Chapter 14 (1/2)

Part 1

”Good morning, Chief, ” Judy greeted me at our usual meeting spot.

”Morning,” I answered off-handedly before leaning closer to her face. She didn't flinch, though she seemed a little confused by my behavior. ”Just as expected. You have circles under your eyes.”

”It's your fault,” she replied with the tiniest of pouts as she started walking, urging me to catch up with her. ”You talk too much and it gets late by the time we finish.”

”Excuse me? Aren't you the one who keeps calling me in the middle of the night even though I keep telling you to make it earlier?”

”I told you I can't make it earlier. My parents would notice.”

”And why is that a bad thing?”

For a moment it seemed like she would answer right away, but then she closed her mouth and made me wait for a few seconds. ”It would be awkward.”

”I don't see what you are getting at,” I told her, but before I could ask her to clarify we both noticed Joshua down the street waving at us, and thus the conversation quickly got forgotten.

”Hey guys,” he greeted us with a toothy smile before falling in line on my other side. ”What were you arguing about?”

”We weren't arguing,” Judy answered flatly while retrieving her phone, an action I have long since identified as her way of jumping out of a conversation she didn't want to take part in.

”Really? It looked like one from where I was standing.” Josh paused, and when he spoke again, he had a knowing smile on his face. ”Oooooh, I get it. It's one of those kinds of quarrels.”

”What are you talking about?”

”Oh, you know,” he answered, his smile gaining an impish quality that would have been more at home at Angie's face. The girl was a bad influence on him. However, before I could form an eloquent answer that in no way involved embarrassedly punching him in the shoulder, we rounded a corner and the sight in front of us once again derailed the conversation.

It was a rare sight, the princess and Snowy all by themselves. More surprisingly though, the two of them seemed to be staring daggers at each other, and even at a distance, I could tell that Snowy was in her vamp mode. It was all in the body language. Anyways, we looked at each other with Josh and hurried our steps without saying a word, though I admit I was tempted to say, ‘You see, that's a quarrel.'

Once we got close enough, I could finally make out snippets of their conversation, though their growling made it somewhat hard to understand.

”I'm just saying, you have to make up your mind!” Snowy hissed with a glare that looked wholly alien on her face.

”It is none of your business!” the princess answered, her glare obviously being much more natural.

”It is! I care about both of them!”

”Oh really? Then who needs to make up her mind? You or--”

It was at this point that the princess noticed us and she paled as she frantically tried to bite back her words.

”Morning,” I greeted both of them with an innocent smile. The princess nodded in response, though her eyes were still wide open and she seemed to be mortified, probably worried about just how much of the conversation we had heard.

Snowy, on the other hand, was flushing red and she cleared her throat and kept sheepishly glancing between us.

”Um... Hi. I didn't notice you coming.”

”Right...” Josh muttered before flashing an awkward smile. ”I guess we should've called out to you earlier, huh?”

”Hindsight, it's 20/20,” I said with a shrug before turning to the still pale princess. ”Is everything all right?”

”Yes,” she squeaked in an uncharacteristically high voice before she caught herself, and before I could say anything else she turned heel and rushed down the street with what I presumed was one of her muffled cutesy squeals.

”Well, I haven't seen that reaction in a while,” I whispered under my breath, then turned to Snowy. ”What were you two arguing about?”

”Um... I can't... I mean... It's girl stuff. ”

”Oh... I see.”

”You can tell me then,” Judy suddenly declared while pocketing her phone.

Snowy looked at her and her mouth seemed like it was about to say ‘no', but then she paused, obviously thinking hard for a moment or two, and then she nodded.

”Good girl,” my assistant cooed, which sounded quite weird with her usual flat tone, and patted Snowy on the head. When she noticed my slightly surprised expression she gave me a questioning look and stopped rubbing her head with a final motion that managed to give the white-haired girl the mother of all cowlicks. ”Is there a problem?”

”No, I was just surprised how familiar you two were acting, that's all.”

”I'm just doting on my cute junior.”

”I see.”

In the meantime, Snowy straightened her hair and the four of us fell in line and continued our morning commute. For some reason my assistant was really adamant about voicing her opinion on how I couldn't stop her from being friendly with Snowy even if I tried. I had a feeling there might've been some hidden subtext there, but for the love of me I couldn't figure out what it was.

