Chapter 12: Chapter 11

“G’morning Yuuji!!”

Hibiki waved broadly towards him as he left his dorm room, stifling a yawn.

The student dorms were on the outskirts of the academy campus, being one of the only two buildings separate from the main grounds: the other being the faculty dorms.

They were huge manor-like buildings with a rustic design, but the interiors were impressively kitted out with many modern features. Each dorm room had its own bathroom, kitchen and living space, the latter two being joined together without a wall.

It was the biggest room Yuuji had ever been able to live in, and many considerations had been taken into account with both the room’s design and the furnishings, allowing plenty of space for personal accoutrements be they religious, studious or purely for entertainment.

There were some exceptions but generally, the male students were on the ground floor, with the female students on the floor above them, so Hibiki had come down to meet him before they set off to begin the day.

It was a short walk, and they saw many familiar faces on the way as almost everyone set off around the same time for the beginning of the day’s lessons. Even so, many grouped up with friends, and the two of them waved towards the ones they knew but walked on their own.

“Oh, oh Yuuji! Get this, everyone in class is pretty much the same age! We’re called the ‘Golden Girls’, or something like that!”
“‘Golden Generation’, you mean.”
“Generation, yeah that’s right! You knew already?”
“A lot of the trainee demon hunters I met growing up were around my age as well. Children developing after the Cataclysm didn’t have to re-learn spiritual boundaries and question pre-established faiths, so their spiritual power is a lot more refined than those before.”
“He~eh is that how it is?”
“That’s right. Though there are still others from previous generations who are strong, many of the world’s most powerful anti-demon practitioners are between 17 and 21. Hence the academy being created.”
“Oooh~”

Hibiki dropped her fist into her palm with an ‘I see!’ as they walked into the classroom, only to see the usually empty seat in front of the doorway was now taken.

“...”
“...”
“...”

The person was face down on the desk, their long, sleek copper hair tied loosely behind their back as they lay motionless. Or, almost motionless, as their chest rose and fell steadily.

“Zzz…”

The few others in the class that had arrived were going about their day as normal, so it was clear the student was expected here, though they were suspiciously absent the day before. Given they were face down sleeping on the desk before class started, it wasn’t too surprising if they would be considered absent today, as well.

Hibiki gave a puzzled look, clearly torn between waking them up or leaving them be, but Yuuji simply facepalmed for a moment before stepping forward.

“Ji-Hye. Ji-Hye!”
“Nnn?”

The languid girl raised her head from the desk slowly, wiping away her drool as she blinked at them.

Her features were small and refined, with gentle sloping cheeks and a narrow nose. Her honey-brown eyes stared directly at him as she traced his figure, a wide smile growing on rosy lips as she soon recognised him.

“Hmm..? Yuu!!”

She reached both arms towards him gleefully, though Yuuji couldn’t tell if she wanted to hug him or was using it as an excuse to stretch. Either way, he refused to get caught up in her pace like always.

“Ji-Hye… when was the last time you went to bed?”

She looked like a model - or perhaps she would have, if she didn’t have huge bags beneath her eyes and grains of sticky rice stuck to her lips from the half-eaten snack she’d squashed. A faint noise was coming from the brightly coloured headphones wrapped around her neck, and when he looked closer he could see a bright red rectangle on her forehead from where she’d leaned onto her phone screen, which was still displaying a cutesy game on her desk.

“I stayed up late to welcome you on your first day.”
“Our first day was yesterday, you idiot! And what do you mean, ‘stayed up late’? You didn’t sleep at all last night, did you!?”
“There’s a limited-time banner today that I needed to pull…”
“What the hell does that even mean!?”

He pinched his temples to calm down once again. She seemed to know exactly what to say to wind him up.

“Even so…”

She wiped the rice off her face and stood up slowly, before hugging him gently.

“...I’m happy to see you again.”
“...Yeah, me too. Couldn’t you have saved this for a better time… Oi!”
“Zzz…”

Seeing the class truant suddenly become active had grabbed everyone’s attention as they continued to file in, one by one, staring at the two of them - and she had chosen exactly this moment to fall asleep while leaning on him.

“I’m not your damn pillow!”
“Uuu..!”

Shaking her awake, Yuuji sat her back in her seat before storming over to his own, slumping down to bury his head in embarrassment.

“Yuuji… to think you had sunk your fangs into our sleeping beauty of all people… truly a wolf in sheep’s clothing.”
“You bastard Yuuji! To betray your fellow ‘Lonely Mens Club’ after only a day!?”
“I don’t want to hear it, you stupid siblings!”

Of course, Mitra and Hema had to have witnessed the moment just as they were about to enter, causing the maximum level of confusion and misunderstanding.

