First day of classes, again

As soon as she told me that we were having a sleepover, the rest of the night came flowing through my memories.

I never had a problem holding my liquor in this body, so even after I had downed what felt like gallons of beer, my head was still clear. The problem was that after I had devoured all the chicken, Lindsey had brought out a strange bottle filled with green, semi-transparent liquid and we started taking shots.

'It's still a weekday, for god's sake!'

Yesterday had been a Thursday, meaning we still had school today. How irresponsible students were we to get hammered when we had to get up early and study?!

Though that might just have been me. If I remembered correctly, Lindsey drank at least as much as me, if not more, but she didn't seem to get drunk at all. When I asked her about it she just said that she was used to drinking with her uncle, Mike.

In the end, I had gotten completely wasted and she had carried me to the bed, where she had asked me if she could stay over, to which I had, obviously, said yes.

Lindsey had already left, saying she had to get ready for school, so I did the same.

A quick shower was all I had time for as we had both slept in quite a bit, and then I hurriedly power walked to class.

****

[Brad's Pov]

'I have to talk to him before school starts!'

It had been hard trying to make up my mind what I thought about the little guy.

There was still no way I could accept the way he treated combat, even more so when facing Arthur, his own classmate, but I still missed him.

Miren was like two sides of a coin, with one being the frail little boy who was fun to tease, and the other being a psychotic killer.

I did not view Miren as someone inherently evil though, but knowing he would have no qualms ending my life if needed wasn't a pleasant thought.

That's why I decided I would talk to him, face to face, and then decide how I would choose to act based on it.

Just as I was crossing the corner of the hall to get to his room, his door opened.

'This is it...'

Mentally, I prepared myself for what was to come, thinking about what words I would choose.

'What the fuck...'

To my surprise, though, it wasn't Miren who came out of the room, instead, it was Lindsey, with her hair slightly ruffled and her clothes a bit weary.

I hurriedly took a step back, hiding behind the corner.

As I listened to the steps walking further away, my mind had already decided how I would view the situation, 'Misa and Lindsey are having an affair!'

Miren already had Misa, but now he was going after the school queen? Deviant!

Completely thrown off from my original goal, I decided to try again some other day, still thinking about the little devil hiding behind the door.

****

[Miren's Pov]

Ms. Johnson had just arrived, dressed neatly as usual with a white shirt and a black, tight skirt.

"This semester will be the last one of obligatory theory classes, and just like before the break you will have a test that you have to pass in order to stay at the academy."

No one in the class reacted to her words, everyone confident they wouldn't have any problems passing the tests. Everyone except for me.

'What do I do about this? I don't know shit after being absent for so long!'

As if to answer my question, our teacher turned to me and spoke some "reassuring" words, "Miren, as you have officially been announced as the principal's disciple I expect you to pass with flying colors. It would be an abhorrence if our esteemed principles pupil didn't set a good example."

A huge ruckus began, whispers flowing through the room, coming from multiple students. As neither Mike nor I had said anything about this situation, no one in the class had known about it.

*Smack!*

Slamming her hand down on the podium, our teacher instantly put a stop to the noise, "Silence! Just so everyone knows, it doesn't matter to me or any other teacher if Miren has been chosen by the principal. All it means is that he has more to prove than others. Now let's begin our lesson."

She fired up the digital whiteboard, and started talking, "At the beginning of the 18th century..."

I tried my best to follow what she said, but as she kept referencing material my class had learned about last semester it was incredibly hard.

'Is this the way I'm going to get kicked out of the academy?'

There was just one positive thing about all this, I had gotten my butt pillow back! It felt like I was on top of the world, now being almost face to face with Lindsey when I turned my head.

History and Math were all we had before the theoretical lessons were done, and so I started to make my way out the door, being the last one to do so. It was an untold understanding between me and my classmates that they would leave first, so as to not have to interact with me at all.

Unfortunately, I was met by a group of people outside, with Troy leading them. They were all freshmen from the B-class who had heard about my return.

"Why did you come back, Miren? After what happened during the ranking celebration, don't you think it would be better if you stayed away?" The three guys behind him started to snicker at his words, not completely unlike fourteen-year-old girls.

I didn't know if he had gotten cockier because of my absence, assuming he would have gotten more powerful while my progress should have stagnated, or if it was because he had his ensemble with him, but his attitude successfully ticked me off. If I was just an extra in this story, he was just a mob, so who was he to talk shit?

'They are just kids, don't get riled up for nothing, Miren!'

I had already realized that even if society treated these youths like adults, they were not. Even if their bodies matured faster a lot of them were still immature. Like the kid in front of me.

There was an argument for me to make an example of him, just like I had done with Bayyan, but this was not the time nor the place.

Keeping my cool, I just stared into his eyes and opened my mouth, "Move, I need to get to class."

Troy flinched a bit at my sudden retort, probably expecting me to have a more acute reaction to his taunting, "And why should we? We still have lots of things we need to talk about, you know?"

He went right back into a bully mode, probably feeling confident that as most of the students didn't want me here, he was on the side of justice, trying to chase away the killer who made everyone uncomfortable.

They were standing like a wall in front of me now, meaning I had to force my way out if I wanted to be on time to the principal's office.

'Guess it can't be helped...'

I wasn't one to try something twice, if words didn't work then I had to use other tools to get the job done.

To my surprise, as soon as I started to activate my art, getting ready to show these kids their place a bright voice cut through the noise, "What are you guys doing? And Miren, why are you just standing there, don't you also have to go to class?"

My newfound friend had come to my rescue, baffling Troy and his gang. Why was the school's esteemed queen talking to the miniature killer? Troy stepped up to the plate, not wanting to waste this chance to show me my place, even if it meant going against the third-ranked student, "Stay out of this Lindsey, this is between us!"

Lindsey just furrowed her brows and looked at me, "Is that so Miren? Should I leave you guys alone?"

"No, please help me leave this place so I don't have to use force."

Troy turned his head back to me, " Ha! Force? Do you really think you can do anything in this situation?"

Before I managed to answer, Lindsey had already started to make her move, "If you guys don't let him leave now, I will talk to Mr. Borr about this incident, how you blocked one of his students, making him unable to attend his class on time."

Troy instantly shrunk at her words, knowing she wouldn't hesitate a second to do so, "Fuck! Let's go guys."

As they walked away, I couldn't help but be a bit amazed at how cleanly she had diffused the situation, not needing to use force at all. Although she had some issues with social cues, in some ways she was a lot more mature and levelheaded than me.

"Let's go Miren, the next block of lessons is starting soon."