章 10: About a Certain Transfer Student – Part 3
"Today we are going to see the first principle of observation. But before that, can someone explain the second and third concepts?"
Ah, this moment. The moment when the teacher asks a question but the class keeps silent. It is not that no one knows the answer but rather that each student doesn't feel like replying for their own personal reasons. Mine was that I was just not good with explanations. Oh, and my voice was too low.
Anyway, why were we still there? I thought they would have begun the new chapter by then. Did Iovanna's presentation take a lot of time?
Looking more closely at the whiteboard, my hunch was confirmed. On the board were written the words "vampire", "evil", "dangerous" and "A-Lua". The latter two were crossed out so I guess she had to explain that she wasn't dangerous? Not sure why her family name was crossed out though.
Well, regardless of the reason, that didn't change the fact that Miss Vellington asked a question and no one had replied to it for what looked like an eternity – this was getting… embarrassing.
Thankfully for the poor people, a hero raised their hand and replied after only a few seconds.
"Yes, Miss A-Lua?"
I heard the red-headed vampire girl stand up behind me.
"The third principle, the aptly dubbed principle of light, is akin to the bias of confirmation. If one sees something, it confirms that entity's existence in the world. This confirmation means the entity is affected by the world, but can also affect it. This is the reason why many phenomenons like magic are a thing; because they were observed and thus became truths."
Awe-filled interjections ran through the class. Iovanna's explanation was flawless, delivered in one coherent block, and resumed the whole principle and its ambivalence. Most importantly, her voice and demeanor made it so she was easier to listen to than Miss Vellington. With just that intervention, I had the impression that she won over the whole class.
"Good. You can sit down. Someone else to explain the second principle?"
Again, the class kept silent. No, it was even worse than the first time. I don't know if it was just me, but trying to answer a question just after Iovanna's speech seemed like a surefire way of losing face. Sure, one could still deliver a good explanation but everyone was afraid of stumbling on a word and losing face.
Okay, those were just my personal feelings on the matter but no one raised their hand either so I guess they were intimidated too.
"You again, Miss A-Lua? You are new, you should let your classmates answer this one at least," said Miss Vellington looking at the person behind me.
"I beg your pardon, Miss… but you asked to explain the two second and third principles and I only explained the third."
"That is fine. I wish to hear my old students explain it."
"... I see."
Iovanna gave up and finally sat again. Why did you leaving us, o, hero?
"Miss Riftwalker, you answer the question."
"Wha—"
The deadly designation. A super move used by teachers when no one willingly raises their hand. Why did it have to fall on me? An answer came to my mind: I was just in front of the new eye's magnet of the class. Was that Iovanna's plan from the beginning?
"Huh, the second principle…" I said, steeling myself for the worse. "Also called the gloom principle, or principle of uncertainty. It stipulates that, huh… every phenomenon not directly observed will fall into uncertainty. That basically means that the phenomenon can take any shape and works in every possible way as long as it isn't fully observed. However, the phenomenon still is bound by how people think it works and act accordingly… that is it, I think?"
I sat down, my cheeks red with embarrassment. I think I nailed it, but the way I presented it was definitely clunky. Thankfully, none of my classmates made any comments on that; as for Miss Vellington, while admitting that it wasn't the best explanation, agreed that I understood the basic concept of this law.
The rest of the uncanny theory class went by more quickly than I thought it would. The red-headed vampire sitting behind me didn't do anything though I could feel her "stare" the whole time.
"..."
However...
Turns out it was just my imagination this time since, when I took a peek at her, she was… sleeping? I guess she was. Her eyes were closed like usual but the angle of her head and the way she was breathing was… look at me trying to make this sound scientific.
She looked like a sleeping person, a sleeping person who could somewhat still sit relatively properly. Maybe that's why Miss Vellington didn't try to wake her up.
Guess she was bored and I could easily get why. Miss Vellington was a good teacher but her tone and mannerism were just soporific. Some students even joked that her recorded voice was the miracle cure for insomnia.
More seriously though, this class was a nightmare for me too but for a totally different reason. Since I could hardly sleep because of a certain someone, I needed to steel myself to go through those 2 hours without nodding off. It wasn't hard per se since I usually don't feel tired before 9 AM after a sleepless night. No, the true problem was the following class – Monsters' Biology, or as I call it, Fantasy Butcher Simulator.