We arrived at school with about ten minutes to spare. I nodded at the armband guy by the gate, as usual, l and he returned the gesture even though he seemed to be disapproving of my presence no matter whether I was on time or not. Our group broke apart, switched shoes, and banded together again with the perfect timing of a well-oiled machine. We were already walking up the stairs by the time I noticed something that should have been blindingly obvious already.

”By the way, where's Angie?”

Josh shrugged his shoulders. ”Early morning tennis practice. They are going to have a tournament soon.”

”Really? She never mentioned it...” I responded, but as far as I knew she might have. She had a bit of a motor-mouth, so keeping track of everything she said could be a little challenging from time to time.

Once we reached our floor we said goodbye to Snowy and the rest of us headed for the classroom. I made a special note of Angie, who was sprawled over her desk and all but snoring. She wasn't a morning person to begin with, so I figured the early practice knocked her out cold. I couldn't see the class rep at her desk, so I scanned the room and found her standing over by the princess. Josh and I made our way over to them and Judy wordlessly followed after us.

”Morning,” I greeted the two with a reserved smile.

”Good morning Leo,” Ammy answered reflexively, but then she frowned at me, earning a raised eyebrow in turn. ”Is this your doing?” she asked while gesturing to the princess.

I followed her motion and took a closer look at the girl in question. She was sitting by her desk as usual, and while she had her head down and buried in her arms, said pose wasn't unusual enough (at least for her, considering her previous outbursts) to justify the class rep's question. I looked over to Josh and he looked just as confused as I felt.

”Hey, Elly? Is everything all right?” he asked tentatively while reaching out a hand. The princess twitched and shook her head while it was still buried in her arms.

”Shut up! I don't want to talk to you!”

”Ouch, princess. That's harsh,” I remarked, at which she shook her head even harder.

”Shut up! I don't want to talk to you either! Leave me alone!”

We all looked at each other and the class rep gestured for us to move to her desk. We all did so before she asked, ”What happened?”

”We don't really know either,” I told her with the utmost sincerity. ”She had a fight with Snowy in the morning, but it didn't seem that serious.”

”About what?”

”We don't know, they stopped when we got close,” Josh supplied the answer this time around.

The class rep didn't say anything and glanced over to the princess, concern clearly showing on her face. After a little consideration, I tapped her shoulder to get her attention and dusted off my best reassuring smile.

”Don't worry about it. I'm sure they will make up in no time.”

”I don't know... Telling you off is one thing, but she also chased Joshua away. That's not normal.”

For a moment I debated whether I should get offended by her jab, but I decided it wasn't too far off from the truth, so I changed the subject instead.

”Judy said she would get the reason out of Snowy, right?” I nodded towards my assistant and she awkwardly nodded back. ”Until then, let's give the princess a little personal space. Don't stress over it.”

The class rep didn't seem one hundred percent satisfied with my suggestion, but ultimately she relented and everyone returned to their seats without bothering the princess. Of course, since she was sitting right in front of me it was a little harder for me to ignore her, but somehow I managed to restrain my nosiness.

It was almost time for the lesson to start when my phone vibrated in my breast pocket. I sneakily took it out and took a peak at the sender before I sent an inquisitive glance at my assistant. She shook her phone in her hand, which probably indicated I should read her text message. I rolled my eyes and opened said message, and before I knew it my eyebrows were already climbing my forehead in surprise.

Somehow, my assistant managed to write about 500 words in the span of the few minutes since she sat down. Not only that, it was an extremely dryly written message that sounded more like a formal letter than something a teenage girl would write... except that it was also full of emoji and other emoticons, half of which I have never even seen before. In retrospect, I suppose her writing style reflected her personality surprisingly well, but it was still a little jarring at the time.

Anyways, to sum her message up: it said she exchanged texts with Snowy and she promised she would tell me what the two were arguing about in private. She also warned me not to get too involved in what was happening and to just observe. I sighed and sent her back a quick reply of grudging agreement.

