A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing
Frey hurried up the stairs. She knew which dormitory room Lucia used because Aris had frequented it so often. Suppressing her rising panic, she knocked on the door. *Knock, knock.* The dry, hollow sound echoed softly. There was no response.
Frey knocked on the door again. *Knock, knock.* Still, no answer. Is she not in her room? Fidgeting with her heavily bandaged fingers, Frey narrowed her eyes. Where on earth did she go? She just went through something terrible. She should be quietly resting in her room, not wandering around... Ah. A sudden realization made Frey want to sigh. She had forgotten. The class president had stopped by earlier today to ask if she wanted to visit Lucia in the hospital. Lucia was currently admitted to the Academy Annex Hospital. Of course she wasn't in the dormitory.
"Then I should head straight to the hospital... No, wait."
Frey pressed her ear against the door. She heard something. It was faint, but there was a distinct presence inside. Someone was there. I heard Lucia was hospitalized. Did she get discharged already? Well, considering her supernatural ability, her injuries would heal in no time. She was a woman who could reattach her own severed head, after all. But what if Lucia was still in the hospital, and the person behind this door wasn't her...?
"Did a thief break in?"
A fierce heat flared in Frey's eyes. No answer to her knocks, yet the sound of busy movement inside. It was highly unlikely for a thief to infiltrate the Academy dorms, but you could never be too sure. Let's break the door down. It was a violent thought she wouldn't normally entertain, but Frey was completely oblivious to her own extremity. That was how cornered she felt. Aris's absence had stripped away Frey's composure and her brakes. If she unleashed her heat ray at full power, she would obliterate the entire dormitory, not just the door. She needed to control her output. She planned to minimize the heat ray's intensity just enough to melt the lock. But before the red light could erupt, the firmly shut door slowly creaked open on its hinges.
"...What? This is supposed to be Lucia's room. Did I get the wrong place?"
That was impossible. No matter how rushed she was, her vision hadn't narrowed so much that she would mistake the room. Frey glared at the two people stepping out of Lucia's room. She recognized one of them—the Class 1-D student who had sat next to Aris during the field training. She didn't know the other one. She looked like a student, but she definitely wasn't from Class 1-A. Was she from Class 1-D too?
"You're... Aris, right? We meet again."
"Why are you two coming out of Lucia's room?"
Frey brushed past Regina's greeting and cut straight to the point. Lucia's social circle was just as narrow as Aris's. In fact, Aris was her only real friend. There was no way she had a close enough relationship with students from another class for them to visit her dorm. Moreover, with Lucia hospitalized, the very sight of Class 1-D troublemakers emerging from her room was highly suspicious. Did they fail to mend their ways and come here to steal? I should have known ever since they extorted chocolate from Lucia. Right. There were always bastards like that—scum who bullied those they looked down on and stole their valuables.
"I don't know what you're misunderstanding, but why don't you calm down?"
Regina waved her hands frantically as Frey glared at her in ominous silence. Her voice carried a hint of panic, likely remembering the devastating heat ray that had incinerated dozens of monsters in an instant during the field training.
"Misunderstanding? What misunderstanding? You just walked out of an empty room. What is there to misunderstand?"
"Ah, so that's what you think?"
Regina shrugged. She gestured toward the inside of the room with her chin.
"Come on in. Let's talk inside."
"..."
Frey hesitated for a moment before quietly following them inside. Do they have some kind of backup? Their confident attitude bothered her. She thought that maybe, just maybe, it really was a misunderstanding. Though if it wasn't, she was going to snap at least one of their bones.
"So, you're saying you came here to treat Lucia's drug addiction symptoms?"
Frey sat on the bed, crossing her arms. Beside her lay Lucia, fast asleep, whom she had assumed was still in the hospital. Regina had informed her that Lucia was discharged today. If Frey had gone straight to the hospital, they would have missed each other.
"Even if it was to help her, I'm the one who got her addicted in the first place, so I wanted to fix it."
"But while Regina can addict people, she can't cure the addiction itself. That's why she asked for my help."
Seri thumped her chest confidently. She added that Lucia's deep sleep was a side effect of the treatment, and she likely wouldn't wake up today.