You must agree: of course, a tired teenager is exactly the kind of person you would expect to be able to dissect uncanny beings more and more disturbing with each day.
Why was I even attending that school again? Ah yes, law. Whatever...
When Miss Vellington's class ended, I put my face on my desk and sighed again. Around me, I heard the excited chatters of my classmates going toward the lab. That made me remember that some students were here of their own volition.
"Hey, A-Lua, are you really a vampire?" I heard one of my classmates ask.
"Yes. I am not a noble, however," Iovanna replied.
I guessed that much. If she wasn't a noble, what was she then? I still wasn't familiar with vampires' families but I heard that it was often a question of shared blood. How could she and her sister be from different kinds of vampires then? This was weird.
"I can't believe this school allowed a vampire here. Aren't you people supposed to be evil?" sneered another.
"Didn't you hear what Miss Vellington said? She isn't the first vampire here, you know?" replied another.
"And what do you know? Maybe she is lying and pretending to be harmless. I tell you, she is suspicious."
I must agree with that point.
"Man, can't you at least… Excuse her, Miss A-Lua. She is a bit…"
"I do not mind. Being wary of vampires is a good thing. Not every member of our kind is as easy to live as I am."
"Yeah. Who even thinks vampires are bad people nowadays? That is so twenty-first century!"
Huh, aren't we still in the twenty-first century?
"Hmph! We will. Don't think you can do as you please just because you come from a big family. Act a little funny, and I will personally cut you down."
"Mizher… stop please."
"My, my, I will be careful from now on then," said Iovanna with an amused tone.
I heard someone clicking their tongues and walking away. It seemed like the storm behind me had subsided leaving me with a few important pieces of information. First, Iovanna wasn't a noble, second, the school didn't think she was dangerous enough to require special measures.
While this school was weird, I was sure I could believe Miss Tru'nembra's judgment in terms of students' survival – I mean, she wouldn't want a student to stop coming to school because of some "mild inconveniences'' like death or grave injuries. If she wasn't doing anything, then Iovanna was probably safe. Probably. Though she probably wasn't safe for me.
"Human, are you not going to participate in the following class?"
An annoying person asked an annoying question.
"What do you want?" I asked, turning towards her.
Iovanna rolled her hands into fists.
"A lot of things and you are one of them!"
"Why the excitement, please?!"
"Well, you are going to be my husband. It is an event worthy of my excitement."
I looked at her, dumbfounded. I wanted to give her an intelligent reply there but I couldn't formulate anything. Besides…
"So it was true, Riftwalker and that girl…"
"Hmph, gold digger."
"So she swings that way, huh? Interesting*lick*"
Eh~
I don't know why, but I shivered. Seriously, who was making that noise???
"Huh, erm, come here for a second," I said, trying to drag Iovanna outside of the classroom.
"So forceful," she said, resisting my attempts to pull her with such ease that I thought she was a pillar. "I do not dislike that part of you," she added, "however—"
"Shut up for a second and follow me… please," I cut.
The elegant-looking vampire pressed her lips together while "looking" up.
"I understand. I entrust myself to you."
"Thank you…"
I sighed with relief trying to ignore all the excited chatter around us. Afterward, I dragged Iovanna along the corridor all the way to the toilet. I know it wasn't exactly the best choice for privacy – or the best choice for anything for that matter – but the amount of stares she was gathering in the hallways made me feel like I was parading with some trophy. I just panicked and took that option without thinking.
"..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
Now that was awkward.
"The toilets…" began Iovanna. "There are no holes in the walls but… How bold. Taking me to such a place on our first day of dating. No, I guess you were bolder that day when you undressed me and touched me like no one ever did."
"I…didn't do anything weird to you," I said. "I just wanted to… Huh, you were covered in blood so I thought that cleaning you was—"
"Oh my, do you intend to do something 'weird' to me now?"
The red-headed vampire girl smiled a bit as if mocking my attempts to justify the fact I undressed her in my bathroom. I mean, outside of context, it seemed weird... nah, even in context, it wasn't better. I just decided to give up trying to explain myself and concentrated on the matter at hand.
"Why did you come to my school?"
"You cannot tell? I came for you, of course. You see, I thought it would be a good thing for us to start spending most of our time together. Would it not be too sad if, after our marriage, we ended up not getting along because we are not used to our everyday selves?" She put her hand on her chest, "I want to know more about you, human. Are you not the same?"