To put it bluntly, I wanted to get involved, even against Judy's wishes. While this fight in the morning did shake up the ennui I was falling into, it also smelled like drama, and I really, really didn't want to have that. Either way, our textual conversation ended when Mrs. Applebottom showed up and we began another perfectly average school day.

Part 2

At the end of the following break, Judy and I went outside to talk, hunkering down near the stairwell out of earshot from the placeholders.

”You can't tell me?” I exclaimed in a bout of incredulity-induced carelessness. My assistant looked at me disapprovingly and shook her head, so I toned my voice down a little and asked, ”Why?”

”Neige made me promise I wouldn't tell you.”

”Me in particular?” She nodded. ”Okay, so how about you tell it to Angie and I ask her?”

”Chief, please don't try to rules lawyer me.”

”Yeah, right. Sorry.”

She might've taken pity on me, as Judy soon leaned closer and whispered, ”It concerns your social life. She didn't want me to tell you because she didn't want to cause complications for you.”

Well, that was a hint. Snowy was a good girl, so it was something I could imagine her saying, but it didn't make me any less curious (or worried) about exactly what their fight was about.

”All right then, time for Plan B.”

”Plan B?” Judy repeated after me with a quizzical slant on her face.

”Lunch break on the roof. We are going to gather the entire gang and force Snowy and the princess to interact and make up.”

Judy's eyes ever so slightly narrowed at my proclamation.

”That sounds like interfering to me.”

I set my jaw and frowned at her comment. ”Yes. Yes, it is.”

”I thought we agreed we wouldn't interfere.”

”So you would rather see our friends going at each other's throats?”

Judy's expression darkened and she actually returned my frown.

”That's a dirty question.”

”Your answer?” I pressed, and after staring daggers at each other for a few seconds she let out an indignant huff.

”Fine.”

”You see, I knew you would come around.”

”Don't stretch your luck. I will start to hate you if you keep doing that.”

”Sure, sure,” I placated her with a smile. ”Okay, I will take care of the princess, you get the others.”

I wanted to make some plans, but then the bell rang and we had to hurry back to the classroom.

Once lunch break rolled around (meaning two boring lessons later) I gave Judy the sign to start gathering the others. We didn't agree on a sign beforehand, but I hoped my thumb up and winning smile gave her the right idea anyways. At least she did leave the classroom in the direction of the stairwell, probably going to get Snowy, so that was a start. As for me, I had the much more difficult task of convincing the still lethargic princess to come along with me. I waited for Josh and the rest of the group to leave before I limbered up my shoulders and proceeded to tap the princess between the shoulder blades.

She automatically glanced back, but then she remembered that she should be sulking and she quickly hid her face again.

”Leave me alone. I told you I don't want to talk to you.”

”Yes, but that was in the morning. Now it's lunchtime.”

”Shut up. I told you to leave me alone.”

”Oh please...” I stood up and circled around her desk. ”Listen, against my best efforts, I still don't know why you are sulking like that, but you cannot skip lunch just because of that. It's bad for your health.” She didn't answer, so I leaned closer and whispered in a low voice, ”If you don't come to eat with us, I might be forced to do something really embarrassing.”

She visibly shuddered and, after a few seconds of tense silence, she peeked up.

”Such as...?”

”Well, for starters, I might have to pick you up and carry you to the roof.” I could see her eyes widen behind her bangs. ”In fact, I will do it in a princess carry. It would be fitting.”

”You wouldn't...”

”Wouldn't I?”

”... I-I will scream and call you a pervert!”

”You do that anyways. People are used to it by now.”

”I-I-I will bite you then! I will bite you really hard!”

”A small price,” I told her as I leaned even closer. I wanted to tease her a little more, but instead when I got closer she jumped out of her chair with an especially long and loud squeak and nearly head-butted me in the process. It seemed like she was about to dart away, so I instinctively reached after her and grabbed her by the hand. The moment I did so her voice abruptly cut out and she gave me one of those rare ‘doe in the headlights' stares. I shook my head and flared my nostrils.

”Why does everything have to be so complicated with you? Come on, let's go.” I started to drag her along, but she held onto her desk.

”W-W-Wait!”

”What now?” I asked as I faced her again. ”Do you want me to carry you after all?”

”No! Absolutely not! It's... I need to get my wallet and...”

