Six Years Old (part 2)

*Author intermission to explain things outside of Elizabeth's perspective*

Three minutes before Elizabeth came back to the classroom.

Like yesterday, Nico was strolling down the hallway of the first year. As he walked past them, the students greeted him as if they knew each other. Because, in fact, they know him and he knows them. That is what it means to be the most popular guy in the year.

Nico arrived in front of class D, which was the class Elizabeth was at. He opened the classroom door and noticed that the specific seat where Elizabeth used to sit on, which is the second seat from the back right by the window, is empty.

Seeing this, Nico became confused. He turned to a group of guys that was close by the door and asked them.

"Ah, Elizabeth went out just now. She also brought her bag with her."

Huh!?

Hearing that, Nico became very confused. He thanked the guys who answered him and began walking to Elizabeth's seat.

At the time, Nico thought to himself,

'If she is only going out for a bit, then I'll just wait here.'

Then, he lowered his butt to the chair.

Biggest mistake of his life.

He didn't sit at the chair in front of Elizabeth's. He didn't sit at his usual sitting spot, because he thought that it was more proper for him to sit on Elizabeth's chair instead of a random student's chair, especially when Elizabeth herself is currently out.

Oh, Elizabeth… if only you put warning signs on the table or something.

And so, Nico sat down on the glued chair.

First, he didn't realize it and simply waited for Elizabeth. This didn't take that long because then he got bored and moved his position facing another way. That is when he finally realized the glue on the chair.

Then, he placed his hand on the table to push himself up from the chair. That is when he realizes that the table, too, had been webbed by glue.

For the next fifteen whole seconds, Nico did nothing but stayed still. He became silent, his eyeballs weren't moving, and he wasn't even breathing. The only thing moving was his thoughts, and he went through the same thought process Elizabeth went through as she thought of a way to deal with the glue.

The only difference is… Nico doesn't have extra pants to wear. He has no solution.

And so, the only thing awaiting him… was eternal imprisonment on that very chair.

*End of author intermission to explain things, yada yada yada*

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"ELIZABEETTTTHHHH!!!!!!!"

Nico loudly shouted at me after I entered the classroom, and I stared at him while covering my face with my palms. In my hands, my glued skirt is still there for everybody to see.

Now, everyone knows that I was the first victim. But, I don't care about myself and feel more on Nico.

I was the target, and yet he got attacked as well… this is abysmal.

"C-Calm down…"

"Elizabeth!! Why is the chair and table glued!?"

He asked me, but I couldn't really tell him the reason. There's too many eyes watching, and I'd rather keep all the pity towards Nico than to myself.

I walked forward to him and everyone moved out of the way as I approached. I realized that he didn't dare to get up because he's afraid of the glue shredding his pants, but I did that and my skirt was mostly fine. Even after sitting for hours.

"C-Come here!"

I placed down my bag and skirt right next to the table. Then I stood behind Nico and held the top of the chair with both my hands.

"Slowly get your ass up."

I said to him, and he followed hesitantly. Very slowly, his butt is being pulled from the chair and he finally made it out of the chair. Even after his butt was pulled out, I can still see the leftover glue that didn't stick falling back down from his butt to the floor… yikes.

"Anyone got extra pants? Lend them to Nico."

I loudly shouted to the bystanders, hoping that one of them would listen to me. Fortunately, one of the guys lifted his hand up and said he brought exercise pants like me.

The guy went to his seat and took out the pants, and he gave them to Nico.

Nico asked the guy if it was okay for it to be worn, and the guy explained why he even brought it in the first place. While those two were talking, my eyes peered through the classroom and searched for their faces.

They are… not here?

I'm surprised. Well, I guess I shouldn't, since I knew Peach and her lackeys are always eating lunch in the canteen.

But, just in case…

After taking the pants, Nico turned to me and stared at my legs.

"You too got glued…?"

"Go change. We'll talk later."

I said coldly, and Nico understood. He skimmed past the crowding students in the classroom and made his way to the bathroom to change.

I waited until Nico left completely before finally turning my eyes around the room.

Now… I have to do it now.

"Listen up!!!"

I loudly shouted to the entire classroom, startling the people both close to me and far away.

"If you have a problem with me, settle it with me! Don't make other people fall into your traps. This is between you and me, you hear!?"

I said to the entire classroom, even to the students close to me. I don't care if they're not involved, but I had to make this announcement so that nobody else will get harmed because of me.

After loudly announcing that, I turned away from them and began to clean my chair and desk. I used the glued skirt as my mop and I dropped a little amount of water from my water bottle to get rid of the glue. My entire skirt was glued, for sure. But, at least I can still clean them up later after school. My priority right now is to get rid of the glue from my desk and chair so that I can continue studying properly during later lessons.

And while I was cleaning, the crowd dispersed and went on with their own businesses. I was so busy cleaning that I didn't realize Nico had already returned after changing.

"Well. Now, you and I have the same pants."

Nico suddenly said after arriving, and I giggled at his joke.

"Did they get to your underwear?"

"Uh… no. The uniform pants were thick enough."

"That's good. My thighs were still sticky."

I didn't mean that sexually, but of course… all boys can think of is just those things. Right after I said that, Nico laughed a little, and I gave him a disgusted glare.

