"Y-- You can't be serious," I gawk at the girl before me and the situation at hand.

"On the contrary, I am quite serious," the girl blinks and I blink back at her ridiculously, "is there a problem?"

"A problem? You-- you just appeared out of nowhere and that other woman was there and you killed her?! At least, I think you did?! And you're using old style weapons and I have no idea what's going on!" I shout frantically.

"Calm down," Reine sighs and looks around quickly, "you'll draw attention to us."

"I think your appearance already does that," I grumble.

Reine glares at me before crossing her arms and pursing her lips.

"I can explain everything to you later, but for now I need to stay close to you," Reine says.

"Well, despite whatever madness is going on here, I have to go to school," I say as I walk around her in long strides, "so, if you don't mind me--"

I get cut off when she yanks on the back of my bookbag and stops me from going anywhere, making me sigh.

"Then I will accompany you," Reine says.

"I'm sorry, you'll what?" I look over my shoulder at her with my eyebrows raised.

"I said I will accompany you to school then," Reine blinks.

"That's not-- you can't do that," my voice raises an octave and Reine seems to pick up on my distress.

"Why not? I'm sure it can't be that hard," Reine says, shrugging it off.

"Well, no," I start, "but that's not the point here. You're a complete stranger who can somehow summon magical weapons and not break her legs when she jumps off of building roofs. Your appearance is also a bit striking. Sure, people dye their hair and wear contact lenses, but you'd attract a lot of attention, being new and all. Besides, how would that even work? You're not an actual student."

"No," Reine shakes her head, "but I could apply to be one."

"Okay, but doesn't that take--"

With a snap of her fingers, Reine summons an ID card that has her photo on it and I blink in utter shock.

"You just..." I start, "you just automatically joined my school...okay...yeah...that's totally normal...totally okay...everything is gonna be perfectly fine, Gabriel. Yeah...no need to worry. Magical beings have invaded your life and your planet, but it's all gonna be okay..."

I laugh dryly as Reine watches me uneasily as I run a hand through my hair and stagger around on the sidewalk.

"Your response seems appropriate to the situation, considering most humans would be quite shocked and frightened. You didn't run away though, and that is good," Reine offers.

"Oh, God," my eyes widen, "what about my siblings? Will they be targeted too? What about my parents?"

"Look," Reine sighs, "I promised that I would explain everything later, so don't worry about it. And I'll be sure to protect your family too."

"Are you sure?" I look at her wearily and wonder if I can trust her. I mean, she did technically just save my life...

"I promise," Reine nods and her eyes seem to be only telling the truth to me.

"Alright..." I nod, agreeing wearily, "let's...go to school then."

The two of us walk to the school in silence and I send her nervous glances every so often only to find her expression as calm as ever. I shake my head and sigh, clearing my thoughts as we arrive at the front gate where some of the buses are pulled up. I watch from afar as Vivian heads inside with three of her friends and Ayette guides Darian across the courtyard. I sigh in relief upon seeing them okay and relax a little, quickening my step and hoping to get the day over with. Reine follows beside me and multiple students stop and stare at her, whispering every so often and some giving her funny looks while others give her no bother. None of it seems to phase Reine as she walks up the cement staircase that leads to the front doors with me. Once reaching the glass doors on the light tan brick building, I pull one open for her and she walks through with me following behind her.

"So," Reine starts as she glances around the school, "this is what your school looks like?"

"Y--Yeah," I sheepishly rub the back of my neck, "the one and only."

"Interesting..." Reine trails off and seems to get lost in her thoughts for a few moments before she continues walking.

"Woah, woah, woah," I call out to her and place a hand on her shoulder, "you can't just wander wherever you want to. You need to go to the office to get your schedule first."

"Well, could you direct me to the office?" Reine raises her eyebrows at me, her wide eyes watching me in an imploring manner.

"Fine, yeah," I sigh, "I guess I probably should do that. Alright, follow me."

I lead Reine to the office to pick up her schedule, waiting outside while she talks to the office workers. A few minutes later, Reine comes out holding her schedule and shows it to me.

"Do I have any classes with you?" she asks.

I briefly scan down the list, seeing that she has all of my classes and I nearly choke on my own saliva.

How is that even possible?

"Erm," I shift around uncomfortably, "all of them, actually..."

"Oh," Reine says, looking over her schedule after pulling it back down to her face and flipping it over, "what a coincidence."

"Was it really?" I grumble as I narrow my eyes.

"Please," Reine waves a hand as she heads off towards our first period class, "how could I have known what your schedule entailed, Gabriel?"

"Right..." I sigh, not buying any of it.

Reluctantly, I follow after Reine and into our first period class, only to make sure that she doesn't mess anything up or cause any chaos. Upon entering the class, I find that she's already found an empty seat by the window to sit in and she's resting there with her chin in one of her hands and her legs crossed at her ankles as she gazes out the window, the light illuminating her lavender hair and porcelain skin.

I walk over to her desk and sit down next to Reine, knowing the teacher won't mind because she typically doesn't care about students moving around as long as they pay attention, and notice that Reine is humming softly. Upon noticing my presence, Reine glances over at me from the corner of her eye before turning more towards me.

"So, College Literature, huh?" Reine muses.

"Yeah," I rub the back of my neck, "most juniors aren't allowed to take it but my scores were high enough and I passed all the requirements."

"Do you still love playing soccer, baseball, and volleyball?" Reine's lips turn up in the hint of a smile.

"Yeah," I nod, smiling as well, "I joined the soccer team and the track team here. Wait-- did you say still? How did--"

"Gabriel!" I jump in surprise whenever Nathan claps me on the shoulder from behind and I turn to look at him.

"Who's this?" Nathan nods to Reine and Reine smiles.

"Hi, I'm Reine," Reine says, waving, "I just moved here recently. This is my first day and I happened to see Gabriel on the way to school."

"Gabriel walks to school," Nathan raises his eyebrows, "does that mean you do too?"

"Oh," Reine tilts her head to the side and chuckles, "no, no. I typically ride my bike, but today I wanted to get the full experience, you know?"

"Yeah, I get that," Nathan smiles, his brown eyes compassionate and his chocolate colored hair as well taken care of as usual, "well, I'll see you around. Oh, and I'm Nathaniel, but you can call me Nathan if you want."

And with that, Nathan walks off back to his seat and I sigh, slumping down in my chair.

"What was all that about?" I throw Reine a pointed look.

"What was what about?" Reine blinks.

"All of your-- ah, nevermind," I sigh.

"He seemed nice," Reine shrugs.

"He is, but he's...a bit over the top sometimes," I say as I glance back over at Reine once more to see her eyebrows raise, "he can be extremely energetic."

"I see..." Reine trails off in thought, "well, that could be good in the future."

I furrow my eyebrows together at Reine's words, wondering what she meant as the teacher walks in and the bell rings for class to start.

Well, hopefully this day goes on without any more strange incidents. Sadly, I don't think that'll be the case. Call it a feeling.