”Don't worry about it, it's my treat. ” Saying so, I continued dragging the beet-red girl after me, and thankfully she stopped protesting by the time we exited through the door.

Even though we stopped by the cafeteria to get a pair of lunchboxes (which were tricky to carry since I had to keep holding on to the princess, lest she would run away), we managed to get to the roof with at least forty minutes left from the lunch break. Once I opened the door and the princess looked through, she finally spoke up for the first time since we left the classroom.

”I thought it would be just the two of us.”

”I don't remember ever saying that,” I answered coyly. ”Come on, let's not leave the others waiting.”

I walked up to the gang sitting on the benches near the far corner of the roof and raised my hand still clasped on the princess' as we got close.

”Sorry for being late, I was weighted down a little.” I looked over to the girl at my side and smiled at her, and even though it seemed like she was fighting against the urge, she returned the gesture in a fashion.

I took that as a fairly good indication that she wouldn't try to run away once I let go of her hand, so I did just that and focused my attention on Snowy instead. To my surprise, she wore a disapproving frown that was directed as much at me as it was at the blonde girl.

The princess seemed to share the sentiment, as she made it a point to sit as far from the white-haired girl as possible. We weren't up to a good start. I needed an ice-breaker.

”The weather is getting chilly, isn't it?” I opened the conversation.

”Yeah,” Angie nodded with an exaggerated shiver. ”Winter is coming.”

She gave me a meaningful look like I was supposed to react to that.

”Was that a reference?”

Angie set her lips in a thin line of disapproval and casually snatched away a croquette from my lunchbox.

”Hey! What was that for!”

”It's punishment for being an uncultured swine,” she stated haughtily before throwing the croquette into her mouth. More importantly though, she was derailing the conversation, so I subtly signaled towards Josh for support.

”That may be,” he started uncertainly, ”but I think Leo has a point. Soon we won't be able to have lunch breaks up here. Should we move to the cafeteria?”

”I don't know,” I spoke while theatrically rubbing my chin. ”What do you guys think?”

I purposefully asked the question while glancing over at the princess. She obviously received my intention, as she immediately shuddered.

”I... I don't know.”

To my surprise (and dread), Snowy let out a scoff.

”What was that?” The princess responded eagerly with one of her traditional glares.

”Nothing.” She said brazenly while opening her own lunchbox. ”I don't think any of us were expecting you to come to a decision in the first place.”

The princess dangerously narrowed her eyes at the comment and I had a feeling this was about to erupt into a full-fledged catfight, so I extended my arm between the two.

”Whoa there, guys. Calm down.”

”I am calm,” Snowy answered with a small pout.

”No, you are not,” I countered. ”Why are you picking a fight? It's not like you.”

This time it was the princess' turn to snort, which then shortly turned into a derisive chuckle.

”Right, like you would actually know what she's like.”

Contrary to my best efforts, it seemed like the situation was only getting worse by the second. Worse still, Snowy suddenly stood up and slipped into her vamp persona with a throaty, ”What was that?!”

Not giving an inch, the princess also sprung to her feet with a glower.

”Blood is thicker than water. You might try to act like the good girl, and I played along because Leo asked me to, but I am not going to—!”

I was about to stand up as well to cut between the two, but before I could do that another voice cut off the princess's words.

”Stop it! Stop fighting!” Josh yelled out, startling everyone present, including me. There was a moment of silence, but then the princess let out a harsh ”Hmpf!” and began walking towards the roof exit before I could grab her. Though, to be honest, I didn't even try. This plan of mine turned into an unmitigated disaster, and keeping the princess around against her will would have only made things worse.

Once she left, Snowy let out a pent-up breath and she slowly slouched back onto the bench next to Josh without a word and began eating with morose movements. For a minute or two the rest of the group kept sharing uncertain glances with each other, but in the end we began eating in silence as well. Needless to say, it was probably the most unpleasant group lunch we ever had.

It didn't mean I stopped thinking though. In fact, the situation was driving me crazy. I wanted them to get along. I wanted everyone to get along. I hated to see them at each other's throats like that, and the possibility that my meddling made it worse left me with a pang of guilt I was unfamiliar with.

