A new beginning [5]

"... and that's the schedule for your first week here at Ainu. I know you might feel as if we are rushing things, but there's nothing we can do about it. Oh, also don't let my warnings get to you too much, even if we believe that war is inevitable, it should take at least a couple of years. We still have time."

It had been harder than I thought to pretend to be interested in what my teacher was saying, changing my expression up depending on what she was telling us. Somehow I had made it through, and judging by the fact that Ms. Turner kept turning her eyes to me, I think my reactions had been acceptable.

A lot of things had been sped up this year, a fact that also explained why all the freshmen had already gotten their student uniforms and they seemed a lot more prepared than we were last year.

Closing down the digital whiteboard behind her that had been showing us our schedule, our teacher began to conclude our very first homeroom session, "For the rest of the day, I want to encourage you all to take some time and familiarize yourself with the academy. Of course, I also think it is a good opportunity for you to get along with each other a bit."

Once again, her eyes turned to me, now even going as far as to give me a small wink and a smile. Even though I had no choice but to return her sentiment with a smile of my own, I couldn't stop myself from thinking some rude thoughts.

'How can she act like this so naturally? Last year she was so cold and standoffish to most students, and now she's like this? Did the principal tell her to do this or is this a result of what happened last year?'

I didn't doubt that she felt pretty guilty about the fact that I suddenly went rogue last year, but was that really enough for a person to change this much? Somehow, I couldn't believe it was. Either this was the real Ms. Turner all along, that she had tried to hide for some reason, or she was just acting.

"Class dismissed! Oh, Zero, would you mind giving me a minute before you go? There is something I need to talk to you about."

"Hmm? Sure?"

As the rest of the class made their way out of the room, I rose to my feet and walked up to my teacher. It was a bit weird to be reminded of the fact that I was once again incredibly short, even though my new, old form? My old, new form? Whatever...

My apostle version of my body wasn't that tall either, but it was a lot taller than Zero. As James, I didn't have to look up at Jessica on the roof in Kurat, but as Zero I had to crane my neck quite a bit to achieve eye contact.

'Don't worry about it, now we can change forms whenever we want! There's no need to be worried about such a thing!'

'Thank you, sub-me... I love you, you know that?'

Suddenly, a pair of arms grabbed a hold of me, pulling me into their embrace. This was the second time already that someone just took the liberty to hug me tightly, without asking for permission. Still, a child of god couldn't be bothered by such worldly things, therefore I opted to act in the same way as I did with Sophie.

"Ms. Turner? Are you alright?"

"What are you... Yes, I'm alright, Zero. Thank you."

Separating us by taking a step backward, she could finally lay her eyes on the masterpiece that I had created. The boy who had almost fallen to his knees in anguish, who kept on forcing himself to smile while moving forward, was now looking at her with a face filled with worry.

The boy who had been alone for all of his life, the one that she was supposed to comfort was the one worrying about her. It wasn't hard to mimic the feelings I had conjured when comforting Sophie, so it also wasn't unexpected that I managed to get quite a reaction out of my teacher.

"You... Zero... No, I'm sorry. I thought you needed some support, but it seems like I misinterpreted the situation."

Changing back into a smile, I saw the chance to set some cogs in motion, "Don't be sorry, Ms. Turner. Haha, it's embarrassing, wasn't it... That I would suddenly act like that..."

"Zero..."

"Ah! But don't worry! Even if I might seem pathetic, I know what I need to do. Also, I am not so cocky that I would dare to believe I won't need support along the way. Theia didn't create us to move as individuals, her plan has always been for us to unite as one."

Taking her hand in mine, feeling slightly awkward that it felt so big, I kept on spouting bullshit, "I don't know what happened to you, Ms. Turner, but there is no need to force yourself like this. I understand that you want to act strong in front of your students, but everyone needs support sometimes."

Flinching a bit because of my, in her mind, eerily accurate words, she took another step backward, but I didn't let go of her hand, "You know, one of the things I have been blessed with is to sense other people's emotions. Oh, of course, I can't read minds or anything, but I can feel the guilt inside of you."

"You..."

"It's okay. No matter what happened in the past, all mortals that walk this world are supposed to redeem their mistakes by moving forward. Just like I will work hard with the little time I have, you will have to work hard too! Because that's what makes us human. But the hardest part is that you have to let other people help you."

It wasn't hard to subtly plant the thought that I might be dying in the near future, and it was obvious that she reacted to what I said. "Zero, what did you say...?"

Now, as long as I made a conscious choice not to talk about it, there was no way it could be appropriate for a teacher to inquire further with a student that she only just met. "You have to let people help you! Because loneliness is the worst thing of all, trust me... Haha! Anyway, was there anything specific you needed to talk to me about?"

"No, you... Haaa..."

With a sigh, she understood that there was no point in forcing me to talk about my 'little time', now moving on to what she actually wanted to tell me.

"Yeah, there was indeed something I needed to talk to you about. I understand if it makes you feel uncomfortable, but the king wants to meet you. You can pretty much think of it as an audience with the king, except he will be coming to the academy. Also, the princess will also participate."

'What?! No... No! If I lose control in front of the king... and Sarah... There's no way this could be a good thing!'

Although I felt like this was probably one of the worst things that could happen, another individual didn't share my sentiments, '-You should accept. Isn't this a chance to acquire some authority that can affect Mensch as a whole? After all, aren't you the child of god? Hohoho!'

'-But isn't it too early? I still don't have control of my mind yet, shouldn't I wait until I get more stable?'

'-Stop deluding yourself. You will have to face her someday. Stop hesitating just because you have lingering feelings for another mortal. We both know you couldn't care less about that useless king.'

Somehow, Loki had managed to see right through me, even to the point where he saw what even I myself had repressed. The worst part was that he was absolutely right. There was everything to gain and nothing to lose from this meeting. Even in the case that I broke down, wouldn't that just mean that he also saw how much pressure the world was putting on Zero?

"I... When?"

Noticing my slight hesitation, Ms. Turner went right back into being overprotective, "You don't have to force yourself, Zero. I don't think the king would mind..."

"Ms. Turner, when is the meeting going to happen?"

This was not the time to act like the weakling Zero, this was the time to act like the confident representative of the church of Theia. This was the time to truly act like the child of god.

"Haa... Fine. It's tonight, the king wants to meet you tonight. The meeting will be happening in the principal's personal conference room. If you want, I can go with you. I mean, not that..."

Knowing that I had to conclude this conversation strongly, I put on the smile that had made the girls in my class blush, "Thank you, Ms. Turner, but I will be fine. After all, if the supposed child of god can't even attend a meeting by himself, what kind of future could we possibly have?"

'After all, if Zero hasn't made a large impact before he dies, wouldn't that be boring?'