Nico sat down on the seat in front of me that was empty, as usual. He watched as I was cleaning my desk and chair with my skirt, and he could only stay silent as I was cleaning.

"Why are you just watching…?"

After a while, I got annoyed by his gazes. I asked him about it and he just shook his shoulder.

"Do you think those glues can be washed off on the laundry?"

"Well, if you clean it properly, yes."

"Sweet. Continue, then."

He asked just for that…?

"Do you have a bag to put away your pants?"

I asked him, but he shook his head.

"No, I put them away in my bag. I folded them in a way so that the glue won't touch the walls of my bag. That might be impossible for you, though. Considering the amount of glue that your pants have."

"Well, in the worst case scenario, I'll just have to hold it in my hand when we get home later."

"Oh, right. Speaking of later, you didn't forget these, right?"

He asked as he was lifting his hand, and I can see the yellow ring that he took yesterday. As soon as he showed that, I grinned as well and lifted the necklace from underneath my necktie.

"Of course, not. I don't want to get hurt, after all."

I lifted the necklace with my thumb for him to see. The necklace had a red crystal in the middle, surrounded by silver metal. It's surprisingly heavy if you consider how thin it was, but it was probably because the materials weren't so simple.

After showing the artifacts to one another, I hid the necklace back behind my necktie. Nico also took off his ring and placed them into the right pocket of his pants.

"The water guns?"

I asked him, and he grinned.

"I hid it on the location."

H-Huh!?

"Why!?"

"Well, I can't bring them to school anymore! My only option is to put them away somewhere. And since we are going to the location anyway, why not put it there?"

"W-When did you even go there…?"

"Earlier, this morning. Before I went to school."

"How… early was this?"

"… 5 am?"

Man… I got scolded for being late and this guy was already wide awake at five am. Talking about how he and I are polar opposites…

"By the way, the location is quite far, so we'll have to go by online cab."

Nico said, but I wasn't paying attention. My attention turned towards the group that was just arriving in the classroom.

Peach and her girls just came back from the canteen, and they immediately noticed the pretty boy sitting at the chair in front of me. They also noticed that Nico is now wearing the exercise uniform pants, the same pants that I am currently wearing. It's like the both of us are matching one another, and they can't help but notice that.

I kept my eyes on them, and as soon as they noticed that I was staring at them, they turned away and headed for their seats.

Nico followed my glare and knew immediately what was going on.

"Was that them--"

"Online cab, huh? So, it was far away then?"

I asked him as I was preparing for my chair to sit on, purposely changing the subject.

I put the skirt on my chair, and my plan was to sit on the skirt instead of sitting on the chair. I placed the clean side of the skirt to face upwards so that my butt will be sitting on it, and I placed the dirty side facing the chair's surface.

After sitting down, I tried touching the desk and realized that it was still slightly sticky. But, I ignored it and placed my hands there anyway. It's only a little bit sticky, even papers won't be sticking to them.

"It was kinda far, yeah… It's no longer sticky?"

Nico asked, but I was committed to not talk about this topic.

"I've been meaning to ask you something about the locations. You found them on this internet website, right?"

I asked suddenly, and Nico knows that I'm trying so hard to change the topic. He let out an annoyed breath from his nose and answered anyway.

"Yep. What's wrong?"

"I was just thinking. In the future, Uncle Deve might send me some requests to exorcise some people. We can get paid from there, so… maybe you want to join?"

I asked Nico about joining me in future works that Uncle Deve might give me. And from his expression alone, I can already tell his answer.

"… I-"

"Exorcism?? You guys are really hunting down ghosts??"

All of a sudden, a voice can be heard approaching us. We both turned to the owner of the voice, and there are three people currently walking to us from the door.

Who… are they?

"What are you guys doing here?"

Suddenly, Nico called out to them. I turned to Nico and realized that these guys are probably his friends.

"If you guys are hunting ghosts, then you should definitely count me in!"

At the most front, the guy with the short and large build said while pointing at himself with his thumb. On the right, the tall guy with glasses snorted.

"Yeah, right! You can't even watch horror movies!"

"It was a thriller movie! I can't stand blood, not ghosts!!"

While the two argue, the tan and bald guy on the left cleared his throat.

"Were you two really doing something so dangerous? I heard ghosts can actually possess you, you know?"

"No shit, sherlock. What are you guys doing here?"

Nico said angrily at them, and the short guy at the front grinned at him.

"We heard you got into some problem here, then we saw you wearing those pants. So, we came over to help!"

Hearing that, Nico let out a long… long tired breath. It's my first time seeing him this annoyed about something, and from that alone, I can already tell that they are close.

"Who are they?"

I asked Nico, and he quickly remembered that I'm still here.

"Right!! Uh… Well, these three idiots are the guys from my class. The short fat guy is Jerry. The tall glasses guy is Link. And the baldy is Randy."

"Nice to meet you. I heard you can see ghosts."

After Nico introduced them, Jerry moved forward and lifted his hand for a handshake. But to his surprise, I kept both of my hands to myself.

"Elizabeth. Same here."

I used the same cold attitude as the one I used when Nico first talked to me, and that startled the three a little. Jerry pulled his hand away and stared at me deeply. From their expressions, I can tell that they seemed to be quite wary of me.

They… don't seem to like me very much.