I was so immersed in these thoughts that I barely noticed that one by one everybody left the roof. In the end there were only two people left, Judy and me. She moved to my side and whispered; ”It didn't work out.”

”No, it didn't,” I answered bitterly. ”I don't know what to do now.”

”Nothing?” she proposed. ”We should stop getting involved and get back to research.”

”But there is nothing to research anymore!” I finally snapped and yelled at her. I immediately regretted the outburst and hid my face in my palm with a groan. ”Sorry. I didn't mean to shout.”

Judy didn't answer, but I could see her nodding from the corner of my eye. By that point I was too dispirited by my own words to care though. It was an unspoken truth I've been chewing on for the better part of a week. Sure, there have been a few additions every now and then, but as far as figuring out the nature of this place was concerned, we hit a roadblock the size of a mountain.

We had quite firmly established that this world was running on the logic of a school life harem series, and we described and tested most of the elements related to that, but by now we ran out of even those. Worst of all, said research brought us no closer to the answers to the ‘How?' and ‘Why?' questions, arguably the most important ones we had to solve.

I was broken out of my momentary lapse into depression by a soft hand tapping on my shoulder. I glanced up and found Judy holding onto me with an expression that I could tell was pained under her poker face.

”You need to relax, Chief. You are getting unhinged.”

I chuckled in self-derision and then looked up at the sky while taking a deep breath

”Yeah, I think stress is finally catching up with me.” I didn't want to tell her, but I figured it didn't help that, due to my lack of need for sleep, I had an extra eight hours per day to ponder over these things. It wasn't healthy in the long run.

”You could use a date then.” My gaze snapped back at her and this time the laugh forcing its way through my teeth was a bit more genuine. She looked at me funny for a moment before she added, with just the barest hints of pouting in her voice: ”Well, it worked for me.”

”I know, I know,” I replied while trying to rein in my chuckles. ”Maybe you are right. Are you volunteering?” She nodded sharply. ”Very well. I will think about it. For now, we should get going. The break is almost over.” I stood up and Judy followed suit. We were almost at the door when I stopped and turned to her. ”By the way... Thank you.”

She hesitated for a moment, but then a small smile took hold of her lips and she answered ”Don't even mention it, Chief. This is what I'm here for.”

Part 3

Needless to say, I couldn't really focus on the afternoon classes. Although to be perfectly honest, I never paid that much attention to them to begin with. My sleepless condition left me with plenty of free time to study whenever I wanted to take my mind off of certain things, which happened quite often these days. There was only one problem this time: I was trying to study, but I couldn't. I had no idea why, but I had a sense of foreboding rising in the pit of my stomach and it always broke my concentration. It must have been the stress, I concluded.

At long last the final bell rang, and I couldn't help but sigh in a mixture of relief and exhaustion. The princess in front of me sprung to her feet before the chime even finished, which would have been rude to the teacher if she didn't immediately cut herself off as usual. I almost smiled about it. I got so used to her cutting the lessons short that I didn't even take note of it under normal circumstances.

Anyways, as I was saying, the princess stood up and glanced back at me. When our eyes met she gave me an indignant ”Hmpf!” and she stormed out of the classroom. It reminded me of her behavior when she transferred, but after all the time I spent with her, her cold shoulder felt especially chilly and even a bit distressing.

I tried not to dwell too much on it, and instead I waved to Judy, signaling for her to wait for me. The others left while I was packing my bag, probably expecting to meet us by the lockers, but I had other plans. I waited for my assistant to come over before I stood up as well.

”Are you available this afternoon?”

She gave me a quizzical look in turn.

”Date?”

”No,” I said while trying to keep the exasperation from showing in my voice. ”I'm still thinking about that.”

”You see Chief, this is your problem. You are indecisive.”

I sent a critical look in her direction and followed it up with a mocking little nod.

”Maybe I am. But back to the actual reason why I wanted to talk to you: I wanted you to tell me what the princess and Snowy were fighting about so that we can figure out a way to defuse the situation.”

Judy shook her head. ”I told you I promised--”

”I know,” I interrupted with a hand raised to stop her. ”I know, but I cannot deal with this situation without knowing why it happened. If you cannot tell me outright, at least give me a clue.”

