spent the previous year as an assistant, or sidekick, to one of the prominent Protectors. When she inquired about her to Itsuki, he recounted having experienced the same emotion.

"Mykel wants to keep her options open by taking both courses, which really isn't a bad idea now that I've considered it," Itsuki said.

Histoire had only been to the campus for a few days non-consecutively, and that was the main reason she had not come across any of her friends ever since her transfer. She was not particularly close to Wren, who, she was certain, was not exactly fond of her.

"I'll have to meet up with them sometimes..." she said after a short pause which did not go unnoticed by Itsuki.

"Histoire, I don't think you should approach Wren anytime soon. He's still... disconcerted," he adviced and she averted her eyes from him to her laptop's screen.

She heaved a sigh and nodded, considering his suggestion. Before she could reply, she noticed a specific e-mail that had just entered her inbox. After reading the subject line, she had to refrain from jumping in excitement.

"What's going on-?" Itsuki asked when she abruptly stood up and closed her laptop, shoving it into her backpack.

"I'm sorry, Itsuki, but there's somewhere I need to be in an hour. I'll see you later," she conveyed with haste as Itsuki brought his legs up to provide her with space to move through.

"Slow down, Histoire. I heard your ankle isn't fully healed yet," Istuki called out but she thanked him for his concern. She did not care that the study period was in session and hurried out of the room and from the equally annoyed and curious glances of the other students.