“Umm…”

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And then there was Hibiki, who had been silently watching the whole disaster unfold from a front-row seat, having no idea what was happening.

“Haa…”

Despite Yuuji’s annoyance, this was perhaps the only thing about the academy that he had been expecting, though that didn’t make it any easier.

“That girl is Myung Ji-Hye. She’s been in my grandfather’s care since we were both very young, and she supported me for many of my missions.”
“...You fought together?”
“Not quite. She gave intelligence reports and aerial surveillance, along with all kinds of technical support. She certainly doesn’t look the part, but she’s here because she’s one of the leading minds of scientific advancement in the field of spiritual power.”

He pointed sternly at the girl as she drooled on her desk once again, deep in slumber - though this time with her face pointed towards where Hibiki and Yuuji were sitting as the three of them shared the same row of seats.

“Missions?”
“He did say missions, didn’t he?”

Meanwhile, the two siblings in front of them were having their own conversation as they slyly watched Yuuji’s expression, trying to dig for more information in his furrowed brows with not-so-subtle whispers.

“Alright you lot, sit it and zip it! Nice to see you back, Hibiki, Yuuji. Oh? Ji-Hye… is as hopeless as ever. You two can pretend she isn’t there.”

Mr Pierce dropped a heavy book on the desk to disrupt the chitter-chatter of the classroom, before briefly laying eyes on the sleeping girl at the back, then shaking his head with disappointment.

“Combat studies today. To get started, as you can see here…”

******

The lesson continued until lunchtime uneventfully, but both Yuuji and Hibiki alike found it fascinating. It was nothing particularly special, but Mr Pierce did a good job of keeping attention yet getting his point across. Both of them had never experienced a true school environment before and eagerly absorbed the information.

Yuuji had promised to eat with his sister today, and while he chatted with Hibiki on the way, he had decided to leave Ji-Hye sleeping where she was and catch up with her later since he knew she would be nearly impossible to wake.

Their entrance into the canteen drew less attention than the day before, but there were still some quiet murmurs and intrigued glances thrown their way. It was bound to happen, as even though he’d hoped his notoriety would die down soon, it seemed to be steeply climbing every second.

Despite this, Hibiki seemed almost comfortable as she strolled over to get her food for the day, and thinking there wasn’t much point worrying about it Yuuji quickly followed suit.

It wasn’t long after they’d grabbed an empty table that Ayumi entered and gave them a wave, before joining them with a cheery smile. She took the seat right next to Yuuji, despite there being plenty of room on the large bench for her to have her own space.

“Though I’m sure you’re aware of each other in passing, let me properly introduce you. Hibiki, this is my little sister Ayumi, and Ayumi, this is my friend Hibiki.”

He kept it short and sweet, but still swore he could see a flash of a glare from Ayumi as he said the word ‘friend’.

“Umm, it’s nice to meet you properly. I was really happy to get the books you recommended yesterday!”
“O-Oh! Yes, it’s a pleasure. A-And I hope you enjoy them, they’re some of my favourites as well.”

It was a little awkward, but he was happy to see the two of them get along. Though the situations were very different, their upbringings hadn’t been so far apart, and he had to admit he saw a part of his little sister in Hibiki when he first met her.

Unlike him, Ayumi had been very closeted by their grandfather, and while he was sent from country to country she always remained locked away somewhere ‘safe’, isolated from the world around her.

Even on the rare occasions where he would catch glimpses of her in meetings with his grandfather, it would be from a distance, sometimes even through a window as she watched them.

Their few chances to talk face-to-face were stiff and uncomfortable, but he always longed to have a real connection with the one person who had to deal with his grandfather’s draconian attitude alongside him.

“-Exactly!! The moment she takes off the killer’s mask to reveal it was her werewolf half-brother all along was when I knew it was a masterpiece!”
“My heart was beating like crazy, I couldn’t stop reading!”

‘Shit.’

He had been reminiscing sweetly, and after getting too deep in his thoughts he was absolutely clueless as to what in the hell they were talking about.

He had invited them both to lunch, so it’d seem rude to reveal he wasn’t paying attention, and with both of them being so animated he didn’t dare bring the mood down.

“A passionate love between species, the ultimate taboo! Even though his alien race would destroy her planet, she still loves him!”
“Forbidden love!!”

It was getting worse.

Their ardent debate was spiralling further and further from his grasp, as their amorous tales of paper-borne romance filled the air until their faces were flush with excitement. Uncomfortably steamy scenes of characters he was entirely unfamiliar with pummelled his mind as they were described in intense detail.

Needless to say, it was the longest lunch break he had ever endured.

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