Judy looked around, probably to see if any placeholders could overhear us talking, though I couldn't fathom why. Those guys were still as flaky as ever, and letting them hear anything wouldn't have meant much. After a while she gestured for me to move over to the windows, out of earshot. Once we were there she hesitated for a few seconds, but at last she took a deep breath and spoke in a hushed, though still deadpan voice.

”You are aware that Eleanor likes you, right?”

I nodded immediately. ”Yeah, she is tsundere about it, but it makes it all the more obvious. What of it?”

My assistant looked at me like I just said something incredibly dumb, so I wiggled my eyebrows to urge her to continue.

”If you know that much, how can you not figure out the problem? Chief, you are supposed to be smart.”

I grimaced and rubbed my face before I spoke again.

”Fine, let's just presume I'm an idiot. How is she liking me and her fight with Snowy related?”

”It's because she likes you, and you are stringing her along,” my assistant finally spilled the beans with clear disapproval in her voice.

”No, I'm not,” I denied immediately. ”I'm just being friendly.”

”No Chief, you are flirting with her. Constantly.”

”I'm definitely not.”

She shook her head and leaned even closer.

”Even if you don't think you do, that's what it looks like, and she certainly takes it that way.”

”But... Even if what you say is true, it shouldn't matter. She loves Josh.”

Judy stayed silent for several seconds after this. Soon she took out her phone and began tapping on it. I waited patiently for her to finish, and at last she turned the screen in my direction. It was a page from her notes, one about the tropes related to romance stories, with ‘Love Triangle' being highlighted. I let out a scoffing laugh and shook my head.

”Come on, Judy. I admit that I might've muddled the waters a little with the princess, but she is the closest thing a harem narrative would have to a main heroine! Even if she did develop a sweet spot for me, there is absolutely no chance she would favor me over Josh. This whole conversation is—”

”Chief,” Judy cut me off with the utmost seriousness as she crossed her arms under her chest. ”You have already caused bigger changes to the standard template, and it is blindingly obvious to everyone that Eleanor has a crush on you. This includes Joshua as well. Please stop trying to pick this hill to die on and face reality.”

”Seriously?” She nodded at my question, and I couldn't stifle the groan escaping my mouth. ”I knew things were brewing in the background, but a love triangle? With me in it? Really?”

As if waiting for the moment to deliver the coup the grace, Judy suddenly declared, ”If you are still unsure, I can tell you, with one hundred percent certainty that you are in a love triangle. There is no question about that.”

Oh, great. And now she was giving me a roundabout confession too? I mean, I already knew that Judy was interested, but even if I wasn't, I would've had to be both blind, deaf, and stupid not to recognize the subtext in that declaration.

However, this was not the time to get bogged down in that discussion, when I already had so much on my plate, so for the moment I shelved it for a more opportune time and returned to the topic at hand.

”So, that means that I am the one who caused this whole mess? Marvelous.” I exhaled sharply and shook my head to clear it. ”But how am I supposed to fix that? And how is that related to Snowy? Don't tell me she—”

And then, right in the middle of that question, my entire world turned literally upside down. Well, maybe not ‘literally' literally, but close. There was a flash of nausea washing over me that went away as fast as it came, and when I blinked the world before my eyes appeared inverse, kind of like as if I was staring at an old photo negative. I barely had time to process the sight though, as there was another short flash and the scenery returned to normal.

”What the hell?!” I exclaimed as I took a step back and blinked repeatedly. On second thought, things weren't normal after all. As my eyes adjusted, I quickly realized that suddenly all the colors around me got muted and gained a purplish hue. Not only that, but the walls, the desks, even the people were covered in eerie, glowing hairline-cracks that covered them in spider-web patterns. Speaking of people, all of them were abruptly replaced with generic, faceless mannequins frozen in place. They were grey, completely bald, and featureless.

”Judy?” I looked at my assistant, and to my shock and horror, she was also missing, replaced with a mannequin with its hands crossed in a mirror image of hers. I reached out and touched its shoulder. It felt hard but strangely warm to the touch, and as I moved my hand I could feel small jolts of electricity when it came in contact with the glowing cracks.

”Okay,” I whispered as I took a deep breath. ”I either went crazy, or something is really, really wrong here...”