Frey fell into deep thought. There was nothing inherently strange about their claims. If they caused trouble for no reason, Class 1-D would be the ones in hot water. They were already labeled as troublemakers with records; if they didn't want to get expelled from the Academy, they would keep their heads down. Besides, truly hopeless delinquents wouldn't even be admitted to the Academy in the first place. No matter how rare supernatural ability users were, there was a limit. The fact that they had passed the Academy's admissions process proved they weren't entirely beyond redemption.
Was I being too sensitive?
Aris's absence had stripped her of any peace of mind. She was blowing trivial things out of proportion, spiraling into negative thoughts. Was I really that desperate...? Frey sniffled. A sweet scent had been drifting through the air for a while now.
But something still feels off. Their abilities are creepy, too...
There was no objective reason for her suspicion. It was just a hunch. Not a rational judgment, but a primal instinct.
"Fine. You two can leave now. I'll take care of Lucia."
At Frey's dismissal, Seri clasped her hands together, covering her mouth. She softened her eyes and spoke gently.
"Are you okay? You don't look very well. Your dark circles are terrible... Yes, the shock must have been immense."
"What are you talking about all of a sudden?"
"The field training. I heard it was incredibly dangerous. Regina told me all about it. She said your performance was amazing."
What was she suddenly blabbering about? Couldn't she just get lost? As Frey listened in silence, Seri spoke up cheerfully.
"Have you been sleeping well? Actually, just looking at your face tells me you haven't. It must be so hard, right? A routine field training suddenly turning into a life-or-death battle... I think I understand how you feel. I would have felt the same way."
"So what's your point? Stop beating around the bush and spit it out. I hate people who beat around the bush."
"I'll help you too! With my ability, I can wash away all your fatigue and anxiety!"
Seri's crimson eyes gleamed with a bewitching light. The sweet scent grew even thicker. Frey frowned at the sudden headache throbbing in her temples.
"You have something weighing on your mind, don't you? You seemed so rushed, and anxious too. Why don't you talk to me? I'll listen to everything."
Seri leaned forward, her face gradually drawing closer. The room felt completely saturated with the cloying scent of honey. Frey's head throbbed from the sweetness lingering on the tip of her tongue.
"And let's solve it together. They say a burden shared is a burden halved. If you keep bottling it up all by yourself, you won't be able to solve anything."
Before she knew it, Seri was right in front of Frey's face. A fraction of an inch closer, and their noses would touch. Those ruby-red eyes dominated her field of vision.
"Of course, it's hard to talk about the worries you've locked deep inside your heart to others. So I promise. I will never tell a soul about what happens today."
"My worries..."
Her mind felt strangely hazy. As if all the sleep she had put off was catching up to her at once, strength suddenly drained from her entire body.
"There's no need to rush. Slowly. Gently. Now, Aris?"
Seri reached out with both arms, gently stroking Frey's back as if to embrace her. The sweet scent paralyzed her nose. Frey blinked her heavy, sleepy eyes. It felt as though she would fall into a deep slumber the moment she closed them. She felt herself being sucked into those red eyes. Beyond her swirling vision, she could see Seri's smiling face.
"Ah..."
What was I thinking about just now? Right... I was supposed to meet Lucia... A sharp, stinging pain pricked her fingertips. Frey parted her lips as if possessed. Right. I... what was I trying to say? Frey stared at Seri. She unconsciously reached her hand out toward her. Red eyes. That was all she could see. Frey's consciousness was being dragged into that crimson light. Ah... Right. What I need to say right now is...
"Who the hell do you think you're playing with?"
"Gah?!"
Frey seized Seri's slender neck. She squeezed with enough force to snap her collarbone on the spot. Seri choked and gagged, desperately slapping at Frey's forearm, but that only made Frey tighten her grip. The dizziness that had clouded her mind vanished in an instant. The sweet scent rapidly dissipated.
"I let you talk to see what you were up to... but you've got some nerve."
"Let go of her. You're going to kill her."
Frey turned her heat-shimmering gaze toward Regina.
"Shut up, accomplice. You released your drug, didn't you? To cloud my judgment."
"..."
"Did you two really come here to help Lucia?"
"You'd better start talking. Unless you want a hole blasted through your skull." At Frey's growled warning, Regina let out a heavy sigh.
"When I saw you last time, I thought you were a gentle little lamb... but you're just a wolf in sheep's clothing."
How the hell do I fix this?