That… was quite the speech for sure…
"...Is that a real question or not? I mean, I don't even know you. Why would I want you to know that intimately?"
"Because we are going to get married of course."
"Why?"
"Why?"
The red-headed vampire girl turned her face away from mine and blushed.
"G-Given what you did to me, I cannot possibly marry anyone else after that. I am forever sullied and only you, the one who did that in the first place, can now be my husband."
"Uwah…"
It was as if a snake was coiled around my chest.
I am not afraid of snakes per se but her demeanor, her tone, and mostly that… blush, made me shiver. There was something really wrong with that girl. Really, really, wrong.
"Listen, I… didn't do anything inappropriate to you okay? Your body is fine, you can marry anyone. Anyone else."
"Hm… Why are you so against marrying me, human?"
"I could also ask why you are so obsessed with marrying me but… Oh, I don't know. There are only 101 reasons? Like how I don't love you to begin with?"
"Spiders? Why? Is it really because I am not beautiful enough for you?"
"This isn't about beauty. It is about feelings." Also, what about spiders?
"... Am I not rich enough?"
"You are not listening to me, are you?"
"..."
Again, Iovanna pressed her lips together and took a thinking pose. Normally, I would have been happy to see her think about what I was saying if I wasn't absolutely sure she wasn't doing this at all. Not properly at least.
"Ah!" she made, hitting her palm with her fist. "Could it be that you are not interested in girls, human?"
Oh boy…
"This isn't really the issue here. I mean, you are not exactly wrong but—"
"*Sigh* Such a twenty-first century reason!" Iovanna exclaimed, slowly shaking her head.
"Well, we… are in the twenty-first century? As far as I know? Besides, I—"
"You are getting held back by my gender of all things? It seems you are still one of those homo sapiens and have not yet evolved to homo sexual yet. *sigh* I doubt getting poisoned by a spider would help here."
…Whaaat?
I pressed the area between my eyes and sighed, "I sure hope, for the sake of the almost nonexistent respect I have for you, that you don't mean what you said."
"What I said? I said a lot of things so be a little more specific, human."
"You don't actually believe the term homosexual describes… an evolution of the homo sapiens… do you? You don't, right?"
"Is that a trick question?"
Oh boy…
"... I am not marrying you."
"You are still saying that? Even now?"
"I mean either you are just plain stupid or have an awful sense of humor. Either way, I couldn't care less about you. Besides, you are full of yourself and seem to be unable to think about other people's feelings. I thought your sister was something but you are just… nevermind. Anyway, please stop harassing me please. Also, don't go saying I am your future husband anymore because I am most definitely not," I said, walking towards the exit before turning around. "Ah! And no, I don't mean I will be your wife either! There's nothing between us and there will never be anything, comprende?!"
I didn't wait for her answer and exited the facilities. Unsurprisingly, there were a few students posted in front. When they saw me, they pretended to be doing something else but it was easy to guess they were checking out the transfer student and her "girlfriend" Dawn Riftwalker. Such a tiring thing to have to deal with.
I made my way toward the lab and the day went by as normal. Surprisingly, Iovanna seemed to get the message this time – she didn't approach me at all during the Fantasy Butcher Simulator, the breaks, and pretty much every other class. A good thing, truly.
That being said, she looked down the whole time as if her heart was ripped out of her chest. Correction: she looked as if I ripped out her heart from her chest and then crushed it.
Oh well, it probably wasn't anything she couldn't get over. I just decided to ignore her and go through my school day like normal but then, it happened.
"Hey, isn't that…"
"Yeah, it is that first-year. The A-Lua. What is she doing up there?"
"Wait… Is that? Wait, wait, she can't be seriously thinking of doing that, right?"
In the courtyard of the school, a group of students were standing in front of a building, their eyes pointed towards the sky. Or rather, their eyes pointed towards the red-headed girl standing at the edge of the roof. She didn't seem to care about the people down, in fact, she wasn't even looking at them. Her opened green eyes were only locked on the setting sun as if she wished to engrave it in her mind one last time.
"What… what is she doing?" I mumbled to myself, my eyes trembling.
It wasn't a real question. I already knew what she was going to do. Everyone knew.
Iovanna Domenica Cassini A-Lua was about to throw herself from the roof.
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